Typical representative of the Qiao family: Qiao Zhiyong (1818-1907), courtesy name Zhongdeng, nickname Xiaochi, was from Qixian County, Shanxi (now Qixian County, Shanxi Province), the fourth head of the Qiao family, famous Shanxi merchants are known as "the bright rich man".

Qiao Zhiyong was a representative businessman of Shanxi Shanxi merchants in the late Qing Dynasty. At the critical moment of the survival of the family business, he abandoned his literary career and took over the business. With his continuous efforts, the business prospered day by day. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qiao family had more than 200 bank accounts, banks, pawn shops, and grain stores across China, with assets reaching tens of millions of taels of silver.

In the 23rd year of Jiaqing, Qiao Zhiyong was born into a merchant family in Qixian County, Shanxi. His father, Qiao Quanmei, died when he was young. He was raised by his elder brother, Qiao Zhiguang. After his brother died of illness when he was young, Qiao Zhiyong gave up his studies and entered business, and began to take charge of the Qiao family business. During his time in charge of housework, the Qiao family business prospered day by day and became one of the richest merchants in Shanxi.

His subordinates Fu Sheng Gong dominated Baotou, and there is a saying that "first there was Fu Sheng Gong, and then there was Baotou City". There are also two major ticket companies, Dadetong and Dadeheng, which are located in commercial ports and wharves across China.

Qiao Zhiyong is easy-going, honest, and "doing business with ethics." Qiao Zhiyong did many good deeds throughout his life. In the third year of Guangxu's reign, there was a severe drought. Qiao Zhiyong opened a granary to provide relief to the victims. In the 32nd year of Guangxu's reign, Qiao Zhiyong passed away at the age of 89.

Extended information

Shanxi merchants, in the usual sense, refer to Shanxi merchants during the 500 years of the Qing Dynasty. Shanxi merchants operated salt industry, banknotes and other businesses, and were especially famous for banknotes. . Shanxi merchants also left a rich architectural heritage to China, such as the famous Qiao Family Courtyard, Chang Family Manor, Cao Family Sanduo Hall, Wang Family Courtyard, etc. The feudalization of merchants' profits in the Ming, Qing and Jin Dynasties was mainly reflected in donations, stipends, land purchases, usury capital, etc.

The most famous one is the Shanxi bank account that "connects the world"

The most famous form of monetary operating capital among Shanxi merchant capital is the bank bank bank. A bank is also called a bank or exchange bank. It is a financial institution that specializes in exchange business. Before the birth of the banknote number, merchants had to rely on cash to pay for purchases and trade when they went out. If they made money in other places and sent it to their hometown, they had to rely on special escorts to transport the cash back. This was not only very expensive, time-consuming and inconvenient, but also often caused errors. .

This forced Shanxi businessmen who went out to do business to find new ways. After that, they investigated the trading locations of Shanxi merchants, selected capable partners, and successively opened exchange branches in Tianjin, Zhangjiakou, Shenyang, Suzhou, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Guilin, Chongqing, Changsha and other places to solicit business. Since this kind of exchange requires payment here and money spent there, the procedure is simple and easy to use.

So in addition to remittances from Shanxi merchants and merchants from other places, there are also governments and officials to entrust remittance matters. As capital increases, remittance locations become larger and larger, and profits become larger and larger. Then it absorbed cash and issued loans, and the business of "Rishengchang" was booming.

Other Shanxi businessmen also learned from the experience of "Rishengchang" and invested in the bank account, thus forming the famous Shanxi bank account.

On the eve of the Opium War, there were about eight bank accounts in Shanxi. In the ten years after the Opium War, the three Shanxi bank offices of Rishengchang, Weifenfen and Rixinzhong established 35 branches in 23 cities across the country. In addition to specializing in exchange business, they also engaged in deposits, Lending business combines exchange, deposits and lending, and uses the acceptance period to occupy customers' cash and make loan sharks at high interest rates.

Reference source Baidu Encyclopedia-Qiao Zhiyong