After 19 12, he served as adviser to Yuan Shikai's presidential office, senior adviser to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Nanyang ambassador and honorary president of the Overseas Chinese Federation. 19 15 initiated the organization of an industrial delegation to the United States to set up the Bank of China. He is also keen on donating money to run a school. 19 16 September 12 died in Batavia.
After his early fifties, Zhang Zhenxun was also a businessman and an official. He served as Consul General in Singapore and Director of Guangdong-China Railway. 1904 was summoned by emperor Guangxu for the third time, and was appointed as the minister in charge of supervising Fujian-Guangdong agriculture, industry, roads and mines and the minister of commerce, and toured other cities. In this year's 1 1 month, Zhang Zhenxun wrote a memorial to the Ministry of Commerce, telling the whole process of his plan to absorb and utilize overseas Chinese capital. Its proposition has three main points:
First, regarding the starting point of the work, because "there are 10 overseas Chinese businessmen who immigrated from Fujian and Guangdong, and they are rich in funds, good at management and invincible", they "revitalize business, especially in Fujian and Guangdong provinces".
Secondly, in terms of specific practices, when earnestly enlightening the ports in Zhou Li, the important officials sent by the Ministry of Commerce should pay attention to "thinking about the graves of ancestors, which rhymes with the joy of returning home" and touch the sensitive nerves of overseas Chinese.
Third, in the order of development, supervisors should first "gather Chinese capital, earnestly advocate, choose important places, build a section of roads and open a mining area" in Fujian and Guangdong, and then "persuade Chinese businessmen to make their money, undertake various companies and try their best to operate" and "gradually expand from south to north".
Zhang Zhenxun's memorial was approved by the Ministry of Commerce and submitted to Emperor Guangxu for approval. Of course, today's absorption and utilization of overseas Chinese capital can't be compared with that of the late Qing Dynasty, but even after more than a hundred years, these opinions can still give people inspiration.
Zhang Zhenxun not only put forward the idea of absorbing and utilizing overseas Chinese capital, but also tried his best to set up a factory in China. Among them, Changyu Wine Company, founded by 1894 in Yantai, Shandong Province, invested 3 million silver dollars. This company has continued to this day, and the first-class wine produced by this factory is listed as one of the famous wines in China.
1965438+In September 2006, Zhang Zhenxun died of illness in Batavia, Indonesia, at the age of 75. The body was transported back to his hometown for burial. On the way, the Dutch and British colonial authorities lowered flags at half mast to mourn, and the people burned incense and offered sacrifices. People mourn the once all-powerful business genius in various ways.
1875, he established a new reclamation company in Aceh, Sumatra. 1877, he established Yu Ye reclamation company in Erie, the Netherlands. Wangli Reclamation Company was established in Lili 1878, with 8 light rubber parks and more than 10000 employees. According to records, in one of the rubber gardens, his family took a carriage and walked straight for 4 hours before leaving the garden.
While engaged in reclamation, Zhang Bishi also actively seized other business opportunities and established various industries. In Japan, Zhang Bishi thinks that the rise and fall of business depends entirely on whether the finance is smooth or not. However, the fluctuation of local exchange was manipulated by outsiders, so he expanded into the financial industry and opened the Rili Bank to specialize in overseas Chinese exchange business. In the 24th year of Guangxu, he founded Dongxing Company in Pengheng Wendongbu, Malaya, to mine tin ore. Feeling the increase of Indonesian rich people, he built a large number of high-end houses in Medan and Penang, attracting a large number of businessmen from Europe and China.
Wholesale of medicinal materials is another important commercial field in Zhang Bishi. He opened pharmacies in Singapore, Bacheng, Hong Kong and Guangzhou respectively, bought precious Chinese medicines in China, exported them to Singapore and Bacheng, sold them at home and abroad, and shipped western medicines back to China from overseas. At that time, overseas markets where overseas Chinese gathered, such as Bangkok, Tokyo, Hanoi, San Francisco, new york, the Philippines, Honolulu and other places, all placed orders with pharmaceutical companies in Zhang Bishi, forming a huge wholesale network of medicinal materials all over the world.
During the 30 years from 65438 to 1960s, enterprises in Zhang Bishi flourished, involving many important industries in Indonesia and Malaysia, and established a huge commercial kingdom. According to statistics, in its heyday (1869), Zhang Bishi's property reached 80 million taels of silver, which was more than the fiscal revenue of the Qing government in that year (70 million taels of silver) 100000 taels, more than 50 million taels of property of Hu Xueyan, the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River at that time, and surpassed another fashionista, Chen Cifu, and became the richest man in South Asia.
Although Zhang Bishi was a red-crowned businessman highly valued by the late Qing government, even when he met Cixi, he saw the corruption and incompetence of the Qing government and the struggle between the northern warlords, so he was not enthusiastic about participating in politics and devoted his life to "saving the country through industry".
Zhang Bishi advocated that "sovereignty should be managed by itself, and interests should not spill over". He often says to people, "Being a Chinese nation, you should serve the people of China." He did not hesitate to transfer a large amount of funds to all parts of the motherland and set up a large number of modern industrial enterprises. 1892, Zhang Bishi returned to China on invitation and paid a visit to Yantai. Immediately after the inspection, he decided to invest 3 million taels of silver, open up 3,000 mu of vineyards, build the first wine industrial base in China, the largest in Asia and the third largest in the world, and set up Changyu Grape Brewing Company, with the name of "Zhang" and the meaning of "jade". 1905, the largest underground wine kiln in Asia was built, which lasted 1 1 year. 1914 65438+1On October 20th, the wine with the registered trademark of Changyu "Double Kirin Brand" was born. 19 15 at the invitation of American president Wilson, Zhang Bishi led a delegation from China to attend the Panama Pacific Expo in San Francisco, USA. Changyu's four wines (Kaya brandy, red wine, vermouth and Riesling) won a gold medal and three excellent prizes at the Panama World Expo! This is the first gold medal won by China products in the world! From then on, China people have the gold medal brandy and a series of wines praised by westerners, breaking the myth that foreign wine is invincible!
In addition to establishing Changyu Grape Brewing Company, Zhang Bishi has successively established more than 65,438+00 modern industrial companies in China. According to the research of experts and scholars, Zhang Bishi is the manufacturer of the first tractor in China, and also the founder of the first batch of industrialized machine brick factories, glass factories and weaving factories in China.