He was a disciple of Li Hongzhang and was known to posterity as the "Father of Chinese Industry" and the "Father of China's Higher Education". Created 11 "firsts" in China. Keen to invest in industry, involved in more than 30 industry sectors, and is the first to propose the establishment of domestic higher education institutions. He was Sheng Xuanhuai, a red-top merchant of the same period as Hu Xueyan.
Speaking of Sheng Xuanhuai, this person's experience is quite legendary. In 1844, Sheng Xuanhuai was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. In the early years, the family was not rich, so they developed the characteristics of being eager to learn and work hard from an early age. In 1867, Sheng Xuanhuai took the township examination for the first time, but his results were not good enough. After a few years of travel, because his father also served in the Qing government and had a good relationship with Li Hongzhang, he joined Li Hongzhang in 1870, when he was 26 years old. In the first year of following Li Hongzhang's work, Sheng Xuanhuai worked hard and was not afraid of hardship, and was soon appreciated by Li Hongzhang. The following year, he was promoted to a position equal to that of the prefect. Li Hongzhang even treated Sheng Xuanhuai as a secretary, carrying him everywhere he went, as if he were Sheng Xuanhuai's godfather.
At this time, the domestic political situation was turbulent, and the Qing government, at the suggestion of a group of ministers, launched a foreign affairs movement to seek industrial power. And the foreign affairs movement meant that the wind outlet had come to Sheng Xuanhuai. With the help of Li Hongzhang's promotion, Sheng Xuanhuai has been involved in many industries to form a monopoly operation, and wealth has also accumulated rapidly. According to statistics, Sheng Xuanhuai's value is as high as 15 million taels, which is converted into 15 billion yuan.
Sheng Xuanhuai's highest honor was riding a horse in the Forbidden City. Among ancient merchants, this was an unworthy honor. The first time Sheng Xuanhuai made a lot of money was shipping. In 1872, Sheng Xuanhuai gave Li Hongzhang the idea to use the money earned from the construction of merchant ships to build warships. Li Hongzhang adopted Sheng Xuanhuai's suggestion and established the Shipping Steamship Merchants Bureau, the first shipbuilding enterprise in Chinese history was born. A year later, it was officially opened, and many of its affairs were managed by Sheng Xuanhuai. During the time in charge of the steamship investment bureau, Sheng Xuanhuai gradually let Sheng Xuanhuai find out the doorway of shipping, and 15 years later set up his own shipping company in Yantai. The business scope has been expanded to the coast of Shandong, and a new route from Yantai to Lushun has also been opened.
In 1879, Sheng Xuanhuai aimed at the telegraph business and immediately proposed to Li Hongzhang to establish a telegraph bureau. The following year, China's first telegraph office, the Tianjin Telegraph Bureau, opened. At that time, telegraph services were established in Shanghai, Guangdong, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen and other places. In 1892, he supervised the textile industry in Shanghai, and two years later established the Huasheng Textile General Factory to control the textile industry.
In 1898, pingxiang coal mine was established, in 1902 China Exploration and Mineral General Company was established, and in 1908, it merged with Hanyang Iron Works and Daye Iron Ore to form Hanyeping Coal and Iron Factory ore Company. Because Japanese funds were not introduced, they eventually lost control. In 1897, the first bank was opened in Shanghai, the Commerce and Commerce Bank of China.
It is not difficult to see that Sheng Xuanhuai's fortune has a lot to do with Li Hongzhang, and he has tacitly approved and supported Li Hongzhang. And such a red-top businessman is particularly concerned about the mainland's higher education, which must start from the Sino-Japanese War. After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Sheng Xuanhuai realized that the foundation of a strong country lies in talents. In 1895, guangxu was played in conjunction with all directions, and finally Beiyang University, the first new school in Chinese history, was established. It is the predecessor of Tianjin University and the first government-run university in modern China. In running the school, he advocated that "the middle school is the body, and the Western learning is the use", and hired a large number of foreign teachers. A year later, Nanyang College was founded, which is now the predecessor of Xi'an Jiaotong University and Shanghai Jiaotong University. At the same time, the Aviation Administration Department and the "Railway Class" were set up in the school to train officials for the Qing government.
Speaking of the founding of the Shanghai Red Cross, it has something to do with his experiences as a young man. In 1871, his father purchased a large amount of relief materials and sent Sheng Xuanhuai to the disaster area. This was his first exposure to welfare relief activities. In the days when he followed Li Hongzhang, he was often sent to undertake the heavy task of disaster relief. In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War caused a large number of civilians to be displaced, and in order to rescue the people in the war zone, Sheng Xuanhuai joined forces with all parties to actively establish the "Shanghai Red Cross Society of All Nations" to help the people in need. In the time since, Sheng Xuanhuai has also actively participated in charity.
And the walk down from the altar also began in 1900. In order to oppose the Qing government's support for the Boxers and suppress the telegrams sent by the Qing government to various localities, the local governors signed the "Southeast Mutual Protection Treaty" in this context. This treaty led directly to the separation of local and central governments. This directly became the fuse for the division of warlords. As early as 1874, Sheng Xuanhuai's participation in the negotiations for 285,000 taels of compensation for the face of the Qing government in the case of private railway construction was criticized. In 1911, Sheng Xuanhuai became a minister of the "cabinet" and proposed to nationalize the railway. It directly led to the "Sichuan Baolu Movement" and sounded the clarion call of the Wuchang Uprising. He also withdrew from the stage of history and will never be reused.
Sheng Xuanhuai reflected on his life in his later years and said: "In the history of later generations, it is enough to attach his name to Li Hongzhang' back, which is enough to comfort his life." Although later generations praised him, Mr. Lu Xun directly called him "a traitor, a bureaucratic capitalist, and a local tycoon and a squire." ”
Speaking of the struggle with Hu Xueyan, it is also because of the discord in their respective thighs. There were also many business conflicts in their respective operations in the future. Sheng Xuanhuai's goal in attacking Hu Xueyan was clear. Borrowing the 800,000 taels of military funds raised for Zuo Zongtang that year as the foundation, he started from the collection and storage of raw silk and disrupted Hu Xueyan's capital chain. Among them, the upper and lower ventilation, the late payment of compensation to Hu Xueyan by the imperial court, and the bank called for loans. When Fukang Bank ran out of funds, it cashed wildly. Hu Xueyan sent a telegram of help to Zuo Zongtang, but was also detained by Sheng Xuanhuai. As a result, the commercial empire that Hu Xueyan had worked so hard to build collapsed and died in grief.
However, it is ironic that Sheng Xuanhuai saved more than 11.6 million taels of inheritance for his children and grandchildren, and his son who lost his family lost every few years.