How was Ximen Qing, the richest man in the Song Dynasty, tempered?

Lead: The representative work of Jin Ping Mei describes that Ximen Qing is a relatively vivid figure. When he first started out, he just had some money and was a drugstore businessman. How did he become the richest man in the Song Dynasty?

Let's see how rich Ximen Qing really is.

Ximen Qing died of lust. Before he died, he told his family that the assets at home were very clear:

After my death, the satin shop is 50,000 silver dollars. You can ask your father's parents for any principal and interest. Tell Fuman to sell the goods one by one, and don't open them. This four wool shop, this silver is six thousand five hundred and twenty; Uncle Wu's velvet shop costs 5200 yuan. All the goods are sold out and have been collected at home ... Li Sanhe and Huang Si still owe 520 yuan and 1522 interest, please send it to me. You only keep two stores at home with Fu. The silver shop takes up twenty-two thousand silver and five thousand two hundred raw medicine shops. Han man, come and protect the Songjiang ship. When you talk, you get up early to meet the boat below. Take it home, sell it, hand it in, and your bitch will pay for the trip. I am 220 less than Liu in front of the door, 520 less than my main book in China, and 3420 less than my principal and interest outside the store. All the contracts are here, so I have to hurry. In the future, the houses across the street and Lion Street will be sold. I'm afraid your woman can't take care of them.

So Ximen Qing has 672,000 silver, not counting real estate.

How much is ancient silver equivalent to today?

What about a hundred taels of silver? This is not a simple unit conversion, but based on the consumption level of the same class in ancient and modern times. After all, the ancients may only buy meat and clothes on holidays all the year round, and they usually spend no money and basically have no expenses. Modern people have to spend money to eat, drink, live and travel, and buy them at buy buy anytime and anywhere.

In the story of Jin Ping Mei, an extremely kind boy paid Li Pinger 125 yuan to buy an altar of Jinhua wine, two roast ducks, two chickens, a penny of fresh fish, a cubit of hooves, a penny of crispy fruit pie and a penny of rubbing flowers.

That is to say, a jar of Jinhua wine, two roast ducks, two chickens, a hoof and elbow, and fresh fish, a penny for a penny. After all, the chickens, ducks and pigs of the ancients were certainly not raised on such a large scale as they are now. It can be said that they are all native ducks, and most of the ancients can only eat meat on holidays. Therefore, the meal treated by this extremely young person is equivalent to the banquet that modern people spend 3000 yuan.

In other words, Ximen Qing's cash is: several hundred million.

Let's talk about real estate.

In the story of Jin Ping Mei, Ximen Qing bought a house for Wang Liuer in Lion Street, and spent 120 silver, two facades, four floors and eight rooms. It is equivalent to buying a house, two facades and six ordinary rooms in a busy area of the city. According to the current house price, it must be worth millions of RMB!

In the story of Jin Ping Mei, Xia Tixing, a poor colleague of Ximen Qing, sold it to the eunuch's nephew's house, with seven facades and five floors to the end, and 35 rooms with one living room and one flower pavilion for 1220 silver. According to the current house price, it must be at least tens of millions. Definitely a mansion.

In the story of Jin Ping Mei, Ximen Qing's house is certainly not worse than Xia Tixing's. Later, Ximen Qing spent five hundred and twenty pieces of silver to build a garden, and then bought the garden house next door at a cheap price of five hundred and forty pieces of silver.

There are many other properties in Ximen Qing, for example, seven hundred and twenty bought the old house of the Qiao family across the street; For example, two hundred and fifty pieces of silver bought Zhuangzi, a widow of Zhao outside the city, to expand the grave garden.

Ximen Qing is rich, so it is no wonder that Ximen Qing gave a gift to Cai, who is below one person and above ten thousand people, and got a fright.

How did Ximen Qing become the richest man in the Song Dynasty?

Ximen Qing inherited 5200 yuan from his father Ximen Pharmacy. Because he is the first in the family, people call him "Simon Dalang". When Ximen Qing made his fortune, people called him "Simon the Great Officer".

Ximen Qing has four ways to make money:

First, it is profitable to do business.

Ximen Qing made use of "buying cheap and selling expensive" to gain profits in business, and used the popular crisis to depress prices. For example, a businessman named He in Huzhou wanted to get rid of the silk thread of 520 taels of silver because he was in a hurry to go home. Ximen Qing forced the price down to 4520. In addition, Ximen Qing has set up a variety of business models, such as investing in silk shops.

Second, officials take bribes.

The relationship between Ximen Qing and the imperial court is very important for his future success. It is reported that he ingratiated himself with Cai Jing, a powerful official in the DPRK, and became a "deputy thousand households in the Zuofu of Jinwu Sweater, and a criminal office in Shandong", and later he was promoted to thousands of households. As the saying goes, "government and business are integrated, and financial resources complement each other", his business grew bigger and bigger, and he eventually became "the richest man in Shandong".

Since officials and businessmen are United, it is inevitable to do some shady things, such as using salt to lure profits and using national resources for personal gain. This is an example of salt policy corruption in the Ming Dynasty. It also includes tax evasion. Ximen Qing bribed tax collectors with small profits, which made the court suffer big losses and made huge profits.

3. Borrow money for interest.

Ximen Qing is good at usury. For example, Li San and Huang Si, businessmen who undertake the business of palace wax figures, borrowed money from Ximen Qing because they had no funds. Borrowing money from Ximen Qing is because it is easier for Ximen Qing to be an official. Finally, I borrowed 1520 silver, and the interest was "five points per month". It is equivalent to an annual interest rate of 60% and belongs to usury. In addition, the silver shop opened in Ximen Qing is also an important way to make money.

Fourth, concubinage makes money.

This is the most important and fastest way to make money in Ximen Qing. It is reported that Ximen Qing was once seen by "Wu Shenxian" and said that he had "many wives and many wealth in his life", which really hit home. Ximen Qing not only judges a book by its cover, but also stares at a woman's purse. His three daughters, Meng Yulou and six niang Li Pinger, are typical examples.

Unlike an old-school businessman, Ximen Qing earned money to buy land as a landlord. He is bent on returning to the countryside. He didn't buy land or invest in real estate. He only bought it once or twice occasionally for his own enjoyment, not investment.

Because at that time, investing in real estate not only required a lot of money, but also basically had no room for appreciation and did not make money at all. Ximen Qing once said a very great famous saying, "Silver".

This thing likes moving rather than being quiet ",so Ximen Qing never keeps a lot of spare money at hand. As soon as he made money, he expanded production or invested in new industries, such as pawnshops, satin shops and wool shops. Velvet shop, let Qian Shengqian, let the capital grow rapidly.

Summary: Most people only see Ximen Qing's lewd side, and even have an illusion that if they live as Ximen Qing, they will become Ximen Qing and the richest man. In fact, Ximen Qing is actually a business wizard. He not only has extraordinary foresight, keen business sense, huge network of contacts, but also has advanced management methods.

Indulgence is too easy to learn, and you can only degenerate step by step and become the most shameless and tasteless man.