Ye Chengzhong can be regarded as a typical first generation Shanghainese. Like our ancestors, he is from Zhenhai, Ningbo, and his family is very poor. He came to Shanghai out of sheer necessity. At the age of six, Ye's father died, and her mother was widowed, with only a few acres of barren land, and her livelihood was difficult. At the age of nine, he entered a local private school, studied for two years, and became an apprentice in the local oil mill. Three years have passed, and this life in the oil mill is also very hard. Introduced by relatives, I came to Shanghai to work as an apprentice in a grocery store in the French Concession.
With the increasingly busy ocean trade, a Maituo Road (Machang Road here is now Liyang Road) has been formed near Hongkou Wharf of Huangpu River, where Ye Chengzhong works in a grocery store. The shops on Macteau Road mainly supplement food, maintain and provide fresh water for foreign ships. As a result, Ye Chengzhong, who is 0/4 years old at/kloc-,shakes a sampan every day and sells goods to ocean-going seafarers. Ye Chengzhong was told not to shake the sampan. In order to make a living, he told his boss that I would shake the sampan and let him take him in. He secretly learned to rock the boat in Pidgin, then gradually exercised, and finally he could rock it to the Huangpu River and finally to Wusongkou.
Apprenticeship has taught Xiao Ye a lot. Three years later, he had a little savings, so he bought a sampan with two silver cymbals, which was a turning point for him. Because he felt that he was doing it for others, he suffered a lot and didn't earn anything. Ye Chengzhong, a young man, comes to Huangpu River in the wind and goes in the rain every day, but he can barely eat and wear, doing business with foreign sailors and paying the agency fee for translation. He found that business would be much easier if he could speak English and do business directly with foreigners.
At that time, when a foreigner came to Shanghai to do business with China people, he was sure to learn Chinese, but mainly Shanghainese. Similarly, if China people want to do business with foreigners, they must know the customs, habits and systems of foreigners, and more importantly, the language. Therefore, in the concession of Shanghai, a mixed language of Chinese and English was formed. Because there is a river in Shanghai called Pidgin, which is now Yan 'an East Road. So this language is also called "Pidgin". Ye Chengzhong's education level is not high, so he usually studied through some channels at that time. At that time, Shanghai published Annotations on English Dialects, which was annotated in Ningbo dialect, which was more convenient for Ye Chengzhong to learn. So, at the Huangpu River pier at that time, you can see a China coolie rocking a sampan, carrying an English annotation annotated in Ningbo dialect with him, reading silently from time to time, and always taking foreign sailors as a good target for his oral practice. . . As a result, Ye Chengzhong's English level has advanced by leaps and bounds. Finally, through his own efforts and deliberate exercise, Ye Chengzhong can use pidgin English instead of colonial language to communicate with ordinary foreigners.
It is said that opportunities always favor those who are prepared, even if he is a diaosi. One day, the manager of a foreign company went to the other side by Ye Chengzhong's sampan. As a result, one of his wallets was left on the boat. After Ye found out, he stayed on the boat and waited on the shore for a long time, and didn't return the bag to him until the foreign manager hurried back. Yang Jingli thinks he is honest. When I return to Puxi, I will take him to a foreign firm and tell him that I will promise you such a request: whenever you come to me for help, I will always provide you with a help. "
The foreign manager hoped that this honest young man would stay in his foreign firm to do business, but Ye Chengzhong refused, and he decided to run his familiar hardware industry. At that time, there were a lot of foreign ships coming in and out of Shanghai every day, so ships entering Hong Kong could not go ashore directly. Some daily necessities needed on board are often traded and exchanged through these sampans. The most common way is to make a list on the ship, which lists some daily necessities needed on the ship, including vegetables, fish, meat, eggs and other daily necessities. The sampans will buy them according to this list. At the same time, these sampans also buy some items from the sailors on board. For example, waste parts of machinery, waste steel, marine ropes, paints, oil brushes and other things, including some canned food and so on. This kind of business has formed a package deal, which was called "private rudder" according to Pidgin English at that time.
Although Ye Chengzhong is still rocking the sampan on the Huangpu River, he is beginning to be a man of heart. He traded food, fresh water and other things for hardware with the sailors on board. Then I took the hardware to the shore and sold it, and started this business of making two-way profits. Two years later, he decided to open his own hardware store. He found the foreign manager and asked him for help. The foreign manager kept his promise, introduced him to the land on Daming Road (he later opened Shunji Hardware Store) and gave him a sum of money to start a business. Ye Chengzhong is also very cautious. He considered whether the foreign manager wanted to take a stake. The foreign manager told him, "I lent you this money completely." As for waiting for you to be developed, just pay me back. "
1862 In the first year of Tongzhi, Empress Dowager Cixi began to listen to politics, and Ye Chengzhong opened Shunji Hardware Store on Broadway in Shanghai, which was the first store in Shanghai and even the whole country to handle imported hardware products. This industry is also a new industry, and few people do it, so it became more and more developed later. This is an opportunity, and Ye Chengzhong seized it. "Shunji" developed slowly, while Ye Chengzhong made steady progress. Later, he opened a "New Shun Ji" in Shanghai. Later, a hardware street was opened on Beijing Road adjacent to Nanjing Road. Then, he expanded his business to other places and opened 18 semicolons in Hankou and other places. In the Shili foreign exchange, the famous building of "king of hardware" gradually rang, and the coolie who shook the sampan in those days has now become a big boss.
Ye Chengzhong lived in the old Shunji all his life, because the old Shunji was the first enterprise he founded, and later it developed to a large scale, and his capital reached1200,000 yuan. (Lao Shunji) is also the decision-making body that he manages all enterprises. He lives in the old' Shunji' and has dignity. The guys below will not be lazy. It is said that your majesty is full. For example, when he is eating New Year's Eve dinner, he should rank first. The manager of the semicolon, the person who makes the most money sits next to him, and the person who loses money sits opposite him. This man is going to be fired.
? There are many kinds of hardware products with complex specifications, and the varieties operated by each store have their own emphasis, so it is impossible to equip them all. How does the hardware store respond to the package requirements issued by customers? Ye Chengzhong established interbank lending with his kindness and strength, and this management has even continued to this day and has been used for reference by other industries.
This kind of inter-bank lending is actually a cooperative mode similar to the computer parts assembly machine sold in the shops in the computer city Bainaohui. Simply put, it is a shop that undertakes business, and can borrow money from the same industry, and the same industry will increase its profit by 5% according to the purchase price. The 5% profit will be divided equally between the two stores. The price that customers get is the market price. So it is very convenient for customers. It is through the cooperation of this industry that the hardware industry can make small capital do big business. Looking at this model today, isn't it the so-called "crowdsourcing"? Ha ha.
Ye Chengzhong first engaged in the hardware industry. He is the first leader and has a large scale, so the rules he set are the rules of the hardware industry. He is a leader in the industry, so he has made many rules, and the hardware industry will basically follow the rules in the future. Interbank lending has taken care of the whole industry. Ye Chengzhong's "Shunji" has always lent money to others at low prices and never borrowed money from others. The hardware king persuaded his colleagues.
After the opening of the port, western goods poured in from Shanghai port. Ye Chengzhong's experience in Shanghai is full of competition and opportunities, which is expected to expand his business scope. 1870, after fierce competition, Ye Chengzhong successfully rejected the German "sustainable" maintenance bank, continued to operate, and changed its name to "sustainable". This became the earliest firm in Shanghai to import coal and iron, and the first firm in China to operate the iron and steel industry. After Ye Chengzhong took over, he mainly engaged in coal and iron, and his customers were just emerging national industrial factories as the main sales customers. At that time, there was no large-scale competition in this industry, so the operation was relatively smooth. With his vision, Ye Chengzhong successfully found a "blue ocean" behind hardware.
With the development of the city and the prosperity of ports and docks, Ye Chengzhong's coal and iron business is getting more and more prosperous, and Ye Chengzhong is getting richer and richer. Full of confidence in the city of Shanghai, Ye Chengzhong has bought a lot of real estate, and the continuous rise in land prices has made Ye Chengzhong richer. After making money, he didn't forget the poor, because his family was poor in the past, so he went to run a village of righteousness himself. According to my understanding, Yizhuang is a place similar to a community center. There are schools, public fields, ancestral halls and other places for nearby residents to gather and study)
187 1 year, Ye Chengzhong returned to his hometown of Zhenhai, Ningbo, and founded Yizhuang, where he started a school for his children's enlightenment. The poor boy who went to the seaside alone came back. Standing on Yizhuang Bridge, what do you think of Ye Cancheng? What can wealthy businessmen do in the face of China people's domestic troubles and foreign invasion, poverty and weakness, and building bridges and paving the way for running schools?
Ten miles of foreign markets, Shanghai shopping malls are unpredictable. With the completion of the industrial revolution in the world powers, new energy began to impact the China market, with Shanghai Port bearing the brunt. In the 1980s of 19, a large number of petroleum and refined petroleum products were exploited in Rockefeller Financial Group, USA. In the early days of petroleum, we mainly talked about kerosene. This kerosene can be burned for lighting, and a considerable part of it is used for lighting. So Rockefeller spent a lot of energy to open the China market in the early days. 1870, Rockefeller founded Mobil oil company. Ten years later, Mobil entered Shanghai. However, Mobil was attacked by British and Russian oil companies when its foothold was unstable. Faced with the complicated local forces and chaotic street measurement system in China, Mobil is at a loss. Finally, Mobil found Ye Chengzhong.
Ye was very calm and didn't agree immediately. He first made it clear to Mobil that Asian oil companies and Texaco oil companies also wanted to find agents in China. As a result, Mobil oil company was afraid that Ye Chengzhong would be hired as an agent by two other oil companies, so the commission was particularly high.
At that time, the commission of oil companies was generally 20%. Ye Chengzhong asked Mobil to give him 25%, and Ye Chengzhong should also give priority to the returned funds. Mobil actually accepted all this. Of course, Ye Chengzhong, who can speak English, has designed many good ideas for Mobil, which are suitable for China people. Practice has proved that these suggestions are very successful.
? One of the most famous examples is Ye Chengzhong's suggestion that Mobil re-produce a "new oil lamp", which is small in size, with little oil and almost the same luminosity, which is most in line with the mentality of China people. Then, he made the following suggestion to Mobil: If people buy a box of oil, you should attach a lamp with a glass lampshade on it. This glass lampshade is so thin that it was accidentally damaged. Without this glass lampshade, the burning light will be lost a lot. So Ye Chengzhong thought that as long as the broken glass lampshade was still there, he could replace it with a new one for free. Also on the packaging, he suggested that Rockefeller Company change private use into small packaging. According to the name of old Shanghai, this kind of package called "Listen to it" weighs about 30 kilograms each. In an ordinary family, it is no problem to use it for one year. In addition, we know that in Europe, the fuel tank is basically thrown away or recycled after use, while in China, if the fuel tank is cut in half, it is a good garbage dustpan. Therefore, it is cost-effective. The farmer thought, since I lit the lamp, the price is not expensive, the room is much brighter, and there are two more garbage dustpans. What's wrong with that? As a result, the number of people who bought oil expanded a lot, and many farmers who didn't buy oil began to buy oil lamps. This example is not a so-called customized product, nor is it a so-called Internet thinking routine.
Using the long-established channel of Shunji, Ye Chengzhong used Shanghai Hongkou Wharf to continuously sell Mobil kerosene to the mainland of China. Smooth sales channels, but also use Ye Chengzhong to quickly withdraw funds for short-term investment. During the exclusive agency period of 10, no one can tell how much money Ye Chengzhong earned. In addition, he also operated insurance and money houses, and invested in China Commercial Bank, the first modern bank in China. He and Hua Dong are one of the nine directors of the Ministry of Industry. He changed from a commoner to a gentleman.
With the prosperity of Shanghai Port and the development of urban public welfare undertakings such as running water and electric lights, the demand for hardware is increasing. Ye Chengzhong, who started with hardware, never slackened off. No matter how many luxury houses have been built at home, no matter how loud the title of "King of Hardware" is, he still lives in the old "Shunji" and actively manages it. 1884, when the Sino-French war was on the verge, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and Fuzhou Shipping Bureau ordered coal from Ye Chengzhong to prepare for the war. Ye Chengzhong immediately transported the coal to Fuzhou Shipping Bureau by "Shunshun", and bought a ship of French coal at a large price, which was supplied to Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, which made the big businessman quite puzzled and lost money.
He lost money in business, and his family asked him, you lost money in business. Why do you want to do business at a loss this time? He said: "If you lose money, you will lose money. Compensation is for better development in the future and making more money. " Later, according to statistics, the total amount of coal he sent was about 5,000 tons. This loss is quite big. But Ye Chengzhong just feels that our own private enterprises, which use coal, can't make this money. In fact, I'm afraid there is another meaning. It was through enterprises such as Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau that he opened up relations with government-run industries in China.
When the Sino-French War broke out, China won great victories in Zhennanguan and Liangshan, and Ye Chengzhong made great contributions to the coal industry. Unexpectedly, the Qing government made peace as a winner and signed a traitorous treaty. Ye Chengzhong was saddened. China is weak because of poverty, poverty because of ignorance, and ignorance because of not learning. Therefore, the benefits of prosperous times are nothing more than the study of prosperous times.
1899, Ye Chengzhong's 60th birthday. He made a decision to take out a piece of 24 mu of land in Hongkou and invest 65,438+200,000 to build a school. Ye Chengzhong will set up a class-teaching school-Chengzhimeng School, which is exactly the same as foreign schools, so that children in China can receive education. He personally drafted the earliest textbook for the dream of success school. What Ye Chengzhong wrote is actually a businessman's dream of becoming a powerful country. The school broke ground. However, Ye Chengzhong suddenly fell ill and died soon. Only his bronze statue witnessed the completion of the school.
When I made a bronze statue, I didn't pay attention at first, so I made a brocade robe. His descendants saw it and said, our grandfather has never worn this kind of cloth robe. Of course it won't be patched, but there is no satin. Here is a birthday word, which is worn by officials. Ye Chengzhong is not such a person. Ye Chengzhong is very simple to himself. Chengzhong Middle School is the first public school funded by wealthy businessmen in China. Before Ye Chengzhong died, he made special arrangements for Chengzhimeng School for fear that Ye Jia's descendants would break the contract. Children and grandchildren can't manage the school, and the school has another board of directors to manage the school. The school has a board of directors, led by the board of directors, a supervision Committee that supervises the board of directors, and a special accounting office. Because he knew that the school was short of funds, he ordered his eldest son to bring another 65438+ 2 million yuan of silver. The dream school in the city continued to be built, and it officially opened in August 1905, and was later renamed as the middle school in the city (still exists today).
Not only Ye Chengzhong, but also his descendants have many anecdotes. The most famous is the story of Ye Jia Garden. Ye Ziheng, the son of Ye Chengzhong, once built a Ye Jia Garden next to the Happy Valley Club in Jiangwan, mainly for horse racing gamblers to rest and have fun. The park was initially completed and opened to the public in the spring of 12 (1923), covering an area of 77.636 mu. Built-in: billiards room, Yaogong ballroom, cinema, golf course and other amusement places. This garden was designed by the Japanese and has a unique layout. "Wollongong" and "Fuhuling" are located on the north and south sides of the garden respectively, surrounding the lakes and ponds in the garden to form a whole; Pavilions, bridges, flowing water and caves and valleys are scattered in the arms of Fu Gang and the mounds of Green Island, forming a landscape. At the entrance of the garden is a cross-door building, which can accommodate people. The two ends of the building are connected with "Wolonggang" and "Fuhuling" respectively. The black carved iron gate downstairs is gorgeous, with wings on both sides. The south one used to be a barber shop.
? Near the main entrance are two ponds, namely "Jiyizhu" and "Ganlongchi". There is an island in the Hidden Dragon Pool, where stands a strange stone engraved with the words "rhinoceros looking up to the sky". Leaving the pond, ten steps ahead is a "Little Lushan Mountain" made of strange stones, which stands among the lotus flowers in The Fairy Tale of the Lotus Pond. The flowers and trees on the top of the mountain are lush; The foot of the mountain is as flat as a mirror. Bypassing the rockery, the artistic conception suddenly became clear. This is the largest island in the park, and the main building is built here. Seven small bridges, including Naqingtao Bridge, Xixiang Bridge, Liulang Bridge, Jinsuo Bridge, Daiyu Bridge, Pilian Bridge and Sigong Bridge, fly to the banks of Yehu along Lu Cheng and Kangzhuang respectively. Some of them are adjacent to the Peony Pavilion near the wild lake, close to the mountains and the moon, and some face the small rooftop on Wolong Mountain, connected with the Moon Inviting Cave, and close to the lake for a rest. Mountains, lakes, bridges and pavilions are naturally distributed and set each other off.
Climb around Fuhuling, and you can get a panoramic view of Shuang Yan Pavilion, Wulingyuan Pavilion, Echo Pavilion, Liu Liting, Yun Qi Cave, Baitai Pavilion, Sigong Pavilion, Tijin Pavilion, Tingquan Pavilion and silver moon Pavilion. As the main building of the park, "Shuang Yan Pavilion" is a two-story western-style building with circular corridors and circular cement columns on the southeast and west sides of the bottom. Back to the mountain and water, climb the platform and overlook the whole park. She is far away from Wulingyuan, a waterside pavilion alone by the lake. To the southeast of Shuang Yan Pavilion is the second island in the whole park, named Xiaoluofu. The trees on the island are in pieces, and when you go down the steps, you can see the cave. Go through it and there are hexagonal glass pavilions on both sides. On the eastbound side of Xiaoluofu, you enter the third island in the garden. There is a swing frame on the island, which is surrounded by fences and has an open platform at the top. You can climb the ladder and enjoy the surrounding scenery.
At the back door of the garden, the highest place in Wollongong, there is an artificial waterfall called "Yinhe Xie". Standing on the Pilian Bridge, looking around, the Milky Way hangs upside down and flies down. The waterfall flows into the pond where the Eight Immortals cross the sea. Eight fairies, stacked into a rockery, stopped in the water, lifelike. Around the pond, there are jagged Taihu rocks, like dragons and bears, with different shapes. There is a cement pavilion with four corners and twelve columns on the mountain. During the August 13th Anti-Japanese War, General Zhang Zhizhong commanded the soldiers here to fight bravely against Japan. People go to the pavilion, but the monument stays forever. The garden is an east-west oval surrounded by three islands. Island to island, island to ring road are all connected by pavilions and bridges, which constitute the scenic spot of the whole park. There are many woody flowers and trees in the park, such as Metasequoia glyptostroboides, osmanthus fragrans, magnolia, cedar, cypress, cherry blossom, red maple, camphor, bamboo bush and so on. The mountains are heavy and the water is complicated. The garden won by lakes and rockeries, and it was the leader of private gardens at that time.
? Since 12 was built, it has experienced more than 60 winters and summers. Despite several wars, some scenery of those mountains, waters, pavilions and terraces is still well preserved. Some are damaged, but the traces are clear and identifiable; The whole garden is elegant, beautiful and charming. People call it Ye Jia Garden. Shortly after the garden opened, the owner of the neighboring British businessman Xiangmao Soap Company protested to the municipal authorities on the grounds that the noise disturbed the peace of the house. Fearing the arrogance of the British, the municipal authorities ordered the garden to be closed.
? Ye Ziheng studied at St. John's University in his early years. He studied under Yan Fuqing, then president of the National Shanghai Medical College. They met on February 22, 2000. When they said goodbye, Yan talked about the urgent need for medical college to establish a hospital to treat tuberculosis patients. Ye Wen was deeply moved, and in the spirit of enthusiastic education, he generously donated the park to the National Shanghai Medical College and established the second internship hospital. After several months of preparation, the hospital was formally established on June 15. In memory of Ye's late father, it was named "Chengzhong Lung Disease Sanatorium", with Yan as the first president; Ye's kindness was praised by the Ministry of Education at that time.
? In August of the 26th year of the Republic of China, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression rose. 165438+ In October, Shanghai fell and the garden was occupied by the Japanese invaders. Okamura Ningji and dohihara, generals of the Japanese invaders, illegally occupied this place. In 29 years of the Republic of China, the Japanese army handed over the park to Japan Hengchan Co., Ltd. for management and opening to the outside world, and named it "Fukuyama Park". However, due to the remoteness of the park and the sluggish business, it closed in less than a year, and then it was the residence of the Japanese secret service. In September of the same year, the pseudo-Shanghai Special Municipal Government applied to the Japanese secret service and Deng Jun Command, intending to nationalize the park and set up the first park in this city, but the Japanese refused. In August, 34, with the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the park was taken back by the National Shanghai Medical College. Due to the limitation of funds and other conditions, the former Chengzhong Pulmonary Disease Sanatorium did not resume treating patients until April 1936.
1949 In May, Shanghai was liberated, and in mid-July, the sanatorium was taken over by the Municipal Military Commission; 1950 was placed under the leadership of Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau in early April; 1959, the sanatorium was changed to Shanghai No.1 Tuberculosis Prevention Hospital, and now it is Shanghai No.1 pulmonary hospital. Today, the garden is still a part of the hospital. And this hospital has also become a famous lung specialist hospital in China.
Due to the age, it is difficult to calculate Ye Chengzhong's wealth. However, among Ningbo people in Shanghai, there has been a saying that scholars should learn from Ye Chengzhong.