Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

Chapter 259 The 1st Generation Grandmaster

Lü Buwei was born into a merchant family and had no conditions to write books, but he was good at strategy and had a lot of insights. So he used these retainers who were good at writing to realize his ambitions and wishes.

Finally, under the leadership of Lu Buwei, the "Lüshi Chunqiu", which was a culmination of the works of various pre-Qin philosophers, was completed.

It is said that after the compilation of Lüshi Chunqiu was completed, it was hung on the gate of the capital of Qin State, offering a reward of 1,000 gold coins to anyone who could find and modify a single word. This is also the origin of the saying "one word, 1,000 gold coins".

This shows how rigorous the compilation of Lüshi Chunqiu was. The influence of this book on later culture cannot be underestimated. Its philosophical thoughts, political thoughts, and historical materials on science and culture it has preserved are all of great significance.

After reading "Lüshi Chunqiu", although Sima Qian basically described the evil side of Lü Buwei's character in his biographies in "Records of the Grand Historian", Sima Qian was able to write a separate biography for him and respectfully call him "Zhongfu" at the end of the chapter, which is enough to show his recognition of his identity as a thinker and his contributions to ideology and culture.

So, what is the Miscellaneous School? In fact, there was no such thing as Miscellaneous School in the Pre-Qin period. The name Miscellaneous School was coined by the writers Liu Xiang and Liu Xin in the Western Han Dynasty.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, hundreds of schools of thought contended with each other, and each had its own countermeasures and ideas for governing the country. In order to defeat other schools, each school more or less absorbed the doctrines of other schools, attacked each other, and improved the defects of its own doctrines.

The eclectic school took Taoist thought as its keynote, adhered to the behavioral code of "ruling by inaction", used Confucian ethics to determine the value standard, absorbed the Mohist concept of justice, the logical thinking of the Names School, the state governance skills of the Legalists, and added the changes in the power strategies of the Military Strategists and the geographical pursuits of the Agriculturalists, to form a complete theory of state governance.

In his book "Introduction to the Miscellaneous School", Ji Xiaolan believed that the Miscellaneous School is broadly all-encompassing. To put it simply, the Miscellaneous School is a "hodgepodge", which is also the essence of the Miscellaneous School.

At that time, the thoughts of various schools of thought had a main trunk, which was Taoism, and the other schools of thought were equivalent to branches.

The Miscellaneous School is different from the other Hundred Schools of Thought in that it cut off all the branches of other schools, collected and sorted them out, and then formed a new trunk. Therefore, some people believe that the Miscellaneous School is a "new Taoist school."

Mr. Hu pointed out in his Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy that Taoism is the predecessor of the Miscellaneous School and that Taoism is the "psychology" of the Miscellaneous School. The Taoism before the Han Dynasty can be called the Miscellaneous School, and the Miscellaneous School after the Han Dynasty should be called the Taoism.

For the eclectic school, the lack of a central idea is both its advantage and disadvantage. The advantage is that it can integrate and understand, avoiding the drawbacks of many schools of thought, insisting on open-mindedness and tolerance, often not following the old ways, and can innovate on this basis.

However, the disadvantage is that the school is loose and difficult to integrate. Without its own central idea, it simply summarizes other schools to throw out some new ideas, which does not contribute much to the Chinese pre-Qin ideological system.

Therefore, if we look at it from a certain strict standard, the eclectic school does not seem to have any status in the history of thought. The eclectic school seems to be a "good student who scores 80 points in every subject", but does not achieve excellence in any subject.

Such a school of thought naturally cannot play any leading role. And for a school of thought, it is a bit unbelievable to expect it to be preserved for a long time without its own uniqueness.

In fact, there are some people around us who seem to be knowledgeable and understand the basic knowledge in various fields, but they spend a lot of energy on these and have no time to delve into a field they are proficient in.

The final result is that they know everything but are good at nothing. This is also the reason why polymaths have not been particularly prominent in history.

Although it is claimed that it "combines Confucianism, Mohism, Nominalism, Legalism and the teachings of all schools of thought, and is comprehensive", in fact not many of its ideas have been passed down, and no trace has been left in the history of thought.

[Read the master of Ji Ran School in one breath - Ji Ran's historical knowledge and wealth code]

He was the teacher of the business saint Fan Li, and can be called the godfather of capital in the Spring and Autumn Period.

He was also the first economist in Chinese history and discovered the code of wealth. In this video, let's talk about Ji Ran, a native of Song during the Spring and Autumn Period, and the "Ji Ran School" among the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Speaking of Ji Ran, I believe many people will feel unfamiliar. But when it comes to Fan Li, I believe everyone should have some understanding. Fan Li "used wisdom to protect himself, business to make wealth, and became famous throughout the world."

In those days, Fan Li helped Gou Jian, the King of Yue, to successfully take revenge. After that, he retired from the business world and became a super-rich man through three business ventures. He was later revered as the "Business Saint". According to the "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Merchants", Fan Li once said: "Ji Ran had seven strategies, and Yue used five of them and was successful."

"Ji Ran failed in his country, so he has no family to employ." This means that Ji Ran had 7 strategies, and Fan Li used 5 of them to help the King of Yue destroy the State of Wu. Later, Fan Li retired and used Ji Ran's strategies to do business, becoming the richest man in the world three times and a tycoon.

Ji Ran was Fan Li's teacher and one of the important ministers who helped Gou Jian to destroy Wu. Ji Ran was as legendary as Gui Guzi, a mysterious and elusive hermit and wise master.

His "Seven Strategies" can be regarded as the wealth code of the Spring and Autumn Period. If you can master them, you may become the next Jack Ma.

So, who exactly is Ji Ran? How could a figure like Fan Li worship him as his teacher? And why did his seven strategies make Fan Li a super-rich man?

Ji Ran, also known as Ji Yan, was a native of Song. It is unknown when he was born or when he died, but his status is not ambiguous. The Book of Han, Yiwenzhi, once recorded: "Ji Ran was Fan Li's teacher. His original name was Xin, and his courtesy name was Wenzi. His ancestors were from Jin, and later moved to Chu."

It is said that he was the only disciple of Laozi, which was quite prestigious. He regarded himself as the descendant of Laozi, also known as "Ji Ran". He was also one of the important representatives of the "Ji Ran School" among the Hundred Schools of Thought.

The so-called "Ji Ran School" is a school of thought that specializes in the study of economic thought, represented by Ji Ran, Fan Li, Cai Ze, etc. Ji Ran can be called the first economist in Chinese history.

According to Fan Li's book Fan Zi, Ji Ran was "well-versed in everything, especially good at calculations, proficient in yin and yang, and able to see the big picture from the subtle." Everyone in the world knew his name.

During the conflict between Wu and Yue, Wen Zhong directly managed the political affairs of Yue, Fan Li assisted Gou Jian in military affairs, but Ji Ran was different from Wen Zhong and Fan Li, and his main contribution was in the economic field.

Ji Ran gave Gou Jian 7 business secrets, but Gou Jian only used 5 of them. What was the result? The history book says: "When a country is rich and its soldiers are strong, they cannot drink." This means that under Ji Ran's governance, the country of Yue became rich and its soldiers were strong, and the treatment of the soldiers also improved accordingly.

With better treatment, the soldiers fought as if they were thirsty and went to drink water. After that, the State of Yue became stronger and successfully avenged the State of Wu. As a result, Gou Jian became one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.

Ji Ran's amazing talent in the field of economics is recorded in detail in his seven strategies. When the King of Yue was able to return to Yue after enduring for many years in Wu, he wanted to take revenge and asked Ji Ran for advice.

Ji Ran then offered advice to Gou Jian that in order to achieve the goal, the country must first become prosperous and strong. He proposed a strategy for developing the economy based on the laws of nature.

First, "In case of drought, prepare boats; in case of flood, prepare cars; this is the nature of things." This can be called the "wait-and-see principle." Simply put, it means to choose the right time, buy at a low price, and sell at a high price. That is, to buy at a low price by taking advantage of drought, flood, cold or heat, and sell at a high price, and to be ready to sell at any time.

Here, "资" means need and purchase. This sentence means that when drought occurs, we need to buy boats, and when floods occur, we need to buy vehicles. On the surface, it seems to be contrary to actual needs and is an unrealistic business idea.

In fact, this is not the case. Because droughts may be followed by floods, and floods may be followed by droughts. We need to prepare early to prevent any unexpected events.

Don't just focus on the droughts and floods in front of us, but be prepared for floods after droughts and droughts after floods.

Investors must also fully consider both the advantages and disadvantages in the market. They should see the disadvantages in favorable situations so as to avoid possible disasters; they should see the advantages in unfavorable situations so as to seize the upcoming opportunities.

Second, the "price control theory": low grain prices hurt farmers, high grain prices hurt merchants. If farmers are hurt, grass will not be cleared, and if merchants are hurt, money will not be spent. If the price does not exceed 80 and does not fall below 30, both farmers and merchants will benefit.

If the price of grain is too low, it will hurt the farmers. If the farmers are hurt, they will not work hard to produce, and the farmland will be abandoned.

If the price of grain is too high, it will harm the interests of industrialists and businessmen. If industry and commerce are damaged and no one engages in industry and commerce, the economy will be in trouble.

If the grain price is limited to no less than 30 and no more than 80, it will benefit both agriculture and industry and commerce. We cannot dance with the rules like this. Isn't it the way to govern the country if there is no shortage of goods at the checkpoints and markets?

They advocated the use of coupons, which required that in years of bumper harvests the state would purchase and store grain; in years of poor harvests when there was a shortage of grain, the state would sell the grain at a fair price. This would help stabilize the prices of grain and other commodities. This was called "dance with coupons."

Third, the "theory of real value": the principle of accumulation, the pursuit of complete goods, and interest-free currency. To ensure that goods are transferred in a timely manner and circulated economically, it is unprofitable to keep goods at rest for a long time.

Don't play with easy access, and make sure to ensure the quality of the goods you sell. When purchasing goods, do not store rotten things for a long time, and avoid cheating consumers just because of the high price.

The word "material" must be emphasized, which shows the importance attached to product quality. In the process of marketing, special attention should be paid to maintaining the smooth flow of funds, and not accumulating too much funds in one's own hands. This is called interest-free currency.

Fourth, the "Opportunity of Trade" Theory: When trading with goods, do not keep perishable goods, and do not dare to keep them at a high price. Do not keep perishable food for a long time, and do not wait to sell it at a high price.

Otherwise, you will suffer losses due to small profits. Don't look at small profits. When funds are running faster, you have actually achieved the effect of increasing profits. However, if you blindly hoard goods and raise prices, you may end up with nothing.

This is the reason why you should not be too expensive. After all, high profits cannot exist in real time. Small profits but quick turnover is actually the best way to turn risks into profits.

Fifth, the theory of value judgment: If you know what is expensive and what is cheap, you will know how to buy and sell. How can you know which goods will increase in price and which will decrease in price? You only need to look at the quantity of these goods, or which ones are in excess and which ones are in short supply, and you can know the rise and fall of their prices.

The "surplus" here means oversupply, and the "shortage" means undersupply. If supply exceeds demand, prices will fall, and vice versa. This is the price law under the commodity economy.

As early as more than 2000 years ago, the outstanding economist Ji Ran had fully recognized the existence of this law. In the market after 2000 years, this law still continues.

On the one hand, when the market capacity is small and external funds are sufficient, things will rise in price because they are in short supply; on the other hand, when the market continues to expand and external funds cannot keep pace, there will be an oversupply of things relative to the funds and prices will fall.

Qi Six Things Will Turn to the Reverse When They Go to the Extreme: When the price of something is extremely expensive, it will turn to cheap, and when the price of something is extremely cheap, it will turn to expensive. When the price of a commodity rises to a certain level, it will develop in the opposite direction, and vice versa.

This idea about the "degree" or "extreme" of things in the process of development, as well as the view that "extremes lead to the opposite", is typical dialectical thinking.

In the market, even stocks with excellent performance and the most investment value will inevitably fall when they rise to a certain level. This fully reflects the market law that "everything will turn into its opposite when it reaches its extreme".

In fact, the capital turnover theory also mentioned: "Sell at a high price like dirt, buy at a low price like pearls and jade, and its flow is like flowing water." Ji Ran told the rulers or businessmen that they should not only understand the laws of "scarcity makes things valuable" and "extremes lead to the reverse", but also use these laws to make bold decisions.

That is, when the price of goods is high, you should be able to act decisively and treat the goods as dirt and sell as much as possible; on the contrary, when the price of goods is low, you should treat the goods as treasures and buy as much as possible.

To do this, investors need to have a calm mind and rational thinking. However, quite a number of investors like to chase rising prices and sell falling prices, which results in investors always blindly chasing rising prices when the market rises to a high level, and panic selling at a loss when the market falls to a low level.

Investors must overcome this habit of thinking and resolutely sell when prices rise to a certain height or face negative trends; when prices fall to a certain depth, they must resist the interference of various negative news, resolutely buy on dips, and cherish the cheap chips in their hands as treasures.

The way of business is like a long stream of water. If you keep it, it will live, if you stagnate, it will die. Energizing is the principle of business. These 7 strategies are not only the way of governance to make the country prosperous, but also the business skills and business laws that Fan Li used to make a fortune.

It can be said that Ji Ran’s strategy was an economic and trade war launched by the State of Yue against the State of Wu. This may be the earliest trade war in human history.

From this, it can be seen that Ji Ran was not only a thinker and a wise master, but also an outstanding economist. He was the first thinker to propose the idea of ​​price fluctuations, believing that if the price of a commodity is too high, it will fall, and if the price is too low, it will rise.

The economic laws and business management theories he revealed were advanced and advanced in the era dominated by agriculture. Even in this era, Ji Ran's economic and business theories are still of practical significance.