Hu Xueyan, the richest man in Qing Dynasty, accumulated for 30 years and went bankrupt for 3 days. What did he leave behind before he died?

1885 165438+ in October, Hu Xueyan, a businessman with red top, felt that he was dying, so he called his family to him and left three wills:

1, "Future generations should not do business; 2. Future generations are not allowed to go into politics; Hu's descendants don't marry Li.

Hu Xueyan, a businessman with red top.

The dying man speaks the truth. Thus, Hu Xueyan's hatred for Li Hongzhang is unforgettable. So, what kind of deep hatred did Hu and Li have?

The whole story begins with Hu Xueyan going to sea.

Hu Xueyan, whose real name is Yong Guang, is Xueyan, from Jixi, Anhui. /kloc-moved to Hangzhou, Zhejiang at the age of 0/3. He was born in the late Qing Dynasty and lived in Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi and Guangxu dynasties all his life.

Hu Xueyan's former residence in Yuanbao Street, Hangzhou.

Hu Xueyan was born in poverty, lost his father at an early age, was widowed and had a hard life.

The children of poor families took charge early, and Hu Xueyan experienced the hardships of a teenager. He was very sensible, diligent and practical, and later worked as a waiter in a bank, which won the favor of his boss.

Hu Xueyan has another characteristic, that is, he is cautious and generous, and he is good at giving help in time. It is precisely because of this feature that he made friends with Wang Youling, and while helping Wang Youling to climb up step by step, he got rapid and considerable development.

Wang Youling, a native of Fuzhou, Fujian, was born in an official family, and later went to Hangzhou as an official with his father, where he studied and grew up. But soon, my father died, and his family came down, and he lived in Hangzhou teahouse and restaurant every day, quite down and out.

Wang Youling has no official position, no money, no status, and a stubborn and eccentric temper, so many people regard him as an alien and stay at a respectful distance from others. Only Hu Xueyan has an eye for Wang Youling, who thinks that is not a thing in the pool, but more intimate.

Wang Youling

When my father was alive, he donated an official "salt ambassador" to Wang Youling. However, due to the death of my father, there is no savings at home and no money to clear the relationship, so I have not been able to make up for the vacancy.

On one occasion, when they were drinking and chatting, Wang Youling told Hu Xueyan about it, saying that if he had money to run the business, he wanted to donate it to the magistrate of a county instead, because the salt maker was big, but he only earned a few dollars. Although the magistrate of a county is small, it is the father and mother of a county. It can kill people and live, and it is a platform for doing a good job.

Hu Xueyan was awed by this incisive remark.

Hu Xueyan asked how much the operation would cost.

Wang Youling said 500 taels.

A few days later, it happened that Hu Xueyan managed to collect a bad debt from the bank. He made a time difference and lent the 500 taels of silver to Wang Youling, which made Wang Youling feel grateful to tears.

Rich people borrow money and borrow money;

It's life for a man like Hu Xueyan who has no money to lend such a huge sum of money.

Because, if Wang Youling doesn't attend, Hu Xueyan will not only lose his job, but also be sued and even lose everything.

Let Wang Youling grateful, it is this.

Hu Xueyan's wife, Miss Rose.

Wang Youling got this heavy 500 taels of silver and immediately went to Beijing. After some operation, he was sent by the Zhejiang official department to fill the vacancy, and then he was promoted to the governor of Zhejiang.

Wang Youling is a kind person.

When he became a government official, he managed to get Hu Xueyan to leave his original bank and set up his own bank. Wang Youling handed over the Zhejiang Treasury to Hu Xueyan as an agent. All the money goes in and out through banks in Hu Xueyan. At the same time, Hu Xueyan also manages pharmacies, silk and tea. Since the Taiping Army, Wang Youling has also given commissary to Hu Xueyan as an assistant, so Hu Xueyan earned his first bucket of gold in just a few years, a pot full.

With the expansion of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the constant interweaving of wars, Wang Youling defended Hangzhou as the governor of Zhejiang. As a result, he was surrounded by Taiping rebels, isolated and desperate, and finally died.

After martyrdom, Zeng Guofan, as the leader of Xiang army, recommended his right-hand man Zuo as the new governor of Zhejiang province. When the Taiping Army was in full swing, he took office on the left and advocated military affairs to resist the Taiping Army.

Hu Xueyan, who is inextricably linked with Zhejiang officialdom, had to put aside his grief and start making friends with the new governor to do business for himself after his friend died recently. Second, for the sake of the country, put down the rebellion.

Zuo Tang Zong, one of the "Four Famous Ministers in the Late Qing Dynasty"

At the beginning of Zuo's tenure, as a local gentry, he actively responded to Zuo's strategic arrangement and took the initiative to solve problems for him. Especially when materials and money were in short supply, Hu Xueyan generously donated a lot of food and grass to solve the urgent need, which made him quickly gain a foothold in Zhejiang officialdom. Left overjoyed, began to Hu Xueyan sit up and take notice.

After the recovery of Hangzhou, Zuo sent a manager's errand to Hu Xueyan, and Hu Xueyan took the lead in many post-war reconstruction work, and asked the banks in Hu Xueyan to take care of the salaries and money that frequently came and went during the war.

Therefore, although Hu Xueyan didn't get the support, the arrival of Zuo did not harm his business, but made him gain more and more profits.

Catch me, and I'll catch you. Hu Xueyan appreciated Zuo's support and help, and in the process of dealing with foreign businessmen, he used advanced foreign resources to help Zuo train a Chang Jiejun. This army is not very large in scale, but it is well-trained and well-equipped, which makes Zuo win many good news in the process of pacifying the Taiping Army.

From then on, Hu Xueyan became Zuo's purse and regarded him as a brain trust and confidant.

Hu Xueyan, a man with feathers.

With the help of Zuo, Hu Xueyan's business is getting bigger and bigger. His business scope includes not only banks, pharmacies and silk, but also grain transportation and arms, as well as foreign trade. He quickly realized the gorgeous turn from big boss to monopoly, and Hu Xueyan's career reached its peak. His business empire monopolized Zhejiang in some businesses and spread all over the world.

Hu Xueyan is not only a businessman, but also a gentleman, and he is kind-hearted and knows how to treat people well. When his business is booming, he is not busy counting money, but doing charity. In the war, people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang suffered the most and suffered the most. Hu Xueyan see in the eye, anxious in my heart. He took out special funds to set up porridge factories, charity halls and cushions in Hangzhou and other places to help the people. It is precisely because of this large-scale relief that the people in the surrounding areas of Hangzhou did not make trouble because of the hardships of life, and did not cause secondary disasters, helping the country and the place again.

That is, when the business empire was established, Hu Xueyan was awarded by the imperial court for his contribution to the Left Western Expedition. The imperial court appointed Hu Xueyan as the dispatcher and rewarded him with a top hat and a yellow coat.

From then on, Hu Xueyan became the real richest man in the late Qing Dynasty and the most famous red-topped businessman at that time.

Zeng Guofan's favorite students are three, one is Left, the other is Li Hongzhang, and the third is Shen Baozhen. After Zeng Guofan became the governor of Liangjiang, all three of them were recommended and promoted by him. They are left as the governor of Zhejiang, Li as the governor of Jiangsu and Shen as the governor of Jiangxi. They are all government officials and three officials.

Zeng Guofan, the first of the "four famous ministers in the late Qing Dynasty"

However, although Zuo and Li Hongzhang came from the same Zeng family and held power in each other, they began to make friends because of their respective interests. Finally, the city gate caught fire, which affected the fish in the pool and brought trouble to Hu Xueyan.

In fact, the cause of the matter is very small and trivial. It was in the process of Zuo's recovering Zhejiang that Li Hongzhang led his Huai army to fight for the victory, plundered a lot of money by the way, which provoked Zuo's great anger and impeached Li Hongzhang for "leading troops across the border". Of course, Li Yiyi was the governor and the court was also employing people. Naturally, it went away, but the two became enemies from then on.

The key is that they have different views.