Chapter 46 Founded China Shipping Merchants

In the process of setting up Westernization, in order to restore the shipping industry along the river and the coast and resist the encroachment of foreign ships, Li Hongzhang appointed rich sandboat merchants, Zhejiang shipping committee members, and alternate prefect Zhu Qiang and Zhu Qishao brothers to set up a bureau to recruit business shares on Yong'an Street, Yangjingbang, Shanghai. Shipping Merchants Company, this company has played a certain positive role. Shipping Merchants Bureau is the first enterprise whose westernization activities have shifted from a military enterprise to a civilian enterprise, and from government-run to government-supervised and merchant-run.In August 1872, Li Hongzhang ordered Zhu Qi'ang, Zhejiang Shipping Committee member and alternate prefect, to be in charge of organizing the Shipping Merchants Bureau.According to Li Hongzhang's instructions, Zhu Qiang quickly drafted 20 articles of the "Investment Attraction Charter", advocating the joint operation of government and business.However, Li Hongzhang believes that there is no government ship, and there is no need for government-business cooperation, and government-supervised business management should be implemented.Preparations began in Shanghai in October 1872.On December 23, 1872, Li Hongzhang asked for a trial run of China Shipping Merchants.This is the first enterprise in the Westernization Movement that was transformed from a military enterprise to a civilian enterprise, and from a government-run to a government-supervised business-run enterprise.It is also the largest civil enterprise among all kinds of industrial, mining and transportation enterprises in early modern China and the first to introduce western technology and management methods.

In January 1873, the Steamship Merchants Bureau was officially approved to be established. Zhu Qiang served as the general office, and the government supervised the commercial office. It operated Jiangsu and Zhejiang grain transportation and various passenger and cargo businesses.Seeing that China Merchants Steamship was on the right track step by step, Li Hongzhang was both relieved and worried. He was relieved that another masterpiece of his had come out, but he was worried that it would suffer as many disasters as other Westernization enterprises.Sure enough, less than half a year after opening, problems arose.

The problem lies with Zhu Qiang, the general manager. Zhu Qiang, courtesy name Yunfu, lives in Gaoqiao.Shiye Shachuan, a giant merchant in Songhu, donated money for the general judge, and was exhausted to the Taoist priest.In the tenth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1860), he partnered with an American businessman to set up Qingmei Foreign Firm in Yantai, Shandong Province, and operated trade between Shanghai, Yantai, and Tianjin ports. Huiyinhao has undertaken shipping for many years, and served as the general office and shipping committee member of Zhejiang Port Transportation Bureau.In the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872), under the instruction of Li Hongzhang, he and Zhu Qishao jointly drafted the articles of association of the Shipping Merchants Bureau.Returning to Shanghai from Tianjin, he gathered Li Zhenyu, Hu Guangyong and others, and served as the general office of the China Merchants Bureau with their wealth.Zhu Qiang is familiar with the water transport business, but he knows nothing about soliciting business and transporting goods and passengers. In addition, he has improperly employed people, abused power, and has not recruited enough commercial shares. China Merchants Steamship may be in trouble at any time.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Qiang was forced to resign.In July 1873, Li Hongzhang changed the Steamship Merchants Company to Steamship China Merchants, and adopted the suggestions of Sun Shida and Sheng Xuanhuai, and appointed Tang Tingshu, the comprador of Jardine Matheson Co., Ltd., as the general office, and Xu Run, Zhu Qiang, and Sheng Xuanhuai, the compradors of Baoshun Matheson Co., Ltd. as the general office. , Handle the affairs of the China Merchants Bureau. By 1875, China Shipping Merchants had self-made ships, and also undertook eight Fujian-Guangzhou ships. It also recruited shares and purchased two ships from the United Kingdom, and distributed them to Haikou in the North and South Oceans and overseas Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore Trade with other places, and carry grain from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.From then on, Chinese ships began to sail unimpeded in China's waters, which became a major achievement of coastal defense and foreign affairs.

In 1876, there were eleven ships, and in 1877, he bought sixteen old ships belonging to American Merchant Qichang Yangxing Co., Ltd., as well as its docks, warehouses and other properties, for 2.22 million taels of silver. China Merchants Take shape.The head office of China Merchants is located in Shanghai, and its branches are located in Tianjin, Niuzhuang, Yantai, Hankou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and overseas Yokohama, Kobe, Luzon, Singapore, etc., with a total capital of more than 4.2 million taels. One of the most accomplished enterprises among civilian enterprises. Zhu Qiang was in charge of water transport on behalf of the government, Tang Tingshu and Xu Run represented businessmen in charge of soliciting business and buying shares, and Sheng Xuanhuai, who represented no one, was involved in both business and water transport, coordinating the relationship between the two parties, and became Li Hongzhang's spokesperson.

Tang Tingshu and Xu Run are not only the operators of China Merchants Capital, but also the owners of the main capital in the bureau.The two tried their best to use the rich experience accumulated in the business world and the reputation in all walks of life in the management and operation of China Merchants Steamship.The stock capital and business of China Merchants are booming, and Li Hongzhang breathes a sigh of relief. In the process of Li Hongzhang's Westernization, the potential of his inventions and creations has also been greatly demonstrated.The government-supervised business office can be said to be his patent. It sounds very reasonable. The government has the duties of the government, and the business has the tasks of the business. The cooperation between the government and the business benefits both the public and the private.Not so.Officials have their responsibilities, and businessmen have their pursuits. They have different starting points and different pursuits. It is full of contradictions for the two to cooperate closely.Tang Tingshu and Xu Run knew that before they joined China Merchants Steamship, there were some people in the court who were easy to be officials, but some officials in the bureau were difficult to handle.Therefore, they stipulated in the charter of the Construction Bureau: All management personnel should be as streamlined as possible, and the organization should not be too large and overstaffed, and the government should also be exempted from appointing committee members!Li Hongzhang said: Good!Everything is up to you, and the profit and loss have nothing to do with the official.So when someone recommended someone to be in charge of the China Merchants Shipping Bureau, he flatly refused, saying: China Merchants Bureau has no committee members and no salary. What position do you want me to put him in?Li Hongzhang himself resolutely implemented the charter, but China Merchants always entered the bureau without permission.The bulk of China Merchants’ business comes from the transportation of official grain, earning money from the officials. It’s really hard to refuse someone recommended by the official. The person recommended by the officials in charge of water affairs is even more irresistible. Not only can’t they resist, but they have to arrange An easy and well-paid seat.This makes China Merchants miserable.And Tang Tingshu and Xu Run also have three or four close friends, seven or eight aunts and uncles, and a dozen or so fellow villagers.In this way, China Merchants is still an expanded group of relatives and friends.

There are conflicts between officials and businessmen, but Li Hongzhang is just making peace with each other.Sheng Xuanhuai was unsuccessful at China Merchants and had a negative attitude. Later, someone complained to the court that he was suspected of corruption, so he simply left China Merchants Steamship.Although Tang Tingshu has various shortcomings, he has strong working ability and has a warm relationship with business people, which has made great contributions to the development of China Merchants Steamship.In 1887, Li Hongzhang wanted to develop China's mining industry, but he couldn't find a more suitable candidate for a while, so he asked Tang Tingshu to manage the affairs of the Kaiping Mining Bureau.China Merchants Steamship was on the right track, and Kaiping Coal Mine needed a lot of energy to plan and manage when it just started to prepare. Tang Tingshu unconsciously transferred most of his energy to Kaiping.In the second year when Tang Tingshu was in charge of Kaiping Coal Mine affairs, Zhu Qiang, the veteran of China Merchants Shipping Bureau, official representative and proficient in water transport business, passed away.Xu Run was the only one left in the four carriages, and he began to think about making profits for himself.At that time, real estate in Shanghai was booming, and Xu Run invested the money from China Merchants. He thought he would make a lot of money soon, not only repaying the public funds, but also making a lot of money.But soon, a serious financial crisis broke out in Shanghai, and Xu Run declared bankruptcy and owed China Merchants Steamship Co., Ltd. 162,000 taels of silver.Li Hongzhang had to dismiss him.

After Zhu Qi'ang's death, Li Hongzhang ordered Ye Tingjuan, an alternate Taoist priest from Jiangsu, to take over. Ye Tingjuan (1829︱1886), courtesy name Guzhi.A native of Jida.In the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856) of the Qing Dynasty, he served as the magistrate of Shanyang County. In the tenth year of Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty (1860), he was assigned to Jiangbei Tuanlian to participate in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion. He fought bravely and was appreciated by the Qing rulers.In the third year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1864), he was appointed by Li Hongzhang to preside over the Shanghai Bureau of Catchment.Formulate the "Articles of Association for Chinese and Foreign Arrests" to strengthen the law and order, so that the public security in Shanghai has improved.In the sixth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1867), Ye Tingjuan was appointed as the magistrate of Shanghai, and was appointed as the magistrate of Nanhui County.

According to Guangxu's "Nanhui County Chronicle" and "Shanghai County Chronicle Continued Chronicle", during his tenure, Ye sent capital many times to relieve the people's poverty, and he was able to resist the evil acts of foreign invaders and safeguard the rights and interests of the nation.In the fourth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1878), Ye Tingjuan was promoted to Taoist priest, served as Songhai Tongzhi alternate Taoist third-rank Hualing, and was awarded Doctor Ronglu as a cabinet bachelor.Xuan Dingyou returned to his hometown, built Rongludi in Jida, founded schools, repaired historical sites, and those who benefited the village immediately donated money to meet their needs, and the villagers felt their virtue.

Because of such outstanding performance, Li Hongzhang transferred him to preside over the China Shipping Merchants Bureau. After Mrs. Ye took office, he found that the accounts were unclear, and immediately conducted a detailed inspection.The result of the inspection was that China Merchants Steamship Co., Ltd. was losing money, and was already on the verge of bankruptcy.He immediately reported to Li Hongzhang.Li Hongzhang only has China Merchants to raise funds to expand funds.Shrewd businessmen have long seen the filth within China Merchants, and no one is willing to invest.Business money cannot be obtained, or government money is borrowed, but government money has always been very interest-bearing, and China Merchants has been unable to sustain itself. Where did the money come from to return the huge interest.Ye Tingjuan suggested that it would be better to imitate the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau and simply nationalize the Shipping Merchants Bureau and turn it into a state-owned enterprise.Since it is state-owned, the money paid by the government is considered an investment, and no interest can be charged. In addition, the government will give another two million taels to China Merchants to pay off the debts. After that, all shipyards and docks will be owned by the government.Ye Tingjuan's suggestion made Li Hongzhang unhappy, and he was dismissed after less than a year of working.

Li Hongzhang reassigned Zheng Guanying to be in charge of China Merchants' business. Zheng Guanying (1842︱1921) whose real name is Guanying, style name is Zhengxiang, and nickname is Taozhai. He was born in Luofufu (zhi) and Heshan, etc., and his ancestral home is Yongmo Village, Sanxiang Town, Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City), Guangdong. .He is the earliest theorist with a complete ideological system of reform in modern China, the enlightenment thinker who opened the prelude to democracy and science, and an industrialist, educator, writer, philanthropist and ardent patriot. Zheng Guanying was originally a comprador of Swire Pacific, and worked under Li Hongzhang for many years. He successively served as the general office of Shanghai Machine Weaving Layout and the Shanghai Telegraph Bureau. He has rich experience in foreign affairs.After accepting Li Hongzhang's appointment, he formally left Swire Pacific in view of the experience and lessons of his predecessor, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the affairs of China Merchants Shipping.As soon as Zheng Guanying came to power, he put forward sixteen rectification policies to Li Hongzhang. In his opinion, if China Merchants Steamship wants to move forward, it must carry out thorough reforms in terms of the use of talents, division of responsibilities, and clear rewards and punishments.Zheng Guan's greatest contribution to China Merchants is that he used his years of experience in business and interpersonal relationships to sign a contract with China Merchants, Swire, Jardine and other companies at the same price.The so-called parity contract means that several companies agree on the specific price standard of shipping together, and sign a contract to ensure that all companies abide by this price. Without the consent of other companies, the shipping price cannot be changed without authorization.In this way, companies are prevented from bidding for customers with each other, and thus avoiding losses to themselves and other companies.With a unified price, China Merchants Shipping no longer worried about foreign companies uniting to crowd out China's shipping industry, thus creating a relatively stable and relaxed environment for the smooth development of China Merchants. Zheng Guanying has been in China Merchants Steamship for two years, and the business in the bureau has increased steadily. China Merchants, which was on the verge of death, seems to have vitality and vitality again.In the past two years, Zheng Guanying did not have any real power. Li Hongzhang seemed to want to examine his working ability, but did not give him any actual official position.Two years later, Li Hongzhang formally appointed Zheng Guanying as the general office of China Shipping Merchants Bureau. Unexpectedly, Zheng Guanying refused. On the surface, it seems that Zheng Guanying refused to accept the appointment because the Shanghai Machine Weaving Bureau he managed and operated went bankrupt, and he was no longer in the mood to accept a major appointment.But the actual reason is not the case.He has stayed in China Merchants for two years, and he has a clear view of the various relationships within China Merchants. The government-supervised business office sounds nice, the business side is responsible for profits, and the government is responsible for supervision, but in fact the official control is very strict, and it is difficult for businessmen to develop .He expressed his feelings in a letter to Tang Tingshu: Although the China Merchants Bureau is a government-supervised commercial office, the general office, conference office, and assistant office are all appointed by the Minister of Beiyang.Although Mr. Li is now the minister of Beiyang, he values ​​me and supports my work, but Mr. Li will never be the minister of Beiyang forever and hold the real power.I'm afraid that when the China Merchants Group improves in the future, the ministers of Beiyang will already be Zhang Gong, Wang Gong, and Zhao Gong. They will not trust us like Li Gong. After listening to other people's slander, it is easy to drag us to this place without asking right and wrong. One side, so haven't we done it for nothing for so many years?Besides, people like us only know how to work every day, don't know how to avoid suspicion when talking and doing things, and don't know how to flatter people. Once there is something good or bad, there is no one to help! In 1884, when the Sino-French war broke out, Zheng Guanying recommended himself and was recommended by Wang Zhichun. Peng Yulin, Minister of Defense of Eastern Guangdong, transferred Zheng Guanying to Guangdong to take charge of the Hunan Army Battalion Office.Peng Yulin and Zhang Zhidong, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, planned to attack Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), the food storage area of ​​the French army, and sent Zheng Guanying to sneak into Saigon, Vietnam, Phnom Penh, Cambodia and other places to investigate the enemy's situation, and planned to contact people from all over Southeast Asia to attack the French army.Soon after returning to Guangzhou, the French fleet attacked Taiwan. Zheng Guanying suggested a decisive battle with the French army, and made seven suggestions for the battle.Xuan was appointed to handle the affairs of aiding Taiwan, and Zheng Guanying immediately went to Hong Kong to charter a ship to transport troops, food, grass and ammunition to Taiwan. At the same time, Zheng Guanying was entangled in the weaving case and the Swire Shipping Company's compensation case.In the previous case, due to the tightening of money in the Shanghai market and the sharp drop in stocks during the Sino-French War, the weaving layout could not be recovered and suffered losses. Jing Yuanshan and others were appointed by the Qing government to clean up the affairs of the bureau. Gong Shoutu embezzled public funds, but Gong Shoutu accused Zheng Guanying of mismanaging his business, and Zheng Guanying had to advance 20,000 gold to settle the case.In the latter case, Yang Guixuan, the successor recommended by Zheng Guanying when he left Taikoo, mismanaged the company and misappropriated company funds, causing Taikoo to lose more than 100,000 yuan.After these two cases, Zheng Guanying was exhausted physically and mentally.On October 13, 1884, he said with emotion in a letter to Sheng Xuanhuai: the fate of the past few years has been rough, and things have gone against the grain.As a result, the boss and friends are responsible outside, and the father, brother and wife are complaining internally. There is no way to appeal.But now that he has lost his reputation, he is not enough to win the trust of others. Although he is begging for mercy everywhere, it will be difficult to deal with it in the end.So he retired to Macao, devoted himself to the landscape, and devoted all his energy to revising and rewriting "Yi Yan", until 1894, a "Prosperous and Dangerous Words" that embodies his mature and complete reform system was finally completed. When Zheng Guanying left China Merchants Steamship, Sheng Xuanhuai came back.The direct reason for Sheng Xuanhuai's return was that Xu Run went bankrupt during the financial crisis in Shanghai, and Sheng Xuanhuai was appointed by Li Hongzhang to investigate and rectify at China Merchants.After the investigation was completed, Sheng Xuanhuai was transferred to Tianjin Customs Road, but he did not let go of China Merchants Steamship.He insisted on the new understanding that non-commercial management cannot seek its own benefits, and non-government supervision cannot prevent its disadvantages, and he insisted on his own government-supervised commercial management.The difference between Sheng Xuanhuai's government-supervised and commercial office is that he set up an official supervisor by himself, and canceled the former general office of the merchant. Government run.Fortunately, Sheng Xuanhuai himself is rich and has a strong tendency to be a businessman, which has played a certain role in making up for the above-mentioned shortcomings. As the supervisor, Sheng Xuanhuai is determined to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors and gradually restore the grand plan of China Merchants. The first is to clean up the accounts.In the past, the accounts of China Merchants were unclear and could not be assessed.Sheng Xuanhuai ordered to classify the accounts before and after, and make the accounts public. No matter how many years later, it is clear at a glance whether each account has more or less. The second is the China Merchants Shipbuilding that was sold to Qichang Yangxing in the redemption code.After the outbreak of the Sino-French War, in order to keep the China Merchants Group, Sheng Xuanhuai sold the shipbuilding to the American company Qichang.It is easy to sell, but difficult to redeem.When selling the ship property, the contract only stated the terms of the sale and forgot to mention the buy-back. Qichang Yangxing took the opportunity to take the ship property as its own.It took a lot of effort for Sheng Xuanhuai to force Qichang Ocean Co. to agree to China Merchants taking back the ship at the original price.China Merchants has just been revived, and everything needs money. Sheng Xuanhuai decided to borrow 300,000 pounds from HSBC.HSBC put forward a lot of harsh conditions, Sheng Xuanhuai argued hard in the big aspects, and accepted all the insignificant aspects.The reason why he did this was that he was full of confidence in the development of China Merchants. Later results also proved that Sheng Xuanhuai was correct. China Merchants' business development was good, and most of the harsh conditions of HSBC were not realized. In addition, Sheng Xuanhuai chanted the slogan of the government supervising the business office, not just to emphasize his right to supervise the business.Under the conditions at that time, the official said that it was Li Hongzhang's participation, which brought many benefits and benefits to China Merchants Steamship. Without these cares, China Merchants could not have existed for such a long time, and it has been developing intermittently.Li Hongzhang also said: Whenever this situation is critical, it is the government who comes forward to maintain it, or invests funds, or reduces or exempts tariffs, which makes China Merchants improve day by day. Why did Li Hongzhang say that?Because it is true.The Qing government had such regulations at that time: when an empty ship passes through various checkpoints, the tax is the same as that of a fully loaded ship.The main task of the Shipping Merchants Bureau is to transport grain for the country.However, every time he transported rice and grain to Hubei, he always came back empty. Therefore, Li Hongzhang ordered that at the three gates within the Beiyang area under his jurisdiction, China Merchants' empty ships would be exempted from 20% of the tariff.Although 20% was exempted, it was still uneconomical to return empty ships. Li Hongzhang made an exception and stipulated that if the tea from Hubei was transported to other places by ships carrying China Merchants, only an export tax of six cents per 100 catties of tea would be enough. No tax if re-imported.This discount is only applicable to ships of China Merchants Steamship Co., Ltd., other ships are not eligible.During the Sino-French War, in order to squeeze out China Merchants Shipping, foreign companies jointly lowered shipping costs, and the low prices they set were actually losing money.Li Hongzhang allowed China Merchants to raise the price slightly higher than that of foreign companies when transporting grain for the country, so as to ensure that they would not lose money.From its establishment to this time, China Merchants Steamship has owed nearly two million taels of government debts and foreign debts.Although the economy is improving now, it is still difficult to repay both government and foreign debts.Therefore, the government debt can not be repaid first, and the foreign debt can be repaid first, so as to avoid paying more interest.As for the government debts, the family members can just waive the interest. After the foreign debts are paid off, all these discounts are indispensable in the development and recovery of China Merchants Steamship. This is why Sheng Xuanhuai must insist on government supervision and business The benefits of doing and insisting on following Li Hongzhang.He called this relationship that Xuan Huai insisted on the bottom, and the teacher (Li Hongzhang) approved it on the top. China Merchants had hired some foreign technicians before Sheng Xuanhuai took over, and he himself realized that it was necessary to hire foreign technicians in his experience in handling other foreign affairs. Not strict, extremely difficult to manage.After Sheng Xuanhuai became the supervisor, he used these people to rectify the atmosphere in the bureau.For example, he found out that the chief chariot, Robert Bei, was incompetent, so he appointed Weixia as the chief chariot, and also served as the captain, one person responsible for two jobs.Sheng Xuanhuai did not give him face because Wei Xia was a foreigner, and stipulated that he also had a few months of inspection period. During the inspection period, he was only paid wages and did not sign a contract. If he failed the inspection, he would be expelled immediately!Once passed the inspection, Sheng Xuanhuai gave the same trust to the foreign staff.Some people said that many people complained about Wei Xia, but Sheng Xuanhuai didn't take it seriously: many affairs were mobilized by Wei Xia alone, it would be strange if there were no rumors!Sheng Xuanhuai also stipulated that foreigners are not allowed to drink alcohol, and if a drunk is found, he will be expelled immediately.After his training, the number of foreign employees in China Merchants has been reduced, and the work efficiency has been improved. The foreign wages saved every year are nearly ten thousand taels! The hard work paid off, and through the joint efforts of Sheng Xuanhuai and Li Hongzhang, China Merchants Steamship paid off all the foreign and national debts.But the opponents did not want them to live a good life. After the debt crisis ended, a new crisis came again.The same-price contracts previously signed with Swire and Jardine Matheson's two old rivals expired.Should have negotiated to renew the contract, Swire and Jardine had no sincerity, and joined forces to start a price-cutting competition, crowding out China Merchants.Sheng Xuanhuai formulated a strategic policy of showing that he was temporarily socializing with them externally, while internally he stepped up to solicit passenger and cargo business, and prepared to fight them to the end. Taikoo first launched an offensive in Hankou, and the freight rate dropped from 22% to 50% off, then 30% to 40% off, and finally fell to 10% off and 5% off!Jardine was not to be outdone, and fell to 10% off.The fight between the snipe and the clam benefits the fisherman.When transporters engage in price wars, the one who ultimately gets the benefits is naturally its next home.Seeing that the prices of Taikoo and Jardine were so low, they flocked to them to transport goods.In this way, the business of China Merchants was almost robbed.Faced with the pressure, Sheng Xuanhuai calmly analyzed the situation in all aspects, and believed that it is impossible for all business to go to Taikoo and Jardine, and there will always be customers who come to us because of inappropriate routes and other reasons. The discount of China Merchants is only three 50% off to 40% off, as long as there is business, we will sit and see how long Taikoo's 10% off and 50% off can last.He also noticed that Taikoo and Yihe are not monolithic. Taikoo has always looked down on Yihe, and Yihe is angry with Taikoo and cannot give in.Sheng Xuanhuai decided to take advantage of the contradiction between the two, and united with Jardine to deal with Swire.He always firmly believes that doing business is mainly about making profits, and no company will leave the bad news.Taikoo's discounts are mainly aimed at crowding out China Merchants, so it is not profitable, and it will definitely not last for a long time.He summed up his experience in commercial warfare and said: If you can fight, you can defend, and if you can defend, you can make peace.The ancients said well that only when there is a balance of power can there be a basis for peace talks. If we accommodate everything and make compromises in order to seek peace, they will see that we are lying, and they will definitely make many unreasonable demands. Then we will inevitably suffer losses before we can seek peace talks. . The final result was that Swire and Jardine sat at the negotiating table and once again signed a contract with China Merchants at the same price.After the signing of the full-price contract, the profit of China Merchants increased by more than 20 times, and it has steadily increased year by year since then.Through the joint maintenance of the government and businessmen, and the joint efforts of Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai, the Steamship Merchants Bureau finally gained a firm foothold in its own country and competed for profits with foreign shipping companies. This was exactly the purpose of Li Hongzhang's private enterprise. Li Hongzhang was very satisfied with Sheng Xuanhuai's work, but what he was more satisfied with was the success of the government-supervised commercial enterprise form he pioneered. The establishment of China Merchants was aimed at expanding financial resources, but it broke through the monopoly of foreign aggressive forces on China's shipping industry.Since its inception, it has received the attention of Li Hongzhang. At the beginning of its establishment, there were only three ships, and by 1887 it had thirty-three ships.Since then, it has remained at this level, and by 1893 it had twenty-six ships.During this period, it mainly engaged in coastal and inland waterway shipping, with an average annual income of about 2 million taels. Excluding expenses such as ship fees and depreciation commissions, the annual net profit reached about 300,000 taels.Three years after China Merchants Shipping opened, it squeezed out 13 million taels of profit from foreign shipping companies, forcing American Qichang Shipping Company to withdraw from the competition.The Shipping Merchants Bureau played an active role in regaining China's shipping rights, developing the national economy and defending national defense.But China Merchants Steamship also had shortcomings and eventually led to its failure.During the more than 20 years of existence of China Merchants Steamship Co., Ltd., it is a capitalist enterprise on the whole, but there are serious defects in its operation and management technology, which makes the enterprise lose its vitality and fail to develop as it should. fail. Originally, after the China Merchants Steamship Bureau acquired the Qichang Company of the United States in 1887, it owned 33 ships with a total carrying capacity of about 24,000 tons, which became the pinnacle of the bureau's development scale.But during this period, it seldom carried out capital accumulation, and its general office and conference office only cared about the immediate immediate interests, while ignoring the long-term future of the enterprise.This makes it impossible for China Merchants Steamship to expand reproduction with abundant funds, and is unable to compete with foreign shipping companies for a long time, let alone compete with foreign capital on ocean routes.Therefore, poor management and neglect of capital accumulation are the reasons that led to the complete failure of China Merchants Ocean Shipping Shipping Co., Ltd.In addition, the restraint and constraints of the stubborn feudal forces are also the reasons for the failure of the Steamship Merchants Group.