Chapter 26 Chapter IX Traditional Culture and Merchant Spirit——Historical and Cultural Heritage Worth Cherishing

The first thing that should be highlighted in the businessman's spirit is patriotism, which is a big issue and the first essential thing for a businessman to live and work.Ancient Chinese business ethics were based on patriotism. "Patriotism" involves the words "loyalty" and "festivalness" in the traditional moral concept. In ancient times, the monarch was the representative of the country, and patriotism and loyalty were often fused together.Loyalty is reflected in whether there is an awe-inspiring festival of righteousness.As long as you are loyal but not foolish, and the ruler is not very dark, you can contribute to the interests of the nation without hesitating to sacrifice your own interests. This is an admirable and noble virtue.

Many businessmen have traditional patriotic virtues.In the Spring and Autumn Period, Xian Gao, a businessman from the State of Zheng who pretended to be a teacher of the emperor's command and retreated to attack the Qin army, established a historical image of a patriotic businessman and can be regarded as a model for future generations of businessmen.The merchants who were active in the Ming and Qing Dynasties performed even better here. First of all, they worked hard to maintain the unity of the country at the beginning of the founding of the country.For example, in the early Ming Dynasty, from Liaoji in the east to Gansu in the west, the Great Wall was built and 200,000 to 300,000 troops were stationed. It was necessary to rely on merchants to transport food and grass and other military supplies to supplement the shortage of military settlements and taxes. The border town is given salt, and the marketing of salt in the inland is set up from this.Merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi actively participated in the Kaizhong and implemented "commercial settlement" (farming on the spot, producing grain and transporting it to the border), which played a certain role in ensuring military supplies, developing frontiers, and improving the national defense strength of the newly established Ming Dynasty.In the spring of the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi (AD 1696), Galdan, the traitorous leader of the Mongolian Junggar tribe, was conquered in person, and there were many difficulties in transporting grain all the way.Shanxi Jiexiu merchants, the Fan brothers, worked hard to win losses, used their family wealth to transport wages, traveled thousands of miles in the desert, did not work for officials, did not disturb Luyan, and the strict schedule would come. one).The Fan brothers did not make a fortune during several food shipments, but paid a lot instead.The westward expedition of grain transportation is also conducive to consolidating the unity of the country. Fan's loyalty to the monarch is consistent with patriotism.

The patriotic actions of businessmen are also reflected in the struggle to defend the country against aggression and foreign aggression.In the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese pirates invaded the southeast, and people were devastated. Many businessmen (mostly Huizhou merchants) rose angrily and tried their best to participate in the anti-Japanese activities.They donated huge sums of money, raised warriors, repaired city walls, and guarded battlements, "prospering the army and serving the people first", and undertook the important task of safeguarding local security.His virtue of sharing worries for the country is also enough to be famous for future generations.

Dedication, when implemented in business, should be the second content of the businessman's spirit. "Dedicated and happy group" comes from "Book of Rites·Study Book", which means to concentrate on studies and be willing to learn from classmates.The term “dedicated work” is borrowed to mean valuing and encouraging one’s own occupation. For businessmen, their occupation and job is business.The high-spirited mercantile thought at the end of the feudal society added a positive and timely new content to Chinese traditional culture. The business industry should no longer underestimate itself.

In addition to cultural and ideological influences, there are economic reasons for the strengthening of professionalism.For example, in Shanxi, because "the land is narrow and full of people, and the fields are not enough to cultivate", doing business has become a way out to arrange surplus labor and provide food for the people.With the formation of the concept of emphasizing business and establishing a business and the custom of respecting businessmen, Shanxi has consciously cultivated a team of Shanxi merchants composed of outstanding talents. "Shanyou has accumulated habits, and he values ​​profit more than fame. Those with handsome children are more likely to enter the trade. Next, they would rather be subordinates. Only when they are in the middle are they sent to study." (Shanxi governor Liu Yuyi in the memorial of Yongzheng) In this environment, Shanxi businessmen have developed a particularly prominent professionalism. They not only do business for making a living and making profits, but also truly regard business as a meaningful cause.Merchants in Shanxi "traveled everywhere with capital", and some "went to Taolong in the west, passed Zhangye, Dunhuang, Qiongyusai, and Lijincheng, and then transferred to Bashu, went down to Wuyue along the Yangtze River, and went to Fenjin and Jingjing. Originally, stepping on the Nine Rivers, soaring over the city of Changlu".Some even extended their power to Japan.There are many business projects and the scale of trade is huge.Traveling thousands of miles, I am used to it. Although I am far away from home, I don’t care about my wealth.This kind of professionalism of "trade relocation to all directions" can be said to be one of the main manifestations of the merchant spirit of the Shanxi Merchant Gang.

In the south, Huizhou merchants were formed in the mountainous area of ​​southern Anhui, where "all department stores are supplied from abroad". The problem of small land and large population also forced Huizhou people to embark on the road of doing business abroad.The Jin and Hui gangs had similar start-ups, and they both engaged in long-distance trafficking activities, and both of them showed their dedication and business spirit to a high degree.Professional dedication, persistent pursuit of career, showing amazing tenacity, instead of fishing in troubled waters, speculating for profit, and taking business as a shortcut to make a fortune, such a businessman is a real businessman with achievements.