Prepare an oven to forge a kitchen knife in the Han dynasty, which is called "Cao Zhengxing". Tongzhi for six years (AD 1867) was managed by Cao Shi II. The following year, Cao Zhengxing opened a knife shop in Zhang Meizhi Lane, Hankou, and won the trust of customers with "pure steel and fire, genuine goods, guaranteed replacement", and the business was extremely prosperous.

In the early years of the Republic of China, it spread to the third generation in Cao Shi, changed its business model, bought a large number of knife blanks, and after shaping and quenching, it was engraved with Cao Zhengxing's brand and sold at a price 30% ~ 50% higher than that of its peers. Net profit of 60 silver dollars in the peak season. Later, due to the profligacy of Cao Shi's descendants, business declined. On the eve of the liberation of Wuhan, the fourth generation of Cao raised funds to resume business.