The Westernization School founded the first national industrial enterprise in China. Right?

The first national industrial enterprise in China was not founded by the Westernization School, but was run by the people. Now it is generally recognized that Jichang Longyuan Silk Weaving Factory was founded by 1872. The founder of Jichanglong Silk Weaving Factory is Chen Qiyuan, an overseas Chinese businessman. Modern enterprises such as Changlong Stranding Factory are different from modern military industry founded by Westernization School: 1 Whether it depends on foreign capital; 1 Whether the product is directly related to the market; The first national industrial enterprise in China was not founded by the Westernization School. The main difference between modern enterprises such as Changlong Silk Reeling Factory and the military industry organized by Westernization School is that the former is a national capitalist enterprise and the latter is a Westernization enterprise, which also brings other differences. For example, modern (national) enterprises aim at making profits and their products enter the market; The military industry of the Westernization School belongs to feudal bureaucratic enterprises, and its products do not enter the market and are controlled by the government. Therefore, whether the product is directly related to the market is also different. However, there are many other aspects in common, such as using machines for production, relying on foreign capital and technology, and the treatment is generally determined by the technical level.

1872, Chen Qiyuan returned to China to set up a machine reeling factory. Because there were no workshops and technicians to make machines in Jiancun and Jiangpu No.1 Division at that time. Later, Chen Liantai was responsible for the modification and installation of the silk reeling machine in the silk reeling factory, and Chen Qiyuan was personally responsible for technical guidance. Later the project was completed at 1873. At the same time, Chen Qiyuan recruited dozens of male and female workers (mostly female workers) in Jiancun and nearby Jishui Village, personally taught these new workers to "imitate the western reeling method", chose a good day, threw cocoons and started work, and named it "Jichanglong", which became the first machine reeling factory operated by national capital in modern China. With the establishment of Changlong Silk Reeling Factory, the earliest batch of modern industrial workers in Nanhai County were born.

Chen Qiyuan (1834- 1903), a native of Jiancun Village, Xiqiao Town, Nanhai District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, was born in an ordinary peasant family, and took two childhood exams in his youth. Chen Qiyuan is studious and knowledgeable, and he knows everything about contending, astronomy and geography. According to legend, he once copied a Kangxi dictionary with 50,000 to 60,000 words on an ordinary paper fan. Most people have to use a magnifying glass if they want to see handwriting and strokes clearly. He is the first modern national industrialist in China, a patriotic overseas Chinese, and the founder of Nanhai Jichanglong Silk Reeling Factory. In addition to developing industry, he also worked hard to write for the benefit of future generations, including one volume of Sericulture and thirteen volumes of Chen Qiyuan's Arithmetic. Chen Qiyuan died on 1903 and was buried in Zhegugang, Xiaotang, Nanhai.

When Chen Qiyuan was a minor, his father died and his family became poor, so he gave up the imperial examination, taught in the village with his second brother Chen, and at the same time took farming as his career. Forced by life, Chen Yuan went to Vietnam to make a living. Three years later, he saved some money and returned to China in 1854, taking Chen Qiyuan to Vietnam, where he engaged in yarn and silk groceries trade. Chen Qiyuan is very savvy. After arriving in Vietnam, I went to Siam (Thailand), Myanmar and other places to inspect machinery and equipment. When he was in Siam, he was very interested in the local use of steam engine reeling. After long-term observation and research, he became familiar with mechanical operation. In particular, I saw the French-style "mechanical silk making, fine products" and sprouted the idea of opening a silk reeling factory. At that time, there were a lot of cocoons in Shunde, Nanhai, Guangdong. However, due to the backward manufacturing method, China raw silk can't compete with foreign silk in the international market. From 65438 to 1960s, during the war between the Qing government and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, as the important raw silk producing areas in China, were severely damaged, and the raw silk output once dropped sharply. At this time, France, Italy and other major raw silk producing areas in western Europe were tortured by a chronic silkworm disease called "microparticle disease", and raw silk production was almost paralyzed. Therefore, raw silk consumers in Europe and America turned to Guangdong, which was not damaged by the war, to buy in large quantities. By 1970s, the development and export of Guangdong native yarn reached its peak. However, European and American silk weavers think that China silk is "impure in quality, inconsistent in sample, uneven in thickness and expensive", and they are in urgent need of raw silk with good quality, and clearly put forward that they are willing to buy factory silk produced by European machines at a higher price. This situation aroused Chen Qiyuan's strong desire to set up a factory in China and revitalize the national silk industry.

1872, Chen Qiyuan sold his property in Guangdong Street, Bank of Vietnam, and returned to his hometown of Jiancun, Nanhai, Guangdong Province to start Jichanglong Silk Reeling Factory. Without government support and foreigners' funds, it is a truly national capital-operated enterprise and the first mechanical silk reeling factory in China.

Chen Qiyuan's hometown is full of cocoons, and local farmers have a tradition of reeling silk, so they can recruit a large number of people. So he imitated Annan's French silk reeling machine and designed and drew two sets of machine drawings himself. All the equipment, including steam boilers, silk reeling carts and silk pots, are made locally, in which the silk carts are made of wood and the silk pots are made of pottery, imitating the "French" silk reeling machine, and personally presiding over the design and manufacture of workshops and equipment, including boilers, steam furnaces, reservoirs, silk reeling machines and cocoon baking rooms. At that time, more than 7,000 taels of silver were invested, of which 4,000 taels were used for plant equipment and 3,000 taels were used as working capital. Due to the limitation of funds, the equipment was rudimentary at that time, and the main engine was a modified old motor of the ship. There is a fire boiler, a cauldron for storing cold water, and there are ten cauldrons with threads, which can accommodate dozens of people to operate, and most of the employees are from neighbors. At the peak, as many as 600 silk reeling workers followed Chimelong. Following Changlong, the eight-hour working system was implemented, and workers could participate in dividends on a quarterly basis, and a corresponding quality management system was established. This management system played an exemplary role for successors and laid the basic pattern of private enterprises at that time.

As for the site selection, Chen Qiyuan not only considered the convenience of raw materials, manpower, trade, information and other factors, but also considered keeping a certain distance from the government and feudal guilds to avoid political risks. But it backfired. Chen Qiyuan's mechanical silk reeling factory was accused of destroying geomantic omen and behaving unethically from the very beginning.

Landlords and gentry, completely ignorant of the factory, destroyed Feng Shui with tall chimneys, and mixed men and women were immoral to hinder the opening of the new factory. Chen Qiyuan successfully avoided confrontation by cooperating with foreigners to manufacture equipment, and built a large-scale steam reeling factory within one year. His greatest improvement on silk reeling technology is to change the cocoon cooking with charcoal fire into that with steam boiler, which makes it possible to industrialize silk reeling production. The high efficiency and high quality of machine reeling provide a favorable factual basis for Chen Qiyuan to gain a firm foothold and convince the villagers.

One year after Changlong was put into production, women workers had savings, some people had the idea of free love, and some people were dissatisfied with feudal arranged marriages. The villagers have long complained about this pair of male and female workers. When they saw that the female workers were "daring", they accused them of being "immoral" and severely punished them by "soaking in pig cages". Chen Qiyuan's chimelong has naturally become the target of public criticism. During this period, Chen Qiyuan invested heavily in public welfare undertakings in his hometown, running schools, running medical care and building water conservancy projects. Thanks to his efforts, Nanhai Jiancun flourished for some time. From 65438 to 0876, due to the bad climate in Europe, the cocoon harvest in Italy, France and other countries was seriously poor, and foreign businessmen rushed to China to purchase raw silk. At that time, the price of silk soared, and Ji Changlong also made a fortune this year. On the other hand, after several years, the skills of women workers in mechanical reeling have matured and the product quality has gradually stabilized. At this time, the society's views on the new silk reeling factory have changed.

Chen Qiyuan is not only an outstanding entrepreneur, but also a pioneer who is open-minded and dares to compete with tradition. As early as when Annan was doing business, he raised funds to build a clean brick house, and asked the medical staff of the International Red Cross to deliver babies for free for indigenous pregnant women who were regarded as ominous. Take the lead in abolishing the bad habit of "chicken rice wine" for the benefit of the village. Rural women in Nanhai and Shunde have a bad habit of living at home after marriage. After three days of marriage, the bride goes back to her mother's house, and only goes back to her husband's house for a day or two on holidays until she gets pregnant. When you are away from home, no matter whether your husband's family is rich or poor, you should hold a banquet for relatives and friends who attended the wedding that year. It's called "chicken rice wine" This is a painful experience for poor families. If they leave home quietly without hosting this banquet, they will be despised and criticized by their neighbors. In view of this, Chen Qiyuan was determined to get rid of this bad habit, so he started from his own family. All the descendants of his father, whether married or not, will not engage in "chicken rice wine" when they leave home. In this way, Chen Qiyuan, who witnessed a wealthy village, did not put chicken and rice wine. From then on, he not only dared not criticize, but also followed suit and changed this bad habit, which often caused poor families a deep headache.