Shen Wansan's information

Shen Wansan (said to have been born in 1296, and two others are said to have died in 1330 and 1328), whose real name is Shen Fu and whose real name is Zhong Rong, is commonly known as Wan San, a businessman in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties, and a very rich man. Shen Wansan accumulated primitive wealth by developing overseas trade, making him the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River, with "millions of assets and land all over the world". Zhouzhuang's "changing villages into towns" is also a credit to Shen Wansan. As for the rich man in Shen Wansan, he even said that he had a cornucopia and so on, which reflected that his wealth was countless and his skills in making and accumulating wealth were superb. Up to now, many stories and legends about Shen Wansan's wealth, luxury, real estate, business and family life are still widely circulated in southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang and Anhui.

Shen Wansan (some people say that he was born in 1296, others say that he was born in 1330 and 1328 and died in 1376), male, whose real name is Shen Fu, whose name is Zhong Rong, commonly known as Wan San, was born in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. Three thousand, three shows in ten thousand households, so it is also called three shows. As another name for the super rich, it was born in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.

In the mid-Yuan Dynasty, Shen Wansan's father Shen You moved from Huzhou Road (now Nanxun District, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province) to Shenjiayang, Nanxun Town, Wucheng County, to Dongzhuang, Zhouzhuang, and then moved to Yinzibang. Shen Wansan made Suzhou an important place to do business after he became rich. He once supported Zhou regime in Pingjiang (Suzhou) Zhang Shicheng, and Zhang Shicheng once erected a monument for Shen Wansan. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang made Nanjing his capital, Shen Wansan helped to build a third of the capital, and Zhu Yuanzhang sealed the officials of his two sons. In Nanjing, there are also "1,654 corridors and four restaurants ..." They have comfortable houses. But soon, Shen Wansan was exiled by Zhu Yuanzhang and spent the rest of his life in Yunnan.

Shen Wansan has left footprints in Zhouzhuang, Suzhou, Nanjing and Yunnan. Shen Wansan always regards Zhouzhuang as his career; "Three thousand households live in the northwest half of Kunming, that is, Dongzhuang land, Yinzibang, warehouses, pavilions and houses are connected" (Volume II of Town Records), "Three thousand households live in Zhouzhuang, and dangerous houses still exist" (Su Tan by Yang Xunji in Ming Dynasty). Although Zhang Shicheng and Zhu Yuanzhang raised him, he didn't want to leave this treasure land. Yuan, Wang Hangzi, Wuxian Zhizhong, Shen Wan

Yi "("Zhouzhuang Town Records ",six miscellaneous notes), shows that he even wants to stay in this rich land and spend a lot of money on farming to make the Shenyang family endless and prosperous.

Shen Wansan's real name is Shen Fu, whose name is Zhong Rong. His father is Shen You, who moved from Nanxun Town, Wucheng County, Huzhou Road to Caidong Village, Changzhou County, Pingjiang Road. Shen Wansan's younger brother's name is Shen Gui, the word Zhonghua, also known as "Shen". Shen Gui's second son: Chang Shen Dechang; Shen was born in Yanyou for seven years and died in Hongwu for four years. Shen Wansan was born in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. Commonly known as wansan. Three thousand is the third show among ten thousand households, so it is also called three shows, as a nickname for the very rich. Three thousand is a social address for him. The real name is fu, and the word is Rong. He was the richest man in Jiangnan in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and also the richest man in China. If you have been to Zhouzhuang, an ancient town, when you have different admiration for the beauty of the ancient city, you may not think that Zhouzhuang has become a famous ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River because of Shen Wansan. Not only Zhouzhuang benefited from him, but Shen Wansan also contributed half to the construction of Nanjing City, because he was a rich country and was forced to contribute to the construction of Nanjing City under the envy of Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty.

In the article "The Rise and Decline of Shen Wansan, the Rich Man in the Early Ming Dynasty" published at the Symposium on Economic History of the Ming Dynasty, Chen of Kunshan Cultural Management Association said that Shen Wansan's rise and fall began with his hard work. "Its predecessor started from the bow crop ... the great father is rich and the inheritance is for;" Taste the handsome physique of children, which shows that Shen Wansan got rich by reclaiming wasteland, and he has the foundation of his career. Later, Shen Wansan got huge sums of money from the Lushi family, which made his wealth accumulation reach a higher level. "Shen Wansan show wealth, because the wu lujia, lu jiang left ... all show". ("Zhouzhuang Town Records" Volume 6. Miscellaneous notes). After primitive accumulation, he got a huge sum of money from Lu, on the one hand, he continued to open a family; On the other hand, he took Zhouzhuang as the base of commodity trade and circulation, connected the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to the west through Baiyanjiang River (Dongjiang River), and made a fortune by developing "international trade", that is, "Fan Tong". According to "Wujiang County Records", "Shen Wansan lived in Zhouzhuang, the 29th capital of Wujiang, and was rich in the world. According to legend, it was obtained from the same story. " Wu Han, a famous historian, also said, "Suzhou Shen Wansan No.1 made a fortune from overseas trade. "He accumulated original wealth through reclamation, and then made good use of other people's money, boldly' fighting for wealth', conducting foreign trade activities and expanding capital. As a result, he quickly became the richest man in Jiangnan, "with huge assets and land all over the world." Zhouzhuang's "changing villages into towns" is also a credit to Shen Wansan. As for the rich man in Shen Wansan, he even said that he had a cornucopia and so on, which reflected that his wealth was countless and his skills in making and accumulating wealth were superb. Up to now, there are still many stories and legends about Shen Wansan's wealth, luxury, manor, business and family life in Suzhou, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, northern Zhejiang and Anhui.

There are also several references to Shen Wansan in the History of Ming Dynasty, one of which is clearly written in the Biography of Bigfoot Ma Huanghou: Shen Xiu, a rich man in Xing Wu, that is, Shen Wansan, helped Zhu Yuanzhang to build a third of Nanjing City and asked him to contribute money to reward the army. Zhu Yuanzhang was angry and said, "Most people dare to reward the Emperor's army, which is definitely a mob. They should be killed. " Ma Huanghou remonstrated and said, "Your wife, I heard that laws are used to punish lawless people, not unlucky people. The people are extremely rich, and they are unlucky in themselves. Heaven is bound to bring disaster on him. Why should your majesty kill him again? " Zhu Yuanzhang listened to some Japanese words, spared Shen Wansan and exiled him to Yunnan.

The official history says so, naturally many people believe it. People are kind, and they don't want a wealth legend to die of old age, so they make up the story of his immortality in Yunnan. During the reign of Kangxi, there were legends everywhere, saying that they met the immortal Shen Wansan in Yunnan.

But unfortunately, the legend is not true, and what the official said is not necessarily correct. The history of the Ming Dynasty was compiled for the Qing Dynasty, and the words smearing the Ming Dynasty for political purposes can be seen everywhere. However, historical facts tell us that Shen Wansan was actually a Yuan Dynasty native, born and died in the Yuan Dynasty.

According to the Records of Wujiang County compiled during the Qianlong period, "Zhang Shicheng died in Wu Shi, and his second son Mao transported rice from the sea to Yanjing". The source of the editor's historical materials is Wujiang Zhi written by Mo Dan in Ming Dynasty. Mo family and Shen family are children in-laws. What Mo Dan said, the compilers of Wujiang county annals naturally dare not neglect, but the official history of King James has been published, so they dare not overturn it, so they have to add a note at the back: Mo Dan said that when Zhang Shicheng occupied Wu Hui, Shen Wansan was already dead, but in the Ming Dynasty, he also said that Shen Wansan helped Emperor Gao (Zhu Yuanzhang) build Nanjing City and demanded a reward.

Zhang Shicheng's army occupied Wuhui in the 16th year from Yuan Dynasty to Zheng Zheng (1356), and Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty in 1368. This is tantamount to saying: According to Mo Dan, when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, Shen Wansan had been dead for at least 12 years, and the dead would neither climb out of the grave to repair the wall for him, nor worry about being exiled by his property.

Shen Wansan has at least three sons. In addition to the "two sons Mao and Wang" mentioned in Wujiang County Records, there is also a son named Shen Rong, and Shen Rong has another son named Shen Sen.

At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Wang wrote an epitaph for Shen Rong and his son, which explicitly mentioned that Shen Rong died in the autumn and August of the ninth year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1376) at the age of 71; Shen Sen and his father died in the same year at the age of 48.

Through calculation, we can know that 1368 When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, Shen Wansan's son Shen Rong was 62 years old and his grandson Shen Sen was 39 years old. Therefore, there is no problem for Shen Wansan to be around 80 years old.

Of course, it is too arbitrary to conclude that Shen Wansan will not live to be 80 years old and will not see the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, but from this set of data, at least we can overturn the official statement that Shen Wansan offended Zhu Yuanzhang and was demoted to Yunnan.

It was not until the fourteenth year of Hongwu (138 1) that the Ming army officially went to war against Yunnan, and the following year, Yunnan was formally incorporated into Zhu Yuanzhang's territory. Even at this time, Shen Wansan was still alive, and was demoted to Yunnan in the same year as the Ming army pacified Yunnan, and his age was at least 100 years old. Is this possible? Exiling centenarians is equivalent to talking about whimsy in the history of China. We should know that this is a society based on filial piety and aimed at loyalty, and respecting the elderly is its most basic ideology.

Shen Rong's epitaph also mentioned: "At the beginning, Shen Wansan, the former gentleman of Rong's father (Shen Rong), swam at the gate of Yuan Dynasty ..." Shen Rong died in Hongwu nine years ago, and the epitaph used the title of "former gentleman" when referring to Shen Wansan, which is enough to prove that Shen Wansan died in Hongwu nine years ago.

It is also mentioned in the epitaph that when Shen Rong was in charge of family affairs, the Jishantang was built to "inherit the ambition of the husband", that is, to inherit the legacy of the ancestors as a souvenir. "The first ambition" undoubtedly means that Shen Wansan is dead. Shen Jia Ji Shan Tang was built at the end of Yuan Dynasty, which means that Shen Wansan died before Shen Rong built Ji Shan Tang, that is, at the end of Yuan Dynasty.

So the conclusion naturally comes out: since one of Shen Wansan's sons, Shen Rong, was born in 1306, it can be inferred that Shen Wansan was born around 1286; According to Mo Dan's records and Shen Rong's epitaph, it can be inferred that Shen Wansan died before the demise of the Yuan Dynasty. On the whole, Shen Wansan lived for about 60 or 70 years.

In other words, life is a Yuan Dynasty person, and death is a Yuan Dynasty ghost. According to legend, Shen Wansan, who was exiled to Yunnan by Zhu Yuanzhang, has never been a subject of Zhu Yuanzhang for a day; I haven't even seen Zhu Yuanzhang, and I don't know which side Zhu Yuanzhang is sacred. It is also very possible.

Shen Wansan made a fortune in the south of the Yangtze River and ruined his family, which happened during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty.

In the sixth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang attacked Suzhou. At that time, Zhang Shicheng was able to stick to Suzhou for as long as August because of the financial support of Suzhou Fumin. As the leader of enriching the people, Shen Wansan certainly contributed. After the destruction of the city, Zhu Yuanzhang hated Suzhou for enriching the people and even the people, and took a series of retaliatory measures. Shen Wansan is a shrewd businessman. Seeing the seriousness of the situation, he could only kiss up to the emperor for peace. First, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to build Nanjing City, and Shen Wansan "helped to build a third of the capital", which is the section from Zhonghua Gate to Shuiximen of Nanjing City Wall today; Later, I simply wanted to strike while the iron was hot and asked the three armies to offer a reward, which caught the clues of the emperor. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious. "A person who ruined the army of the world and messed up people's hearts should be punished." Ma Huanghou was still sober, and felt a little too much, so he advised, "An ominous person will be wiped out with the devil take the hindmost. What is your majesty's punishment! " Shen Wansan saved his life, was sent to Yunnan, and finally died. This is the sixth year of Hongwu.

As the saying goes, "a thin camel is bigger than a horse", Shen Wansan lost more than half of his family's property and was sent to Yunnan, but his family business is still prosperous and his life is still chic. It is because it is too chic that it leads to disaster.

It happened in the last years of Hongwu. Shen Wansan's son-in-law, Gu, was involved in the aquamarine case because he was having an affair with a woman, which led to Shen Jiahe's almost copying her door. This incident is recorded in detail in the Tongli Zhi written by Jiaqing of Qing Dynasty, and it is briefly described as follows: In the Hongwu era, there was a Chen Mou in Tongli Town who gave birth to a son with mental retardation. Mentally retarded married Liang, but she is a beautiful woman who can read and sing. Such a woman with both talent and beauty is of course famous all over the world. At this time, Shen Wansan's adopted son-in-law Gu admired it after hearing about it, and often hired boats to travel between Zhouzhuang Tongli. When the boat arrived in Tongli, it was moored under the window of Liang's bedroom. In the long run, I have seen Liang several times. Gu Muliang's beauty, Liang admired Gu's handsome, but lacked opportunities. Gu bribed local hooligans, lured mentally retarded children and went out to drink and gamble. He also instructed Liang's neighbor, an old woman, to bring novel jewels to Liang and tease him with words. Liang had a good impression on Gu, so he hit it off. Since then, the two have frequently communicated. Children with mental retardation are ignorant. His father is kept in the dark, because he works outside, so he seldom goes home. Only my brother, the retarded uncle, the kitten nicknamed Chen, vaguely heard some wind, but he also suffered from no evidence. This is also in line with the incident: Liang was careless and cut Gu's letter, rolled it into paper and put it under the lampshade. Little puss-head Chen bribed the boy around Liang, stole the paper, repaired it and sent it to the police officer. After Chen Mou saw it, he understood the truth; In addition, Gu's letters are covered with a pine moon seal, which is even more irrefutable. Chen Mou thought, only with such a letter, to the government, may not have what result, lane is bad to will ruin the reputation of the chens. At this time, the aquamarine case happened. Aquamarine is the brother-in-law of Chang Yuchun, the king of Kaiping, who made great contributions to Zhu Yuanzhang's farmland and made him a cool Lord protector. When Jiangshan sat down, Aquamarine was proud of her merits, amassing Zhuang Nu and bullying the people. Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid that the tail would be too big to fail, so he was sentenced to treason. Chen Mou is worried about how to avenge his foolish son. Seeing this situation, it became more and more implicated, so he took the opportunity to falsely accuse Gu of conspiring with Aquamarine. When it comes to the aquamarine case, it is no longer an affair, but an important case at the moment. As a result, not only Gu, his father and brother were killed, but also his wife and a large number of people, including Shen Wansan's son. Liang was also forced by his father to hang himself. This matter didn't subside until the 26th year and 31st year of Hongwu.

From then on, the Shen Wansan family was completely destroyed.

Shen Wansan is so rich that even Zhu Yuanzhang is jealous; However, after suffering three heavy blows from the Zhu Ming dynasty, it declined rapidly. The first attack was in the sixth year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (AD 1373). According to Zhouzhuang Town Records and Shi Ming Ma Hou Biography, during the Hongwu period, Shen Xiuzhe, who enriched the people, helped build a third of the capital and invited him to enlist. The emperor forbearingly said: Everyone should enlist in the army of the world, confusing people's hearts and punishing them appropriately. After remonstrating, he said: the ominous person is punished by heaven. Why should your majesty punish him? It's Shi Xiu. He's in Yunnan. "

Besides Shen Wansan being exiled to Guizhou, his second son-in-law Yu Shishe was also exiled to Chaozhou. Prior to this, Shen Wansan built the wall from Hongwumen to Shuiximen. He also contributed 2,000 ingots of platinum, 200 Jin of gold and 0/0 person of Jiatu/KLOC. Ten chariots and horses, building Nanjing corridor, restaurants and so on. This blow not only made Shenyang lose Shen Wansan's head; Moreover, the wealth has also been reduced by more than half, which can be described as both human and financial. Moreover, when Shen Wansan was arrested at that time, there were many collective punishments in Zhouzhuang Town, and it was said that all the residents of Zhouzhuang were punished. Fortunately, Xu Min, a townsman, didn't escape the axe, so he went to the capital: only in this way did he save the whole Zhouzhuang town. The second blow was in the 19th year of Ming Hongwu (A.D. 1386), and in the spring of the 19th year of Hongwu, "My brother went to Qiu Guan as a domestic servant, and when he died, Bosch also gave him the imperial capital, so that he was suitable to be in prison with his brother" (Volume III of Zhouzhuang Town Records). This time, two sons of Shen Wansan's son and Shen Zhuang (Bo) were jailed for land tax. That year, Bo Xi died in prison and was later buried in Zhouzhuang Xing Village. In this way, the inheritance of Shenyang has been fundamentally shaken.

The third attack was in the thirty-first year of Hongwu (AD 1398). "Play Wen Xue and Aquamarine conspiring to capture Yan Xun, implicating his wife and daughter and their seventy-two enemies." "In February of the thirty-first year of Hongwu, the Hulan Party was responsible, and even 3,000 great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren were all six, and their families died on the same day." ("Zhouzhuang Town Records" Volume 6 Miscellaneous Notes), this time Shen Wansan's son-in-law Gu and Shen were six, and nearly 80 people were all killed. Shen Wansan's huge family business, which was painstakingly managed, declined sharply. "Shen Wansan's family is in Zhouzhuang, and the dilapidated house is still there. It's not very stylish." The Shenyang family suffered such a heavy blow three times and could only be ruined.

In this way, Shen Wansan, known as the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River, declined from prosperity to decline, but after all, he is a figure worthy of study and reference, and his remains in Zhouzhuang are also deeply interested by Chinese and foreign tourists, experts and scholars.