In 1900, when the Eight-Power Alliance invaded China began, Cixi fled with the Guangxu Emperor canghuang, and even had no time to clean up his belongings, and called it "Western Hunting".
There are countless rumors about the "hard days" between Cixi and Guangxu on the way to the west, such as Guangxu's inability to cover the bed quilt during the escape, or Li Lianying's quick embrace of his quilt to the Guangxu Emperor; for example, Cixi was locked outside the city gate and not allowed to enter, and later in the small county town even bowls of millet porridge were particularly sweet.
The rumors are true or false, but the only thing that is certain is that Cixi and his party did not have a good time on the way to escape, and even repeatedly needed the help of local rich merchants. Cixi's route was all the way west, passing through Shanxi and Shaanxi, and what were these places most famous in the Qing Dynasty? It's a businessman.
During the Qing Dynasty, the Jin merchants were famous, Presumably everyone knows, known as "a pearl of northern residential architecture", the Qiao family compound, is the Qing Dynasty Jin merchant Qiao family's mansion, Cixi Xi hunted here, but also rested in the Qiao family compound, took the Qiao family 100,000 taels of silver, and gave the Qiao family a plaque with the words "Fu Seed Lang Huan", which is still hanging on the main gate of the Qiao family compound.
In addition to the Qiao family, Cixi also gave a plaque on the way to the west hunt, which read "Lady protector" 4 big characters, the same 100,000 taels of silver in exchange, the person who got the plaque was adopted by Cixi as a righteous daughter, and Cixi's mother and daughter zhou Ying, who was the only businesswoman who made her business rich and invincible.
Zhou Ying was born in Sanyuan County, Shaanxi Province, the original family conditions are not particularly bad, but there is nothing very outstanding, somehow cultivated Zhou Ying, a smart and clever female doll since childhood. Zhou Ying gradually grew up, and because of her fierce wrists, she spread her reputation and was favored by the Wu family in Jingyang An Wu Fort.
For the merchants who were at the lowest end of the "scholar, peasant, industrial and commercial" class in feudal society, it was not important what they came from, what was important was the character of a person, so Zhou Ying was able to marry into the Wu family. Unexpectedly, not long after Zhou Ying gave Wu Ying the young master of the Wu family, Wu Ping and his father, that is, the principal of the Wu family, died one after another, and the others immediately began to divide the Wu family's property after receiving the news, and the great Wu family almost fell.
At the critical moment, Zhou Ying stood up, on the one hand, to regain the salt merchant business and did not lose the "old book"; on the other hand, she kept up with the trend of the times and actively expanded the most popular business at that time, such as silk, tea, cotton, and medicinal materials. Zhou Ying does not have too many other cheats for doing business, just one word, sincerity. The silk she ordered was predetermined first, and the price was never undercut; Zhou Ying gave money to give pain, and the silkworm keepers naturally worked hard.
Under the operation of Zhou Ying, the Wu family, which had begun to decline, was revitalized and became the richest family in Shaanxi, and Zhou Ying herself became the only female richest woman in Shaanxi at the end of the Qing Dynasty, before she had the opportunity to receive Cixi and obtained cixi's "protective umbrella" by donating silver.
After Cixi returned to the palace in 1902, when she was worried about the large amount of indemnities in the Xinugu Treaty, Zhou Ying once again generously donated a large amount of money, and was gratefully named a lady of the Yipin Commandment by Cixi. It should be known that this is a special honor that can only be obtained by the female dependents of a minister, and it can be said that it is the highest reward that a woman can get except for those who enter the palace or marry the clan (except for the status of the county lord).
In the late Qing Dynasty, the world was not peaceful, but Zhou Ying won the unanimous praise of the people and those in power through the construction of water conservancy, Daxing education, disaster relief and rescue, donation of military salaries and other good deeds, so she saved the great Wu family and enjoyed her old age in peace. Zhou Ying's deeds have also been recorded in the county records of Jingyang and Sanyuan counties, and have been passed down to this day.