Yan Xinhou studied in a private school in his early years. After dropping out of school, I worked as an apprentice in Hengxing Qianpu in front of Ningbo Gulou. In the fifth year of Qing Xianfeng (1855), he went to Hangzhou and served as the "trust room" in Xinyuan Silver House opened by Hu, which won Hu's respect. In the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872), Hu recommended Yan Xinhou to surpass Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang personally protected him as an alternate road. Later, he was appointed as the director of Henan Salt Bureau. In the 11th year of Guangxu (1885), Li Hongzhang was appointed as the supervisor of Luchang Salt Affairs, acting as the agent of Tianjin Salt Affairs. In the 12th year of Guangxu, Tianjin established Tongde Salt Company to manage the salt industry. During the period of 10, it accumulated a lot of wealth. Later, Yuanfengrun Bank was established in Shanghai, and semicolons were set up in several important cities in Tianjin, Beijing and Jiangnan provinces, forming a relatively new network of money houses. With the continuous development of Yuanfengrun's banking business, Yan Xinhou focused on financial business and moved his activity center from Tianjin to Shanghai. In the meantime, he was appointed as the manager of Shanghai Road Library and Huitong Official Bank, in charge of the revenue and expenditure of public funds in Shanghai Road. At the same time, he was hired as the assistant to the director of Huaxin Textile New Bureau. Later, appointed by Sheng Xuanhuai, China Commercial Bank, the first new bank in China, was established as the first general manager in the 23rd year of Guangxu.

Yan Xinhou also opened Wuhualou Gold Store in Tianjin, dealing in gold, silver and jewelry, Zhang Sa Ding Village in Laojiu in Nanjing Road in Shanghai, Wuhualou and Zhangdian in Laojiu in Tianjin, all of which are very developed and famous. In the 12th year of Guangxu, he invested 52,000 taels of silver and founded Tongjiuyuan Machine Ginning Factory in Ningbo Elbow. In the 20th year of Guangxu, ningbo tong Jiuyuan Cotton Mill was established, and construction started in the 22nd year of Guangxu. In the 31st year of Guangxu, Tongli Sack Factory was established in Shanghai, investing in flour mills, oil plants, inland river ships and other industrial transportation undertakings. In the 28th year of Guangxu, with the support of Sheng Xuanhuai, he became the first prime minister of Shanghai Commercial Conference. Guangxu was reorganized into the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce in 30 years and succeeded the Prime Minister. Guangxu resigned at the age of 31.

Under the education of traditional Confucianism, the Ningbo business gang, with the ties of consanguineous in-laws and geographical friendship, abided by professional ethics, followed the current situation and grasped business opportunities, and finally became the most important and largest business gang in modern China. Its founder was Yan Xinhou. He not only founded the first batch of factories in modern China, but also participated in and founded the first bank and the first chamber of commerce in modern China, which can be described as the first person of "Ningbo Business Group".

Yan Xinhou, whose real name is Xiao Fang, 1838, is from Cixi, Zhejiang. His father, Yan Heng, is engaged in poetry creation and is good at Yan Lu painting. Yan Xinhou is also good at poetry, calligraphy and painting, especially at painting Lu Yan, which is quite famous. After studying in a private school for several years, Yan went to Ningbo Hengye Bank as an apprentice. Hengye Qianzhuang, after being taken over by boss Wu's son, ran out of funds and was heavily in debt. One day, someone came to collect debts from Xinyuan Silver House in Hangzhou. When boss Wu got angry, he saw Yan wiping the bank sign and shouted, "Who told you to wipe it?" Yan indifferently replied, "I want to wipe it myself. Old shopkeeper, if you want the bank to go on, how can you not wipe the signboard? When the signboard is lit, the business will grow bigger. " Boss Wu saw him talk back and tried to pull his ear. Seeing all this, the manager of Yuanyinlou said, "Wait a minute! I accept you as an apprentice, and he can offset the money owed by your village. " Hu Xueyan, a wealthy businessman at that time, said this. He took a fancy to Yan Xinhou. Soon, Yan went to Hu Xueyan's Hangzhou Xinyuan Silver House as a document.

In return for Hu Xueyan's kindness to meet him, Yan Xinhou presented Hu with a poem and painting entitled "Lu Smoke Fan", which read: "Autumn water stayed in Tingzhou for a while, and finally * * * Kunpeng changed to travel. I won't let the customs officers detain me because I lost a branch as a tax. " Hu Daxi praised him for his "elegant personality, which is not comparable to that of a city singer", so he recommended this book to Li Hongzhang. According to "Shanghai County Records", "Yan Xinhou ... entered the shogunate of Li Hongzhang from Gong Sheng and recovered Huzhou with Soviet troops. Inspector Hong Zhang "suppressed twisting" and entrusted it to do it in Shanghai, and transferred military equipment. Recommend the hungry people today and order them to go to Tianjin and Shanghai to organize relief. " 1885, Yan Xinhou was transferred to Tianjin Salt Affairs Assistant. The following year, Yan set up Tongde Salt Company in Dongmen, Tianjin, and managed the salt industry himself. Later, he founded Wuhualou Gold Store, the largest gold store in Tianjin, which was very prosperous and had a long-standing reputation and accumulated a lot of wealth.

With the opening of Ningbo Port, the handmade cotton textile industry in eastern Zhejiang has been seriously impacted by foreign goods, and Yan Xinhou feels that this business opportunity is infinite. 1March, 887, he contacted Tang Yanggao, the owner of the new Sun Cloth Shop, and raised 52,000 yuan of silver to set up Tongjiuyuan ginning factory in Wantou, a northern suburb of Ningbo, which was the first modern factory in Ningbo and the first machine ginning factory in modern China. From 65438 to 0894, Yan Xinhou joined hands with Fu Jia, a Shanghai-Ningbo giant, to raise 452,000 silver and set up Tongjiuyuan Textile Layout, the earliest cotton mill integrating ginning, spinning and weaving in Zhejiang, which greatly improved its competitiveness with foreign goods and made great profits. 1897, Hangzhou Tongyi Textile Mill and Xiaoshan Tonghui Textile Mill were completed and put into operation, which were also called "three links" with ningbo tong Jiuyuan Textile Mill. They were the three national capital enterprises with the largest scale, the most advanced equipment and the greatest social impact in Zhejiang at that time. From 65438 to 0889, Yan Xinhou founded the first match factory in Cixi, Zhejiang Province. Later, he also founded or participated in investing in a large number of industries, such as Shanghai Huaxin Textile New Bureau, Huaxing Fire and Water Insurance Company, Zhang Long Paper Mill, Mainland Water Supply Company, Tongli Machine Bag Company, ningbo tong Jiuyuanquan Flour Factory, Tongliyuan Oil Factory, Xiangyuan Hardware Company, Sino-British Pharmacy, Jinzhou Tianyi Reclamation Company, Jingdezhen Jiangxi Porcelain Company and many other private enterprises. Through a series of industrial activities, the Ningbo business gang represented by Yan Xinhou completed the transformation from the traditional business gang.

Highly valued by Li Hongzhang, Yan Xinhou, manager of Shanghai Daoku Huitong government-run bank, took the opportunity to establish Yuanfengrun Bank with a capital of 1 20,000, and the semicolon in the bank reached 17. 1897, with the help of Sheng Xuanhuai, the most prominent official and businessman in the late Qing Dynasty, Yan Xinhou initiated the establishment of China Commercial Bank, the first national capital bank in China, and appointed himself as the general manager. Yan Xinhou attracted a huge sum of money from Zhang Bishi, an overseas Chinese businessman in modern times, by introducing the latest foreign financial system and management methods, making it more representative and more appealing, rapidly expanding and developing the credit of China commercial banks, and greatly promoting the modernization process of China's financial industry in modern times. Subsequently, he co-founded Shanghai Siming Bank and Huaxing Insurance Company, the first insurance company in China, and served as the director of Shanghai Siming CCBA for a long time.

Yan Xinhou, with his unpretentious personality, outspoken personality, down-to-earth and diligent style, became famous through decades of financial and industrial and commercial activities in Tianjin, Shanghai and Ningbo, and became the first person in Ningbo Gang.

In order to cope with the Sino-British negotiations, Sheng Xuanhuai, Shanghai's minister of contract amendment, urgently hopes that Shanghai businessmen can organize themselves. 1902 On February 22nd, at the behest of Sheng Xuanhuai, Yan Xinhou organized and established the first chamber of commerce in China-Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, and was appointed as the first prime minister. He made it clear that the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce "regards the life of Chinese businessmen, gathers businessmen and helps them tide over all difficulties, and their fortunes turn". 1904, the Qing court officially approved the establishment of local chambers of commerce, and Yan Xinhou took the lead in complying with it. The conference office raised 12000 silver as funds, and revised the articles of association to change the Shanghai Commercial Conference Office into the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce. He also served as the first prime minister. The establishment of the Chamber of Commerce has played an important role in safeguarding the interests of Chinese businessmen.

Yan Xinhou is also enthusiastic about a large number of charities. Has donated huge sums of money to build Tanggu Railway and Ningbo Railway, donated Zheng Yang School, Zhixiu No.1 School, Zhitianyi School and Fuchun No.1 School, and built a new school in Ningbo-Chucai School (now the predecessor of Ningbo Middle School), which has trained a group of new talents. Yan Xinhou has been very kind to the people and has given countless relief. From 1899 to 1903, it has provided relief for dozens of times in central Zhejiang, Anhui, Shandong and other places, and established public medical and health institutions such as Zhishengpo Bureau and Jijishan Bureau with outstanding achievements.

Yan Xinhou, the pioneer of modern enterprises in China, played a leading role in the transformation of Ningbo business group from a traditional business group to an important modern entrepreneur group, and was recognized as the pioneer of Ningbo business group. In the thirty-second year of Guangxu reign (1June 30th, 906), Yan Xinhou died in Tianjin on May 9th and was buried in Jiulong Lake, Zhenhai, Ningbo. Under the influence of his personality and spirit, Yan Xinhou's descendants also made outstanding contributions to the country and the people.