A sample of large Shengkui: The rise of Shanxi merchants in Wang Xiangqing grassroots entrepreneurship

Wang Xiangqing was born in Taigu, Shanxi, no one will predict that the baby will be in the near future, to establish and lay a "travel Meng giants" more than 200 years of hair history, the achievement of the great Shengkuixing honor of the future.

17th century http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/16333.html ">90 era" (Qing Kangxi Dynasty), the young man from his hometown to kill the Tiger, stationed there for the Qing Army to provide services, The army there was commanded by Fayangou. Kill the tiger in Youyu County, Shanxi Province, is an important pass on the Great Wall, when the Emperor Kangxi into the Mongolian levy suppressed Gaer Dan's war period.

Soon, Wang Xiangqing and Qi County people Zhang Jie, Stako meet, and board business, became "salesman", with the pole to pick the goods to the tents of the army to sell. The Qing Army also hired three people to cook and drudgery, but at first the business was not smooth, Zhang Jie, Stako once home, tough Wang Xiangqing stay down, in business has improved, Zhang, history two people called back, three people set up a "Gishengdong" (Emperor Kangxi changed its name to "Big Shengkui") of the signboard, sitting in the merchants, Three individuals have a share of a firm. According to legend, venture capital mainly from a lama, the Lama is gone forever, then the big Shengkui will this lama for the "God of Wealth", generation for worship, there is also a capital stock in the general name of the "God of wealth stock."

As the Fayangou army marched north into the Mongolian heartland, three of men followed him, supplying the army with the goods they needed, such as tobacco, food and tea, and buying cattle and meat from the Mongols. Slowly, Wang Xiangqing learned Mongolian language and became familiar with local social habits. Legend, Wang Xiangqing first came to the military town of Uriasu, coincides with a local Mongolian princes daughter of severe disease, near death, he presented the precious secret recipe of Shanxi "turtle Spirit Set", the princes of the daughter to the dead, and married to the Wangs three Childe. The great Shengkui gradually established ties with the Upper Mongolian.

The privileges of the travel and Mongolian business

The so-called "travel monk" refers to the new system of the operation of trans-frontier commerce established by Emperor Kangxi after defeating Gaer Dan, replacing the "horse market" established by Ming Dynasty and serving as the center of the Han-Mongolia Trade Centre. The Qing dynasty forbade businessmen to have a fixed residence in Mongolia, only to allow mobile operation, so that "travel monk". The Qing dynasty only granted part of the merchant "part ticket", allowed it into business, in accordance with the regulations, licensed businessmen must be operated along a certain route, or in a particular place of trade, and by the Qing Dynasty officials in Mongolia supervision.

However, the great Shengkui has a special position in the "Travel and Mongolian business". To maintain the stability of the Mongolian region, the Qing dynasty in the hinterland of the Central Plains to support a large number of troops, need the help of commercial organizations to provide the necessary goods, the big Shengkui acted as the role, and won the trust of the imperial court and the Mongolian aristocracy, until the middle of 18th century, the Shengkui's general number has been located in Uriasu station.

Jiaqing years, the Qing Dynasty issued a "ticket" in Mongolia issued a license, while tightening its border policy, initially only two companies have been in Mongolia Merchants business license. Big Shengkui is one of them, and soon established the monopoly right of operation throughout Mongolia. Ticket's license is equivalent to today's banking licence, which allows the establishment of a "bank" and the right to lend at a rate of interest.

Big Shengkui "Ticket" business, there are two main modes of operation: "A sheep three batches" and "arranged in the capital."

The so-called "one sheep three batches" refers to a sheep can be divided into three batches of profits. For example, a Mongolian prince buys silk and tea, and because he has no cash, he can ask the big Shengkui to lend it to him. Accordingly, the prince will, on the back of the ticket as the credential, cover the print of his "flag" and promise to repay the debt. Debt is interest, if the debt is the price of a lamb, then three years later, according to conventional interest, this flag may be owed to the price of a large Shengkui two lambs (debt also takes into account the natural growth of livestock). Borrower is the princes, who are actually borne by the flag's herdsmen, mainly through strong sales of livestock and other natural resources.

In addition to the foregoing ticket interest, as a result of monopolistic operations, large Shengkui sell silk and tea at high prices and derive a higher profit from the transaction as a second source of profit; Once again, when the Mongolian princes sell their livestock to repay their debts, the big Shengkui can also pressure the purchase price very low to ensure profit. As a result, a firm can profit three times from a single business.

The second major income of big Shengkui is "arranged for the capital". According to the rules of the Imperial Court promulgated by the Qing court in 18th century, asked all the Mongolian princes often to Beijing tribute, the princes were forced to take turns to Beijing, after a long journey to the proper appearance in Beijing, expensive, some princes cash strapped, some feel that carry too much money easily provoke right and wrong, so, These princes are provided with travel and expenses in the capital by the Grand Shengkui.

When the departure, the big Shengkui will send a person to accompany the princes and nobles on the road, help to pay the expenses on the road. The princes ' expenses would soon accumulate thousands of silver, and in some years the great Shengkui had paid more than 100,002 a year for the princes. Because the capital is abundant and there is a way to recover the arrears from the Princes ' Shengkui, the princes are happy to do so-by their flag to pay directly the principal and the high interest. In the loan printed by the princes wrote "Shire, husband debt wife also." Death dies, by the flag of the public also ", Montmin debt is generally not to pay."

According to statistics, at its peak, Mongolia's 140 flags and the so-called "sand" (an administrative unit of Mongolia), only more than 10 flags of princes do not owe large Shengkui debt. "Because of the sheer amount of debt that exists, these nobles are actually controlled by the agents of the Qing government, the most famous of whom is the great Shengkui," Avery Martha Avery, in his "Tea Road". In addition, as the official representative of the Qing court, Shengkui also participates in the taxation of the Mongolian area.

Mongolian princes and nobles are most of the herdsmen are large Shengkui debtors, each year will convene a "Towards Gellers" conference. According to the needs of the Manchus and their own consumption, the Mongolian princes determined the Gong share of the AU and the flag herders, and then stated in the form of the notes that they would be delivered to the herdsmen to obtain the debts and interest paid by the Shengkui. At the same time, the meeting also determined that the annual herdsmen to debt, horse, cattle, sheep, fur and medicinal herbs, such as prices, once determined, that is, no right to modify.

The Mongolian People's Republic was established in the Mongolian region for more than 1924 years, and ordered all around all the owed large Shengkui debt, not to repay, and confiscated large Shengkui in Mongolia's assets, at that time, the claims of large Shengkui almost all in the foreign country, only Hovd a creditor's rights there are 15000 peak camel, more than 20,000 horses, 200,000 sheep.

Mixed operation

Of course, the prosperity of Shengkui is not only due to the monopoly privilege granted by the Qing Dynasty, but the system of its own construction ensures that it transforms its privileges into real commercial interests.

Large Shengkui in the country have been established and acquired a series of small, of which a large number of small are involved in competitive business, of which, the most famous when the number of "Tai Shing Chuan" bank.

Large Shengkuang is located in Shanxi Qi County, in all parts of the country have a semicolon, of which the Beijing semicolon at least 10 people, and the Qing Dynasty court to maintain a good relationship between the various organs, many ministers are their customers. In fact, the "arranged for the Beijing" Business is by the big Shengkuang, when the princes of Mongolia were ready to go to the capital, they first asked the Shengkuang to make a loan at the local semicolon, and Qi County's cabinet received the number of loans and assessed the royal stock, then asked the semicolon in Beijing for the number of loans, and when the Prince of the loan arrived in Beijing, The head of the Beijing semicolon is responsible for the reception, to discuss the loan matters.

The tea business is also an important part of the big Shengkui Business network. Big Shengkui tea business mainly by its small "three Tamagawa" operation.

Under the system of big Shengkui, tea business and the business is inseparable, in large Shengkui from the Hunan region to buy tea and then sold to grassland nomadic tribes business, its trumpet "three Tamagawa" provided tea, and "three Tamagawa" operating funds are mostly by "Tai Shing Chuan" provided. Trumpet to the general number to ensure that the source of the business, all aspects of the money can be earned, when the big Shengkui in Mongolia to sell tea, the received is high interest, agreed to pay the bill, usually by the income of livestock transactions to compensate, livestock trading object is the big Shengkui another trumpet.

In fact, a considerable number of small trumpet around the general number, in different locations to provide different trade goods, the big Shengkui acquired monopoly rights of business interests to maximize.

In the entire trade network, in addition to its own organization of sourcing, the big Shengkui also set up their own transport system. Large Shengkui has a significant number of camel teams in the Mongolian area wholesale cargo, and in Mongolia's Uriasu Taiwan, Hovd and other important positions have set up semicolons. At any time, the big Shengkui have 10 to 15 camel teams on the road, its heyday, with camels 20,000 peaks.

With a variety of different business projects of the trumpet, big Shengkui only through their own banks, the bank, the bank supply, storage, exchange to finance funds, can be purchased from all over the country, and then through the transit point, marketing in Mongolia grassland, Xinjiang, Tibet and Russia, and then back to local specialties, resell the mainland, Use the huge camel team to trade on the grassland. The scope of Shengkui's trade activities is also more out of the grassland, even provincial and national boundaries, south to Guangzhou, north of Mongolia, east to Japan, west to Moscow, the formation of a large, dot-dense business and financial groups.

In the late Qing Dynasty, the big Shengkui at the peak period, the number of employees up to six thousand or seven thousand people, the total number of capital more than Chivan silver, the semicolon's capital has developed to 100,000, million. One argument is that its funds are abundant, can use 52 heavy silver treasure from one to one from the Cullen to the Beijing city, pulled out a full length 2000 kilometers silver treasure line.

Gao Chunping, deputy director of the Institute of History, Shanxi Academy of Social Sciences, said the large-scale Shanxi firm often has "the mixed management" the characteristic, the big Shengkui to be typical, in the long-term development process, has formed the collection commercial, the transportation and the finance industry in one one to have the child parent company nature The unique commercial system, dominates the great frontier, Become a rare monopolistic enterprise in the development of commercial finance.

The significance of the specimen of large Shengkui

Wang Xiangqing and other three grassroots entrepreneurship, and finally created a great Shengkui of the brilliant, a glimpse of the success of the elements, to understand the Shanxi merchants of this well-known business help the rise of the same typical significance.

Professor Jiansheng, director of Shanxi University, said that the main factor of the rise of the Jin merchants ' community, represented by Shengkui, was "from the Ming to the middle of the Qing dynasty, whenever there was a great adjustment of national policy, Shanxi merchants seized the opportunity of history and made full use of policy." ”

According to Professor Jiansheng, as early as in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Dynasty to ensure the security along the Great Wall and the Mongolian forces besieged in Mobei, ad hoc Liaodong, Zhongzhou nine big side town, quartering 800,000 frontier soldiers. This Ming dynasty against the Hmong fighters of the northern defense line, forming a huge economic consumption zone. In order to solve the northern edge of the Jiong source, in the Hongwu three years (1370) practiced the "Open Chinese law", encourage merchants to transport food for salt, Shanxi people proximity, have to the south to purchase food, cloth transport to the border, in exchange for salt, to Jiajing, Longqingchao, Xuan Fu, Datong and other places successively opened "Horse City", Hammond between the horse more frequent, Shanxi people again tea, grain, silk, cloth imported into Mongolia. Therefore, as early as Wang Xiangqing from the business 300 years ago, business awareness has been in the three-jin Earth germination.

At the same time, Shanxi people much less, poor land, according to statistics, Ming Hongwu 26 years (1393), The country occupies 14.05 acres of land per capita, Shanxi per capita only 10.28 Mu, to Ming Wanli six years (1578), Shanxi per capita world and reduced to 6.92 mu, because the land is not enough to survive, Shanxi people also dared to break the traditional farming livelihood of the way, so there is "go West" one said, One of the routes from the central and northern Shanxi, the way to the west, through the killing of the jaws out, into the Mongolian grassland, which is also the poor young Wang Xiangqing early career path.

Wang Xiangqing Entrepreneurship, coincides with Kang, Yong, dry Misasa the beginning of the West Levy counter-insurgency, frequent military operations also created for its business opportunities, and he has the opportunity to be able to serve, but also with the Jin Shang, Qing court good political and business relationship inseparable. As early as the Ming Dynasty, Fan Yongdou and other eight Shanxi giants to Zhangjiakou as the operating base, for the Qing dynasty to buy 粮秣, ordnance, transmission of information and promotional materials, the Qing Dynasty in the "after the entry to" to give birth, naturalization, give the grade and so on, become the Emperor of the House of Business, but also special to its operation of a number of monopolistic industries. The Qing dynasty to the Shanxi Merchants Group, and the monopoly of large Shengkui position, can be said to be the continuation of this trust.

The Qing dynasty stabilized the situation in Mongolia, with the Russian border demarcation, signed the Nerchinsk Treaty, the chuck plot and the city of Chuck, Hammond, China and Russia equal trade, the barriers to exchange of the obstacles were cleared. And Shanxi is located in China and Russia Chuck map trade and the European hinterland of this international business road traffic hub, is the east of Ji, Lu, Xi Tong Shan, Ning, south Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Hunan, Jiangxi, North Zhaojun, straight to Mongolia, Russia's transport hub. The special geographical location, plus the providence of the Qing Dynasty, including the big Shengkui, many Shanxi firms have played a heavy role in the trade of Russia and Mongolia.

Of course, Shanxi People's own hard work also helped push the success of business. It is said that the girls in the Jinzhong are proud to marry the big Shengkui man. Unfortunately, the large Shengkui have very few employees, because the code stipulates that the number within the business is not allowed to marry or carry dependents, not to marry Mongolian women.

It can be said that the rise of the Wang Xiangqing and the great Shengkui more than 200 years of prosperity, and the rising of the reasons for the Shanxi merchants, echoing the political, military, economic background, homeopathy and for, at the same time, also inseparable from the Shanxi merchants own foresight, integrity and diligence.