Hu Xueyan was an apprentice in a bank when he was young, and became a "friend of life and death" with Wang Youling, the official's son. He used the officialdom and social relations in Wang Youling to open a bank.
Hu Xueyan helped Wang Youling when he was down and out, so Wang Youling became Hu Xueyan's backer. Hu Xueyan made a fortune by constantly attracting people's hearts, taking refuge at different levels, being good at planning and adopting flexible means, and gradually became a giant businessman in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
As an official and businessman, Hu Xueyan often helped the Qing army to handle the business of grain transshipment and arms comprador. Not only that, he also helped Zuo to train a long street army with more than 65,438+10,000 people, all equipped with foreign guns.
In the 12th year of Tongzhi (1873), Zuo Yu, who was transferred to Shaanxi and Gansu as the governor, wanted to make a westward expedition to Xinjiang to quell the Akuta rebellion, but the money and grain needed for the westward expedition were short. Hu Xueyan stepped forward to help the Qing government borrow foreign debt15.95 million taels of silver for six times, which ensured the military expenditure of the Qing army and successfully pacified Xinjiang.
Hu Xueyan, on the other hand, earned the interest difference by loans, such as borrowing 65,438+0% from foreign firms, and the Qing government informed that it was 65,438+0.65,438+0%. Some researchers pointed out that the interest difference earned by Hu Xueyan was as high as 2.88 million.
▲ Zuo is Hu Xueyan's political backer.
As the semi-public "finance minister" of Zuo Heqing government, officials of the Great Qing Dynasty and wealthy businessmen all over the country naturally favored Hu Xueyan. As early as 1864, after the Xiang army seized Zhejiang from the Taiping Army, officials and bureaucrats put the looted property in Hu Xueyan's bank.
With the help of the deposits of court officials and wealthy businessmen from all walks of life, Hu Xueyan also expanded his own businesses such as banks, pawn shops, raw silk and pharmacies. It can be said that relying on special political and business businesses such as helping the Qing government to borrow money and comprador, and Hu Xueyan's diversified management, Hu Xueyan's reputation shocked the whole empire at the end of the empire.
In this regard, it is recorded in different dictionaries that Hu Xueyan "opened a bank through official transportation, and his sub-stores spread all over the country, and became famous at home and abroad. It is very powerful for officials and businessmen to send money. "
However, as the richest man in the empire who was born in Zuo and Qing Dynasty, Hu Xueyan did not forget his roots.
For the prosperous Hangzhou, Hu Xueyan provided the locals with the Yidu of Qiantang River for free. He also volunteered to collect hundreds of thousands of war relics, set up a porridge factory, repaired famous temples, and donated money to flood and drought areas such as Zhili, Shaanxi, Henan and Shanxi. His donation for disaster relief amounted to 202,000 silver.
In addition, he also helped the Qing court to set up the "Fuzhou Shipping Bureau", which contributed to the left's allocation of military expenditure, the recovery of Xinjiang and the maintenance of the motherland's reunification.
1883, the Sino-French war was overcast again, the left fought again, and Li Hongzhang fought again for peace. Li Hongzhang was afraid that a large amount of funds would flow into the hands of warring factions again, resulting in insufficient sources of funds for the Beiyang Department, so he decided to launch a "left-leaning" offensive. This war is about money and food. If you want to control the Left, you must first abolish the left purse, Hu Xueyan. When Li Hongzhang learned that Hu Xueyan was going to spend huge sums of money to fight raw silk war, he and Sheng Xuanhuai planned to kill Hu Xueyan.
Hu Xueyan himself did not think that he fell into the trap of Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai. Hu Xueyan contacted the local semicolon for purchase, and convenient and quick telegrams were needed everywhere.
Sheng Xuanhuai frequently sent telegrams instructing his men to stop the silk business in Hu Xueyan, and used his personal relationship to call the foreign firm, asking them not to buy Hu Xueyan's silk for the time being. When Hu Xueyan accumulated a large amount of working capital on silk, it happened to pay military expenses, and its financial situation suddenly became stretched.
Just then, Hu Xueyan borrowed a sum of money from HSBC and needed to repay the principal and interest of RMB 802,000. As usual, the money is not for Hu Xueyan's personal use, but borrowed from foreign banks as an intermediary. When he repaid, he came forward to pay for the country, and then the local government made up for it.
Sheng Xuanhuai holds telegraph resources and knows Hu Xueyan's financial situation like the back of his hand. He is keenly aware that the time has come! So he went to Shanghai in person and used Li Hongzhang's official prestige to get Shao Youlian, a platform in Shanghai, to agree to postpone the debt repayment for 20 days.
Hu Xueyan couldn't wait for emergency money, and HSBC, encouraged by Sheng Xuanhuai, began to urge money. Hu Xueyan offended foreign firms and comprador groups by challenging foreigners. At that time, the comprador leader Xi Fuzheng, known as the "Dongting Mountain Gang", was working at HSBC.
Under his plan, no one in Shanghai lent Hu Xueyan money. In desperation, Hu Xueyan had to take out 802,000 silver from his own private property, Fukang Bank, and return it to HSBC first.
By telegraph, every money transfer in Hu Xueyan can't escape Sheng Xuanhuai's eyes. At that time, Hu Xueyan repaid the loan, and Fukang Bank had little cash. So on the one hand, Sheng Xuanhuai asked the familiar gentry to withdraw money from Fukang Bank; On the other hand, by telegraph, with Shanghai as the center, the rumor that "Hu Xueyan's raw silk business suffered a big loss and Fukang Bank was facing bankruptcy" was spread everywhere.
Seeing that a run was about to take shape, Hu Xueyan hurried to Shanghai to urge money, and at the same time sent a telegram back to Beijing, pleading with the left in the military plane for help. Shao Youlian got wind of it and hid out. Hu Xueyan's telegram for help was strictly detained by Sheng Xuanhuai.
Coincided with the Sino-French War and the outbreak of the world economic crisis, the current situation was turbulent, and Hu Xueyan's capital turnover was ineffective, robbing Peter to pay Paul. At the same time, the accumulated silk is sold cheaply, hoping to tide over the difficulties. The man behind is Sheng Xuanhuai.
On the occasion of the collapse of Fukang Group in Hu Xueyan, at the beginning of 1885, the left Chu Army won the title of "Great Victory in the South of Town" in the southwest border. However, Li Hongzhang made a rare exception in the history of world diplomacy, making China "invincible and defeated" and France "victorious" and signing the Sino-French New Testament in favor of France.
The hard-won victory of the Left was actually given to the French by Li Hongzhang. Zuo resentfully said, "For China, ten French generals are not as good as one Li Hongzhang."
The famous Hunan soldier realized that a political plot was coming. Although I want to save Hu Xueyan, it is cruel for Sheng Xuanhuai's economic intrigue and Li Hongzhang's political throne. In a blink of an eye, Hu Xueyan was quickly defeated by a series of runs, dismissals, property raids and looting. In order to preserve our sanity, Zuo can only choose to abandon his pawn and protect his car.
Because in the final analysis, even to the left, Hu Xueyan is just a political banner, that's all.
▲ As a political banner, Hu Xueyan was eventually strangled by various forces.
After more than two years of struggle, the Sino-French War finally ended with 1885, the Qing court was "unbeaten and defeated" and France was "invincible and victorious". Li Hongzhang, who gained the upper hand in the political struggle, deprived his subordinates of military power one by one and eventually became the first minister of Wei Zhenqing.
In July of the 11th year of Guangxu (1September, 885), Zuo, who lost in the political struggle, died in Fuzhou. In the same year, in November of the lunar calendar, Hu Xueyan, who was poor and hated, died of depression.
Before he died, Hu Xueyan called his children to his side and told them:
"White tiger (silver) is terrible!"
The richest man in the empire, at this point, disappeared.