Background
His ancestors were farmers, but he could not make a living only by farming
tycoon of the warring states period
His ancestors were farmers, but he could not make a living only by farming
He set up his animal farm near Duize (today's Wangliao village in Linqi), rearing cows and sheep. Yi Dun worked hard to grow and expand his farm. Within 10 years, his income increased tremendously and he became famous across the land. While he was running his farm, he noticed that there was a salt pond in the south of Qishi. Soon Yi Dun realised that the salt business was very lucrative. As such, after he had accumulated enough capital from his farm, he began developing a salt business.
To effectively manage his salt business and expedite transport, Yi Dun changed his mode of transportation by constructing the first man-made canal in Shanxi. In his great prosperity, Yi Dun also traded in jewellery and jade. He had a high ability to evaluate jewellery.