Who is the protagonist of Shanxi merchants?

A representative figure of Shanxi merchants

Shanxi merchants can be traced back to the warrior jackal, the father of Wu Zetian, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. When Li Yuan and his son set out from Taiyuan, the timber merchant Wu gave great financial support. Li Yuan and his son began to seize the national political power with the financial resources of the first Taiyuan Army and Wu Shi in the world. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Wu Shi was merged into the Lord protector, and his status was equal to that of Cheng. You can imagine how much property Li Yuan and his son got from Wu Shi at that time. And Wu got it from him at first.

Van Dou Yong

Fan, from Jiexiu, Shanxi. I lived in Zhangjiakou in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

As early as the early Ming Dynasty, Fan began to do business in Zhangjiakou and Mongolia. After seven generations, he spread to Fan Dou Yong and became a wealthy Han businessman who traded with Mongolia in Zhangjiakou. At that time, he was called "Jia Yu in the border town, writing with faith". At that time, the Jurchen people living in the northeast began to expand militarily. Due to the hostile relationship with the Ming Dynasty, the military and living materials they needed can only be obtained through the trade market in Zhangjiakou, that is, seven businessmen, including Fan, began to do business in this area, "making money from Liao and keeping promises for a long time." According to "Wanquan County Records" in Daoguang period, "Eight merchants were all right mountain people, and they came to Zhangjiakou with merchants at the end of the Ming Dynasty." Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Fan, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang and Huang Yongfa all sent people to the city gate to exchange goods, all of which were among the top eight experts. Since the Eight Businessmen contributed greatly to the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, after Tintin in the Qing Dynasty, the emperor shunzhi did not forget to host a banquet in the Forbidden City to entertain the eight businessmen who had made great achievements in the Central Plains, and presented them with costumes. Shunzhi also gave them official titles, and the eight merchants were flattered and refused. So Shunzhi named them "Imperial Merchants" (official residence). Fan Ming was in charge of trade affairs and "gave Zhangjiakou an inheritance". The other seven have also been raised. Since then, Fan and others have gained political and economic privileges that other businessmen cannot enjoy. Not only did he buy goods for the royal family, but he also opened up new sources of wealth and created the world. In addition to operating the salt industry in Hedong and Luchang, he also monopolized the markets of precious medicinal materials such as ginseng in Wusuli and Suifenhe in Northeast China, so he was called a "participant" by the people. In a blink of an eye, Fan became a big emperor businessman with millions of wealth, and he was the best among the eight people.

Later, it was his grandson Fan Yu who inherited and developed Fan's career. In his hands, the fann family business reached its peak.

In the fifty-ninth year of Kangxi (1720), Junggar rebelled again. The Qing government urgently sent heavy troops to conquer it. At that time, because of the long distance and desert, it became a prominent difficulty to transport rations. After learning about this situation, Fan Yu carefully checked the plan according to the fact that he had been doing business with his father in the Great Wall since childhood and was familiar with the favorable conditions of the journey. He signed a letter with his younger brother Fan Yu and volunteered to deliver rations at a lower cost than the imperial court13. Kangxi heard about it and immediately approved it. Since then, during the Qianlong period, they have repeatedly "tried their best to lose, traveled to Wan Li in the desert, and never bothered officials or swallows", and all their rations were "due". During this period, he was attacked by the enemy, or changed his grain transportation plan halfway, and suffered heavy losses several times, which was also borne by Fan personally, saving hundreds of millions of yuan in state expenditure, making great personal sacrifices and contributions to quelling the rebellion, and objectively conforming to the historical trend of the development of China's unified multi-ethnic country. This is really valuable for a businessman.

In the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729), the Qing court gave Fan Yu the post of Taipu Temple Qing and took second-class clothes. From then on, Fan became a businessman and senior official of the imperial court, and became famous. This is also rare in the history of the Qing dynasty for more than 200 years. Fan Yu died in the fifteenth year of Qianlong (1750). He is the only businessman who entered the draft of Qing history.

Contribution: the first of the eight merchants in the empire

Wang's "Eight Masters" in Shanxi Merchants

The top 16 consortia in the Qing Dynasty were all located in Shanxi. According to historical statistics, the rich households in several counties in Shanxi alone exceeded1.200 million silver. This amount even exceeded the amount of money deposited in the state treasury at that time, and it was really "extremely rich". In the modern history of China, Shanxi merchants ranked first among the national business gangs and dominated the business circles for more than 500 years. What are the "God of Wealth" in this prominent group of Shanxi merchants?

Starting from scratch, knowing the world, honesty, jstars.

The Qiao family in Qixian county is a typical Shanxi businessman who started from scratch and did business with hard work and integrity.

Qiao Jiazu went to Qiao Guifa and was born in Qiaojiabao, Qixian County. In his early years, he was a naked and helpless bachelor. In the early years of Qianlong, he went to the West with his sworn brother Qin. He first worked as a pawn shop, then opened a forage shop, and also did some business in tofu, bean sprouts and odds and ends. After twenty years of Qianlong (1755), the local grain harvest was good. In order to prepare themselves for grinding bean curd and raw bean sprouts, they took advantage of low food prices to buy a batch of soybeans. Unexpectedly, the second year's soybean harvest failed and the price was high, so I sold the soybean and made a lot of money. Then it expanded its business and opened a passenger and cargo warehouse, Guangsheng Palace.

During the Jiaqing period, the business of Guangsheng Palace was very prosperous, but once it operated "buying treetops", it lost money and almost closed down. Thanks to Qiao's frank exchanges with the local "phase" on weekdays, his reputation still exists, and he has been supported by the current households, delaying the repayment date of the arrears. Raising funds in many ways and relying on the careful management of the shopkeeper of Guangsheng Palace, Qiao's basic business was revived, so the Guangsheng Palace was renamed Fusheng Palace. Qiao's children abide by the family rules of their ancestors, and their family business is thriving. Qin's children neglected management, enjoyed the success and gradually took away their shares. In the end, Fushenggong almost became a wholly-owned enterprise of jstars. After Fu Shenggong became Joe's firm, his business was booming. In Baotou, the 19 facade, including Fushengquan and Fushengxi, has been opened one after another, with 400 to 500 employees, making it the earliest and most powerful firm in Baotou. Therefore, it is said that "Fushenggong comes first, and Baotou City comes last". Qiao's developed into a large and medium-sized commercial port in China by relying on its complex name. In the 10th year of Guangxu (1884), Dade Tong and Dade Heng Bank were established. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qiao family owned more than 200 shops, such as banks, money houses, pawn shops and grain shops, with a working capital of more than 7 million yuan. Together with land, real estate and other real estate, the total assets reach10 million yuan.

Qiao Guifa devoted himself to the business world and endured hardships until he was in his thirties. He married a widow and had three children. The eldest son was raised by the widow Shi Cheng and named Dexing Hall. Because it is not Qiao Guifa's own, this door has not been improved. The second door is full of righteousness, the hall name is Ningshoutang, and many children enter the official career. Sanmen is an American named "In nave", followed by Qiao Zhiyong (18 18- 1907), who is an outstanding figure of the jstars. With the respect of Confucianism and Taoism, with the heart of "self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world", with sincerity as the foundation, persistent pursuit, hard struggle and continuous development, he realized the ideal of "goods all over the world" and made great contributions to the prosperity of the Qiao family. Qiao Zhiyong lived to be 89 years old and had six children, but each had its own shortcomings. Finally, he handed over the great cause of the Qiao family to Joe's grandson. Joe is deeply influenced by her family rules. Since she was in charge of the jstars, she has been ambitious and strict in housekeeping. According to the characteristics of his brothers and children, he established the names of study rooms such as "No Gu Ni fast", "Ignorant fast", "Rixin fast", "Ziqiang fast" and "Three provinces fast a day" as encouragement, and made clear the family rules of "five prohibitions": no smoking opium, no concubinage, no learning shellfish, no traveling and no drinking. Thanks to Joe's efforts, Joe's great career is thriving. Joe is more open-minded. She once took the lead in cutting braids, mobilized housewives to get rid of the bad habit of foot binding, and served as district head and director of smoking ban, reaching the peak of her career. In the late Qing Dynasty, Joe's banking business was mostly taken away by government-run banks, and his business declined.

Foreign trade families dominated by Russia and Mongolia are regular families.

The Chang family in Yuci is famous for its foreign trade among Shanxi merchants. According to "Shanxi Foreign Trade News", "Among the many Shanxi firms engaged in trade with Russia in Chaktu, the one with the longest operation time and the largest historical scale is the first to promote the home of the Yuci car king. The school of Chang, from Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi and Guangxu, went through seven generations, lasting 150 years. Especially in the late Qing Dynasty, among more than a dozen large firms in Chaktu, the Chang family occupied the fourth place, and was called a "foreign trade family" among Shanxi merchants in the Qing Dynasty. Chang Wei, the ancestor of Chang family business, went to Zhangjiakou to do business. When he left home, he was penniless, thinking that he was a fortune teller and earned money to eat and live. Chang Wei has three sons, the eldest son Chang Wanxi and the third son Chang Wanda, all of whom are good at doing business. Ten thousand branches, which was later called "south growth"; Wanda branch is "Beichang". Chang Wanda is a clever boy. When he grew up, he went to Zhangjiakou to do business with his father. He has been frugal for ten years, sincere and trustworthy, and has been highly praised by his colleagues in business. The Chang family made huge profits by opening cloth shops, selling cloth and white cloth, expanding its scale, engaging in tea and groceries, exporting to Mongolia and other places, gradually accumulating commercial capital and establishing Dadeyu Firm.

During the Qianlong period, Chaktu was designated by the Qing government as the only place for Sino-Russian trade. The huge trade transactions between China and Russia have been compressed to Chaktu. Chang Wanda saw the huge business opportunities. He renamed the "Dadeyu" run by Zhangjiakou as a teahouse, and poured his wealth into Chaktu, realizing the transformation from domestic trade to foreign trade. Changwangda exported tea to Russian businessmen, engaged in silks and satins, and imported fur and silver ingots from Russia, which made a lot of profits. Changwanda "is full but not profitable, depending on whether it is available or not", and has continuously increased its capital, laying a solid foundation for the development of foreign trade of Changjia. With the development of business and the increase of capital, Changshi has successively added Dasheng Jade, Daquan Jade, Dameiyu Jade and Dushen Jade, forming the serial number of "Jade" of Changshi, which is spread all over Suzhou, Shanghai, Hankou and other places. Du Shenyu also set up a branch in Moscow.

After the Gengzi Incident, Chang's business suffered some losses, and he turned to establish a modern family industry, and opened Dunyihe Sericulture Bureau and Dunmuhe Weaving Factory, which made a lot of profits. Chang also invested in modern industrial match bureau, mining company and Jinhua textile company. Chang, the 14th Chang, concurrently serves as the fourth general manager of the company. Often starting from business, the family is rich, and instead let their children learn Confucianism. Chang Ji, the eighth of the Chang family, was a county tribute student, the first in the family to pay tribute. Since then, there have been many successful students. By 192 1 year, four Chang's families had returned from studying in Japan, and 10 graduated from universities inside and outside the province, known as "scholars in the world", which was a rare "scholarly family" among Shanxi merchants.

Chang's business gradually declined in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, mainly because Russian businessmen owed huge sums of money and the Russian government imposed huge taxes, causing havoc. According to records, in Moscow alone, the cumulative compensation was 1.4 million yuan. After the Revolution of 1911, domestic and foreign loans were not settled, and the name of jade shops closed down.

The size of the "Sanduotang" store in Taigu Jufu is several Cao's.

Taigu Cao Shi was a wealthy Shanxi businessman with great momentum in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The prosperity of Cao Shi family began with Cao Sanxi in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. At that time, forced by his livelihood, Cao Sanxi went to the Northeast Three Pagoda (now Liaoyang County, Liaoning Province) to do business. He first rented land to grow vegetables and beans, and then partnered with others in grinding bean curd to raise pigs with bean curd residue. After the business was booming, because Cao Sanxi was a foreigner, the partners wanted to get more profits and had to operate separately. Cao Sanxi believes that his name has the word "three" and he will succeed in the "Three Towers". He is diligent and sincere, and his business is getting better and better, adding wine, groceries and pawnbroking. Later, they set up firms in Shenyang, Siping and Jinzhou, and gradually became big businessmen outside the province. After the Qing soldiers entered Shanhaiguan pass, Cao Shi firms developed into Shanhaiguan pass, and the scale became larger and larger. By the time of Daoguang and Xianfeng, Cao Shi firms had spread all over China and developed to Moscow abroad. Business projects include money and grain industry, silks and satins, cloth, woolen cloth, pigments, medicinal materials, leather goods, groceries, foreign goods, wine making, grain shops and so on. More than 37,000 employees, total capital100,000. Cao Jia created a chain operation mode of managing semicolons and semicolons. It is said that even the housekeeper can't tell how many Cao Shi family businesses there are in China. Without the consent of the Cao family, a profiteer borrowed money to open a business under the banner of the Cao family. As long as the foreign loans within his bank and its jurisdiction are less than 22,000 yuan, the Cao family doesn't ask, which shows Cao Jiafu.

After Cao Sanxi became rich, he divided his assets into seven parts and gave one to each son. Then each family invested 654.38+ 2 million to form a management office, which was called "Cao Qihe". After Daoguang, the philosophers gradually declined, but Sanduotang flourished. "Sanduotang" means "more happiness, more longevity and more men". In the west village in the northwest of Taigu City, three towering four-story old buildings stand side by side, which is the symbol of "Three Duotang". The wall thickness of these three buildings is 1.5m, and the height exceeds 15m. The layout of these three halls is in the shape of "longevity", with 15 courtyards and 280 houses, covering an area of more than 6,000 square meters. It is also a famous courtyard of Shanxi merchants. Cao Shi's commerce declined gradually in the late Qing Dynasty. After the Revolution of 1911, Cao Shi's banks in major cities in Northeast China were operated by "tender tickets" issued by warlords. 193 1 After the September 18th Incident, Cao Shi's ticket office in the northeast was owned by the puppet Manchukuo government.

The family of Wei Lianjing's chic money house is the Hou family.

Jiexiu Hou Shi is known as "Hou Million", and historical records record assets of 78 million taels of silver. Hou Shi made his fortune in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. The 10th Hou Wanzhan sold silks and satins in Suzhou and Hangzhou, and his family business developed rapidly. By the time his grandson Hou Xingyu arrived, he had become a famous rich man.

Hou Xingyu is an important figure in the Hou family. He inherited his ancestral business and managed it carefully, accumulating millions. His third son, Hou Qinglai, is smart, sophisticated, talented and ambitious. At first, Wei, Xie Taiwei, Hou Changlai and Xin Taiyong, who operated silks, satins, tea and coins in Pingyao, were all changed to Wei's shop name, and later changed to a money house. However, Hou Qinglai lived only 36 years old, and his son Hou Yinchang took over the family business. In the competition with Rishengchang Bank in Pingyao, he also changed other Wei surnames to bank numbers, becoming the famous "five-linked number" in Shaanxi. After Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi, in about 30 years, Wei Zizhao's prestige has been continuously improved, and semicolons have spread all over more than 30 cities across the country, greatly coming from behind.

Wei Zizhao's Hou Shi family has profited handsomely from previous dividends, and is rich and powerful, arrogant and extravagant. Hou Yinchang's Ji Sun Hou Kui is a famous rich boy who spends money like water in Jiexiu. At that time, there was a proverb in Jiexiu that said, "There are three things in Jiexiu County, and Hou Kuiling is the second king." These three people are wild all day, fighting for wealth and doing their best to squander money. At the end of Guangxu, after the establishment of Daqing Bank, Hou Shi Bank turned from prosperity to decline and gradually declined.

The famous "Changyuchuan" in Qixian County is Qujia.

There are many businessmen in Qixian County, known as "Qi Gang", and they are a strong force in the business circles in Qing Dynasty. The Qu family is a big family in Bang Qi. The teahouse "Changyuchuan" of the Qu family is famous, and the ticket number "Sanjinyuan" is universal.

The prosperity of the Qu family began with the three brothers Qu Jingxin, Qu Yuxin and Qu Zhongxin in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. They started by selling small businesses, first selling Ma Lu and pears to Qixian, and then transporting coarse cloth and dates from Qixian to Shangdang. After a long time, they worked tirelessly and gradually accumulated funds. By the time of Qingganlong and Jiaqing, Qu Jia's business had involved tea trade with Russia and Mongolia. Starting from the seventeenth generation of Qushi, it entered the golden age of commercial prosperity and became one of the eight rich households in Jinzhong at that time. Qu Yuan, the first generation of Genzi, successively established Baichuantong Bank, Cunyigong Bank and Changshengchuan Bank as joint ventures, and established Sanjinyuan Bank and Huiyuantong Bank as sole investors. At the same time when he founded the bank, Qu Jia also opened teahouses, salt shops, money shops, pawn shops, satin shops and drug shops in various provinces.

Qu is a very cautious person. Qu wants his eldest son Qu to go into business, but Qu is very talented and smart. He was called a "prodigy" when he was a child, and he was more keen on getting fame. Qu is extremely dissatisfied with it. It is said that when Qu Kao sent a man back to his hometown, he knelt at the door to meet him, which made him very embarrassed. Qu was sent to Yokohama, Japan by the Qing government as a consul. The relaxation of the contradiction between father and son is the mine protection movement in Shanxi. 1898, the Qing government converted the coal mines and iron mines in Shanxi at a very low price; Mining rights, sold to British businessmen. The news spread, and the whole province of Shanxi was in an uproar. Businessmen from all walks of life rushed to call for placards and launched a struggle to regain mining rights and road rights for several years. Qu joined the mine protection movement as soon as he stepped down from the position of supervisor of Shanxi University Hall. In the Shanxi merchants' mine protection movement, Qu's father and son cooperated tacitly, and Qu presided over Qu's big bank to help each other. Not only invested heavily in Jinbao Company, but also helped the company to issue and raise shares. Qu worked as the general manager of the company for more than a year, and then entered Beijing as an official. After Qu entered Beijing, Qu cast most of his possessions into silver ingots and buried them in his own yard. It is said that the total number has reached as much as three million and two thousand. Qu died in Tianjin in 19 19. Since then, the descendants of the Qu family have never set foot in business again, and most of them have become scholars, teachers and writers.

Ming and Qing dynasties, Shanxi's richest man, several, gathered thousands of beams.

The Kang family in Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi Province (now Linfen City) amassed tens of millions of taels of money during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, making it the richest man in Shanxi. After the Kang family came Cao, Qiao, Qu, Chang and other families with assets of 78 million yuan.

The kangs are from. Legend has it that the peasant uprising army in Li Zicheng failed to fight the Qing army in Shanhaiguan at the end of Ming Dynasty. On the way back from Beijing to Ann, they left the treasure to Kang's family. Later, Li Zicheng died, and the gold and silver treasures stored by the peasant army belonged to Kang. But this is just a legend. In fact, getting rich is also the way to do business. Kang was originally a big salt merchant. In the Qing Dynasty, the salt monopoly system was implemented, and salt merchants were chartered by the government to transport and sell salt in designated places. It was with this privilege that the Kang family made huge profits and became a rich man. The Kang family built a famous Kang Garden in Yangzhou, where salt merchants gathered. Secondly, Kang is a big grain merchant. At that time, in Beijing, there were many people from other provinces who bought rice to make a living because it was an important place in Gyeonggi. The largest grain store in Beijing was the one opened by Konka outside Zhengyangmen. In Pingyang Prefecture, the Kang family has a "thousand warehouses" filled with rice and mangoku. Again; Konka is a pawnbroker with abundant capital. Legend has it that in order to crush another local pawnshop, the Kang family took out 90 golden arhats and pawned them in this pawnshop for three months in a row, each with 1000 silver. The pawnbroker panicked and asked why there were so many golden arhats. Someone said, "My master has 500 gold arhats, and now 4 10 is waiting to be pawned!" This pawnshop had to let the Kang family redeem 90 golden arhats, closed the pawnshop and left. In addition, the Kang family also owned a large number of farmland houses and stored grain in Pingyang at that time, which was known as "home like home". "There are gods in the sky, millions underground, no rain for three years, and mangoku in the old grain."

The contemporary "hereditary imperial merchant" of Jiadi Lianhui was Jia Fan.

Jiexiu Fan, a Shang Zufan, did business in Zhangjiakou in the late Ming Dynasty and often went in and out of Liaodong. He was one of the eight famous businessmen at that time.

Because merchants at that time often went in and out of the customs, they provided military supplies and information for the Qing Dynasty. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs and proclaimed himself emperor, the emperor shunzhi hosted a banquet in the Forbidden City to thank the eight merchants, personally summoned them, tasted the imperial clothes and joined the ranks of "imperial merchants". Fan was appointed to be in charge of trade affairs, and "gave Zhangjiakou an industry", which gained economic privileges that other businessmen could not enjoy. Fan Yubin, the grandson of Fan, has an excellent economic mind. After inheriting his ancestral business, he lived up to expectations and made Fan's career reach its peak. When he was in power, he was responsible for "undertaking, collecting and transporting rations". In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi personally incorporated the Junggar Department. Because of the high transportation cost of military food, "supporting the army by rice" paid a heavy price. As an imperial merchant, after accepting this official position, he thought that although it was difficult to sell back the commissary, relying on his many years of business experience, he thought that it would not only be profitable, but also serve the country. He demanded that the rations be sold at his own expense at a price less than two thirds of the official price per stone meter. Kangxi was overjoyed and agreed. Fan Yubin felt great gratitude from the emperor and showed emotional loyalty. He cashed in 1 440,000 taels, and supplied more than one million taels of rations, saving more than six million taels for the Qing government. "Biography of the Draft of the History of Qing Dynasty" said that Fan Yubin "wandered in the desert of Wan Li, not disturbing officials and neighbors, and his time was coming, saving hundreds of millions of people", and his loyalty won him rich returns. Many people in the Fan family were given official titles, which was a great honor for a time. The imperial court also generously handed over the trade rights of the nomadic people in the northwest to the Fan family, which gained huge business opportunities. Fan is a rare figure in the history of more than 200 years in the Qing Dynasty, from imperial merchants to high officials. Fan family is not satisfied with vested interests and continues to seek development opportunities. During the Kangxi period, there was a serious shortage of copper ingots (raw materials for making copper coins) in China, and the government allowed businessmen to go to Japan to buy copper ingots. Fan seized the opportunity and asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to undertake most of the business of trafficking in foreign copper, which gained huge benefits.

Fan family prospered because of officials, but declined because of business. With the decline of the Manchu government in the late Qing Dynasty, Fan's business also declined. In the forty-eighth year of Qianlong (1783), the Qing court dismissed Fan's official positions, such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Household Affairs, and ordered Fan Qingji's brothers to be severely examined and their property sealed up, making them "hereditary emperors" in all previous dynasties.

The famous "God of Wealth" and "the last scenery" are the Kongs.

Among Shanxi merchants, there is a famous "God of Wealth", that is, Taigu Kong Xiangxi, one of the four families in the Republic of China.

Kong Xiangxi's father, Kong Fanci, smoked a lot when he was young, which is why Kong Xiangxi once picked up cinders when he was young. Later, Kong Fanci worked as a private school teacher in many places in Taigu urban and rural areas for Kong Xiangxi to study in a new school run by the Christian church. 190 1 autumn, Kong Xiangxi went to the United States and was admitted to Yale university, majoring in physics and chemistry, and later studied sociology. 1905 entered the graduate school of our college and obtained a master's degree in physical chemistry. His ambition is to "promote education and revitalize the family business". Kong Xiangxi returned to Beijing1907; At that time, the Qing government attached great importance to overseas students. However, he was hired by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and Beiyang University, and he decided to go back to Taigu to run a school. On the basis of the primary school affiliated to the Christian Ming Dow Society in Taigu South Street, he expanded the curriculum and founded the first middle school in Taigu-Mingxian School. On the one hand, Kong Xiangxi advocated training new talents, but he also did not forget to "revitalize his family business" and make a fortune. 19 12 years, he saw from his life that kerosene has become an essential business opportunity for folk lighting, so the company he and his fifth uncle Kong set up paid a deposit to the British Asian kerosene company, thus obtaining the general agent distribution right of Shanxi kerosene and enjoying the profits exclusively. Kong Xiangxi became the first comprador businessman in Shanxi.

After the failure of the Second Revolution, Kong Xiangxi went to Japan and met Song Ailing, Sun Yat-sen's English secretary, in Yokohama. Song Zankong is modest, "good at making money" and "seems to have a natural ability to manage money", but he "worships" Confucius. Kong Xiangxi and Song Ailing got married in the spring of 2004 because of their congenial feelings. After marriage, Song Ailing resigned as Sun Yat-sen's secretary and recommended her sister Soong Ching Ling to take over. 19 15 Kong Xiangxi returned to China, and took advantage of the business opportunity that foreign countries needed military raw materials during the European War to transport Yangquan's iron ore to Tianjin for export, and established "Ji Xiang" and "Yuhua" companies in Tianjin. During the period of 1926, the domestic political situation changed. Kong Xiangxi thinks that the "opportunity" of "being a big official" has come. He returned to Guangzhou from the United States and was appointed as a member of the Guangdong branch of the Central Political Conference of the Kuomintang, the finance director of Guangdong Province and the rear financial affairs. As a result of persuading their parents on the marriage between Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, the Kong family gained a high political status through Chiang Kai-shek's regime, which ensured the reproduction of family fortune. 1927, Kong Xiangxi became the Minister of Industry and Commerce of Nanjing Government and was elected as a member of the National Government. Since then, both official and financial fortunes have flourished. From 65438 to 0933, Kong Xiangxi served as the vice president and finance minister of the Executive Yuan, and remained the governor of the Central Bank. Kongjia became the richest man in China under the circumstances of borrowing public money for personal gain, using both government and business, and taking advantage of the trend. It is said that Song Ailing made "8 million pounds" in foreign exchange speculation at the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War. During the period of 1939, the deposits in the United States were listed as "the most important person in American banks" by Chongqing Municipal Government and "the wallet of China people" by American journalist Qian. 1944 Kong Xiangxi was forced to step down after the case of "friends sharing US dollar bonds privately" caused a heated discussion in the mountain city of Chongqing.