Long ago, our country established a hierarchical system, from emperors and nobles to officials, scholars, and the lowest ranks of menial laborers, gatekeepers, and servants. Their salaries, treatment, housing, attire, funeral arrangements, and even their burial goods were all strictly regulated, with lower ranks unable to surpass higher ranks, and lower statuses unable to exceed higher statuses. As a result, there was a well-ordered hierarchy, and the common people enjoyed stability and prosperity.
Then, based on the different geographical conditions of various regions, the country taught the common people to plant trees and raise livestock. Grains, livestock, fish, birds, various plants, wood, tools, and all other necessities of life were abundantly produced. Moreover, the development and utilization of these resources were also controlled. Forests were not to be logged unless trees were withered; wild animals could not be trapped unless they had been sacrificed; and eagles could not be caught in nets unless they had been hunted. Even when gathering resources in accordance with the seasons, moderation was required, avoiding excessive logging in the mountains, damaging young plants in wetlands, and protecting fish and bird eggs. This ensured the sustainability of natural resources, allowing all living things to thrive and sufficient resources to be stored.
With these preparations, the common people could use their talents and work diligently according to local conditions. People cooperated and helped one another, and all industries developed well without government intervention, allowing everyone to live a good life. The Book of Changes states, "Rulers rely on wealth to assist and comply with heaven and earth, in order to govern the people." "Prepare various resources, create various objects, benefit the world, and there is nothing greater than a sage." This reflects the principle. The Book of Master Guan also mentions that the traditional four classes—scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—maintained distinct social roles. Scholars discussed ethics and morality, artisans debated techniques in government offices, merchants discussed business, and farmers deliberated on cultivation in the fields, with each group focusing on their own work, without being tempted by other professions.
Therefore, the teachings of parents are naturally effective, children's learning is effortless, and everyone lived comfortably, ate well, and dressed well. Even when they saw luxurious and extravagant things, they were not tempted, much like oil and water; they didn't mix. As a result, desires were reduced, life was orderly, wealth was sufficient, and there was no need for competition. Officials governed through morality and etiquette, so people felt a sense of shame and reverence, valued friendships, and did not covet money. That's why the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties ruled so effectively without resorting to harsh measures. After the decline of the Zhou dynasty, society's moral fabric frayed; the feudal lords built luxurious houses, and even minor officials lived in fine houses. The dances and music of sacrifices became extravagant and wasteful. This lavish lifestyle spread to the common people, who abandoned their traditional roles and responsibilities. Farming declined, commerce boomed, and the result was food shortages despite plenty of money.
After the reigns of Duke Huan and Duke Wen, things went downhill fast, with no respect for social hierarchy, inconsistent government policies, and wildly different family traditions. People's desires ran wild, and things were completely chaotic. As a result, everyone was scrambling for rare stuff and making a load of junk. Scholars were selling their souls for fashion and fortune. Two-faced people cared only about their image, and crooks would do anything for a buck. Anyone who grabbed power became a noble, and anyone who looted became a hero. Rules didn't stop the good guys from bending them, and laws didn't scare the bad guys one bit. The rich lived high on the hog, while the poor starved. Even regular folks judged each other by how much money they had, and even slaves didn't seem to mind. Cheats and liars did well for a while, but honest people were left out in the cold. It was all because the rulers didn't teach people right from wrong, and the laws were toothless. So I'm writing this down to show how things changed.
King Goujian of Yue was trapped in Kuaiji, so he employed Fan Li and Ji Ran. Ji Ran said, "To wage successful war, one must be prepared and deploy resources strategically. Mastering this allows one to understand market dynamics. Therefore, prepare boats for drought, carts for floods – that's the principle of resource management." Goujian followed Ji Ran's strategy, and ten years later, the country became strong. He rewarded soldiers generously, ultimately avenging and erasing the shame of Kuaiji. Fan Li sighed, "With Ji Ran's strategy, I achieved my goal with fifty percent effort. Since I can serve the country, I also want to serve my family." So he took a small boat, traveled extensively, changed his name, and went to Qi as Chi Yi Zi Pi and to Tao as Zhu Gong. He believed that Tao was at the center of the world, with convenient transportation and a hub for goods trading. Therefore, he engaged in business there, capitalizing on opportunities, always acting ethically. Over nineteen years, he amassed a considerable fortune three times, twice sharing his wealth with impoverished friends and family. In his old age, he let his descendants inherit the family business, rested, and eventually accumulated a huge fortune. So people praised him as Tao Zhu Gong.
Zigong (Zigan) studied under Confucius and then went to work as an official in the state of Wei. He made a fortune by trading between the states of Cao and Lu using his position. Among Confucius' seventy-two students, Zigong was the richest, while Yan Hui often went hungry and cold, living in a humble dwelling. Zigong traveled in grand style, with several horses pulling his carriage, a large entourage, and using large amounts of silk as gifts when visiting lords. Wherever he went, the rulers of those countries treated him as an equal. Yet, Confucius admired Yan Hui more, saying, "Yan Hui, despite his poverty, is a truly virtuous man. Zigong, while ignoring my advice to pursue wealth, always demonstrates sound judgment."
Bai Gui was a Zhou dynasty man. During the reign of Marquis Wen of Wei, Li Ke (Li Shi) was all about farming, while Bai Gui was good at observing changes in the situation. He bought low and sold high. He lived simply, kept his wants in check, dressed like his servants, and pounced on opportunities like a hawk. So he said, "My business is like Yi Yin and Jiang Taigong's strategy, Sun Tzu and Wu Qi's tactics, and Shang Yang's reforms. So, unless you're smart, brave, kind *and* tough, don't even bother asking me for lessons." Everyone in business considered Bai Gui their founding father.
Yi Dun became rich by selling salt, and Guo Zong from Handan succeeded in the metallurgical industry. They were practically as rich as emperors.
The Wu family raised livestock, sold it off when they had enough, bought fancy silks, and gifted them to the Rong king. The king showered them with gifts—ten times what they'd given him—and more livestock than they could count. The First Emperor made them princes and invited them to court regularly.
The widow Ba Qing inherited the Danxue from her ancestors. Through generations of management, she accumulated a huge fortune, with countless assets. She kept the family business going, her wealth keeping everyone else at bay. The First Emperor saw her as a virtuous woman, treated her like royalty, and even built her the Nuhuaiqing Terrace.
Life during the Qin and Han dynasties, even for commoners, could be surprisingly prosperous, as evidenced by the income sources of the nobles and their subjects. Those enfeoffed as nobles and kings received their income from land taxes, with each household paying two hundred in taxes annually. If one were enfeoffed as a marquis of a thousand households, they could collect two hundred thousand in a year, with expenses such as paying homage to the emperor and attending banquets covered by this amount. The common people, including farmers, craftsmen, and merchants, could also earn around two thousand a year, while those with significant assets could earn around two hundred thousand annually. They paid their taxes and corvée from this income, living comfortably with good food, clothing, and housing.
It is said that the land supported two hundred horses, a thousand head of cattle, a thousand sheep, thousands of pigs in the marshes, and countless fish in the water. The mountains boasted thousands of trees, including oak trees, while Anyi was known for its jujube trees. Yan and Qin had many chestnut trees, and Shu, Hanzhong, and Jiangling were home to numerous orange trees. Areas such as Huainan, Xingyang, Henan, and Jinan had many oak trees; Chen and Xia had extensive lacquer tree groves; Qi and Lu cultivated vast fields of mulberry and hemp; the Wei River Basin was rich in bamboo; and those famous cities featured thousands of acres of fertile land in the suburbs, alongside extensive fields of madder and numerous beds of ginger and chives. Their wealth rivaled that of the marquises of a thousand households.
Back in ancient times, they said, "If you want to get rich, farming's no match for factory work, factory work's no match for business, and even embroidery or scribing can't beat guarding the city gates and trading." This refers to the small-scale businesses and crafts that poor people relied on for survival. In the bustling marketplaces of the big cities, there were mountains of goods sold: thousands of barrels of wine, vinegar, and sauces; countless animal skins, grains, and loads of firewood; thousands of cargo boats, timber, bamboo poles, and carts; and oceans of lacquerware, bronze ware, ironware, minerals, silk, fabrics, spices, fish, abalone, dates, and more. All these were sold in quantities three times greater than what's listed. Dishonest merchants tripled their profits, while honest ones quintupled theirs! Their wealth was comparable to the rich who owned thousands of carts, reflecting the hustle and bustle of that time.
The Zhuo family's ancestors were from the Zhao kingdom and made their fortune in iron smelting. After the Zhao kingdom was conquered by the Qin kingdom, the Zhuo family moved to the Shu region, pulling a cart all the way. Many people who were relocated to the Shu region had little money left and rushed to find housing closer to the authorities, settling in Jiameng. Only the Zhuo family said, "This place is too small and poor. I heard that at the foot of Mount Yan, there is fertile land where there are birds called cun chi (a type of bird said to be easily caught) that can be eaten without getting hungry. The locals are also good at weaving cloth, which can be used for trade." So they requested to move to a more remote location. After moving to Linqiong, they were very happy and immediately built a smelting workshop on Iron Mountain, starting to do business and trading with the people of the Dian and Shu kingdoms, eventually amassing a fortune, boasting 800 servants, vast estates, and a lifestyle rivalling the emperor's.
The Cheng family and Zheng family also moved from Shandong and engaged in smelting and trading, accumulating a large amount of wealth, on par with the Zhuo family's. The Cheng and Zhuo families later declined, and during the reign of Emperor Cheng and Emperor Ai of the Han dynasty, the Luo family of Chengdu amassed a colossal fortune. Luo Puo initially did business in the capital, with millions of cash on his person, and helped the Shi family in Pingling manage their finances. The Shi family had great power, and Luo Puo held a high position in the family, being trusted and given a lot of money to trade between the Ba and Shu regions. In just a few years, he earned over ten million. Luo Puo used half of this money to bribe the Marquis of Quyang and the Marquis of Dingling, relying on their power to borrow from counties and prefectures, with everyone repaying him without fail. He also monopolized the salt well business, doubling his income that year, further increasing his wealth.
The Wan family's ancestors were iron smelters from the Liang State. After the Qin State conquered the Wei State, the Kong family moved to Nanyang. They built up a huge iron smelting business, cultivated fields, and rode around the various states, taking advantage of trading to become well-to-do young men. However, they earned a lot but spent little, accumulating a small fortune at home. Therefore, businessmen in Nanyang took the Kong family's extravagance as an example.
Folks in Lu were always tight with a buck, and the Bing family was even more so. They also started with iron smelting and became wealthy. However, from ancestors to brothers and nephews, they were all incredibly frugal; they'd pick up anything off the ground, even reach for things on high shelves, and constantly borrowed money to expand their business, spreading their trade across various counties and states. In Zoulu, people gave up studying to chase the money because of them.
The Qi people despised slaves, but the Dao family appreciated them. Those cunning slaves, a real pain for others, were gathered by the Dao family to engage in the trade of fish and salt. Some of them could even form teams of carriages and horses, protecting each other. The Dao family increasingly trusted them, eventually gaining their loyalty and accumulating tens of millions in wealth. Therefore, the saying "A loyal, wealthy slave is better than a sharp sword" means that the Dao family could make wealthy slaves work for them and make themselves rich as well. After the decline of the Dao family, during the reigns of Emperor Cheng and Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, the Wei family in Linzi also had assets of fifty million.
Even back in the Zhou, traders were doing pretty well, and the professional traders? They were even more successful. Luoyang's market was right in the middle of Qi, Qin, Chu, and Zhao. Rich merchants competed to see who'd been trading the longest, and they wouldn't even stop in towns; they just kept going. That's how they made their millions.
Later, those merchants declined. During the reigns of Emperor Cheng, Emperor Ai, and Wang Mang, Zhang Changshu and Xue Zizhong of Luoyang accumulated an absolute fortune. Wang Mang considered them silver-tongued and wanted to emulate Emperor Wu of Han in using merchants, but did not achieve the expected results.
The Ren family in Xuanqu had a history of working in the government granaries. When the Qin Dynasty fell, the bigwigs were all fighting over gold and silver, but only the Ren family secretly hid the grain in the warehouse. During the Chu-Han contention, when the battlefield was near Yingyang, the common people could not farm, and the price of grain rose to ten thousand coins per stone – an astronomical price! The wealthy had spent all their gold and silver, while only the Rens had a large amount of grain, which they used to become rich. Although the family was wealthy, they were very frugal, working hard in farming and animal husbandry. While others competed to buy at low prices, the Rens only bought high-priced, high-quality goods, so they became wealthy for several generations. The family had strict rules; they only ate and wore what they grew or raised, and they were not allowed to drink or eat meat until their duties were completed. These rules kept the family grounded and prosperous, allowing them to gain wealth and receive the emperor's attention.
Out on the sparsely populated frontier, only Qiaotao relied on trading horses to become wealthy. He owned over a thousand horses, twice as many cattle, ten thousand sheep, and grain measured in tens of thousands of bushels.
When the Wu-Chu War broke out, the nobles of Chang'an went to war with the army, carrying money and looking to borrow, but the wealthy people weren't sure who'd win and refused to lend money. Only Wuyanshi kindly lent a thousand gold pieces, with interest at one-tenth of the principal. Three months later, the Wu-Chu War ended. Within a year, Wuyanshi's investment had returned tenfold, making them wealthy in the Guanzhong region.
In the Guanzhong region, most of the wealthy merchants and magnates are engaged in agricultural production, cultivating legumes and various herbs. The Wei family and Anling Du family also possess enormous wealth. After the decline of the previous wealthy individuals, from the reign of Emperor Yuan and Emperor Cheng to the Wang Mang period, the wealthy individuals in the capital city include Fan Jia from Duling, Zhi Wang from Maoling, Ru Shi and Ju Shi from Pingling, Dan Wang Junfang from Chang'an, Chi Fan Shao Weng, and Wang Sun Daqing, all of whom are among the most prominent wealthy individuals in the empire. Fan Jia owns fifty million coins, and the rest also possess significant wealth. Wang Sun Daqing uses his wealth to cultivate scholars and make friends with heroes, and was appointed by Wang Mang as the Prefect of the capital markets, equivalent to the East Market Prefect of the Han Dynasty.
These examples are particularly noteworthy. In other counties and states, there are many wealthy families who manage several businesses simultaneously, raking in profits and wielding considerable influence in their local areas, too numerous to count. For example, Qin Yang makes a fortune by farming, Weng Bo sells lard and can influence a county town, Zhang sells soy sauce and lives extravagantly, Zhi works as a carpenter and leads a prosperous life, Zhuo sells dried meat and has amassed a large fortune, and Zhang treats horse diseases and is wealthy enough to show off his wealth by ringing bells. These individuals all operated outside the letter of the law. However, they conducted their businesses honestly, accumulated wealth, and gradually became affluent.
In contrast, individuals like Shu Zhuo, Wan Kong, and Dao Jian from the State of Qi monopolize resources such as mountains, rivers, copper, iron, fish, and salt, as well as income from the market. They employ various means to compete for the interests of kings, marquises, and generals above, while suppressing the businesses of the common people below, committing crimes of lawlessness, extravagance, and usurpation. Not to mention those who amass wealth through grave robbing and other nefarious activities, such as Qu Shu, Ji Fa, and Yong Lecheng, who, like the wicked men of the Xia Dynasty, corrupt social morals and contribute to the widespread chaos in the world.
