Chapter 31 Yu Qiaqing and Gu Zhenfu

The relationship between politicians and entrepreneurs is also very different in Eastern societies, such as the mainland and Taiwan, compared with those in Europe and the United States.Over the past 100 years, there have been a few people who have achieved successful relations between government and business. Here I will tell their stories. Before 1949, it was Yu Qiaqing. He was from Ningbo. He suffered a lot when he was a child, and then he went to Shanghai to work as an apprentice in a paint shop.He's smart, grows up, and becomes a manager.Later, on top of that, he went to ABN AMRO.Now you go to the Bund in Shanghai to see, there is still a building there, which is the Dutch bank.He is the general manager of that place.From being an apprentice to being a comprador at ABN AMRO, it's been quite a feat.At the peak of his business, he came out of ABN Amro and started his own business, doing transportation and some other trades.After running this enterprise, he became a popular and well-developed national capitalist in Shanghai at that time.His business was so successful that a street was changed to his name.At the same time, he is also the chairman of the Ningbo Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.Today the chairman is Guo Guangchang.

At this moment, he had a special experience.When Chiang Kai-shek was studying military affairs in Japan, he met Zhang Jingjiang, a compatriot from Zhejiang, and then there were people like Chen Qimei; Yu Qiaqing.He also lived in Yu Qiaqing's house for more than a month.When Chiang Kai-shek was living at Yu Qiaqing's house, he had nothing to do, so Yu Qiaqing introduced him to the stock exchange. The so-called Chiang Kai-shek used to hang out at the stock exchange refers to this paragraph.During this period, Jiang met Du Yuesheng and Huang Jinrong, who were all from the dock. Because of such an opportunity, Yu Qiaqing has a very close relationship with Chiang Kai-shek, the Zhejiang Consortium, as well as Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng on the Shanghai Bund.Later, when Chiang Kai-shek went to the Whampoa Military Academy and the Northern Expedition, it was the first period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Sun Yat-sen proposed three major policies: alliance with Russia, alliance with the Communist Party, and support for farmers and workers.When the Northern Expeditionary Army hit Jiujiang, Yu Qiaqing couldn't sit still. He murmured in his heart: If they all help farmers and workers, what should I do?So he rushed to Jiujiang Camp, and after seeing Chiang Kai-shek, he asked Chiang two questions.The first question is: Do you really want to help the poor by uniting with Russia, the Communist Party, and helping farmers and workers? Then what should I do here?Chiang Kai-shek just said a word, "How can poor people be reliable?" He spoke Zhejiang dialect, which meant, don't worry, I will not trust the poor, how can the poor be reliable? !This Yu Qiaqing is at ease.He asked again: The Northern Expeditionary Army wanted to overthrow the foreign powers. I worked with foreigners, and I still do business with them.Chiang Kai-shek said another sentence, "How can foreigners beat them?" Yu finally understood that Chiang did not really do things with foreigners, so he said: Then I go back, how can I help you?Chiang Kai-shek said: I will conquer Shanghai in a few days and approach Nanjing. Tell Mr. Du and Mr. Huang to help me maintain public order in Shanghai.

Yu Qiaqing said yes, this is no problem (both buddies), what can I do?Chiang Kai-shek asked him to help him raise some funds, because it would cost money to go to Shanghai.This is the background of the "April 12 Counter-Revolutionary Coup" mentioned in our party history.It's very simple, that is, Du Yuesheng and Huang Jinrong are the thugs, and Yu Qiaqing pays the bill.Yu Qiaqing has raised funds for action three times, they are called "revolutionary charitable funds".He was the chairman of the chamber of commerce, helped Chiang Kai-shek raise donations, launched the "April 12" coup and completed the purge of the party.

It is precisely because of such a relationship that Yu Qiaqing, a private enterprise, has grown bigger and bigger under the care of the Nanjing government in Shanghai.During the Anti-Japanese War, Yu Qiaqing was in charge of the entire transportation; after the government moved to Chongqing during the Anti-Japanese War, Yu Qiaqing was also in charge of transporting materials from Burma to Chongqing.So Yu Qiaqing's business has been smooth sailing.Moreover, at any time, especially when there are difficulties, Song Ziwen will directly give the money as long as he asks the government, which can be regarded as returning the "revolutionary donation"; and he has been approved for an exchange.No one dared to offend Yu Qiaqing. At the height of the War of Resistance, a city defense commander in Ningbo who was also a student of Chiang Kai-shek at the Whampoa Military Academy asked Yu Qiaqing for donations. Give.That person detained Yu Qiaqing's passenger ship, and Yu Qiaqing told Chiang Kai-shek that the person sabotaged the War of Resistance and detained the ship, leaving stranded refugees everywhere.Chiang Kai-shek actually ordered that person to be shot.This shows Yu Qiaqing's official and business status at that time.

Therefore, before 1949, among all private enterprises, Yu Qiaqing was the one with the smoothest relationship between politicians and "entrepreneurs".Since he worked in the Dutch bank and had a good relationship with foreigners, and with such a relationship with Jiang, his business has always been the smoothest during the Nationalist government. From this person, it may be seen that there were two best choices for the relationship between entrepreneurs and politicians at that time: one was to choose a high place to stand, and only the most powerful person could become a patron; Give but not take", "Isn't it because of its selflessness? So it can become its own selfishness".

In Taiwan, Mr. Gu Zhenfu was the most successful in dealing with the relationship between politicians and entrepreneurs. He was the only member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee who was born as an entrepreneur in the heyday of the Kuomintang.The Gu family also has a close relationship with the government. Before the Anti-Japanese War, he was a big landlord.Later, after the Japanese came, they began to turn to business. Some people said that he was a traitor who led the way for the Japanese.After the Kuomintang came to power in Taiwan, it carried out a land reform, and the landlords became capitalists, and their families became capitalists, forming enterprises such as Taiwan Cement, whose current base is Hexin Group (including Taiwan CITIC Financial Holdings).

He has very good interactions with politicians and the Kuomintang.So during the Kuomintang period, his highest status was the chairman of the SEF, a member of the Standing Committee of the Taiwan Kuomintang, and the most respected person in the business world. He also handled cross-strait relations on behalf of the authorities. It was very stable and continued to the generation of Gu Qiyun and Gu Liansong. Gu Zhenfu has always said a word: life is a stage (he likes to sing Peking Opera), the most important thing is not to appear on stage, but to have a graceful back when stepping off stage.So he performed very well both on stage and off stage throughout his life.So far, there have been no reports of any shady connections between him and the government. Hexin’s business development has a lot to do with his political status. His political status plays an important role in the Kuomintang. , and for quite a period of time, the Kuomintang is a single party, so it can help his company establish a large space for development.

Of course, we can also give examples of typical characters in mainland China today, but it is taboo for the living, so let’s not list them for the time being.In fact, in the Chinese society, dealing with political and business relations and studying entrepreneurs will inspire us a lot. Currently in mainland China, the relationship between entrepreneurs and politicians has not yet fully formed a very mature model.On the one hand, the scale of entrepreneurs in mainland China is still relatively small.On the other hand, the relationship between entrepreneurs and politicians is more in the exchange of some low-level power and interests, and does not focus on a major alliance relationship.In the mainland, there was a particularly interesting phenomenon in the early years, which was called peripheral coreization and core marginalization.It refers to the fact that in the past 20 years, most of the people who have entered the core from enterprises are the original marginal population, such as township entrepreneurs, former migrant workers, contractors, and farmers. They are marginal groups, and then entered the core of the government (CPPCC, National People's Congress).Those who were originally in the core government agencies were transferred out to do business in the sea, and they were all marginalized, that is, to develop towards the rivers and lakes, the bottom and the margins of society.

The channel relationship between politicians and entrepreneurs, as well as the Federation of Industry and Commerce, allows some of the best entrepreneurs to form a benign communication with the government and politicians here; but now, some outstanding entrepreneurs, such as Jack Ma, Robin Li , Jiang Nanchun, Ma Huateng and other corporate elites, the Federation of Industry and Commerce does not go to them, and they never go to the Federation of Industry and Commerce.So at present, the relationship between Chinese entrepreneurs and politicians has not yet formed a standardized and constructive institutional arrangement.