At this time, Shanghai has become a pivotal commercial town, under the integration of Chinese and foreign economies, coupled with the lack of strict management, the law of the jungle is comparable to the American economic form at this time, and because of a large number of gambler-style adventurers and merchants, the wealth story here is full of legends of soaring ups and downs, so that this place exudes a dangerous and exciting special charm. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

A large number of adventurers at home and abroad flocked here, with all kinds of dreams of making a fortune, and under the big waves and sands, three powerful forces were formed.

The first group is the foreigners of the Ten Mile Ocean Field, as outsiders, although it is difficult to integrate into the local economic ecology, but behind them is a world system, they introduced the products of the Yangtze River Basin to the world, and also brought the world's products here, it can be said that when they came here, they brought a platform for the world economy, a huge platform power, so that they have an incomparable advantage over other merchants, they became one of the strongest, and the main one is of course the British businessmen, They account for more than half of the more than 100 foreign businessmen.

The second is from the Shanghai neighborhood of the business gang, there are from Ningbo, from Wuxi, Suzhou, Huzhou and other places of Zhejiang business, from Huizhou, Jiangxi and Anhui Hui businessmen, these major businessmen, especially from Ningbo business gang is the most powerful, Shanghai before the opening of the port, Ningbo as a seaport has existed for many years, even in the closed period, Ningbo people are still through smuggling in trade with foreigners, so here gathered a group of businessmen who are most familiar with foreigners, after the opening of Shanghai, The merchants of Wuxi, Suzhou and Huzhou, relying on the high-quality raw silk in the Suhu area, also have a place in Shanghai, and the merchants from Huangshan in Huizhou and Wuyuan in Jiangxi mainly make a living from the tea business, and they also have a place in Shanghai.

The third group is from the emerging Daming merchant gang, whose position in the world economic system is not comparable to that of foreigners, and in terms of localization, it is not comparable to the three major merchant gangs. However, relying on the national power of the fledgling country, they can not only survive at the top of the commercial system under the pressure of foreigners, compete with foreigners in the shipping industry and financial industry, but also be Chinese, but also let them integrate with the local economic system better than foreigners, and can also do some local products like locals. Moreover, they also have the advantages that foreigners and the three major gangs do not have, for foreigners they can better integrate into the local area, their activity platform is larger, foreigners are basically limited to the concession, the Bund as the center, mainly engaged in the financial industry, shipping industry and other international trade fields; The Ming merchants were widely active in Shanghai County and even in the surrounding counties, and they could also be seen; Compared with the locals, they can enjoy extraterritoriality, which may not be used to bully people, but it can make the Qing government dare not trouble them.

The three commercial forces have their own advantages, and the Ming Dynasty has both, and there is a great tendency to catch up. The pity is that the locals who really live in Shanghai have no place to stand in the face of these powerful forces from other places, and the businesses run by the locals are mainly limited to small shops, which are basically squeezed by foreign merchant gangs, picking up a mouthful of leftovers.

Of course, the three major commercial forces, competition is competition, but most of them are still cooperation, at this time, the Shanghai market, still belongs to a market to tell the expansion, the Yangtze River shipping route is constantly opened, so that the merchant ships here are divergent, everything gathers, is a golden zone full of opportunities, at this time has not yet saturated to the era of zero-sum games, so the three major forces are basically working together to develop Shanghai, coexistence and common prosperity.

But this time the Taiping army approached Shanghai, disrupting this situation, foreigners came from afar, their adventurous spirit was stronger, and there was no way out, most of them still stayed in Shanghai, but they continued to put pressure on their own ministers, asking them to guarantee their protection, and even use their own military force in Shanghai. There are also some businessmen who are not optimistic or have no confidence in their country's power in Shanghai, and there are also those who choose to sell their assets, such as some businessmen from small countries, who first went to Hong Kong to observe the situation after selling their shops and homestead land.

But Ningbo and other three major merchant gangs did not have this kind of dependence, they were the most panicked, especially the silk merchants from the Suhu area, some of them hid in Shanghai when the Taiping army occupied here, and even changed from landlords to merchants, and later saw that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom became a climate, after Li Xiucheng adopted a gentle way of rule, some people went home, for them, the Taiping army, the Qing army, who ruled them made no difference, it was just a matter of cutting braids; There are also some Suhu merchants, it is completely the Taiping Army after the development of Shanghai, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom because of the small territory, can not be self-sufficient, from the time of the reform of Shi Dakai Anqing, is to encourage trade, for this reason they specially approved those merchants who trade between the two places do not even need to cut their braids, the tax is also very simple, in the Taiping Army control area, a total of seven tax customs were set up, but only need to pay the tax once, other passes can rely on the road unimpeded. Finally, a group of merchants who could not accept the cutting of their braids, or who were prejudiced against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or who had relatives who died at the hands of the Taiping army, remained in Shanghai.

For this last type of merchant, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had ruined their homeland and was now approaching their refuge, and he was the most desperate of the people, and the only option was to abandon their property and flee Shanghai.

Ningbo merchants and Huizhou and other places of the tea merchants, Ningbo people are more free and easy, Ningbo is now managed by the Ming Dynasty, the management method is more relaxed, they have always been free to come and go to Ningbo and Shanghai, Ningbo is also close to Ningbo is not uprooted, so although they are worried about the Taiping army to capture Shanghai caused losses, they are also selling the industry, but not too desperate.

On the contrary, it is the tea merchants in Huizhou and other places, they are the most indifferent, and even faintly look forward to it, because at this time, most of the people who can still sell tea between the two places are merchants who have already submitted to the Taiping Army, and the Taiping Army is coming, and it will not affect their business.

At this time, the most transcendent, the number of Ming merchants, in terms of security, they are the same as foreigners, can rely on the Ming consul in Shanghai, psychologically, although they did not belong to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but the Ming and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom have a close relationship in recent years, they do business in Shanghai, the largest trade object is the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom ruling area, so they are the least worried.

Moreover, the consulate has already informed the merchants of the pacification through the Guangdong Hall in Shanghai, and the Ming people in Shanghai do not need to panic, and the Ming court will find ways to protect their interests.

As a result, at this moment of panic, the Ming merchants not only did not sell their properties, but some boldly accepted the assets of other merchants at a low price, intending to make a war fortune. The foreigners who fled to Hong Kong on the Bund sold their assets and they collected, and the Suhu merchants who went south to Ningbo, Shanghai or the Ming Dynasty also collected the land and shops they sold, but the most collected was outside the concession, and a large amount of land inside and outside Shanghai County, especially outside the city wall, everyone thought that once the war started, this place would definitely bear the brunt, so the merchants who originally built houses, shops, and even wharves in the enclosure outside the city were the most surging to sell at this time. Although they knew that these places might encounter war, there were still Ming merchants who were willing to sell, because many houses and shops had already been sold for cheaper than the price of land, and even if they were in ruins, they would not be able to pay for just occupying the land in the future.

The reason why these Ming merchants dare to do this kind of thing at this time is because they have nothing to fear, they believe that after the battle, whether the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wins, or the Manchus and the foreigners win, there will be no loss for them, the Manchu government does not dare to trouble them, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has the Ming court to stand up for them, so as long as they get the title deed, these lands are theirs, no matter who comes, they have security, but the three major merchant gangs and foreigners are not as transcendent as them, and no one is sure of the outcome of the war, I don't dare to guarantee that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will come, and whether they can keep their assets.

It is understandable that the merchants of the Ming Dynasty use their transcendent neutral status to obtain benefits, but some of the looting behaviors that even the small people do not let go of are a bit outrageous. Seeing the fleeing of wealthy merchants and landlords, a large number of Shanghai citizens also blindly followed the trend, for businessmen, it was just a loss of money, these small citizens really sold their property, and as a result, a small real estate of a household and a family also became the pocket of the Ming businessmen, which is a suspicion of making a fortune.

The Ming Consulate played a role in this, they swore that they had always assured the businessmen who had come to inquire about the news with them, and their interests would not be lost, which gave some of the Ming rich businessmen the courage, otherwise I am afraid they would have run away, of course, I don't believe in the government, some of the Ming businessmen saw the war and ran away early, although they did not sell the shop, but temporarily closed, the distrust of the government, let them and Foshan those who refused to cooperate with the arsenal, Like the big iron workshops that produced cannons for the government, a huge opportunity was lost.

In fact, this is not a war, the law of the jungle is the strong, and it is also extremely cruel.

In the face of the increasing depression in Shanghai, a large number of shops were closed, or even closed, the important soldiers of the Taiping army came to the city, they refused the request of the foreigners, and this time insisted on attacking Shanghai.

Li Xiucheng will never trust the foreigners, he has already suffered a loss, Hong Renji and the foreigners discussed well, as soon as he entered the army, these foreign brothers will accept them into Shanghai, but when he was very arrogant, and even sat in a sedan chair into the Shanghai city gate, he was greeted by the artillery array that the foreigners had already arranged.

This time he won't allow anything to happen, he's going to take this place with dignity.