Hu Xueyan is such a person, thus gaining a foothold in the troubled times of the late Qing Dynasty and becoming a smash hit in business circles. Throughout Hu Xueyan's life, his success can be attributed to his personal behavior. He can combine hardness with softness in troubled times, know how to accumulate popular resources and use them to pave the way for his career.
Round and connected+integrity = rich in resources.
First of all, it is difficult to win the hearts and minds of the people.
Hu Xueyan believes that if money is only concentrated in the hands of the rich, the market can't afford to live; Besides, being too rich will be envied. The poorer the poor, the more dangerous the rich are. When there are many hungry people, the rich have no peace.
Businessmen are born with no obligation to care about social problems. If they do, it shows that they have the good quality of "having the money to do their best" on the spiritual level. From a practical point of view, it shows that the society supported by businessmen's leaking money is the most conducive to the health and stability of businessmen. This requires businessmen to do good things to influence society.
When Hu Xueyan founded Qingyutang, he had no intention of making money. Later, I made a lot of money because the herbs were authentic and the medicine was effective. However, in addition to converting its surplus into capital and expanding its scale, it usually uses medicines and clothes for the poor, and donates a large number of Chinese medicines in previous floods, droughts, epidemics and epidemics, and all of them are spent. Hu Xueyan has never used a penny from Qingyutang.
The guys in Qingyutang have the same view: Hu Xueyan has planted a good marriage, and it will surely bear good results. He fell down for a while, but he will get up again sooner or later. Therefore, when business is in trouble, all the shop assistants go to work as usual to maintain the normal operation of the shop. This is an aspect of "roundness" in Hu Xueyan's character. He was kind to the people and became the biggest winner himself.
Smart businessmen, when they get rich, tend to be "rich and virtuous": First, help the poor when they get rich. Tao Zhugong "abandoned politics for business three times in nineteen years, and then dispersed to make friends with the poor." Bo Shi, a businessman from the Western Han Dynasty, donated 200,000 yuan to help refugees. Hu Xueyan is no exception. He made a lot of contributions to help the imperial court pacify the world and help the society to relieve the famine. It is this nature of helping others and helping the world that makes Hu Xueyan feel at home in both official and business circles.
Secondly, the circle can be meaningful.
Water flows downwards, and people go upwards. Man is different from all things in nature. Of course, we can't let the water flow away in vain. People conform to nature and don't seek progress. Everything is made by people. If it doesn't work, we must find a way to make it smooth.
Whether it's Gong's father and son who robbed the arms business, or the tricky and overbearing Suzhou Yongxing Bank, or even the agent Zhu Funian who actually harmed his own interests, Hu Xueyan's reaction to them is very simple. But there is a principle that has always been adhered to, that is, always leave each other a step and a back road.
Round and divine is the best summary of Hu Xueyan's way of life.
The so-called circle means circle, circle, harmony and perfection. Around the word "circle", the image of Dajia, a beaming and affable businessman, emerged.
I will say whatever everyone says; I will do what others do. Observe people's joys and sorrows and follow people's love, hate, good and evil. If we do these two things, everything is possible and win people's hearts.
Hu Xueyan's philosophy of life is round and sacred, winning the ignorance of the traditional Confucian philosophy of life in China. Therefore, he can find two sides in complex social and commercial activities. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand Hu Xueyan's apprentice.
In addition, there is a more important point, that is, the third point: Hu Xueyan has a unique vision of sizing up the situation, thus deeply recognizing the contingency of the world and being good at "changing" in troubled times.
This is not to say that Hu Xueyan had a different vision and had a special plan in advance. Like all China people at that time, Hu Xueyan's understanding of various chaotic situations was gradual. When he first came into contact with foreigners, the foreigners in his mind were also mysterious and novel. However, with the increase of communication, he gradually realized that foreigners came to China only for profit, and they could only use it, not indulge it. Later, his relationship with foreigners developed into mutual benefit, and the change was gradual.
However, Hu Xueyan does have a natural advantage, that is, it has a first-hand understanding and grasp of the whole current affairs, so it can plan countermeasures before others. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Hu Xueyan will be able to open up the atmosphere, take full advantage of the geographical position, enjoy the weather, and benefit people and people.
Because Hu Xueyan took the lead, he was able to take the lead and deal with it calmly. Once compared with those who are at a loss in the tumultuous current affairs, Hu Xueyan's advantages are revealed.
After making a unique analysis and judgment of the situation, Hu Xueyan decided to rely on the government. Starting from Wang Youling, they transported grain, organized Yingyong, collected lijin, bought arms, and then planned to jointly suppress the Taiping Army with Xue Huan and He Guiqing. Finally, he persuaded Zuo to set up a Shanghai transshipment bureau to help him successfully counter the northwest rebellion. Thanks to the contribution of helping the government, Hu Xueyan can do business from south to north, from banks to medicines, and from Hangzhou to foreign countries. The government's recognition of Hu Xueyan's choices and achievements has also provided Hu Xueyan with the freedom of choice necessary for its successful commercial activities. If there were no layers of laissez-faire and protection from the government, in such a feudal empire, Hu Xueyan would be blocked everywhere, and his business investment would be too much. And because of too much investment and too much loss, it is impossible for his business to form such a large scale.
Hu Xueyan had another view of the old system of the Qing court: more people were afraid of the government, and they didn't think of controlling it; But the government can help me. At first, Hu Xueyan didn't want to control the government. However, after Wang Youling was promoted by him, he gradually found that he was old in Wang Leyan and gained a lot of convenience. The first is the convenience of capital turnover, because the government circulates funds. Rely on; Secondly, the government can do many things in the name of commercial activities, which not only avoids the inefficiency of bureaucracy, but also earns profits; The third is that I borrowed the name of the government and can do many things that are difficult for a businessman to get involved in.
Therefore, Hu Xueyan has confidence in using the old system. At first, he didn't want to donate officials, and he felt that businessmen and officials were uncomfortable together. Later, I changed my mind. Since officials and businessmen are inextricably linked, I might as well donate officials and involve people in officialdom. In fact, this is also to achieve maximum output with minimum input. This idea greatly changed Hu Xueyan, from "round and soft" to "square and rigid".
In people's minds, the biggest feature of Hu Xueyan is "official businessmen", which is what people call "red-topped businessmen". This "red top" is very symbolic, because it was awarded by the court. Wearing it means that Hu Xueyan is loved by the emperor. In fact, it means that the emperor affirmed the legitimacy of Hu Xueyan's commercial activities. Since the emperor is supreme, people protected by the emperor should naturally not be bound; On the other hand, the supremacy of the emperor also guarantees the reputation of the protected person. Therefore, princes and ministers can safely deposit a large sum of money in Fukang Bank in Hu Xueyan.
In this way, on the one hand, Hu Xueyan gained credit, on the other hand, he swept away the ubiquitous interference in merchant activities in feudal times, and he could engage in business activities like a real businessman.
According to Hu Xueyan's point of view, trustworthiness means that businessmen are trustworthy to customers and the government is trustworthy to the court. Businessmen only care about keeping promises, which is for the sake of customers, while the government only cares about keeping promises, which is worthy of the court. They have different objects and different principles. If they do their own things well and do their own jobs well, the whole society will be orderly. Otherwise, it will only increase social chaos and will not help. Therefore, he attached himself to the government, maintained social order, and finally developed a most favorable business environment for him.
When it comes to foreigners and westernization, Hu Xueyan was the first to see foreigners' strong ships and guns, and the first to deal with foreigners. Of course, this is beneficial, and from beginning to end, a large part of Hu Xueyan's commercial profit comes from his activities of buying arms, buying foreign aircraft and raising foreign funds.
When dealing with foreigners, what he felt most was that the government of foreigners was different from that of the Qing Dynasty. For the Qing government, businessmen want to share your benefits if they are slightly profitable, and they can't wait to swallow you; Once the benefits are not available, he will trip you up and make you unsafe until you go bankrupt.
On the other hand, foreigners' governments help foreigners to do business. You have no money, he lends you money, you do business overseas, and he sends warships to protect you. Once the people of China owed money, he pointed his gun at the cities of China, and even his own businessmen were unreasonable and partial everywhere.
As for the foreigners themselves, in Hu Xueyan's view, they also have their advantages. Their advantage is that they are reasonable and trustworthy. If you do business with him seriously, he will talk to you seriously and won't think of any crooked ideas outside the business. Businessmen in China are different. They can't compete with you in business. If they seize the opportunity, they will cheat you in other ways. For example, using local hooligans, such as using the government. So Hu Xueyan felt that, in many cases, it was very difficult to deal with China's own businessmen, and it was very labor-saving to deal with foreigners. The whole foreigner system has greatly reduced the cost for businessmen to engage in business activities. Businessmen in China put more energy into doing the same thing. In this way, Hu Xueyan's success is even more rare.
Hu Xueyan's extraordinary achievements made him a philosopher and businessman in the sense of traditional culture. In the process of doing business, he constantly realizes and sublimates his business philosophy, and his wisdom and business activities will continue to reach a higher level. All this is the result of his profound understanding of human nature and his ability to accumulate popular resources. If he doesn't have the smooth life skills, he won't have popular resources extending in all directions.