After the outbreak of the Opium War, Lin Zexu was dismissed from his post, and Wu Bingjian and Wu Chongyao were once again valued by the imperial court, and they continued to act as mediators between the Qing court and the British. In the twenty-first year of Daoguang, Qi Shan, the governor of Liangguang, led the Wu family father and son to Humen to negotiate with Yilu. In the 23rd year of Daoguang, the Qing court ordered the merchants to repay the foreign debts stipulated in the Treaty of Nanjing for 3 million yuan, of which the Wu family bore 1 million yuan, and also forced the Wu family to repay the balance of the cigarette price for that year. Wu Bingjian was very angry about this, so he died of illness in Guangzhou in September of that year.
In the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang, the British minister Wen Han proposed that the British should enter the city of Guangzhou to do business, but Xu Guangjin, the governor of Liangguang, disagreed with this proposal and ordered Wu Chongyao to write to Wen Han, stating that if the British wanted to force their way into the city, Sino-foreign trade would be stopped. Ling Wenhan's proposal was not carried out, and Xu Guangjin wrote a note to the imperial court in recognition of Wu Chongyao's merits, for which the imperial court gave him three pins to wear.
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In the fourth year of Xianfeng, the Heaven and Earth Society rebelled to besiege Guangzhou, and Wu Chongyao helped Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, to raise military salaries. Wu Chongyao took the lead in donating money, and at the same time advised some wealthy businessmen to donate, allowing Ye Mingchen to suppress the Two Guangtiandi Association. Wu Chongyao added the title of envoy to this, and one of the ways he raised funds at that time was to borrow money from foreign investors, borrowing 260,000 taels of silver at that time, which is said to be the earliest foreign debt in modern China.
In the eighth year of Xianfeng, Huang Zonghan, the governor of Liangguang, raised funds to suppress the Heaven and Earth Society, and Wu Chongyao borrowed 320,000 taels from Qichang Foreign Bank on behalf of Wu Chongyao, using the Guangdong Customs stamp as collateral. Six years later, the principal and interest of this loan had reached 470,000 taels, and the imperial court actually asked the Wu family to repay this money, and after the intervention of the American minister, the Guangdong Customs repaid the principal bank, and the Wu family paid the interest. It can be seen that in those years, money and no power were always lambs to be slaughtered.
The narrower it gets
Wu Chongyao's actions are recorded in the "Characters" outside the volume of the "Small Chronicles of Henan in Panyu", which states that he said: "Twenty years after the Dawn of the Dao, the place was troubled, and the treasury was branched. Chongyao who donates charity and salary, shares false loans equally, and earns thousands of dollars, and is invincible. ”
Regarding his negotiations with foreigners, the text wrote: "For seven years, the Westerners attacked the city and did not go away. Over the years of friendship, the ambition will be won. Chongyao detects and hears. When doubting the self-esteem of the enemy, he is indifferent. The Western soldiers broke in, and there was a commotion up and down. Chongyao personally saw the chieftain, blamed the righteousness, and was fierce. ”
See a bridge
It can be seen that although Wu Chongyao was a businessman, in the face of the great national righteousness, he was able to resolutely stand up and negotiate with foreigners in a righteous and stern manner, and in the process, the wealth accumulated by the Wu family suffered a great loss; Boat thieves Zha Ping, followed by the red bandits, the red bandits temporarily rested, followed by the west division, the west division Ofning, the sudden arrival of thieves, the destruction of thieves, and the chaos of the people. It is difficult to charge after leakage, and the source is easy to exhaust. ”
In the second year of Tongzhi, Wu Chongyao died of illness in Guangzhou at the age of 50. After his death, many people remembered what he had done for the local area, and the Qing Guangxu edition of the "Chronicle of Guangzhou Province" said: "The officials of the provincial yuan and the officials and merchants of Taixi went to pay tribute to him, and there were those who wept, and they won the hearts of the people." "But there are also people who cheer for his death, thinking that he is a traitor."
Bridge name
Whether Wu Chongyao's family ever engaged in opium, the British "Chronicle of the East India Company's Trade with China" records: "None of the Merchants in Guangzhou were related to opium. They don't want to do it in any way. The American businessman Hunter also said in the "Guangzhou Fan Ghost Record" that "no merchant is willing to do this kind of business." ”
It seems that at least some foreign businessmen believe that not only the Wu family, but even the entire Thirteen Lines have never done opium smuggling. Because the Thirteen Lines have always been responsible for the negotiations between the imperial court and foreigners, and even some foreign businessmen are negotiated in the Wu family's library. As a result, many people believe that they colluded with foreign businessmen to smuggle opium, and it does not matter whether there is evidence or not, perhaps this is the so-called crowdsword gold.
Secluded mountain forest
In addition to business, Wu Chongyao also has his elegance, such as he is good at painting plum blossoms, and he has also written "Poetry of Tea Village" and "Poetry of Yue Yatang". In addition to Yue Ya Tang, his library also has Yuan'ai Lou, whose name is derived from Su Shi's "Fufeng Tianhe Temple" and "If you look far away, Zhulan Biwagou" two sentences. Regarding the situation of her collection of books, Tan Ying wrote in the "Distant Love Lou Ji": "Storing ten thousand signatures, storing wine and thousands of husses, matching the fate of the couple, sending hugs and pushing plackets, kao Chuan Yue's Tujing, and the experience of life and life." ”
People know the name of Yue Ya Tang, more because of its engraving, from the 30th year of Daoguang to the first year of Guangxu, which lasted for 25 years, Wu Chongyao published the "Yue Ya Tang Series", which is divided into regular edits, continuations and three parts, each of which is ten episodes, collecting 208 kinds of books, which is a famous series of books in the late Qing Dynasty.
Cemetery wall
The book contains many rare books, such as the "Four Libraries Complete Book" compiled from the "Yongle Canon", because the "Four Libraries Complete Book" is only seven copies, most people are difficult to see, and the "Yue Yatang Series" contains a variety of books. At the same time, the series also includes the uncollected books of the Four Libraries complete book submitted by Ruan Yuan during the Jiaqing period. The books in the Yue Ya Tang Series are accompanied by Wu Chongyao's writings, which are actually written by Tan Yingzhi.
Outside, Wu Chongyao inscribed the "Collection of the Thirteen Houses of Guangdong", and regarding the scope of the book, the preface to the book reads: "It is still unique, but it is a special book, and the collection of relics is stopped." It may be a small statement of righteousness, and it is recorded together with the poem, and the original banknote is read. ”
Wen Bao brand
Wu Chongyao also carved a "Chu TingQi Old Testament Poem", which contains poems by seventy Lingnan poets in the Qing Dynasty. Regarding his act of engraving books, Liu Jinzao commented in the "Qing Dynasty Continued Literature Tongkao Jingshu Examination": "7 Chongyao not only gave the township to lift, but also discussed and wrote with celebrities, and published the "Yue Yatang Series", "Yue Thirteen Collections", and "Chu Tingqi Old Testament Poems" before and after the collection. Yes (referring to the Lingnan Testament) was first paid by Daoguang Xin Di and continued into six episodes. See Li Tiaoyuan's "Hanhai", Zhao Shaozu's "Jingchuan Series", Yu Xiang state literature, tongyi xinxiang, Liang Ke Baoye. ”
Regarding Wu Chongyao's tomb, I found an article signed "Wood Behind the Back" written by "The Tomb of Wu Ziyuan Father and Son of Guangzhou Monuments", which was published on June 21, 2019, which was reprinted by "Kandian Express", and the author wrote in the side note of the visit:
The tomb is located at the intersection of Shangjunling Ridge behind the wall of the ancestral tomb of the Six Banyan Temple, and the tomb owners Wu Chongyao and Wu Shaotang are the sons and grandsons of Wu Bingjian, a wealthy merchant of the Thirteen Lines of Yihe, according to friends. The tomb is relatively simple, as if the descendants have temporarily migrated over. The most distinctive feature of the tomb is that there are five commandmental tablets on the ridge behind the tomb, some of which are written in Manchu, which is relatively rare.
Partition wall visit
There were a number of pictures attached to the text, so I took this as the goal and went to Guangzhou on December 4, 2020, the main purpose of this day was to find wu Chongyao's tomb. However, the direction he said could not be located, so I went to the Six Banyan Trees Temple to inquire. I saw from the text that the tomb was behind the ancestral tomb of the Six Banyan Trees Temple, but after arriving at the Six Banyan Trees Temple, there was no mountain to be seen here. I asked the master of the Six Banyan Trees Temple, and he told me that the zushi tomb tower was on Baiyun Mountain, and he described the specific location to me, but I was completely unfamiliar with that area, so I had to thank him for his guidance and go to Baiyun Mountain to try my luck.
Parking below
Baiyun Mountain covers a large area, there are entrances in every direction around this mountain, I went up from the southeast entrance, to explore the ruins of the east slope, so I know that there is no Wu father and son tomb in that area, so this time drive to the west gate of Baiyun Mountain Park, but there is no parking space in front of the west gate, so I had to turn east and west nearby and stop in a bus field. However, as soon as the car stopped, it was ordered by the security guard to drive out, and at this moment, another driver also wanted to stop here, and the security guard went to negotiate with him. I found that there was also a courtyard in the courtyard where a promotion was being held, so I decided to pretend to be a participant, drove the car deep into the courtyard, and parked the car in a corner. At this point, I saw that behind the courtyard was Baiyun Mountain, and here I met two staff members who told me that there was a wall in front of me and that it was impossible to climb from the courtyard. I had to carefully turn back into the courtyard, but thankfully the security guards didn't spot me.
Cemetery gate
Walk for ten minutes, walk to the gate of Baiyun Mountain Park, buy a ticket again, ask the ticket inspector where the tomb of the ancestor of the Six Banyan Tree Temple is, the ticket inspector said that he did not know, but he made a serious call, and then came a young man, he told me the general location of the zushi pagoda.
The way to come
Climb the mountain along the steps, walk out of a section of the road, see the fork, stand here and wait for a few minutes, no pedestrians pass by, had to choose the left side of the road to climb up, but the more desolate it was, it didn't feel right, so I had to return to the same road, and then go along another fork in the road. After crossing a ridge, the road goes further and further down, gradually entering a canyon.
Can't wait for pedestrians
The road became narrower and narrower, continued to walk for a few hundred meters, saw a small stone bridge below in the distance, walked closer, and saw the words "Six Banyan Tree Bridge" engraved on the bridge head. It was a great joy to see it, and it seemed that he had gone to the right place. Standing on the bridge and looking around, on the left was where I parked, and it felt like it was less than 300 meters away from the car, but I had a big ring. On its right side is a canyon, although it is winter, the plants here are evergreen, standing here can appreciate the birdsong mountain more quietly.
Bridge deck
Across the stone bridge, there is a courtyard in front of me, the gate is locked, which is the situation I am most afraid of seeing, looking inward through the door, the area inside is huge, and there is no tombstone in sight. On the left side of the door is embedded a Wenbao plaque with the inscription "Keziling Six Banyan Temple Monks Tomb Pagoda Group". But I found on the Internet that the ancestral pagoda is open to the public, but on this barren mountain, I don't know where to find the lock opener, so I walked up the side wall in a counterclockwise direction for a while, the mountain is getting steeper and steeper, my legs really can't climb up, I can only look inward through the wall, and finally I can't see Wu Chongyao's tomb.
Climb up
It was getting dark, and I felt that one was a little dangerous on the mountain, so I could only walk back slowly on the same path. It seems that the next time I come back to Guangzhou, I need to find someone in the know who can open this door and let me really see Wu Chongyao's tomb.