Why did China's richest man immigrate to the United States in the late Qing Dynasty?

On February 23rd, 1842, 1842, the richest man in the late Qing Dynasty, who lived in Guangzhou, wrote to his friend Cushing in Massachusetts, saying that if he was not too old to stand the ordeal, he really wanted to immigrate to the United States. On the same day, he wrote to another American friend, Robert Forbes, saying, "If I were a young man now, I would seriously consider going to America by boat and settling somewhere near you."

This writer is extraordinary. He was the richest man in China at that time, and was even regarded as the richest man in the world by The Wall Street Journal. He is/kloc-one of the most famous figures in China in the 9th century, Wu Bingjian. Its assets are estimated to be 26 million silver dollars in 1834. This figure is almost half of the fiscal revenue of China government in that year. According to the international silver price, this amount is equivalent to 5 billion RMB today. Moreover, the Wu family's mansion on the Pearl River is said to be comparable to the Grand View Garden in A Dream of Red Mansions.

Wu Zushang settled in Guangdong in the early years of Kangxi and began to do business. When Wu Bingjian's father Wu Guoying arrived, the Wu family began to participate in foreign trade. 1783, Wu Guoying took an important step, established Jardine Matheson, and gave himself a business name "Guan Hao". This firm has been used by later generations and became a resounding name in the international business community at the beginning of the19th century.

180 1 year, 32-year-old Wu Bingjian took over Jardine Matheson's business and his career began to rise rapidly. I, Wu Bingjian, became the leader and general manager of Guangzhou Shang Hong Company.

The so-called Shang Hong is the system used by the Qing government to monopolize foreign trade. The main business of Hong Kong businessmen is to underwrite foreign goods, buy foreign goods, set import and export prices, ensure the payment of foreign tickets and goods taxes, control foreign businessmen on behalf of the government, convey government decrees to foreign businessmen, and handle all negotiations between the government and foreign businessmen.

1686, Guangdong local government recruited 13 powerful hong merchants, appointed them to do business with foreign businessmen on foreign ships, and collected customs duties on behalf of the customs. This is the famous "Thirteen Merchants of Hong Kong" in history. 1757, the Qing dynasty adopted a closed door policy, leaving only Guangzhou as a foreign trade port. This important historical event directly made thirteen banks the only legal "foreign trade special zones" in China at that time, and Jardine Matheson was naturally the best among them.

Doing foreign trade is easy to make a fortune, but the risk of doing business is not small. The research shows that 13 merchants are constantly changing, and the average life span of foreign enterprises is less than 10 years. During the 84 years from 1760 to 1843, * * 47 foreign companies started business, while from 177 1 to 1839, 37 companies closed down or closed down. Many hong merchants went bankrupt because they owed official taxes or foreign debts. Bankruptcy, confiscation of property, imprisonment and exile are common.

A very important reason for the bankruptcy of Thirteen Merchants is that commercial profits are occupied by the government. Officially, Shang Hong is a piece of fat, and you can find any reason, even a fine. Once foreign businessmen are found to be in violation of regulations, the dealers with guarantee responsibility will be fined 50 times or even 100 times of the goods tax. For example, in 1800, the merchant ship Hugh inglis of the British East India Company was insured by Jardine Matheson. The personal belongings of the accountant on board were taken ashore because they were put in an iron box before being taken out. Customs officials think this is tax evasion. Jardine Matheson offered to pay 180 silver, and was fined 50 times by the customs.

Officials often ask hong merchants to donate property. In case of war, flood or emperor's birthday, Hong merchants should take the initiative to donate money, which is called "donation" or "offering". According to the official records from 1773 to 1835, the hong merchants donated 5.085 million yuan to the imperial court, and the actual donation should be far more than that. Only 1833, Jardine Matheson's donation is said to have reached 502,000 pounds.

Businessmen are often blackmailed by officials, which is a little careless and disastrous. The Wu family was once compared to a "fat sheep". Pan Shiyi, another successful businessman, said, "Better be a dog than a businessman's head." The acquisition of business qualifications is sometimes not entirely voluntary, and once you enter the business, you can't quit. Wu Bingjian asked to retire, but he wanted to pay 900,000 silver dollars for his son to replace him, but the official still asked him to bear all the responsibilities as a Hong Kong businessman. He had to further say that in order to enjoy the remaining 20% of the wealth, he was willing to donate 80% of the 26 million silver dollars to the government, but he still couldn't take it out.

Besides the officials of the Qing Dynasty, foreigners are not good either. The banker became a mouse in the bellows, suffering from both ends. Before the Opium War broke out, Wu Bingjian wanted to act as a mediator to avoid the disaster of the war.

The end of the Opium War was also the time when Wu made his fortune. 184 1 In May, the Qing army was defeated and forced to pay 6 million silver dollars to the British army to redeem the city, and Wu paid 165438+ 10,000 yuan. , claiming compensation of 2 1 10,000 silver dollars, of which 3 million was owed by the merchants and Wu paid 1 10,000.

For businessman Wu Bingjian, since he can't change the reality, escape is the only choice. Wu Bingjian, who is over eighty years old, saw through the coldness of the world and thought of moving to the United States.