Spirit of Jin Merchants - Prosperity Secrets of a 200-Year-Old Store

Author: Yu Fan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: By chance, Qiao Ziyong encountered Wang Xie, an elderly merchant from Pingyao, who had become the descendant of the Huazi family. Qiao Ziyong bought a copy of the "Overview of the Great Qing Empire" left by Wang Xie with a fur robe and a string of money from him. This map sparked great interest for Qiao Ziyong and Sun Maocai. The map was marked with different colored pens: a green line ran from Wuyi Mountain northward, across the Yangtze River, along the Han River, through the Taihang Mountains, into Jinzhong, out of Yanmenguan, and connected to Kalgan and Kharkorin in the north—both believed to be the Tea Road. A blue line, from the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region to Lüzhou in Shanxi, was undoubtedly the Silk Road. Since the late Ming Dynasty, Shanxi merchants had been trading silk from Jiangsu-Zhejiang to Lüzhou in Shanxi, weaving it into silk, and then selling it nationwide. A brown line stretched from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan to the northeast, which was undoubtedly the medicinal route traveled by the elderly Wang. It then branched off to Guangdong and Guangxi, and another white line ran from Shanxi to Yangzhou, then turned toward Beijing and Tianjin—this must be the Salt Road. Additionally, some red lines were marked with numerous red circles, which, according to their analysis, were the trade routes and businesses established by the elderly Wang in the Qing Empire.
To realize the dream of Shanxi merchants to make their goods reach every corner of the world, the predecessors of Shanxi merchants ventured north to the deserts, south to the South China Sea, east to the farthest borders, and west to the most remote regions—truly achieving the vision of "goods reaching every corner of the world." This map also gave Qiao Ziyong unprecedented inspiration. He discovered the Tea Road from Qiaoketuo to Wuyi Mountain, the Silk Road and Silk Route from Jiangsu-Zhejiang to Lüzhou in Shanxi, all pioneered by the elderly Wang to realize the ideal of Shanxi merchants to make their goods reach every corner of the world.
From this map, Qiao Ziyong analyzed his family's situation in detail: grain, oil, silk, tea, salt, and iron were the greatest businesses in the world. However, the grain and oil business was not the core of Qiao's family, and salt and iron were state monopolies. The remaining major businesses were silk and tea. But at the time, the situation was dire—years of war had cut off both the Silk Road and the Tea Road in the south. Everyone knew the Tea Road was blocked, yet no one tried to restore it. But what if they did? Wouldn't the Tea Road open up?
What was even more important was that from this map, Qiao Ziyong saw the ambition and vision of his predecessors. Qiao Ziyong had always been pondering how to make the greatest business in the world and benefit all people. At this moment, a great life goal gradually took shape in his heart. He made a silent resolution in his life: he would also, like the elderly Wang, venture north to the deserts, south to the South China Sea, east to the farthest borders, and west to the most remote regions, to realize the dream of "goods reaching every corner of the world" that his predecessors had failed to achieve! A sense of grand ambition surged within him, as if he would sit in Longzhong and divide the world.
Qiao Ziyong's strategic wisdom in viewing the world allowed him to determine the direction of Qiao's family's business from a high-level perspective. P2-3