Tea and Arabic coffee entered Britain at the same time in the17th century. Tea was presented as a gift to the Queen of England. British families buy tea with the income of110 every year. 92% of the total transaction between China and the British East India Company is tea. In Guangzhou, a trading network of tea business has gradually formed. Silk is also a favorite commodity for foreigners At that time, the nursery rhyme of "five silks and eight silks are full of satin, and money piles up in thirteen lines" was popular.
According to Wei Yuan's research statistics on silver, before modern times, 60%-70% of China's silver was obtained from overseas trade. In the era of "one-stop trade" (since 1757), in order to meet the emperor's large demand for western luxury goods, the merchants of the thirteenth line often paid for themselves, which made them miserable. In addition, they often receive various "donations". The most unbearable thing for the merchants of the thirteenth line was that the court adopted double standards on the debt issue. The court ignored the debts owed by foreign businessmen to hong merchants; If a Hong Kong businessman owes a debt to a foreign businessman, the court first confiscates the property of the Hong Kong businessman to pay off the foreign debt. If the assets are insolvent, all members of Hong Kong banks should bear the debts to maintain the dignity of China.
1780, there were eight hong merchants, four of which owed1070,000, but usury became 3.8 million. The proud emperor Qianlong was upset: how can you people owe foreigners money? How can we owe foreigners money? As soon as the table hits, well, I owe 3.8 million. Ok, I will pay back 7.6 million yuan in two installments, because it is wrong for you to borrow money. But who will return it? Emperor Qianlong thought for a long time. Well, the remaining 7.6 million was paid by Hong Kong businessmen in ten years, so the debts of these four Hong Kong businessmen were finally paid by other Hong Kong businessmen. At the same time, all the four major Hong merchants seized their property and exiled Yili. This is how the Qing government treated businessmen.
How did the British government cultivate the East India Company? Give whatever you want, with the East India Company as the leader and gunboats as the backing. How did the Qing government treat Hong merchants? Squeeze layer by layer! Moreover, since Qianlong, the Baojia system has been formed for fear that foreigners will be wronged after lending money to China people. It's no problem to set limits on both sides, but only for China people. It doesn't matter if foreigners borrow money from China people. What if you run away? It doesn't matter, just run.
18 14 years finally brought out a lawsuit. Among the thirteen lines, there is a Li Quanxing whose businessman is Pan Changyao. 18 14, he went to the US Supreme Court to sue foreign businessmen in new york and Philadelphia-borrowed money from him and refused to pay it back. Emperor China naturally ignored it, so he went to the United States to file a lawsuit. He not only filed a lawsuit, but also wrote a letter to the then American President Madison on 18 15, saying that you should take care of your businessmen and don't owe money. Unfortunately, the president of the United States didn't have the mentality of emperor Qianlong, so he pretended not to know. Pan Changyao's letter is written in Chinese, English and Portuguese-the foreign languages of these Hong Kong businessmen are still good. This letter is kept in the American Museum and the National Archives in Washington. 18 14 started to sue. Ten years later, Li Quanxing went bankrupt and never got the money. To some extent, the judicial system in the United States is still somewhat fair, and debts must be paid. But where is the problem? Only laws, lack of execution. 10 years later, Li Quanxing went bankrupt and didn't get the money, although the winner was already set. This is the poor situation of our businessmen. During the more than 200 years from its formation to its gradual disappearance, Guangzhou Thirteen Foreign Firms had many fires. The fire is raging. 1822, a cake shop near shisanhang caught fire, which affected shisanhang. The fire burned for two days, and many houses in Guan Yi and Yang Hang were destroyed, resulting in heavy losses.
According to later statistics, 1 1 only five foreign banks were not burned. All the goods of foreign businessmen were burned, and all the houses and warehouses of Hong Kong businessmen were reduced to ashes, involving more than 1,000 houses and shops nearby. The second fire was after the Opium War. /kloc-more than 0/00 British soldiers robbed the fruit shop opened by China people in front of the foreign firm and scratched the owner with knives, which aroused the indignation of the people in Guangzhou. In the middle of the night, Guangzhou people set fire to the British Commercial Pavilion. The officers and men of Guangzhou Qing government went to put out the fire, but they were blocked by dense stones thrown by the masses and could not move forward. The fire didn't go out until the next day.
The third fire was during the Second Opium War. In order to prevent China soldiers and civilians from attacking foreign commercial pavilions, the British troops stationed in Shisanxing area demolished a large number of houses around Shisanxing area, leaving a clearing to prevent China soldiers and civilians from attacking. 12 14 Late at night, Guangzhou people who hated the invaders lit a fire from the ruins of the demolished shops, and the fire spread to the foreign merchant building on Line 13. /kloc-it was burned at the American-French Commercial Pavilion in the early morning of 0/5, and it was extended to the British Commercial Pavilion at 2 pm. By 5: 00 p.m., the thirteen-line area was all reduced to ashes except one house. According to the then magistrate Hua in the book "Touching the Fan", "Looking at the fire at night is colorful and shining, which is said to be caused by the burning of jewelry." The British army lost its stronghold and was forced to withdraw its warships moored on the Pearl River. Thirteen lines of business district has ended history since then.
1965438+July 2005 13, when Guangzhou was flooded, there was an accidental fire in the area around Shisanhang, which affected Tongxing Street, which specializes in kerosene and matches. The oil tank exploded, the oil floated on the water, and the fire followed the oil flow. The fire spread to Dajitou, Henan Province through ships connected end to end on the Pearl River, and the two sides of the Pearl River became a sea of fire. At the same time, it is difficult to rescue them because the street is several feet deep. The fire lasted for two days and two nights, and 25 streets were reduced to ashes, burning down more than 2,000 merchants and households, causing huge loss of life and property.
It is required to "lease" the sand surface west of the ruins of the commercial building area of 13 line to rebuild a new commercial building area.