The crows and magpies roost tiredly, the fish and dragons startle, and the stars hang in the weeping poplars.
——Excerpt from "A Cluster of Flowers·Wan Yue Zuo in Xitang" by Chen Liang (Song Dynasty)
…
After the two brothers Li Yan and Li Qiu left happily, Bai Fu had mixed feelings.
"The king of thousands of chariots, the prince of thousands of families, the king of hundreds of houses, is still suffering from poverty, how much worse is the people who live in households?"
Nowadays, even the emperor's relatives and noble families are worried about falling into poverty, let alone ordinary people! It can be seen that An Lushan's rebellion has left the Tang Dynasty riddled with holes and in turmoil.
In order to cooperate with Bai Fu, the two sons of King Qing did not hesitate to compliment him as a descendant of Bai Gui. Although this is nonsense and cannot be tested, the dialogue about Bai Gui inspired Bai Fu a lot.
After the two brothers Li Yan left, Bai Fu fell into deep thought:
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Bai Gui was a great businessman who was on par with Tao Zhugong and Fan Li. During the more than thirty years that Bai Gui was in charge, the Bai family became the same as the Guo family of Zhao State, the Yi family of Chu State, and the Dao family of Qi State.
The six great businessmen in the world are as famous as the Korean Bu family.
Bai Gui was not only a great businessman who was famous all over the world and extremely wealthy, but he also became an official and assisted the Marquis Wu of Wei, and served as the Prime Minister of Wei for eight years.
Marquis Wu of Wei once asked him about the secrets of business, and Bai Gui replied: "Business is roughly the same as the art of governing the country, emphasizing delegating power, being wise, courageous, benevolent and strong."
Marquis Wu of Wei asked for advice on how to govern the country, and Bai Gui replied: "It is the same as the way of merchants. When others abandon me, I take it, and when others take it, I take it."
Bai Gui's business skills were unparalleled in the world and had reached the state of enlightenment. He once proudly said: "I govern the production merchants, just like Yi Yin, Lu Shang's plan, Sun Wu's military use, and Li Kui's law enforcement."
Even so, Bai Gui never passed down the secret skills of merchants to others. He said to Bai's disciples: "People who are merchants are not wise enough to adapt to changes, brave enough to make decisions, benevolent enough to take things wisely, and strong enough to have ideas."
Even though I wanted to learn my skills, I didn’t tell them."
And Tao Zhugong Fan Li, who is as famous as Bai Gui, is also equally famous.
At that time, Gou Jian, the king of Yue, was trapped in Kuaiji. He governed the country according to Ji Ranzi's method for ten years. The country was prosperous, and its soldiers and grains were sufficient.
Gou Jian's treasury was full and he continued to reward his soldiers generously. The soldiers of the three armies all fought bravely and were not afraid of arrows and flying stones. In the end, they took revenge and destroyed the powerful Wu Kingdom.
After Fan Li helped King Gou Jian of Yue to avoid the humiliation of Kuaiji, he sighed and said: "I have planned seven strategies, but I am satisfied with using five of them. Since they have been applied to the country, I want to use them at home."
Ji Ranzi taught Fan Li seven tactics of war, and Fan Li used only five tactics to help Yue King Goujian defeat Wu King Fucha. So Fan Li retreated bravely, took a boat to float in the rivers and lakes, changed his name, changed his surname, and became anonymous. When he arrived in Qi, he changed his name to Guizizi.
Pi, he changed his name to Zhu Gong when he arrived in Taoyi.
Fan Li felt that Taoyi was the best place to trade goods, so he applied the Seven Strategies of War taught by Ji Ranzi to commercial purposes: manage industries, hoard goods, monopolize and occupy special places, know people and make good use of them, and choose people at the right time.
In the past nineteen years, Fan Li made thousands of gold and wealth three times, but then spent all of it to help poor friends and family brothers. He was good at charity and was praised as Tao Zhugong by future generations.
…
From this point of view, it is human nature to pursue wealth and wealth. As the saying goes: Man dies for money, and a bird dies for food.
Why can the soldiers of the three armies rush to climb the city wall, charge into the battle, cut off generals and tap flags, brave arrows and flying stones, fear no swords, mountains of fire, and seas of fire when they attack the city? All because there must be brave men under heavy rewards.
The young men in Luxiang, who kill vertebrae and bury them, rob people and commit adultery, dig up graves and mint coins, let chivalrous people do whatever they want, and enjoy grudges and grudges. Those who usurp seclusion, kill people and buy goods, do not avoid the law, and walk to death as if they are in pursuit of money, are all for the purpose of wealth.
From this point of view, apart from military power, the only thing that can make people go through fire and water and use force to violate forbidden laws is money!
When Master Zhongji taught the art of war, he once said: "The most useful strategy in the world, the second most useful strategy is the honey trap, and the first is money."
Honey traps only work for men. Money kills both men and women!"
…
Once this thought occurs, it cannot be contained.
Bai Fu thought: "After the rebellion of An Lushan, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty would never let his military power fall by the wayside again, and would not trust the Jiedushi to control the border troops.
Once the Tang army wipes out An Qingxu, Jinshang will definitely take back the military power of Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and others. Maybe there will be a tragedy of "the cunning rabbit dies and the lackeys cook".
This is also the reason why I have repeatedly resigned to command the left and right armies. When I give it to you now, it is a great favor from the emperor. When I take it away from you in the future, it will not be so honorable.
Shi Siming was ambitious, the remnants of Anlushan were entrenched in Hebei, and Tubo was eyeing it. The Tang Dynasty would no longer be as prosperous as before, and there was a possibility of another war breaking out at any time.
I have been worrying about how to practice the art of war without an army. Now it seems that it may be a good idea to enter the business world from the art of war.
Although the Sichuan Clan and Tang Clan are well-organized and have good respect for themselves, after all, I am not the elder of the Sichuan Clan and Tang Clan. There is nothing wrong with fighting side by side, but if I have full command, control of the overall situation, and unified dispatch, I am afraid that I will be bossy.
suspicion.
If you were like Bai Gui and Fan Li, you would spread your business throughout all realms.
From the art of war to the way of business. If used correctly, the indestructible power of money can be used to attack cities and fortresses, no less than thousands of troops. It can both prosper and destroy a country!"
As soon as this thought occurred, Bai Fu's heart surged with pride, and countless wonderful ideas came out. After the post-war reconstruction, everything was in ruins, and there were countless businesses that could be done.
Shopkeepers are responsible for the business of shops, workshops, restaurants, etc., and all daily business is managed by the deacons. A general deacon is set up to lead the deacons. Such a spider web management and control model will be able to respond to everything at once.
The first thing to do now is to choose a general manager for the business that will spread all over the world in the future.
…
Soon, the antique shop and the pawn shop were grandly opened, and Suzong's handwritten plaques blessed the two shops. The two shops immediately became famous.
In return, Bai Fu presented a scroll of Wang Xizhi's that had just been received by the pawn shop to Suzong through Princess Qingluan. Suzong Longyan was very happy and granted many official business privileges to Bai Fu's business.
On this day, Bai Fu was busy planning to expand the company's business to various areas. Princess Qingluan rushed over excitedly and said: "Master Fu, I have bought all the houses and manors you want on behalf of the company.
"
Bai Fu was overjoyed and hurriedly checked the stack of land deeds handed over by Princess Qingluan.
Princess Qingluan said: "Your judgment is good. These are houses that are difficult to buy in ordinary times. If it were not for the catastrophe caused by thieves, these wealthy families would not sell them at all."
"But..." Princess Qingluan changed the topic and said, "Although some of the houses here are in excellent locations, they may be difficult to sell again."
Bai Fu smiled and said, "For example?"
Princess Qingluan frowned and said: "For example, these mansions of Mrs. Guo Guo. Although they occupy a large area, they have pavilions, carved beams and painted buildings, and the back garden is full of lush trees, lakes and mountains, and is extremely beautiful.
However, the Yang family was brutally exterminated. Mrs. Guo's mansion was regarded as ominous, and the people of Chang'an were afraid to avoid it.
Even if we renovate it, we may not be able to get rid of it in the future."
Bai Fu nodded and said with a smile: "Your Highness, don't worry. I have found out the details of these houses and have my own opinions. I won't let everyone lose money."
Princess Qingluan asked curiously: "Can you tell me and listen?"
Bai Fu gently shook his folding fan and smiled without saying a word.