I beat animals and picked up debris in the courtyard of the heavens

Chapter 212

This time he wanted to take stock of the top ten super-rich people in history who were as rich as any other country. Later, after doing some calculations, he found that he could add five more, and finally became the top fifteen super-rich people in history who were as rich as other countries.

Because of the material library, He Yuzhu could easily find various materials of these 15 people. After some editing, the second inventory was completed without much time.

After he uploaded it, he went to bed directly.

But this inventory has caused an uproar in countless historical dynasties!

No.15 Wu Bingjian, also known as Wu Dunyuan, was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong. He was a businessman from Guangzhou Shisanhang in the Qing Dynasty and a native of Guangzhou. In 2001, the US "Wall Street Journal" counted the 1000 richest people in the world in the past 50 years. Wu Bingjian is one of them.In the 6th year of Daoguang, Wu Bingjian's private assets reached 14 million silver dollars.

Speaking of Wu Bingjian's wealth, it was due to Qianlong's decree. In the 22nd year of Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty ordered the implementation of a closed-door policy, and only kept Guangzhou as a foreign trade port.This major historical event directly promoted the Guangzhou Thirteen Banks to become the only legal "foreign trade special zone" at that time, which brought huge business opportunities to the merchants.In the following 100 years, the Guangdong Thirteen Banks actually provided 40% of the customs revenue to the Qing government.

Among the Thirteen Banks, Jardine Bank was founded by Wu Bingjian, and it was also because of this Jardine Bank that he became the richest man in the world at that time!
Speaking of Wu Bingjian, we have to talk about the historical events of Humen's smoking ban and the national hero Lin Zexu's ban on smoking in Guangdong, which are the "Humen's smoking ban" and the first Opium War.There is a villain named "Wu Shaorong". He is an unscrupulous businessman who does not hesitate to harm the national interests, is only interested in profit, and colludes with "foreigners" to resell opium to the country.

And this person is a descendant of Wu Bingjian, who is the third owner of "Yihe Bank", the largest of the thirteen banks in Guangdong.

Wu Bingjian's father worked as a bookkeeper in the home of Pan Zhencheng, the richest man in Guangdong, in his early years, and later he began to participate in the operation of a company called "Yuan Shunxing".Before Wu Guoying's death, she handed over the business to her son Wu Bingjun. After Wu Bingjun took over, he formally established "Jardine House", but Wu Bingjun died young at the age of 35 due to illness, so his younger brother Wu Bingjian and In 1801, he began to take charge of "Jardine House", engaged in foreign trade, dealing in silk, tea and porcelain.

In 1757, the Qing Dynasty ordered the closure of the country and reserved Guangzhou as a port for foreign trade. This provided them with huge business opportunities, making the Guangdong Thirteen Banks monopolize the Qing Dynasty's maritime foreign trade and became a group of sudden wealth.Wu Bingjian took advantage of this good opportunity at the right time and place to fully demonstrate his talent in business.Wu Bingjian is bold, careful and far-sighted in doing business. While operating foreign trade, he also owns real estate, real estate, tea gardens, shops, etc. in China.At the beginning, Wu Bingjian mainly did business with British businessmen. Later, Americans got rid of the shackles of British businessmen and came to the Qing Dynasty to directly do business with Qing Dynasty people. However, the Qing Dynasty businessmen at that time did not understand Americans and dared not do business with them. In business, only Wu Bingjian has the courage to deal with Americans and has established a good business reputation.

Although the late Qing government was decadent and declining, and implemented a closed-door policy, Wu Bingjian was indeed a very smart and far-sighted businessman. His awareness of business and financial management was extremely advanced. While doing foreign trade, he was also the largest creditor of the British East India Company. And boldly invested in the construction of railways in the United States, conducted securities transactions and even set foot in the insurance business. In today's terms, it should be a veritable transnational commercial financial investment consortium.

Wu Bingjian is a collaborator with a good reputation in the eyes of Westerners and is generous.It is said that once a businessman from Boston, USA, made a business deal with Wu Bingjian. Due to bad luck, he failed to manage the business well, resulting in a huge loss. Not only did he lose his capital, he also owed Wu Bingjian 7 million silver dollars. When Wu Bingjian learned about this, So he called the American over and said to him: "You are my number one 'old friend'. You are the most honest person. Being in debt now is just bad luck."

After he finished speaking, he asked someone to take out the IOU, tore it up in front of the American, and told him that the accounts were settled, and you can go back to the United States at any time.

Although Wu Bingjian is very rich, 7 silver dollars is quite a huge sum of money!This kind of generosity has made Wu Bingjian's reputation famous in the United States for half a century. In 2, according to the conservative estimates of the Wu family, their property was 1843 million silver dollars, while the richest man in the United States at that time was only 2800 million US dollars. Until 700, John Jacob Astor, the richest man in the United States, passed away. It's only 1848 million US dollars.Being the richest man in the United States is all due to doing business with Wu Bingjian of the Qing Dynasty.

But for a businessman in the period of the decline of the feudal dynasty, the huge wealth accumulated by the Wu family will not last long.Just when Wu Bingjian's business and financial investment reached their peak, crisis and misfortune also quietly came. In June 1840, the Opium War broke out. Judging from historical data, "Jardine House" was engaged in serious business. Tea and silk were the main businesses, and no opium business was ever done.However, some foreign businessmen, guaranteed by the Wu family, smuggled opium in the imported goods in order to make huge profits.Therefore, Wu Bingjian was reprimanded many times by the imperial envoy Lin Zexu. The Wu family could not be offended by both ends. The government donated huge sums of money for safety.

When the main combat faction represented by Lin Zexu in the Qing Dynasty went to war with Britain, Wu Bingjian took the lead in donating money to repair forts and cast cannons. However, the corrupt and incompetent late Qing government still failed to defeat the British strong ships and cannons. August 1842, 8 , the British warship "Gao Huali" moored on the Xiaguan River in Nanjing signed the "Nanjing Treaty" that ceded land, paid compensation, forfeited power and humiliated the country. At this time, Wu Bingjian had completely lost confidence in the Qing government. Wu Bingjian, who was over 29 years old, sincerely sighed: "I would rather be a dog than be the head of a commercial bank."Even the world's richest man, who is incomparably rich, still has too many impossibilities and helplessness. In September 300, Wu Bingjian, the richest man in the world, came to the end of his life and died suddenly at the age of 100.

One of the "Treaty of Nanjing" is "Five-port Trade". As a result, Guangdong Thirteen Bank lost its advantage of monopolizing foreign trade and gradually went downhill. Many commercial banks were unable to continue to operate under the pressure of the late Qing government and went bankrupt one after another.

After the outbreak of the Second Opium War, the Shisanhang, which made things worse, was caught in a fire. According to the memory of the person concerned, the silver that was burnt by the fire flowed out two or three kilometers away. Existed, "Thirteen Lines", a once prosperous foreign trade port, sadly withdrew from the stage of history.

(End of this chapter)