Poor and white, strong and not falling into the blue sky.

Create Huangshan Mountain, Mao Feng and Xiang Piao Hai Si.

This is the legendary story of Xie's tea house in Caoxi, Huangshan.

In China, many families have their own legends.

Such legends are mostly tragic and tragic. Because of the long history of the Chinese nation, disasters occur frequently. The poet said, "In the old days, Xieyan Wang flew into the homes of ordinary people"; Ordinary people believe in the "law" of the rise and fall of the so-called "three generations of wealth". As for specific examples in this regard, it can be said that there are countless examples. On the contrary, those scholars who do not show off their social status and are not proud of their wealth can relatively achieve "long-term cultivation/long-term poetry."

The legendary experience of several generations of Xie's tea family in Caoxi, Huangshan City, which will be introduced in this paper, on the one hand, seems to confirm that the above statement is "reasonable" and conforms to the "hidden rules" of China's historical development; On the other hand, it subverts the above statement. Mao Feng, a famous tea family in Huangshan, reached the peak of tea collection and circulation at that time a hundred years ago. After experiencing all kinds of twists and turns and even difficulties, after experiencing social upheaval and great changes again and again, it suddenly appeared in front of the business community and the world, and people even felt unprepared for its reappearance and development.

This legend began with Zheng Xie 'an, one of the top ten Huizhou merchants in history not long ago, and ended with Xie Yiping, the famous trademark holder of Caoxi brand Huangshan Mao Feng, a new tea tycoon, at the beginning of 2 1 century.

On a sunny autumn day, I listened to my father, 73-year-old Mr. Xie Jilong, telling the history of their Xie family in Caoxi for more than 100 years. This history has been hidden in the old man's heart, and now it is spread on the golden sunshine of the new century and on the desk of his son Xie Yiping's company office in Yansi. What I saw was two pieces of paper written by Mr. Xie's great-grandfather Zheng Xie 'an, which was called "will" from the preface. In my opinion, no matter from which point of view, this preface should be completely recorded in this Xie's legend: the preface accumulates goodness and preserves benevolence, and life is crucial. Use it carefully and have good strategies. I inherited the teachings of my ancestors, listened to their advice, and tasted: "Those who are diligent prosper, those who are arrogant and extravagant lose." I obeyed, but I dare not lose it. Dating back to the middle of Xianfeng, Guangdong bandits fled the emblem and their belongings were exhausted. I thank my brother for being rich (serving) his parents and taking refuge. It is a fact that soldiers are dying. Times were a little flat, but natural disasters and plagues led to the death of most uncles and in-laws. After only two years of study, my brother died. When you are helpless, there is no place at home. If you die, don't worry about the fallen waves; I'm afraid of life, and I swear to hold my husband's door again. After the Tongzhi era, business flourished. When ancestors and fathers were in power, Yu Xiang was outside and created various industries. It was a bumper year, a bumper year, and it was possible to accumulate this meager production and set up this land. Today, the family is a little richer and the number of people is becoming more and more complicated. In retrospect, it is also lucky. But the industry in this place should be based on the good deeds of ancestors and decades of hard work for the rest of my life, and come from thrift. Four brothers, such as Cao (the first name is Dajun, the second name is Bingzhen, the fourth name is Fu, the third name is Hong, and the fourth name is Chang), have all been established. Therefore, in addition to the public sacrifice, the land industry was divided into four parts, each of which was awarded to Youcao. After my separation, I hope that my children and grandchildren will live and prosper, live in harmony, follow the teachings of their ancestors, sympathize with their hard work all their lives, guard against arrogance and extravagance, be diligent and thrifty, and strive for progress, so as to have something to look forward to! Please encourage me.

Zheng An, the father of two-year-old Geng Chunyue Jiri, described himself as the first one ordered by his ancestors and wrote.

This preface consists of 465 words.

But it is difficult to describe the content with dozens of times of words. This content naturally includes its extension, that is, Xie Zhengan inculcates future generations, but future generations cannot directly inherit and carry forward the work of their ancestors.

At the same time, we must also note that the word "tea" is not mentioned throughout this preface, but refers to "business" and "all walks of life"

This actually means that tea is the mainstay and all industries are prosperous. At that time, Xie Zhengan was already a big businessman.

Naturally, before Xie Zhengan wrote Huangshan Mao Feng, Huangshan was rich in tea. According to Huizhou Fuzhi, "Tea production in Huangshan started in Song Zhijia and flourished in Qin Long in the Ming Dynasty." Jiang Chengyun's Distinguishing Records of Su Hu in Qing Dynasty recorded: "There is cloud tea in Huangshan Mountain, which is extremely high in the mountains, with ripples of smoke and dew. It has a history of 100 years, with elegant breath and no vulgar taste, and should be the first of tea products. There is also a kind of Cui Yucha, which is also produced in Huangshan Mountain. The color is greener, the fragrance is stronger, and the fragrance is slightly less than that of clouds. " The old Huangshanzhi also said: "Tea is cultivated in the crevice beside the Lotus Temple, with a light fragrance and a cold rhyme that strikes the palate, and it is called Huang Shanyun. ..... Wuyun tea cultivated by the mountain monk on the tiny soil in the crevice is slightly fragrant and slightly cold, far better than Kuanglu. " According to the authoritative China Tea Classic published in recent years, Huang Shanyun is the predecessor of Huangshan Mao Feng.

China Tea Classic also confirmed that Xie Zhengan was the founder of Huangshan Mao Feng. Introduction in the book: Xie Zhengan takes tea as his profession, not only runs teahouses, but also is proficient in tea picking technology. 1875 or so, in order to meet the needs of the market, every year in Tomb-Sweeping Day, Tangkou, Fuxi, Caoxi and Chongchuan at the foot of Huangshan Mountain climb famous mountain gardens, collect tender and tender buds, carefully fry them and name them "Huangshan Mao Feng", which is distributed in Northeast China and North China. Since the five-port trade, Shanghai has become the largest commercial port in China. Huangshan Mao Feng quickly entered the Shanghai Beach and received rave reviews, which attracted British and Russian tea merchants to scramble for it. Huangshan Mao Feng became famous for a while and was recognized as the best in tea. During Guangxu period, "Xie Tea House" has become the top five tea merchants in Huizhou.

Before arriving in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the annual output of Huangshan time-honored Mao Feng had reached100t.

Under what circumstances did Xie Zhengan expand his career? His preface has been briefly explained. During the Xianfeng period, wars and epidemics continued in Huizhou, resulting in a situation of ten rooms and nine empty rooms, and a large number of people lost. Cao Xi's Xie family also realized that most of their families were in decline, and "there was almost no place to stand". Zheng Xie 'an didn't mention their family's economic situation before the war. According to the law, the more money they had in the war, the more serious the losses they suffered. Xie Jia should be a well-off and wealthy family. When they came to a place where there was no place to stand and started over, they gave their store number "Jin Kang". Why did they name it Jin Kang? Caoxi Xie knew the glory of their ancestors in the history of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The so-called "jittery wind" and "on Bagong Mountain" are all well-known idioms related to the great achievements of their ancestors in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. At that time, Xie's three generations were poor, but they never lost their ambition to reach the top, planting, purchasing and processing tea. Zheng Xie 'an is in charge of marketing. At that time, it was a short-lived business opportunity of "rejuvenating the country with light", and a family that had been tossed by the war became rich again. Xie Zhengan carefully organized a commodity circulation network with tea as the mainstay. In the first year of Guangxu, they changed the name of the head office to "Xie" (while retaining "Jin Kang" as a semicolon symbol until the Anti-Japanese War. ) the meaning is not so old-fashioned and rich, but it is far from satisfying. It must be carried forward. And Zheng Xie 'an's career is also in line with his signature. From the first year of Guangxu to the twentieth year of Guangxu, Zheng Xie 'an's career was in full swing, like snowballing, and financial resources were rolling. Until now, tea farmers in Caoxi area are still telling all kinds of bizarre stories about Xie Jia's wealth at that time. As for why Gu Jie suddenly became so rich? People say that Zheng Xie 'an's wife will bring all kinds of good luck. Zheng Xie's wife is the beloved daughter of Shexian scholar Xu Qiu. There are two moles hidden in the middle of her eyebrows, which people call Zhu Jin. How can she not get rich and become an official? (Naturally, he donated officials with money. Xie Zhengan had two titles, namely "imperial doctor" and "imperial doctor", which were five products and four products respectively, and became the only "red-topped businessman" in Huangshan area at that time. By the way, he also donated a five-piece "Dr. Zheng Feng" to his father. )

At this time, although Xie Zhengan mainly engaged in tea, forest and other mountain products, times have changed. In addition to teahouses distributed all over the country, he also invested in soap, candles, paper and cakes. From 65438 to 0908, he invested in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province and established Soap Candle Co., Ltd. At that time, the "New Deal" was popular all over the country, and Anhui also planned to organize the railway through private fund-raising. 1906, Xie Zhengan invested in "Guiyuan" and became the shareholder of the railway to be repaired. Of course, he did not forget to invest in education, which is the traditional behavior of Huizhou merchants. If the holiday lasts for several years, Xie Zhengan is likely to complete the transformation from a traditional Huizhou merchant to a modern national industrialist.

But at this moment, shortly after Xie Zhengan wrote the preface, a generation of tycoons who did not formally leave a will died, leaving behind a large number of industries and piles of gold and silver, as well as a large group of descendants including four sons and four daughters. That year was 19 10, 72 years old.

At that time, the situation in China was in jeopardy, and the Manchu dynasty was about to fall.