Wu Baiheng
Wu Baiheng (1894-1973) was born in a poor family in Wenzhou city. His mother died at the age of seven. Because his stepmother was a Christian, he went to the church with his stepmother to be baptized when he was ten years old. Then he entered the Chongzhen Primary School run by the church. After three years in school, he received enlightenment education. Later, he was forced to drop out of school because he could not afford the tuition and fees, so he worked for others to herd cattle and sheep. Three years later, I went to work at Li Zhengchang Wei Fish Shop in Xinqiao with my father who was carrying wonton baskets. At the age of 17, on the recommendation of his brother-in-law Zeng Shengsan, he worked as an apprentice at Puyi Pharmacy on Wuma Street, where he was taught by the owner Lin Yuchen. Puyi is a Western medicine pharmacy, and you need to be able to understand English to be considered an apprentice. Fortunately, Wu Baiting studied English at Chongzhen School, so he was hired. Wu Baiheng, the only apprentice, is responsible for all chores inside and outside the pharmacy.
In the 9th year of the Republic of China (1920), Wu Baiting had worked in Puyi Western Pharmacy for 10 years. He not only learned the ways of doing business, but also learned the technology of preparing medicines. His behavior won the appreciation of his former lover Chen Younong, a scholar who lived behind a pharmacy. He abandoned his family's old worldly views on social status and betrothed his beloved daughter Chen Ji'an to him as his wife. In the winter of that year, Lin Yuju passed away and Wu Baixiang was also dismissed.
After Wu Baiheng was fired, he suddenly wanted to open his own Western medicine pharmacy. The next year, my father-in-law donated 3,000 yuan as funds. Baiheng Pharmacy opened for business on Wuma Street. In addition to selling separately in stores, we also make our own medicines such as "Mother of Blood" blood replenishing medicine and "pesticide". The store has been open for 7 years and the business is booming.
In the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925), Wu Baiheng, who had just passed his thirtieth year, saw that the Feiying brand condensed milk produced by Nasr Yingrui Company had almost monopolized the huge market in urban and rural areas of my country, and he decided to set up a condensed milk workshop. Produce condensed milk and boycott foreign products. He made simple use of the living room in the back hall of the pharmacy and started a condensed milk workshop. After countless trials, the condensed milk was finally produced. Sales are very good and demand exceeds supply. Expanding production must solve the problem of insufficient milk sources. To this end, Wu Baiheng went to Nantong Agricultural College to purchase 6 high-quality Dutch cows, and personally escorted them back to Wenzhou to set up a dairy farm, milking and breeding them, and encouraged them in the form of loans (20-30 yuan per cow). Farmers raise dairy cows and purchase fresh milk regularly. Solved the problem of milk source. The daily output of condensed milk has jumped from the first few boxes (48 cans per box) to more than 26,000 boxes, which are sold all over the country. In 1926, it was named Wenzhou Baihao Condensed Milk Factory. The next year, he carefully designed a trademark pattern of Baihao Condensed Milk and applied for trademark patent rights from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the National Government. In the autumn of 1927, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce approved the condensed milk trademark of Wenzhou Baihao Condensed Milk Factory to be Bairi Qindiao brand. From then on, "catching the eagle in the daytime" and "flying eagle" tried to compare.
Wu Baiheng’s Bairi Qindiao brand condensed milk has regained part of the market occupied by Yingrui companies. Yingrui Company filed a lawsuit with the Trademark Office of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, claiming that the Bairi Qindiao brand trademark was a counterfeit of Yingrui Company's Feiying brand, and requested that the trademark rights of Bairi Qindiao brand be revoked. Wu Baiheng asked lawyer Fan Ren to argue with reason. Then on November 18, 1929, the Trademark Office issued a letter of assessment, stating that the application of the Yingrui Company was not valid.
After Yingrui Company lost the trademark lawsuit, it used all kinds of despicable means to try to bring down Baihao Factory. In 1931, Hu Shiduo, the Chinese comprador of the Anglo-Swedish Company, came to Wenzhou and offered to pay 100,000 yuan to acquire the Qindiao condensed milk trademark, but was rejected. Then, the Yingrui Company had a huge sale on Eagle Brand condensed milk. Wu Baiheng retaliated with a big sale, and the Yingrui Company had to resume sales at the original price. In 1933, Yingrui Company's Astor Company in Fuzhou purchased more than 1,000 boxes of Qindiao brand condensed milk during the day, kept it in a warehouse, and sold it on the market after the condensed milk went bad, deliberately damaging the reputation of Qindiao brand. After Wu Baiheng heard the news, he sent accountant Chen Yuxi to Fuzhou to recover all the spoiled condensed milk and sink it into the Minjiang River in public. Although this move cost him 20,000 yuan, it restored the credibility of the eagle capture. In 1935, Xiwen, the special commissioner of the Yingrui Company, came to Wenzhou and offered to set up a joint venture factory with Wu Baiheng. The conditions were favorable, with Wu accounting for 51% and Yingrui 49%, but this was also rejected. The British-Swiss company's conspiracy to eliminate the domestically produced Tidiao brand condensed milk failed.
After 40 years of age, in addition to Ruian Sha*Baihao Condensed Milk Factory (covering an area of ??15 acres and employing more than 260 people), Wu Baiheng also established Wenzhou Xishan Porcelain Factory, Wenzhou Xishan Paper Factory, and Far East Egg Factory in Wenzhou. Flour mill (in partnership with others). In 1936, he took Baihao Factory technicians and two translators to Japan to inspect the Tokyo Longtian Condensed Milk Factory, and ordered an advanced condensed milk equipment from the 1930s - a rubber automatic can sealing machine - from the Tokyo Iron Works, and also kept Lin Chao in the factory. Hokkaido, Japan, to learn the dairy manufacturing technology there.
After the successful installation and commissioning of the advanced equipment, Baihao Condensed Milk Factory's product variety has greatly increased. The most famous one is the cream with Jiangxin Temple's tower as its trademark. It is known as "White Tower Oil" and can be compared with the famous French cheese. Comparable.
Wu Baiheng attaches great importance to talents when running the industry. He spends a lot of money to hire Xu Zukang, who was a technical supervisor in the Construction Department, Lin Zibiao who is proficient in English, chemical technician Zhu Jiefu, Liu Wenjian, director of the harmonious kiln industry of Shanghai Xingye Porcelain Company, etc. These experts After entering the factory, Wu Baiheng was even more powerful, production was booming, and the enterprises were taking off.
In 1941, Baihao Factory was bombed by enemy planes and suffered heavy losses. The Japanese army occupied Wenzhou and established a pseudo-chamber of commerce. Listed Wu Baiheng as the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Wu Baiheng fled to Xinqiao. After the Japanese invaders evacuated Wenzhou, the Yongjia County Government of the Kuomintang detained Wu Guanheng on charges of traitor. It was later verified that he was forced to commit no crime and was released without charge. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang government devoted all its efforts to fighting the civil war, putting the people of the country in dire straits. At that time, there was inflation and people were struggling to make ends meet. Wu Baiheng was heavily in debt and was frequently on the verge of bankruptcy.
In May 1949, Wenzhou was liberated. The people's government actively supports national industries and invests funds to revive many enterprises in Wu Baiting. From 1952 to 1954, Wu Baiheng's Xishan Kiln Factory, Xishan Paper Factory and Baihao Condensed Milk Factory were all branded as public-private partnerships.
In his sixties, Wu Baiheng, who had always been aloof from politics, was happy to become a member of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Political Consultative Conference. In 1957, when he was 63 years old, he was labeled a rightist. During the Cultural Revolution, he was kicked out and lived in a cowshed, but he still took it calmly. He firmly believed that one day the injustice would be vindicated. In 1973, he passed away due to illness. In 1980, Wu Baiheng was corrected by the rightists and completely rehabilitated.
(He Qiongwei)