Since ancient times, thrift has been the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation. It can be said that China people's self-cultivation, family harmony and world peace are all inseparable from thrift. Why do you say that? Because a person does not know how to be frugal, no matter how rich a family is, it will be empty. If a country doesn't know how to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, even the strongest country in the world will have a weak and unsustainable national strength. A person's virtue and self-cultivation are bound to be closely related to the habit of thrift, and must not be willful. The same is true for investment and financial management. At ordinary times, we must pay attention to thrift, spend every penny in the right place, and don't waste it at will.
1, thrifty housekeeping, thrifty morality
In November of the eighth year of Xianfeng, Lao Zeng mentioned the importance of thrift in his letter to his younger brothers: the family must be thrifty, and the sister-in-law can't be extravagant. Children of the younger generation should usually walk more, don't ride cars, and don't ride horses. Girls, don't be too lazy. Learn to make tea and cook. Reading, growing vegetables, feeding pigs and raising fish (the eight-character decision of Xinggang's family management) is a vibrant performance of a family. Sleeping late less and doing more is a sign of a person's vitality. Diligence is vitality. Thrift is the gas of convergence. In Lao Zeng's view, frugality is the key to managing the family and fostering morality. Do these two words, there is no reason why your family wealth is not prosperous.
In August of the third year of Tongzhi, Lao Zeng wrote to his fourth brother at home again, talking about managing the family frugally: to be worthy of our ancestors, brothers and nephews, we must educate our families and work hard to be frugal. I have achieved six or seven points in frugality and less than five points in diligence. Cheng Di and Yuan Di scored six or seven points on the word "diligence", but they still need to work hard on the word "frugality". In the future, we should encourage the development of our strengths and avoid their shortcomings. My brother should think twice every time he spends money. Remember, remember! Lao Zeng has never forgotten the importance of thrift to the long-term stability of a family, and has repeatedly urged himself and his children to practice. I have to say that he has good intentions.
Parents want their children to have food and clothes, even if they are rich or expensive. This idea has almost become the mainstream in contemporary times, but Lao Zeng just doesn't think so. In the second year of Tongzhi, Lao Zeng said in a letter to his fourth brother that Xi Fu Gui was very hardworking: he didn't want to send too much money and things to his family at ordinary times because he was afraid that the older generation would be too extravagant and the younger generation would be arrogant and extravagant. Throughout the ages, the disciples of rich families are not arrogant and extravagant. The blessings of ancestors should be based on thrift. I am afraid that my sons and nephews will have enough to eat and wear, and it will be difficult for them to recover in the future. "It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, and it's difficult to go from luxury to frugality", I really want to say!
Fan Zhongyan's famous saying, "Worry about the world first, and enjoy the world later", fully embodies a person's great mind and ambition. Lao Zeng has always had a strong sense of hardship for the people all his life, hoping that the Zeng family can be invincible for a long time. He fully understands the truth that "the daily surplus is a loss, and the water surplus is an overflow", so he has always adhered to the view of "holding the surplus and protecting Thailand" in all aspects of life and financial management. "Holding interests and protecting Thailand, the way of self-generalization", holding interests and protecting Thailand, is to strive to maintain the career stability achieved so far and avoid disasters; The self-righteous way is to try to make yourself and your family always modest and prudent and not complacent.
If you hold profits and protect Thailand, you shouldn't save more cash.
Twenty-four years after Daoguang, Lao Zeng made up his mind to give a sum of money to poor relatives and clansmen every year. He did this for two reasons: First, he felt that the Zeng family was very prosperous now, so he should be extra careful and pay attention to Poly Baotai. If the debts of the family can be paid off as soon as possible, it will take up all the income, and I am afraid that things will be extremely counterproductive, and the loss will outweigh the gain. If you leave some debts temporarily and don't pay them off first, it's a fly in the ointment, but it's also a move to eliminate disasters and take refuge. Second, there are many poor relatives at home now, and some old people may not be able to support themselves in the future if they don't think of ways to provide for the elderly now.
In December of the fifth year of Tongzhi, Lao Zeng mentioned in his letter to the fourth brother that he should send some money to the villagers in Beijing every year as usual. Luo Jia and Li Jia want to send two hundred and twenty gold, and Liu Jia wants to send one hundred and twenty gold. They are all good friends who have had conflicts with themselves. I gave my brother 1200 silver before. It seems that the elder brother of the Governor of Liangjiang treated his younger brother badly. You know, in troubled times, the more money, the greater the disaster, and it is not advisable to keep more cash at home. If you have enough money in your family for one year, you will be a monopolist and a lucky star in the world. Whether the family is prosperous or not depends on virtuous children and grandchildren. If children and grandchildren are not virtuous, even if they accumulate more gold and silver treasures, chariots and horses, they will all be empty in an instant.
There are many rich and powerful people in this world, and many of them can't escape the fate of "being rich for three generations". Is it because the money saved is not enough to spend? I don't think so. If future generations are extravagant, even if the ancestors saved Jinshan Yinshan, it is not enough. In Lao Zeng's view, it is unwise to leave a lot of wealth for future generations to squander. What did Lao Zeng hope that the descendants of the Zeng family would inherit? Not a lot of treasures, chariots and horses, but a good family style, a clear understanding of life principles, self-reliance and self-reliance of life wisdom and so on. Inheriting family style and life wisdom is more meaningful than inheriting huge wealth!
Lao Zeng's grandfather Xing Ganggong has a good way to run a family. His eight-character formula of "book, vegetable, fish, pig, morning, sweep, test and treasure" has had a great and far-reaching impact on the century-old glory of the Zeng family. Influenced by his grandfather, Lao thoroughly implemented the eight-character policy at home. Lao Zeng attached great importance to ancestor worship, and he even regarded ancestor worship as the first priority. From some family books, we can see that he often warned his brothers, sons and nephews to be extremely respectful and pious when offering sacrifices to their ancestors, and to use the best utensils and meals at home when offering sacrifices. This aspect is passed down from generation to generation with a good family style, which is very worthy of learning and reference today.
3. Sacrifice ancestors and inherit family style.
In April of the eighth year of Xianfeng, Lao Zeng talked about the cost of offering sacrifices to his ancestors in a letter to his ninth brother: Grandpa and Mrs. Xian did not pay the sacrifice fee, and Brother Wen donated one hundred and twenty pieces of silver when he left. Lao Zeng personally donated 120 yuan from Liu. Can my brother try to donate some money? Four brothers and Ji brothers donated two pieces of silver to their younger brother 120 yesterday. Together with two family businesses, they can harvest sixty or seventy stones of grain every year. In this way, it is easy to build ancestral temples, trees, tombstones and write epitaphs at home.
A month later, Lao Zeng sent another letter to Jiu Ge: I didn't send money home when I was away. It's really because when I first came out, I secretly made a vow to show my heart with the words "I don't want money, I'm not afraid of death". Now my father is embarrassed at home, and he is desperately running business, which makes me deeply sad. My uncle and I each donated 520 taels for the prosperity of Hong Kong, and I donated 220 taels to the assistant minister and 320 taels to Jing Gong. If my brother can donate some money to Gong Jing, Xing Gong and Zhu Gong III, three generations of ancestral temples can be built in three years. Lao Zeng suggested that everyone's public expenses should be managed by themselves, and the ancestral hall should be maintained by the descendants of three generations of ancestors.
Why did Lao Zeng put ancestor worship in a very important position? China people always regard filial piety as a form, and those who are filial to their parents and elders are often praised by their neighbors. In Lao Zeng's view, if a person doesn't even have true feelings for his ancestors, it is hard to imagine that he will have true feelings for others and all sentient beings. Ancestors are related to us by blood and are the closest relatives. Without ancestors, where will there be our descendants? Therefore, by offering sacrifices and respecting ancestors, we can cultivate a family bond and affection, and even enhance a family's cohesion and sense of identity. This is a good example of family style inheritance, so we should implement it well!
China's traditional culture, in the final analysis, is: Xiu De entered the trade, went on a diet and cherished blessings, defended the interests and protected the country, managed the family diligently, was kind to others, helped others, respected the old and loved the young, respected the ancestors, and passed on a good family tradition from generation to generation ... Every aspect here needs our careful consideration and down-to-earth work, and should not be treated carelessly at all. Lao Zeng regarded these traditional cultural treasures as precious life wealth and tried to pass them on to every family member through letter after letter. Facts have proved that his efforts were not in vain. The whole Zeng family 100 years has been full of talents, known as "a hundred years without a black sheep", and it is indeed a model family that everyone should learn! Studied it! Line up.
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