Old photo of Tianjin Telegraph Bureau founded by Li Hongzhang
01
In February of the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1882), Li Hongzhang gave Empress Dowager Cixi a piece of music.
It was said that since the telegraph line from Tianjin to Shanghai was opened in the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1880), both military information transmission and commercial postal transmission have been very convenient, and Tianjin Telegraph Bureau has made great profits. Now it has become a "listed enterprise", and people scramble to subscribe for the shares of the Telegraph Bureau.
Therefore, it is suggested that the imperial court should immediately start to set up a telegraph line from Shanghai to Hankou, so that the economic prosperity of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will certainly bring more profits.
Cixi thought about it for a few days and issued a decree to Zuo Zongtang, the new governor of Liangjiang, to assess the construction of this telegraph line, "if it is feasible as scheduled, it will be handled with consideration".
Unexpectedly, Zuo Zongtang refused to agree to the commencement of this telegraph line for one reason and another.
Lord Zuo, who has always focused on national affairs, why is he so unusual this time?
There are three main reasons:
1. Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang had already made up their minds when they fought against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Over the past 20 years, they have fought openly and secretly, with the same momentum as fire and water.
2. Zuo Zongtang is trying to make money to pay back the famine in order to recover Xinjiang in recent years. How can people eat the fat meat of the Shanghai Han telegraph line?
3. Once the Shanghai Han telegraph line was erected, Li Hongzhang could know for the first time that he was under Lao Li's surveillance every move on the ground of the two rivers?
So this telegraph line must not be built by Lao Li!
Even if you want to build it, you must let your own people build it!
Who?
Of course, it is Hu Guangyong (Hu Xueyan), his most trusted "purse" for many years.
02
In order to raise and recover the military expenditure in Xinjiang, Sir Zuo borrowed 18.7 million taels of silver from foreigners through Lao Hu as an intermediary.
For these debts, the annual interest rate reported by Lao Hu was as high as 12.5% - 15%. At that time, the average foreign commercial bank loan interest rate was about 5%, and the higher one would not exceed 8%.
Although some people in the imperial court have long suspected that Lao Hu was eating the interest margin, there was no way. Foreigners would not borrow such loans for war, so Lao Hu could borrow them, so the imperial court had to turn a blind eye.
In this way, for three or four years, Lao Hu earned millions of taels of silver while lying on the interest margin.
Out of trust in Laohu, many imperial lords saved their spare money and even the government's public funds in Laohu's Fukang Bank for interest. Laohu loaned the money, and the interest difference between inside and outside was more than one million taels.
In addition, the medicine, raw silk, tea and other businesses run by Laohu are also booming, so by the eighth year of Guangxu, Laohu seemed to be "the richest man in the Qing Dynasty".
It is not difficult to invest three or four hundred thousand taels of silver to build this telegraph line with Lao Hu's strength. He is also willing to help Lord Zuo.
In particular, Sheng Xuanhuai, Li Hongzhang's staff, presided over the construction of the Tianjin Shanghai telegraph line.
In the past, Old Hu didn't look up to Sheng Xuanhuai very much. He thought he was a "second generation of officials" with great ambitions and talents. He raised a lot of money by his father's connections as a Zhejiang governor, and then he made a face in front of Li Hongzhang and won the title of a fifth rank alternate prefect
But even such a dude who can do nothing can set up Tianjin Shanghai telegraph lines and make a lot of profits.
Can't I Laohu become a Shanghai Han line?
03
If you are not convinced, you will be convinced. If you really want to build this telegraph line, money is not a problem, but other problems are more——
For decades, Lao Hu has been engaged in traditional businesses such as bank, tea and medicinal materials, and he doesn't know anything about telegrams.
And in his circle of friends, he could not find professionals to help.
He wanted to contract the business directly to a foreign telegraph company according to the route of borrowing money from the Western Expedition, but the imperial court made it clear that it was only allowed to do it by itself and not to be handed over to foreigners.
As a result, the matter has been frozen and no progress has been made.
Seeing this situation, Sheng Xuanhuai knew that Lao Zuo and Lao Hu were not capable of handling telegrams.
So while he constantly gave the imperial court a discount and emphasized the importance of this telegraph line, he also adopted the strategy of "saving the country by curving", bypassing Zuo Zongtang's territory of the two rivers, first set up telegraph lines in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi under the control of the Huai system, and soon connected the telegraph lines in coastal provinces.
In this way, in the summer of the ninth year of Guangxu's reign (1883), the imperial court saw that all the telegraph lines in the coastal provinces were connected, but the Shanghai Han telegraph lines were slow to make progress. Finally, the court lost patience with Zuo Zongtang and Hu Guangyong, and asked that "we should comply with the order quickly and stop balking".
There was no way out. Zuo Zongtang, who had been strong all his life, finally bowed his head in front of Li Hongzhang and asked Sheng Xuanhuai and Zheng Guanying to preside over the construction of the Shanghai Han telegraph line.
This event not only shows that Lord Zuo is really inferior to Li Zhongtang in his ability to handle westernization affairs.
It also shows that Hu Guangyong, who has been developing in the traditional business field, is obviously behind in the emerging modern business field.
With the growing status and influence of Li Hongzhang in the central court, the Huai system has irretrievably defeated the Xiang system, and Hu Guangyong and his business empire, who were once brilliant for a time, are about to decline.
04
In the late autumn of the ninth year of Guangxu's reign (1883), a news spread to the industrial and commercial circles of Shanghai through the telegraph line connecting Guangzhou and Shanghai: Italian silk, the main source of European silk, had a bumper harvest this year.
This is something that seems to have nothing to do with remote China, but it has dropped a heavy bomb in the industrial and commercial circles of Shanghai!
For more than two years ago, as the "richest man in the Qing Dynasty", Hu Guangyong was purchasing a large number of silk, almost monopolizing the silk market in the south of the Yangtze River.
Because of his monopoly, foreign merchants were unable to buy silk, so they had to increase the price to buy it from him.
For this reason, Lao Hu decided to continue to "increase leverage", put most of the cash flow of his own Fukang bank into silk acquisition, and vowed to disclose the "gold coin" of the ghost.
However, beyond his understanding, due to the rapid development of the telegraph industry in recent years, even the commodity information of Europe, which is thousands of miles away, can be transmitted to China in a very short time.
The speed is so fast that he doesn't even have time to rush to cash out!
Just two days after the news of the Italian silk harvest came, the price of silk on the Shanghai market plummeted by half.
Old Hu panicked and hurried to ship at a low price, thinking that he could somehow return some blood to stop loss, at least not let the capital chain of Fukang Bank be completely broken.
Within a few days, Lao Hu sent out more than 15000 bags of raw silk urgently, and the loss is said to be as high as several million taels.
However, for Lao Hu, who is rich in wealth, although these losses are heavy, they are not nearly over. As long as his Fukang bank is still there, he will not lack cash flow.
But it rains all night long
05
At this time, a telegram came from Guangzhou, saying that the Sino French negotiation on the Vietnam issue had broken down, the war between the Qing Dynasty and France was imminent, and the French fleet was very likely to move north to Shanghai.
When the news spread, people from all walks of life in Shanghai's industry and commerce were immediately alarmed, and they went to various banks to withdraw their deposits in case they could not get the money out after the war.
So, since the end of October, there has been a long line of withdrawal in front of Shanghai Fukang Bank every day.
Fukang Bank Ticket
The Fukang Bank here was reopened by some former Fukang employees in Yiyang, Hunan after Hu Guangyong's bankruptcy
At this point, although Lao Hu was a little flustered, he still felt that the situation could be controlled.
Because Fukang has branch offices in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui, Hubei and Hunan provinces, it is really impossible to transfer money from local branch offices. As long as it can survive the run for a few days and let people believe that Fukang still has sufficient funds, the situation will gradually ease.
Hurry to ask people to send a telegram to Fukang branch offices around the country to collect silver and remit it to Shanghai.
But what he did not expect was that the Shanghai Han telegraph line was built under Sheng Xuanhuai's auspices, and the business of the telegraph office along the way was all in Sheng Xuanhuai's hands.
So the telegrams sent by Laohu to Fukang branch offices to transfer funds were all sent to Sheng Xuanhuai's desk.
Once Sheng Xuanhuai studied and judged, he understood that now is the best time to defeat Lao Hu!
06
Why do you want to overthrow Lao Hu?
First, when Li Hongzhang invited Lao Hu to join the Steamship Investment Promotion Bureau, Lao Hu refused, which made Li Zhongtang hold a grudge against him;
Second, when he was preparing to launch the Shanghai Han telegraph line last year, Old Hu used the relationship of Lord Zuo to intervene, which almost spoiled the matter;
Third, the Zuo Baron relied heavily on Lao Hu economically. If he brought down Lao Hu, he could not only cut off the Zuo Baron's money bag, but also attack Lao Zuo politically;
Finally, it is also the longer term reason——
Lao Hu's "Fukang Series" is the largest financial group in the country, holding the leading position in the national financial industry, and will not be overthrown. In the future, Shengxuan Huai's desire to engage in banking is bound to be full of obstacles.
Therefore, it is necessary for Xiao Sheng himself and his boss Li Zhongtang to overthrow Lao Hu.
07
So, how can we defeat him?
The best way, of course, is to make use of this special period to artificially increase Lao Hu's financial strain. It is best to create the news of "Fukang's position is tight" everywhere, so that people can believe that Fukang is going to run out of money and accelerate the bankruptcy of Fukang family.
Sheng Xuanhuai designed a set of step by step "inverted beard" scheme:
First, he found Shao Youlian, a Shanghai Taoist, and asked him to delay the "payment agreement" of 800000 liang silver that should be allocated to Hu Guangyong at this time.
How did the money come from?
When Lao Hu helped Zuo Zongtang borrow money from foreigners for military expenses, the imperial court ordered all provinces to share the "Xizheng Xixie Pay" and pay it to Lao Hu in installments to repay the foreigners' debts.
Six years ago, Lao Hu was in charge of a debt borrowed by the British people. He had agreed to repay the principal and interest every six months. Now it was time to repay again. The "payment agreement" collected by the imperial court from the provinces had been sent to Shao Youlian, waiting for Shao Youlian to deliver it to Lao Hu.
Shao Youlian was not born in Huai Army, but he and Li Zhongtang were children in law. This relationship can be said to be quite iron.
Of course, he promised Li Zhongtang anything beneficial.
Within the scope of his authority, there is no difficulty in delaying the payment for a few days.
Therefore, Lao Shao gave the excuse that he was not in Shanghai and put off Lao Hu who asked for money.
Lao Hu was too anxious to help, but he borrowed the debt himself. If he didn't pay it back, foreigners would surely come to him instead of Lao Shao.
In desperation, Lao Hu had to order that 800000 taels of cash be put forward from Fukang Bank in Shanghai to advance the foreign debt.
At first, 80000 taels was nothing for Lao Hu, but at this juncture, Shanghai Fukang, another 800000 taels, cash flow will be even more tense.
Soon, Fukang's customers knew the news, and their mentality collapsed. The number of people who went to Shanghai Fukang Bank to run money increased.
The news that "Shanghai Fukang Bank was run and the position was not working well" was sent to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and the capital along the telegraph line.
Soon, all regions went to the local Fukang branch to run money.
As a result, local branch offices are unable to survive. Where can we spare no effort to help Shanghai?
Shanghai Fukang gritted his teeth for two days, and finally the bank was completely empty!
On the sixth day of November, Lao Hu had to order that Shanghai Fukang closed its doors and closed its business.
The news that Shanghai Fukang closed down followed the telegraph line and soon spread to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and all parts of the capital.
The depositors all believed that the "Fukang Family" had become a foregone conclusion, so they went even crazier to run the bank.
As a result, Fukang branch offices all over the country soon emptied their cash flow and closed their doors.
08
In fact, there were many banks that collapsed due to bank runs at that time, just like Fukang.
But the key is, because I believe in the strength of Lao Hu, many officials and dignitaries have their own money; Even the government's public funds have interest in Fukang.
Now that Fukang is down, can these big men not rush? Can the Imperial Court not rush?
Soon, on November 27, the imperial court issued an edict to remove the official title and the yellow jacket that had been awarded to Lao Hu before, demanding a thorough investigation of the collapse of Fukang. All the public funds in deficit must be made up. If you dare not delay the payment, you will be severely punished!
At this time, Lao Hu hated and regretted.
What we hate is Sheng Xuanhuai taking advantage of others' danger and throwing stones at the downfall;
Regrettably, on September 22, when his silk business had not yet exploded, Sir Zuo went to Shanghai for inspection. He also met with Sir Zuo for a chat.
At that time, however, he didn't realize the danger was coming. Instead of telling Sir Alex his real situation, he continued to donate money to the government to build the sea wall to show that he had sufficient cash flow.
As a result, it is urgent for Sir Zuo to save his life. Sir Zuo has gone home to rest because of his eye disease!
When Zuo returned to his hometown, the imperial court entrusted Liu Bingzhang, the governor of Zhejiang, with the task of tracking down the collapse of Fukang.
Liu Bingzhang is Li Hongzhang's confidant. He is an iron member of the Huai family. How could it be unreasonable for him to fall into his hands?
If I had told Lord Zuo about it, maybe
But it's too late!
Soon, Liu Bingzhang's people turned over Lao Hu's bank account and found out that the "Fukang Family" had lost more than 2.4 million taels of public funds.
According to the imperial court's will, Lao Hu had to sell all his family property and make up for the public funds.
As for the money of those tycoons, Old Hu could only afford to pay back one cent.
In this way, the former "richest man of the Qing Dynasty" went bankrupt.
However, the court is not going to let him go
Located at the corner of Hu Xueyan's former residence in Hefang Street, Hangzhou. After Hu Guangyong went bankrupt, the house was mortgaged
09
Shortly afterwards, the imperial court issued an order to trace the "embezzlement" of public funds by Lao Hu in the process of borrowing for Zuo Zongtang. The reason was that the loan amount actually recorded differed from the loan amount in the contract by 160002.
In fact, this money did not fall into Hu Guangyong's pocket, but the intermediary fee that Lao Hu gave to the ghost broker in the process of borrowing foreign debt, which was also the "hidden rule" prevailing in the international financial community at that time.
However, the Imperial Court has long hated Hu because of the difference in interest on foreign debt.
Now that Xinjiang has been recovered, Lao Hu has also jumped on the street. Of course, we should beat the water dogs and find various reasons to squeeze the last bit of oil and water out of Lao Hu.
Poor old Hu Lian was forced to hand over his last pension to the Imperial Court.
After struggling with poverty and illness for two years, in the winter of the eleventh year of Guangxu (1885), Lao Hu went away.
At the time of his death, he owed the imperial court more than 60000 taels.
His old leader, Lord Zuo, had died four months before him.
An era has come to an end.
This year, Sheng Xuanhuai took over the position he wanted to be the general manager of China Merchants Steamship, and became the most important person in Li Hongzhang's westernization map.
Over the next 20 years, he set up banks, paved railways, built universities, engaged in steel, and opened coal mines, becoming the new "richest man in the Qing Dynasty", and his final wealth far exceeded that of Hu Guangyong, whom he could only look up to
PS：
In 2001, the Wall Street Journal of the United States released an album called "A Thousand Years of Crossroads", which counted the 50 richest people in the world for a thousand years.
Among them, six Chinese were selected. There was neither Hu Xueyan nor Sheng Xuanhuai.
They are Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Liu Jin, He Shen, Song Ziwen and Wu Bingjian.
Of these six people, the first five must be very familiar. They are either the emperor or powerful officials. In short, they are all related. Only the last one, Wu Bingjian, is listed as a pure businessman.
And he lost his dignity in his later years
Pay attention to Lao Wang and continue in the next issue.
reference:
The History Draft of the Qing Dynasty, The True Record of the Qing Dynasty, Sheng Xuanhuai's Running Narration, The Record of Strange Words, Westernization and Relief -- Sheng Xuanhuai and the Forty Years of the Late Qing Dynasty, Modern Westernization Party's Exploration and Practice of Coal and Iron Mining in Hubei, Zheng Guanying's Biography, Hu Xueyan and Zuo Zongtang's Relationship -- From the Perspective of the Guiwei Financial Crisis, Hu Xueyan and the Foreign Debt in the Late Qing Dynasty
