There is no such thing as being rich for only three generations. Follow Zeng Guofan’s horoscope and it will be difficult for you to be poor.

It is said that "one cannot be rich for more than three generations", but in history, there are not a few families that have been rich for three generations.

The most famous "rich generation" is the Rothschild family.

Once, when Rothschild visited China and was asked about the secret to staying rich, he said:

“The best students in China will study finance, and I The children chose philosophy. I think philosophy can make people live more clearly.”

In other words, he believes that the Rothschild family can stay rich through philosophy.

Why does staying rich depend not on finance but on philosophy?

Zeng Guofan wrote a letter home to his fourth brother: "The Eight-Character Rules for Managing a Family". The philosophy of life reflected in it can prove Rothschild's point of view.

So what are these eight-character formulas?

In Zeng Guofan's view, running a family must first be "book, vegetable, fish and pig".

Book refers to reading; vegetables: refers to growing vegetables; fish: refers to raising fish; pig: refers to raising pigs.

Why does he think so?

01 Reading

As for reading, Zeng Guofan believes that a family without reading is hopeless.

In the Qing Dynasty where he lived, "everything was low-grade, only reading was high-grade."

All professions are despicable, except for those who enter officialdom through studying.

Today, there are three hundred and sixty professions, and there are top picks in all professions. We can no longer say that all industries are inferior. However, reading is still your most powerful weapon to reach the top of the economic or political pyramid.

If you don’t believe me, look at the top of the economic pyramid. Buffett, Bill Gates and Jack Ma are all people who love reading.

If you don’t believe it, look at the top of the political pyramid. All the leaders of our party are people who love reading.

How to get rich? Only reading.

02? Vegetable, Fish and Pig

After talking about reading, let’s talk about “Vegetable, Fish and Pig”.

The reason why Zeng Guofan emphasized these three things was actually to make it clear: do it yourself and have enough food and clothing.

Have you ever seen a very hardworking person starve to death?

No.

Only lazy people will starve to death.

When I was in elementary school, there was a classmate in our class who couldn’t afford the tuition because his family was poor.

Why is his family poor?

Because his parents are lazy.

When my grandma heard about this situation, she said that this classmate’s parents were really lazy. In fact, as long as they work a little harder, even if they just grow some vegetables and sell them at the market, they will definitely be able to collect several hundred yuan for their children's tuition.

Therefore, there is no salvation for lazy people.

In Zeng Guofan’s view, running a family requires not only “books, vegetables, fish and pigs”, but also “early cleaning and treasure testing”.

Zao means to get up early; sweep means to clean up; kao means to offer sacrifices to ancestors; bao means to have good interpersonal relationships.

01 Get up early

Let’s start with getting up early.

Zeng Guofan once said: "Being a good person starts from getting up early, focusing on whether you can cheer up and let this heart dominate in that moment of thought."

Famous scholar Nan Huaijin He once said: "He who can control the morning can control his life."

Look at how those awesome people control their mornings and then their lives.

Kobe Bryant saw Los Angeles at 3 a.m.;

Wang Jianlin started his day at 5 a.m.;

Apple founder Steve Jobs got up at 4 a.m. exercise.

It is said that "the early bird catches the worm"? If you can't even get up early, how can you control your life?

Franklin once said: "I have never seen an early, diligent, cautious, honest person complain about a bad life."

If you feel that your life is bad, Start by getting up early.

02 Cleaning

After talking about getting up early, let’s talk about cleaning.

Let me share with you the experience of a young man.

This young man was going to open a store on the street where his home was located in six months. He asked his father what he should prepare first.

My father said, first clean the streets every day. Also, help anyone who encounters difficulties.

Although the young man was dubious about this, he still did it.

Half a year later, the young man’s store opened.

To his surprise, almost all the neighbors on the street became his customers.

A few months later, many people from the neighboring streets came.

More than a year later, everyone in the city knew about him and his store.

So he opened branches and chain stores and became an entrepreneur with tens of millions of assets.

It can be said that this young man’s success started by cleaning the streets.

As the saying goes, "If you don't clean one house, how can you sweep the world?" If you can't even clean your own house, how can you expect someone who is so unreliable to accomplish other great things?

03 Sacrificing ancestors

Why did Zeng Guofan emphasize the need to worship ancestors?

I think he especially hopes that he, his brothers, sisters and descendants can follow the example of his grandfather "Xinggang Gong" Zeng Yuping.

The eight-character formula for managing a family was created by Zeng Yuping, and it was thanks to this that the glory of Zeng Guofan's generation was achieved.

In my opinion, Zeng Guofan believed that worshiping ancestors was to maintain a kind of reverence for ancestors.

Ancestors are like gods, watching your every move.

Only by maintaining this kind of reverence and having a clear conscience, can the home be cured.

04 Improve interpersonal relationships

Zeng Yuping often said:

"Treating others is a priceless treasure."

It is true. Just like the young man mentioned above, ostensibly he won the admiration of his neighbors for cleaning the streets, so they came to patronize the shop opened by this young man. In fact, it was because he had established a good relationship with his neighbors.

Essentially, you only pay for people you trust.

Therefore, young men rely on winning people's hearts to achieve later career success.

It can be seen that the human heart is a priceless treasure. The more you win people's hearts, the more priceless treasures you will have.

Don’t just believe that only three generations of wealth can last. There are actually many “multi-generational riches” like the Rothschild family.

Because the truly rich are very low-key.

Unlike those high-profile nouveau riche, the truly rich will turn their families into nobles.

By adopting Zeng Guofan’s eight-character formula for running a family, they became true aristocrats.

In China, the truly rich and wise people all read Zeng Guofan.

I know a big boss with a net worth of over 100 million, but money is just a number to him.

However, this boss is very crisis-conscious and feels that if the family members do not make progress, they will easily repeat the tragedy of the Jia family in "A Dream of Red Mansions".

For this reason, he often called his brothers together to study Zeng Guofan.

There were very few great figures in ancient times who could start well and end well, and Zeng Guofan was one of them.

This boss believes that only by practicing Zeng Guofan's wisdom can the family's glory be continued.

Among so many books about Zeng Guofan, "The Biography of Zeng Guofan" written by teacher Zhang Hongjie is the most accessible.

Take a copy home during Double 11 and make it your pillow book.

Read a few pages of it every day and you will gain a lot.

The best time to read Zeng Guofan was ten years ago, followed by now.

If you don’t read it now, when will you wait?

Today’s topic: What are your views on how to manage a family or a business well? Welcome to leave a message below to interact with me.