"Yu Dahua" is a national capital group in old China that mainly focuses on the textile industry and also includes mining, commerce, and finance. Its main capitalists are Xu Rongting, Su Taiyu, Zhang Songqiao, and Yao Yutang, Huang Shirang, etc. can be regarded as typical examples of national capitalist enterprises in old China. It has been in existence for a long time. It has a history of thirty-seven years from leasing the Hubei Fourth Bureau of Gauze, Silk and Linen in 1913 to the establishment of Hotan of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Its development process is relatively rapid and stable. "It only took thirty years for Chuxing Company to develop into two large-scale national capital conglomerates. In addition to foreign investment, it also directly operates Yuhua Textile Company, Daxing Textile Company, Dahua Textile Company, Lihua Coal Mining Company, Huanian Trading Company and Wynn Bank, etc. It has changed the national capitalist enterprise's concentration on the coast. According to the routine, the affiliated enterprises are distributed in various cities in the mainland, setting a precedent for the success of national capital enterprises in the mainland. Studying the development of this group is of great significance to the study of Chinese national capitalism. This article intends to start from the development direction of "Yudahua" and explore the first and second aspects of its operation and management. The fortune of "Yu Dahua" started from the lease of the "Four Bureaus" after Xinnu's revolution. The so-called "Four Bureaus" refer to the Hubei Textile, Spinning, Silk Reeling and Linen Making Enterprises founded by Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang in the late Qing Dynasty. bureau. "Fourth Bureau" is the first government-run civilian industry in Hubei to adopt the capitalist large-scale machine industrial production method. It is also one of the large enterprises in China's modern machine textile industry. However, these government-run machine industry enterprises are deformed children of a deformed era. They are large machine industries, but they implement decadent feudal management methods. All matters related to the construction and operation of factories were subject to the handling of the committee members and general office personnel appointed by the Qing government. Everything was subject to the will of the government. They were production departments, but they had a strong bureaucracy habit, involving private individuals and having too many staff. , wasting public funds indiscriminately, engaging in fraud for private purposes, causing a big situation and huge cost. They were called the "Four Bureaus", but in fact they were tied to the government-run military industry, and the "remaining profits were poured into the Railway Bureau and the Gun Bureau", [1] Enterprise funds were often misappropriated and abused by the Qing government. Starting from the Hubei layout in 1890 (the 16th year of Guangxu), after more than ten years, it suffered serious losses. It has never paid off the money owed at the beginning of its establishment, and has never gotten rid of the heavy debt burden. When it was difficult to maintain the "official establishment" and there was no other way out, in 1902, it embarked on the road of attracting investment and leasing. At that time, businessmen Wei Zifeng and Deng Jichang organized Yingchang Co., Ltd. to rent the "Fourth Bureau" for 20 years. In 1911, Ruiji, the governor of Hubei, rented the "Fourth Bureau" to Dawei Co., Ltd. After the Revolution of 1911, Liu Bosen, general manager of Dawei Company, fled Wuchang, and the "Fourth Bureau" fell into a state of suspension. At this time, Xu Rongting, who was a businessman, was appointed as the general manager of the Hubei Official Money Bureau. Xu took advantage of his "Jinlan Friendship" relationship with Li Yuanhong, the Hubei Army Commander, and took the opportunity to organize Chuxing Company to lease gauze, silk and linen with Liu Wei (also known as Liu Xiangxi) and others. Four games. Chuxing Company's capital was 1.3 million taels, and it received 60% upfront, totaling 780,000 taels. The lease period was 10 years starting from January 1913. It was agreed that the annual rent for the "four bureaus" would be 110,000 taels, and the rent would be 250,000 taels. [2] Chuxing Company made huge profits after leasing the "Four Bureaus", which made Hubei's warlords salivate. They tried their best to create difficulties and made excuses to take away Chuxing Company's rights in advance in 1923 before the lease period expired. The right to lease the "Fourth Bureau", and Tang Chunpeng and others reorganized Chuxing Company to rent the "Fourth Bureau". Although they suffered this setback, Xu Rongting and others, Bi Ni accumulated the risks of running modern enterprises, especially the funds they invested in starting machine industry enterprises, and founded Daxing and Yuhua Textile Companies on their own.
In 1922, Xu Rongting, Su Taiyu and others spent 2.1 million taels of silver to build a yarn mill in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, namely Daxing Textile Co., Ltd. The factory site was chosen in Shijiazhuang, which was indeed an advantage. They saw that Shijiazhuang was northwest of Wanyi and controlled the Yan and Jin Dynasties. It was not only a rich city producing cotton coal, but also close to the cotton producing area. The superior geographical conditions laid the foundation for future success. In 1919, Zhang Songqiao, the main shareholder of Chuxing Company, also proposed to set up his own spinning mill, and invited Chuxing Company accountants Yao Yutang, Liang Ronni, Hu Bingqing, He Shaoyi and others to raise funds of 500,000 taels, and later joined forces with Hankou Yarn Industry Association (investment 720,000 taels) to establish Yuhua yarn factory, with Sun Zhitang as the general manager and Zhang Songcao as the manager of Hankou Yarn Industry Association. Later, due to Sun Zhitang's business setbacks, Yuhua Spinnery Factory was reorganized and changed into Yuhua Co., Ltd., with "Chuxing" manager Xu Rongting as chairman and Zhang Songqiao as manager. The total capital was 1.2 million taels, and the factory was located in Wuchang Shangxin River.
In 1936, two factories, Yuhua and Daxing, invested in Xi'an to jointly build Dahua Textile Company. Since then, the three major textile enterprises of Wuchang Yuhua, Shijiazhuang Daxing and Xi'an Dahua have been competing with each other. By the end of the year, the capital of Yuhua Textile Co., Ltd. was 3 million yuan. There are 43,416 spindles, 504 cloth machines, 2,093 workers, an annual output of 41,977 pieces of cotton yarn, and 221,500 pieces of cotton cloth. The capital of Daxing Textile Co., Ltd. is 3 million yuan, 30,144 spindles, 500 cloth machines, 2,334 workers, and an annual output of cotton yarn. 32,744 pieces, 290,645 pieces of cotton cloth, Huohua Textile Co., Ltd. has a capital of 2.5 million yuan, 12,000 spindles, 320 cloth machines, 700 workers, an annual output of 6,685 pieces of cotton yarn, and 120,387 pieces of cotton cloth;
1931 Lihua Coal Mine, located downstream of Wuhan, invited Xu Rongting and others to invest in shares due to sluggish business. After on-site inspection, Xu Rongting, Su Taiyu, Zhang Songqiao, Yao Yutang, Huang Shirang and others decided to invest 500,000 yuan in Lihua Coal Mine and put the The mine was renamed Lihua Co., Ltd. By the end of 1936, the mine had a capital of 1.2 million yuan, 1,838 workers, and an annual coal output of 187,720 tons.
Old China’s financial industry was abnormally prosperous, but under the control of bureaucratic capital, big banks were keen on bonds and business speculation, and had little contact with national capital machine industries. Although private banks had ties with national capitalist industrial enterprises Although they have limited financial resources, it is difficult for them to meet the needs of enterprises. In order to solve the funding problem for the development of enterprise groups, Yudahua also raises its own financial undertakings. In 1942, Yudahua Capital Group began to invest in Wynn Bank and reorganized it at the end of the year. Since Yuhua invested 3 million yuan, Dahua invested 3.3 million yuan, Daxing invested 600,000 yuan, and Lihua invested 600,000 yuan, Yudahua's investment accounted for 75% of the bank's share capital, thereby controlling Wynn Bank in its own hands. , pulled into Yudahua Capital Group. Since then, Yudahua Capital Group has transcended the boundaries of the textile industry and extended to the mining and financial industries, becoming a cross-industry economic complex. In the old China, a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, national capital industrial enterprises struggled to survive in the cracks. First, due to the proliferation of foreign goods and products of foreign-invested enterprises in China, the product market was narrow. Second, there was insufficient funds, but it was difficult to obtain financial support. The bills were discounted to banks, and the borrowing interest was very high and the factory foundation had to be mortgaged. Thirdly, the tax burden was heavy. In this dangerous environment, why can "Yudahua" be able to develop? There are objective conditions, but also subjective reasons for the company's internal operations and management.
The objective reason is that the First World War broke out shortly after Xu Rongting and other capitalists leased the "Fourth Bureau". After the outbreak of the war, the import of cotton cloth and yarn suddenly dropped sharply. By 1918, the small country imported 071,325 pieces of cotton cloth from the United Kingdom and 100,309 pieces of cotton cloth from the United States, which was one-eighth less than that of the United Kingdom in 1913, and the United States was less than one-tenth. Although Japan’s cotton imports from China had decreased from 1913 to 1913, The number increased from 5,716,594 horses in 1918 to 7,005,088 horses in 1918, but the increase was only enough to make up for the original imports from the United States. The cotton yarn imported from the United Kingdom, India, and Japan was 1,114,618 tons in 2018, also reduced by half. Due to the reduction in imports, the sales of cotton yarn in the domestic market have been popular and prices have risen. For example, 16-count yarn has increased from 1S0 taels per piece to 230 taels. At the same time, the price of raw cotton necessary for the cotton textile industry has increased from 20 taels per quintal. The remaining taels dropped to around 18 taels. On the one hand, the price of cotton textile products such as cloth and yarn has increased, and on the other hand, the price of cotton has fallen. This has created extremely favorable development opportunities for the national capital textile industry. As a result, "all the factories established in the past 30 years, which had been moribund for a long time, suddenly improved, with annual profits of more than one million, and entrepreneurs started to operate textile factories one after another."
Because the products were easy to sell and the supply exceeded demand, the factory began to increase night shifts in the second half of 1914, and in the spring of 1915 it was changed to day and night shifts, expanding the production scale. Before the night shift, "Layout" produced about 40 pieces of yarn (mixed yarn count) and about 450 pieces of cloth every day. After adding night shift, it can produce 58 pieces of yarn and 610 to 630 pieces of fabric every day. After changing to two shifts, more than 80 pieces of yarn and 900 to 1,000 pieces of cloth are produced every day. As a result, Chuxing Company made a profit of more than 10 million yuan in less than ten years (actually 9 years and 9 months). [3] Especially in 1919 and 1920, just after the Wood War, the surplus reached 8 million taels.
[4] The huge profits of "Chu Xing" made the main capitalists and shareholders of Chu Xing Company rich. By the end of Chu Xing, every 100 taels of share capital could be divided into 350 taels. [5] In addition to the distribution of stock dividends, they also have so-called "people bonus" income. The dividends and remuneration paid to several key personnel of the company over the years are quite high. For example, Xu Rongting received more than 500,000 taels, and Su Taiyu received more than 300,000 taels. Wan Liang, Yao Yutang more than 300,000 Liang, Zhang Songqiao more than 300,000 Liang, and Huang Shirang more than 50,000 Liang. [6]
After the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the cotton textile industry, a national capital in the coastal areas, was greatly damaged and devastated. The vast inland area was in short supply of yarn and cloth, and the supply of yarn and cloth exceeded demand, and prices continued to rise. At that time, because the sales of Shensha yarn were hampered, demanders gradually concentrated in Wuhan. However, Wuhan's daily output was limited, supply exceeded demand, and market prices skyrocketed. Taking the prices of yarn and cloth produced by Yudahua's enterprises as an example, they rose almost every month from 1937 to 1938.
Contrary to the soaring price of cotton textiles, there is a relative oversupply of cotton, causing cotton prices to fall. For example, the price per hundred kilograms of cotton purchased by Yuhua from February to March 1938 was only about 66% of the price in January 1937, and the price per hundred kilograms of fine Shaanxi cotton purchased by Dahua in February 1938 was only equivalent to the price in 1987. About 56% in January.
The increase in cotton textile prices before and after the election and the decline in cotton prices are favorable objective conditions for the development of the national cotton textile industry. The cleverness of "Yudahua" Capital Group is to make full use of this opportunity, seek the development and expansion of the enterprise, and become a leader in national capital.
"Yudahua" is a national capital enterprise group. This nature essentially determines that its purpose of operation can only serve the pursuit of capital growth. For this fundamental purpose, the company early and successfully used costist management to organize all aspects of the company's work. Briefly speaking, Yudahua attaches great importance to the following points in the operation and management of the enterprise:
1. Continuously increase equipment and expand scale. Continuously expanding equipment and increasing production scale are important reasons for Yudahua's continuous development and growth, and are also a major feature of its business management. The expansion of equipment and scale have effectively improved Yudahua's quality and competitiveness. Yuhua Spinning Mill originally only had 20,000 spindles. After the May 4th Movement, sales of domestic products increased. Yudahua lost no time in deciding to add 10,000 spindles to the factory's spinning machines and attach 400 canvas sails to increase the number of yarns. Yarn and cloth production capacity. This plan was fully realized in 1922. Two years later, Yuhua Mie once again added 10,000 spindles and more than 100 cloth machines. Due to insufficient funds, this time they implemented the method of buying on credit. Zhang Songqiao went out to buy 10,000 spindles on credit from Amway Ying Yang Company. The agreed upon The payment method is to repay the surplus after the start-up of these 10,000 spindles. Two large-scale additions of equipment enabled the Yuhua factory to develop into a company with 40,000 spindles, 504 cloth machines and more in a short period of time. A cotton textile enterprise with all supporting equipment and no foreign debt. The equipment of Daxing Factory is also increasing rapidly. When the factory was completed and put into operation in June 1922, it had 25,000 spindles. By 1924, a cloth factory and 300 cloth machines were added. In 1926, another 100 cloth machines were added. In 1941, 100 cloth canvases were added. In 1942, Add 5,000 spindles again. In addition to spindle cloth machines, the factory also added a blanket factory in 1928 and installed 8 blanket machines. In the years after the establishment of the factory, the growth rate of yarn and cloth machine equipment in Yuhua and Daxing was higher than that of Chinese yarn mills nationwide in the same period. , the growth rate of cloth machines. For example, in 192i, the spindle increase index of Huashang yarn mills across the country was 116.19 in 1922, while the spindle increase index of Yuhua and Daxing factories in the same period was 131.74; in 1924, the increase index of cloth machines in Huashang yarn mills across the country was 148.11 in 1922, while during the same period Yuhua, Daxing factory cloth machine growth index is 199.90. Due to the continuous addition of equipment and expansion of production capacity, a solid material foundation has been laid for the development of Yudahua.
2. Pay attention to the technological transformation of enterprises. Soon after the "Yu Dahua" capitalists invested in and took control of the Lihua Coal Mine, they embarked on large-scale technological transformation of the mine. The most important of these is the erection of aerial transport ropeways. Lihua Coal Mine is located on the side of Huangjing Mountain on the back side of the Yangtze River, 8 miles away from the riverside. The coal produced has to be transported to the riverside by manpower around the mountain road and put on ships. Due to high transportation costs, serious operating losses, Yudahua invested in the mine and changed it to After the establishment of the joint-stock company, it immediately began to solve the problem of coal mine transportation. Based on the terrain characteristics of the mine, they decided to introduce the German Brexit compound air transport ropeway.
Construction began in August 1933 and was completed in July 1934. The entire ropeway is 4.350 meters long. The aerial transportation ropeway has fundamentally changed the appearance of the mine: it has improved transportation efficiency, operates 20 hours a day, has a coal transportation capacity of 1,200 tons, greatly reduced the number of coal transporters, and has two shifts day and night at both ends of the ropeway with a total of only Only 32 people were needed, and the transportation cost was greatly reduced. Including depreciation, it only cost 2.4 cents per ton of coal; the mine's coal production capacity was expanded, and the total annual raw coal output of the mine rose to 138.045 tons in 1935. , further increased to 187.720 tons in 1936. Dada is just one example of its emphasis on technological transformation, and there are many others.
Third, implement strict management systems to ensure the company's product quality. The main operators of Yudahua attach great importance to the quality of products. They clearly know that quality is the foundation for consolidating and expanding product markets, increasing profits, and making the company invincible. During the period before and after the Great Revolution, most of the cotton cloth produced by Yuhua was thirteen-pound cloth. In addition to being popular in Hubei Province, this kind of cloth was also exported to Jiangsu, Shandong, Hunan and other provinces. Materials are strictly used in the production of this kind of cloth, with 21-count yarn as the warp and 23-count yarn as the weft. The warp yarn has a tight density, a large twist, a loose weft, a small twist, and a tight texture. Due to the strict use of materials, the quality of the cotton cloth is guaranteed, so that "the gauze produced is very popular with the society, and the selling price is often more than two liang higher than that produced by other factories." [7] As for the famous brand product "Dieffenbachia" gauze, the materials used for the cloth It is even more particular. The factory must strictly screen the raw cotton produced for this brand, and all sub-colored cotton, yellow cotton, oil-stained cotton, etc. must be eliminated one by one. The entire production process implements a strict quality inspection system. For example, the "yarn pinching" process is equipped with two supervisors and a bookkeeper. They hold small scales in their hands, weighing and supervising the cotton at any time. Carry out various tasks such as jointing, twisting, patching and shearing in accordance with regulations and quality requirements. In terms of product packaging, the factory is very strict and very particular about the packaging of out-of-factory products. Especially when packaging small packages, they must be very beautiful and can be packaged. The head and tail of the small package are extremely neat, the yarn path is parallel and there are few wrinkles. It is deeply loved by the company. Users welcome. According to some information, "The company's output of 30,000 spindles, in addition to the warp and weft yarns supplied to the cloth factory for 320 cloth machines (Tongkaiye 32), left only fifty or sixty bags of yarn, and 10 small packing machines were not enough." [8] It can be seen that the packaging process of this factory is exquisite. The strict quality inspection system plays an important role in ensuring the quality of the factory's products.
Fourth, step up capital accumulation. "Using surplus value as capital, or converting surplus value into capital again, is called capital accumulation." "Accumulation is the reproduction of the ever-expanding scale of capital." [9] Under the dual oppression of imperialism and feudal forces , China's national capitalist economy cannot develop normally, but it does not exclude certain national capital enterprises from carrying out limited capital accumulation. On the one hand, “the development of capitalist production makes it necessary for the capital invested in industrial enterprises to continue to grow.” On the other hand, “competition makes the internal laws of the capitalist mode of production dominate every capitalist as an external mandatory law. Competition It forces the capitalist to continuously expand his capital to maintain his capital, and he can only expand his capital through progressive accumulation." [10] In order for an entrepreneur of national capital to stand firm in the life-and-death competition with foreign-funded enterprises, foreign imported goods, and capitalists in the same industry and put himself in a favorable position, he must accumulate capital. Capitalist Xu Rongting of Yudahua and others, driven by the internal pursuit of surplus value and external competition, constantly realized the importance of capital accumulation for enterprises from their business practices. In the winter of 1923, the Jindan case occurred in Shijiazhuang, causing Wutong Street to close and trade to disappear, making it impossible to sell thousands of packages of yarn stored in Daxing Factory in Shijiazhuang. Fortunately, the company had a little more capital, so it shipped money from Wuhan to pay the wages of Daxing factory workers, thus avoiding a production shutdown. General Manager Xu Rongting was deeply moved by this and established the idea that "for the development of a company, location and manpower are important, especially consolidating capital is the first priority." In order to consolidate capital and expand the scale of accumulation, Yudahua implemented the following measures:
First, issue corporate bonds and absorb internal deposits of the company. The total share capital of Yuhua Company was 1.56 million taels, but as of September 1926, the total cost of land, buildings, machinery, etc. amounted to 2.8 million taels. Compared with the two figures, it is not very large, and the operation is still a huge amount. In order to solve the problem of insufficient circulating funds, the company decided to issue 1.56 million taels of corporate bonds equal to the number of shares in 1926. The company's special provident fund of 1 million taels and a monthly withdrawal of 20,000 taels from the surplus are used as corporate bond funds.
The interest on the bonds is one cent per month, and the denominations of the bonds are divided into five types: ten thousand taels, five thousand taels, one thousand taels, five hundred taels and one hundred taels. Yudahua also vigorously absorbs internal deposits to expand the source of working capital. For example, in the deposits of "Daxing", in addition to the fixed "deposit certificate" of 1.59 million yuan by shareholders, it also often maintains other deposits of about one million yuan. The main part of internal deposits is Personnel are the company's key managers and officers. The interest rate on internal deposits is high, usually between 1 cent and 1 cent and 2 cents per month, and the interest rates are rolled over every three months and the interest rate increases. Because the interest rate is high, company employees are willing to deposit their money in the factory rather than in banks. Yudahua's absorption of internal deposits has brought two major benefits to the company: first, it has provided the company with relatively sufficient working capital, so it is less affected by external financial conditions; second, it has absorbed a large amount of deposits from its employees and increased its number of flying employees. Dependence on the enterprise facilitates strengthening the management and control of employees.
Second, set up a depreciation fund. Most of the industrial enterprises in old China were small in scale, had low technology, and did not mention depreciation reserve funds. But "Yu Dahua" is different from this, and pays more attention to withdrawing depreciation funds. They believe that "textile machines generally only have a life span of 20 to 30 years. If the depreciation is too little, the company's foundation will not be strong. In the future, the machine will decay, which is not without danger." "In addition to the original depreciation, an additional 5,000 taels will be withdrawn every month, which will be allocated to the depreciation month and interest will be earned on a monthly basis to protect the company's foundation.
Third, if a company makes no profit, it will reduce its dividends. In 1932, "Daxing" temporarily suspended dividends and debt interest due to sluggish business. "Yuhua" also took similar measures in 1934, only issuing debt interest, and allocating tens of thousands of yuan in official interest to be deposited under the depreciation item. Yudahua's approach of issuing dividends based on the specific conditions of operating profits and losses is in sharp contrast to the business style of issuing dividends regardless of corporate losses, even if it borrows debt. It played a certain role in stabilizing the enterprise. From 1922 to 1937, Yudahua made a total profit of 19.01 million yuan. The corporate capitalists tried to expand as much as possible by setting up their own insurance companies, depreciation and interest, hiding profits, reducing distribution and other means. In more than ten years, the company has accumulated 3.32 million yuan, accounting for 17.4% of the total profit. [11]
Fourth, the surplus of the branch bank shall not be included in the distribution, and the provident fund interest shall be calculated. Yuhua Company opened a branch in Chongqing. In the early 1930s, the bank had profits every year, but the profits were not distributed to shareholders but accumulated by the company. Yudahua also insisted on calculating interest on provident funds. In 1936, Yuhua's accumulated reserves, insurance, and depreciation amounted to 1.8 million yuan, and the interest was calculated at one point per month.
Due to various measures taken by Yudahua, capital accumulation was relatively rapid. For example, if 1923 was 100, then the share capital of Yudahua’s three major textile companies in 1936 was 162.57, and its own capital The amount is 222.90, the total asset value is 234.56, and the fixed asset value is 181.58. The rapid increase in capital accumulation promoted the continuous improvement of the company's production capacity. In 1922, Yuhua and Daxing factories had 54,768 spindles, 792 cloth machines (in 1924), and a total share capital of 3.3 million taels (equivalent to 4,714,300 yuan in silver dollars). Together with part of its own capital transferred from the original Chuxing Company, it was only 5,298,311 yuan. By 1936, Yudahua had 85,560 spindles, an increase of 56% from 1922, and 1,324 cloth machines, an increase of 67% from when it was founded. Own capital reached 17,315,331 yuan, an increase of 227% compared with 1922. [12] Above, we discussed Yudahua’s capital accumulation measures from the perspective of business management. However, we must not mistakenly believe that management is the only way for capitalists to accumulate capital. On the contrary, national capitalists brutally exploit workers in their own enterprises and use all means and opportunities (such as unequal exchange) to appropriate the surplus labor of farmers and small craftsmen. , these are the sources of capital accumulation for national capital enterprises.
Research on such a complex class as the national bourgeoisie must not be simplified or modeled. It should adopt a historical materialist attitude and explore the characteristics of the national bourgeoisie’s modern industrial operations. The lessons learned from economic activities are a historical legacy that should be discarded and inherited. The reasonable elements in it can also be used for reference in our economic work today.
Notes:
[1] Chen Zhen, "Data on Modern Chinese Industrial History", third series, page 279.
[2] "Hubei Industrial Monthly" Volume 1, No. 9, Series, June 1924.
[3][4][5][6] "Hankou Business Monthly" Volume 1, Issue 6, pages 26, 24, 26, 28.
[7][8] "Hubei Industrial Monthly" Volume 1, 1942.
[9][10] "Das Kapital" Volume 1, 1975 edition, pages 635, 637, 649.
[11][12] "Journal of Nankai University", Issue 2, 1982, page 18.
For other information, see "Historical Materials of Yudahua Textile Capital Group".