Jiangnan, the hometown of water, Nanxun, the kingdom of water. Nanxun is a place where water and sky meet. Wherever you go and wherever you look, there is water.

Water is the source of all things. The water in Nanxun nourishes the life of Nanxun and promotes the development of the economy.

In the late Ming and Qing dynasties, an era of capitalism, Nanxun, a small town in the south of the Yangtze River, secretly used its silent way like water to quietly sprout capital.

Nanxun travels by boat. The boats in the water town carry the local customs of Nanxun along the river, along Taihu Lake, to Suzhou, Shanghai...

From Nanxun It is said that the departure time of the small steamer to Shanghai is one hour later than that of Shanghai to Nanxun.

The reason for this is to highlight Nanxun's respect as the "Motherland" that gave birth to China's modern capital business.

Nanxun was the leader of China’s urban economy during the Ming and Qing dynasties and even during the Republic of China. As early as the Shunzhi period in the early Qing Dynasty, Nanxun had become "a small city with thousands of homes and fireworks".

As for Nanxun’s early business, what is often mentioned now is probably Nanxun’s most famous “four elephants, eight oxen, and seventy-two dungeons”.

This is the same as the early "ten thousand yuan households" and the various millionaires, multi-millionaires and billionaires we often talk about today. They are nothing more than measuring the amount of money.

How do "four elephants, eight oxen, and seventy-two dogs" determine financial resources? According to the standard, those with assets of more than 1 million are called "elephant", those with assets between 500,000 and 1 million are called "cows", and those with assets between 200,000 and 500,000 are called "dogs".

To put it simply, financial strength is determined by the size of the body.

Although this metaphor is very common, it leaves a deep impression on people. Therefore, nowadays, when some people talk about money, they still use metaphors such as "elephant", "cow" and "dog".

At that time, the representatives of Nanxun’s “Four Elephants” were Liu Yong, Zhang Songxian, Zhang Jingjiang, and Zhang Junheng. The Liu family is the first among the four families.

Liu Yong, the founder of the Liu family's business, was an apprentice and later became rich in business and became a "mega-rich man" in the village.

After becoming rich, Liu Yong jumped into the gentry class. Of course, wealthy people like this also attach great importance to their contribution to society. After all, it is difficult to stand in the world without morality, let alone doing business.

In order to establish his own business image, Liu Yongfan donated money to promote all charitable activities in town.

In addition, Zhang Jingjiang is also a historical figure that must be mentioned, known as "Lü Buwei of the Republic of China".

As a native of Nanxun, Zhejiang, Zhang Jingjiang can be said to be a standard "rich third generation", and he is also very good at doing business.

Today, as a historical businessman with the most wealth in the world, what Zhang Jingjiang has left to future generations is not only various stories and rumors about business and politics, but also the quiet and peaceful life in Nanxun. The former residence of Zhang Jingjiang stands tall.

In short, when talking about Nanxun again, many people will first think of China’s early commercial capital, the wealthy business people at that time, the houses in the Jiangnan water town, etc.

Now, as the years pass by, when we look back again, we see not only the various legends left by history, but also the Chinese people who have left behind the light and shadow of those years in the development of historical civilization. The cultural spirit and heritage passed down through various generations!

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