It is the official and businessman who fights for foreign ships

The cross door opens to Sanyo

Five silk and eight silk satin good

Thirteen lines of silver were piled up

The author of this ancient poem is no longer verifiable, and it describes the prosperity of the Thirteen Lines in Guangzhou in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, which exhausted the wealth and luxury of that era and the prosperity of overseas trade.

The Thirteen Banks of Guangzhou, which was first established in the Kangxi period, was a foreign trade firm stipulated by the Qing government, acting as an agent for the customs to collect tariffs, and had the right to set the price of goods.

During the Qianlong period, the Qing government once again implemented the policy of closing the country to the outside world, closed other customs except the Guangdong Customs, and stipulated that only Guangzhou was the country's overseas trade port. The thirteen lines of Guangzhou are equivalent to the import and export trade of the whole country, and it is conceivable how much benefit there will be. At that time, Guangzhou was one of the world's leading world trade centers, and its prosperity was the highest in the country. Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Fujian, which are adjacent to Guangdong, have many trade routes leading to Guangzhou, and these trade routes are carried by an endless stream of caravans and goods, and there are hundreds of thousands of porters on each trade route, and the goods of the whole of South China reach Guangzhou through these trade routes, and are exported overseas in exchange for large quantities of silver. At that time, China's exports were mainly the same three things: silk, tea, and ceramics. In addition, there are some handicraft goods such as lacquerware, embroidery, paper umbrellas, Chinese paintings, etc., and behind these goods are a large number of farmers and craftsmen. All these people and commodities constitute a huge industrial chain, and the top of this industrial chain is the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou.

Power breeds corruption, and monopoly produces huge profits. Standing at the top of the industrial chain, the thirteen lines of Guangzhou produced the world's richest man in the eighteenth century - Pan Zhencheng and the world's richest man in the nineteenth century - Wu Bingqi.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, China's foreign trade was a trade surplus, that is, a large amount of silver was imported into China every year. It was not until British merchants imported opium into China, and the amount of opium imported increased year by year, that the British finally used it to end China's trade surplus, and silver began to flow out of China, and the Qing government could not sit still, so the first Opium War occurred.

After the Opium War, the land was ceded and the compensation was paid, and the other was to increase the number of five traders, and the monopoly position of the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou was abolished, and the Thirteen Lines gradually declined. Due to its superior geographical location, Shanghai is more valued by foreign merchants and foreigners, and its trade volume has increased year by year, gradually surpassing Guangzhou and becoming the largest trade center in China.

1. Wu Bingjian's Jardine and Harmony Line,

2. Lu Jiguang's Guangli line,

3. Pan Shaoguang's Tongfu Xing,

4. Xie Youren's Dongxing Xingxing,

5. Liang Qianxi's Tianbao Xing,

6. Yan Qichang's Xingtai Xing,

7. Pan Wentao's neutralization line,

8. Mazoliang's Shun Tai Xing,

9. Pan Wenhai's benevolence and line,

10. Wu Tianyuan's same prograde,

11. Yi Yuanchang's Xuetai Xing,

12. Luo Futai's Dongchang line,

13. An Chang Xing with light.

This is the list of thirteen lines in Guangzhou in the late Qing Dynasty, in fact, the total number is more than thirteen, these thirteen are the representatives and leaders of it, they are the big guys of that era, rich and rival the country, and have a strong stroke in the history of China's foreign trade.