Chapter 20 Chapter 7 Characters, Classes, Groups—Merchants in Ancient Society

The earliest commerce and handicrafts were all owned by the government, called "business and food officials".In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the profitable business was monopolized by the nobles in the name of the government, and the professional merchants who actually engaged in commodity exchange were mainly commercial slaves led by "Jia Zheng"; civilians rarely did business.In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, "if you are like a Jia three times, a gentleman is knowledgeable" ("The Book of Songs Daya Zhanyin"), the small nobles were also keen to start a business.Emerging industrialists and merchants who exploited the benefits of industry and commerce have become rich and powerful.They were the earliest private businessmen in history, and they constituted an external threat to the "industrial and commercial food officials" system.Entering the early Spring and Autumn Period, business and food officials remained as a remnant of slavery for a while, but in the process of founding the country (Zheng), restoring the country (Wei), and rejuvenating the country (Jin), the rulers changed their lowly status in order to win the support of merchants. status, thus creating some protected and preferentially treated private businessmen.In the late Spring and Autumn Period, with the formation and development of the feudal system, Jia Ren and Baigong, who were formerly slaves and "fed for officials", were also obtained under various circumstances through struggle (escape, armed riots) or military meritorious service. Liberation; the leaders of officials, merchants, and workers also took advantage of the decline or subjugation of the country, defected and dispersed, and became an important source of private businessmen and merchants.Together with the descendants of the wealthy but not noble private businessmen in the Western Zhou Dynasty and early Spring and Autumn Period, they are all private businessmen or individual small businessmen who are not ordered by the government.Afterwards, the number of scholars, those who left the bureaucracy to do business, those who did business among ordinary people, and those who abandoned agriculture to do business, also increased in number.Private merchants with free identities and independent management rights——the team of "free merchants" continued to expand. By the Warring States period, private commerce dominated the field of circulation.

During the social changes in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, except for some merchants who had close relations with the old aristocrats and were content with the status quo and did not want to break the old order, another part of the emerging free merchants sympathized with the improvement of the status of the working class from their own interests (due to Increased enthusiasm for labor can provide more commodities and a larger market), sponsor the formation of a unified situation (unimpeded, business tax reduction), support the establishment of private land ownership, and therefore stand with the emerging landlord class , supported the new system and opposed the old forces, and was a progressive class in politics at that time.In commerce itself, free merchants adjusted the surplus and shortage of materials and balanced market supply and demand, and played an objective economic function of commerce; they were also workers (mines) and farmers (herdsmen), and played an active role in developing resources and increasing social wealth.

Among the free merchants who emerged as the times require, there are some well-known historical figures among them. The story of Zheng Guo merchants is described more than once in "Zuo Zhuan".In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Duke Huan of Zheng led the merchant survivors who were good at doing business to open up grasslands and open up wasteland, and went to "the land in the east of Luo, and the south of Heji" to establish the State of Zheng. The two sides also signed an oath of mutual support, so Zheng Guo's private businessmen were very active in the early and middle Spring and Autumn Period.In 627 BC, Xian Gao, a businessman from Zheng State, was transporting goods to Luoyang. On the way, he found that the Qin army was quietly passing Zhou and Hua to attack Zheng State.Xian Gao immediately took out 12 cows and four pieces of cooked leather, and pretended to be ordered by Zheng Jun to come to reward the teacher; secretly sent someone back to report the news quickly.Qin Jun believed that Zheng Guo was prepared, gave up the sneak attack plan, and returned the slip.Zheng Jun used the reward of saving the country to give Xian Gao, but Xian Gao refused to go.In 597 B.C., the general of Jin State Xun (上草下岩) [yingying] was captured by the Chu army. Nine years later, a businessman from the state of Zheng who came to Chu to do business planned to hide Xun (上草下岩) who was in captivity. Smuggled out of the Chu state in a cargo bag, the plan was waiting to be implemented, and it happened that the state of Chu released Xun (up and down kiln).In the future, when the businessman went to Jin to do business, Xun (up and down) still treated him like a savior.The businessman said that I had no credit and did not dare to accept this kind of treatment, so he transferred to Qi State to do business.These two incidents show that Zheng Guo's business activities are very strong, and it has already produced considerable influence in society.

From the late Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States period, free merchants operated on a larger scale and had greater financial resources, which was beyond the reach of Zheng Guo merchants in the early Spring and Autumn Period.Its famous representatives include Zigong and Fan Li at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, and Bai Gui in the Warring States Period. Zigong (Duanmuci, 520 BC -?) Confucius disciple, a typical scholar in business.Confucius said that he "repeats goods without being ordered", which means he is a private businessman who is not ordered by the government.His teacher also called him "presumed to hit repeatedly", that is, he is good at guessing the market.Sima Qian also said that he is "good at waste, and transfers goods with time", that is, buy (raise) if it is cheap, sell (waste) if it is expensive, seize the opportunity, and win from the middle.He was engaged in the jewelry business that was popular at the time: "There are beautiful jades here, can you store them in the bamboo tree? Seek good merchants and sell them?" ("The Analects of Confucius Zihan". Words stay true to the line.He realized that the rise and fall of commodity prices is closely related to the quantity of commodity supply. He said, "Why do gentlemen value jade and despise min [min] (beautiful stones)? Why are there so many min because of the lack of jade?" ("Xunzi Faxing") The view that "rareness is the most precious" was put forward by Zi Gong, who was a businessman, and it is naturally logical.

Fan Li (approximately 496-473 B.C.) was a senior official who left office to start a business, and he made three daughters. The famous Tao Zhugong in history was him.He became rich in business by using the strategy of "planning", and through his own practice, he formed a set of "theory of accumulation" (writing, storage).The content of this set of management theory is first of all required to determine one's own management strategies according to the weather and the laws of agricultural production. "If you know how to fight, you will prepare, and when you use it, you will know what to use." It is necessary to know when to prepare, to predict what will be needed at different times, and to prepare in advance.This "time" mainly refers to the time of the sky, that is, changes in the year's abundance, floods and droughts.The weather changes regularly and can be grasped: "Six-year-old Rang (bump harvest), six-year-old drought, and twelve-year-old famine." ("Historical Records Huozhi Biography") Explore the law from the changes in future abundance, drought, floods and droughts, that is, Long-term trends in commodity supply and demand can be predicted. "Drought is for boats, water is for cars" ("Mandarin·Vietnamese"): In the year of severe drought, you should start the boat business in advance, because at this time, no one wants the boat and the price is cheap, you can buy goods first, and in the year of flood Boats will soon become a particularly sought-after commodity in the market and their prices will increase; on the contrary, in the year of flood, you should pre-empt the car business.This can be called the principle of "waiting for shortage" in business, and the materials traded to meet the urgent needs of the future are the most profitable.Fan Li also asked to judge the rise and fall of prices based on the relationship between supply and demand in the market, which is the so-called "you can know the high or low by talking about its surplus or deficiency."There is a limit to the rise and fall of prices, "If you go up to the extreme, you will become cheap, and if you are cheap to the extreme, you will become expensive" ("Historical Records·Biography of Huozhi", the following quotations are from the same source).One expensive and one cheap, extreme and repeated.When the commodity is expensive to an appropriate level, it should be thrown out in time - "expensive like dung"; and it should be collected in time when it is quite cheap - "get cheap like pearls and jade".You can't be conservative and reluctant to sell because of the high price, and wait and see because of the low price.In the operation of specific commodities, attention should be paid to the quality of commodities, and the storage of goods must be in good condition.This is called "finishing things", "trading with things, and don't keep the corrupted food".Fan Li especially asked attention to speed up the turnover of goods and funds, "money and money want to flow like water."You can't stagnate currency in your hands. This is called "interest-free currency".It is also not possible to hoard and seek excessively high prices, but to increase profits from accelerated turnover. This is called "no daring to be expensive".Fan Li and Zigong are called together.What later generations said "Tao Zhu's career, Duanmu's career" refers to these two.

After Fan Li was good at doing business, he should be Bai Gui of Wei Wenhou (466-397 BC).His method is "when the year is ripe, take the grain, and give it silk lacquer", buy grain in time during the grain harvest season, and supply silk lacquer; fabric, in time to sell grain.Bai Gui summed up his own business methods into eight words: "People abandon me, and others take me and me." Some temporary oversupply that has not yet formed the urgent needs of society (people abandon, such as grain during harvest or harvest year) Therefore, the commodities with cheaper prices are purchased in advance in large quantities (I take them), wait for the opportunity, and sell them again when the society urgently needs them and the demand exceeds the supply (People take them) and the price rises (I and me, such as grains that are not harvested or harvested in poor harvests) .This is also the application of the principle of waiting for lack.The profit comes from the price difference between abundance and apology, seasonal price difference or supply and demand price difference, but it can play a role in balancing supply and demand.Therefore, Bai Gui called himself "the art of benevolence".Bai Gui is good at "trending with the times" and "optimistic about time-changing", and can quickly and accurately grasp the business opportunities, "like the hair of a beast of prey".He also has a business principle, that is, small profits but quick turnover. "If you want to grow money, take off the valley"; valleys and the like are necessities, although the profits are not high, but the volume of transactions is large, and you can win with more, and you can make big profits without raising prices.In order to increase food resources, he advocated "long stone bucket, get the seeds", that is, to select good varieties as seed supply to increase grain yield.Bai Gui is a businessman engaged in the trade of agricultural products—mainly food, and food is the most important thing for the people. Compared with the jewelry business, he has a much stronger relationship with the people.Bai Gui, who is self-confident in doing business and regards "wisdom", "courage", "benevolence" and "strength" as the necessary conditions for businessmen, once said: "Wu governing production is based on Yi Yin Lu Shang's plan, Sun Wu used soldiers, Shang Yang It’s the way to do it.” ("Historical Records·Huozhi Biography") Businessmen of later generations regarded Bai Gui as the ancestor of their industry.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, free merchants were divided into two types due to their different business ideas: one was "good merchants" and "honest merchants", and the other was "sycophant merchants (profiteers)" and "greedy merchants".The former does not engage in speculation, hoarding and hoarding, "wealth is good to practice its virtue" (Fan Li), uses business as a "benevolence" technique, and knows the way of "giving and giving" (Bai Gui first gives and then takes, and on the premise of convenience and benefits, he obtains Reasonable profit), small profits but quick turnover, genuine goods at a fair price, fair trading, outstanding reputation, and are welcomed by people.The latter raises prices and lowers prices, deliberately expands the contradiction between supply and demand, creates price fluctuations, and does not hesitate to destroy agricultural production in order to make huge profits, affecting people's lives; its fraud and plunder should be hated by the people.Zigong, Fan Li, and Bai Gui can better deal with the relationship between business profit and business ethics, and the relationship between taking and giving (making money and serving), and they can be called representatives of Chengjia.Their business theories, such as: "observe the time and measure changes, store and wait for the shortage", "discuss the amount, the value can be measured", "turn around quickly, make small profits", "finish all kinds of goods, and seek fine selection of goods", The content of "knowing what you get and giving, and benevolence as your quality" has reached the highest level at that time, and it has also had a profound and good influence on future generations.