During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants were the two most powerful local business gangs at that time. Today, the influence of Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants is still not small. The courtyard of Shanxi merchants has become a kind of culture, and Huizhou merchants have become an important part of Huizhou studies. However, the management mode, management system and the history of rise and fall of Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants still have very important reference value.

Merchants in Shanxi, like Huizhou, are not suitable for planting crops on a large scale, because most of Shanxi's landforms are hilly and mountainous. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the population of Shanxi reached more than 4 million, and the land in Shanxi could not fully meet the planting needs. At present, the population is expanding rapidly and the population is small. Under the dual factors, large-scale businesses have begun to appear in Shanxi.

Because there are a large number of salt, iron smelting and silk cotton industries in Hedong, Shanxi merchants took selling salt, iron and silk cotton textiles as the three pillars from the beginning, and quickly realized the original accumulation of capital. Supported by abundant capital, Shanxi merchants once monopolized the exchange business of China Bank.

Two business developments:

Huizhou merchants and Shanxi merchants were located in the north and south of China, and their wealth was the highest in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so they were called "Southern Hui and Northern Jin". In addition to social stability and economic prosperity at that time, the main reason why the Southern Hui and Northern Jin Dynasties developed so greatly was that they all attached importance to "paying equal attention to justice and benefit" and honesty, so they could be recognized by buyers.

Their understanding of Confucianism and Jia is different, but the goods they operate are different. Huizhou merchants pursue the combination of business and learning, that is, the integration of Confucianism and Confucianism, but they are more inclined to the development of Confucianism, that is, "Jia Haoru". Therefore, in areas where Huizhou merchants are active, "one village and ten households do not waste their studies". Shanxi merchants tend to be "Jia" and practice Confucianism with merchants, that is, "Jia can learn Confucianism and Confucianism is used in Jia".