When it comes to quadrangles in Shanxi, people will naturally think of Han residential buildings left by Jinzhong businessmen, such as Qiao's courtyard, Wang's courtyard and Chang's courtyard. Although Shen Sixiao in the Ming Dynasty pointed out in Jin Lu: "Pingyang, Ze, are the biggest merchants in the world, not hundreds of thousands but not rich." However, for hundreds of years, Shang Lu's research has always lacked the support of physical carriers.
On May 27th, at the symposium on "Shang Lu and Shenyang Twenty-four Institutes" organized by the suburban district committee and government of Changzhi City, many senior Shanxi businessmen from the provincial capital and our city agreed that the discovery of the Shenyang Twenty-four Institute in Nakamura, Xibaitu Township, filled the gap in the study of Shang Lu culture and became the "golden key" to crack the culture of Shang Lu, which has extremely high protection and tourism development value.
Shen Mingchu moved to Nancun from Tiangong Village in Lucheng County, and moved to Zhongcun in the 11th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (AD 1532). Since the ancestor Shen XIII, it has been propagated to the twenty-first generation. Shen XIII had two sons, four generations with seven sons, seven generations with thirty sons and eight generations with fifty sons, which became a big family. Shen Shi family flourished between the seventh and eighth generations, and then began to decline in the last year of Jiaqing (A.D. 18 14), from prosperity to decline for about 270 years. The family history of its rise and fall is quite similar to the development track of Shandong merchants.
In the early days, Shang Lu was dominated by salt and iron, and diversified trade began in the middle period. Iron and silk dominated, and handicraft products dominated in the later period. The rise of Shandong merchants began with the exchange of salt, iron and iron grain. The implementation of "Opening China to France" in Ming Dynasty provided policy guarantee for the development of Shandong merchants. The location advantage of being located in the transportation hub of Henan, Jinzhong and southern Shanxi accelerated the development of Shandong merchants and soon became a regional business group. By the middle of Ming Dynasty, Shandong merchants had become an important business gang in China. At this time, the merchants in Jinzhong basically didn't do much, and there was no prominent jstars courtyard. After the Qing Dynasty, the salt trade was gradually monopolized by Huizhou merchants, and silk production was also declining. At the same time, Jinzhong merchants became the mainstream of Shanxi merchants by operating foreign exchange business, and the shining aura on the heads of Shandong merchants was replaced by Jinzhong merchants.
A good result of the Qing people's entry into the customs was that the border minority areas were attached to it one after another, and the huge business opportunities hidden in Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet were released. In the northern frontier of Tulane Peanut, minks piled in herdsmen's tents on the grassland alone are rare items that can be lived in the mainland. To pull these things back, only iron pots, salt and tea were needed at that time, which looked very common in the mainland. In this wave of entrepreneurship, how many businesses have gone out of Shangdang? Due to the limitation of historical materials, it is still unknown. However, Shandong merchants still have a place among Shanxi merchants in the late Qing Dynasty. Kang Jitian's "Searching for Jincheng" contains: "Taiyuan Yinan takes more Jia". That is to say, from the perspective of the proportion of people doing business and the degree of wealth, Shanxi was better in the south than in the north at that time.
Today, it is not difficult to see from the existing physical objects and materials of the Shenyang compound that the Shenyang family started with salt and iron, and its salt selling activities began in the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, Shen used mules and horses to transport grain, iron products and other commodities to Pingyang, sell them, buy salt, and then transport them back to hoard and resell them for profit. From one of the three existing iron mines in the east of the village, as well as the remains of Tiepuyuan and Xiemadian, it can be seen that Shenyang's iron industry had formed a mode of mining, smelting and marketing at that time. In addition, in Yincheng Town, Changzhi County, the largest iron goods trading market in North China at that time, Shenyang also owned half a powerful iron goods trading shop "Fushunyong". In addition to operating the iron industry, silk industry is also a pillar industry of Shenyang. There are 17 places in Jin Ping Mei, which was written in the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty, and there are also many places in another famous book Xing Shi Heng Yan at the same time. According to Shunzhi's Official Records of Lu 'an, "In the early years of Hongwu, there were more than 80,000 mulberry trees and 9,000 looms in six counties of Luzhou", which can be described as "thousands of people boarded the plane." It shows the glory of Lu merchants in the silk industry. In addition, the Shen family also operates pawn shops, inns, flower shops, wine shops, vinegar shops, leather shops and so on. Among them, there were 32 pawn shops with branches in Xi, Linfen, Henan and Hebei. What exists is the "Shen Da Store" of Henan Store in Shexian County, Handan City, Hebei Province. In the tenth year of Daoguang reign in Qing Dynasty (1830), a branch of Shenjia Shenyingyuan moved to Bate Ancient Town in Fengfeng mining area of Handan, becoming the first of the eight local families, with rich family and prosperous descendants. As one of the earliest prosperous businessmen in Shanxi, Shang Lu businessmen have left us a profound enlightenment from "the best in the world" to "the flower of helplessness".
First of all, to adjust the industrial structure, we should choose the right products. Lu merchants began to sell salt. After salt was monopolized by Huizhou merchants, Shandong merchants turned to smelting iron and silk. Shunzhi's Official History of Lu 'an states: "Shangdang lives in Chung Shan Man, where merchants are scarce, the land is barren and the people are poor, and there is little production. They are running around with iron and silk. "It says Shangdang is a place with high mountains and steep slopes, where businessmen rarely set foot, and the land is barren and the people are poor, and few products can be produced. If there is, it is iron and silk. Although at that time, the iron industry had developed into a "million-Li silver", reaching the scale of annual transaction10000000 silver, after all, the iron goods were huge, and compared with the silver tickets exchanged in Jinzhong, it was inconvenient to transport and carry. Silk is light, but the development of Lusi is not driven by market leverage, but by "someone in the DPRK"-if Zhu Yuanzhang's 2 1 son Mo Zhu had not worked in Lu 'an, the court would have set up a weaving and dyeing bureau in Shanxi (in charge of the production of Lusi in the Royal Academy), and Lusi would not have flourished. After all, the road map is not suitable for planting mulberry. How many mulberry trees are left today, and paulownia planted on a large scale later? Of course, there are also factors of heavy taxation and exploitation by the government. But whoever violates the laws of nature will be punished by nature. No one can change that, including Prince Mo Zhu.
Secondly, to develop the economy, we should look at the environment in the short term and culture in the long term. The stronger the official standard, the weaker the commercial flavor. Shenyang started with salt and iron, but it is only a superficial phenomenon. The real problem is the official and business culture. As can be seen from the genealogy of Shen Shi, the salt selling activities of Shen Shi family began in the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1506- 152 1), during which an official of Shen Shi family served. Shen Lun, the descendant of the four sons of the Shen family in Tiangong Village, was transferred from Pinglu County to Taiyuan County and promoted to the magistrate of Luzhou. With this relationship, the Shen family began to engage in salt dealers. This is also the fundamental reason why the salt merchants' business fell into the hands of Huizhou merchants. Huizhou businessmen dominate the world by IQ, while Shang Lu businessmen dominate the world by relationships. The heyday of the Shen family is the time when the Shen family's children are prosperous. The last official in charge of the Shen family was Shen Shouzhi. According to Shen Shouzhi's tombstone, after six years of Qianlong (AD 174 1), Shen Shouzhi was still in Danzhou, Guangdong. At the end of Jiaqing (A.D. 18 14), the Shen Shi family began to decline, and the reason is self-evident. Due to the influence of topography, Shangdang people have always respected officials and despised business. Faced with the powerful power of the government, they are a silent group. They have no right to speak, they can't make big money, and they look down on small money. The only way to get rich is to study and be an official. Therefore, the hierarchy and official standard have a considerable market in Shangdang. Businessmen and literati have never become independent classes, and therefore, without the support of culture, Shandong businessmen have lost the life essence of "prolonging life".
Third, out of the basin, you can find the estuary of Changzhi. How big the world is, there is great potential for economic development. Taihang Mountain blocked the sight of former Shandong merchants, and coal coke and iron bound the footsteps of new Shandong merchants. The advantages of resources have made businessmen and destroyed them. Too much dependence on resources and handicrafts, and low scientific and technological content are the fundamental reasons why Shang Lu did not grow up in the end. Shangdang Basin is the largest in Taihang Mountain, with only 1 100 square kilometers. Because it is closed, it is conservative. Because of the first-line thinking, there is a lack of a spirit of momentum and courage to fight hard, a lack of innovative consciousness, and a lack of the idea of keeping pace with the times. In fact, we are only five hours' drive from the sea, and the marine civilization advocating mobility, competition and openness is waving to us. The idea of Shanxi's joining the Bohai Economic Circle and the move of Henan to build the Central Plains Economic Zone are both challenges and opportunities for us. Today, through the massiness of Shenjia Courtyard, we revisit the history of Shang Lu merchants, study the purpose of "repairing the old as before, being original" and the dislocation between over-exploitation and artificial landscape, and study the serious injury caused by the lack of culture and spirit. Studying the desecration of children's happiness index behind the prosperity of ancestral industry will certainly have a positive and far-reaching impact on the future development of Changzhi.