Baotou Jinshang: People from various prefectures and counties in Shanxi come to Baotou to do business

During the Kangxi dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, There were settled industrialists and traders in Baotou. At that time, most of the merchants who came to Baotou to do business were merchants from the five counties of Erzhou in Shanxi Province, and when they first came, they came in the spring and autumn, mainly to trade with the Mongols "barter". In order to do this kind of business for a long time, they gradually settled down.

First, let's talk about the situation of several grocery stores. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the earliest merchant in Baotou from Dingxiang County, Shanxi Was Liang Ruyue, who when he first came to Baotou, rented a house in the north of Houjie (now Minsheng Street) Road and opened a business name, called Ruyue Drum House, and rented drum cars to residents for business. A few years later, the business was booming, making a lot of money, and then changed to Ruyueshi grocery store, operating all kinds of groceries: tea, cloth, shisha, sugar, etc., and established a "xianghe" relationship with the Mongolian business, establishing a reputation in Baotou.

During the Daoguang years of the Qing Dynasty, the number of employees grew to more than thirty, who were completely Dingxiang people, and people called them the grocery stores of the Dingxiang Gang. It is the longest-standing business in Baotou, with a history of about 200 years. In the eighteenth year of the Republic of China, Baotou suffered from drought, such as the closure of the month.

During the Daoguang years of the Qing Dynasty, Baotou also had a grocery store opened by xinzhou people called Tianheyong. This business name is completely Xinzhou people, the business of goods are all kinds of miscellaneous goods trafficked by the prefectures and counties in Shanxi, because this business has a long period of time, people will call a small alley next to this business name Tianhe Yong Lane. This business was closed in the early years of the Republic of China.

During the Daoguang years of the Qing Dynasty, the Yongshun Heng grocery store opened in Baotou was also opened in Baotou by people from Xinzhou, Shanxi. The Caidong of this business was invested by Yongshunhe investment in Naturalization City (Hohhot), and the Caidong surname of Yongshunhe is a native of Xinzhou, and the manager of the number is a surnamed Zhao from TianheYong, who is also from Xinzhou. This business was "prosperous and prosperous", and the number of employees grew to more than fifty people, all of whom were from Xinzhou. Because the business was done well, some people were later transferred to carry out the business of "traveling to Mongolia". They brought all kinds of groceries from the ministry of the store, such as: tea, cloth, shisha, sugar, etc. to the Wolf Mountain, Ulan brain bags, West Waterway and other places and Mongolian people to exchange livestock, furs, etc., and made a lot of profits. Around the twentieth year of the Republic of China, due to the opinions of insiders, the business was declared closed.

Hengshengyuan grocery store is also a business that comes from Shanxi to Baotou to do business. Hengshengyuan's Caidong was invested by Chang Peiwen of Donghe Village, Shouyang County, Shanxi, and the manager was Liang Mingde, who after Liang Mingde's death, was served by He Yuegong as the manager, and they were all Dingxiang people. The sale was opened during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. Originally a railing on the west side of Caoshi Street Road, a semicolon was later set up on the south of Dongqian Street Road (now Jiefang Road), called South and North Hengshengyuan. They deal in a complete range of goods, and in Baotou is a well-known business. In the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937), the Japanese invaded Baotou and closed their businesses.

Yuan Shun Tai Grocery Store, located in baotou West Front Street Road North (now Shengli Road Yishengshan Goods Estate), was opened during the Tongzhi period, but also xinzhou gang. This grocery store is also a well-known old business in Baotou. Their products were also mainly tea, cloth, raw tobacco, sugar, condiments and other commodities, which were closed around the fifteenth year of the Republic of China due to military disasters.

Deshuncheng grocery store is also operated by people from Xinzhou, Shanxi Province, who come to Baotou. This business name was opened during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, and the address was on the north side of Baotou Houjie (now Minsheng Street) Road, and closed in the early years of the Republic of China.

These six grocery stores are very famous in Baotou. Later, there were Juyuanchang, Yiyuanqing, Dayixi, Qianzengyu and other businesses, all of which were grocery stores operated by Xinzhou and Dingxiang people. However, these six business names are cited because they have the longest history in Baotou and have a good reputation, and people have long organized them into six major businesses: "Yuanshun, Deshun, Tianhe, Yongshun, Ruyue, Hengsheng". There is also a slip of the tongue about the various commodities they deal in, saying that the commodities they operate are "from the cloth and satin of the miscellaneous goods to the iron willow sticks", and everything is available.

Second, let's talk about the situation in which people from Daizhou in Shanxi came to Baotou to run travel and Mongolian businessmen. The earliest person who came to Baotou to run the Lumeng business was Liang Dahan, a native of Daizhou, Shanxi, who came to Baotou to open the Fuyixing Lumeng Business during the Daoguang years of the Qing Dynasty, and directly exchanged materials with the Mongolian people "bartering". Liang Dahan served as the general leader of the "Big Line" in Baotou. (Da Xing is an organization of industry and commerce, and later due to changes in shape, Da Xing was changed to the Chamber of Commerce)

During the light years of the Qing Dynasty, Kong Zhaoming, who came to Baotou from Dai Prefecture, Shanxi Province, led Liu Jiesheng and Cao Sheng from Dai Prefecture, Duan Xiu from Qi County, Zhao Shuanghe from Shouyang, and other four caidongs to open a Dehouyi Travel Mongolian Business In Baotou, first dealing in oil, wine, rice, and noodle land Chen Xing, and later changed to Mongolian merchants who went to Houshan. This business has a history of more than 100 years in Baotou, and it is a very famous fortune maker.

During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Liu Rong, a native of Daizhou, Shanxi, came to Baotou to run the Mongolian business dechunxi. It is a Xinzhou people Lian Yinda investment silver 1,202 opened, with 108 employees. At the same time, there was Dou Bin, a native of Daizhou, Shanxi, who invested 3,000 taels of silver by Sun Qiao, a Daizhou man, and opened a Mongolian business in Baotou, Xinglongxi, and the number of employees grew to more than 80. During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, a shanxi Daizhou people came to Baotou to open a white shop in the back street, called Tongxincheng, which mainly engaged in jewelry, jade, coral, agate and other precious commodities loved by the Mongolian people. So the deal made a fortune within a few years. By the Guangxu years, the number withdrew four thousand taels of silver, with Zhang Sirong as the manager, opening a Concentric West Travel Mongolian business, the business was very prosperous, and the number of employees developed to more than sixty people, who were completely Daizhou people. When they settled their accounts in the early years of the Republic of China, they opened a dividend stock of 8,000 taels of silver.

In the sixth year of the Republic of China, Shanxi Daizhou people came to Baotou to open a Mongolian business name Tianyichang, Caidong is Cao Qingheng, the capital is 2,000 taels, the manager is Yao Zhenji, the deputy manager is Dong Huazeng, a few years later, this transaction makes a lot of money. After Cao Qingheng caidong opened the dividend, he bought a compound in Dingpifang Lane.

These shanxi prefectures and counties to Baotou to operate the travel and Mongolian business numbers only a few large-scale, more profitable businesses, such as Dechun West, Xinglong West, Tongxin West, etc., in the same industry as the travel and Mongolian businessmen are called "three west". These companies have strong funds and make a lot of money, and they are very famous among the businesses in Mongolia.

Third, the characteristics of the industry in which Shanxi people come to Baotou to do business: most of the people in Xinzhou and Dingxiang open grocery stores, and most of the people in Daizhou operate mongolian businesses, that is, they go to the mountains and meadows to do the business of the Mongolian nation. Most of the businesses in Qi County and Taigu are Qianxing, Dangxing, and Rice Noodle Lu Chenxing. Such as Fusheng Gong, Fusheng West, Fusheng Quan, etc., people call it "Compound Character Number". There are also Tonghedian and Guangshun Heng, which are also opened by people from Qixian and Taigu, and people in Baotou call it "Funan Gang". Among them, ma bangyin and Qiao Jinde have served as presidents of the "Chamber of Commerce" in Baotou.

Another characteristic of Shanxi people is that they can bear hardships and stand hard work, conscientiously engage in business, and the business they operate, whether it is a manager or a shopkeeper, lives a very simple life, they often say: "What is saved is earned." In particular, the people of Daizhou, Shanxi, who operated in Mongolia for the longest period of time, opened during the Qing Dynasty and continued until after the Japanese invaded Baotou, because the Mongolian region and Baotou trade routes were interrupted and could not trade, so they closed down.

In the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu, there was a man named Yang Youneng who came to Baotou from Yangyi Village, Taigu County, Shanxi Province, who had five sons, the eldest son was called Yang Shengfu, the fourth son was called Yang Sidian, and the fifth son was called Yang Shengmao, and people called him Yang Laowu. After a few years of windfall, in the Republic of China years, he opened ten major "double" transactions in Baotou, including: Shuangfa Public Fluff Shop, Shuangsheng Yituozhuang, Shuangshuncheng, Shuangshunhe, Shuangshunheng Three Travel Mongolian Businesses, Shuangshengyu Zhuangkou, Shuangshengxiang Jewelry and Jade White Goods Shop, Shuangshengde Boot Shop, and Shuangshengmao Tea House, which has three stores in Baotou. These transactions were all invested and started by Yang Shengmao, because he made a lot of money, by his fourth brother Yang Sidian bought a piece of Liangtou vacant land from the local Mongolians, on the one hand, for the camel village to raise camels, on the other hand, to build houses and sell them to residents to make profits, so people called this Liangtou "Four Shop Liang", which has continued to this day.

The old fifth Yang Shengmao also built more than a dozen compounds in the Xitan area, in addition to living in his own, he also retained households to collect rent, so Yang Shengmao became the richest man in the Xitan area of Baotou at that time.

Source: History of Donghe Literature (Volume 4), November 1986, by Han Huaixin. Huang Xiang (Yin Shan Worm) finished in December 2021