Reading Guiguzi at Night —— On Fan Li's Story

Read the complete works of Guiguzi in the evening. The last example of the article is the story of Fan Li. So tonight, I will review the legendary life of this China business sage with you.

He was born in Wan, Chu (now Nanyang, Henan). When he was young, he read widely and was full of strategies. But in Chu, it is not known to the world. After some consideration, he decided to go to Vietnam to seek development.

Unfortunately, in 494 AD, Gou Jian, King of Yue, fought with Fu Cha, King of Wu. As a result, he was defeated and was captured as a slave by the State of Wu. Fan Li followed Gou Jian as a slave in Wu for three years.

Three years later, Fan Li and others finally helped Gou Jian. By bribing Ai Bo, a courtier of the King of Wu, the King of Wu refused to listen to Wu Zixu's advice and let Gou Jian return to Yue.

After returning to Yue State, the doctor and help * * * worked out nine strategies for prospering Yue and destroying Wu. One of the strategies is the honey trap, which is to take advantage of Wu Wang's lewd weakness and finally achieve the goal of making Wu Wang play with things.

For this reason, I traveled all over the famous mountains and rivers, and finally visited the beautiful stone by the Huansha River in Zhuluoshan, Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Inspired by him, he deeply understood the great significance of rejuvenating the country and took the initiative to devote himself to the king of Wu, eventually helping Gou Jian successfully destroy Wu.

While Gou Jian was celebrating in Gusutai, he and the two men resolutely withdrew. In order to prevent the King of Yue from looking for him again, he deliberately took off his clothes by the lake and created a fake scene of throwing himself into the lake. Since then, I have been incognito and boating in five lakes.

But before he left, he secretly wrote a letter to his friend Wen Zi. In the letter, he told the truth that the birds were hidden and the rabbits were dead. But the language is inconsistent. As a result, it was not long before Wen Zi was executed by the King of Yue.

After retiring, Fan Li finally came to the seaside of Qi State. Reclaim land and engage in business in the local area. Because of its generosity, honesty and trustworthiness in business, it only takes one tenth of the profits at a time and has accumulated tens of millions of assets in a few years.

Fan Li's talent was appreciated and worshipped by the king of Qi. However, privately, Fan Li lamented from time to time: to be a prime minister in an official position and manage a family can earn 1000 yuan, which is the ultimate for Buyi. Being famous for a long time is probably not a good omen. So, three years later, he voluntarily returned to Xiangyin, exhausted his family wealth, and retired again.

Later, he settled in Tao (now the northwest of Dingtao County, Shandong Province) and continued to do business. His business philosophy is: people abandon me and take it, people take me and use it, let nature take its course and wait and see. As a result, he became rich in a few years. From then on, Fan Li was named Tao Zhugong. Later generations honored him as the God of Wealth and the originator of Confucian merchants.

Later generations commented on his life: loyalty to the country, wisdom to protect themselves, getting rich in business and becoming famous all over the world. Throughout his life, Fan Li was quite successful, whether he was an official, a soldier or a businessman. He knows the truth that big names don't last long, and he has long been unlucky enough to be respected. He can resist the irresistible temptation of ordinary people, or resolutely choose to retire after success, or stay rich without extravagance. These are indeed in line with the philosophy of life.

I strongly recommend Guiguzi to everyone here. Because what is Yin? What is Yang? Why is it vertical? What is level? What is this? What is the end? What is progress? What is retreat? These seemingly simple things contain profound philosophy. It can be said that we can learn too much from the ancients.