One

  More than a decade ago, I was shocked while browsing through a stack of historical materials and immediately put down other work to focus on studying it. For a long time, I checked book after book, article after article, and finally accepted the conclusion that in the 19th century and for a considerable period before that, the richest province in China was not what we can imagine today, but Shanxi. Until the early 20th century, Shanxi remained the financial and trade center of China. The headquarters of those relatively well-known financial institutions in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan were mostly located on ordinary streets in Pingyao County and Taigu County, Shanxi. Those big cities were just testing grounds for wealthy Shanxi merchants with millions at their disposal.

  The wealth of Shanxi merchants can be proven by many figures, but this article will not elaborate on the economic history, so let's omit it. Anyway, in the Qing dynasty, among all commercial fields across the country, the ones with the largest number of people, thickest capital and widest distribution were from Shanxi; every time there was a nationwide donation, the ones who donated the most silver were also from Shanxi; if we rank the richest families and individuals across the country, the first batch of names would mostly be from Shanxi; even among all merchants who announced their closure and returned to their hometown in the capital city, those who carried the most money were also from Shanxi.

  According to our usual concept, wealth must be the result of a small number of people cruelly exploiting the majority. However, in reality, the development of Shanxi's commerce and the consumption of wealthy families greatly increased the employment rate and overall living standards of their localities. Those big businessmen made profits through financial transactions across thousands of miles, which did not constitute exploitation of the local people. Therefore, compared to the whole country, the general living standard of urban residents in Shanxi at that time was not low either.

  There is an interesting material that illustrates this issue. In 1820, cultural thinker Gong Zizhen proposed a bold political suggestion in his article "On Establishing Provinces in the Western Regions". He believed that since the end of the Qianlong reign, the people's customs had become corrupt and the country's fortunes were worrying, with "those who are not scholars, farmers, workers or merchants" making up 50-60% of the urban population. Therefore, he suggested relocating these unemployed people to the west in large numbers, and also relocating people from provinces with dense populations but limited land, such as Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi, Jiangxi, and Fujian, to make them go from having no property to having property, and from being unemployed to being employed. He thought that there were only two places in the interior that did not need to be considered ("毋庸议").

  Western migration: Firstly, it refers to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, where the people are physically weak and cannot withstand long-distance travel; Secondly, it refers to Shanxi Province.

  Shanxi is known as the richest in China, and its native people are unwilling to move away, so there's no need to discuss it.

  Gong Zizhen's Complete Works, Shanghai People's Publishing House, page 106

  What Gong Zizhen referred to here is not only wealthy merchants but also includes local Shangxi people.

  Actually, upon careful reflection, even within my own limited experiences, there have been repeated signals that can verify the wealth of Shanxi. Unfortunately, I ignored them. For example, in Suzhou, there is a "Chinese Opera Museum" with a considerable scale. I accompanied foreign artists to visit it multiple times, and almost every time, our guests were amazed. Especially the exquisite opera stage and auditorium, even international architectural masters like I.M. Pei consider it a miracle. However, the original site of the entire museum was the "Sanjin Guild Hall", which was a gathering place for Shanxi merchants doing business in Suzhou. Speaking of Suzhou, it's also considered prosperous and flourishing, but unexpectedly, the people from Shanxi easily built a guild hall that overshadowed everything else. I remember being stunned by this at the time, but I didn't think further about it.

  For example, when reading the various biographies of the three Song sisters, one will always come across descriptions of Soong Ai-ling's visit to her husband Kong Xiangxi's hometown, and thus learn that Kong Xiangxi, the Minister of Finance of the National Government, also came from Shanxi Province's Taigu County. In the biography written by American Robbie Eunson, it is said: "Ai-ling sat in a sedan chair carried by sixteen peasants, while Kong Xiangxi rode a horse. However, what surprised the bride was that at the end of this arduous journey, she discovered a kind of luxurious life that she had never seen before... Because some important bankers lived in Taigu, it is often referred to as 'China's Wall Street'." When I first read this biography, I also paused slightly between these paragraphs, but did not ponder what it meant for someone like Soong Ai-ling to be surprised, and for an American biographer to refer to it as "China's Wall Street".

  It seems that Shanxi's wealth was a common knowledge in the minds of our previous generation, and our misunderstanding is entirely due to our ignorance of history. In our generation, I am not the only one who has such misunderstandings.

  So for many years, I have been eagerly looking forward to a trip to Shanxi Province.

  Two

  I finally arrived in Shanxi. To calm my restless mood, I first visited some famous routine scenic spots, and then solemnly approached the big question mark buried in my heart.

  My inquiry attracted many Shanxi friends, who accompanied me to search for relevant materials in every corner of bookstores in Taiyuan. Mr. Huang Jianhui's "Shanxi Piaohao History" was found by myself on the bottom shelf of a bookcase, while the large-sized "Shanxi Piaohao Historical Materials", which contains over 1.2 million words and a large number of account statements, was "dug out" from the warehouse of a bookstore by driver Li Wenjun, who had been driving for me every day and knew my needs through listening to my talks in the car.

  When I had gathered enough materials, I set off with Mr. Zhang Wentao, a TV director, Ms. Shan Xiu Rong, a singer, and other friends from Shanxi to Pingyao and Qixian. In the most prosperous era of Shanxi, the center of wealth was not in Taiyuan, the provincial capital, but in Pingyao, Qixian and Taigu, among which Pingyao was the most prominent.

  Friends all smiled at me and said that although everyone in the car except me was from Shanxi, I should be the tour guide for this trip. The reason is simply because I have read more historical materials.

  Even "guides" were here for the first time, so this trip naturally became a kind of exploration.

  I know that the first place to look for is the site of "Rishengchang", the famous "piaohao" (draft bank) on Pingyao's West Great Street, which was China's first specialized institution for interregional remittance and deposit/loan services. This is the "great-grandfather" of all kinds of banks in China today.

  Everyone then began to scrutinize each and every doorway on West Avenue.

  This small number of buildings is not to be underestimated, just two or three houses, and we have already been overwhelmed by an unprecedented momentum. This is indeed a magical street, with elegant buildings connected one after another, and towering walls that echo each other tightly. After going through hundreds of years of wind and rain, everywhere has shown signs of aging, but the spirit remains, and there is no too much decay and collapse.

  The streets are not wide, and on the granite thresholds of each respectable gate, there are two very deep ruts, which can be imagined how bustling it was here in those years. These horses and carriages came from all over the country and even beyond the borders, carrying money, carrying risks, carrying the heroic spirit of thousands of miles, carrying the customs and dialects of distant places, and carrying out a large economic artery that flows smoothly north and south.

  We went into every decent-looking courtyard on West Street, and at first glance they all seemed to be the "Rishengchang" that was as vast as the ocean. But after inquiring carefully, it turned out that none of them were. It wasn't until we saw a sign erected by the Pingyao County Cultural Relics Bureau that we finally confirmed the true former site of "Rishengchang". An organ is occupying it now, but the basic structure of the house has been preserved, and even the couplets from back then are still quietly hanging there.

  I stand in this courtyard, lost in thought: it was here that, under the command of several clever Shanxi people, ancient China finally had a large-scale inter-regional currency exchange mechanism, unloading the heavy burden of silver transportation and commercial circulation was activated.

  I know that every household suspected of being "Rishengchang" at the time was doing similar articles, either a large ticket number or a large business. Such a dense financial and commercial structure must require a larger urban service system to match, including hotels, catering industry and entertainment industry. To what extent Pingyao City would have been prosperous that year, it can be roughly imagined.

  I would like to find a leading department in Shanxi Province to suggest that with the next not-so-big determination, we will try our best to restore the original appearance of Pingyao West Street.

  Because the basic architecture is still well preserved, as long as the modern coatings are washed away, a historic old street with a rich history will be revealed, and the pride of Shanxi people for several centuries will be revealed.

  After the restoration of Xidajie, if possible, it should be restored to the entire Pingyao ancient city. The city walls and streets of Pingyao are still basically intact, and if they can be restored, they can become a model of small and medium-sized cities in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

  Pingyao West Street was the workplace of Shanxi merchants back then, but what about their living quarters? After leaving Pingyao, we arrived at Qiao Family Compound in Qi County. As soon as I stepped through the gate, I immediately understood why Madame Soong May-ling was shocked after her long journey. I have been to many large mansions and gardens across the country, but upon entering this compound, all those famous gardens suddenly seemed too delicate and small. The vastness of a thousand miles is condensed into one courtyard, and the countless eaves of the buildings point towards the boundless sky. The prosperity of the family did not rely on the shelter of their ancestors, but rather on continuous entrepreneurship. Therefore, this compound does not have any sense of escapism, decay or mystery, but instead presents the magnificent life style of a generation of great merchants everywhere.

  For this, when I read the relevant materials, I often lift my head to imagine: those who created the "richest in the country" miracle, what kind of people are you, and how did you walk into history and disappear from history?

  I only saw a blurry photo in "Shanxi Piaohao Historical Materials": outside the gate of "Ri Shengchang" piaohao, two elderly men with white shirts stood upright for the photo, calm and serene, with a hint of a smile. Is this you?

  Three

  Shanxi Pingyao, Qixian and Taigu areas have poor natural conditions and lack rich products. The tide of business originated from here, the important reason is precisely because the objective environment in this area is not good.

  The Wanli edition of "Fenzhou Prefecture Annals" Volume 2 records: "Pingyao County's land is barren and thin, the air is strong and firm, there are many farmers but few weavers."

  The Qianlong edition of the Taigu County Annals, Volume 3, states that in Taigu County, "the people are many but the fields are few. Even in a bumper harvest year, the grain is not enough to last two months. Therefore, apart from farming, everyone is skilled at making a living, traveling thousands of miles, and regards it as normal. The scholars' customs are rich and prosperous, and this is indeed the reason."

  After reading these sparse official accounts, I couldn't help but deeply admire Shanxi merchants.

  The hometown is so poor and crowded, what to do? You can scramble for it, struggle and strive; you can resign yourself to poverty, endure hunger and cold; you can bury your head all your life, just to make a living; of course, you can also break into the house, rob and rebel. According to our familiar historical view, all past poverty was caused by political reasons, so the only road worthy of praise is to let all farmers engage in political resistance.

  But in these counties of Shanxi Province, a large number of peasants have made a choice that is completely different from any of the above roads.

  They are unwilling to suffer, yet they have no desire for political power. They feel the crowding, but do not want to trample on their fellow countrymen. They do not believe in getting something for nothing, yet they are unwilling to pour all the sweat of their lives onto a small patch of soil.

  They cast their bewildered gaze beyond the vast expanse of their hometown, attempting to forge a new path out of poverty with the strong physique of a man. Most of them had little culture, yet they provided some unconventional thinking for China's traditional cultural concept.

  They first chose to "go out of the west pass". Outside the pass, the garrison troops, settlers and nomads need a large number of living supplies, and the fur in the north of the pass also attracts the noble families from the mainland. As soon as business trips appear, they call for a large number of inns, hotels, restaurants... In short, outside the pass can indeed create a very large living space.

  Since the Ming Dynasty, "contracting military supplies" and "tea-horse trade", many pioneers have set an example for going out of the pass. From the early Qing Dynasty, the team of Shanxi peasants "going west" has been growing larger and larger, so we all heard that folk song also sounded in many village mouths and roadsides:

  Brother, you go out of the west gate.

  Little sister, I really can't stay.

  Holding her brother's hand

  Brother Song sent him to the gate.

  Brother, you go out of the west gate.

  Little sister, I have something to tell you:

  Walk on the main road

  Many friends come to dispel worries and sorrows.

  Holding her brother's hand tightly

  Wang Wang tears flowed pitter-patter down.

  My only regret is that I couldn't walk with you together, little sister.

  I hope brother will return home soon.

  ……

  I suspect that our previous understanding of this folk song was too superficial. I suspect that even today, we have no reason to look down on the separation of these young couples with a pitiful gaze.

  Just listen to these sentimental lyrics and you can understand that the men who are far away from home are not lonely. Whether they have a family or not, they all have a strong love, and they all have a partner with whom they can live and die. They could have lived a hard but warm life, but they still stepped out of their homes with determination. Their lovers also understood them, releasing the tender love from the small house to the vast northern desert.

  Cried and sang, walked away. I believe that the tears shed by those sentimental women on the roadside have sown the seeds for Shanxi to eventually become the "richest in the country".

  This is not a fantasy. Look at the early years of Qianlong, Shanxi "going out of the west gate" team, among them was a young poor peasant from Qi County, Qiaojia Village, named Qiao Guifa, who came to a small pawnshop outside the pass and became an apprentice. It was this young peasant who started the initial business of the Qiao Family Compound.

  Qiao Gui Fa and his descendants set up the "Fushenggong" business, laying the commercial foundation for the entire Baotou City, to the point where a widely circulated folk saying emerged: "First there was Fushenggong, then there was Baotou City."

  Who would have thought that those young farmers who wiped away their tears and hurried out of the village could become the creators of a great city, a magnificent civilization! Therefore, when I saw Shanxi TV's documentary "Walking West" play this folk song with grand symphonic music, I couldn't help but be moved to tears.

  The Shanxi people's business activities were not limited to "going out of the western pass", and later they went almost everywhere in the southeast, northwest. From "going out of the western pass" to traveling all over China, many Shanxi people spent their lives on long journeys. At that time, transportation was backward, mail delivery was inconvenient, and the hardships and bitterness in between were really unspeakable. Behind a successful person, there are countless failed ones. After accumulating huge wealth, the Shanxi people paid an extremely expensive price for their lives. Mr. Huang Jianhui once recorded some sad stories of Shanxi travelers during the Qianlong period.

  In Linfen County, there was a man named Tian Shu Kui who had never seen his father's face since childhood. His father was away on business when he was born and still hadn't returned by the time he grew up. He vaguely heard that his father had gone to the northwest, so he made a big decision to search for him in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. After searching for three years, he finally met an old man from Shanxi on the streets of Jiuquan who turned out to be his father.

  A merchant from Yangqu County, Zhang Ying, went out to do business and didn't return home for 20 years. His eldest son, Zhang Tingcai, heard that he might be in Xuanfu, so he went to look for him, but Zhang Tingcai also lost contact after many years. The younger son, Zhang Tingyao, grew up and went to find his father and brother again, but couldn't find them after more than a year, and his money was used up, becoming a beggar. While begging, he met a farmer who seemed familiar, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be his brother. His brother told him that they had already inquired about their father's news, and he was selling vegetables at Zhangjiakou.

  Xu Xueyan's father had gone to Guandong for business over 20 years ago and there was no news from him. Xu Xueyan traveled a long distance to Guandong in search of his father, until he arrived at a village in the northeastern part of Jilin Province, where he met an acquaintance. The acquaintance told him that his father had died seven years ago.

  ……

  It's not hard to imagine that this kind of true story can go on and on, all the Shanxi merchants who "walked out of the west gate" and rushed across the country have countless such stories hidden in their hearts. So, the young lovers' singing voices became even more sorrowful:

  Brother, you go out of the west gate.

  Little sister, I'm worried sick

  How long will it take this time?

  I hope you go bald too!

  Overwhelmed by the stories of so many failures, dragged down by the mournful songs of their loved ones, the Shanxi merchants walked further and further away. They wanted to create a more pleasant story, and the steps they took were both sorrowful and serene.

  Four

  Set out with determination and courage, but it's not necessarily possible to reach the other side as expected, especially in the business world.

  The all-round success of Shanxi merchants is related to their good personality quality.

  The materials I have come into contact with are limited, but I vaguely feel that Shanxi merchants have the following aspects of personality quality that are particularly noteworthy:

  One, be open and aboveboard in business.

  Being a businessman is just being a businessman, without any pretence or shame. This mentality has not been widespread in China for a long time. The social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, workers and merchants has placed businessmen at the bottom, despite their wealth, with a lowly status and almost no connection to officialdom. As a result, many people who have become businessmen try to disguise themselves as "scholar-merchants", and once they have made their fortune, they hastily establish schools to let their children become scholars. In this regard, Anhui merchants can be compared, originally Huizhou merchants were also a very powerful business force, completely comparable to Shanxi merchants in the north and south. However, the folk customs of Huizhou attach great importance to imperial examinations, causing many successful businessmen to retreat from the world in their later years.

  This situation has not occurred in Shanxi, where children read for a few years and then learn to do business. Everyone thinks it's natural. Finally, even Emperor Yongzheng believed that the social hierarchy of Shanxi was different from other places, which is: First commerce, second agriculture, third military service, fourth reading books. (See the vermilion endorsement of Liu Yuanyi's memorial in the second year of Yongzheng)

  ）

  In this unique psychological environment, Shanxi merchants have little mental burden on their profession and make business purely.

  Secondly, having a broad vision.

  Shanxi merchants were originally long-distance travelers who left their homes, so they had little space constraints when doing business. This is the essential difference between commercial civilization and agricultural civilization. The entire Chinese territory was within their field of vision, discussing the vastness of the country was like discussing neighborhood streets, this geographical psychological advantage made Shanxi merchants best at discovering each region's strengths and weaknesses in trade, potential and obstacles, and then played it out like a game of Go.

  When the Kangxi Emperor began to implement a policy of friendship between Manchu and Mongolia, stopping border wars, Shanxi merchants reacted the earliest. They quickly knew what they should do. A huge merchant team facing Mongolia, Xinjiang and even Siberia was established. The "Dashenggui" merchant team alone had 100,000 camels. Goods brought out by the merchant teams must be purchased from various places in North China, Central China and South China, so they also grasped the characteristics of products and transportation networks throughout China.

  For example, in the Qing dynasty, the southern region made the most money from the salt industry, but the salt industry was monopolized by the government, and the licenses were all held by the two Huai salt merchants. Shanxi businessmen found it difficult to get involved. However, they were not in a hurry and only lent generously when the two Huai salt merchants were short of funds, on the condition that they would give them some salt industry operating rights. Over time, the two Huai salt industry was increasingly controlled by Shanxi businessmen. It can be seen that Shanxi businessmen have always been focused on the overall pattern of national commerce and do not allow themselves to lack in any important aspect. People can praise their "adaptability", but the discovery of "opportunities" is due to the broadness of their vision and the keenness of their eyesight.

  Of course, the most revealing of Shanxi merchants' vision is the establishment of a series of draft banks. They saw ahead of others the importance of finance to commerce, and thus combed through the financial network across the country, steadily placing themselves in the position of master of folk finance nationwide. I think that having such grandeur and strategy is probably related to the long-term influence of Sanjin civilization; we can only look up to them with admiration.

  Thirdly, attach importance to good faith.

  Shanxi merchants are able to quickly open up new markets, often as a result of collective behavior in groups, rather than individual clandestine adventures.

  As soon as you glance over the business history of Shanxi, you will immediately see batch after batch of so-called "lian hao". Whether it's brothers, fathers and sons, friends or fellow villagers, they form a group with clear divisions of labor and mutual support, unfolding on a grand scale. Not only is their momentum overwhelming, but they are also highly adaptable and responsive, creating a kind of business climate.

  In fact, Shanxi merchants will also try their best to help businesses outside the associated number system. When other businesses borrow a large amount of money and finally cannot repay it, the lending business will generously write off the debt, which is not uncommon among Shanxi merchants.

  For example, I often read about such historical records: a business owed another business 60,000 taels of silver and was unable to repay it. The owner of the lending business went to the owner of the borrowing business, knocked his head on the ground, explained the difficulties, and the owner of the lending business waved his hand, letting the matter go; A store owed another store 1,000 yuan in cash and couldn't pay it back. To take care of the borrower's self-esteem, the lender let him symbolically return an axe and a bamboo basket, laughed and considered the matter settled. The people of Shanxi are clever but not petty-minded, solid but not exclusive, and do not want to betray their promises for short-term gains. This can be called "the mentality of a great merchant" - although it exists among southern merchants, it is not as strong as in Shanxi.

  It is well known that at the time, China's financial trust industry did not have a certification mechanism and a supervisory mechanism. Even if there was a breach of faith, there was almost no punishment mechanism. Everything relied on reputation and morality. The competition in the financial trust industry, after all, was a competition of reputation and morality. In this competition, Shanxi merchants had long been in the leading position. They could give people from far away a very stable and reliable feeling, which is really an extraordinary thing.

  Fourthly, strict management.

  The earliest heyday of Shanxi merchants, the national business and financial management were basically in a state of anarchy. For example, many draft banks did not need to register with the government, obtain licenses, pay taxes, and were basically not subject to legal constraints. Faced with so much freedom, Shanxi merchants did not show any signs of indulgence, but instead tightened industry regulations and business codes, seeking order through strict self-discipline in disorder. Because they understood that disorderly behavior can only benefit for a short time, and cannot be established for a long time.

  I have respectfully read the "rules of the house" of many Shanxi merchants in the Qing Dynasty. The content is not only strict and practical, but also full of wisdom, which is still valuable from the perspective of modern management science, enough to prove that a group of real management experts had emerged among the Shanxi merchants at that time. For example, it stipulates that all employees must sign employment contracts and clearly define their ranks, income differences, and regular promotions; senior employees share shares with the boss and distribute dividends at the end of the period, making the entire business benefit together like a family; The head office has rules for branches to report accounts to the head office and other branches, as well as rules for branch employees' remittances and thrift... All these make the daily operation of many Shanxi merchants more and more standardized. A generation of giants can also spare energy to open up new fields.

  The above aspects, I don't know if they roughly outline the character of Shanxi merchants? In any case, with these aspects, the young men who "went out of the western pass" at that time also shook off the dust on their bodies and walked into the ranks of China's rich men with dignity.

  What is a Shanxi businessman? My answer is: The brother who "walked out of the west pass" has come back, and he has returned at a very strong level of character.

  Five

  However, all logical generalizations are always accompanied by a one-sidedness after "purification". In fact, as long as we look deeper, there is also a fragile side to the character of Shanxi merchants.

  They are still a rare group in the whole of China, despite their large numbers; they dare to act boldly, but also often encounter the boundaries of self-confidence. They have struggled for so many years, yet never encountered a thinker who could speak on their behalf. Their actions lack the support of high-level rational power, and their achievements have not been given eloquent historical justification. Almost all cultural scholars have been avoiding them. They have already changed Chinese society with great force, but social reformers focus solely on politics, leaving them out in the cold.

  After all, they can only rely on money to speak, but the speech of money at that time was so lacking in moral power, how much social effect can it produce? Without external social effects, it is also difficult to reach the great peace of life.

  It is the times, it is history, and it is the environment that have made these successful businesspeople unable to become aware of the will of history. They can only be a group of strong men lacking in faith, a bunch of spiritually impoverished rich people, and a batch of shopkeepers who cannot grasp their own fundamental problems.

  Their starting point and ending point are both in the countryside. When they successfully set up a large business, the feudal patriarchal system is the only model they can follow. As a result, their commercial personality cannot help but be self-contradictory and even split, sometimes making decisions that are completely different from when they first started their business. In my opinion, this is the internal reason why Shanxi merchants finally became stagnant, confused, internally consumed, and declined after hundreds of years of prosperity.

  Here, I'd like to talk about some unpleasant personnel disputes in the history of several ticketing companies.

  The biggest dispute occurred between the general manager of Yishengchang, Lei Lüta and vice-general manager Mao Hongchao. Undoubtedly, both were considered top-notch business management experts in China at that time, co-founded Yishengchang Draft Bank, and also pioneered a new stage in Chinese financial history, leaving their names in history books. Lei Lüta had a grand demeanor, exceptional abilities, and great social charm, almost tailor-made for a business leader; Mao Hongchao, although 17 years younger than Lei Lüta, was also incredibly talented and charismatic. The two strong-willed individuals clashed, initially getting along like brothers, complementing each other, but after achieving success in their careers, they inevitably encountered a classic Chinese conundrum: who is the number one contributor?

  Once, Lei Rutai fell ill and was recuperating in the ticket number, not managing daily affairs, but still having to make decisions on major events. This made Mao Hongchao feel a bit uncomfortable, so he said to the financial boss: "The general manager is not very quiet while recovering from illness in the ticket number, let him go home and rest." The financial boss went to find Lei Rutai, who said: "I also had this idea early on." He returned home that day.

  A few days later, the boss of Caichang went to visit Lei's house and found Lei Lutai busy sending letters to various branches across the country. He asked him what he was doing. Lei Lutai said: "Boss, Rishengchang is yours, but the branches all over the country are set up by me, I am withdrawing them one by one to hand over to you."

  The boss, upon hearing that something was amiss, immediately knelt down in front of Lei Rutai and begged him not to withdraw his share. Lei Rutai finally said, "Get up, I also guessed that it wasn't your idea to let me go home." The boss asked him to return to the ticket office to take care of things, but Lei Rutai refused to go back to work. The boss had no choice but to send a servant every day with a table of wine and fifty taels of silver.

  Mao Hongqiao saw this scene and knew he could no longer stay at Rishengchang, so he resigned and went to Weitai Thick Fabric Factory.

  At first, everyone would cheer for Lei Rutai, but upon further reflection, it doesn't feel right. Indeed, Lei Rutai achieved a complete victory, and Mao Hongxiang was defeated miserably, yet here there is no question of right or wrong, only power struggles. The opponent who was defeated by power struggles is a co-creator of a glorious history, so this history is immediately ruined. In many aspects of Chinese history, it is often impossible to write with flair and vividness, and a large part of the reason lies in the malignant conflicts that inevitably arise between representative figures. Competition in business is unavoidable, but once it deviates from the track of business, and forces opponents to desperation on a personal level, it is far removed from healthy business norms.

  Ma Hongqiao naturally had to grit his teeth and take revenge. After arriving at Wei Taihou, he poached two particularly clever and capable partners from Rishengchang Piaohao and entrusted them with important tasks. The three of them worked together seamlessly, quickly taking Wei Taihou's business to a new level. Lei Letai was furious and couldn't vent his anger, so he wrote letters to each of his branch offices, exposing the two "low-ranking officials" who had been lured away by Ma Hongqiao as being of humble origin, merely the sons of a soup official and a prison guard.

  Things have been done to this point, and the general manager has already lost his identity very much, but he is not yet giving up. No matter where, as long as there is an opportunity, he will tear down Yu Weitao's platform. For example, due to Lei Letai's plan, Yu Weitao's Suzhou branch cannot do business with Wenwen. This is no longer normal business competition.

  What pains me the most is that Lei and Mao, two outstanding figures with extremely high IQs, have adopted increasingly vulgar methods in their struggle for power. In the end, they both gave their grandsons a name identical to that of their opponent's grandson, as an insult - Lei LüTai's grandson was named Lei HongChao, while Mao HongChao's grandson was named Mao LüTai!

  This insulting method is purely Sinicized, I don't know if they love their grandchildren while hating the enemy, and I don't know what tone and intonation they use when calling their grandsons with this name.

  Respectable Shanxi merchants, is this the legacy you leave for your descendants? Where has the grandeur and touching integrity of your entrepreneurial beginnings gone? How can such a tedious curse occupy your increasingly aging hearts for so long?

  Perhaps, what ultimately warmed their hearts was the song "Walking West" that they heard when they first left home. However, the vast family business also brought about the complexity of emotional relationships within the family, and the simplicity revealed in "Walking West" was no longer present. According to the recollections of the Qiao family descendants, there was a mysterious old woman who did rough work in the inner kitchen of the Qiao Family Compound, wearing dark clothes with a sorrowful expression, as if nobody existed, but her temperament was by no means that of a servant.

  Some say this is the "Big Madam", the master's first wife. What trouble the master and his wife had, no one knows, but undoubtedly, when they occasionally met each other's eyes, the melody of "Walking in the West" would immediately go out of tune.

  By the time I got to this point, I already knew that the problems I encountered, although they occurred in Shanxi, far exceeded Shanxi. The sighs emitted from here should belong to a much broader world of our motherland.

  Six

  Of course, we cannot attribute the decline of Shanxi merchants entirely to themselves. The rise and fall of one or two shops may be largely due to their own reasons; but when it comes to the overall decline of countless Shanxi merchants, there must be more profound and broader social and historical reasons.

  Firstly, it was due to the extreme turmoil of modern Chinese society. Time and time again, radical violent clashes occurred, with slogans for improving people's livelihoods on the surface, but in reality, they severely damaged commercial activities in various regions, often resulting in "death and injury everywhere", "shops closed" and "merchants fleeing". Shanxi ticketing had to withdraw its branches and retreat back to the countryside. Sometimes, it was also possible to issue some "national disaster relief funds", for example, during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, official silver could not be delivered, and only ticketing could be relied upon; during the Eight-Nation Alliance, the imperial treasury was occupied, and ticketing also played its role. However, when the country's normal economic pulse had been destroyed, this temporary prosperity could only be a fleeting phenomenon.

  At the beginning of the 20th century, banks from Britain, America, Russia and Japan set up branches in major cities across China. The Qing government also established the Great Qing Bank, starting postal remittances. Draft banks encountered a truly powerful opponent and were completely at a loss as to how to respond. During the Xinhai Revolution, as one province after another declared independence, depositors from local draft banks rushed to withdraw their money, while borrowers disappeared without a trace, and Shanxi's draft banks finally went bankrupt.

  The Shanxi merchants, who were at their wit's end, thought that the newly established Northern Warlord government would not abandon them to die. So they jointly elected six representatives to petition the government, hoping that it could provide loans or guarantee loans from foreign businessmen. The government's response to the petitioners was: The Shanxi merchants have a long-standing reputation for creditworthiness, and the government should help maintain their business out of consideration for protecting and supporting commerce. Unfortunately, the national finances are extremely difficult, but we will do our best to mediate in the future.

  The whole paper was empty, nothing was gained, and the only concrete decision was unexpected: The government took a fancy to Fan Yuanheng, the chief representative of the petition team, gave him a monthly salary of 200 yuan, and sent him to the declining Shanxi ticket number to find capable partners for the government bank. This decision, if not intentionally sarcastic, is enough to show that this petition activity was truly defeated. The country's financial difficulties are credible, and the last hope of Shanxi merchants has been thoroughly shattered. The journey of "going west" has finally reached its end.

  Then in the March 1915 issue of Ta Kung Pao, people read an article from Taiyuan, Shanxi, which described those shops that had gone bankrupt one after another:

  The magnificent and resplendent Chinese-style mansion, with iron doors double-locked, was dull and colorless. In front of the gate stood a small lion with bulging eyes, as if it were about to shed tears and let out a mighty roar on behalf of its master to protest against injustice. Last month, when Beijing announced that Dayunchang had gone bankrupt, its main store still stood tall among them, with the golden signboard "Dayunchang" still hanging in front of the gate. It was said that the owner had already declared bankruptcy and been arrested by the court upon his arrival in Beijing.

  This is the end of a generation of financial giants.

  Seven

  Some people think that the decline of Shanxi ticket number and even the entire Jin merchant is a matter of course, and there is nothing to regret. However, the problem lies in the fact that after their decline, China did not find new economic vitality for a long time, nor did it create new wealth and prosperity.

  Social reformers are always full of ideals and indignation, repeatedly declaring that they will blaze a magnificent trail in the midst of blood and fire. They do not know that if this path is the right one, it will ultimately still need to connect with people's livelihoods, where the camel tracks left by Shanxi merchants can still be clearly seen.

  Before they understood this principle, they were in a dilemma. They vowed to lead the people out of poverty and to use revolutionary means to get rid of poverty, the simplest way was to deprive the rich. To make the act of depriving the rich reasonable, wealth and evil must be equated. When wealth and evil are really equated, their efforts will also lose the goal of becoming wealthy, because there is only evil there. In this way, the ship of social reform has become a lonely boat that cannot dock anywhere, and it may fall into the swamp at any time, or even sink.

  The literati in China are even stranger. They despise poverty, they despise wealth, and they especially despise commerce, particularly the merchant groups that originated from peasants. They like to talk about "the rise and fall of the world, every individual has a responsibility", but they never connect the words "rise and fall" with people's livelihoods and social wealth, as if they are always focused on the prosperity of the imperial court, but the imperial court doesn't care about them at all. They were deep in thought when they heard the sound of camel bells outside the window, which was a bit jarring, so they stretched out their hands to close the window.

  Shanxi merchants once created China's largest wealth, but in the works of Chinese literati as vast as the sea, almost no records were left behind.

  It is unthinkable that such a vast culture would be so slow to recognize its own immense wealth and the immense creative potential it possesses.

  For this, I must hold a heart of shame and stay a little longer on Shanxi's land.

  Autumn rain

  This article was published in 1993, and it has been exactly twenty years since then. At the time of its publication, it was evaluated as China's first essay to report on Jin merchants and Qing Dynasty business civilization to both domestic and international audiences. Thanks to this article, I have gained countless friends from Shanxi Province. The people of Pingyao built a new residential area outside the ancient city walls in order to protect the historical sites that I wrote about in my article, which was named "Autumn Rain New City", making me feel ashamed. What's more interesting is that there were some jealous individuals from other places who launched a not-so-small-scale defamation campaign against me, and some publications in Shanxi Province also got involved. However, soon after, some scholars from Shanxi Province published an article titled "Shanxi Should Be Grateful to Yu Qiuyu" in the newspaper. The kind-hearted people of Shanxi immediately formed a protective wall around me, which moved me deeply.