1736, Wang tingrong, a Shanxi businessman, invested 42,000 yuan to set up "xiangfayong" accounting bureau in Zhangjiakou and set up a semicolon in Beijing, which was an early accounting bureau with conclusive historical data.
Zhangjiakou was an important port for Sino-Russian trade at that time.
During the period of 1728- 1762, the Russian state-run trading caravan entered China from the Chaktu port, passed through Cullen and Zhangjiakou, or came to Beijing for trade. Zhangjiakou Trade City can be said to be the concentration point of China's trade with Russia.
Russian woolen cloth, flannel and all fur products exported from Russia are almost all shipped to the warehouse of Zhangjiakou Trade City, then wholesale to Xiabao and then shipped to China. In this way, the cycle of commodity circulation has been greatly extended, and more capital is needed to advance, so borrowing is needed.
On the other hand, Shanxi merchants bought cotton cloth, silks and satins, tea and other goods from Jiangnan and trafficked them to Zhangjiakou, and then to Mongolian tribes and Chaktu. Then the livestock, fur and other goods are trafficked back to Zhangjiakou from Chaktu and Mongolia and then sold to other places. Because the transportation route of goods is greatly extended, it takes up a lot of money and the turnover is slow, and the contradiction between its own funds and the funds needed for operation is prominent.
The Xiangfa Permanent Accounting Bureau opened by Wang Tingrong is not only an accounting bureau of Zhangjiakou University, but also an old financial enterprise in China. The accounting bureau solved the financing difficulties of foreign trade businessmen in Zhangjiakou.
Since Wang Tingrong opened the Xiangfa permanent accounting bureau, the accounting bureau opened by Shanxi merchants has not received any money. Among the 52 accounting bureaus recorded in the archives of the Qing Dynasty, 34 were funded by Shanxi people and 49 were run by Shanxi managers.
These statistics show that if Shanxi people are good at managing money, they are mainly Jinzhong businessmen, such as Jiexiu, Pingyao, Fenyang, Yuci, Taigu and Qixian. This is also the reason why Jinzhong region's economy rose in the Qing Dynasty, and Jinzhong businessmen became the spokesmen of Shanxi businessmen.
Qi Juanzao, a great scholar in the Qing Dynasty, said: "I overheard that people from well-off Shanxi and other provinces set up pavements outside the capital, which was called the printing bureau. All shops, large and small, as well as soldiers and civilians, borrow money from them, or settle accounts on a daily or monthly basis. Check the capital, five miscellaneous places, merchants gathered, household registration funds are surplus, business can be circulated, and military and civilians are occasionally lacking. It depends entirely on the turnover of the printing bureau. "
The "printing bureau" mentioned in the article is actually the accounting bureau. At that time, the accounting bureau dominated Beijing's finances.