China’s only billionaire – a life of exploitation

Thread Content

01 In 1822, a huge fire burned along the banks of the Pearl River for seven days and seven nights. What that fire destroyed was the empire’s last treasure house – the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou. Goods and precious metals worth 40 million taels of silver, along with the European silver coins stored in the Thirteen Factories, were all melted down to form the Galaxy. A spectacle unseen before it became history. This galaxy represents the annual fiscal revenue of the Qing Dynasty during its peak period. It is merely part of the assets of the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou. The elegant pavilions with their carved beams and painted rafters; gold and silver mountains that are never exhausted. This is what outsiders see of the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou. Little did they know that, more than 200 years later, when future generations looked at the Thirteen Factories, they discovered that it contained a hidden world. 02 In 2001, The Wall Street Journal selected the 50 richest people in the world over the past millennium on the occasion of the new millennium. Six of them are Chinese: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Liu Jin, Heshen, Wu Bingjian, and Song Ziwen. Wu Bingjian was the only merchant and also the world’s richest man at that time, with a net worth of 28 million taels. In feudal dynasties that favored agriculture over commerce, his existence was truly remarkable. Lin Zexu, a first-rank official in the Qing dynasty, received an annual salary plus allowances of 200 taels; it would take him 140,000 years to earn the same amount as Wu Bingjian, even if he lived without spending anything. At that time, the British East India Company monopolized European trade with the East, yet Wu Bingjian was its largest creditor. Europa’s richest man, Rothschild, possesses immense wealth, but his wealth is only one-tenth of Wu Bingjian’s. More than 200 years ago, when many people did not know what insurance was, Wu Bingjian had already invested in financial sectors such as railways, securities, and insurance in the United States, becoming a veritable financier for the Americans. Before passing away in his later years, he entrusted his wealth to his adopted son Forbes to manage; Forbes invested this money and became a major railroad magnate in the United States. Yet Wu Bingjian, who possessed immense wealth, was merely the owner of one of the merchant firms in Guangzhou’s Thirteen Factories. Making a living by selling tea to foreigners, and occasionally selling some silk and porcelain. Incidentally, invest in industries abroad that generate huge profits, and then lend money to European and American trading companies. The other twelve trading firms follow the same procedure. As a result, silver dollars and gold coins from all over the world kept flowing into the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou. 03 The endless wealth also led to the extremely extravagant lifestyles of the wealthy merchants in the Thirteen Factories in terms of food, clothing, and other necessities. Right on the banks of the Pearl River in the heart of Guangzhou, lies Wu Bingjian’s luxurious residence. With its jade palaces and golden towers, as well as winding paths leading to secluded areas, its splendor far exceeds that of the Grand View Garden in \"Dream of the Red Chamber\". It is said that the Qianlong era represented the last period of prosperity for feudal dynasties, and this statement is indeed true. Because it is backed by the Thirteen Factories of Guangzhou. “The market is filled with fragrant beads and silver coins; there’s also firecloth, silk, velvet, and other luxurious goods – the most precious items from all over the world are here ； “Blue-eyed officials reside in the towers, while red-haired foreigners live there for years on end; this is an ideal kingdom desired by merchants from around the world ； “Hao Pan Street connects to the West Corner Tower; it is a place filled with a vast array of foreign goods, and it also became the \"Imperial Southern Treasury\" of the Qing dynasty. Starting from the 22nd year of the Qianlong reign, the thirteen trading companies in Guangzhou paid 40% in tariffs each year, filling the Qing dynasty’s treasury to the brim. The former courts and imperial harem were extremely wealthy, and Qianlong became the most prosperous emperor of the Qing dynasty. In his edict, Qianlong ordered that \"there be no need to hesitate in spending money on purchasing foreign clocks and watches, Western gold and pearls, as well as exotic decorations or novel items.\" The Thirteen Factories imported over a thousand pieces of foreign goods each year; alone, the goods sent as tributes by officials from Guangdong amounted to hundreds of pieces. Sandalwood, ivory, enamel, snuff, clocks and watches, instruments, glassware, gold and silver wares, woolen goods, pets…… All foreign goods in the Qing dynasty at that time came from the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou. 04 What the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou brought to China was far more than just jewelry and silver coins. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was extremely strict. Preserve heavenly principles and suppress human desires, forcing people to strictly adhere to ethical norms and not dare to deviate in the slightest. At this time, the Western Renaissance broke away from asceticism and liberated thought. When the Western concepts of \"freedom and equality\" gradually reached China, the monarchs of the feudal dynasties felt a serious threat. Upon ascending the throne, Qianlong changed Kangxi’s policy of \"four ports for trade\" to \"one port for trade\", keeping only Guangzhou. When people around the world wanted to explore this mysterious ancient Eastern country, and the Chinese also wished to open their eyes to the world, the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou became the only pathway. It’s like a small gap appearing in a dam that has been built for many years; it may not help much, but it’s still better than nothing. As the starting point of the \"Maritime Silk Road\" under a national ban, the Thirteen Factories gave rise to China’s earliest proponents of Westernization. Image | From the documentary “Imperial Trading Company”. They studied diplomacy and foreign trade, spoke Spanish, and understood the customs of other cultures; they became the only group in that era to bring new ideas to China. In 1793, British tribute ships traveling to the capital passed along the coast of Zhejiang, intending to go ashore to make purchases. However, due to language barriers that prevented communication, Qianlong dispatched merchants who knew Spanish from Guangdong merchant firms to negotiate on behalf of the Qing dynasty with the British envoys ； During the Jiaqing era, due to a shortage of foreign language translators in the Qing court, merchants from Guangzhou were summoned to the Ministry of Rites in the capital to handle foreign documents ； In 1841, the war broke out; British warships besieged Guangzhou. Merchants from foreign firms stepped in to mediate, facilitating talks between the warring parties and leading to the withdrawal of the British troops. In a society where \"base merchants should not associate with scholars and officials,\" Guangzhou’s traders forged a path through sheer determination. For those Westerners who admired Eastern civilization, the thirteen-line poem served as a bridge leading them to the streets of the capital. Image | During the Kangxi era, missionary firms spared no effort to welcome foreigners who came to China to study*, teaching them Chinese culture, ideas, and social customs. Western missionaries, craftsmen, scientists, doctors, painters……The Thirteen Factories supplied the imperial palace with countless talents, allowing the emperor and empress to see the world beyond their own country. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the famous court painter who was renowned during the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns, learned Eastern culture and court etiquette at the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou before entering the Qing palace, where he served for the rest of his life. Yet, the thirteen guilds under a crumbling empire, no matter how much wealth and wisdom they possessed, were unable to change the course of events. In the end, they became **a magnificent elegy beneath the flowers. 05 China’s small-scale peasant economy is self-sufficient and does not require foreign goods. And Westerners are also fanatical about Chinese tea, porcelain, and silk. Due to this continuous cycle, European silver coins entered China but did not leave it. To break this situation, the British East India Company created **something that did not exist in China and sold it to China. But under the strict supervision of the authorities, none of the Thirteen Factories merchants dared to get involved in **. In particular, Wu’s family, the leading force in the trading industry, took the initiative to conduct strict inspections at the ports for goods that were smuggled in. But in the end, they couldn’t control the free traders outside the Thirteen Factories. More and more Chinese people are using **. With silver flowing out, the people exhausted, corrupt governance, and deteriorating military discipline, the Qing dynasty was faced with crises on all sides. When Lin Zexu, the \"pioneer of anti-smoking\", arrived in Guangzhou, he was filled with anger and wanted to cut off the source of **inflow. As the head of the Thirteen Factories, Wu Bingjian was harshly criticized for colluding in smuggling. To prove his innocence, Wu Bingjian sent his son to deliver the 1,037 boxes of ** seized from foreign merchants to Lin Zexu, only to make the latter even more convinced that the Wu family was colluding with British merchants. “\"Merchants value profit,\" this has been the common understanding among people for thousands of years. But it’s all just speculation; there is no evidence to prove that the Thirteen Merchants were involved in trafficking **. “No merchant is willing to engage in such trade. ” This is the account written by the American businessman Hunter in his book. But merchants are already at the bottom of society; even if they are extremely wealthy, they can only be at the mercy of the authorities. **On the eve of the war, Wu Bingjian donated funds to build fortifications and warships, but this still could not stop the decline of the Qing army during the war. To prevent the British from entering Guangzhou, the Qing army paid a compensation of 6 million taels of silver. One-third of this amount came from the Thirteen Factories, with Wu Bingjian alone contributing 1.1 million taels of silver. Yet all of this was seen by the ruling party at the time as evidence of guilt. Wu Bingjian was labeled a \"traitor,\" lost his dignity due to his immense wealth, and became a pariah. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanjing was signed, and the Qing dynasty was forced to pay more than 10 million taels of silver in reparations. The Manchu nobles were unwilling to pay out of their own pockets, so once again they turned to the Thirteen Factories under the pretext of purchasing \"repentance certificates\". Humiliated and stripped of all his wealth, Wu Bingjian, the head of the merchant firm, died from exhaustion. The merchants of the Thirteen Factories once said, “They sell everything except **.” ” It was only later that I realized that in that society, whether to sell or not was never up to the merchants to decide. The Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou were merely products of a distorted trade system, as brilliant and fleeting as fireworks. 06 “Better to be a dog than the leader of merchants.” ”Every merchant thinks so. A wealthy person who possesses great wealth but no political status is, in the eyes of officials, nothing more than a child carrying treasures through a busy market. The staff at Yuehai* always like to organize events under various pretexts, and merchants receive bright red invitations in advance. In the eyes of the peddler, it was not an invitation but a fine notice. Every peddler must present a gift that satisfies the *officials in order to enjoy relative safety thereafter. I might not remember who gave it, but I definitely remember who didn’t. The court in the capital went even further in its actions. The emperor and empress’s birthdays, **military conflicts, construction of water conservancy projects, suppression of bandits, floods in the Yellow River, increased taxes of all kinds… The greedy Qing regime tried every means to exploit the thirteen guilds. In just the 60 years from 1773 to 1832, the Thirteen Factories donated as much as 4 million taels. Excessive use of state resources, coupled with forced compensation payments, left the Thirteen Factories in debt to foreign merchants. Hearing that failing to repay foreign merchants was a disgrace, Qianlong ordered the merchants’ homes to be seized and promised to repay twice as much to show his magnanimity. While all other peddlers had to repay their huge debts over ten years. The peddlers were heavily in debt and overwhelmed by the burden. When the two subsequent **wars plundered the wealth of the Thirteen Colonies, this trade port, which had been prosperous for over a century, was reduced to ashes by artillery fire. It ultimately remained buried in the dust of history, becoming a victim of the feudal dynasties. 07 The Thirteen Lines are gone, but they have left an indelible legacy for future generations. Over a century of foreign trade has enabled Guangdong to lead the whole country in terms of ideology, technology, and culture. It was the birthplace of the revolutionary wave and a hub for the enlightenment of modern new ideas. Its land gave birth to thinkers such as Sun Yat-sen and Liang Qichao. Those merchants who wished to continue in business counted their remaining assets and went to the small town in the east—Shanghai. The newly opened Shanghai was in urgent need of development. And these Guangdong merchants, who had accumulated considerable wealth and trade experience, were the first pioneers in Shanghai. They also became the builders of the later extravagant and prosperous Shanghai. Those who plant the trees benefit from the shade they provide. Even when a big tree falls, its scattered branches and leaves continue to nourish the land beneath people’s feet. The Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou were the same.