"Five-way God of Wealth" Liang Shiyi

Today's people, when you go in and out of the Bank of Communications to handle business, or travel by rail bus, you will never think that these are inextricably linked to a Guangdong person. He was Liang Shiyi, who was known as the "God of Five Roads of Wealth" at the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Liang Shiyi (1869.~1933), also known as Yifu (字翼夫), was a native of Sanshui, Guangdong (now part of Foshan). Qing Guangxu Jinshi (1894), edited by Hanlin Academy (1895), and assisted by the National History Museum. In 1903, he took the examination for the special section of economics and won the first examination. Later, Yuan Shikai served as the general office of the Beiyang Compilation And Book Bureau, and in the late Qing Dynasty, he successively served as the chief clerk of the railway (1906), the five-way transfer of the Ministry of Posts and Communications (1907), the assistant manager of the Bank of Communications (1907), the director of the General Bureau of Railways (1907), the deputy director of the Ministry of Posts and Communications, and the minister of the ministry of posts and communications (1911). After entering the Republic of China, he successively served as secretary general of the Presidential Office (1912), prime minister of the Bank of Communications (1912), vice minister of finance (1913), chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of Communications (1918), president of the Senate (1918), member of the Foreign Affairs Committee (1919), member of the Post-war Economic Investigation Commission (1919), prime minister of the State (1920), chairman of the Financial Aftermath Committee (1925), prime minister of the Bank of Communications (1925), and tax inspector (1928).

From prodigies to Hanlin

On May 5, 1869 (March 24, the eighth year of the Reign of Qing Tongzhi), Liang Shiyi was born in Gangtou Village, Sanshui County, Guangdong Province. His father, Liang Zhijian, was a Qing Dynasty scholar who lectured at academies in Sanshui, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and other places. Liang Shiyi studied with his father since childhood, and at the age of five, he was regarded as a prodigy by the villagers because of the poems and books he recited. Later, he studied with Liang Qichao at Foshan Academy, and in 1889 (the fifteenth year of Guangxu), the two of them took the township examination together and won the examination at the same time.

In 1890, Liang Shiyi went to Beijing to take the examination of the Ministry of Etiquette, and returned to his hometown through Shanghai, "choosing the Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau And Other Publications, pouring out his money to return to the book, and reading day and night." "In 1892, the second meeting failed the first time, returned to Shanghai in the south, and once again collected practical books and translations that introduced finance, canals, agriculture, etc., and read hard and did not sleep all night. In 1894, Liang Shiyi went to Beijing on the bus for the third time, and finally the gold list was inscribed. According to the "Index of Inscriptions and Inscriptions of Ming and Qing Jinshi", Liang Shiyi was awarded the fifteenth Jinshi of the Second Grade of the Jia Wu Branch. In 1895, Liang Shiyi was elected as a Shu Ji Shi and was awarded the title of Editor of hanlin Academy.

In 1903, the Qing court issued a special section of economics, which was a special recruitment for the Qing court to select special talents in addition to the regular subjects of the examination, and the talents sponsored by all parties should be examined to select special talents. Liang Shiyi was sponsored by The Soldier Shangshu Xu Qi and the attendant Dai Hongci to take the examination. In their evaluation of Liang Shiyi, Xu and Dai believed that he was: "Wise and far-sighted, simple and unobtrusive, in Chinese and Western geography, sailors and soldiers, frequent lectures, cold and summer unswerving." In May of that year, the Guangxu Emperor personally visited The Bohol Hall to preside over the economic special examination, which was taken by a total of 186 candidates, and the examination was divided into a preliminary examination and a re-examination. The preliminary examination was revealed, and Liang Shiyi's results were first class. Before the re-examination, because Liang Shiyi was of the same Cantonese nationality as the "chaotic party" Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, and was rumored to be "Liangtou Kangwei" (the same surname as Liang Qichao, Kang Youwei was the ancestor of the word), Empress Dowager Cixi was displeased, and ordered her not to be hired, and the "special yuan" hat in hand flew like this.

When the examination hall was frustrated and Huai Cai did not meet, in 1903, through the introduction of his fellow villager Tang Shaoyi (Tianjin Customs Road), Liang Shiyi defected to Yuan Shikai, who was then the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, and Yuan Yuan was quite appreciative of his talent, and first hired him as the general office of the Beiyang Compilation Bureau, responsible for compiling the Beiyang Bing Book (Yuan Shikai Bing Book). In 1904, Liang Shiyi accompanied Tang Shaoyi on an envoy to India, and was appreciated by the Qing court for his outstanding performance. In 1906, because of his diplomatic prowess, Liang Shiyi was ordered to be a candidate for Wupin Jingtang and walked on the Foreign Affairs Department's Chengsan and took the name of ChengShan.

From copywriting to director

In 1906, Tang Shaoyi was promoted to the post of Superintendent of the Railway Corporation, and Promoted Liang Shiyi to the Position of Chief Clerk of the Railway Corporation, responsible for assisting in the reform of the road administration and receiving the five roads, and Liang Shiyi became acquainted with the railway. In the same year, the Qing court set up the Ministry of Posts and Communications, with Zhang Baixi as Shangshu and Tang Shaoyi as Zuo Shilang. As Tang Shaoyi's right-hand man, Liang Shiyi participated in the planning, and the four policies of the road were emailed, and the handling was orderly, thus laying its foundation in the transportation industry. In April 1907, Shangshu Lin Shaonian of the Ministry of Posts and Communications asked for the establishment of the Five Roads Investigation Office within the Ministry, and on the recommendation of Tang Shaoyi, he transferred Ding Shaoyi's candidate Wupin Jingtang Liang Shizhi to be in charge of the loan and foreign affairs of the five railways of Beijing-Han, Huning, Daoqing, Zhengtai and Biluo. At the end of the same year, the new Shangshu Chen Bi of the Ministry of Posts and Communications asked for the change of the Transfer Office to the General Railway Bureau, and Liang Shiyi was appointed as the director of the General Railway Bureau. At the same time, Liang Shiyi also suggested that Chen Bi be asked to set up a Bank of Communications in the Qing court, specializing in the business of depositing and lending and exchanging money in the four governments. On December 8 of that year, the Bank of Communications, a joint venture between the government and the business, was approved to be established, with Li Jingchu as the manager and Liang Shiyi as the assistant. During this period, Liang Shiyi also served as the prime minister of the Public Debt Management Office, handling the public debt of the Beijing-Hankou Railway redemption road, until February 22, 1911 (the 24th day of the first month of the third year of Xuanun), when the then Ministry of Posts and Communications Shangshu Sheng Xuanhuai said that "the director Liang Shiyi is able to handle things, and he is severely responsible." The "crime" of the "crime" asked the Qing court to dismiss it.

During the Ministry of Posts and Communications, Liang Shiyi was in charge of the five roads, especially the huge amount of money available for disposal and use, including railway operation income, deposits and loans of the Bank of Communications, debts raised by the Public Debt Bureau, and road construction loans. Coupled with the skill of moving and the management of money, the reputation of the "Five-Way God of Wealth" has quietly risen. Later, with the repurposing of the Jingfeng, Guangjiu, Jinpu, Jichang and Zhuping railways, Liang Shiyi became the "God of Fortune of the Ten Roads".

Redemption of the Beijing-Hankou Railway

As China's first generation of railway directors, Liang Shiyi attaches great importance to the role of railways, he believes: "The railway economy is directly related to national income, and indirectly related to people's livelihoods. "Liang Shiyi was in charge of the railway in the Ministry of Posts and Communications for four years, during which time he made a lot of achievements in the recovery of road rights and road administration.

In 1907, Liang Shiyi negotiated with the British side on behalf of the Chinese side on the revision of the "General Management Office Charter" of the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, and after Liang Shiyi's reasoning and unremitting efforts, the issues of redemption, renewal and purchase of materials were resolved in the second stage, and finally forced the British side to agree to revise the "General Management Office Charter", the specific content of which was that Chinese served as the General Office of the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, with full authority to handle the responsibilities of all road projects and trains. The management power of the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway can be restored to the state, and Liang Shiyi can be described as a great contribution.

On December 26, 1908, under the auspices of Liang Shiyi, the Chinese side paid off the Principal and Interest of the Belgian loan in one lump sum of 227 million francs, and the Beijing-Hankou Railway was owned by China from then on, and Liang Shiyi also served as the general office of the Beijing-Hankou Railway Bureau.

Since the beginning of China's railways, most of the commodity goods have been transferred by the railway, so the provinces have set up railway donations in an attempt to open up a source of profit by plucking the hair of the geese. This move not only directly affects the income of the railway, but also indirectly restricts the development of commerce and trade. In 1907, Liang Shiyi formally proposed to the Qing court to cancel the railway donation, but unfortunately, his proposal was not adopted.

The General Railway Bureau under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Posts and Communications initially set up four departments: construction, examination, planning, and statistics. In 1910, Liang Shiyi reorganized the departments within the General Bureau, and set up five sections of sales, construction, negotiation, planning and steam engines, and each section no longer had section chiefs, and the section members were divided into one, two, and three, and two additional people, one deputy promotion, and legal and technical personnel. Such adjustments have made the establishment of the General Administration of Railways more reasonable and the responsibilities and powers clearer.

Support the Sun Wen Project

Soon after entering the Republic of China, Liang Shiyi became the secretary general of the Presidential Office, becoming a powerful figure above everyone under one person (Yuan Shikai). Although people are no longer in the transportation institutions, the transportation department headed by Liang Shiyi has become full of wings, and the important posts of chief and deputy chief of the ministries of finance, transportation, and foreign affairs of the early Beiyang government were almost included by the cadres of the transportation department. Liang Shiyi used the power of the secretary general of the Presidential Office to advise the president and give orders to his subordinates, especially through the many concubines of the Ministry of Communications, and did a lot of practical things for the railway in the early years of the Republic of China.

Under the strategizing of Liang Shiyi, the Beiyang government successfully nationalized the commercial railways that originally belonged to eight provinces. The success of the return of the railway, on the one hand, because it is the trend of the times and the desire of the people; on the other hand, it depends on the sincere cooperation and close cooperation within the department of transportation. Through the operation of Zhu Qizhao (director of communications), Ye Gongqi (director of the road administration department of the Ministry of Communications) and others, the nationalization of commercial railways can be described as a natural progression, and from November 1912 to January 1915, the railways of Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanxi and Henan were all reclaimed.

For Dr. Sun Yat-sen's road construction plan, Liang Shiyi was very supportive. Sun Yat-sen thought: "All the major industries of the state, such as railways, electricity, waterways and other affairs, are nationalized, and no private person is allowed to enjoy its benefits exclusively." These are somewhat similar to the concept of nationalization of the Liang Shiyi Railway. In 1912, when Sun Yat-sen was in Beijing, he met with Yuan Shikai 13 times, and each time only Liang Shiyi was accompanied. He also facilitated Yuan Shikai's appointment of Sun Yat-sen's "full authority to plan the national railways." Liang Shiyi and Sun Yat-sen, one is a traffic leader who is familiar with railway practice, the other is a founder of the Republic of China who is keen on railway construction, plus the Guangdong township voice without obstacles, the two are late to see each other, and the topic of railway is particularly speculative.

Not only did Mr. Liang believe that Sun Yat-sen's plan to build a 200,000-mile railway was feasible, but he also went to Sun Yat-sen's residence many times to help Mr. Sun draw up plans for the development of the railway. When Sun Yat-sen inspected the Beijing-Zhang Railway, Liang Shiyi instructed Zhu Qizhao, the chief of transportation, and Ye Gongqiu, the deputy director, to accompany him. Although Sun Yat-sen's plan for the rejuvenation of the railway was stillborn, from 1912 to 1913, Liang Shiyi and his transportation department officials supported Mr. Sun with all their strength and sincerity.

Creation of railway associations

As we all know, Liang Shiyi is the head of the transportation department. As an influential interest group during the Beiyang government, the Department of Communications gathered a group of elites with specialized knowledge, who held important functions and powers in the departments of transportation, finance, finance, internal affairs, and foreign affairs, forming an invisible political force and network of relations.

If the four policies of the road and e-mail are the political carriers of the transportation department, then the railway association is the cohesive link of the transportation department. In 1912 (the first year of the Republic of China), Liang Shiyi led the establishment of the National Railway Association of the Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Railway Association) and was elected as the first president. The Railway Association includes almost all the important members of the Department of Transport, through which they can get a glimpse of the strength and influence of the Department of Transport. Taking the data and historical data of 1914 as an example, at that time, the members of the Railway Association had reached 1592, and the association from the president, commentator, and director general to the clerk, clerk, clerk, accountant, communication, investigation, and editorial officer, almost all of them were the leaders or backbones of the Department of Communications, in addition to the president Liang Shiyi, vice president Ye Gongqi, but also Including Zhu Qizhao, Zhou Ziqi, Feng Yuanding, Ren Fengbao, Zhan Tianyou, Kuang Sunmou, Quan Liang, Guan Genglin, Guan Mianjun, Zhao Qinghua, Long Jianzhang, Long Xuejing, Zhang Enjun, Yu Renfeng, Zheng Hongnian, Kan Duo, xu Shizhang , Lu Mengxiong, Lei Guangyu, Zeng Kunhua, Hua Nangui, etc. These people have contributed to the railway transportation industry in modern China to varying degrees.

Liang Shiyi recognized the important role of railways in modern society and paid great attention to the construction of railways. As president, he also convened a meeting within the China Railway Association to discuss how to assist Dr. Sun Yat-sen in preparing for the railway.

Under the advocacy and presidency of Liang Shiyi, the Railway Association also founded the monthly magazine "Railway Association Magazine" in October 1912. As president, Liang Shiyi took advantage of his special status and extensive contacts to invite military and political dignitaries to either be honorary members, presidents, or to give articles for the journal. In the inaugural issue of the Magazine of the Railway Association, congratulatory messages by honorary member Yuan Shikai, honorary president Sun Yat-sen, vice president Li Yuanhong, and others were published, as well as other important articles and pictures.

Boycott international condominium

In January 1919, the British Myers (the representative of the Bank of China in China) took the lead in publishing the so-called "Unified China Railway Management Article Chen", and then the American Baker (accounting and statistics consultant of the Ministry of Transportation) also issued the so-called "Plan for the Joint Management of China's Railways by the United States, Japan, Britain, France and China". As soon as the two identical "International Plans for The Management of China's Railways" were thrown out, they were immediately strongly opposed by Liang Shiyi, Cao Rulin, and other leaders of the transportation department. As a result, Liang Shiyi personally carried out a series of boycotts.

Liang Shiyi pointed out to the point that the so-called outsiders jointly manage China's railways, "in other words, confiscated and confiscated." "In addition to being a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, expressing views and proposing proposals to influence the government." In February 1919, Liang Shiyi also wrote to the relevant governments in his own name opposing the plan to manage the railway. On April 5 of that year, Liang Shiyi also wrote to the British minister to China, Zhu Erdian, stating his position: "Contempt is based on the conscience of the people, and opposition to The co-management of China's railway policy by Merthy-Jun is also ... This method will plunder China's sovereignty, eradicate the industrial livelihood of Chinese people, swallow up Chinese people's finances, and control China's rising talents. Such an ambitious policy, which despises people as a member of the people, should not take into account the misfortunes of one's own body and do one's best to oppose it.

In the course of opposing the attempts of the great powers to encroach on China's railway affairs, Liang Shiyi changed his previous style of elegance and humility, showing a rare outspokenness and sharpness. In his telegram to Gu Weijun, The Chinese Representative in Paris, in the name of the President of the All-China Railway Association, he said: "This issue has a bearing on the survival of our country ... As far as the railway is concerned, talent is suppressed, materials are monopolized, engineering design cannot be pre-arranged, funds are allocated involuntarily, the Wehrmacht cannot be secretly requisitioned, local goods in the interior cannot be transported cheaply, and in all countries, it is enough to control my death. The danger is extraordinary! ”

As for the so-called article Chen proposed by foreigners that "internationally manage China's railways," Liang Shiyi, who was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a member of the Postwar Economic Investigation Commission, took the lead in organizing the Railway Salvation Meeting, issued a monthly magazine on salvation, and successively published articles such as "Talks on the Unification of Railways" and "The Crisis of Outsiders Implementing Economic Annihilation." For example, he opened a column entitled "Railway Salvation Problem" (Railway Unification Issue) in the Bulletin of the Railway Association, and published and reprinted a total of 187 relevant letters, telegrams, news, comments and speeches in Vol. 8, No. 2, 1919 to Vol. 9, No. 1, 1920. Among them, there are many voices from celebrities such as Liang Shiyi, Ye Gongqi, Lin Changmin, Lu Ruiting, Ding Shiyuan and other celebrities who oppose condominium and safeguard the right of way. Liang Shiyi also put it into action, uniting China, Communications, Jincheng, Huiye, Xinhua, Yanye and other banks to raise 10.5 million yuan and initiated the establishment of the China Bank Company to oppose the four-country syndicate.

The railway unification case lasted more than a year, and under the joint resistance of Liang Shiyi and people from all walks of life, the international plan to condominium China's railways finally died. Among them, Liang Shiyi was indeed hard at work, and Cao Rulin, the leader of the new transportation department, recalled the incident and said: "Only if it undermines China's sovereignty, the lord opposes it, and Yansun opposes it the most." ”

Dr. Di Yongjun, a scholar, has such a finishing touch in his article "Hanlin Prime Minister Liang Shiyi": "Mr. Liang Shiyi started with the examination, entered the army with talent, entered Hanlin and paid attention to practical learning, and chose the special yuan and lost his hand." Defend the imperial court and initially build a meritorious career, meet the world and rise to the top. The upstart of the Republic of China, known as the "second president", an industrial wizard, won the title of "Liang Caishen". Build a railway and carry out a grand plan, help the emperor and get the culprit. Ran Xuefu five cars, a passion for blood; friends all over the sea, Hong Kong condensed talents. Advocating the establishment of a province in Hainan, there is the wisdom of a prophet; the return of faith in lost land, and the feeling of nostalgia. Although the guest died in a foreign land, he finally returned to his hometown. ”

On April 9, 1933, Liang Shiyi died of illness in Shanghai at the age of 64. Before his death, he once left a message to say goodbye to his family: "The reputation of the rest of his life is invincible, and he will not argue." Confidence there will be people in the world who know me well. ”

Liang Shiyi was a historical figure with mixed reputations, as Yuan Shikai's right and left arm. When the scenery is beautiful, Liang Shiyi is the "second president" who calls the wind and rain, and when he is unlucky, Liang Shiyi is a wanted criminal who has fled the wilderness. From the five-way transfer, the director of the General Railway Bureau, the minister of the Ministry of Posts and Communications, to the president of the Railway Association, the prime minister of the Bank of Communications, and the head of the Department of Communications, Liang Shiyi's life always seems to be related to the railway, accompanied by transportation. No matter what historians say, as the head of the old department of transportation, Liang Shiyi presided over the road administration, established a bank, or made enough contributions to the railway industry in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic of China.

Liang Shiyi once said: "Despise the railway should seek economic activities for the people, not only for the government to seek the increase of road profits." This statement comes from the mouth of the "Five-Way God of Wealth", which is really intriguing and has a far-reaching meaning!

Liang Shiyi