When Cixi fled, Zhou Ying, the richest woman in the late Qing Dynasty, funded her, and what kind of rewards she eventually received
In August 1900, the Eight-Power Alliance invaded Beijing, and Empress Dowager Cixi took the Guangxu Emperor all the way west and fled to Xi'an to take shelter.
In the early days of the escape, the fleeing team was in a terrible state. Noble people like Cixi also had to eat some coarse grains and spend the night in the temple. After a difficult time, Cixi was helped by officials and wealthy merchants from all over the world, and her days of escape became relatively easy.
(Cixi stills)
For officials and rich merchants everywhere, Cixi has always been a legendary figure sitting in the Forbidden City pointing out the country. Now that they have the opportunity to make contact and make friends, they naturally will not miss this opportunity.
For example, the Qiao family, a large merchant in jin, not only gave up the compound to Cixi to live in, but also offered 300,000 taels of silver with both hands. When Cixi left, the Qiao family sent another 100,000 taels of entanglement. Later, Cixi discussed the merits and rewards, and personally wrote a four-character plaque of "Fu Seed Lang Huan" to give to the Qiao family. While the reputation of the Qiao family has been infinitely improved, it has also added a bit of a rich foundation. Such a business can be said to be stable and profitable.
Among the families that received Cixi, the Wu family was a very special one. The head of the Wu family is a woman named Zhou Ying. When Cixi fled, the Wu family honored Cixi with 100,000 taels of silver.
so. What kind of person is Zhou Ying? What kind of return did she get after she funded Cixi?
Zhou Ying was born in Sanyuan County, Shaanxi Province. When she was young, Zhou Ying's family was well-off, so she also had the conditions to learn a lot of knowledge. Later, the Zhou family fell in the middle of the road, and Zhou Ying married into the Wu family of The Wu Family, a large household in Jingyang'an WuBao, when she was more than ten years old, and became the wife of the young master of the Wu Family.
In fact, the purpose of the Wu family to let Zhou Ying enter the door was not simple. Wu Ping suffered from tuberculosis for many years, which could not be cured for a long time. The Wu family let Zhou Ying in the door, in fact, they wanted to borrow the wedding "Chong Xi", but Zhou Ying has been kept in the dark.
Soon after, Zhou Ying's father-in-law died unexpectedly, and Wu Ping died shortly after due to excessive grief, which led to an aggravation of his illness. Zhou Ying knew the truth.
Although she was deceived and became a widow at a young age, Zhou Ying was a well-educated traditional woman after all. Due to the loss of two pillars and the lack of a man in the family to take over, the Wu family's business began to gradually decline. At the moment of crisis, Zhou Ying, as the daughter-in-law of the Wu family, decisively stood up and took over all the business of the Wu family.
(Zhou Ying stills)
The Wu family is a big merchant in the salt business, and Zhou Ying did not understand the doorway at first. But Zhou Ying is a delicate and resourceful person. Since you don't understand it, let the right person do the right thing, and you can learn some experience from it while managing.
Zhou Ying is very accurate in her view of people, she reuses capable talents, and wins the respect of everyone with her decisive style. After the beginning of the difficult period, the Wu family salt merchant business returned to the track, and also opened 7 more semicolons across the country.
The success of the salt merchants allowed Zhou Ying to see more business opportunities. Shortly thereafter, Zhou Ying expanded her business to silk, cotton, cotton, tea and other aspects.
When entering every industry, Zhou Ying always wasted time and forgot to personally formulate a set of the most appropriate plan. For example, in the case of silk, Zhou Ying will sign a subscription contract with the farmer in advance, contract the farmer's mulberry garden, and order raw silk in advance. In this way, the supply and price of silk are well guaranteed.
Under Zhou Ying's correct planning and decisive measures, the Wu family soon became the leading boss in multiple industries and established a huge business empire.
Zhou Ying is also a charitable person. In the Guanzhong area, Zhou Ying repeatedly funded the construction of water conservancy projects, the establishment of educational undertakings, and the construction of a temple of literature.
When there was a famine in the Guanzhong area, Zhou Ying opened her own granary and set up a large number of porridge farms in Jingyang, Chunhua, Sanyuan, Pucheng, and Fuping, successfully relieving a large number of victims. The local people praised her, and even later recorded Zhou Ying's good deeds when they were repairing county records in Jingyang and Sanyuan counties.
(Zhou Ying stills)
When Cixi fled, Zhou Ying sponsored her and received a plaque written by Cixi herself as "Lady Protector of the Country". There is even a folk legend that Cixi adopted Zhou Ying as a righteous daughter, and the two were known as mother and daughter.
Subsequently, the Qing court signed the "Xinugu Treaty", which required a large amount of indemnity, and Zhou Ying donated most of the family property without hesitation, and accompanied the country to the national disaster. Cixi was touched by her behavior and named her "Lady of the One Pint".
Unfortunately, Zhou Ying put all her energy into the Wu family's business development and doing good deeds, and her body soon had problems. Finally, in 1908, Zhou Ying collapsed in a hospital bed due to overwork, and soon passed away, and she was not even 40 years old when she died.
Zhou Ying never remarried in her life and did not leave any children. After her death, the Wu family's family property fell to the adopted son Wu Huaixian. Adhering to Zhou Ying's teachings, Wu Huaixian was generous and charitable throughout his life, and was just bright, especially on the issue of home and country.
On the eve of the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1936, Wu Huaixian donated all the wu family property to the National Government as a military salary for the War of Resistance. In the subsequent wars, Wu Huaixian helped the Japanese army many times, and like his mother, he dedicated the greatest strength to the country.