Jiangyou Commercial Group was once brilliant, criss-crossing China, leaving deep footprints all over the country. In Huguang, there is a saying that "there is no market without Jiangxi businessmen"; In Yunguichuan, "if you don't live in Jiangyou merchants, you won't live there"; In the Ming Dynasty, there were 4 1 guild halls in Beijing, among which Jiangxi had 14, accounting for 34%, ranking first in all provinces. Zhu Shi, a university student in Jiangxi in the early Qing Dynasty, also said, "Only our hometown has the largest number of clubs. Visible its glory, visible its power!
However, Jiangyou Commercial Group declined. With the development of Qing society, Jiangyou Commercial Group, which was active for nearly 500 years after the Opium War, failed to transform into a modern economy and eventually declined. Time waits for no one, the wheel of the times is rolling forward, and Jiangyou merchants have not caught up with this torrent after all.
Next, let's trace back to the context of the right business gang in Qingjiang from its rise to its loneliness.
"Jiangdong said Jiang Zuo, and Jiangxi said Jiang You. Gai looks from the north of the river, Jiangdong is on the left and Jiangxi is on the right. " Jiangxi businessmen are also called "Jiangyou businessmen".
The rise of Jiangyou commercial gangs can be traced back to the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, due to the brutal rule of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, the Han people in the south were miserable, so they rose up and broke out the famous "Red Scarf Army" peasant uprising in history. In less than a few years, the uprising, like a prairie fire, burned all over southern China. Strategic contradictions quickly turned into internal contradictions in the Rebel Army, among which the confrontation between Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang was the fiercest. After the battle of Poyang Lake, Zhu Yuanzhang finally won.
With the unification of the Ming dynasty, the Ming army invaded Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan, all of which were based in Jiangxi. The Ming army went north to the central plains and marched southwest, and the war continued. Relatively speaking, the war in the southeast has eased and life is relatively calm. Although the Ming Dynasty unified China's military power from Nanking, its military supplies mostly depended on Jiangxi. The soldiers and horses did not move, and the grain and grass went first, so there were Jiangxi businessmen.
With the advance of the Ming army, Jiangxi also began its first large-scale outward expansion in history. During this period, the mighty Jiangyou merchant gangs gradually formed, and quickly flowed to all parts of the country, occupying a broad market, and the ranks and business scope of Jiangxi businessmen also expanded.
Later, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent the invasion of the Japanese, a long-term policy of banning the sea was implemented. Domestic trade, even foreign trade, depends on water. Canal-Yangtze River-Ganjiang River-Beijiang River has become a golden waterway for national trade. This passage is more than 3000 kilometers long, with 1000 kilometers in Jiangxi. This makes Jiangxi in an extremely favorable position in domestic and foreign trade, and provides unprecedented opportunities for the development of Jiangxi economy, especially commodity economy, and the activities of Jiangxi businessmen.
This is the rise of Jiangyou merchants!
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were ten major business gangs in China: Shanxi, Huizhou, Shaanxi, Ningbo, Shandong, Guangdong, Fujian, Dongting, Jiangyou and Longyou. Ganshang (Jiangyou Commercial Gang) rose at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, and quickly entered its heyday. Among them, the most outstanding performance is the Jiangxi Guild Hall all over the country. In Ming Dynasty, there were 4 1 guilds in Beijing, including 14 in Jiangxi, accounting for 34%, ranking first in all provinces. Jiangyou merchants went deep into Huguang, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places, and spread all over major cities and towns. Even in the remote mountainous areas of Miao Zhuang, there are Jiangxi businessmen. They even went deep into the territorial jurisdiction to "levy compensation" on behalf of the government.
Some Jiangxi businessmen settled in the residence of ethnic minorities in Shanzhai, and became chiefs or leaders of local ethnic groups over time.
They attacked the old appearance of feudal isolation and brought new vitality to backward rural areas and closed cottages.
The reason why Jiangxi businessmen can dominate in history and rank among the top ten business gangs in Ming and Qing Dynasties has profound historical background and social reasons.
(1) Hardworking and pioneering. Jiangxi businessmen are mostly children of poor families, and they have developed a hard-working character since childhood. In the process of doing business, they work hard, work hard and keep the house diligently, which has become a common practice. Dongxiang businessmen, "drivers are all over Dayi, far more than Guizhou and Yunnan"; Fengcheng businessmen, "no matter whether Qin Shu and Fujian and Guangdong are harmonious, they all regard suffering as their neighbors"; Linchuan businessmen "live under one roof for four generations, and some abandon their wives and never return." Many Jiangxi businessmen have experienced the hardships of doing business and management, so they can often alienate themselves, eat rough clothes and live a completely clean life. Eight brothers, Yushan businessman Wu Shifa. Merchants are rich in agriculture, so they "don't wander around, and never enter all the scenery of dogs and horses." Qingjiang businessman has been doing business for many years, but his wife Zhang is still "wearing a skirt and hairpin, and his business is still the same as before."
(2) The Imperial Examination was popular and supported by bureaucrats. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, imperial examinations prevailed. Jiangxi people have always respected teachers and valued education, and advocated learning. Every year, there is an endless stream of candidates, and most of them are Jiangxi officials. In the Yuan Dynasty, there were Cheng Jufu, Wu Cheng and Yu Ji; In the Ming Dynasty, there were Huang Wencheng, Yang Shiqi, Yang Pu, Jie Jin, Hu Guang, Hong Fei, Xia Yan, Yan Song, Tan Lun, Kuang Zhong, Shenzhou, Xu Zhenming, Ouyang De, Zou Shouyi and Luo Qinshun. In Qing Dynasty, there were Zhu Shi, Qiu Rixiu, Gan Rulai and Dai Quheng. In the Ming dynasty, the imperial court had the saying that "the official was half Jiangxi", which had great political influence. These bureaucrats are deeply attached to their hometown and attach great importance to their concern and return. They not only protected the status and rights of Jiangxi businessmen in Beijing and other places, but also provided a lot of market information and business opportunities, which stimulated the enthusiasm of Jiangxi people to go out to do business and work to some extent.
(3) Rich products and exquisite skills. Jiangxi is known as "a treasure of things, outstanding people and outstanding people". Jiangxi is rich in products, such as porcelain, tea, paper, grass cloth, rice, medicinal materials, wood and bamboo, tobacco, indigo, coal, tungsten sand and so on. , which not only enriches the material foundation for business prosperity, but also increases the channels and ways of doing business. In the Outline of General History of China, Jane Bozan pointed out: "In the middle of Ming Dynasty, Songjiang in cotton textile industry, Suzhou and Hangzhou in silk industry, Wuhu in pulp and dyeing industry, Jingdezhen in porcelain industry and lead mountain in paper industry were the five major handicraft areas in the south of the Yangtze River." There are two handicraft zones in Jiangxi, which shows the development of handicraft industry. According to the Ming Dynasty's "Lead Book Food", there is only one place in Shitang Town, Qianshan County, which produces more than 4,500 stones every year, of which more than 200 stones are bought by the government for play paper. At that time, there were more than ten kinds of paper produced by Lead Mountain, such as Shi Lian, Raw Edge, Guanshan, Jingchuan, Gongchuan, Dabao, Biaoxin, Jingchuan, Shuce and White Flour. In fact, lead mountain paper was famous all over the world as early as the Yuan Dynasty.
There are many skilled businessmen in Jiangxi, who not only make a living by their own skills, but also make great contributions to the traditional architecture and cultural construction in China. Jianchang (now Yongxiu) craftsman Lei Fada and his descendants are good at architectural design and manufacturing. During the 200-odd years from Kangxi to Style Institute of Beijing Ministry of Industry (so-called Style Lei), the three halls of the Forbidden City, the Yuanmingyuan, the Summer Palace and other royal palaces, gardens, Xiling and other major buildings of the Qing court were all designed and built by the Lei family and recorded in the architectural history of China and even the world.
(4) Pay attention to Judd and honesty. Jiangxi businessmen are honest and trustworthy, and pay attention to professional ethics. They don't sell fake and inferior commodities, and they don't bully the market by raising prices. They also abide by the Confucian moral standards, and put forward a series of moral requirements, such as "being sincere to customers, combining justice with interests", "being kind to money, being fair and trustworthy" and "being genuine and not deceiving children", which are called "honesty". When Zhu Wenchi, a floating beam businessman, manages tea, whenever the new tea he sells expires, he will mark it in the contract of trading with others. Yang Junzhi, a businessman from Qingjiang River, said, "He has been doing business in wuyue, Fujian and Guangdong for more than 20 years. Although the child is not bullied, he will donate money to help him in case of emergency. " Moreover, some families regard business ethics as an important part of family rules and regulations, and require the whole family to abide by it.
(5) The water transportation is developed and the transportation is convenient. As early as the Qin Dynasty, in order to explore southern Xinjiang, Qin Shihuang sent troops to build the Dayuling Post Road connecting Jiangxi and Guangdong, and opened the "Nantian Boundary", so that grain and food supplies could be transported down the southwest along the river, reach Ganzhou, enter Zhangshui, reach Dayuling and land through the post road.
Then enter the Beijiang River along Mianshui and reach Panyu (now Guangzhou). To the north of the Ganjiang River, it passes through Poyang Lake and connects with the Yangtze River, so that Jiangxi materials are sold to major cities on both sides of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Since Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, Jiangxi's timber export has been a big project in commercial trade. Ming Chengzu expanded Beijing, and in the second year of Yongle (AD 1404), he sent Dai Langgu to Jiangxi to buy wood. He entered the Yangtze River through Ganjiang River, Wucheng Lake and Poyang Lake, and went north through the canal. Not only did the wood used to build the ancient capital come from Jiangxi, but the "Style Lei" (Lei Fada) who designed and presided over the construction of the main palace buildings in Beijing also came from Jiangxi. Convenient transportation has created extremely favorable conditions for Jiangxi businessmen to go out to do business and transport goods, and it is also the location advantage for Jiangxi businessmen to develop. Therefore, "Jiujiang is based on the upper class, and people tend to be profitable; South, Rao, and Guangxin are better than Jian and Yuan, so as to benefit more; And Switzerland, Pro and Ji 'an are especially rich; The ancient forests in the south and Jiangxi are deep, and real businessmen enter important areas of Guangdong. "
(6) Jiangxi fills Huguang and Huguang fills Sichuan's aftermath. In the early Ming Dynasty, in order to fill the shortage of population in Hunan and Hubei provinces, a large number of people in Jiangxi Province moved to Hunan and Hubei, and a few moved to Yunnan and Guizhou. Influenced by traditional rural relations, Jiangxi businessmen are particularly good at doing business in these places, and homesickness makes people who move out miss their hometown more, which gives birth to the demand for such trade.
After the movie war, Jiangyou business gang gradually declined after 500 years of activity. Jiangyou business gang has experienced multiple blows, such as shrinking group, abandoning business and returning to agriculture, commercialization, shrinking business capital, shrinking business area and declining reputation, and lost its former glory.
Three plus one, the reasons for the decline of Jiangyou commercial gangs
There are many reasons for the decline of Jiangyou commercial gangs, including social progress, intensified market competition, government's suppression of commerce and internal factors of Jiangyou commercial gangs:
1, the national economic structure changes, and Jiangxi's economic status weakens. With the adjustment of a series of policies of the Ming and Qing governments, the past "golden channel" of logistics no longer exists, and the economic development of coastal areas and northern economic zones centered on Beijing has gradually accelerated, and the economic strength of provinces has surpassed that of Jiangxi. Jiangxi's economic status has weakened. Especially after the Opium War, the economic development in coastal areas accelerated, and people who surpassed Jiangxi benefited the public. Due to historical reasons, Jiangxi is still crawling on the track of feudal economy. As a result, the economic foundation on which Jiangyou commercial gangs depend for survival has been fundamentally shaken, and therefore, Jiangyou commercial gangs are no longer brilliant. The structure of Jiangyou business gang gradually became loose, and it was difficult to find it in the national economy and trade later.
2. Jiangyou merchants from other provinces are registered locally, which weakens the strength of Jiangyou merchants. Jiangyou business gang rose in Jiangxi refugee movement. In the early days, Jiangyou businessmen from other places still had "unchanging local accent and deep homesickness"; With the passage of time, the refugees of Jiangyou merchants have lived in the countryside for a long time. They accepted the local traditional culture, were assimilated by the local people, and gradually lost contact with Jiangyou merchants. There are even a large number of descendants of Jiangyou merchants who cut off their economic ties with Jiangxi, became local residents and integrated into the local social and economic life. Because of their geographical relationship, most of them joined the local business gangs. This directly strengthened the strength of other business gangs and weakened the competitiveness of Jiangyou business gangs.
3. The business concept of Jiangyou businessmen has not changed with the development of society. Jiangyou commercial gangs rose and developed in time, but their business philosophy has not completely jumped out of the thinking mode of "supplementing agriculture with business and supporting at the end of capital". At that time, Jiangxi, like the whole country, was still surrounded by small-scale peasant economy, and farmers engaged in trade activities in the form of small-scale operation. It can be seen that a large number of Jiangyou businessmen are still deeply influenced by the concept of "agriculture is the basis of business" and regard business as a supplement to agriculture. In the village, people respect officials and scholars and think that they can honor their ancestors; And despise merchants.
4. The commercial capital of Jiangyou merchants failed to expand and transform. "Jiangyou has many poor people". Jiangyou business gangs have the characteristics of scattered capital and many small enterprises, and the original self-employed capital is less. In the process of human birth and reproduction, due to the division of family, the analysis of family property is inevitable. After the teachers and students finished their children, the small capital of Jiangyou merchants was divided into smaller ones and gradually lost their qualifications as commercial capital. Jiangyou business gang is the product of Jiangxi refugee movement. Small business, the original capital has not been fully accumulated. At the time when Jiangyou merchants were brilliant, Jiangyou merchants made a certain profit and "started a big business with a small business". However, Jiangyou businessmen did not invest the profits they earned in trade to expand their operating capital. The investment direction of Jiangyou businessmen is mostly biological investment and social investment, and there is little industrial investment; According to statistics, among them, living investment accounts for 20%, social investment accounts for nearly 80%, and industrial investment is only insufficient.
If you don't obey the market rules and violate the principle of good faith, you will be punished. Different from the merchants in the Jin Dynasty, Jiangyou merchants offered sacrifices to the God of Wealth and Guan Yu, United with righteousness, valued "family morality" and accumulated "family morality". Although most Jiangyou businessmen pay attention to credibility, there are also a few Jiangyou businessmen who operate unethically and treat market rules as a joke, let alone fair trade. The disaster brought by this behavior to Jiangyou merchants is devastating. It is said in the city that "southerners cheat more", and the behavior of unscrupulous businessmen in Jiangyou was condemned and attracted attacks. Later, some businessmen simply refused to do business with Jiangyou businessmen in order to avoid harm. The government has also taken measures to prohibit Jiangyou businessmen from entering some places for trade and restrict their commercial activities. Jiangyou Commercial Group was collectively punished for a few illegal businessmen's violation of market rules, and its market space was suppressed.
6. The mode of operation is consistent with that of the commercial industry. There are a large number of businessmen in Jiangyou who "open a big hole with small business". For more than 500 years, the vast majority of Jiangyou businessmen have adopted the mode of individual operation. "Men go out and their wives keep the house; Father and brother go out, old and weak. " It is the basic division of family business of most Jiangyou businessmen. From the perspective of feudal commodity economy, this structure was still possible when the feudal commodity economy was underdeveloped. With the development of economy, especially the appearance of modern capitalist economy, the management mode of Jiangyou businessmen is still stagnant in individual small-scale operation, and "many people in the south cheat" makes Jiangyou businessmen unable to trust each other and gather capital. Small business is not easy to do. For a long time, in the vicious circle, small-scale operating costs have not been effectively reduced, and even losses have occurred, and Jiangyou businessmen have gradually lost their market competitiveness.
8. Market competition has intensified. After the Opium War, China was forced to open its doors. With the invasion of foreign forces, the competition in the domestic market has intensified. Jiangxi, living in the hinterland of China, is closed and slow to accept new things. Jiangyou businessmen failed to accept new ideas, change their investment concepts, actively explore the market and participate in competition like Ningbo businessmen. Jiangyou businessmen still follow the old business model and fail to accept new ideas and take effective measures in time, so they are repeatedly frustrated in market competition.
In a word, Jiangyou merchants have experienced glory, and it is a great thing to maintain prosperity for 500 years. Although it did not withstand the impact of modernization in the end, it eventually declined. However, Jiang's enterprising spirit of hard struggle, harmonious and win-win cooperation, Confucian businessman's spirit of taking profits as righteousness, his spirit of studying and practicing hard, his harmonious spirit of childlike innocence, his brave spirit of war, his steady and pragmatic spirit and ambitious enterprising spirit are all worth learning from all future businessmen.
But at the same time, in the 500-year historical process, due to the failure to respect the laws of the market, follow the social progress and keep up with the historical pace, it eventually declined under the suppression and competition of many parties, which is worth learning from the experience and lessons of Jiangxi businessmen in later generations.
Jiangxi has a long history and culture, including the most active entrepreneurial culture in China created by Jiangyou Commercial Group. For example, the place names of porcelain capital and medicine capital recorded the industrial and commercial civilization with regional characteristics, and the hegemonic position of Jiangyou merchants in Ming and Qing Dynasties also reflected their entrepreneurial spirit and outstanding achievements. The quantity and quality of entrepreneurs in a country or region largely determine the entrepreneurial level and economic competitiveness of a country or region. It should be said that there is not much change between Jiangxi people now and Jiangxi people in the past. All the characteristics of Jiangyou merchants in those days still exist in Jiangxi people. Modern Jiangxi businessmen have more open minds, more advanced ideas, broader horizons, richer knowledge, more outstanding courage and more fearless spirit than their predecessors. Their diligence, thrift, honesty and pragmatism will become excellent genes in the blood of modern Jiangxi businessmen.
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