Later, there were thirteen "public banks", commonly known as "thirteen banks". Thirteen banks were intermediaries between the Qing government and foreign businessmen, which was actually equivalent to carrying out "state-owned international trade" on behalf of the Qing government. Foreign businessmen must buy goods from thirteen banks; Foreign businessmen must sell goods to thirteen banks. Foreign businessmen have to pay taxes, give gifts and submit invitations, and thirteen banks have to handle them. Of course, the owner of line 13 must "profit from it". The authorities of the British East India Company think that instead of letting thirteen banks make a lot of money, how can they directly trade with the Qing government or the people of China? If you don't trade in Guangzhou, how can you trade in many other ports outside Guangzhou? Therefore, during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods, envoys were sent to China for negotiations many times. There were three merchant gangs in the history of Qing Dynasty: Huaibei salt merchants, Shanxi merchants and Guangdong merchants, among which the "Thirteen Merchants" in Guangdong had a glorious history, but they were not well known by later generations. 1684, Kangxi abolished the maritime ban and set up four customs offices in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu to allow foreign trade. However, the Qing government at that time did not have a formed foreign trade system and was unable to receive foreign merchant ships. So in 1686, Guangdong customs government recruited thirteen powerful firms to act as agents for overseas trade, commonly known as "thirteen banks". Later, the number of firms ranged from as few as four to as many as 26, but "thirteen" has become the established title of this merchant team. It can be said that "Thirteen Lines" was the "Special Foreign Trade Zone" of the Qing Dynasty. By 1757, Qianlong ordered "one-stop trade", keeping only one of the four major customs in Guangdong, and the "Thirteen Lines" reached its peak, which had an important impact on China's later economic development and even world trade. Almost all major countries and regions in Asia, Europe and America have had direct trade relations with Shisanhang, and a large number of commodities such as tea, silk and ceramics have been shipped from Guangzhou to all parts of the world. In the following 100 years, the 13th Bank of Guangdong provided 40% of the customs revenue for the Qing government. The prosperity of Thirteen Lines in those years can be described as "Jinshan and Zhuhai are all money". According to records, a fire broke out in the property of Line 13 of 1822. The foreign silver melted in the fire flowed all over the street, even for a mile or two. A fire destroyed 40 million taels of silver worth of property in the business hall, so you can imagine the luxurious scene of thirteen lines in that year. Among the "Thirteen Lines", the lines founded by Pan, Lu Guanheng, Wu Bingjian and Shanglin Ye are the most famous. The Wall Street Journal once rated the 50 richest people in the world for thousands of years, including Wu Bingjian. The "Jardine Matheson" run by the Wu family has an annual trade volume of several million taels of silver with British and American businessmen. Wu Bingjian not only owns huge assets in China, but also is a "banker" and the largest creditor of the East India Company. Moreover, he invested in railway, securities trading and insurance business in the United States, and was the richest man in the world in the19th century. Jardine Matheson is a famous name in Chinese and foreign business circles. 1832, the British and James borrowed the old name of the Wu family to establish Yihe. After the Opium War, Jardine Matheson Group moved its headquarters to Hong Kong and became the largest chaebol in the Far East, which played an important role in the early development of Hong Kong. Including: Land, Milk Company, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminal, Hong Kong Container Terminal, Wellcome Supermarket, 7- 1 1, IKEA, Pizza Hut, etc. The total number of employees exceeds100000. Most of the business of Shisanhang is done with another monopolist, namely the British East India Company, which is the authorized trade representative of the British Empire, and both sides are also "suitable" for monopoly. However, in 1834, the trade monopoly right of the East India Company was abolished, China's "one-stop trade" model could not meet the growing trade activities, and the trade friction with British free businessmen escalated day by day. The "Thirteen Lines" gradually became the focus of the crisis of Sino-Western relations in19th century. The Opium War was imminent, and the "Thirteen Lines" also disappeared in the war. 1856, the bustling Thirteen Lines were burned by the artillery fire of the British and French allied forces, and British businessmen also moved their business center to Hong Kong, thus the Thirteen Lines withdrew from the historical stage. Today, Shisanxing Street is a lonely and crowded alley on the streets of Guangzhou.

Title: Overview of Thirteen Lines in Guangzhou in Qing Dynasty/Li Guorong-