Narrating Old Yinchuan (26): Xinhua Street, formerly known as the eight famous people in Liu Shu Lane.

Text/Tang Zhijun In the old society, Yinchuan's "Eight Masters of Shanxi Merchants" were mostly located in Liu Shu Lane. During the heyday of the Qing Dynasty (Yongzheng period), the population of Yinchuan reached more than 65,438+10,000, and the market prosperity far exceeded that of Lanzhou and Xining. There are more than 800 private firms in old Yinchuan, with an annual trade volume of more than 30 million taels of silver. Among them, the "Eight Masters of Shanxi Merchants" around Liu Shu Lane is the most famous in the northwest. In the late Tongzhi period of Qing Dynasty, the old commercial town of Yinchuan declined. In the early years of the Republic of China, the eight Shanxi merchants' businesses in Liu Shu Lane of old Yinchuan recovered slightly, and gradually formed the modern capitalist private businesses in old Yinchuan, represented by "eight Shanxi merchants" such as Jingyitai, Tianchengxi, Longtaiyu, Heshengheng, Baichuanhui, Guangfa Long, Fuxin Store and Yongshengfu. Eight merchants mainly purchase goods from Shanxi Province, and the goods are home-made goods such as homespun, earthen thread, matches, iron pots and shovels produced by manual workshops and household handicrafts, accounting for more than 70% of all purchases; There are also fine cloth, candles, "Lihua" brand soap, nails, iron wires, enamel pots, socks, bicycles and wall clocks imported from Tianjin, 50 cigarettes packed with batteries produced by British American Tobacco Company, and brand-name cigarettes such as hard cigarettes, single-handed cigarettes, old cigarettes and red tin packets, accounting for about 30% of the total purchase. These goods are distributed by eight big companies in Liu Shu Lane. When the business of "Eight Masters of Shanxi Merchants" is booming, the annual income of each family can reach 500,000-200,000 silver dollars, and its sales mode is mainly retail in the late Qing Dynasty and wholesale after the Republic of China. "Eight Masters of Shanxi Merchants" are also engaged in purchasing business. Eight great masters sent special personnel to purchase Ningxia native products such as wool, medlar, licorice and Nostoc flagelliforme in Zhongning, Pingluo, Tongxin and Alashan Banner in Ningxia, and then transported them to Tianjin Huiyuanlong warehouse for sale to businessmen from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao and Tianjin foreign firm. According to statistics, as many as 6.5438+0.75 million pieces of foreign cloth are brought in every year, and about 500,000 boxes of various soaps are brought in. Except 20% ~ 30% of these imported goods are sold in Yinchuan, most of them are transported to Lanzhou, Xi, Xining and other places. These goods are transported in and out of the Yellow River basin between Baotou and Yinchuan by more than 40,000 humped camels and dozens of merchant ships. Therefore, Yinchuan has become a gateway to northwest trade, a commercial city and a consumer city. It's really that merchants are stuck in traffic jams, horses and chariots are constantly flowing, wholesale in different places, and prosperity for a while, which makes the occluded old Yinchuan town and other provinces have commodity transactions, and the purchase and sale are booming and prosperous for a while. Willow Lane has also become the first choice commercial street for Yinchuan people to shop in the past. After the old photo of Old Xinhua Street in Yinchuan 1934, the bureaucratic capital ruling group headed by Ma Hongkui opened the largest government-run Funing Company in Yinchuan. Under the monopoly of Majia bureaucratic capital ruling group, the "Eight Masters of Shanxi Merchants" were gradually deprived of the right to operate Ningxia native products in the subsequent business activities, and the channels for purchasing goods from other provinces and cities were also cut off. The excessive issuance of legal tender by the people made the currency in circulation depreciate rapidly, which led to the decline of private business in old Yinchuan. By 1948, Yongshengfu, Fuxin Store, Heshengheng, Longtaiyu and Guangfa Long, the "eight major merchants in Shanxi", all went bankrupt one after another, and the only three remaining Jingyitai, Tiancheng West and Baichuanhui were dying, and the business of small and medium-sized merchants was depressed. By 1949, on the eve of Yinchuan's liberation, almost all private businesses in Yinchuan, which were marked by the original "eight outstanding Shanxi merchants", closed down, and some small and medium-sized private businesses had moved out, making it difficult for survivors to maintain. Xinhua Street of Chueh-min Society has its own Yinchuan City, with many merchants and shops. In Ningxia, it is known as "Wangfujing" and also as "an inch of land and gold". Xinhua Street before liberation, starting from Xinhua Hotel at the intersection of Zhongshan South Street in the east and reaching golden phoenix Cinema in the west (Shanxi Sanjin Guild Hall was the earliest), was the most prosperous prime location in Ningxia Fucheng at that time. In the 1930s and 1940s, there was a Shaanxi Opera Theatre in Xinhua Street called "Juemin Society". In the former Yinchuan Theater, famous actors include Yang Juemin, Zhao Shouzhong, Wang Gengbin, Liu and others. The theater can accommodate 1000 people, singing during the day and singing at night, and the venue is full. In the past, people's amateur cultural life was monotonous, and their entertainment activities were mainly listening to Shaanxi opera. Therefore, people who love Shaanxi opera, whether they are city people or country people, will come to Xinhua Street every time they go to the market. Therefore, Xinhua Street is full of popularity, and people from south to north are bustling. Vendors from all walks of life have also spotted this prime location and set up stalls in the open space of the former Dongfanghong Cinema on Xinhua Street. Gradually formed a grocery market, some selling small department stores, needles and brains, some selling small non-staple food, foreign sugar, melon seeds, cakes and cigarettes, shouting constantly. There are ordinary people, dignitaries, wealthy businessmen and farmers who do business in the city. They bought a few ounces of sugar and melon seeds and walked into the theater of the "Chueh-min Society". They ate and watched, very happy. In 1950s, Yinchuan People's Cinema and Cash Phoenix Cinema were located in "Yellow Crane Tower" and "Tongfuju" on Xinhua Street, which were the two largest restaurants in Yinchuan at that time. These two restaurants are often brightly lit and hold weddings. Military and political personnel and local wealthy businessmen are frequent visitors here, and wedding banquets for the rich and the rich are often held here. Generally, poor people don't patronize these restaurants, just passing by to smell the fragrance. The Yisheng Soy Sauce Garden, Dazhong Soy Sauce Garden and Shengli Soy Sauce Garden in Xinhua Street are quite famous. In the past, people's living standards were low and there were few varieties of vegetables. Most people eat pickles and pickles, which makes these sauce gardens prosperous all year round and earn a lot of money. Eight Shanxi merchants' time-honored brands such as "Dragon" and "Tiancheng West" specialize in cloth in Xinhua Street. They brought colorful cloth and silk from Beiping, Tianjin, Xi 'an and other areas by carriage, which enriched the cloth market in Yinchuan, improved the coarse and homespun clothes worn by Yinchuan people for many years, and opened the eyes of Yinchuan people who were closed to the outside world. Tianbao Building specializes in jewelry, gold and silver jewelry, and is frequented by dignitaries and wealthy businessmen. It is the earliest jewelry store in Yinchuan. Wansheng Sample specializes in medicinal materials and medicines. Licorice dug by farmers in the mountains can be exchanged for several copper coins in pharmacies. People in the city are sick, so you can buy the medicine you need here. In the 1960s, there was a famous "Pingkangli" (now Xinhua Shopping Center) near Xinhua Street in Shanhewan on the left side of the Drum Tower, which was the "red light district" of old Yinchuan City. Most of them are trafficked local poor women and foreign women, which is where people with low consumption level have sex. In a residential compound in the east of Xinhua Building, there is also a brothel with elegant environment and high grade. Most of the people here are good at piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, rap and recreation. Most of them are foreigners, good-looking and in good shape, and they have to run the flesh business in order to survive. And become entertainment places for some wealthy businessmen and military and political personnel. Xinhua Street (in Xinhua Building) also has the Taoist view of "seven truths". According to legend, there were seven Taoist real people practicing here, including a jurchen, which attracted many female believers to burn incense and kowtow. Whenever the temple fair comes, Xinhua Street is full of excitement and incense. This is a Han temple. Behind the former Yinchuan Theatre, there is a * * * * Xinhua Temple. Every * * * festival, * * * crowds surge, and they all come to chant scriptures to celebrate. There was the largest people's hospital in Ningxia Province and the parking lot of Ningxia Automobile Transportation Company in the south of Xinhua Street, where cars from south to north changed, stopped and started. It is also a vegetable market. Every day, farmers who go to town buy and sell fresh vegetables and fruits here, and most residents in Yinchuan buy food here. The author of the article about Xinhua Vegetable Market in 1990s was a senior media person in Ningxia.