Sheng Xuanhuai was a major political and business figure in the late Qing Dynasty and can be called the originator of Chinese commercial affairs. Although Sheng Xuanhuai and Hu Xueyan are both political and businessmen, Hu Xueyan's second-rank official title is a false position, but Sheng Xuanhuai is different. He is a political and businessman who has the power in his own hands. From Yipin).

The Postal and Communications Department is not an ordinary unit. It is equivalent to a large unit formed by the National Railway Administration, the Ministry of Transport, the Telecommunications Network Department, and the Post Office Department. Sheng Xuanhuai is the largest leading cadre of the Postal and Communications Department. Sheng Xuanhuai made his fortune relying on Li Hongzhang, and later became a major political and businessman in the late Qing Dynasty. So how are Sheng Xuanhuai's descendants doing?

Sheng Xuanhuai was a well-known political and businessman in the late Qing Dynasty and made outstanding contributions to China's commercial services

Sheng Xuanhuai was born in Changzhou City. When he was 16 years old, the Taiping Army attacked Changzhou City and followed his father Sheng Xuanhuai. Kang fled everywhere and later lived in Hubei. After the Taiping Rebellion failed, Sheng Kang took his child Sheng Xuanhuai and returned to Changzhou to live. Sheng Xuanhuai served as a think tank (chief of staff) in Li Hongzhang's shogunate and gained Li Hongzhang's respect. Later, he became Li Hongzhang's most powerful assistant in establishing the Westernization Movement. In addition, Sheng Xuanhuai also assisted Li Hongzhang in many major events, such as the founding of the China Commercial Bank, the Beijing-Hankow Railway, Nanyang Public School (the predecessor of Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Beiyang University (now Nankai University), etc., and founded eleven firsts in China. , which means that there are 11 items that were first founded by Sheng Xuanhuai.

It is not difficult to see that Sheng Xuanhuai has made great achievements in commercial banking, training industry, and mining industry, and introduced the best technology from Western countries into China. Later generations will call him the "originator of Chinese commercial services." But the good times did not last long. Later, he converted the private school railway lines into state ownership, which caused conflicts with regional rights and interests, which in turn triggered a road protection movement and accelerated the collapse of the Qing Empire.

As a result, Sheng Xuanhuai became the scapegoat of the Qing court. The whole country called for Sheng Xuanhuai's death. The Qing court reported on the work and came to the conclusion that Sheng Xuanhuai was not dead, which could not quell public anger. After Sheng Xuanhuai learned about it, he fled to Japan in a hurry. After the Qing emperor abdicated, Sheng Xuanhuai was invited by Mr. Sun Yat-sen to return to Shanghai and once supported Mr. Sun Yat-sen's great cause.

Sheng Xuanhuai

Sheng Xuanhuai had eight children

Sheng Xuanhuai successively married three wives and had eight children. The three sons born to his first wife used Their lifespans were not long either. The second and third eldest children died young, and the eldest brother only lived to be 46 years old. The second wife only gave birth to a daughter. Three wives gave birth to two sons, Tai Yuanyi died young, and Sheng Enyi was a well-known playboy. The eighth son, Sheng Junyi, was born to a side wife and died young.

Sheng Changyi was born in Hubei Province. When Sheng Changyi was four years old, he followed his father Sheng Xuanhuai back to his hometown of Changzhou to live. His mother passed away tragically when Sheng Changyi was fifteen years old. In the later years of the Qing Dynasty, the political situation was relatively turbulent. Sheng Changyi took the lead and went to the North Korean Arena to serve his country as soon as possible. Sheng Changyi participated in the imperial examination and served as a scholar in Hubei Province and successively as the county magistrate of De'an Prefecture (from the fourth grade). After Sheng Xuanhuai founded China Commercial Bank, Sheng Changyi was encouraged by his father to found Yushang Financial Institution. However, Sheng Changyi died of illness only a year after Yushang Financial Institution was founded. He died at the age of 46.

Sheng Enyi was Sheng Xuanhuai’s favorite child and was named by Cixi. Sheng Xuanhuai later gave the residence and garden in Suzhou to his fourth son, Sheng Enyi. Sheng Enyi went to the United States and England to study abroad earlier and was a well-known playboy. Later, he married the daughter of Sun Baoqi, the prime minister of the Republic of China. Sheng Enyi has been pampered since he was a child and has developed the bad habit of extravagance and waste. He spends money to enjoy himself. It is well known in Shanghai that because he is ranked fourth, his license plate number is four "4" and he is nicknamed Sheng Laosi.

Sheng Laosi provided each of his wives with a house and an imported luxury car, and sent a large number of nannies to serve them. Sheng Xuanhuai's first three sons passed away early, so he had high expectations for his fourth son and devoted himself to raising his children. However, the child was ineffective and played all day long. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Sheng Enyi fell into poverty and could not even afford the entrance fees to the ecological park. Sheng Enyi passed away in Suzhou Liuyuan at the age of 66. The fifth son, Sheng Chongyi, is Sheng Xuanhuai's most stable child. He sticks to his ancestral business and rarely interacts with the political circles. Later, he inherited his father's villa in downtown Shanghai.

After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Sheng Zhongyi went to Hong Kong to do business, but it went bankrupt within two years. He was impoverished in his later years and died in Hong Kong, China. Sheng Shengyi was born to Sheng Xuanhuai's concubine, Mrs. Liu, and later married the daughter of a well-known strategist. Sheng Shengyi was closely related to Kong Xiangxi, the Kuomintang's Minister of Finance. During the Anti-Japanese War, Sheng Shengyi served as the Kuomintang's Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui Province Taxation Bureau. He holds the position of chief and is in charge of the taxation power in the Jiangnan area. He is a key figure in Kong Xiangxi's faction.

The third generation grandson of Sheng Xuanhuai

The more well-known among Sheng Xuanhuai's grandchildren is Sheng Yudu, who is the child of Sheng Xuanhuai's fourth son, Sheng Enyi. Sheng Yudu went to Japan to study abroad at the age of 20 and graduated from Kyoto University. He then started his own business in Japan and founded restaurants and food with Chinese characteristics. He was loved by local people and successfully introduced Chinese food to Japan.

Sheng Yudu is a patriot. He went to Japan to do business and did not change his current nationality.