What obstacles will Huizhou merchants encounter in the late Qing Dynasty?

More than 300 years from the middle of Ming Dynasty to the end of Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty was the golden age of Huizhou merchants' development, and the number, scope of activities, business sectors and capital of Huizhou merchants ranked first in the country. At that time, commerce became the "first-class cause" of Huizhou people. Among adult men, business accounts for 70%, even higher at the peak. The activities of Huizhou merchants spread all over urban and rural areas, from Huainan in the east to Yunnan, Guizhou and Guanlong in the west, Youxian and Liaodong in the north and Fujian and Guangdong in the south. Huizhou merchants traveled as far as Japan, Siam, Southeast Asian countries and Portugal. In the late Qing Dynasty, the feudal rule declined, the tax payment became more and more serious, and the situation of Huizhou merchants became more and more difficult. 183 1 year, the governor of liangjiang was in charge of the salt affairs of the two provinces, and Tao Shu got rid of the accumulated disadvantages of Huai salt and changed it to the "ticket method". Huizhou merchants, who made their fortune with salt patents, began to decline, and the pawnshop industry was also reduced due to the left monopoly and the invasion of foreign banks. Due to the influence of the Opium War and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, tea and wood merchants suffered losses year after year. Especially with the invasion of imperialism, the infiltration of foreign capital and the dumping of foreign goods, most of the industries operated by Huizhou merchants were replaced by them. At the same time, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang chaebols, which are closely related to imperialism and warlord bureaucrats, began to rise. Huizhou merchants who only mastered traditional business knowledge and skills gradually lost their manipulation, monopoly and monopoly position in the business field and began to decline. During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, although some figures of Huizhou merchants emerged, such as yi county salt merchant Li Zongmei and Shexian real estate developer Cheng, they could not save the decline of Huizhou merchants as a whole. Huizhou merchants flourished after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, lasting for more than 400 years, and gradually declined in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. The reasons can be seen from the following aspects: First, in the 11th year of Qing Daoguang, Tao Shu, the governor of Liangjiang, implemented the "ticket law" for several years to get rid of the accumulated disadvantages of Huai salt, which not only exempted tens of millions of salt courses owed to merchants in the past, but also increased tens of millions of income, which greatly affected the interests of salt merchants. So when Tao Shu first proposed to get rid of the disadvantages of salt, salt merchants and officials opposed it. Cao Zhenyong, a native of Shexian County, started his career in salt industry when he was appointed as the prime minister of Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang in the Three Dynasties. Although it was not easy to come forward to oppose it, Huizhou merchants still suffered losses because of the salt policy reform law. He said sourly that there was "no prime minister who starved to death" in the salt reform. Despite what Cao Zhenyong said, the salt policy reform dealt a great blow to Huizhou merchants. Second, Wang Maoyin, a Shexian native who was then assistant minister and in charge of Qianfatang in the third year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty, believed that the banknote law had to rely on businessmen to facilitate their operation and give them special benefits. Not only was his suggestion not adopted by Yi Xu, but he was severely reprimanded for being instructed by others. This is also a great blow to Huizhou merchants who run money houses. Third, during the Qing and Kang Dynasties, pawnbrokers were banned because of heavy profits, and then the pawnshop tax was raised. Zuo improved his quality of life, but the pawnshop was defeated several times. Xianfeng began to implement "Likin" in four years, and there were many tax cards. It is not as easy for Huizhou merchants who have the ability to traffic long distances to make money as before. 4. After the Opium War, the imported goods from capitalist countries were dumped all over China. The handicrafts operated by Huizhou merchants are not those produced by foreign commercial machines, that is, Huimo is the only one, and it is also impacted by imported pen and ink. At the same time, with the appearance of foreign merchants, the domestic comprador class colluded with officials and gentry and became the enemy of Huizhou merchants. 5. Huizhou merchants trapped in the feudal production and management mode were gradually submerged by them in the competition with the emerging Zhejiang businessmen in Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangsu. In addition, there is another important reason, that is, during the reign of Xianfeng Tongzhi, Huizhou was at war for years. At first, Yong ying lost donations and searched everywhere. Later, Zeng Guofan inspected Qimen and plundered the county, leaving the county empty. Coupled with the offensive and defensive wars of Taiping Army and Qing Army, fierce fighting continued, cruel burning and looting, and bodies were everywhere, so the deer house was a market. Huizhou suffered a rare disaster since ancient times, which severely devastated Huizhou merchants in terms of manpower, financial resources and material resources. In a word, Huizhou merchants are the product of feudal social economy. Although they have a long history, they failed to adapt to the development of society, and their inevitable decline was determined by the semi-feudal and semi-colonial society.