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Text: Yanyan
Edited by Yeon-yeon
Preface
China at the end of the Qing Dynasty was changing and heroes were born. In this turbulent era, the richest man Sheng Xuanhuai stood out with tens of billions of family assets and became one of the richest people at that time.
His life was full of legends and glories, but it is sad that his children did not inherit his wealth and glory. The son starved to death in poverty, and the daughter became a maid, which is unbelievable.
How did Sheng Xuanhuai accumulate such a huge fortune in troubled times? Why did his children end up in such a tragic fate? How complex is the story behind this?
The Late Qing Dynasty Wealthy: Sheng Xuanhuai's brilliant life
Sheng Xuanhuai, this name was a household name in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. He was not only the richest man at that time, but also one of the pioneers of modern Chinese industry. In 1844, Sheng Xuanhuai was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, in a scholarly family.
Clever and studious from an early age, he soon showed extraordinary talent and excellent business acumen. During his life, Sheng Xuanhuai established a deep relationship with Li Hongzhang. With the support of Li Hongzhang, Sheng Xuanhuai began to set foot in the industrial field.
He successively founded a number of enterprises such as the China Telegraph Administration, the China Merchants Steamship Bureau, and the Kaiping Mining Bureau, and made important contributions to China's modernization process. Thanks to his efforts, China gave birth to 11 "firsts", including the first railway, the first modern coal mine, and the first telegraph office.
Sheng Xuanhuai's wealth also flourished with his career. In his later years, his assets were as high as 13 million taels of silver, equivalent to 15 billion yuan now. He was not only a successful industrialist, but also a visionary entrepreneur.
He is well aware of the truth of making a big move, and often admonishes his family to "cherish money" and "restrain the edge". However, fate always seems to like to joke.
On April 27, 1916, at the age of 72, Sheng Xuanhuai passed away after leaving two wills. His departure not only marked the end of an era, but also laid the groundwork for the tragedy of the Sheng family.
Extravagant funeral: the last glory of the Sheng family
After Sheng Xuanhuai's death, his family did not hold a simple funeral as he wished. Instead, they decided to hold an unprecedented funeral for the "richest man in the late Qing Dynasty" to highlight the Sheng family's status and financial resources.
On November 18, 1917, Sheng Xuanhuai's funeral was held in Shanghai. On this day, the whole city of Shanghai seemed to stop functioning. Theaters and dance halls are closed, and the streets of Shanghai are crowded with people who come to watch the ceremony.
Even people from Hangzhou and Suzhou made a special trip to see the grand funeral. The scale of the funeral was jaw-dropping. As many as 64 palanquin bearers carried the coffin, and the funeral procession stretched for three miles, with about 5,000 participants.
In the whole procession, there were as many as 1,600 carriages, and every three people were equipped with one carriage. Such specifications even surpassed the funerals of some emperors at that time.
In order to maintain order, the Industrial and Commercial Bureau had to dispatch a large number of patrols. Even the trams had to suspend operations for half a day. The funeral lasted for more than 4 months, and finally cost 300,000 taels of silver to bury Sheng Xuanhuai's coffin in Jiangyin, Jiangsu.
Sheng Xuanhuai's eldest lady explained that her husband has worked hard for the country all his life, and he naturally wants to be beautiful when he leaves. Little did she know, however, that this grand ceremony, comparable to a state funeral, had actually become the last revelry of the glory of the Sheng Mansion.
Last Wish: The Fate of the Sheng Family's Property
Sheng Xuanhuai left behind two wills when he died, showing that he was thoughtful about the future of his family. The first will concerned his funeral, and he wanted to be able to "bury in monk's clothes", simple and unpretentious. The second will deals with the disposition of family property.
Sheng Xuanhuai demanded that the family's property be handed over to a specialized agency to take care of, and the profits generated by each property were divided into two parts: one part was equally distributed to the five grandchildren, and the other part was deposited in the family's charity "Yuzhai Yizhuang".
This arrangement not only ensures the livelihood of the children and grandchildren, but also accumulates good fortune for the family through philanthropy. In order to ensure that the will is effectively executed, Sheng Xuanhuai also specially invited Li Hongzhang's son Li Jingfang as the executor of the estate.
However, it backfired, and Li Jingfang did not act exactly according to Sheng Xuanhuai's wishes. Li Jingfang directly divided the 11.6 million taels of silver into two halves, half of which was given to Sheng Xuanhuai's five house girls, and the other half was invested in Yuzhai Yizhuang.
Although this practice ostensibly follows the will, it actually goes against Sheng Xuanhuai's original intention of making wealth "endless". To make matters worse, Sheng Xuanhuai's children did not cherish this wealth.
They were accustomed to a pampered life and ignored their father's teachings. Soon, the property allocated to the five rooms was squandered. And the part of the property deposited in Yuzhai Yizhuang has also become the target of some children and grandchildren.
Sheng Siye: The epitome of an era
Among Sheng Xuanhuai's many children, the most eye-catching is his youngest son Sheng Enyi, who later became known as "Sheng Siye". As Sheng Xuanhuai's old man, Sheng Enyi has been favored since he was a child and has developed an arrogant and lascivious character.
Sheng Enyi studied in Britain and the United States, and his father-in-law was the prime minister of the Republic of China. It stands to reason that he is more than capable of continuing to grow the family business after his father's death. However, he chose a very different path and became one of the most famous gentlemen during the Republic of China.
In Shanghai, the name of "Sheng Siye" is almost universally known. He eats, drinks, prostitutes, gambles, and is proficient in everything. Especially after the death of his parents, he completely let go of himself, as if he wanted to vent the pent-up desires for many years at one time.
Sheng Enyi is best known for his "lace news". It is said that he couldn't walk when he saw a beautiful woman, and married 11 aunts and wives successively. Each aunt is equipped with a luxury car, a mansion and a dedicated servant.
He favored these aunts and wives even more than Mrs. Masamu. In addition to romantic affairs, Sheng Enyi also has a staggering hobby - horse racing.
Once, on a whim, he bought 75 horses in one go. Since then, he has spent his life playing with horses and watching horse races.
However, this extravagant lifestyle soon caused the Sheng family's fortune to shrink significantly. When he squandered all the fortune in his name, Sheng Enyi began to think about the idea of a family charity.
He instigated his brothers and sisters to divide the property of Yizhuang together, and even wanted to take the property of the sisters as his own. This behavior angered his sisters.
Sheng Aiyi and Sheng Fangyi were unwilling to watch the family property being squandered by their brother, and finally sued him in court. However, this lawsuit not only failed to save the family fortune, but accelerated the collapse of the Sheng family.
Prosperity is gone: the tragic end of the Sheng family
As time passed, the Sheng family's decline was jaw-dropping. Most of the children who were once prominent are now in trouble.
Sheng Xuanhuai's eldest daughter unfortunately became addicted to opium; the second daughter died early due to poverty; The third daughter had a bad marriage and separated from her husband; The whereabouts of the sixth daughter after the divorce are unknown.
There are also two daughters who chose to leave the country after seeing the decline of the family, one went to Hong Kong, the other went to Taiwan, and became domestic maids to make a living. And Sheng Enyi's ending is even more embarrassing.
This "Sheng Siye", who once called for wind and rain, finally fell to the point of homelessness. He had to sell antiques, pen, ink, paper, inkstones, and even suits and leather shoes that he had worn in exchange for three meals a day.
After 1949, the Sheng Mansion was listed as an intangible cultural heritage by the local government for protection, leaving only a small concierge room for Sheng Enyi to live in.
Ironically, this gatehouse was used as a place for servants in the heyday of the Sheng family. Now, it has become the final destination of this former "son-in-law".
In 1958, Sheng Enyi, who was already destitute, spent the last days of his life alone in that small porter. Without any source of income, he eventually starved to death in his former mansion.
In the last moments of his life, his only wish was to eat a delicious meal of meat. This poignant ending can't help but remind people of Sheng Xuanhuai's deathbed advice: Only by following the will can future generations keep their wealth, otherwise in 20 years, the Sheng Mansion will be gone. Sadly, this prophecy eventually came true.
epilogue
The history of the rise and fall of the Sheng Xuanhuai family is not only a family tragedy, but also a mirror, reflecting many problems in the inheritance of wealth. It tells us that wealth is important, but it is more important to pass on the right values and attitudes to life.
As Lin Zexu said: "If my children and grandchildren are like me, what will I do with the money?" If you are virtuous and rich, you will lose your ambition; Children and grandchildren are not as good as me, what do you do with the money? Foolishness and abundance of wealth increase their faults. "This story is worth pondering for each of us.