I don't know if you have heard of the name Sheng Xuanhuai, even if you haven't heard of it, it doesn't matter, "Red Top Merchant" Hu Xueyan should know this person!
And Hu Xueyan was once defeated by Sheng Xuanhuai, in business Sheng Huaixuan is a rare opponent, he is also the late Qing Dynasty, the richest Chinese, he has many firsts, the first bank, the first telegraph office and so on.
The author will not list them one by one, today is not to popularize science, just to tell a small story,
Sheng Xuanhuai was born in a family of officials and eunuchs, and is also a scholarly monk, so it is naturally not necessary to say that his cultural accomplishment is sufficient in education, but perhaps he has little interest in being an official, and his career began with helping Li Hongzhang to run foreign affairs.
Roughly under Li Hongzhang, he did things for five years, and then in the year of Guangxu - Guangxu Twenty-one, during this time began to work independently, during which he did a lot of practical things, handling mining, steelmaking, shipping and other affairs.
In fact, Sheng Xuanhuai was also a red-top businessman, during which he also handled the first university, and was the first university president, and also handled the charity Guangrentang, which is one of the most famous relief families in modern China.
It is said that at that time, Hebei suffered from an exceptionally severe drought, ten rooms and nine empty spaces, the people were displaced, and they were suffering from hunger and severe cold every day, and the situation was very critical. Sheng Xuanhuai took the initiative to contact Wang Chengji, Wu Dacheng, Jing Yuanshan, Zheng Guanying, Li Jinyong and other gentlemen in the south to donate money and grain and establish Guangren Hall.
In history, later generations have mixed praise and criticism of Sheng Xuanhuai; in the eyes of some people, he is a man of ability, courage, and great use; for some people, he is a bureaucratic capitalist, a local tycoon and a squire. But it is undeniable that he did do a lot of things that were beneficial to the people of the country.
Perhaps it is Sheng Xuanhuai, some ideas, behaviors, policies, some reasons that are too advanced, not in line with the environment of the times, such as running ships, telegraphs, banks and other enterprises, and even later put forward the "railway state-owned" policy, etc., a series of actions, have caused controversy among people, and even think that he only wants to seek private interests.
In fact, these things are really difficult to say, everyone has everyone's point of view. As long as you can look at everything rationally and objectively analyze everything, there will be no situation in which people follow the clouds, and there will be no right and wrong.
Although Sheng Xuanhuai's reputation is good and bad, his generosity and equality have been unanimously recognized by posterity. Sheng Xuanhuai not only cares very much for his family, but also treats the maids and maids in the family equally.
Sheng Xuanhuai not only gave superior conditions when recruiting subordinates, but also did not wait until the maids were old and faded like other clans to marry them, but after the marriageable age, they found excellent objects for them.
This may be related to the personality of Sheng Xuanhuai, who and his grandfather both pay more attention to the study of practical problems, do not like to engage in those things that are vain and brainy, and are generous and honest.
Ordinary ordinary maids, Sheng Xuanhuai, when they get married, will give them a sum of money and introduce them to the object, but whether they want to or not is free to choose. And the maids who serve by Sheng Xuanhuai's side will be better for them.
In addition to the above conditions, it will give them a certain degree of cultivation, so that they can already find a better husband. There were six handmaidens who had served Sheng Xuanhuai, two of whom were very famous, one was Lu Baozhen and the other was Ni Guizhen.
Perhaps because of the age, few people now know who they are, but Zhao Yidi, the fourth miss of Zhao Baozhen, and Song Qingling and Song Meiling, who were born to Ni Guizhen, should be known to many people.
Lü Baozhen was not born well, but when she got married, Sheng Xuanhuai married her to her former subordinate Zhao Qinghua. The two have four sons and three daughters, and it is said that when Zhao Yidi was born, near the evening, the sky was refracted by orange and yellow sunlight, leaving a rainbow, so it was also called Zhao Qixia.
Because of her birth, Lu Baozhen can only be a second lady because of her beauty, dignified and virtuous, but her children are very competitive, and when they grow up, they all become talents, and Zhao Yidi still loves Zhang Xueliang, and finally comes together against all odds.
Ni Guizhen was born much better, read books and cultured, and could play the piano well, but when she first became a teacher, she suddenly turned around and joined the Sheng family to serve Sheng Xuanhuai. Originally, Sheng Xuanhuai had already taken a wife and was looking for a good partner, but she refused and married a priest named Song Jiashu.
Ni Guizhen had three sons and three daughters, namely his sons Song Ziliang, Song Ziwen, and Song Zi'an, and his daughters Song Qingling, Song Meiling, and Song Qiling, in fact, the three daughters were collectively known as the "Three Sisters of the Song Family", and they have all become celebrities since then.
The children born to Ni Guizhen are relatively successful, higher than The achievements of Lü Baozhen's children, perhaps this is related to education, because life should start from the doll. And Ni Guizhen is indeed higher than Lu Baozhen in terms of knowledge, coupled with the strict education of children, and when they grow up, they have made achievements in studying in the United States and become outstanding talents in the country.
It is worth mentioning that Ni Guizhen attaches great importance to traditional etiquette, so the requirements for her daughter are particularly strict, and perhaps because of this, her three daughters are married to good families. It can be seen from here that Sheng Xuanhuai really has superiority.
Only the two maids who came out of the Sheng family were intertwined with the two prominent families in the Republic of China period, one was married into the rich, and the other was to create the rich, which was very remarkable.