Top Red Capital Merchant Works Series by Gao Yang

Author: Gao Yang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-07-01
Features: During the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty, the Jiangnan region fell into war. Hangzhou merchant Hu Xueyan seized the opportunity, befriended powerful figures like Zuo Zongtang, and navigated skillfully between officials, merchants, the Han and non-Han communities, and the underworld. He rapidly rose to prominence in commerce, finance, and foreign trade, becoming a. The characteristics of Hu Xueyan's conduct in affairs were marked by emphasis on interpersonal relationships, a traditional Chinese merchant's principle of business. This was both the reason for his swift rise and the root of his tragic downfall. His two cunning adaptations during the war earned Hu Xueyan the favor of Zuo Zongtang, who he then aligned himself with. While supplying Zuo's army with grain, Hu also used official funds to establish a private money exchange in Shanghai. Later, he monopolized the business of purchasing foreign weapons and ammunition for Zuo and raised funds for the in Fujian, where Zuo planned to build a shipyard. Hu then pioneered foreign debt financing. His support for Zuo's military affairs caught the attention of Empress Dowager Cixi, who enfeoffed him as the general tax agent of four provinces, later bestowed upon him the Yellow Mandarin Jacket, and granted him a first-rank rank, making him the only "red-topped" merchant in Chinese history. From then on, Hu Xueyan, leveraging his exceptional business acumen, established "Fukang" money exchange branches across the country and founded the "Hu Qingyu Tang" herbal medicine shop in Hangzhou, his empire flourishing like the midday sun. To break the monopoly of foreign merchants, he also set up a domestic silk reeling factory, forcing the greedy British merchants to turn to Li Hongzhang, who had long been a political rival of Zuo Zongtang. Through Li's behind-the-scenes machinations, Hu Xueyan had his "red top" stripped away, and his nearly 30 million taels of silver fortune vanished overnight, leaving behind only a lone, once-great commercial genius.