Recently, there are several scenes in the hit drama "When the Stars Shine", Hua Liang mentioned the company he represents in the dialogue with the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau and the Japanese spy: Qixiang Domestic Products Joint Venture Company, which is used to smuggle military supplies, combined with the previous mention that their family belongs to the Kong family, here I have to think of the wife of the Minister of Finance Kong Xiangxi and Chiang Kai-shek's eldest sister, known as the richest woman in the Republic of China - Song Ailing, and the prototype of Qixiang Domestic Products Joint Venture Company should be the Seven Star Company founded by Song Ailing.
The beginning: speculation and adventure
On July 7, 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident, which was bombed indiscriminately by the Japanese army, opened the prelude to the War of Resistance Against Japan. In this land filled with gunpowder, Song Ailing, the founder of Seven Star Company, saw the dawn of business opportunities.
As Kong Xiangxi's wife, Song Ailing is shrewd and capable by nature, and knows the ups and downs of the business sea well. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, she united with Song Ziliang, Chen Xing, Xu Kan and others to establish the Seven Star Company in Shanghai, specializing in speculative businesses such as securities, standard gold, cotton yarn, and flour.
In that turbulent era, the war was ruthless, but business opportunities were everywhere. Seven Star Company has repeatedly set off storms in the trading market, causing the envy of opponents and the criticism of public opinion. However, with the protection of Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Meiling, Seven Star Company was unharmed after all and continued to navigate the turbid market with ease.
It is rumored that in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Song Ailing "made 8 million pounds" in the speculation of arbitrage foreign exchange alone. Her deposits in the Bank of the United States are the first of all the "dignitaries" of the Chongqing government, and she was jokingly called "the money bag of the Chinese" by American journalist Selivan. It can be seen that the Seven Star Company of that year was cunning and shrewd.
Hoarding and brewing chaos: power and money are intertwined
As the war gradually became white-hot, Seven Star Company gradually expanded its territory. In Chongqing, Song Ailing's second daughter, Kong Lingwei, was in charge of Xiangji Company, Guangmaoxing, Jinfengtai and other enterprises, and with the help of the power of wealthy families, they engaged in hoarding, smuggling and selling smuggled goods, and made huge profits.
At the same time, the eldest son, Kong Lingkan, took advantage of the Southwest Transportation Company's control of the "national special transport" privilege to ship smuggled goods and obtain a lot of kickbacks. His ability to "make money in business" was once praised by Kong Xiangxi.
In that era of scarcity of materials, Seven Star Company became the master of the wartime black market by virtue of the political methods behind it, hoarding and speculation. However, the ugly face of the interweaving of power and money has also been exposed in the process.
In 1944, the Punfen US dollar public bond case plunged Chongqing into a boiling of public opinion. Seven Star Company's greedy behavior finally attracted the condemnation of public opinion and the criticism of public opinion. Under pressure, Kong Xiangxi had to be forced to step down and leave the position of finance minister.
Comeback: Regrouping
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, although Kong Xiangxi temporarily left the center of power, the Seven Star Company did not turn off, but regrouped and tried to make a comeback in the new business war.
The Yangzi Company, the Yangtze River Company, and the Jialing Company presided over by Kong Lingwei are all different from the traditional "Xiang Ji" and focus on modern large-scale international trade, mainly focusing on the distribution of American goods. They keep up with the trend of the times and extend their business territory to the national and even overseas markets.
After the war, with the long-term accumulation of contacts and operational experience in the shopping mall, the business of the Seven Star Company series of companies expanded rapidly, and the wealth continued to grow. However, they did not stop there, and scandals came to light one after another.
In 1946, the grain case of the Yangtze River Company and in 1948, the hoarding case of the Yangzi Company, these scandals of illegal business operations aroused strong condemnation in society. The "goodwill" of Seven Star Company was once again questioned, and the former "official voice" also made people look sideways.
In the end, in the smoke of the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the fate of Seven Star Company came to an end.