The white tiger Hu Xueyan mentioned before his death was actually talking about silver. Hu Xueyan compared Baiyin to a tiger, which shows that he was afraid of something that everyone would like when they saw it. In fact, it is mainly related to his experience. Hu Xueyan once became the richest man in the late Qing Dynasty, but he became impoverished in a short period of time. Therefore, he was afraid of the tiger-like silver in his heart, so before he died, he kept telling his descendants not to ask for too much money.

In other words, when Hu Xueyan was young, his family was so poor that it was really difficult to get rid of the blame. He and his father were the only two people in the family who depended on each other. Later, when he was twelve years old, his father also died. Before the age of nineteen, Hu Xueyan wandered around alone. Fortunately, I met the shopkeeper of Fukang Bank. This gentleman was very kind to Hu Xueyan. Although he was accepted as his apprentice, he actually treated Hu Xueyan as his own son.

However, Hu Xueyan really developed after meeting Zuo Zongtang. At that time, Zuo Zongtang entrusted him as the general manager, responsible for raising money and food in Zhejiang. In addition, Zuo Zongtang had no military pay when he regained Xinjiang, and Hu Xueyan helped solve this problem with loans. This led to long-term exchanges between Zuo Zongtang and Hu Xueyan, and Hu Xueyan's business was getting bigger and bigger.

However, in 1882, Hu Xueyan made a mistake in his business deal and originally planned to monopolize the silk cocoon trade. Even if he was boycotted by foreign businessmen, Hu Xueyan was very confident, but Italy had a good harvest at that time. Coupled with the Sino-French war, Zuo Zongtang could not help Hu Xueyan. In the end, no penny was left after being cheated by Sheng Xuanhuai, and he died with hatred. Therefore, he did not want his descendants to make the same mistakes as himself, and made it clear that he was not a businessman.