Niu Zihou was not only the richest man in Jilin in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, but also the richest man in Northeast China. His story is familiar to Jilin people, which not only creates a commercial miracle, but more importantly, he is famous for his charity. 1March, 943, Niu Zihou died in Beijing at the age of 77 and was buried in Niujia ancestral grave in Shahezi, Jilin City.

Later, with the war, most of Niujia's industries closed down. So what are the specific assets of Niu Jia? Li Yintang, a Jilin scholar, said that children in Niu Zihou said that even his father could not tell the exact amount of money. But we can look at the scope of Niujia commercial kingdom, including Jilin, Changchun, Harbin, Shenyang, Beijing, Shanghai and more than 300 places all over the country. Therefore, Niu Zihou is a wealthy businessman in the northeast of China.

The business scope of Niujia's "raw capital" is quite extensive, ranging from oil, salt, tobacco, hemp, high-grade department stores, silks and satins, various fabrics, foxes, mink furs, Chinese herbal medicines, porcelain, newspapers and periodicals. Later, it even developed into the financial industry, opening pawnshops and banks.

We also set up a ginseng plantation in Huangnihezi and a gold mine in Laoniugou, Huadian, and we can get 32 taels of gold every day. In the words of Niu Zihou children, "our family has everything except restaurants and fruit shops." .

Niujia's main business firm in Jilin City accounts for about half of Jilin Chengbei Street. The business of cattle families in the Five Dynasties contributed to the development of local economy in Jilin. As the fourth generation descendant of the cattle family in the shipyard, Niu Zihou owned dozens of firms in Jilin City at that time, and traded in major towns in Northeast China. Yuanshengqing is the general number, and the rest are Hengshengqing, semicolon and branch cabinet, with as many as 23 in Jilin.

During Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty, Niu Zihou's great-grandfather Niu Jinyu came to Jilin City. Niu Zihou became a monk at the age of 10 and stayed in the temple for more than a year. At the age of 15, Niu Zihou succeeded his father Niu Hualin in running the family business.

In Qing Dynasty, Helong Street was located at Erdao Wharf (then called Niuzhai Hutong) in Jilin City, which was a mansion in Niu Zihou with hundreds of houses. There is an old house called Xi Building, which is well preserved and has not been demolished many times. Xi Hongyi, the son of an official named Xi, took a fancy to Niu Zihou's daughter. Later, they got married. This community is called Niujia Garden. The house built in Niujia Garden Street was read by Niu Zihou for her daughter.

The old man in the picture below is Niu Shaofei, the great-grandson of Niu Zihou.

(xtm)