In 1901, Li Hongzhang, one of the four famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty, died of illness.
Li Hongzhang has 3 sons and 2 daughters. They are li jingfang, Li Jingshu, Li Jingmai, Li Jingpu, and Li Jingxuan. Among these children, Li Jingmai is known for being good at business and managing money. Today we will talk about Li Jingmai.
Born in 1876, Li Jingmai was the third son of Li Hongzhang. After Li Hongzhang's death, his eldest son Li Jingshu inherited the marquisate of Suyi of the first rank, and Li Jingfang and Li Jingmai were each given an official position by the imperial court. At the recommendation of Prince Yili of Qing, Li Jingmai rewarded sanpin jingtang as an alternate and was ordered to enter the capital to meet Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor.
During the visit, Empress Dowager Cixi asked about the situation in Jiangnan. Li Jingmai reported on what he saw and heard along the way, saying that Jiangnan was "full of salt owls, and there were many ambushes and precariousness."
This is the truth. In the same year, Yushi Huang Zhaotao reported to the imperial court, saying: "In the Area of Suchang, Jiangsu, the Salt Owl and the Scattered Courage occupy Taihu Lake as a nest, and loot in all directions. The salt owls were flooded. Even disturb Lu Yan. The imperial court ordered local officials to "conscientiously arrest and punish them in order to calm the localities."
After the visit, Yi Li, the Prince of Qing, summoned Li Jingmai to the palace and gave him a training: "I am a friend of your old man, and you are like my son and nephew." When you enter Beijing this time, I am looking forward to your promotion, not your life. If it goes on like this, you lose your head, don't blame me! ”
When Li Jingmai heard these words, he was frightened enough. He didn't want to be an official and lose his head.
Perhaps because of this, Lee Ching-mai behaved mediocrely in the official arena, except for his time as a minister in Austria between 1905 and 1907.
Li Jingmai is not good at being an official, but he is comfortable in business and financial management.
After Li Hongzhang's death, his family was divided. Because Li Jingmai was born to Li Hongzhang's wife Mo Shi, his status in the family was very low, and he could not even catch up with Li Jingshu's eldest son, Li Guojie. When Li Hongzhang first promoted the foreign affairs movement, he founded a number of modern enterprises such as the General Bureau of Steamship Merchants. In order to solve the problem of shortage of funds for enterprises, Li Hongzhang issued a batch of shares. Li Guojie bullied his uncle and distributed a bunch of stocks that were considered worthless at that time to Li Jingmai.
After Li Jingmai got these stocks, he took good care of them and soon became a valuable "treasure", bringing him a rich income.
Li Jingmai boldly entered the Shanghai real estate market. In 1900, the British Tai Hing Bank Tai Ban built a garden house in Shanghai. Soon, Li Jingmai acquired this garden house, hired the American-funded Hashard foreign firm to design it, and converted it into an apartment building, Pillow Stream Apartment.
Pillow Stream Apartment Building has a total of 8 floors, with a construction area of 7970 square meters and a garden area of 2500 square meters. The interior is luxuriously decorated and has advanced facilities, with central heating facilities, indoor swimming pool, etc., and was the largest high-end apartment in Shanghai at that time.
After Li Jingmai built the pillow stream apartment, he rented it out to foreigners in Shanghai, and the business was quite hot, so that Li Jingmai made a lot of money.
After the success of pillow stream apartments, Li Jingmai continued to operate real estate in Shanghai, buying many plots of land to build houses. At that time, there was a saying in Shanghai: "Half of Huashan Road belongs to the Li family." "In fact, these are Li Jingmai's properties.
Li Jingmai is also good at collecting. He collected 115 Fangtian Huangshi chapters, a large number of calligraphy and paintings of calligraphers and painters such as the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, and a number of extremely precious Song edition books.
Among Li Hongzhang's many children, Li Jingmai is the richest. But after experiencing the deceit of the officialdom and the shopping mall, he saw through the faces of all beings in his later years. Li Jingmai wrote an epitaph to himself, and angrily said: "Wen Zhong was born in the fifty-fourth year, and Wen Zhongxue was born in the twenty-sixth year... Counting his whole life, the author is an official who does not cherish much; the one who does not do anything insignificant; the person who meets, the one who has no heart and liver; the person who hears it does not know the words of shame. ”
"Wen Zhong" here refers to Li Hongzhang.
[References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Notes on the South Pavilion, etc.]