Liu Jin, the Great Eunuch in Zheng De Period of Ming Dynasty (Middle)
Little Shenyang was rich, but he was defeated by a eunuch, Liu Jin?
People think that Little Shenyang is as rich as an enemy. He was the richest man in ancient China. If Liu Jin, a great eunuch in the Ming Dynasty, had more money than Kun, the richest man in China's ancient history, many people would doubt it.
Little Shenyang, the Greatest Man in the World (left)
Because He Kun's name is mentioned, everyone basically knows that He Kun is a "greedy" character and a big corrupt official. He was greedy for more money than the treasury of the Great Qing Dynasty at that time. Isn't there such a proverb that has been passed down to this day, "Little Shenyang fell, and Jiaqing was full?" But when it comes to Liu Jin, although many people know it, in everyone's impression, the information that Liu Jin often transmits through TV screens or novels is mostly the shadow of "eunuch dictatorship". Whoever has sinned against Liu Jin will have no good end. Liu Jin is basically such an image in everyone's general impression.
However, in the past 1000 ranking of the world's top 50 richest people compiled by The Wall Street Journal in 2006, He Kun's ranking was 5438+0, which left Liu Jin, the eunuch of the Ming Dynasty in China, far behind.
Liu Jin, the great eunuch of the Ming Dynasty, was the richest man in the world.
In this list of the Wall Street Journal, six people from China are on the list. According to the ranking, they are: No.9, Genghis Khan; 10, Kublai Khan; 17, Liu Jin of Ming dynasty; No.34, Little Shenyang in Qing Dynasty; No.37, Wu Bingjian in Qing Dynasty; Forty-seventh session, Song Ziwen, Republic of China.
Compared with this list, Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan, as a generation of kings, naturally occupy land and so on. Even without this ranking, who doesn't know that he is the richest man in the world? After all, the whole world belongs to them. How can we talk about wealth? Since ancient times, there has been a saying, "All over the world, it is the land of kings, and the land of command is the king?" Therefore, if we mention the richest man in ancient China, we can exclude them here. And the rest can be used as a contrast, nature is the other four, Liu Jin, Shenyang, Wu Bingjian, Song Ziwen.
In contrast, Liu Jin, who ranks 17 in the Millennium Rich List, is far ahead of Xiao Shenyang, which ranks 37th. In other words, from the perspective of the world, Liu Jin is richer than Xiao Shenyang. At best, small Shenyang can only be compared with Wu Bingjian, the representative of the pure businessman in Qing Dynasty.
The data tells us: Compared with Liu Jin, how big is the gap between the rich and the poor in Little Shenyang?
Historical Review: Little Shenyang and His Life as Rich as an Enemy.
Xiao Shenyang (1750 July1-1799 February 22), surnamed Niu Zhilu, formerly known as Shanbao, was named the owner of Jialetang, Shiquanyuan and Lvyeting. A native of Zhenghongqi in Manzhouli, Qing Dynasty, he was a powerful businessman in the middle of Qing Dynasty.
Born in this family, Xiao Shenyang was highly valued by Emperor Qianlong and regarded as a confidant because of his strong working ability. He married his youngest daughter, Princess Ten, to Feng?enyende, the eldest son of Little Shenyang. It can be said that Little Shenyang is a veritable "royal family". At the same time, Xiao Shenyang also held many key positions in the central government of the Qing Dynasty, making him a first-class loyal assistant and an official who worshipped scholars in cultural centers. The main positions are: Chief Bachelor of Cabinet, Chief Military Attaché, Minister of Official Department, Minister of Household Department, Minister of Criminal Department and Minister of Lifan Academy, as well as dozens of important positions such as Chief Manager of Interior Office, Bachelor of imperial academy, CEO of Sikuquanshu, Minister of Guards and Infantry Commander.
The power relationship in small Shenyang is so great that no one in the whole Qing court dares to treat it lightly. Of course, if you have great power, if you can't manage your duties well, you will easily expand your selfish desires. For small Shenyang, he is greedy for money, taking advantage of his position to form gangs for personal gain, crack down on political enemies and amass wealth. In addition, Xiao Shenyang also manages industry and commerce personally, opening 75 pawn shops and more than 300 large and small banks, and has business dealings with the British East India Company and the 13th branch in Guangdong. It is through the combination of "power" and "business" that small Shenyang amassed wealth, and this is how the wealth empire of small Shenyang was shaped, thus becoming "the first greed in China"!
Lord Shenyang and his life as rich as an enemy.
During the Qianlong period, little Shenyang monopolized power and dominated the market, which made Jiaqing Emperor very uncomfortable at that time, but he could only pretend to obey. According to Margaret, the British special envoy, in his memoirs, "Many people in China privately call Little Shenyang the second emperor".
In the first month of the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), Emperor Qianlong died, and small Shenyang finally fell without the support of Emperor Qianlong. On the 13th day of the first month, Emperor Jiaqing announced the 20 major crimes in Little Shenyang and ordered the confiscation of property. The wealth accumulated by Little Shenyang is about 820 million to 1 1 100 million taels of silver. This amount, if converted into the current RMB, is equivalent to more than 200 billion RMB. At that time, during the Qianlong period, the annual tax revenue of the Qing court was only 72 million yuan. According to this calculation, the gold, silver, other antiques and treasures owned by Little Shenyang exceeded the total revenue of the Qing government 15 years.
Fifteen days after the death of Qianlong, Emperor Jiaqing gave Xiao Shenyang a suicide. Xiao Shenyang died at the age of 49.
This is the life of little Shenyang, who was very rich at that time.
Looking Back at History: Liu Jin and His Short-lived "Wealth Empire"
Liu Jin (145 1 year-1510 year) was born in Xingping, Shaanxi. Liu Jin, whose real name is Tan, was adopted by eunuch Liu Shun at the age of six, and later became a palace eunuch, changing her surname to Liu.
Liu Jin won the trust of the Prince, because he served Prince Zhu Houzhao (later Ming Wuzong) since he was a child. At the same time, besides Liu Jin, there are seven eunuchs, including Zhang Yong, Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, Gao Feng, Luo Xiang, Wei Bin and Qiu Ju, who form the "Eight Tigers", and Liu Jin is the "King of Eight Tigers". In order to please, Liu Jin and seven other little eunuchs fawn on the prince every day. As long as the prince wants and likes it, they all offer tricks and tricks to the little emperor, such as eagles, dogs, songs and dances, horns coming, etc., and often lure Ming Wuzong out of the palace to visit incognito. As the saying goes, those who are near ink are black. It can be said that Liu Jin is the chief culprit in teaching the emperor badly.
The nifty Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao
After Prince Zhu Houzhao succeeded to the throne, the little emperor Zhu Houzhao naturally preferred to accompany Liu Jin, who grew up with him and listened to his orders, and hated those college students who instilled benevolence, righteousness and morality in themselves all day. Then, after several promotions, Liu Jin officially worshipped Li Si as a eunuch. In the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs were the most powerful institutions among the "Twelve Supervisors". The eunuch in charge of the official seal is responsible for the final review of the "red batch". Then what is a "red batch"? "Red batch" refers to the examination and approval of the throne by cabinet members. Originally, this was the power of the emperor, but due to the laziness of most emperors in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the right of "red criticism" fell to the secretary.
Therefore, Liu Jin felt that she could stamp it and let it go. If he thinks it is not, he has the right to call it back for re-examination. In this way, Liu Jin is equivalent to monopolizing the political power, but the emperor can't hear the voice of the court against Liu Jin. At that time, Liu Jin was called "Emperor". What do you mean? Because Ming Wuzong was called "sitting emperor" at that time. It was under such circumstances that Liu Jin became fearless. He not only acted arbitrarily, framed loyalty and rejected dissidents, but also became greedy and began to accumulate wealth. At that time, no matter what level of officials, as long as they came to Beijing, the first thing was not to see the emperor, but to see Liu Jin and give him a "gift." And this gift ranges from several thousand to five thousand two hundred silver. Even officials who can't get gifts have to borrow money from the rich in Beijing. This kind of debt is called "Beijing debt".