About twenty-five years after Qianlong (1760), a 30-year-old Chaoshan man named Xu Yongming (Ying Yuan) was unwilling to be lonely. I left Gounan Village in Shantou, Guangdong Province (that is, in the south of Shantou City) and came to guangzhou fu to do small business.
A few years later, about 40-year-old Xu Yongming had some savings. Being in the prime of life in a foreign land, I gradually felt a little unbearable loneliness, so I sprouted the idea of getting married in Guangzhou.
He told his heart to a friend, who sympathized with his situation and asked the matchmaker to introduce him to a daughter named Huang. This family's surname is Huang, whose ancestral home is Panyu, and it is a poor Confucian scholar Huang Tonggui. Miss Huang, the third in the Huang family, was only 17 years old.
In the thirty-sixth year of Qianlong (177 1), he officially married Miss Huang, and everything was handled according to the local marriage customs in Panyu. Old people with few wives have a harmonious relationship after marriage. Men are outside and women are inside. In the second year after marriage, Miss Huang gave birth to her eldest son, Xu Baiting, and later gave birth to two sons. Ten years later, Xu Yongming suddenly fell ill and died. After Yongming's death, Huang returned to Yongming's hometown with his three sons, thinking that he had a legacy to support his children. Unexpectedly, when I arrived in Gounan Township, I realized that Yongming had a wife in his hometown. Huang, unwilling to be a concubine, dragged three children back to Guangzhou. A family of four is helpless and has no life. My kind uncle entrusted Xu Baiting, who was only 13 years old, to a salt merchant named Dong to work as a child laborer in a salt shop. Because he was hardworking and capable, he became a capable shop assistant, so the boss sent him out to sea to buy salt. The early death of his father and the bitterness of his widowed mother made Xu Baiting know how to take good care of his mother and family when he was still in his twilight years. The determination to fight for his mother's breath and the desire of China people to shine and get ahead are driving, inspiring and dominating him all the time.
An opportunity for Xu Baiting to stand out from the crowd.
Once, Bai Ting was appointed by the shopkeeper to go out to sea to buy salt, accompanied by two other salt merchants and three cargo ships. However, on the way back to Guangzhou, three cargo ships were full of salt and a storm hit. The horror of the storm was heartbreaking, and Baiting knew that he would die at this time. He shouted: "Guys, there is no way out, only this one!" " He inspired everyone, risked his life to sail and finally miraculously returned to Guangzhou. According to historical records, this extraordinary storm caused heavy losses to merchant ships and civilian ships in Lingdingyang area, with a drowning population of nearly 20,000.
Three ships have three different fates, one sinks and the other loses its way. Only the ship commanded by Xu Baiting, who is not afraid of the wind and waves, can ride the wind and waves, desperately escape from the jaws of the hurricane, and miraculously reach the Guangzhou pier. Not only the shipowner himself, but also the businesses around him, especially the two businesses to which the two salt ships accompanying him belong, were deeply shocked. For a while, everyone contended that the salt merchant named Dong had a good life and good luck, and hired a calm, calculating, far-sighted and "lucky" person like Xu Baiting to make the salt merchant named Dong happy.
Just after the gale, the Guangzhou market was depressed, especially the shortage of salt supply, which made people panic. Dong, a salt merchant, is engaged in almost exclusive business with rich profits, which won the envy and jealousy of salt industry peers. As a result, businessmen focused their attention on Xu Baiting, who became famous for a while. In addition to the legendary loyalty, courage, benevolence and righteousness, he can also "turn all misfortunes into good luck" and "good luck shines brightly", which brings up the story of his family's prosperous business and stirs the hearts of many businessmen who are eager to get rich and have rare talents. As a result, a secret plan in the industry is being carried out quietly: some big firms send people to secretly discuss with Xu Baiting and are willing to hire them at a high salary; Others are willing to spend money to open a shop with him.
However, Xu Baiting was unmoved by all kinds of temptations. In order to repay the cultivation of Dong Salt Merchants, he has always been loyal, "loyal ministers don't serve two masters." The salt merchant named Dong appreciated him more and more, gave Xu Baiting shares and cooperated with him to continue to operate the salt industry. Later, Xu Baiting finally became independent and managed the salt industry with his younger brother Xu. Business is snowballing.
This is also a good time to be born. At that time, in order to dispel the doubts of salt merchants and solve their difficulties in selling courses, the Qing government implemented the investment promotion policy and gave salt merchants various preferential treatments, which brought a great turn for the production and sales of salt industry. At that time, salt revenue became the most important fiscal revenue except land tax every year and became one of the important financial pillars of the Qing government. Salt merchants who "actively contribute" to salt every year belong to the privileged merchant group closely related to the imperial court. They obtained the patent right to sell salt and made high profits. Many salt merchants often accumulated hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, forming huge commercial capital.
It was in the political climate and environment that the Qing government opened the way for the production and marketing of salt industry that Xu Baiting rose rapidly in Guangzhou salt industry and became one of the best.
Luck changed, Xu Baiting married Liang Borong's daughter in Panyu, and later took over six wing houses, including Chiang's, Chen's, Liao's, Ou's, Lee's and Hou Shi's. About * * * gave birth to 1 1 sons and 8 daughters.
However, Xu Baiting's vision is not limited to business, but also intoxicated with the success of one place at a time. He seems to see farther, see farther and think more than the people around him. This is where he is courageous, knowledgeable and superior. Destroy pirates and serve the court.
In the 15th year of Jiaqing (18 10), Xu Baiting, who had become a salt merchant in guangzhou fu, got an important opportunity to serve the imperial court.
In the early years of Jiaqing, pirates appeared in Guangdong waters. In the 14th year of Jiaqing, pirates from Fujian, Guangdong and other coastal areas looted merchant ships, which made many places lose their grain and oil markets.
Facing the increasingly difficult situation, Emperor Jiaqing tried to suppress the pirates along the coast of Guangdong through the combination of government and people, but it also required huge sums of money, so he thought of asking wealthy businessmen to donate money.
At this time, Xu Baiting belonged to the merchant class who obtained vested interests from the Qing government. Under the system of salt monopoly and contractor recognition, salt merchants enjoy the privilege of selling salt from the shore and can directly make huge profits, so they are particularly rich. In Xu Baiting's eyes, the national interests dominated by the Qing emperor are consistent with those of his own family. Therefore, in the upsurge of salt merchants serving the imperial court, Xu Baiting enthusiastically participated in the donation and service activities.
The imperial court mobilized local folk forces to participate in the suppression of pirates, which had a special incentive effect on Xu Baiting. Unwilling to be lonely, he enthusiastically recruited himself and organized a huge anti-piracy team. Xu Baiting, who was only 38 years old, came to Zhifu and expressed his indignation at the pirates in the affected villages to Governor Bailing. At the same time, he detailed his plan to participate in the suppression. It turns out that at this time, he has recruited dozens of red single boats and thousands of Shuiyong, and scattered thousands of dollars every month to deploy himself and prepare to lead Shuiyong out of the ocean to make contributions. Bailing appreciated his behavior deployment and issued an order to allow him to participate in the suppression.
Pirate gangs such as Zhang Baozai, Guo Bodai, Xiangshan No.2, Ching Shih, Wushi No.2, Wushi No.3, and Two Brothers are the most severely affected in the Pearl River Estuary. They are brave and good at fighting. To the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Xu Baiting cooperated with the company commander Huang to chase the boat division day and night, and fought fiercely for more than ten days, which made him frustrated and fled in a hurry. Xu Baiting returned home in triumph. In the spring of March, Zhang Baozai defected voluntarily. At this point, one of the most powerful pirates announced the disintegration. Only two pirates, Wushi II and Wushi III, continue to wreak havoc along the coast. Once again, Xu Baiting accepted the governor's order and led the brave men to cooperate with the officers and men to attack them. Attack team is very big, Zhang Baozai led after defection, * * * is divided into several teams to suppress. Finally, the sentient beings such as Wushi No.2 and Wushi No.3 were captured and the ocean surface of the whole province was leveled. At this point, the pirates who have plagued the court for a long time have basically been solved.
In the reward afterwards, Governor Bailing praised Xu Baiting's generosity, wisdom and courage in this fight against bandits, and especially reported his deeds to the court. As a result, he first won the award of "the government knows the same thing", and then won the award of "Doctor in Discussion". Start a mountain and set up a ancestor, a noble family
It is a supreme honor for him that Emperor Jiaqing rewarded Xu Baiting, which further stimulated his ambition and desire.
He chose Gaudi Street as the permanent residence of the Xu family. According to the inscription of Xu Baiting's Family Temple, which was established in the 29th year of Daoguang (1849), the first doctor (Xu Baiting) moved to Panyu and lived together in Gaudi Street, a new town for more than 40 years. This also shows that Xu Baiting settled in Gaudi Street.
Both Xu Baiting and Mrs. Huang hope that their descendants will be re-elected, become Confucian scholars from generation to generation, and move to Gaudi Street. This is a kind of luck and an encouragement to them. Xu Baiting invested in the middle section of Gaudi Street and bought several houses of declining families at that time, which were expanded and built into one, with the front facing the street and the back facing the jade belt. Carving a beam and painting a building is luxurious and extraordinary. People call this area "the promised land", where his descendants will live and prosper, and their family voice is becoming more and more prominent.