Liu Jin (1452- 15 10), the richest man in the Ming Dynasty, was a eunuch, and his huge wealth naturally came from corruption and bribery. When Liu Jin was finally executed for treason, he found that his family property was 6.5438+0.2 million taels of gold and 2.5900 million taels of silver. When the Ming Dynasty perished, the entire national treasury had only 30 million taels of silver! "
The assets of Xiao Shenyang, a corrupt official in the Qing Dynasty, are more than ten times the annual fiscal revenue of the imperial court, equivalent to 360 billion yuan!
Song Ziwen, the richest man in one of the four families in the Republic of China, is a typical mixture of officials and businessmen. The exact amount of his assets is a great mystery.
According to Hong Kong media articles, not long ago, The Wall Street Journal published 1000 the 50 richest people in the world. Among them, China has six people, namely Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Liu Jin, Xiao Shenyang, Wu Bingjian and Song Ziwen. I don't know if the statistics of foreigners are accurate, but it is an indisputable fact that these six people are as rich as an enemy. Trace how they became the "richest man"? It may be meaningful for today.
First place Genghis Khan
We are all familiar with Genghis Khan, the founding monarch of Mongolia (1 162- 1227). It goes without saying that his army was brutal and cruel, massacring residents on a large scale and destroying the town of Tian She. Genghis Khan's wealth is mainly trophies-5 million square kilometers of land, including China, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Vietnam, Russia, North Korea and other countries, which is probably the reason why Genghis Khan was selected as the richest man in history.
Second place Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, 1260 was in the great Khan position, and the title was established. After four years of family civil war, it won on 1264 and moved its capital to Yanjing (Beijing). In A.D. 127 1 year, Yuan Shizu established the Yuan Dynasty. He inherited his grandfather's assets-a lot of land, countless gold and jewels. He built the most luxurious palace in the world in Beijing, and Kyle Poirot marveled at the luxury of his summer palace. How much wealth did Kublai Khan have? I'm afraid it's difficult to clarify the parties in the wall street journal.
Liu Jin, the third eunuch
The richest man, Liu Jin (1452- 15 10), was a eunuch in the Ming Dynasty, and his huge wealth naturally came from corruption and bribery. When Liu Jin was finally executed for treason, he found that his family property was 6.5438+0.2 million taels of gold and 2.5900 million taels of silver. When the Ming Dynasty perished, the entire national treasury had only 30 million taels of silver!
Liu Jin, whose real name is Tan, was adopted by eunuch Liu Shun at the age of six and later became a palace eunuch. He changed his surname to Liu and served the prince, later known as Ming Wuzong. With the little emperor's luck, have it both ways, and people are very observant, he rose all the way and climbed to the throne of the eunuch. Liu Jin rejected dissidents and framed Zhongliang, and most honest officials in the DPRK were persecuted by him. He lured Wu Zong to indulge in luxurious life and took the opportunity to specialize in state affairs. At that time, it was called "Li Di", and Wu Zong was called "Sitting Emperor". The "emperor" was finally executed in the middle of the year and chopped into pieces, which answered the old saying that "many lines of injustice will kill him."
Small Shenyang, the fourth favorite.
The "richest man" Xiao Shenyang (1750- 1799), who appeared hundreds of years later, was a minister of the Qing dynasty and a super greedy person. At the age of 22, Xiao Shenyang became the bodyguard of Gan Long. With his handsome and sweet words, he soon became the emperor's confidant and married the princess. Because Xiao Shenyang is good at catering, he understands and caters to Gan Long's psychology of complacency, exultation, flattery, complacency and self-styled monarch in his later years. He acted according to his own will and was good at collecting money for the emperor to enjoy, so he was particularly prized and became the only confidant and agent of Emperor Ganlong. Small Shenyang, which is in power, can easily get the treasure of the state treasury and dare to collect huge military salaries. 1799 Gan Long died, and the new emperor brought him to justice and executed him in the strong voice of "impeaching Xiao Shenyang" by his ministers. Today, Beijing still has the Little Shenyang Mansion, the Gongwangfu in Houhai, Beijing, which contains a "treasure house". It is said that the gold and silver treasures, celebrity calligraphy and paintings, and Qiu wares copied from here in those years were actually equivalent to 900 million taels of silver (at that time, the court's fiscal revenue was only over 70 million taels of silver a year), and there were only 4,288 gold bricks. According to the current opening price of silver, it is equivalent to RMB 360 billion!
Wu Bingjian, the fifth richest man in commerce and trade.
Wu Bingjian (1769- 1843) is not well known. He is completely different from the first four. He is the only China person who has become the "first" by virtue of business. Wu Bingjian's father is one of the few China businessmen who are allowed to trade silk and porcelain with foreigners. Wu Bingjian took over his father's business at the age of 20. As a professional businessman, he lent a lot of silver dollars to foreign businessmen in exchange for shipping. His huge wealth came from import and export and banking. At that time, the Qing government closed its doors and only reserved Guangzhou as a foreign trade port. At that time, the "Thirteen Lines" in Guangzhou was the only legal "Special Foreign Trade Zone" in China, and Wu Bingjian was the big boss of the "Thirteen Lines".
The monopoly position of foreign trade, coupled with the hard work of hong merchants, made the thirteenth bank prosper rapidly. The annual tariff revenue of the Qing government from the thirteen lines rose from the initial several hundred thousand to one million and two thousand, and the thirteen lines were gradually called "Tianzi Nanku". Therefore, a number of world-class wealthy businessmen were created, including Wu Bingjian, the richest man in the world at that time.
Although Wu Bingjian had a grudge against Lin Zexu, he was a philanthropist. He gave generously to other countries during the Opium War, and his reputation spread far and wide. He was once the largest creditor of the British East India Company, and Wu Bingjian's portrait is still hanging in the conference room of the East India Company.
However, neither the fortune of 26 million taels of silver nor the top hat of the three products can let him settle down in the cracks between the Qing Dynasty and the European and American powers, let alone prevent the war and the decline of the Qing Dynasty.
Song Ziwen, the sixth richest man in the Republic of China.
Song Ziwen (1894- 197 1), the richest man in the Republic of China, is a typical mixture of officials and businessmen. Song Ziwen was born in a wealthy family and graduated from the Economics Department of Harvard University. With the help of the marriage relationship between the Song family and Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek, Song engaged in various financial transactions in front of the big shots of the National Government. Song Ziwen once provided revolutionary funds for his brother-in-law, Sun Yat-sen, who founded the Central Bank and successively served as finance minister, executive yuan minister, foreign minister and ambassador to the United States of the Kuomintang. Since the establishment of the Nanjing National Government, Song Ziwen has used its privileges ... to develop bureaucratic capital. First, control the central bank, the Bank of China and other financial institutions, plunder wealth by issuing currency, bonds, inflation and other means, and then collect money by setting up cotton companies and monopolizing foreign trade. He made a fortune during his stay in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and after the war, he accepted the puppet industries and accumulated huge wealth. He is a typical representative of the bureaucratic bourgeoisie in China.
Song Ziwen once bought most of his assets in foreign stocks, including the blue chips of General Motors, and made a windfall! He used his privilege to develop bureaucratic capital with ease, and he was called "four big families" with Chiang Kai-shek, Kong Xiangxi and Chen Lifu. Before the liberation of the mainland, a lot of property was transferred under Song's name, and his family also opened the Guangdong Bank in the United States. According to the investigation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the property of the Song family is about 600 million dollars. Another report said that Song Ziwen, who lived in the United States in his later years, was still trading stocks, but suffered heavy losses. In order to make up the deficit, he mortgaged his mansion on Fifth Avenue for $280,000. When Song Zai 197 1 died, his property was only 1 more than ten thousand dollars. Today, how much property Song Ziwen actually owns is still controversial, and it is difficult to draw a conclusion.