Red-roofed merchant -- Gao Yang's works. Hu Xueyan series

Author: Gao Yang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: During the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty, Jiangnan fell into turmoil. Hangzhou merchant Hu Xueyan seized the opportunity, associating with powerful figures like Zuo Zongtang, navigating between officials, merchants, Chinese and foreign communities, and both legitimate and underworld circles. He rapidly rose to prominence in commerce, finance, and foreign trade, becoming a. The defining characteristic of Hu Xueyan's conduct was his emphasis on interpersonal relationships, a traditional Chinese merchant's business principle that was both the reason for his swift rise and the root of his tragic downfall. The "Hu Xueyan Series" is one of Mr. Gao Yang's most renowned works, depicting the legendary story of the late Qing merchant giant, Hu Xueyan, with delicate brushwork.
Twice, Hu Xueyan's clever adaptability during the war earned him the favor of Zuo Zongtang, and he left Zuo's service. While supplying grain for Zuo's army, Hu secretly used official funds to establish private money houses in Shanghai. Later, he monopolized the business of purchasing foreign guns and ammunition for Zuo and raised funds for the in Fujian, which Zuo planned to build. Hu also pioneered foreign debt financing. His support for Zuo's military affairs drew the attention of Empress Dowager Cixi, who enfeoffed him as the Chief Tax Collector for Four Provinces and later bestowed upon him the yellow horse robe and a first-rank official hat, making him the only "red-topped merchant" in Chinese history.
From then on, leveraging his exceptional business acumen, Hu established "Fukang" money houses across the country and founded the "Hu Qingyu Tang" herbal medicine shop in Hangzhou, his business flourishing like the midday sun. To break the monopoly of foreign merchants, he also set up national silk factories, forcing greedy British merchants to seek help from Li Hongzhang, who had long been Zuo's political rival. Through Li's behind-the-scenes scheming, Hu was stripped of his "red top," and his nearly 30 million taels of silver fortune vanished in an instant, leaving the once brilliant commercial genius with nothing but his own solitude.