People's happiness index has nothing to do with wealth, and this truth is rarely understood in the "money society". However, I believe that after reading the inheritance dispute case of the Sheng family at the beginning of the last century, the ranking will find that sometimes too much money is a burden for family happiness.
Sheng Xuanhuai Han nationality, a native of Wujin County, Changzhou Prefecture, Jiangsu Province. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, xiucai was born, a government-run businessman, a comprador, a representative figure of the Western-style faction, a famous politician, entrepreneur and philanthropist, known as the "father of Chinese industry", "the father of Chinese businessmen", and "the father of China's higher education". The influence is huge, famous at home and abroad, and it will be remembered by future generations.
Sheng Xuanhuai created 11 "China Firsts":
The first civil joint-stock enterprise steamship investment bureau;
The first telegraph office, the General Administration of Telegraphs of China;
The first river steamer company;
The first bank, Commerce and Commerce Bank of China;
The first railway trunk line, the Beijing-Hankou Railway;
The first steel conglomerate, Hanyeping Company;
The first higher normal school Nanyang Public School (now Jiaotong University);
The first mining company;
The first public library;
The first modern university, Beiyang University Hall (today's Tsu University);
Founded the Red Cross Society of China.
In April 1916, a generation of giant Jia Sheng Xuanhuai passed away, although the legend of Sheng Xuanhuai has become a passing cloud, but the huge wealth he left behind caused the property disputes of sheng's children have just begun. On his deathbed, Sheng Xuanhuai left a will on the distribution of property: half of the property should be used to build a righteous village and engage in social charity, and the other half would be distributed to the children of the Sheng family.
However, Sheng Xuanhuai did not expect that only three years after his death, the children of the Sheng family would fight for this property. After Sheng Xuanhuai's death, Mrs. Zhuang divided the estate into ten equal parts according to her last wishes, of which five were used to take care of the Yizhuang and the other five were divided equally among the five houses, and the number of inheritances received by each house was about 1.16 million taels.
Unexpectedly, just after the meeting on the distribution of inheritance was held, some clansmen stood up and expressed their opposition, believing that Mrs. Zhuang's distribution plan was inappropriate. The one who objected was Sheng Yuchang, the eldest grandson of Changfang and the son of Sheng Changyi. Sheng Yu often believed that he was the head of the Yu family and should enjoy the right to distribute. Since the opinions of Sheng Yuchang and Mrs. Zhuang could not be unified, Mrs. Zhuang took Sheng Yuchang to court and requested legal arbitration. Who knew that when the two sides were arguing in the public court, there was a wave of uneven waves.
Lady Zhuang and Sheng Yuchang also caused a dispute over the issue of the seal left by Sheng Xuanhuai. It turned out that when the old lady was alive, she had entrusted her seal to the trusting Gu Watting. After the old lady's death, Lady Zhuang and Li Jingfang distributed the property according to Sheng Xuanhuai's will, and these seals were needed to deal with the issue of creditor's rights, so they asked Gu Watting to hand over the seal. Who knew that before that, Sheng Yu often took the lead in obstructing from it, preemptively finding Gu Watting and asking him to keep the seal and not hand it over.
For Gu Watting, this matter can really be described as a first two big. Sheng Yu was often the eldest grandson of the eight hundred righteous elders, and after the old lady's death, it was reasonable for him to ask himself to refuse to hand over the seal. However, at this time, the nominal ruler of the Sheng family was Lady Zhuang, and she asked for a seal from herself, which was also incriminating. Gu Wating did not dare to offend either Lady Zhuang or Young Master Sheng, which was quite embarrassing. The coordination between the two sides was fruitless, and Mrs. Zhuang simply drafted another petition and sued Sheng Yuchang in court again.
In March of the same year, the court summoned lawyers from both sides, and after a heated debate, the seal was finally entrusted to Li Jingfang. At this point, the issue of the attribution of the stamp has finally come to an end. While the issue of stamps is solved, the bigger conundrum lies ahead of the tribunal. The judge in charge of how to pronounce judgment in the Sheng estate case has no clue at all. The testimony provided by the lawyers of the two sides was inconsistent, and the plaintiff and the defendant did not give in to each other, and it was impossible to reach an agreement. On 15 February of the following year, the court reopened the case.
In this trial, in addition to the lawyers originally hired by Mrs. Zhuang and Sheng Yu, the court also asked the estate supervisor Li Jingfang to testify in court. During this period, lawyers and Li Jingfang of both sides stood up to express their opinions. Li Jingfang requested approval of the estate distribution method drawn up by him, that is, Mrs. Zhuang, Li Jingfang and other members of the board of directors would draw up candidates (Mrs. Zhuang) in accordance with the provisions of Article 24 of the Sheng Family Estate Analysis Measures. This distribution scheme is legally applicable and based on law.
Sheng Yu often opposed the filing of the board of directors, and there was no legal basis for such an act. As for Sheng Yuchang's request to revise the method of dividing production, it should be rejected. Subsequently, the lawyers of all parties once again vigorously debated whether to revise the method of dividing the property and whether Mrs. Zhuang had the power to preside over the division of the property. In the end, the presiding judge rejected Sheng Yuchang's request, and in accordance with Li Jingfang's request, according to the plan in the "Sheng Family Heritage Analysis Measures" formulated in advance, the list of production was divided by Mrs. Zhuang and the board of directors represented by Li Jingfang, and then reviewed after seven days.
Seven days later, the court announced the verdict.
First, the right to vote for the saved shares in sheng's estate is still presided over by Mrs. Zhuang. The requests made by Sheng Yuchang and others to change the inventory of the division of production and oppose the decision of the board of directors were rejected and cancelled.
Second, the board of directors filed by Mrs. Zhuang before took effect and was handled as usual.
At this point, the property dispute case caused by Sheng Xuanhuai's death ended with Madame Zhuang's complete victory. After the court announced the verdict, the Declaration gave a rather optimistic speculation: "From now on, the tide of the Sheng family will come to an end." However, no one expected that this lawsuit was only the beginning of the dispute, and a bigger storm was still waiting for the Sheng family, of course, this is an afterthought.
Resources:
【Sheng Xuanhuai", "A Generation of Officials and Merchants Sheng Xuanhuai"】