Starting from studying, he founded Dalian Maritime University. Sheng Xuanhuai's life was successful because of his extensive reading.

Sheng Xuanhuai was one of the most famous businessmen in the late Qing Dynasty. He is the earliest industrialist in China. Even if the family is ruined in the later period, he still has tens of millions of silver. Different from other businessmen, Sheng Xuanhuai's achievements can not be separated from one of his characteristics, that is, reading widely. Because of his extensive reading, his vision and pattern are longer than those of other ordinary businessmen, and he has therefore become the overlord of the business community. I like reading since I was a child. Sheng Xuanhuai was born in Jiangsu, an ancient and rich place. His family background is not simple either. His father was a senior official of the Qing Dynasty and had a good personal relationship with Li Hongzhang. Children of this bureaucratic family can easily develop the bad habits of some noble sons, but Sheng Xuanhuai is not contaminated at all. He inherited the industrious nature of his family, read widely since childhood, and won a scholar at a young age. Due to the close relationship between his father and Li Hongzhang, 1870, Sheng Xuanhuai was recruited by Li Hongzhang and became the staff of his family. Under Li Hongzhang, Sheng Xuanhuai's main job is to help deal with the related issues of Westernization Movement. The Westernization Movement was the earliest entrepreneurial activity. It has been heard for a long time, and Sheng Xuanhuai began to develop his own career. First, he is in Tieshan, Datong. He talked about local land property rights and started his first business. Before long, Sheng Xuanhuai became Zhang Zhidong's right-hand man. With his help, Hanyang Iron Works, the first iron works in China, was established. At first, the iron works lost money, until Zhang Zhidong found Sheng Xuanhuai and immediately arranged for him to take over. Sheng Xuanhuai was full-fledged at that time. Under his leadership, Hanyang Iron Works turned losses into profits and achieved positive growth. Different from other businessmen, when others are studying how to make money or spend money reasonably, he always steals time and fills his spare time with books. Perhaps, this book has its own golden house. At that time, the Qing dynasty, which was closed to the outside world, was blocked by news and the road to doing business was bumpy. Sheng Xuanhuai often uses books to learn about foreign information, the bottom line of life and how to develop business. Due to the frequent study and study of foreign technologies and their comprehensive application, Hanyang Iron Works, under the leadership of Sheng Xuanhuai, has achieved excellent product quality and quantity, and won unanimous praise at home and abroad. Second, after studying in Hanyang Iron Works, a businessman, Sheng Xuanhuai once again entered Hanyeping Company as the chairman. Sheng Xuanhuai is a reformer. Because of his extensive reading, he can always point out the reasons for stagnation and is willing to meet the new situation with reform. As soon as he took office in Hanyeping Company, he initiated new reform measures. Only reform can develop. This is the truth that adapts to the times. Because of his extensive reading, Sheng Xuanhuai has many ideas in his mind. He is not satisfied with being in a corner and always trying new things. At that time, the aerospace industry was just emerging, with great risks and uncertain future. While other businessmen are still watching, Sheng Xuanhuai has begun to make preparations for the development of China's space industry. Businessmen always seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, but Sheng Xuanhuai, because of his extensive reading, chose the national righteousness without hesitation every time before it. He founded Wusong Merchant Marine College, and contributed a lot of talents to the motherland at that time. This college is the predecessor of Dalian Maritime University and Shanghai Maritime University. Sheng Xuanhuai is a very special businessman. Compared with the identity of a businessman, he may be more like a scholar, with the backbone, wisdom and action of a scholar. Third, a strong family supported Sheng Xuanhuai's life, married seven wives and gave birth to 16 children. In that war-torn era, it was his skill that supported such a large family. Unlike others, Sheng Xuanhuai did not place his wife and children everywhere. Instead, he deliberately built a grand mansion covering an area of nearly 100 mu for his family to live together. ? Each of his children has a separate nanny, and each wife has a servant. In addition, there are 270 servants working in Shengfu. These huge expenses are borne by Sheng Xuanhuai, the only person with income. Shengfu has a lot of housework. Sheng Xuanhuai's original wife, Mrs. Zhuang, has a reputation as a good family, a good wife and a good mother, which is more than enough to manage such a family. Unfortunately, trees attract the wind. Although Sheng Jia is keen on charity, he is still hated by many people. Because of being calculated, he was forced to pay more than 500,000 pieces of silver to the court. Later, many properties were nationalized for various reasons. Of course, even if everything is difficult, the Shengjia family has declined, and the family assets are still more than 10 million. Unfortunately, the descendants of the Sheng family did not inherit the advantages of Sheng Xuanhuai. With the death of Sheng Xuanhuai, his family finally went into decline. Beautiful scenery is a beautiful dream after all. But there is no denying that Sheng Xuanhuai has made contributions. He is a successful businessman and a successful scholar.