Chapter 11 Chapter 10 Shanxi Merchants
They have created a unique business culture and are known as the most successful business gang in China.
This is Shanxi Merchants.
What is the reason for Shanxi merchants to seize the opportunity and accumulate capital?
How did Shanxi Merchants create miracles?What's the secret to their success?
There is a world-famous street in the south of Manhattan, New York, with a total length of only more than 500 meters. Although it is narrow and crowded, it gathers many financial institutions including the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank. nerve center".This is Wall Street.
However, on the other side of the earth a hundred years ago, in the territory of China, the "Qing Dynasty Wall Street" that controlled China's financial industry at that time had long been born.Local businessmen created a glorious course in China's financial history in a unique way - "piaohao", and realized the grand ideal of "connecting the world".By 1904, Shanxi Bank had opened 450 branches in more than 100 cities. At that time, the relatively large financial institutions in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and other cities were mostly headquartered in Pingyao and Taigu. In the ordinary alleys, it is in these inconspicuous houses that Shanxi businessmen have created a century-old legendary foundation.
Let me first quote a passage from Liang Qichao.What he wrote was relatively simple classical Chinese, and he could still understand it. I have been abroad for more than ten years, and I often have no words to criticize my country's commercial capabilities when outsiders criticize it.Shanxi merchants who have this unique history (that is, the Shanxi merchants) and have the foundation to continue to develop, I often boast of this before the people of the world. These are the words of a great economist who really understands China.And there is another person who said similar things, he was General Grant at the time, and he was an Englishman.He said that he roamed the Eurasian continent, but never thought that when he came to China, he saw the small merchants in Shanxi, they were so powerful that they could even defeat the Jewish merchants. Therefore, the so-called Shanxi merchants in the past have received very high evaluations in Chinese and foreign history.I think it is necessary for us to let the whole world know about Shanxi Merchants, and we also hope to get some inspiration for ourselves while sorting out the entire development history of Shanxi Merchants.First of all, I would like to briefly talk about the history of Shanxi merchants.Shanxi merchants are basically such a group of businessmen who succeeded by relying on the convenience of the location, coupled with the harmony of the weather and the people. The brilliance of Shanxi merchants is inseparable from its unique geographical environment.Since ancient times, Shanxi has the unique salt pond in the country, rich in products, adjacent to major grain-producing provinces such as Henan and Shandong, and also in the position where the east meets the west, and the south and the north meet. Shanxi people have lived together with ethnic minorities since ancient times.These advantages enabled Shanxi to have developed commercial trade before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it was the material basis for the formation of Shanxi merchants in the Ming Dynasty.
How did the first batch of Shanxi merchants prosper?When the Ming Dynasty was founded, there were a total of 900,000 troops stationed at the northern frontier, divided into 9 military depots, that is, 9 strongholds.In order to prevent the invasion of the Huns in the north, that is, the Mongols after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, it is called 9 sides, that is, 9 border stations.Four of these nine border defense stations are in Shanxi Province, which brings a unique opportunity for Shanxi people to develop.Due to the large number of troops stationed on the 9th side, it reached 900,000 people.So food is a big problem.When the Ming Dynasty was first founded, people from Shandong, Henan, and Hunan were usually ordered to deliver grain and grass, causing outrage and resentment.Finally, the Ming government came up with a solution called "opening the middle system".Specifically, it encouraged businessmen to transport grain and grass to the 9th side, and then the Ming government gave him a salt ticket, which was called Yanyin at that time, but it was actually a salt ticket. The governments of all dynasties in ancient China adopted a monopoly policy on table salt. The main reason is that the benefits obtained from controlling table salt are very great, which are no less than the benefits of controlling oil and coal mines today.During the Ming Dynasty, the government implemented a salt import system, that is to say, if a merchant wanted to legally sell salt, he had to first obtain a "salt introduction" from the government, which was actually a certificate for obtaining table salt.With this paper certificate, you can get huge benefits in exchange.Although Shanxi is not a region with very rich grain production, the early Shanxi merchants firmly grasped this opportunity, which was the first step towards success for Shanxi merchants.
After getting the salt, the merchants went to the salt-producing places in China's coastal areas to buy salt, such as sea salt and rock salt from Shanxi.Since the technology of making salt was not in place at that time, it was a huge profit industry. After buying salt, you can immediately resell it for huge profits.The Ming Dynasty government relied on this kind of incentive mechanism to encourage merchants to transport grain to the north, exchange salt to attract salt sales, and then profit themselves. Shanxi merchants at that time were in this environment. With such convenient conditions, they hoarded a large amount of grain and transported it to the north, and exchanged salt for Hedong salt, Changlu salt, and Shandong salt.Hedong Salt is in Shanxi, and Changlu Salt and Shandong Salt are in the nearby coastal areas.As a result, they were able to compete equally with Huizhou merchants at that time.However, after a hundred years of operation, this system has a major problem-corruption.The local officials took the salt to lure not to Shanxi businessmen, but to their relatives, such as their own sister-in-law or their cousin, so that relatives could make profits.Therefore, relatives do not need to transport food, but can also get salt.And the Shanxi merchants who worked hard to transport the grain there might not be able to get Yanyin, and they might be beaten up.Therefore, the system is broken.At that time, with the increase of fiscal revenue, the Ming Dynasty government allocated more and more salaries to the 9 frontier strongholds.Therefore, in the mid-Ming Dynasty, the government began to allow silver to be exchanged for salt tickets.So the government introduced a new system, called "opening the color system". The Kaizhong Zhese system began in 1492. The Ming Dynasty government stipulated that merchants no longer had to go to the northern frontier to exchange grain for salt tickets, but could go to the Salt Transport Department in the interior to exchange silver taels for salt tickets.That is to say, all the proposals for transporting grain are cancelled, and you use money to exchange salt tickets, and use money to buy this salt ticket.In this way, the entire Shanxi merchants were destroyed, because Shanxi merchants had already hoarded a large amount of grain, and they were going to exchange for Yanyin.As soon as this bill came out, so much grain could not be sold, causing almost collective bankruptcy of Shanxi merchants.Shanxi merchants were not called Shanxi merchants at that time, so what were they called?called salt merchants.Therefore, merchants in Shanxi prospered by selling salt.As a result, the geographical advantages previously enjoyed by Shanxi merchants disappeared, and the control over salt tickets was also lost. Coupled with official corruption, Shanxi salt merchants faced an unprecedented crisis. But at this moment, I would like to give Shanxi merchants, the so-called salt merchants, a very good comment, which is called a crisis.What is a crisis? Only when there is danger can there be opportunity, and only when there is danger can there be opportunity.The merchants in Shanxi at that time were not defeated because of the defeat of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of the Qing Dynasty.The Manchus, the founders of the Qing Dynasty, were a foreign race in the north at that time, so there was intermarriage between the Qing Dynasty and Mongolia, and the relationship between the Mongolians and the Manchus was very close, so the north was relatively peaceful.What was produced in the north at that time?Ginseng, mink, ganoderma and so on are produced in the north.What does the South produce?Iron pot, salt, tea leaves.The junction point of trade between the north and the south is Shanxi, so Shanxi merchants benefited from the geographical advantages of the Qing Dynasty, and there was no war or other foreign troubles in the north, so they started trading, which can be regarded as "international trade".There was no currency at that time. Do readers know how to trade at that time?Because people in Mongolia in the north need iron pots very much, but they don’t know how to make iron pots themselves, so Shanxi merchants have to transport iron pots from the south to the north, so how to change them?The Shanxi businessman said he wanted to trade mink fur.Well, put the arm like a big iron pot here, put the minks in one by one, minks are small animals, put them in the iron pot one by one, wait until the minks fill up the iron pot, well, let the iron pot go You, mink to me.This is called bartering. Both parties think that they have got a great bargain, and they both think that the other party is stupid. They put the mink in the iron pot and gave it to me. They are so stupid.So this deal is a happy one, everyone is happy. The reason why Shanxi merchants are known as the most successful business gang in China is inseparable from their diligence and strategic vision.During the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi merchants monopolized trade and capital allocation in northern China, but they did not confine their attention to the domestic market, but also opened up a vast international market, not only entering the entire Asian region, but even extending their tentacles to the European market.In more than ten regions including Moscow, Petersburg, North Korea and Japan, there have been firms or branches run by Shanxi people. The Chang family in Yuci exported linen from China and imported ginseng from North Korea.Someone once said: "Wherever there are sparrows, there are Shanxi merchants."
But Shanxi merchants at that time did more than that. I think it was only at this time that they began to be called Shanxi merchants.This point is worthy of our praise, because Shanxi merchants in this period have created a unique industrial chain operation in the world.I recently published two books called "Industrial Chain Conspiracy: A War Without Gunsmoke", which are divided into two volumes. If you are interested, you can read them.But let me tell you that in the early days of the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi merchants should have been able to control the entire industrial chain in the world.Therefore, I would like to call them Jin merchants at this moment. In the past, they were just small merchants selling salt. This period is different, and they should be called Shanxi merchants.Let me give you an example, like China, which claims to be a big manufacturing country today, but in fact the real big manufacturing country may not be us. For example, today our factory in China produces a Barbie doll, what is its ex-factory price? $1; the retail price at Wal-Mart in the United States is $9.99, which is close to $10.So, who created $10 minus $1?It is created by all large logistics links except manufacturing, including transportation, packaging, logistics, warehousing, wholesale, and retail, and the value of 9 dollars created by the entire large logistics industry chain.Therefore, for Shanxi merchants, they have discovered more wisely than entrepreneurs of our generation that if you want to be a successful businessman, you must control the entire industrial chain, not just manufacturing.And this thinking was particularly important at the time, because what did the so-called businessman mean at the time?It is to pull a truckload of goods from Hunan to Hubei to sell, which is the level of businessmen at that time.However, Shanxi merchants sell tea from the south, and completely control the entire industrial chain from manufacturing to packaging, processing, transportation, wholesale, and final retail.I believe this is the first efficient integration of the world's industrial chain, which is not easy.That is to say, taking the Barbie doll as an example, what it earns is not simply 1 yuan for tea, but 1+9 yuan for the entire industrial chain. The entire 10 yuan is covered by Shanxi merchants. is real affluence. Think about it, why is our manufacturing industry so difficult, and why is the United States so rich?Because taking the Barbie doll as an example, we have worked hard to create a $1 Barbie doll, and the United States has created 9 times the output value through the entire large logistics link.Therefore, the more China manufactures, the richer the United States is. This is what Americans call international division of labor. Shanxi merchants are different. They not only control the tea production of 1 yuan, but also control the next 9 yuan.Therefore, whether it is Fujian, Hunan, or Guangdong, the more tea you produce, the more you manufacture, the richer Shanxi merchants will be.Therefore, the richness of the United States today is the same as the essence of the rich soul of Shanxi businessmen at that time, that is, to control the most valuable major logistics links in the entire industrial chain. The six major logistics links include product design, raw material procurement, warehousing and transportation, Order processing, wholesale operations and terminal retail.It was like this hundreds of years ago, and it is like this today.Today it depends on who can control the entire industrial chain, and the most important fundamental reason for the decline of our manufacturing industry today is that the entire industrial chain is controlled by the United States. We only control 1, while the United States controls 6, referred to as "6" +1", "6+1" refers to the entire industrial chain, 1 refers to manufacturing, and 6 refers to the six links I just mentioned.Shanxi businessmen control the "6+1", and this is the main reason for their wealth.The United States controls 6, which is also the main reason why the United States is rich today. Therefore, I personally want to give a high evaluation to the Shanxi merchants at that time. It was really not easy for them to do it. But Shanxi merchants are not lucky.What is bad luck?The root lies in the Qing Dynasty again.Starting with the Treaty of Tianjin in 1858, the Treaty of Peking in 1860, and the Sino-Russian Land Trade Regulations in 1862, everything changed. What's wrong with these three treaties?That is to allow the Russians to transport tea directly to Tianjin after collecting tea from southern China, and Dan is transported to Tianjin tax-free.Then the Russians transported it back to Russia from Tianjin Sea, free of tax all the way.Do you know what the Shanxi businessman did at that time?Shanxi businessmen asked the Empress Dowager Cixi to grant the same privileges. It was very smart, because shipping by sea made the entire industrial chain more efficient, right?Faster speeds and larger volumes. Let me take the scale of Shanxi merchants at that time as an example. The largest Shanxi firm at that time was called Dashengkui.Dashengkui Company was the largest company for trade with Mongolia established by three hawkers in Shanxi in the Qing Dynasty. At its peak, it had six to seven thousand employees. Its active areas included today's Mongolia, my country's Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Siberia in Russia, Moscow and other places. , the capital is very strong, it is said that all its assets can be used to pave a road from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing with 50 taels of silver ingots. Dashengkui has a total of 1,600 camels, and each camel can carry 250 kilograms, which adds up to 400 tons, which is far from enough for a boat.Is it bothering you to raise 1,600 camels? It takes so long to raise so many camels, it’s not as good as a boat.Therefore, Shanxi businessmen are very shrewd and smart, and at the same time asked the Empress Dowager Cixi to open up shipping so that they can benefit from it. But the reader knows the ending, right?The Empress Dowager Cixi has never studied economics, nor has she listened to Professor Lang's lectures, nor has she ever learned about the "6+1" efficient integration. She finds it troublesome and criticizes it.If you don't allow it, it's over. At that time, the so-called Shanxi merchants began to decline rapidly. In 1873, in order to save shipping costs, Shanxi merchants planned to transport Hubei tea by water to Tianjin, and then sell it to Russia by land, just like Russia did. Shanxi merchants who travel by water are still taxed as they travel by land.The rulers of the Qing Dynasty went against the grain and suppressed the behavior of Chinese merchants, which put Shanxi merchants at a very disadvantageous position in the tea merchant war with Russian merchants from the very beginning.
By 1875, the amount of tea controlled by the Russians was five times that of the Shanxi merchants, and the Shanxi merchants began to enter a new twilight.Moreover, the number of firms in Shanxi decreased rapidly from 120 at that time to 4, facing a crisis of extinction.At this moment, it shows the problem of Shanxi merchants. Not only are you inferior to others in shipping, but we also noticed a phenomenon, that is, camels.Taking Da Shengkui as an example, the 1,600 camels are all life. Once there is a drought, the camels will starve to death.And it did happen, there was a severe drought in Henan and Shanxi, and most of the camels starved to death.In addition, the Russians made tea by factory mechanization, but Shanxi merchants never accepted the concept of mechanization. Brick tea, for example, is a pressed lump of tea leaves, stems, and sometimes powdered tea.Russian businessmen have successively established brick tea factories in Hankou, Jiujiang, Fuzhou and other places. The brick tea made is made of black tea powder as raw material and pressed by advanced machinery and equipment. The quality halo made of green tea and tea stems sold in Mongolia is better, and Shanxi merchants still rely on manual workshops, and their products obviously cannot be compared with machine products. I am very depressed at this point.In the past, Shanxi merchants refused to accept modern things and the new concept of mechanization. The reason why Hu Xueyan failed to engage in silk production was also because he did not accept the concept of modern production. That is, in order to take care of these silk-producing farmers, they fought against foreign businessmen, so they were defeated.As a result, the essential reason is the same—not accepting modern, mechanized, and high-standard management.Going back to Shanxi merchants, the camels are starving to death, and the freight is so expensive, while the Russians are mechanized production, but you are manual production.The Russians were also very bad at the time. Taking cloth as an example, for 9 taels of cloth, the tax collected in Russia was as high as 33 taels, which was several times the tax. You can’t help it.Our merchants are very poor and have always lacked the protection of the state. But if we come here, what is the only thing we can talk about?That is a simple integration of the industrial chain.But let me tell readers that the next move of the Shanxi merchants was to create a new situation under such a crisis for the first time, that is, in 1823, a bank that was unique in the world appeared in Shanxi.What is the name of this ticket number?It is called Rishengchang, and it was established by a shopkeeper named Lei Lutai. The predecessor of Rishengchang was Li's Xiyucheng Pigment Shop. Under the careful planning of the shopkeeper Lei Lutai and others, they decided to change the Xiyucheng Pigment Shop into a ticket number, which adopted a joint-stock system. In 1823, Rishengchang was in Opened in a lively atmosphere. In layman's terms, Rishengchang Bank is the original form of the bank.Before the bill number was created, merchants had to rely on cash for purchases and trades when they went out. If they earned money in other places and sent it back to their hometown, they had to rely on special bodyguards to transport the cash back.This forced Shanxi merchants who went out to do business to find new ways. At this time, Rishengchang, the first bank in Chinese history, came into being. Rishengchang pioneered the bank account business, which is of great significance in Chinese history, and is known today as "the rural grandfather of modern banks".The prosperity of bank accounts has pushed the glory of Shanxi merchants to a peak.
Of course, this ticket number was created in 1823, and the collapse of the tea business was in 1875.That is to say, 50 years before the collapse of the tea business, Shanxi merchants had already started to diversify their operations.Moreover, this diversification is not a general diversification. In terms of tea, it is the efficient integration of the entire "6+1" industrial chain, coupled with the establishment of a financial system that combines industry and finance (industry and financing).I believe that it should be able to become the most influential business (industry and finance) group in China and even in the world.But unfortunately, because of the reasons of the Qing government at that time, all this fell short in the end.Then the ticket number established in 1823, when it was at its peak, there were probably more than 670 ticket numbers in 124 places around the world.At that time, Pingyao, Qixian and Taigu became China's Wall Street.So in history, we also have Wall Street, and they are doing quite well.So how many financial institutions, that is, bank accounts, are there on Wall Street in China? 30.How much capital do you have? 150 million taels of silver, that is to say, the total capital it owns in silver is nearly 1/10 of the indemnity of the entire Qing Dynasty. The indemnity of the entire Qing Dynasty is 1.6 billion taels of 4 silver, and 1/10 is their capital.That was very powerful, and in 1906, the Ministry of Households at that time was equivalent to the Ministry of Finance today, and 1/3 of its silver was basically placed in Shanxi bank. In its heyday, just adding up the property of wealthy households in several counties in Shanxi, the amount exceeded 100 million taels of silver.This amount was even more than the domestic library silver at that time. Many people have watched the TV series "Qiao's Courtyard". This drama was filmed in real scenes. From the footage, we can still feel the glory and panic of Shanxi merchants in those days. The Qiao family courtyard has been built by several generations. It has 6 large courtyards and 19 small courtyards, covering an area of 8,700 square meters and 313 houses.These old houses are the best illustration of the wealth status of Shanxi merchants.Compared with other Shanxi merchants, although the Qiao family is far from the wealthiest, it is the most famous among the Shanxi merchants.Why did the Qiao Family Courtyard last forever, and why did its former owner, Qiao Zhiyong, have a good reputation among the common people? So, how did Shanxi Merchants build a century-old glorious foundation step by step?What's so special about the management and operation of ticket numbers?What enlightenment does their success have for modern people?
Shanxi merchants, as a business gang that has ruled the roost for hundreds of years, relied on their favorable geographical location in the Ming Dynasty to obtain "salt introduction" by transporting military rations for the government, earning the first pot of gold and monopolizing huge commercial resources.Due to the good relationship established during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shanxi merchants received special courtesy from the Qing government and achieved great development. The opening of Rishengchang in 1823 opened the prelude to Shanxi bank’s conquest of the financial industry of the Qing Dynasty, and finally made Shanxi merchants the “No.
At this stage of the bank, Shanxi people created a unique and unique new joint-stock system in the world. This joint-stock system is amazing, and looking at it now, I think it is not only amazing, but also extremely smart and wise.What kind of shareholding system is it?It is called a joint-stock system with unlimited liability, and our listed companies today are called joint-stock companies.What is an unlimited liability company?In other words, once the Shanxi boss of the billing account encounters a problem, he has to pay the money out of his own belongings. This is the characteristic of an unlimited liability company.A limited liability company is very simple. If a listed company fails, once the company is closed, its own property can be retained.And this kind of limited liability system is the most effective way for listed companies in many countries, including China, to entrap shareholders. After emptying out the company's assets, they put them in their own pockets. The bags are safe and people run away.In other words, the limited liability system can only allow the company to pay off, but what should the company pay off when it is empty.Therefore, the limited company itself has problems, and the limited company is also the easiest to deceive people.And Shanxi businessmen decided to use the unlimited shareholding system. We should give high praise to this point, because it shows the fiduciary responsibility of Shanxi businessmen to their customers. In 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces captured the city of Beijing, and the high-ranking officials in Beijing fled in panic along with the Empress Dowager Cixi.The Shanxi ticket office suffered heavy losses during the war. Not only the ticket office was robbed, but also the account books were burned.Without account books, many deposits lack real evidence.However, the Shanxi bank headed by Rishengchang decided that as long as the depositors took out their banknotes, no matter how large the amount was, they would immediately exchange them for silver taels.These measures of Shanxi Bank have won the trust of depositors and brought more business for themselves.
Readers should understand that I have been emphasizing fiduciary responsibility for so many years. I think the first step is from Shanxi businessmen.Shanxi merchants are very interesting. The bank accounts they set up are the first batch of companies in China where management rights and ownership are separated. They are not only limited-stock companies, but also separate management rights and ownership. The boss found a shopkeeper to help him take care of it, and the shopkeeper used his maximum fiduciary responsibility to help the boss make money, but whether you make money or lose money, it is the boss's, and the shopkeeper itself does not need to compensate .Who will pay for unlimited liability?The owner behind it will pay for it.However, Shanxi Bank puts great emphasis on the fiduciary responsibility of the shopkeeper, the fiduciary responsibility of Huai?Fiduciary duty to the owner.And what does the owner emphasize?fiduciary duty to his clients. Therefore, Shanxi businessmen at this stage, following the integration of the industrial chain mentioned above, once again gave our people an unprecedented new concept-trust responsibility.That is to say, the owner uses his own money to compensate and protect his customers through the unlimited liability system. The shopkeeper does not need to compensate, but he can use his fiduciary responsibility to maximize the profit for the owner. How wonderful! Of course, the owner at that time also had his own methods in order to select the shopkeeper, and he did not choose randomly.Because it is difficult for ordinary people to say that they have a conscience, and this conscience is unreliable.So the Shanxi businessmen at that time began to think, how to find some shopkeepers with fiduciary responsibilities?They came up with two methods, which are very interesting, and the management philosophy contained in them is also what I have repeatedly called for over the years. (1) The first method is the legal system. What is the rule of law?First of all, the shopkeeper must be from Shanxi. Of course, it is certain that the fat and water will not flow to outsiders.Then, the recommended person must have a wealthy businessman as a guarantee, and the businessman should preferably be related to the ticket number and have business dealings.Since there are merchants as guarantees, and the merchants have to bear joint and several liabilities, this is the establishment of the legal system.Because this businessman must strictly supervise and screen in order not to let himself lose, and at the same time not let the ticket number lose, and use this so-called legal force of guarantee to ensure that his staff has a fiduciary responsibility. This is The origin of the treasurer.This method of store guarantee is the establishment of a legalized management idea. It is a pity that this system has not been handed down.So our ancestors were very wise and great, at least much greater than us. (2) The second method is the education mechanism of three-year apprenticeship. In addition to teaching you abacus, accounting, and cashiers, a very important point is moral education.In fact, at that time, it was very hard work to be the big shopkeeper or the second shopkeeper, or even the staff of the Shanxi bank.Unlike today's businessmen, it's fine to eat out at night, have a drink, and then go to a nightclub for entertainment.It seems to be planning for the company, and it is called entertainment, but it is actually corruption. Lei Lutai, the well-known shopkeeper of Rishengchang among Shanxi merchants, started as a small boy at first.In the early years, the young man who was new to the store and learned to do business was called "Xianggong".It takes at least three years of hard work to become a master from a husband.Whether it is severe cold or hot summer, the guys have to get up before dawn, tidy up housework, boil water for cooking, serve the shopkeeper's food and daily life respectfully, and even help the shopkeeper empty the chamber pot.After standing on the platform for a whole day and holding the lamps, the door is opened.In the evening, in addition to helping the masters count and organize the goods and arrange the shopkeeper's rest, I also have to learn abacus, practice calligraphy or keep accounts, and I can't sleep until very late.After years of tempering, many young guys have opened the golden door of "treasurer" with a sincere will.
If you enter a Shanxi bank as an apprentice and become a shopkeeper after the apprenticeship, let me tell you, it is very strict.First, you are not allowed to drink alcohol, which is very painful for most people; second, you are not allowed to smoke opium; third, you are not allowed to whore women;Why?You have to work very hard. What does he train you for?Fiduciary duty, fiduciary duty, fiduciary duty.You should not have all the enjoyment, because you are a treasurer with fiduciary responsibilities, that is, a professional manager.You have to set an example, the purpose of your existence is to make money for your boss, and you have to be the most moral, and use your best ability to make money for your boss.So think about it, everyone, what is the difference between this and the current US dollar?There are so many listed companies in the United States, why do their professional managers work so hard?Because they have fiduciary responsibilities, they think that it is right to make money for shareholders, and it is right to make money for the boss.He can't do anything, he can only do his best to do the work of the "treasurer".So you are not surprised that under such a construction, there will be a real harmonious society, and this harmonious society is a harmonious society based on trust and responsibility.And this fiduciary responsibility is manifested in the shopkeeper, that is, the legal system plus the training of conscience and morality, how wonderful! Lei Lutai founded Rishengchang.His boss once knelt down to him, why?Because one day the boss offended Lei Lutai.At that time, Lei Lutai was sick, and he was lying in the ticket office and did not go home to rest.The second shopkeeper wanted to seize power, so he spoke ill of Lei Lutai in front of the boss.Annoying, sick, still staying in the ticket office every day, pointing and pointing, how annoying.Call him home!Then the boss went in without knowing it, and said, shopkeeper Lei, if you are not feeling well, go home.Shopkeeper Lei said, okay, I'll go home.The next day, the owner went to visit Shopkeeper Lei's house and found that Shopkeeper Lei was writing with a brush.He said, shopkeeper, are you writing?Shopkeeper Lei said, yes, yes.The owner asked again, what words to write?Write a letter home?Write to your wife?Lei Lutai said no, this Rishengchang belongs to you, but I established so many semicolons across the country, didn’t you tell me to go home to recuperate, so I withdrew all the semicolons and got all the funds back , Return it to the owner, and give you an explanation. Do you understand what Lei Lutai said, that is, the dozens of semicolons he established in the past were all withdrawn in one day, and the money was returned to the owner instead of running away with private pockets.When the owner heard this, he immediately knelt down, and he was in a hurry, shopkeeper Lei, shopkeeper Lei, please don't do this.You leave the semicolon, and you must let it continue to operate. Don't withdraw it, and I don't want you to withdraw it.Then it became the story of the famous owner kneeling down to Shopkeeper Lei.Then, of course, the shopkeeper Lei had to pretend to decline, so he finally said, I am old, I am old, my health is not good, and so on.So the host gave him a table of banquets every day, and also gave him 50 taels of silver, every day.In the end, the old man Lei Lutai said, well, then I will forgive you.Pay attention, if a shopkeeper tells the owner, then I will forgive you. It can be seen from this that this kind of shopkeeper with fiduciary responsibilities is valued by the owner. This fiduciary duty is twofold.Qiao's family and Qu's family are both in the same place, where are they? They are both in Qi County.We have all watched the TV series "Qiao's Courtyard". The Qiao family is very rich, but compared with the Qu family, they are just a big courtyard, and the Qu family's financial resources are more than 5 times theirs.His home is a street, called his home street.Since the Qu family's financial resources are not as strong, then why was the Qiao's Courtyard so famous at that time, and even now we have filmed the TV series "Qiao's Courtyard".Let me tell you that the Qiao Family Courtyard was a typical representative of Shanxi merchants at that time. Although these people did not learn modern industrial and commercial knowledge, did not build modern factories, and did not build modern banks, these people still had a strong trust in the local people. responsibility.Not just for customers, not because I want to treat you well because you have made money for me, so set up an unlimited liability system, no, it’s not that simple.What is the reason why the Qiao Family Courtyard can be preserved to this day, and our government keeps calling for the broadcast of this TV series?Because only people like them can create a truly harmonious society.At that time, as long as the common people in Qi County basically received their benefits.During the holidays, you will find people from Qiao’s family carrying rice and ham, and delivering them family by family.In times of famine, people from the Qiao Family Courtyard came out to provide relief.This is unimaginable. The TV series "Qiao Family Courtyard" is based on a true story in the history of Qi County, Shanxi.Qi County is located in the central part of Shanxi, where drought and flood disasters occur from time to time.In the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), there was a severe drought in Shanxi. Qiao Zhiyong, the owner of the Qiao Family Courtyard at that time, asked people to plant a cauldron at the entrance of the village and set up a porridge field to help the victims of the disaster.Although it was just a bowl of light gruel, in the eyes of the victims at that time, it was a timely help and warmed their hearts.
Therefore, even at the most turbulent moment in society, ordinary people will say that we cannot liquidate the Qiao family, and we cannot move in and rob other people's houses.Why?Because we have been indebted to the Qiao family for generations.This is the return of our common people's fiduciary duty to those who are kind to us.You see, what a wonderful society!That was from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the period after our Liberation War. You see, these are Shanxi people, how nice.In the end, the county party school moved in, so the current Qiao family compound can be preserved to this day.Fortunately, these historical relics leave us with infinite reverie and emotion. However, after reading this, have you noticed that all problems, including the downfall of Hu Xueyan and the collapse of Rishengchang Bank, are closely related to the Qing Dynasty and the Empress Dowager Cixi.In our history, there are indeed many wise businessmen who have established leading business concepts such as the integration of industrial chains and responsibility.But time does not give, in this great era, it is often difficult for personal wisdom to resist the deterioration of the general environment. I summed up several reasons, why such a big problem?These questions are indeed worthy of our consideration. First, at that time, those who worked as bank accounts were very troublesome and often had to donate money.If the government has nothing to do, it will come to apportion, and it will come to you to donate money.I have a donation amount data here to tell readers: 110,000 taels for the big and small Jinchuan campaigns, 2.18 million taels for the White Lotus Rebellion, 2 million taels for the first Opium War, 2.87 million taels for the Taiping Rebellion, and Zuo Zongtang’s western expedition to Xinjiang. 8.63 million taels.And when the Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Shanxi, she borrowed 400,000 taels of silver from the Qiao Family Courtyard.When the country encounters difficulties, it always borrows from them. This is a huge cost, and it is huge. In the last few decades of the 19th century, due to social turmoil, even the well-capitalized Qiaojia Bank Dade Tong was doomed. In 1926, the troops led by Feng Yuxiang took 5 million shi of grain and 1.5 million shi银元都摊派到了乔家开设的商号，从此以后，乔家商号元气大伤。 1930年中原大战，乔家票号大德通被逼到了生死抉择的关头。
第二，就是外资银行的进人。情况跟我们现在差不多，我给读者看一个数据，大概从清朝末年开始到1913年，就是辛亥革命的第3年，总共进人中国的外资银行有21家，这些外资银行又相继在中国开设街125家分行。另外，我们本地的票号不但要捐钱，叫做捐疏，同时还与贪污腐败的官员进行交易。比如说你要跟政府官员拉关系，政府官员才来存钱；此外还投资在一些还没有出道的政府官员身上，目的是让这些官员发达了以后来照顾你。所以我们也搜集广数据，看看到底有多少官员跟山西票号有来往的，这个资料特别有意思。首先，三晋元票号和袁世凯、李鸿章有关。其次，乔家和曾国荃有关。此外，乔家还和九门提督马玉昆有关。九门提督就是当时北京的卫戍司令，北京警备区总司令叫做九门提督。乔家还跟湖广总督端方有关。这些现象就是一种官商勾结的情况。这也就是为什么到了1906年，户部，即当时的财政部，有1/3的银两存在了票号，就是这种拉钱的关系所带来的结果。平常某个官员借钱后就不要还钱了，或者你考上状元或进士，没钱了是吧，我免费借5000两银子给你，将来等你发达了以后当了大官再回报给我。 山西民间有这样一种说法：张嘴的龙是官，闭嘴的龙是商。闭嘴的龙得到的是实惠，是商业利益。那时候，晋商如果不依靠一两个政府官员，票号就很难运转。平遥协同庆票号北京分号的张治达，在一次闲谈中得知旗人穆某想要争取福建将军职位，短缺活动银6万两，于是便答应借给他。没过多长时间，穆某果然被任命为福建将军，他一上任便向当地官员宣称：“平遥协同庆资本雄厚，信用昭著，以后公私款项尽存该号。”在这里，官商结合不仅仅是寻求一种庇护，更是一种买卖关系。
这种官商勾结现象的产生，也导致很多贪污的赃款存在票号里，很多国家的钱也存在票号里。看起来是很兴旺，但到最后就很麻烦，为什么麻烦呢，是因为碰到了太平天国战争，又碰到了辛亥革命。太平天国战争还好，大清王朝还一息尚存。碰到辛亥革命，整个清王朝解体之后，之前欠的钱迅速提出，而官员借的钱不还，存的钱马上提出。就是说欠债的不还，存钱的马上提。再加上大量外资银行就在这个吋刻进入，真是倒了八辈子的霉。这也是中国当时特殊的历史时期所造成的这种现实情况。 这些原因加在一起，造成了山西票号的覆亡。我就以日升昌为例，辛亥革命就革命这几天的时间，这家票号损失了300万两白银，从此崩溃。但在这个时刻，我除了要讲当时的政治跟军事的问题造成票号的覆亡之外，还要告诉各位读者一句公平的话，晋商本身不知进取是最大的问题。为什么这么说呢，当时清朝政府不断组建现代化的银行，一直邀山西的票号人股，但山西票号从来不入股。这又是重蹈了过去晋商不接受新观念的老问题了。 1900年以后，在国际金融资本的猛烈沖击下，外国银行逐渐取代土生土长的中国票号。1914年的冬天，中国票号的开山祖师——“日升昌”倒闭了，山西商人左右中国金融界近一个世纪的历史随之落下帷幕，票号曾经创造的辉煌也被尘封在了这些古老的院落里。
在茶叶经营的时代，山西商人不用机器、工厂来加工制作，不接受现代化的观念，结果输给了俄国人。到了清朝末年，他们竟然一再拒绝清朝政府要成立现代化银行的邀请，而且是屡次邀请屡次拜托屡次求情，山西商人就是不干，我实在不懂这是为什么。最后导致山西票号从几百家变成三家。是哪三家呢？1929年，只剩下三家山西票号。第一个，是乔家人院的大德通；第二个也是他们家的，叫大德恒；第三个是渠家的，叫三晋元。但是，这一切都太晚了，以茶叶为例，你不采用现代化的生产方式；以票号为例，你不进入现代化银行。所以，外在环境对你而言，就是一个杀伤力极大的冲击。如果你能够审时度势，看清楚当时的情况，你就努力转型，不论在工商业方面也好，现代化经营的银行也好，你都有可能脱困。你为什么不跟当时的汇丰银行合股呢？而且当时的汇丰银行也愿意跟山西票号合股，原因很简单，因为真正了解我国信贷市场的是这一批人，而不是汇丰银行。大家都有利用价值，所以只要山西商人在1911年辛亥革命之前愿意开放胸怀，接受汇丰或者清政府的邀清，重组现代化银行不是不可能的，不需要到了1929年全体散架，什么都没有了。这其中的原因还是很复杂的。 我为了写晋商做了很多调研，发现山西人不喜欢读书也是个问题。山西过去出了很多名人，白居易大家肯定知道吧？他是山西人。王维、柳宗元、司马光都是山西人，人才济济。可是这都是宋代及其以前的人，到了大明王朝之后是江河日下。比如说，山西几乎在整个清朝期间，没有出过一个状元，有没有进士？有，逐年递减。顺治年间出过33个进士，康熙年间出过16个进士，乾隆年间出过12个进士，嘉庆皇帝以后这么长的朝代，只出过10个。 一百多年前的山西民间，曾经有句谚语：“有儿开商店，胜过做知县。”雍正年间的巡抚刘于义曾将这种现象归纳为：“重利之念，甚于重名。子弟之俊秀者多入贸易一途，其次宁为胥吏，至中材以下，方使之读书应试。”可见在当时山西人的观念里，经商是人生最好的选择，其次是做官，最后才是读书应试。
你知道不读书有什么问题吗？不读书就无法通过知识的积累了解世界的变化。所以山西商人过去可以凭着自己这么一点学徒制所吸收的知识，应付当时一个平稳的环境。一旦改朝换代的重大厄运到来的时候，这些不读书的晋商，无法转型，就陷于崩溃的命运，这个和山西商人不愿意读书关系重大。 所以我们纵观晋商的历史，可以发现下而有趣的事。第一，从明朝开始楚盐商，到了开中折色制推出之后变成茶商。再往后从1823年开始，开设了票号，是真正的晋商。 我想告诉全国每一位读者，我们自己不理解中国，欧美人土也不理解中国，我们还不理解欧美。我常常问我的“粉丝”，资本主义的灵魂是什么？大家答的都是错的，什么民主啦，民营化、自由经济，不对的。资本主义的灵魂，是信托责任，也就是晋商所强调的信托责任。我们有没有？Have.因此现代资本主义的精髓，它的灵魂我们晋商就有。所以今天我们向西方国家学什么呢？你发现我们的老祖宗都会，我们这些不肖子孙，不但不知道资本主义的灵魂，也不学习我们老祖宗的寄托于信托责任的超前经商理念。
Let me first quote a passage from Liang Qichao.What he wrote was relatively simple classical Chinese, and he could still understand it. I have been abroad for more than ten years, and I often have no words to criticize my country's commercial capabilities when outsiders criticize it.Shanxi merchants who have this unique history (that is, the Shanxi merchants) and have the foundation to continue to develop, I often boast of this before the people of the world. These are the words of a great economist who really understands China.And there is another person who said similar things, he was General Grant at the time, and he was an Englishman.He said that he roamed the Eurasian continent, but never thought that when he came to China, he saw the small merchants in Shanxi, they were so powerful that they could even defeat the Jewish merchants. Therefore, the so-called Shanxi merchants in the past have received very high evaluations in Chinese and foreign history.I think it is necessary for us to let the whole world know about Shanxi Merchants, and we also hope to get some inspiration for ourselves while sorting out the entire development history of Shanxi Merchants.First of all, I would like to briefly talk about the history of Shanxi merchants.Shanxi merchants are basically such a group of businessmen who succeeded by relying on the convenience of the location, coupled with the harmony of the weather and the people. The brilliance of Shanxi merchants is inseparable from its unique geographical environment.Since ancient times, Shanxi has the unique salt pond in the country, rich in products, adjacent to major grain-producing provinces such as Henan and Shandong, and also in the position where the east meets the west, and the south and the north meet. Shanxi people have lived together with ethnic minorities since ancient times.These advantages enabled Shanxi to have developed commercial trade before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it was the material basis for the formation of Shanxi merchants in the Ming Dynasty.
How did the first batch of Shanxi merchants prosper?When the Ming Dynasty was founded, there were a total of 900,000 troops stationed at the northern frontier, divided into 9 military depots, that is, 9 strongholds.In order to prevent the invasion of the Huns in the north, that is, the Mongols after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, it is called 9 sides, that is, 9 border stations.Four of these nine border defense stations are in Shanxi Province, which brings a unique opportunity for Shanxi people to develop.Due to the large number of troops stationed on the 9th side, it reached 900,000 people.So food is a big problem.When the Ming Dynasty was first founded, people from Shandong, Henan, and Hunan were usually ordered to deliver grain and grass, causing outrage and resentment.Finally, the Ming government came up with a solution called "opening the middle system".Specifically, it encouraged businessmen to transport grain and grass to the 9th side, and then the Ming government gave him a salt ticket, which was called Yanyin at that time, but it was actually a salt ticket. The governments of all dynasties in ancient China adopted a monopoly policy on table salt. The main reason is that the benefits obtained from controlling table salt are very great, which are no less than the benefits of controlling oil and coal mines today.During the Ming Dynasty, the government implemented a salt import system, that is to say, if a merchant wanted to legally sell salt, he had to first obtain a "salt introduction" from the government, which was actually a certificate for obtaining table salt.With this paper certificate, you can get huge benefits in exchange.Although Shanxi is not a region with very rich grain production, the early Shanxi merchants firmly grasped this opportunity, which was the first step towards success for Shanxi merchants.
After getting the salt, the merchants went to the salt-producing places in China's coastal areas to buy salt, such as sea salt and rock salt from Shanxi.Since the technology of making salt was not in place at that time, it was a huge profit industry. After buying salt, you can immediately resell it for huge profits.The Ming Dynasty government relied on this kind of incentive mechanism to encourage merchants to transport grain to the north, exchange salt to attract salt sales, and then profit themselves. Shanxi merchants at that time were in this environment. With such convenient conditions, they hoarded a large amount of grain and transported it to the north, and exchanged salt for Hedong salt, Changlu salt, and Shandong salt.Hedong Salt is in Shanxi, and Changlu Salt and Shandong Salt are in the nearby coastal areas.As a result, they were able to compete equally with Huizhou merchants at that time.However, after a hundred years of operation, this system has a major problem-corruption.The local officials took the salt to lure not to Shanxi businessmen, but to their relatives, such as their own sister-in-law or their cousin, so that relatives could make profits.Therefore, relatives do not need to transport food, but can also get salt.And the Shanxi merchants who worked hard to transport the grain there might not be able to get Yanyin, and they might be beaten up.Therefore, the system is broken.At that time, with the increase of fiscal revenue, the Ming Dynasty government allocated more and more salaries to the 9 frontier strongholds.Therefore, in the mid-Ming Dynasty, the government began to allow silver to be exchanged for salt tickets.So the government introduced a new system, called "opening the color system". The Kaizhong Zhese system began in 1492. The Ming Dynasty government stipulated that merchants no longer had to go to the northern frontier to exchange grain for salt tickets, but could go to the Salt Transport Department in the interior to exchange silver taels for salt tickets.That is to say, all the proposals for transporting grain are cancelled, and you use money to exchange salt tickets, and use money to buy this salt ticket.In this way, the entire Shanxi merchants were destroyed, because Shanxi merchants had already hoarded a large amount of grain, and they were going to exchange for Yanyin.As soon as this bill came out, so much grain could not be sold, causing almost collective bankruptcy of Shanxi merchants.Shanxi merchants were not called Shanxi merchants at that time, so what were they called?called salt merchants.Therefore, merchants in Shanxi prospered by selling salt.As a result, the geographical advantages previously enjoyed by Shanxi merchants disappeared, and the control over salt tickets was also lost. Coupled with official corruption, Shanxi salt merchants faced an unprecedented crisis. But at this moment, I would like to give Shanxi merchants, the so-called salt merchants, a very good comment, which is called a crisis.What is a crisis? Only when there is danger can there be opportunity, and only when there is danger can there be opportunity.The merchants in Shanxi at that time were not defeated because of the defeat of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of the Qing Dynasty.The Manchus, the founders of the Qing Dynasty, were a foreign race in the north at that time, so there was intermarriage between the Qing Dynasty and Mongolia, and the relationship between the Mongolians and the Manchus was very close, so the north was relatively peaceful.What was produced in the north at that time?Ginseng, mink, ganoderma and so on are produced in the north.What does the South produce?Iron pot, salt, tea leaves.The junction point of trade between the north and the south is Shanxi, so Shanxi merchants benefited from the geographical advantages of the Qing Dynasty, and there was no war or other foreign troubles in the north, so they started trading, which can be regarded as "international trade".There was no currency at that time. Do readers know how to trade at that time?Because people in Mongolia in the north need iron pots very much, but they don’t know how to make iron pots themselves, so Shanxi merchants have to transport iron pots from the south to the north, so how to change them?The Shanxi businessman said he wanted to trade mink fur.Well, put the arm like a big iron pot here, put the minks in one by one, minks are small animals, put them in the iron pot one by one, wait until the minks fill up the iron pot, well, let the iron pot go You, mink to me.This is called bartering. Both parties think that they have got a great bargain, and they both think that the other party is stupid. They put the mink in the iron pot and gave it to me. They are so stupid.So this deal is a happy one, everyone is happy. The reason why Shanxi merchants are known as the most successful business gang in China is inseparable from their diligence and strategic vision.During the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi merchants monopolized trade and capital allocation in northern China, but they did not confine their attention to the domestic market, but also opened up a vast international market, not only entering the entire Asian region, but even extending their tentacles to the European market.In more than ten regions including Moscow, Petersburg, North Korea and Japan, there have been firms or branches run by Shanxi people. The Chang family in Yuci exported linen from China and imported ginseng from North Korea.Someone once said: "Wherever there are sparrows, there are Shanxi merchants."
But Shanxi merchants at that time did more than that. I think it was only at this time that they began to be called Shanxi merchants.This point is worthy of our praise, because Shanxi merchants in this period have created a unique industrial chain operation in the world.I recently published two books called "Industrial Chain Conspiracy: A War Without Gunsmoke", which are divided into two volumes. If you are interested, you can read them.But let me tell you that in the early days of the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi merchants should have been able to control the entire industrial chain in the world.Therefore, I would like to call them Jin merchants at this moment. In the past, they were just small merchants selling salt. This period is different, and they should be called Shanxi merchants.Let me give you an example, like China, which claims to be a big manufacturing country today, but in fact the real big manufacturing country may not be us. For example, today our factory in China produces a Barbie doll, what is its ex-factory price? $1; the retail price at Wal-Mart in the United States is $9.99, which is close to $10.So, who created $10 minus $1?It is created by all large logistics links except manufacturing, including transportation, packaging, logistics, warehousing, wholesale, and retail, and the value of 9 dollars created by the entire large logistics industry chain.Therefore, for Shanxi merchants, they have discovered more wisely than entrepreneurs of our generation that if you want to be a successful businessman, you must control the entire industrial chain, not just manufacturing.And this thinking was particularly important at the time, because what did the so-called businessman mean at the time?It is to pull a truckload of goods from Hunan to Hubei to sell, which is the level of businessmen at that time.However, Shanxi merchants sell tea from the south, and completely control the entire industrial chain from manufacturing to packaging, processing, transportation, wholesale, and final retail.I believe this is the first efficient integration of the world's industrial chain, which is not easy.That is to say, taking the Barbie doll as an example, what it earns is not simply 1 yuan for tea, but 1+9 yuan for the entire industrial chain. The entire 10 yuan is covered by Shanxi merchants. is real affluence. Think about it, why is our manufacturing industry so difficult, and why is the United States so rich?Because taking the Barbie doll as an example, we have worked hard to create a $1 Barbie doll, and the United States has created 9 times the output value through the entire large logistics link.Therefore, the more China manufactures, the richer the United States is. This is what Americans call international division of labor. Shanxi merchants are different. They not only control the tea production of 1 yuan, but also control the next 9 yuan.Therefore, whether it is Fujian, Hunan, or Guangdong, the more tea you produce, the more you manufacture, the richer Shanxi merchants will be.Therefore, the richness of the United States today is the same as the essence of the rich soul of Shanxi businessmen at that time, that is, to control the most valuable major logistics links in the entire industrial chain. The six major logistics links include product design, raw material procurement, warehousing and transportation, Order processing, wholesale operations and terminal retail.It was like this hundreds of years ago, and it is like this today.Today it depends on who can control the entire industrial chain, and the most important fundamental reason for the decline of our manufacturing industry today is that the entire industrial chain is controlled by the United States. We only control 1, while the United States controls 6, referred to as "6" +1", "6+1" refers to the entire industrial chain, 1 refers to manufacturing, and 6 refers to the six links I just mentioned.Shanxi businessmen control the "6+1", and this is the main reason for their wealth.The United States controls 6, which is also the main reason why the United States is rich today. Therefore, I personally want to give a high evaluation to the Shanxi merchants at that time. It was really not easy for them to do it. But Shanxi merchants are not lucky.What is bad luck?The root lies in the Qing Dynasty again.Starting with the Treaty of Tianjin in 1858, the Treaty of Peking in 1860, and the Sino-Russian Land Trade Regulations in 1862, everything changed. What's wrong with these three treaties?That is to allow the Russians to transport tea directly to Tianjin after collecting tea from southern China, and Dan is transported to Tianjin tax-free.Then the Russians transported it back to Russia from Tianjin Sea, free of tax all the way.Do you know what the Shanxi businessman did at that time?Shanxi businessmen asked the Empress Dowager Cixi to grant the same privileges. It was very smart, because shipping by sea made the entire industrial chain more efficient, right?Faster speeds and larger volumes. Let me take the scale of Shanxi merchants at that time as an example. The largest Shanxi firm at that time was called Dashengkui.Dashengkui Company was the largest company for trade with Mongolia established by three hawkers in Shanxi in the Qing Dynasty. At its peak, it had six to seven thousand employees. Its active areas included today's Mongolia, my country's Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Siberia in Russia, Moscow and other places. , the capital is very strong, it is said that all its assets can be used to pave a road from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing with 50 taels of silver ingots. Dashengkui has a total of 1,600 camels, and each camel can carry 250 kilograms, which adds up to 400 tons, which is far from enough for a boat.Is it bothering you to raise 1,600 camels? It takes so long to raise so many camels, it’s not as good as a boat.Therefore, Shanxi businessmen are very shrewd and smart, and at the same time asked the Empress Dowager Cixi to open up shipping so that they can benefit from it. But the reader knows the ending, right?The Empress Dowager Cixi has never studied economics, nor has she listened to Professor Lang's lectures, nor has she ever learned about the "6+1" efficient integration. She finds it troublesome and criticizes it.If you don't allow it, it's over. At that time, the so-called Shanxi merchants began to decline rapidly. In 1873, in order to save shipping costs, Shanxi merchants planned to transport Hubei tea by water to Tianjin, and then sell it to Russia by land, just like Russia did. Shanxi merchants who travel by water are still taxed as they travel by land.The rulers of the Qing Dynasty went against the grain and suppressed the behavior of Chinese merchants, which put Shanxi merchants at a very disadvantageous position in the tea merchant war with Russian merchants from the very beginning.
By 1875, the amount of tea controlled by the Russians was five times that of the Shanxi merchants, and the Shanxi merchants began to enter a new twilight.Moreover, the number of firms in Shanxi decreased rapidly from 120 at that time to 4, facing a crisis of extinction.At this moment, it shows the problem of Shanxi merchants. Not only are you inferior to others in shipping, but we also noticed a phenomenon, that is, camels.Taking Da Shengkui as an example, the 1,600 camels are all life. Once there is a drought, the camels will starve to death.And it did happen, there was a severe drought in Henan and Shanxi, and most of the camels starved to death.In addition, the Russians made tea by factory mechanization, but Shanxi merchants never accepted the concept of mechanization. Brick tea, for example, is a pressed lump of tea leaves, stems, and sometimes powdered tea.Russian businessmen have successively established brick tea factories in Hankou, Jiujiang, Fuzhou and other places. The brick tea made is made of black tea powder as raw material and pressed by advanced machinery and equipment. The quality halo made of green tea and tea stems sold in Mongolia is better, and Shanxi merchants still rely on manual workshops, and their products obviously cannot be compared with machine products. I am very depressed at this point.In the past, Shanxi merchants refused to accept modern things and the new concept of mechanization. The reason why Hu Xueyan failed to engage in silk production was also because he did not accept the concept of modern production. That is, in order to take care of these silk-producing farmers, they fought against foreign businessmen, so they were defeated.As a result, the essential reason is the same—not accepting modern, mechanized, and high-standard management.Going back to Shanxi merchants, the camels are starving to death, and the freight is so expensive, while the Russians are mechanized production, but you are manual production.The Russians were also very bad at the time. Taking cloth as an example, for 9 taels of cloth, the tax collected in Russia was as high as 33 taels, which was several times the tax. You can’t help it.Our merchants are very poor and have always lacked the protection of the state. But if we come here, what is the only thing we can talk about?That is a simple integration of the industrial chain.But let me tell readers that the next move of the Shanxi merchants was to create a new situation under such a crisis for the first time, that is, in 1823, a bank that was unique in the world appeared in Shanxi.What is the name of this ticket number?It is called Rishengchang, and it was established by a shopkeeper named Lei Lutai. The predecessor of Rishengchang was Li's Xiyucheng Pigment Shop. Under the careful planning of the shopkeeper Lei Lutai and others, they decided to change the Xiyucheng Pigment Shop into a ticket number, which adopted a joint-stock system. In 1823, Rishengchang was in Opened in a lively atmosphere. In layman's terms, Rishengchang Bank is the original form of the bank.Before the bill number was created, merchants had to rely on cash for purchases and trades when they went out. If they earned money in other places and sent it back to their hometown, they had to rely on special bodyguards to transport the cash back.This forced Shanxi merchants who went out to do business to find new ways. At this time, Rishengchang, the first bank in Chinese history, came into being. Rishengchang pioneered the bank account business, which is of great significance in Chinese history, and is known today as "the rural grandfather of modern banks".The prosperity of bank accounts has pushed the glory of Shanxi merchants to a peak.
Of course, this ticket number was created in 1823, and the collapse of the tea business was in 1875.That is to say, 50 years before the collapse of the tea business, Shanxi merchants had already started to diversify their operations.Moreover, this diversification is not a general diversification. In terms of tea, it is the efficient integration of the entire "6+1" industrial chain, coupled with the establishment of a financial system that combines industry and finance (industry and financing).I believe that it should be able to become the most influential business (industry and finance) group in China and even in the world.But unfortunately, because of the reasons of the Qing government at that time, all this fell short in the end.Then the ticket number established in 1823, when it was at its peak, there were probably more than 670 ticket numbers in 124 places around the world.At that time, Pingyao, Qixian and Taigu became China's Wall Street.So in history, we also have Wall Street, and they are doing quite well.So how many financial institutions, that is, bank accounts, are there on Wall Street in China? 30.How much capital do you have? 150 million taels of silver, that is to say, the total capital it owns in silver is nearly 1/10 of the indemnity of the entire Qing Dynasty. The indemnity of the entire Qing Dynasty is 1.6 billion taels of 4 silver, and 1/10 is their capital.That was very powerful, and in 1906, the Ministry of Households at that time was equivalent to the Ministry of Finance today, and 1/3 of its silver was basically placed in Shanxi bank. In its heyday, just adding up the property of wealthy households in several counties in Shanxi, the amount exceeded 100 million taels of silver.This amount was even more than the domestic library silver at that time. Many people have watched the TV series "Qiao's Courtyard". This drama was filmed in real scenes. From the footage, we can still feel the glory and panic of Shanxi merchants in those days. The Qiao family courtyard has been built by several generations. It has 6 large courtyards and 19 small courtyards, covering an area of 8,700 square meters and 313 houses.These old houses are the best illustration of the wealth status of Shanxi merchants.Compared with other Shanxi merchants, although the Qiao family is far from the wealthiest, it is the most famous among the Shanxi merchants.Why did the Qiao Family Courtyard last forever, and why did its former owner, Qiao Zhiyong, have a good reputation among the common people? So, how did Shanxi Merchants build a century-old glorious foundation step by step?What's so special about the management and operation of ticket numbers?What enlightenment does their success have for modern people?
Shanxi merchants, as a business gang that has ruled the roost for hundreds of years, relied on their favorable geographical location in the Ming Dynasty to obtain "salt introduction" by transporting military rations for the government, earning the first pot of gold and monopolizing huge commercial resources.Due to the good relationship established during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shanxi merchants received special courtesy from the Qing government and achieved great development. The opening of Rishengchang in 1823 opened the prelude to Shanxi bank’s conquest of the financial industry of the Qing Dynasty, and finally made Shanxi merchants the “No.
At this stage of the bank, Shanxi people created a unique and unique new joint-stock system in the world. This joint-stock system is amazing, and looking at it now, I think it is not only amazing, but also extremely smart and wise.What kind of shareholding system is it?It is called a joint-stock system with unlimited liability, and our listed companies today are called joint-stock companies.What is an unlimited liability company?In other words, once the Shanxi boss of the billing account encounters a problem, he has to pay the money out of his own belongings. This is the characteristic of an unlimited liability company.A limited liability company is very simple. If a listed company fails, once the company is closed, its own property can be retained.And this kind of limited liability system is the most effective way for listed companies in many countries, including China, to entrap shareholders. After emptying out the company's assets, they put them in their own pockets. The bags are safe and people run away.In other words, the limited liability system can only allow the company to pay off, but what should the company pay off when it is empty.Therefore, the limited company itself has problems, and the limited company is also the easiest to deceive people.And Shanxi businessmen decided to use the unlimited shareholding system. We should give high praise to this point, because it shows the fiduciary responsibility of Shanxi businessmen to their customers. In 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces captured the city of Beijing, and the high-ranking officials in Beijing fled in panic along with the Empress Dowager Cixi.The Shanxi ticket office suffered heavy losses during the war. Not only the ticket office was robbed, but also the account books were burned.Without account books, many deposits lack real evidence.However, the Shanxi bank headed by Rishengchang decided that as long as the depositors took out their banknotes, no matter how large the amount was, they would immediately exchange them for silver taels.These measures of Shanxi Bank have won the trust of depositors and brought more business for themselves.
Readers should understand that I have been emphasizing fiduciary responsibility for so many years. I think the first step is from Shanxi businessmen.Shanxi merchants are very interesting. The bank accounts they set up are the first batch of companies in China where management rights and ownership are separated. They are not only limited-stock companies, but also separate management rights and ownership. The boss found a shopkeeper to help him take care of it, and the shopkeeper used his maximum fiduciary responsibility to help the boss make money, but whether you make money or lose money, it is the boss's, and the shopkeeper itself does not need to compensate .Who will pay for unlimited liability?The owner behind it will pay for it.However, Shanxi Bank puts great emphasis on the fiduciary responsibility of the shopkeeper, the fiduciary responsibility of Huai?Fiduciary duty to the owner.And what does the owner emphasize?fiduciary duty to his clients. Therefore, Shanxi businessmen at this stage, following the integration of the industrial chain mentioned above, once again gave our people an unprecedented new concept-trust responsibility.That is to say, the owner uses his own money to compensate and protect his customers through the unlimited liability system. The shopkeeper does not need to compensate, but he can use his fiduciary responsibility to maximize the profit for the owner. How wonderful! Of course, the owner at that time also had his own methods in order to select the shopkeeper, and he did not choose randomly.Because it is difficult for ordinary people to say that they have a conscience, and this conscience is unreliable.So the Shanxi businessmen at that time began to think, how to find some shopkeepers with fiduciary responsibilities?They came up with two methods, which are very interesting, and the management philosophy contained in them is also what I have repeatedly called for over the years. (1) The first method is the legal system. What is the rule of law?First of all, the shopkeeper must be from Shanxi. Of course, it is certain that the fat and water will not flow to outsiders.Then, the recommended person must have a wealthy businessman as a guarantee, and the businessman should preferably be related to the ticket number and have business dealings.Since there are merchants as guarantees, and the merchants have to bear joint and several liabilities, this is the establishment of the legal system.Because this businessman must strictly supervise and screen in order not to let himself lose, and at the same time not let the ticket number lose, and use this so-called legal force of guarantee to ensure that his staff has a fiduciary responsibility. This is The origin of the treasurer.This method of store guarantee is the establishment of a legalized management idea. It is a pity that this system has not been handed down.So our ancestors were very wise and great, at least much greater than us. (2) The second method is the education mechanism of three-year apprenticeship. In addition to teaching you abacus, accounting, and cashiers, a very important point is moral education.In fact, at that time, it was very hard work to be the big shopkeeper or the second shopkeeper, or even the staff of the Shanxi bank.Unlike today's businessmen, it's fine to eat out at night, have a drink, and then go to a nightclub for entertainment.It seems to be planning for the company, and it is called entertainment, but it is actually corruption. Lei Lutai, the well-known shopkeeper of Rishengchang among Shanxi merchants, started as a small boy at first.In the early years, the young man who was new to the store and learned to do business was called "Xianggong".It takes at least three years of hard work to become a master from a husband.Whether it is severe cold or hot summer, the guys have to get up before dawn, tidy up housework, boil water for cooking, serve the shopkeeper's food and daily life respectfully, and even help the shopkeeper empty the chamber pot.After standing on the platform for a whole day and holding the lamps, the door is opened.In the evening, in addition to helping the masters count and organize the goods and arrange the shopkeeper's rest, I also have to learn abacus, practice calligraphy or keep accounts, and I can't sleep until very late.After years of tempering, many young guys have opened the golden door of "treasurer" with a sincere will.
If you enter a Shanxi bank as an apprentice and become a shopkeeper after the apprenticeship, let me tell you, it is very strict.First, you are not allowed to drink alcohol, which is very painful for most people; second, you are not allowed to smoke opium; third, you are not allowed to whore women;Why?You have to work very hard. What does he train you for?Fiduciary duty, fiduciary duty, fiduciary duty.You should not have all the enjoyment, because you are a treasurer with fiduciary responsibilities, that is, a professional manager.You have to set an example, the purpose of your existence is to make money for your boss, and you have to be the most moral, and use your best ability to make money for your boss.So think about it, everyone, what is the difference between this and the current US dollar?There are so many listed companies in the United States, why do their professional managers work so hard?Because they have fiduciary responsibilities, they think that it is right to make money for shareholders, and it is right to make money for the boss.He can't do anything, he can only do his best to do the work of the "treasurer".So you are not surprised that under such a construction, there will be a real harmonious society, and this harmonious society is a harmonious society based on trust and responsibility.And this fiduciary responsibility is manifested in the shopkeeper, that is, the legal system plus the training of conscience and morality, how wonderful! Lei Lutai founded Rishengchang.His boss once knelt down to him, why?Because one day the boss offended Lei Lutai.At that time, Lei Lutai was sick, and he was lying in the ticket office and did not go home to rest.The second shopkeeper wanted to seize power, so he spoke ill of Lei Lutai in front of the boss.Annoying, sick, still staying in the ticket office every day, pointing and pointing, how annoying.Call him home!Then the boss went in without knowing it, and said, shopkeeper Lei, if you are not feeling well, go home.Shopkeeper Lei said, okay, I'll go home.The next day, the owner went to visit Shopkeeper Lei's house and found that Shopkeeper Lei was writing with a brush.He said, shopkeeper, are you writing?Shopkeeper Lei said, yes, yes.The owner asked again, what words to write?Write a letter home?Write to your wife?Lei Lutai said no, this Rishengchang belongs to you, but I established so many semicolons across the country, didn’t you tell me to go home to recuperate, so I withdrew all the semicolons and got all the funds back , Return it to the owner, and give you an explanation. Do you understand what Lei Lutai said, that is, the dozens of semicolons he established in the past were all withdrawn in one day, and the money was returned to the owner instead of running away with private pockets.When the owner heard this, he immediately knelt down, and he was in a hurry, shopkeeper Lei, shopkeeper Lei, please don't do this.You leave the semicolon, and you must let it continue to operate. Don't withdraw it, and I don't want you to withdraw it.Then it became the story of the famous owner kneeling down to Shopkeeper Lei.Then, of course, the shopkeeper Lei had to pretend to decline, so he finally said, I am old, I am old, my health is not good, and so on.So the host gave him a table of banquets every day, and also gave him 50 taels of silver, every day.In the end, the old man Lei Lutai said, well, then I will forgive you.Pay attention, if a shopkeeper tells the owner, then I will forgive you. It can be seen from this that this kind of shopkeeper with fiduciary responsibilities is valued by the owner. This fiduciary duty is twofold.Qiao's family and Qu's family are both in the same place, where are they? They are both in Qi County.We have all watched the TV series "Qiao's Courtyard". The Qiao family is very rich, but compared with the Qu family, they are just a big courtyard, and the Qu family's financial resources are more than 5 times theirs.His home is a street, called his home street.Since the Qu family's financial resources are not as strong, then why was the Qiao's Courtyard so famous at that time, and even now we have filmed the TV series "Qiao's Courtyard".Let me tell you that the Qiao Family Courtyard was a typical representative of Shanxi merchants at that time. Although these people did not learn modern industrial and commercial knowledge, did not build modern factories, and did not build modern banks, these people still had a strong trust in the local people. responsibility.Not just for customers, not because I want to treat you well because you have made money for me, so set up an unlimited liability system, no, it’s not that simple.What is the reason why the Qiao Family Courtyard can be preserved to this day, and our government keeps calling for the broadcast of this TV series?Because only people like them can create a truly harmonious society.At that time, as long as the common people in Qi County basically received their benefits.During the holidays, you will find people from Qiao’s family carrying rice and ham, and delivering them family by family.In times of famine, people from the Qiao Family Courtyard came out to provide relief.This is unimaginable. The TV series "Qiao Family Courtyard" is based on a true story in the history of Qi County, Shanxi.Qi County is located in the central part of Shanxi, where drought and flood disasters occur from time to time.In the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), there was a severe drought in Shanxi. Qiao Zhiyong, the owner of the Qiao Family Courtyard at that time, asked people to plant a cauldron at the entrance of the village and set up a porridge field to help the victims of the disaster.Although it was just a bowl of light gruel, in the eyes of the victims at that time, it was a timely help and warmed their hearts.
Therefore, even at the most turbulent moment in society, ordinary people will say that we cannot liquidate the Qiao family, and we cannot move in and rob other people's houses.Why?Because we have been indebted to the Qiao family for generations.This is the return of our common people's fiduciary duty to those who are kind to us.You see, what a wonderful society!That was from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the period after our Liberation War. You see, these are Shanxi people, how nice.In the end, the county party school moved in, so the current Qiao family compound can be preserved to this day.Fortunately, these historical relics leave us with infinite reverie and emotion. However, after reading this, have you noticed that all problems, including the downfall of Hu Xueyan and the collapse of Rishengchang Bank, are closely related to the Qing Dynasty and the Empress Dowager Cixi.In our history, there are indeed many wise businessmen who have established leading business concepts such as the integration of industrial chains and responsibility.But time does not give, in this great era, it is often difficult for personal wisdom to resist the deterioration of the general environment. I summed up several reasons, why such a big problem?These questions are indeed worthy of our consideration. First, at that time, those who worked as bank accounts were very troublesome and often had to donate money.If the government has nothing to do, it will come to apportion, and it will come to you to donate money.I have a donation amount data here to tell readers: 110,000 taels for the big and small Jinchuan campaigns, 2.18 million taels for the White Lotus Rebellion, 2 million taels for the first Opium War, 2.87 million taels for the Taiping Rebellion, and Zuo Zongtang’s western expedition to Xinjiang. 8.63 million taels.And when the Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Shanxi, she borrowed 400,000 taels of silver from the Qiao Family Courtyard.When the country encounters difficulties, it always borrows from them. This is a huge cost, and it is huge. In the last few decades of the 19th century, due to social turmoil, even the well-capitalized Qiaojia Bank Dade Tong was doomed. In 1926, the troops led by Feng Yuxiang took 5 million shi of grain and 1.5 million shi银元都摊派到了乔家开设的商号，从此以后，乔家商号元气大伤。 1930年中原大战，乔家票号大德通被逼到了生死抉择的关头。
第二，就是外资银行的进人。情况跟我们现在差不多，我给读者看一个数据，大概从清朝末年开始到1913年，就是辛亥革命的第3年，总共进人中国的外资银行有21家，这些外资银行又相继在中国开设街125家分行。另外，我们本地的票号不但要捐钱，叫做捐疏，同时还与贪污腐败的官员进行交易。比如说你要跟政府官员拉关系，政府官员才来存钱；此外还投资在一些还没有出道的政府官员身上，目的是让这些官员发达了以后来照顾你。所以我们也搜集广数据，看看到底有多少官员跟山西票号有来往的，这个资料特别有意思。首先，三晋元票号和袁世凯、李鸿章有关。其次，乔家和曾国荃有关。此外，乔家还和九门提督马玉昆有关。九门提督就是当时北京的卫戍司令，北京警备区总司令叫做九门提督。乔家还跟湖广总督端方有关。这些现象就是一种官商勾结的情况。这也就是为什么到了1906年，户部，即当时的财政部，有1/3的银两存在了票号，就是这种拉钱的关系所带来的结果。平常某个官员借钱后就不要还钱了，或者你考上状元或进士，没钱了是吧，我免费借5000两银子给你，将来等你发达了以后当了大官再回报给我。 山西民间有这样一种说法：张嘴的龙是官，闭嘴的龙是商。闭嘴的龙得到的是实惠，是商业利益。那时候，晋商如果不依靠一两个政府官员，票号就很难运转。平遥协同庆票号北京分号的张治达，在一次闲谈中得知旗人穆某想要争取福建将军职位，短缺活动银6万两，于是便答应借给他。没过多长时间，穆某果然被任命为福建将军，他一上任便向当地官员宣称：“平遥协同庆资本雄厚，信用昭著，以后公私款项尽存该号。”在这里，官商结合不仅仅是寻求一种庇护，更是一种买卖关系。
这种官商勾结现象的产生，也导致很多贪污的赃款存在票号里，很多国家的钱也存在票号里。看起来是很兴旺，但到最后就很麻烦，为什么麻烦呢，是因为碰到了太平天国战争，又碰到了辛亥革命。太平天国战争还好，大清王朝还一息尚存。碰到辛亥革命，整个清王朝解体之后，之前欠的钱迅速提出，而官员借的钱不还，存的钱马上提出。就是说欠债的不还，存钱的马上提。再加上大量外资银行就在这个吋刻进入，真是倒了八辈子的霉。这也是中国当时特殊的历史时期所造成的这种现实情况。 这些原因加在一起，造成了山西票号的覆亡。我就以日升昌为例，辛亥革命就革命这几天的时间，这家票号损失了300万两白银，从此崩溃。但在这个时刻，我除了要讲当时的政治跟军事的问题造成票号的覆亡之外，还要告诉各位读者一句公平的话，晋商本身不知进取是最大的问题。为什么这么说呢，当时清朝政府不断组建现代化的银行，一直邀山西的票号人股，但山西票号从来不入股。这又是重蹈了过去晋商不接受新观念的老问题了。 1900年以后，在国际金融资本的猛烈沖击下，外国银行逐渐取代土生土长的中国票号。1914年的冬天，中国票号的开山祖师——“日升昌”倒闭了，山西商人左右中国金融界近一个世纪的历史随之落下帷幕，票号曾经创造的辉煌也被尘封在了这些古老的院落里。
在茶叶经营的时代，山西商人不用机器、工厂来加工制作，不接受现代化的观念，结果输给了俄国人。到了清朝末年，他们竟然一再拒绝清朝政府要成立现代化银行的邀请，而且是屡次邀请屡次拜托屡次求情，山西商人就是不干，我实在不懂这是为什么。最后导致山西票号从几百家变成三家。是哪三家呢？1929年，只剩下三家山西票号。第一个，是乔家人院的大德通；第二个也是他们家的，叫大德恒；第三个是渠家的，叫三晋元。但是，这一切都太晚了，以茶叶为例，你不采用现代化的生产方式；以票号为例，你不进入现代化银行。所以，外在环境对你而言，就是一个杀伤力极大的冲击。如果你能够审时度势，看清楚当时的情况，你就努力转型，不论在工商业方面也好，现代化经营的银行也好，你都有可能脱困。你为什么不跟当时的汇丰银行合股呢？而且当时的汇丰银行也愿意跟山西票号合股，原因很简单，因为真正了解我国信贷市场的是这一批人，而不是汇丰银行。大家都有利用价值，所以只要山西商人在1911年辛亥革命之前愿意开放胸怀，接受汇丰或者清政府的邀清，重组现代化银行不是不可能的，不需要到了1929年全体散架，什么都没有了。这其中的原因还是很复杂的。 我为了写晋商做了很多调研，发现山西人不喜欢读书也是个问题。山西过去出了很多名人，白居易大家肯定知道吧？他是山西人。王维、柳宗元、司马光都是山西人，人才济济。可是这都是宋代及其以前的人，到了大明王朝之后是江河日下。比如说，山西几乎在整个清朝期间，没有出过一个状元，有没有进士？有，逐年递减。顺治年间出过33个进士，康熙年间出过16个进士，乾隆年间出过12个进士，嘉庆皇帝以后这么长的朝代，只出过10个。 一百多年前的山西民间，曾经有句谚语：“有儿开商店，胜过做知县。”雍正年间的巡抚刘于义曾将这种现象归纳为：“重利之念，甚于重名。子弟之俊秀者多入贸易一途，其次宁为胥吏，至中材以下，方使之读书应试。”可见在当时山西人的观念里，经商是人生最好的选择，其次是做官，最后才是读书应试。
你知道不读书有什么问题吗？不读书就无法通过知识的积累了解世界的变化。所以山西商人过去可以凭着自己这么一点学徒制所吸收的知识，应付当时一个平稳的环境。一旦改朝换代的重大厄运到来的时候，这些不读书的晋商，无法转型，就陷于崩溃的命运，这个和山西商人不愿意读书关系重大。 所以我们纵观晋商的历史，可以发现下而有趣的事。第一，从明朝开始楚盐商，到了开中折色制推出之后变成茶商。再往后从1823年开始，开设了票号，是真正的晋商。 我想告诉全国每一位读者，我们自己不理解中国，欧美人土也不理解中国，我们还不理解欧美。我常常问我的“粉丝”，资本主义的灵魂是什么？大家答的都是错的，什么民主啦，民营化、自由经济，不对的。资本主义的灵魂，是信托责任，也就是晋商所强调的信托责任。我们有没有？Have.因此现代资本主义的精髓，它的灵魂我们晋商就有。所以今天我们向西方国家学什么呢？你发现我们的老祖宗都会，我们这些不肖子孙，不但不知道资本主义的灵魂，也不学习我们老祖宗的寄托于信托责任的超前经商理念。