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Ngu Binh Giam – Chinese businessman who is 4 times richer than Hoa Than?

In 2001, The Wall Street Journal of America announced the 50 richest people in the past 1000 years around the world. In this ranking, there are up to 6 Chinese people: Liu Jin, Hoa Than, Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Wu Bingjian and Song Ziwen. One of them has a total asset equal to the other 5 combined. Who are you?

One of the richest people in the world

Wu Bingjian (1769-1843), also known by his name Haoguan (浩官), was a Chinese merchant during the Qing Dynasty. Starting from a small business in China, he has become one of the richest people in the world, considered the most important figure in the business world of Thirteen Heng in Guangzhou. He is the owner of Di Hoa Hanh and the president of Guangzhou Gong Hanh, he was born in Fujian in the family of Ngu Quoc Oanh, a businessman and entrepreneur of the Ngu family.

Ngu Binh Giam is a person who owns countless real estates, tea factories, tea plantations, shops and huge wealth, not only that, he is also an investor in traffic construction, securities and insurance industry in the US. Also the largest creditor of companies in East India and Great Britain, once referred to as the “godfather” by Americans.

Ngu Binh Giam - Chinese businessman who is 4 times richer than Hoa Than?  - Photo 1.

Ngu Binh Giam (1769 – 1843), also known by the name Hao Quan, the boss of Di Hoa Hanh and the chairman of the Canton Cong Hanh, Ngu Binh Giam is considered by some documents to be one of the richest people in Vietnam. world history. Image: wikipedia.org.

Before the Opium War, Ngu Binh Giam started doing business with Westerners and invested large sums of money in many industries in the US, all of which reaped great profits. When Ngu Binh Giam’s family was in its prime, their wealth was equal to half of the total annual financial income of the Qing court at that time, equivalent to 5 billion NTD (about more than 17 trillion VND). ) now. While the total assets of the richest person in America at that time was 7 million yuan (about 24 billion VND). The main reason for Ngu Binh Giam to become so rich was because of his unique “merchant” status at that time, which was also the most important figure in the business world of Thirteen Heng in Guangzhou.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, the government applied a one-stop-shop system, giving the business world of Thirteen Heng in Guangzhou the privilege of foreign trade. Because of this unique privilege granted by the government, the business world of Thap Tam Hanh quickly emerged. Poet Khuat Dai Quan, born in the early Qing Dynasty, once wrote a verse about the Thirteen Hanhs as follows:The five ti ti eight titties are perfect, the silver arrows are full of ten three elements“, roughly translated: “Silk and brocade are good, money is full of Thirteen Hanh“.

Founding and developing Di Hoa Hanh

That year, Dong Van Hang of Phan Gia led the monopolization of Thap Tam Hanh’s business for more than a hundred years. Ngu Quoc Oanh (the father of Ngu Binh Giam) at that time was a bookkeeper of Dong Van Hang’s books. Not only can he be proficient in accounting, but also participates in asset management and investment cooperation with Dong Van Hang. Therefore, he was highly trusted by Dong Van Hang and Westerners. Later, when supported by companies in England and East India, Ngu Quoc Onh began to build his own business, founding “Di Hoa Hanh”.

In 1801, Ngu Binh Giam received Di Hoa Hanh from his father and within 5 years he brought Di Hoa Hanh to the same level as Tam Thap Hanh that Dong Van Hang monopolized at that time. Ngu Binh Giam was an exceptionally clever man, it is said that at any time he could calculate the yield on the promissory note at the investment shops in the UK, usually the number was not wrong. deviate by one coin.

Ngu Binh Giam helps merchants

In the early 19th century, merchants no longer had the assets and economic strength as before. Some people even say that only people who want to lose their lives become merchants. Ngu Binh Giam was the only person with the ability at that time and also the only one who wanted to help these difficult merchants.

With entrepreneurs on the verge of bankruptcy, he lent them money to pay off their debts. Many merchants were able to get out of trouble because of him. There was a businessman named Le Quang Vien because of bankruptcy, so he was exiled to Xinjiang. Ngu Binh Giam helped him financially during his life in exile. These actions have made his reputation and influence increasingly important.

In 1808, Dong Van Hang really fell into a difficult situation, could not continue to maintain it, so he went to Ngu Binh Giam, finally used 500 taels of white silver in exchange for the promise of the government to let him leave. Thirteen Hanh and let Ngu Binh Giam take the place.

Westerners at that time evaluated Dong Van Hang as an honest, enthusiastic, meticulous, assertive person, but born with a slightly cowardly temperament. However, being able to really find a way to survive when sandwiched between the government and Westerners and being the leader in the business world certainly requires such bravery.

When Ngu Binh Giam took over Thap Tam Hanh in Guangzhou, many more foreign merchants appeared, while in the past Dong Van Hang did not do business with them. Ngu Binh Giam then dared to take risks and volunteered to do business with them. The largest company, American Perkins Matheson in Guangzhou, because of cooperation with Ngu Binh Giam, has captured more than half of the market share of American trade with China and became one of the four major US investment enterprises. best in China.

John Murray Forbes – adopted son of Ngu Binh Giam

John Murray Forbes is America’s railroad king. When he arrived in China in 1829, he was still an apprentice, making a living from the Chinese tea trade. Later, since he received Ngu Binh Giam as his father-in-law, his fate changed dramatically. Ngu Binh Giam not only helped this adopted son build a fortune, but when Forbes returned to the US, he was also given 500 Mexican silver coins. With this money, John started a new business, building railroads, then became the largest contractor for railroad construction on the North American continent and the Pan American Railway. Ngu Binh Giam has always been a guaranteed god for John, then because the Americans respected him very much, considering him a “godfather”.

In Vu Di Son, Fujian, Ngu Binh Giam owns a large-scale tea plantation, where there is a factory, and through the transportation of his adopted son, the tea brand here is transferred to business around the world. gender. Ngu Di tea brand is packaged, shipped and sold very well in London (UK), Amsterdam (Netherlands), New York, Philadelphia (USA), and other world famous cities. Just that Ngu Di brand tea is popular and sold at a very high price.

The wealth and spaciousness of the Ngu Binh Giam

About the wealth and spaciousness of Ngu Binh Giam at that time, there was a story that left a deep impression and touched people’s hearts. There was a businessman in Boston, America, who owed Ngu Binh Giam 72,200 taels of silver, so he was kept in Guangzhou and could not return home. After Ngu Binh Giam learned of the incident, he sent someone to collect the loan receipt and said to the American merchant:He is my number one longtime business friend and also the most honest person, it’s just that now his luck is a bit lacking.“. After saying that, he tore up the loan receipt and told him that the debt had been paid, he wanted to return home whenever he could.

A loan receipt for 72,200 taels of silver is a huge asset. This generous act of his, made Ngu Binh Giam’s reputation spread widely in the US for half a century and was the most trusted Chinese merchant by Americans at that time.

Although Ngu Binh Giam’s business is quite busy and collects high fees, many Westerners still want to do business with him. The reason is that when doing business with him, they are always guaranteed on time and quality. Before 1834, Ngu Binh Giam’s transaction turnover with American and British merchants reached millions of taels of white silver.

To promote the expansion of road construction, Ngu Binh Giam actively contacted and met with the government. From 1801 to 1843, the total amount of money donated by the Ngu family to the government at that time reached 1.6 million taels. According to the records of the person in charge of the court records of the Qing Dynasty, the amount of money donated by the Ngu family in any form was not less than ten million taels.

Ngu Binh Giam invests abroad

Unlike other entrepreneurs in the country, Ngu Binh Giam loves to experiment with investing in foreign countries. According to the regulations of the Qing government at that time, businessmen were not allowed to leave the country. To be able to invest abroad, Ngu Binh Giam asked Americans to come to China to do business to help him write letters and ask them to contact them to do business abroad.

As a result, he was able to complete his investment in the securities and insurance industry in the US, all of his large investment transactions were made by his agent. Westerners at that time all said that Ngu Binh Giam had a great amount of capital and was more intelligent than people, and everyone who did business with him was very confident. In the mid-19th century, Di Hoa Hanh became a famous super multinational financial group.

In 1834, Ngu Binh Giam’s total assets were 26,000,000 silver coins, accounting for half of the annual revenue and expenditure of the Qing Dynasty, and at the same time about 4 times more than the property of the great mandarin Hoa Than when it was confiscated by Emperor Gia Khanh. . At that time, under the leadership of Ngu Binh Giam, the property of Thirteen Hanh Guangzhou developed to its peak.

History records that in 1822 a big fire caused many establishments of Cong Hanh owned by Ngu Binh Giam to be burned down, the amount of silver melted because of the fire formed a stream of liquid silver several kilometers long. Ngu Binh Giam alone contributed to a third of the amount that the Qing Dynasty had to pay to the British Empire after the Treaty of Nanjing in 1843. Ngu Binh Giam died in Canton in the same year.

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