1840, Zhang Zhenxun was born in the home of a rural private school teacher in dapu county, Guangdong. Although my father practices medicine and treats diseases in addition to teaching, life at home is still very poor. Xiao Zhenxun studied in a private school with his father for several years. When he was thirteen or fourteen, he had to drop out of school and go to his brother-in-law's house to herd cattle. However, he loves reading so much that he once forgot to take care of cows because of reading. The cow ate the seedlings in other people's fields, and the owner sued his brother-in-law for compensation. Brother-in-law was so angry that he slapped Xiao Zhenxun in the face and scolded him: "The dead can still hold four coffin boards. You can't even look at a cow. It' s worse than the dead! "
Xiao Zhenxun said angrily, "Don't look down on people too much, I will be rich in the future ..."
Before he finished, his brother-in-law sneered, "You want to get rich, too? Unless the sun rises in the west! "
Xiao Zhenxun turned blue with anger and ran home.
Father didn't blame him, but said awkwardly, "Son, what are you going to do in the future?"
Xiao Zhenxun thought that he had read Sima Qian's Historical Records, in which Biography of Huo Zhi contained many examples of getting rich by doing business, so he said to his father, "I want to learn to do business!"
Because there was no suitable student opportunity, his father sent him to a bamboo workshop as an apprentice.
Xiao Zhenxun is not afraid of hardship, and he learns his craft very well. However, when he 16 years old, there was a once-in-a-century drought in his hometown, and people starved to death everywhere. No one needs bamboo utensils anymore, and no one comes to study. Xiao Zhenxun and his father lost their jobs. Xiao Zhenxun had to go up the mountain with his brother every day to dig grass roots and peel bark for the whole family to feed their hunger. Just then, an overseas Chinese surnamed Huang from Nanyang returned to his hometown to visit relatives. Seeing the severe famine, he generously took out money and distributed a bucket of white rice to every household in the same village. The villagers are very grateful to him. Zhang Zhenxun was envious, so he found the overseas Chinese and asked him if he could work in Nanyang to earn money. An overseas Chinese surnamed Huang saw that he was strong and hardworking, and offered to take him to Nanyang to make a living.
Zhang Zhenxun excitedly went home, persuaded his parents and boarded a sailboat to Batang, Indonesia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) with overseas Chinese surnamed Huang.
After more than ten days of sea voyage, Zhang Zhenxun set foot on the land of Indonesia with hope. Clear and bright blue sea water, towering coconut trees, lush rubber forests, fragrant betel nut flowers and fragrant sand tea. ...
The strong exotic flavor makes Xiao Zhenxun feel novel and interesting. But he is more concerned about where to make glistening money. He will never forget the plight of his parents and relatives in his hometown. He is looking forward to earning more money to support his family!
However, at that time, Bacheng was under the rule of Dutch colonists, and the beautiful scenery here was only a paradise for the rich. It is still difficult for the poor to make a living here. With the help of overseas Chinese surnamed Huang, Zhang Zhenxun, who was unaccompanied, had a place to live, but he couldn't find a job for two months in a row, and finally had to be a very hard and dangerous miner.
It was not until three years later that Zhang Zhenxun worked as a helper in a paper industry run by an overseas Chinese in Fujian. He knows that this job is hard-won, so as long as it is ordered by the boss, he will do it conscientiously and practically. Sometimes, he does the work of two people by himself and never complains. When he is free in the evening, he is always eager to learn the local language and business knowledge. Boss Chen of the paper company therefore attached great importance to him, first making him a salesman, and then promoting him to be an accountant, entrusting him with all the money in and out of the store and accounting management. Zhang Zhenxun lived up to his boss's trust and worked hard to do a good job. That year, the paper company made a profit of 50,000 Dutch guilders. At this time, someone secretly encouraged him to find a chance, take the money in the shop and flee to his hometown to live a happy life. Zhang Zhenxun thought it was immoral and worthless, so he resolutely refused. When boss Chen knew this, he paid more attention to the young man and thought he was a reliable person, so he married his only daughter Chen to Zhang Zhenxun.
At the end of this year, boss Chen died of illness. Before he died, he entrusted everything behind him to Zhang Zhenxun.
After burying the old man, Zhang Zhenxun and his wife discussed how to develop their future career. He said that although the paper industry can maintain their lives, it will not make any great progress. In recent years, he has carefully observed and studied the management of Bacheng, and the restaurant has the best development prospect. Because Dutch colonists spend a lot of money, they can't live without wine all the time; Among the local residents, there are many people who drink good wine. So he wants to close the paper shop and open a hotel.
His wife has always admired his shrewdness, and after listening to his words, she agreed.
After the wine was spread out, business was booming. Zhang Zhenxun is a man of heart. When receiving customers, he pays great attention to understanding the local customs and making friends in all aspects. Even the local chief, the Dutchman Henry, became his friend. Later, with Henry's help, Zhang Zhenxun easily won the bidding for wine tax and pawn donation in Bacheng. Undertaking wine tax and pawn donation has made a lot of profits, and Zhang Zhenxun's wealth has doubled. At the same time, through Henry's relationship, he gradually expanded this business to other cities and other commodities. In just a few years, Zhang Zhenxun became a striking local monopoly.
However, Zhang Zhenxun is not satisfied with this way of getting rich. He has been looking for a more promising development direction.
1866, new business opportunities are coming. In order to develop nearby islands, the local government called on overseas Chinese to invest in reclamation. Zhang Zhenxun believes that the islands in Nanyang, with fertile land and suitable climate, will have good development prospects and a good opportunity to show their talents and make great achievements! So he went to Groba Port, which is also a Dutch colony, and set up a reclamation company in Yu He. The company hired a group of overseas Chinese workers, reclaimed a wasteland, planted cash crops such as coconut, coffee and tea, and interplanted miscellaneous grains in the field. After several years of hard work, the original jungle swamp has become a fertile countryside. His income is also increasing. Because he always attaches importance to credibility, his business has been very good. At the same time, he also arranged meals for Dutch troops and laborers, and also ran building renovation projects, which also earned a lot of money. His position in overseas Chinese society is getting higher and higher, and his career is getting bigger and bigger. In order to speed up the reclamation, while recruiting local Chinese workers, he wrote to his hometown and called villagers to participate in the development in Nanyang, and successively set up three reclamation companies in Yu Ying, Wang Li and Wan Yingying. Among them, the Li Wang family alone has tens of thousands of employees and millions of guilders!
1875. Zhang Zhenxun went to Sumatra to manage reclamation, set up Aceh Reclamation Company, and successively set up rubber gardens, tea gardens, fish ponds and banks, becoming a "rich man on the island of Sumatra". At the same time, he also invested a lot of profits in other industries. In Bacheng, he has two ocean shipping companies, Guangfu and Yuchang.
In Japan, there is a Japanese bank; In Wendongbu, there is Dongxing Mining Company, which mines tin ore. There are also many real estates in Medan, Penang and Sumatra. After more than 30 years of entrepreneurial struggle, by the 1990s from 65438 to 2009, Zhang's business scope had included agriculture, mining, commerce and transportation, with branches all over Southeast Asia. It is estimated that in the heyday of Zhang Zhenxun's enterprise, all its overseas assets were about 70 million taels of silver. At that time, the fiscal revenue of the Qing government was so much. This is really "as rich as an enemy"!
Zhang Zhenxun became a pivotal figure in the overseas Chinese community in Nanyang, and the local Dutch colonists dared not look down upon him. Wherever he went, the local administration paid tribute to him. At the same time, the Dutch government also prepared to grant him an official position, but Zhang Zhenxun politely declined. He said to his friend, "I'm from China. I should contribute to my motherland. How can I be a foreign official? "
1890 is another turning point in Zhang Zhenxun's life. This year, Gong Zhaoyuan, the Qing government's envoy to Britain, was ordered to inspect the way of enriching Europe and America. When passing through Singapore, he heard about Zhang Zhenxun and was very interested. He made a special visit. During the dinner, Gong asked Zhang Zhenxun how to get rich. Zhang Zhenxun's answer greatly praised Gong, and the two hit it off. On the recommendation of the Palace, the Qing government appointed Zhang Zhenxun as Consul General of China in Penang, and later promoted to Consul General in Singapore. Zhang Zhenxun's reputation also began to spread to China.
The following summer, Sheng Xuanhuai, the minister in charge of railway supervision of the Qing government, invited Zhang Zhenxun to Yantai, Shandong Province to discuss the construction of railways and the exploitation of mineral deposits. Zhang Zhenxun went with pleasure. During the conversation, Zhang Zhenxun mentioned an old story: 10 years ago, he had a table with a French consul. The French consul said that the climate of Tianjin and Yantai in China is suitable for grape growth, and the grapes there can be used to make high-quality wine. Zhang Zhenxun, who once ran a wine shop, kept this in mind. Now that he is in Yantai, he really wants to inspect the growth of grapes on the spot. Coincidentally, Sheng Xuanhuai has had this idea for a long time, thinking that Yantai region is rich in grapes with low prices, which is very suitable for building wineries. Two people happen to coincide, then discuss this matter carefully. Sheng Xuanhuai said that the most difficult thing is the lack of high-level winemakers. Zhang Zhenxun said that winemakers can be hired, which is not a concern. The trouble is that there are no bottles to supply.
Sheng Xuanhuai told him that a glass factory had been set up to solve the problem of wine bottles. The words greatly increased Zhang Zhenxun's confidence and immediately decided to invest and set up a winery in Yantai!
With the support of Sheng Xuanhuai, Zhang Zhenxun began to build a winery. He bought land in Yantai, customized machines, built factories and wine cellars, and opened up raw material bases. At the same time, he wrote to his hometown and recruited Zhang's children and relatives to help him.
1In September, 894, Yantai Changyu Brewing Company organized by Zhang Zhenxun was officially approved by the government, and was granted 15 patents in Zhili (now Hebei), Fengtian (now Liaoning) and Shandong provinces and preferential tax-free policies for three years. This was the first modern brewing company in China and the largest brewing company in the Far East at that time. The glittering signboard inscribed by Zhang Zhenxun is hanging high on the gate.
Zhang Zhenxun took the first step to the king of brewing.
Zhang Zhenxun used to run a restaurant and had a general understanding of famous wines in various countries. He has also run a reclamation company and has great ideas on the production and management of vineyards in the raw material base, which are favorable conditions for him to start a brewing company. However, he knows nothing about the technology of brewing. At first, he asked someone to look for relevant information from China's ancient books, and planned to experiment by himself. However, although the wine-making industry in China has a long history, it has always been dominated by grain wine, and the record of wine is almost blank. Zhang Zhenxun had to pin his hopes on foreign brewers. 1892 In the spring, introduced by a friend, Zhang Zhenxun hired Olin, a famous British winemaker, to come to Yantai, and they had a pleasant cooperation. Unexpectedly, two years later, Russian phosphorus died suddenly because of tooth extraction. At the critical moment when the winery was being built, Zhang Zhenxun had to urgently invite a new winemaker. Redefer, a Dutchman, was invited this time.
Zhang Zhenxun asked Redefer to start experimenting with wine, and he returned to Singapore to deal with the affairs of Nanyang. Soon, Redefer came to Singapore with a trial-produced wine sample, reported good news to Zhang Zhenxun, and began to brag about how well his wine was brewed, almost comparable to the fairy wine of the Queen Mother. However, Zhang Zhenxun took the wine sample to a local brewing company for testing, but the result was disappointing. The chemist said to him, "judging from the test results, the quality of grapes in your country is very good, but your wine-making technology is really not good." Maybe you winemakers don't know how to make wine at all! " Zhang Zhenxun realized that Redefer turned out to be a liar.
Although the swindler was driven away, Zhang Zhenxun was so angry that he stayed in bed for several days. When one of his Austrian friends found out, he helped him to hire a winemaker named Wow Wu from China. Zhang Zhenxun accepted the lesson and personally accompanied the winemaker to Yantai, where he was carefully observed and tested. He thinks wow is not only skillful in brewing wine, but also honest and honest, and entrusts him with the overall situation.
Wow not only guided the brewing technology, but also studied the local grape production. He found that although Yantai grapes are of good quality, there are not many varieties and the wine yield is not high. Therefore, he suggested that Zhang introduce excellent varieties such as Riesling and Dawanxiang from the west to improve the original varieties. Zhang Zhenxun thinks what he said makes sense. At the same time, he bought two barren hills in Yantai to reclaim land and expand the raw material base. At the same time, he sent his nephew Zhang to Europe to buy 6.5438+200,000 excellent varieties of grape seedlings. Unfortunately, the purchased grape seedlings passed through the Indian Ocean during transportation, and almost all of them withered due to the exposure of the scorching sun, losing more than 100,000 yuan. Zhang came back dejectedly and reported that although Zhang Zhenxun was also very sad, he encouraged Zhang: "Winning or losing is a common occurrence in military strategists.
I don't blame you. Go to Europe to buy 6.5438+0.2 million grape seedlings! "From this incident, we can see that Zhang Zhenxun has become an industrialist's verve and mind.
However, Austrian winemaker Wow Wu felt that he could not take on such a heavy responsibility and asked to resign because he was old and sick and had only worked for a short time.
Zhang Zhenxun had to go to the winemaker again.
You can't find a place to get it, and you don't have to work hard to get it. During the period of 1896, when talking with Sir Bao Bo, the Austrian consul in Yantai, Zhang Zhenxun mentioned that he had failed to ask the brewer three times, which made him very angry. Bao Bo laughed and said:
"There is a talented winemaker in front of you. Why not invite him? "
It turns out that Bao Bo's family has been engaged in brewing for generations. His father is a famous Austrian brewer. Bao Bo likes making wine since he was a child. I have been studying brewing technology with my father and working in a winery. Zhang Zhenxun was overjoyed and immediately discussed with Bao Bo and asked him to preside over the technical work of Changyu Brewing Company. Bao Bo saw that Zhang Zhenxun was infatuated with the development of the wine industry and longed for talents, and this job was his own interest, so he expressed his willingness to resign from his diplomatic post on the spot and return to his old job to help Zhang Zhenxun!
Zhang Zhenxun finally has a satisfied partner. A China consul abroad returned to China to run a brewery, and a foreign consul in China resigned from his job in the brewery. The sincere cooperation between the two consuls has become a story in the entrepreneurial history of Changyu Brewery Company!
After more than ten years of painstaking efforts, Yantai Changyu Brewing Company was finally ready by 1908.
The company has two vineyards of 124 varieties, covering an area of nearly 1000 mu, as raw material production bases; There is a three-story factory building, 1976 square meters underground wine cellar and a glass factory; And from abroad to buy presses, fermenters, white oak barrels and other equipment. The company also successfully tried to brew brandy and red wine. Everything was ready, and Zhang Zhenxun gave the order, and Yantai Changyu Brewing Company was officially put into production.
Zhang Zhenxun attached great importance to the quality of products from the beginning. He started with grapes, the raw material for wine making, and not only introduced new varieties from abroad, but also introduced new technologies. There are special people in charge of soil improvement, fertilization, pest control and other work. When the grapes are ripe, he also examines the quality of the fruits, classifies them, cuts them and uses them separately, thus greatly improving the quality of the wine. At the same time, he also established a planting technology file to record the growth, fruit and harvest of different varieties of grapes in detail year by year as a basis for improvement.
In the process of brewing, the key link of mellow wine flavor lies in the cellar storage time of wine. "Old wine, the older it gets, the more fragrant it gets." This is the truth. Zhang Zhenxun strictly stipulates that Changyu's products must be stored for at least 5 years before they can be sold.
At the same time, he changed the traditional wine storage method in China, using imported white oak barrels to store wine; Moreover, learning from foreign experience, we should "turn barrels" of Tibetan wine every year, that is, from one barrel to another. In the process of rotating barrels, tartaric acid deposited at the bottom will be removed, making the wine clearer. The longer the storage period, the more times the wine is rotated, and the more mellow the wine will naturally be. Although this process is time-consuming and laborious, Zhang Zhenxun is persistent and meticulous, so Changyu Company's wine has surpassed the products of many domestic and foreign manufacturers from the beginning.
Zhang Zhenxun has been engaged in commercial operation for a long time and knows the truth that "goods sell a piece of leather". He knows that if a new product wants to open the domestic and foreign markets, it should not only be inexpensive, but also pay attention to the outer packaging of the product. Therefore, he carefully designed the packaging scheme of Changyu wine. The wine bottle is specially produced by his own glass factory. Elegant shape, tin foil seal, exquisite and beautiful purple grape string trademark affixed to the waist of the bottle, which is very eye-catching. However, after the product went on the market, few people bought it. I can't open the market, and I'm worried about Zhang Zhenxun. He carefully analyzed the liquor markets in Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, Hankou, Tianjin and other domestic metropolises, and found that they had all been defeated by famous wines in the United States, Britain, France and other countries. In order to show their status and luxury, high-class dignitaries will drink foreign brandy, wine and champagne if they drink low-alcohol wine. If you drink high-alcohol liquor, you should drink Maotai and Fenjiu in China. Ordinary people, for the sake of material benefits, are used to drinking ordinary sorghum wine. Changyu wine and brandy are not recognized by consumers, and of course they can't be sold!
The key to the problem has been found and the solution has been found. Zhang Zhenxun began to launch a propaganda offensive with great fanfare. He advertised in the newspaper and erected huge billboards and posters at the station pier; Give away tableware, wine glasses, etc. Printed with the words "from Changyu Brewing Company" and sent to the restaurant; During the festival, huge wine bottles with unique decoration and eye-catching are dragged by cars in the city, and small bottles of brandy and wine are presented to pedestrians along the street for tasting. In addition, he also printed a large number of exquisite brochures and distributed them in places where overseas Chinese are concentrated all over Nanyang. The content of the publicity focuses on the nourishing effect of wine on the body ... this series of measures will soon be effective. Changyu Company's products sell well all over the country and have a great influence among overseas Chinese, making it a good product for people to hold banquets and give gifts to relatives and friends.
Zhang Zhenxun is not only an accomplished industrialist, but also has his own sober vision in politics. In the long-term practice of "rejuvenating the country through industry", he deeply saw through the incompetence and corruption of the Qing government, and placed great hopes on the future revolution. After the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911, he not only supported his son Zhang Zhijun to join the League, but also secretly funded Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary fund through Hu. After the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911, he also donated revolutionary soldiers and civilians in Fujian. Therefore, in 19 12, Sun Yat-sen, the interim president of the Republic of China, made a special trip to visit Changyu Brewery Company when passing through Jinan. After tasting Changyu wine, he happily wrote down the words "attaching importance to Liquan" to express his gratitude.
Sun Yat-sen also invited Zhang Zhenxun to be the president of the China Chamber of Commerce, and concurrently served as the prime minister of the Nanyang Guild, entrusting him to organize commodity exhibitions in China and overseas Chinese to promote domestic products. In the same year, after visiting Changyu Company, Kang Youwei also wrote a hymn: "Drink Changyu wine lightly and transplant Fengtai peony flowers;" Write a new sentence in Fahua, and be glad that you are at home when you meet. "
After the Revolution of 1911, Zhang Zhenxun successively served as an adviser to the Presidential Palace of the Republic of China, a senior adviser to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and an envoy to Nanyang. Zhang Zhenxun didn't have the enthusiasm to be an official, but he used this opportunity to advertise Changyu's products. Every time he goes to a restaurant for dinner, he asks for Changyu's brandy by name and says to the people around him, "Have you ever drunk this wine? I have traveled all over the world and have never drunk such good wine. It's really unique! " People want to taste this wine.
The success of Changyu products is inseparable from the contribution of winemaker insurance. However, after the outbreak of World War I, Bao Bo, as an Austrian citizen, had to be recruited to fight in China. To thank Zhang Zhenxun for his hospitality over the years, Bao Bo introduced an Italian as a winemaker before leaving. Zhang Zhenxun thinks that it is not a long-term solution to set up a factory for so many years and rely entirely on foreigners for technology. It is best to learn the skills of foreigners, so that you can no longer be subject to others. He secretly told Zhang and Zhu Shoushan of the company that he befriended foreign winemakers every day and stole his technology. However, Italians are also smart and technically conservative. Every time at the critical moment, he drives everyone out of the house and closes the door tightly so that no one can peek. Zhang and Zhu Shoushan couldn't help it. Later, they found that the Italian was a good drinker and easy to talk to when he was drunk, so they tried to invite him to dinner on the Mid-Autumn Festival, get him half drunk, and then led the conversation to brewing. As a result, the Italian winemaker was really fooled and casually said several key technologies of winemaking. Zhang et al. recorded it quickly and carried out the experiment according to this method, and it was successful once! Zhang Zhenxun finally has his own China winemaker, so he can get rid of foreigners' control technically!
According to Zhang Zhenxun's idea, Zhang and Zhu Shoushan also used rose fragrance as the main raw material to brew red wine with ruby color, rich aroma, mellow taste, sweet and sour taste. Taking white grapes as raw materials, referring to the traditional medicinal liquor technology in China, adding more than ten kinds of Chinese herbal medicines such as cinnamon, cardamom and saffron, a delicious wine with wine characteristics and nourishing function was brewed, which enriched Changyu's products.
19 14 years, under the careful organization of Zhang Zhenxun, Nanyang Persuasion Association and Shanghai Merchants Association held a Chinese and foreign commodity exhibition competition in Nanjing. Changyu wine also participated in the competition and won the gold medal certificate. Therefore, the government of the Republic of China awarded Zhang Zhenxun the Second Golden Harvest Medal and exempted Changyu from product registration tax. Since then, Changyu's brandy, vermouth, rose fragrance and Maotai, Jiu Shao, xifeng liquor, Fenjiu and Huzhou Daqu have been listed as the "eight famous wines" in China.
1965438+In April, 2005, Zhang Zhenxun was appointed as the head of the industrial investigation team in China and led a powerful delegation to visit the United States. When they passed through San Francisco, it happened that San Francisco was hosting the Panama World's Fair. Zhang Zhenxun sent someone to send Changyu wine to the competition with him. The game was announced. Changyu Brandy won the international gold medal, and both Vermouth and Rose Fragrance won high-quality medals. At the awarding ceremony, when the host solemnly announced that "China Changyu Brewing Company Brandy won the gold medal in this tournament", the hall suddenly applauded. Zhang Zhenxun, an old and thin man, stepped onto the podium, stretched out his wrinkled hand and accepted the glittering medal from the host. He trembled with excitement and began to cry. He said with infinite emotion: "I finally got what I wanted and made the best wine in the world!" " "
After returning home, Zhang Zhenxun reduced the gold medal pattern on the trademark, which is also the origin of the "gold medal brandy" that is still famous all over the world.
In summing up his own entrepreneurial experience, Zhang Zhenxun said, first, we should take a long-term view and invest in what is right;
Second, persevere and never give in to difficulties! Indeed, without these two points, it is difficult to achieve great things.
1965438+In September 2006, Zhang Zhenxun died of overwork in Bacheng.