"There are three rich merchants in the world, one of which is two Huai salt merchants, the second is the Shanshan merchants, and the third is the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou." This is the impression of people during the Qing Dynasty, and it is in this impression that we see a special organization - the Thirteen Elements of Guangzhou.
Perhaps many people do not know much about this special organization, but only know that the textbook emphasizes Jin merchants and Hui merchants, as well as salt gang dealers. But in fact, the real rich merchants of the Qing Dynasty could not surpass the thirteen lines of Guangzhou.
This group of merchants not only had huge wealth, but also once controlled the finances of the Qing Empire. To put it bluntly, this is the emperor's money bag, and the money is as much as the mountains and the sea.
And it is worth noting that the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou are not only the richest group of merchants, but also bear the last commercial trade port, which is the only trade channel of the Qing Empire since the closure of the country, and it can be said that it had an unimaginable position in that year.
So, how did the "Thirteen Elements of Guangzhou", which was rich and invincible in the Qing Dynasty, evolve? How rich is it?
The rise of the thirteen elements
According to historical records, since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, foreign trade has been very prosperous, especially during the period when Zheng He went to the West, many coastal cities have established many guild halls and trade ports, which were once also the meetings of all nations, and many merchants came and went between the treaty ports.
Unfortunately, Zheng He's voyage to the West became history, and the Qing Dynasty soon arrived. But don't misunderstand, the Qing Dynasty also implemented the policy of opening up sea trade in the early years.
For example, during the Kangxi Dynasty, the Kangxi Emperor not only accepted the Cinchona Cream and foreign priests, but also established the earliest official foreign trade group in 1685, which was the Thirteen Elements of Guangzhou.
According to records, at that time, the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou were franchised foreign goods companies, and generally speaking, this organization was half-official and half-commercial, and had a very strong monopoly nature.
Moreover, at that time, the emperor had a rule that all merchants who wanted to enter the thirteen lines had to go through layers of examination. The first criterion is that one must have a very solid wealth, and its purpose is to ensure the credibility of the merchants of the thirteen lines and avoid opportunism.
However, the status of the Thirteen Lines of that year was not yet prominent, although it was very wealthy, it was still inferior to the Merchants of Shanshan and the Two Huai Salt Merchants, after all, there was not only one treaty port at that time.
However, during the Qianlong period, especially in 1757, the Qianlong Emperor abolished all coastal passes and only retained only guangdong and Guangdong customs for foreign trade. It was also from this period that the Thirteen Lines of Guangdong became the only legal foreign trade special zone of the Qing Empire, and it also became the only window of communication between the Qing Dynasty and the Western world.
Unexpectedly, from the original many ports to the only port, then the status of the thirteen lines of Guangdong suddenly soared, not only the emperor began to attach importance to this area, but also gave various privileges to the merchants in this area. Moreover, the foreigners who came to trade in this area also regarded the merchants of the thirteen lines as their ancestors, and gave them as much benefit as possible, hoping to obtain more trade qualifications.
The prosperity of the second and thirteenth lines
In Mr. Lu Simian's "Modern History of China", it is recorded that foreign ships gathered at the port of Guangdong, merchants and envoys came and went endlessly, and the handicrafts, souvenirs and industrial products from the West were unloaded and traded in thirteen lines, and then continuously transported to the inland.
It is said that every transaction has allowed the merchants of the Thirteen Lines of Guangdong to obtain huge profits. There is even a saying that 50% of all transaction amounts go to the central government and 50% to the local government. It can be seen how rich the Thirteen Elements of Guangdong are, and the thickness of its oil and water even exceeds that of Hubu Shangshu.
According to the records of the Qing Palace, in 1754, according to the statistics of the thirteen lines of Guangdong, there were 27 visitors to foreigner ships, and the amount of tax and silver was only 520,000 taels. By 1790, the number of foreigner ships had increased to 83, and the tax and silver had reached 1.1 million taels. By the eve of the Opium War, the number of ships had exceeded the limit, reaching 200, and the amount of tax and silver had exceeded 1.8 million.
With such a huge trading volume, Guangdong Thirteen Lines is therefore known as the richest imperial business group. Moreover, the Qing Palace archives record that the expenses of the imperial palace are directly related to the thirteen elements of Guangdong, and even left such a poem, "Jinshan Zhuhai, Tianzi Nanku." "The Thirteen Elements of Guangdong have become the money bag of Tianzi.
The contribution of the thirteen elements
According to historical records, the thirteen lines of Guangdong provide taxes to the government every year, and the amount paid is more than one million, and of this million of taxes and silver, there are a total of six hundred thousand, which is dedicated to the royal family's expenses, which also corresponds to the royal money bag.
In addition, the Thirteen Lines will lose no time in providing funds to the central government whenever the military state is important, and people at the time call it the imperial blood bag. According to records, in 1787, during the Battle of Lin Shuang in Taiwan, the 13th March of Guangdong needed 300,000 troops. Later, from 1788 to 1820, regarding the emperor's longevity celebration, as well as the Sichuan-Shaanxi bandits, the Henan bandits, including the names of the Henan Project, the Guangdong Thirteen Elements donated a total of 3.5 million yuan in silver.
In addition, the Guangdong Thirteen Lines have more clear accounts, and every year Guangdong merchants make additional donations to the government in the name of various public welfare undertakings, and the amount exceeds 100,000 yuan every year.
Judging from the above data, the Thirteen Lines of Guangdong have made a lot of contributions, providing their own contributions to the war of the empire, the emperor's expenses, and even the disaster relief of the common people. Of course, the royal family has also given a very rich gift to this, according to records, the two giants of the Guangdong Thirteen Elements, the Pan family and the Wu family, have been given three pins by the central government, and the family members have been given many political gifts.
Another example is Liang Jingguo, who rose in the late Thirteenth Line, who was even honored with the title of Doctor of Tongfeng and the honor of Guanglu Doctor. According to records, these positions are all high-ranking official honors from Erpin and Zhengyipin, which have long been broken, and merchants are not allowed to engage in politics and merchants are not allowed to wear the ancestral family law.
The Guangdong Thirteen Lines should be a rare big businessman who breaks the political rules with economic strength, and its strength can be seen. As recorded by the parties concerned, the Thirteen Lines of Guangdong became a wealthy and expensive official and merchant who reached the imperial court, which can be described as brilliant for a while.
Fourth, helpless decay
At the time of the relative independence of the Qing Empire, the Thirteen Elements of Guangdong could be said to be superior in status and strength, but unfortunately, as Mr. Lu Simian said, China suffered unprecedented changes in a thousand years, so all the patterns have undergone fundamental changes. Because of the anti-smoking campaign, the Opium War was forced to break out, the Qing Empire was defeated, and the Treaty of Nanjing was signed.
The Treaty of Nanking clearly stipulates that all British merchants and other traders who go to various countries will be at their disposal, no matter what kind of merchants they trade with. It is precisely because of this regulation that the privileges of the Thirteen Lines of Guangdong have been lost since then, and with the opening of more treaty ports, the Thirteen Lines of Guangdong have slowly disappeared in the long river of history.
With the demise of this organization, soon, the tariffs of the Qing Empire were controlled by foreigners, and from then on, the Qing Empire could no longer dominate its own economic destiny, and could only helplessly fall into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal state. Even the later Constitution of the late Qing Dynasty was still tied up, and Empress Dowager Cixi could only be humiliated and enslaved in front of the Western ministers and wives for development. This change can be described as a sigh of relief.
epilogue
Looking back at the history of the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou, in fact, we see not only the changes of a commercial bank, but also the changes in the foreign trade of the Qing Empire. Once the Qing Empire was very powerful and also received huge trade revenues, but with the closed country and the rise of Western powers, the Great Qin Empire has completely lagged behind others financially.
If the Kangxi dynasty continued to continue, and the Qianlong Emperor did not close the country, perhaps the trade of that year would cause some losses to our country, but in the long run, as long as there is exchange, the Qing Empire will never be so far behind.
Unfortunately, history is always complicated and unexpected. All the authorities could not see through the future, let alone the Qianlong Emperor, so the history of that year was very painful, but also very helpless. We cannot change the past, we must remember the lessons of history, and we must not repeat the mistakes of the past in the future.
bibliography:
General History of China
Modern Chinese History
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