Pu Shougeng: Overlooking the "Chief" of the Merchant Empire from Haiyun Building.

"Quanzhou Taishou Pu Shougeng, a native of the Western Regions, traveled with good people at sea, resulting in huge output and thousands of descendants." -Wang Pan's "Love Monument of Gaocheng Order Dong Wenbing"

The family originated in * * * Since the Yonghui period of the Tang Dynasty (65 1) and the official contact between the * * * empire and the Tang Dynasty, the merchants of * * * went to China to trade without fear of hardships. At first, most merchants in the Tang Dynasty traveled to Chang 'an via the overland Silk Road. In 1960s, three gold coins were unearthed from a tomb in the late Tang Dynasty in Yaotou Village, Anxi County, Xi 'an, with the ages of 702, 7 18 and 746 respectively. This is the physical evidence of land transportation between China and Afghanistan. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, due to the occupation of Hexi and Longyou by Tubo forces, the Maritime Silk Road rose, replacing the land Silk Road, which led to the change of transportation and trade between China and the world from land to sea.

At that time, in the Tang Dynasty, under the guidance of the policy of "allowing merchants from all over the world to pass through except the foot of the ship, closing the market and holding the market, doing their own thing without increasing the rate tax", the ports in the southeast coast were unprecedentedly busy, and during this period, * * * and Persian merchants even "set sail to Han until Guangzhou". Therefore, Guangzhou Port became the largest foreign trade port in the Tang Dynasty and even in the world at that time. For example, in the article "Preface to Zheng Quan", Han Yu said: At that time, in Guangzhou, "foreign goods arrived, and pearls, rhinoceros, tortoiseshell and imported goods flooded in China, which was inexhaustible. There are more and more * * * and Persian businessmen living in coastal commercial ports, thousands and tens of thousands. According to records, thousands of people died in Yangzhou's "big food Persia" when Liu Zhandong invaded the land in 760 AD. When Suleiman East lobbied the Huang Chao Uprising Army to capture Guangzhou, 654.38+02,000 believers and businessmen were killed in * * and other countries, such as Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. These figures may be exaggerated, but at least they show that there were a large number of Persian and * * * business travelers living in Yangzhou and Guangzhou at that time, and the trade between China and Arab countries was also very prosperous.

After entering the Song Dynasty, North Korea's policy towards foreign businessmen was more favorable than that of the Tang Dynasty, and more people ate in China, covering a wider area. They live in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Mingzhou (Ningbo), Hangzhou and other places, and set up their own restaurants. Some criminals are dealt with by Fanchang according to the canon of * * * *, and the official never asks. The purpose of these preferential treatments is to encourage them to do business in China, so as to develop market trade and increase tax revenue.

During the Song Shenzong period, Sinatra, a big grain merchant, accumulated millions of assets and was named General Huaihua by Song Shenzong. In A.D. 1072, he also came to China as an envoy to China (now Sougar, Oman). When he was a minister in Guangzhou, he played the role of "attracting seeds to fall, attracting ladders to sail for years", donating goods and selling fields, and vigorously revitalizing county schools. At that time, it was stipulated in the Song Dynasty that as long as city officials could attract businessmen and draw 50,000 yuan, they could fill the post. In A.D. 1 136, Proshchin, a big food merchant, awarded a ship to Quanzhou City for "building a ship carrying frankincense, worth 300,000 tons". He was also awarded the official position of "Cheng Xinlang".

The "Pu" surname here is a common surname at that time, which may be traced back to the word "Abdullah", so naturally, the surname Pu mainly comes from * * *. In the Song Dynasty, a man named Pu moved from Zhancheng to Guangzhou to do business. He is not only a wealthy businessman, but also a prosperous man with authority among the giants. He is not only the administrative leader of the merchants living in China, but also a legal and religious leader. In the Southern Song Dynasty, in the sixth year of Jiading (12 13) or six years less (1228- 1233), Pu Kaizong led many people to move to Quanzhou, which opened a new chapter in family history. While continuing to engage in overseas trade mainly in transporting and selling bulk spices, he went to Anxi, Quanzhou, and became the main book of Anxi County, similar to the position of finance director. His business is quite big, as can be seen from the fact that he was awarded the official position of "Cheng Jielang" by Song Ting, which is higher than "Cheng Xinlang".

At that time, the wealth of fans was quite eye-catching. In the first year of Daoguang (995), Puatori, a big food merchant, came to pay tribute, including borneol 120 tablets, 20 bottles of silver medicine, 3 jars of white sugar, 20 bottles of rose water, 1 frankincense hawthorn, 2 pieces of brocade, 3 pieces of Baiyueno and 3 pieces of camel bedding. In the first year of Shaoxing (1 13 1), Puyali paid tribute to 290 ivory and 35 rhinoceros, which was worth more than 50,000 yuan according to the current market price. In the Song Dynasty, barbarians also helped to repair the city. "Is the biggest battle of the gate, depends on the prosperity and glory of the whole Jian 'an. However, building a tower is a blessing, building branches is a blessing, and raising Jia Hu is a spring. "

Guangzhou Huaisheng Temple Lighthouse is surrounded by the old site of Gufanfang.

These people were rich in wealth and lived a comfortable life in the Song Dynasty. "Guangzhou Fanfang sees people gambling chess, and there is no system of horses and chariots. Only a few pieces of ivory, rhinoceros horn and sandalwood were used in the chess game. Every two phases shifted, there were also winners and losers. Play a play, never ask. " Besides, they keep birds. When Zhu Yu lived in Guangzhou, he once bought a white parrot, which could speak fluent Chinese. Since white parrots can speak strange languages, they are naturally raised by barbarians. Moreover, raising birds by barbarians is not a simple entertainment, and they will also sell their own birds. In addition to raising birds, fans are also famous for their flower cultivation. Jasmine planted in Fan Xiang is particularly fragrant, and as one of the spices, Longxian must also take raw materials from Fan Xianghua to ensure good quality.

Pu Shougeng and his brother. At this time, Ke Fanren still retains the alien characteristics in diet and clothing. For example, York mentioned that they don't eat pork. When eating, they usually grab food with one hand and put the other hand under the mattress. Ke Fan's costumes are also different from those of the Song Dynasty, and have their own exotic features. As the saying goes, "Ke Fan's clothes are different from China's", they also have the habit of wearing earrings. "Persian women in Guangzhou wear more than 20 holes and rings in their ears."

But beyond that, Tibetans born and raised in Tibet have been basically localized. From the early years of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty set up "Xue Fan" in Guangzhou, Quanzhou and other merchant settlements, and its curriculum was basically the same as that of Fu Xue. In this way, it created conditions for businessmen in Song Dynasty to receive China culture education and even take the imperial examination, so that their descendants could enter the official position through the imperial examination.

Pu Shoubi, the son of Pu Kaizong, is a typical example of the localization of foreigners. He should have been an officer in his early years. Liu Kezhuang wrote an inscription on Pu Shoubi's Poems by Pu Lingwei: "Pu Jun, Xinquan, has more than 130 poems and three ancient poems. Twenty years ago, your family had the name of pottery chair, but I didn't know it. Your family's wealth is not backward. I spent the rest of my life writing poems and reading your poems for ten years. " Pu Shoubi also said in "Preface to Poetry": "When I went to Gu Yan, I saw that studying in the city was like an ant. I got a gift because I miss my previous official work, one of them. " "This passage also proves that he is a soldier.

However, although Pu Shoubi is an officer, he has a strong interest in culture. He studied poetry, kept in touch with the scribes, and later became a famous poet, leaving Poems on the Heart. In his collection of poems, there are poems sung with Quanzhou celebrities Hong Tianxi, * * *, Okra, Hu Zhonggong and others. His poem "Catch the Rocks" wrote: "The mountains are high and the sea is high, but Qiu Si is poor and secluded. There are ghosts crying, and no one knows the fish. " Good level. Just looking at this poem, you can't imagine that he is a foreigner. The above celebrities in Quanzhou (such as the former ambassador to Fujian Anfu and the minister of punishments Hong Tianxi) are willing to associate with him, which should show his poetic level. Later, Pu Shoucheng was appointed as the magistrate of Meizhou, famous for his incorruptibility. "Sex is frugal, and nothing is taken away from the people."

This is because he has a rich brother, so he can "regard wealth as a cloud". Contrary to Pu Shoubi's love of culture, Pu Shougeng, another son of Pu Kaizong, is a "little hero hooligan" who actually mixes with street hooligans. As an adult, Pu Shougeng should enter the officialdom with the help of his father, and then work in the city shipping company, rising step by step. At the same time, he is also doing business. He has a friend named Dong Siwei in officialdom. Dong was a tea official in Jiujiang. He wrote a poem "I want to attach Pu Haiyun as a dry boat to return home": "The rivers are connected by trees, and the mountains and rivers are magnificent. When the guest is drunk, it is autumn night, dreaming of Yanxian. Water sent to regret, and the wind blew the residual snow in Wudian. After several times, I attached it to the scale and bought the boat without relying on it. " Considering the last two sentences of this poem, we can see that Dong Siyuan took Pu Haiyun's boat many times, and even got a little bored, claiming that he might as well buy a boat himself. This poem also tells us that Pu Shougeng was a "cadre" at that time and should be a position of a shipping company in a city. He often travels along the river by boat. It should be a business trip. Dong Siyuan can hitch a ride. At the same time, Pu Shougeng should be a long-term employee of the city's trade department and concurrently serve as an interpreter, so he can practise fraud in the trade between the two sides. Therefore, "Biography of Dong Wenbing in Gaocheng County" records that "(Pu) Shou Geng was originally a Uighur, who took sailing as his profession ... the barbaric countries in the South China Sea were not afraid to occupy it."

After five years as a cadre, Pu Shougeng experienced a period of twists and turns. "Homecoming Collection" records a story related to the Pu family: "Quanzhou people ... made friends with Pu Bo and borrowed land to build a house. Wang Maoyue is the envoy of the ship, and he is the official of Puba. If he misses the boat, Lin will get 800 ingots of platinum, which is a promise. When the king leaves, Pu will attack him and take his land. "

According to the records of stone carvings in Jiuri Mountain, Quanzhou, Wang Maoyue was the ambassador of Quanzhou in the second year of Xianchun (1266). At that time, there was an official businessman named Pu ("Puba" should be the mistake of "Puda") who was sued for not paying taxes on merchant ships. He asked Quanzhou scholars to lobby Yue on his behalf. Later, things changed and Wang Maoyue left. "Ba Pu officer tax evasion case may go away. Therefore, he thinks that Qiao Lin, the middleman, failed to succeed and took back the land he had lent him.

Judging from the context of this story, "Pope" and "Pope Guan Ren" should be one person, and they are both Pu Shougeng. Except for him, there won't be another Pu family who is so arrogant at the end of the Song Dynasty. Quanzhou Maritime Bureau is an institution with many officials. Pu Shougeng is called "Pope" and "Pu Daguan Ren", which shows that he is an official of Quanzhou Maritime Bureau, and his official position is not small, otherwise he would not be called "Pope". Of course, this position should not be promoted by the city shipping company, but an official position with real power. So he can use his power to smuggle, which was called "leaking the ship" at that time. The Song Dynasty attached great importance to the income of shipping companies, and the assessment of promotion was how many "pretty ships" could be recruited each year and how much tax could be drawn. In this context, "Big Officer Pu" dared to "leak the boat" and was not punished afterwards, indicating that his power has risen to a certain height. Dong Wenbing, a general of the Yuan Dynasty, commented on Pu Shougeng and once said that "Shougeng Su is the main city ship". The word "Su Bo" should prove that he is actually a powerful figure in Uncle Bo, although he was not promoted by the company.

Haiyunlou's business empire In the last 30 years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the foreign trade of Quanzhou Port was basically controlled by Pu Shougeng, who called it "30 years of foreign trade profit". His family is mainly engaged in the trade of spices, and his descendants have been engaged in the production and management of spices for a long time. The "Puqinglan Fragrant Room" in Wuli Street in Yongchun is a well-known handicraft industry and shop. It has been 89 years since the 13th Shimao of Pujia moved from Quanzhou to Yongchun. Dehua Chengguan Pu's "Magnolia Hall Fragrant Room" has also been inherited to this day. Quanzhou Fashi is Pu Shougeng's hometown, where flowers are planted and jasmine and jasmine introduced from * * * are planted. They also maintain a special custom of worshipping their ancestors with spices and fragrant flowers.

Fan merchants, represented by Pu Shougeng, brought a large number of overseas treasures, making Quanzhou a "treasure house where exotic goods can live". According to records, there are more than 400 kinds of articles imported from overseas countries in the Song Dynasty, such as treasures, spices, medicines, fabrics and groceries. For example, it is recorded in "Cloud Road Full of Korea" that Fujian ships often go to various countries for shipment, including "big food, fine food, spicy food, new products and three Buddhas", but there are pearls, ivory, rhinoceros horn, brain marrow, frankincense and three Buddhas.

Huge maritime trade has brought huge profits. "Tongjiang Collection" contains: "Springs have been in business for 30 years, 10 million years, and five years. It's not enough to be pepper every time. " Therefore, it "generates huge money" and "huge money". If there had been a wealth list at that time, the title of the richest man in Quanzhou would never have fallen to someone else. In the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a Putian man named Liu Kezhuang, who was a famous poet and poetry theorist at that time. He compared Pu Shougeng to Tao Zhugong, a great businessman in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Pu Shougeng's wealth can be seen.

At that time, Pu Shougeng's mansion was located in the south of Quanzhou, with Tumen Street in the east, Xiting in the west, Quanzhou No.7 Middle School in the south and Tushan Street in the north, with an area of about 300 mu in Fiona Fang. Three hundred acres is converted into square meters, which is about 200 thousand square meters. What is the concept of 200,000 square meters? The Forbidden City in Beijing covers an area of about 720,000 square meters. That is to say, Pujia Mansion is about one-third to one-quarter of the Forbidden City. During the Republic of China, the descendants of the Pu family complained that "in the twenty-four or five years of the Republic of China (around 1935), a bus station was opened in the southern suburbs of Quanzhou, flowerpots were dug up and the words Prime Minister's Garden were written. My uncle said that the southern suburb was originally the garden of our prime minister (referring to Pu Shougeng). " Zhuang, who visited after the founding of New China, said: "The living center of Pu's family is now at the Quanzhou General Station. His mansion is now the main station of the South Teaching Field. "

In Pu Shougeng's home, there are gardens, chessboard gardens, study halls, martial arts schools, kitchens and ancestral halls. The place where Pujia receives distinguished guests is called "Dai Li Lane"; Pu's museum is in the lane. Because Quanzhou is known as "Zou Lu by the Sea", the place where his children study is called "Donglu Lane"; Even the kitchen of his military camp occupied an alley called "Zizi Lane". In the era when Pu Shougeng lived, chess was very popular. In order to entertain guests, Pu Shougeng opened a chessboard garden in the north of his garden. He really knows how to play. Cut a boulder as a chessboard, ... take a beauty as a chess piece. Thirty-two beautiful women holding famous brand black and red chess pieces took their positions, waiting for the players to call for advance and retreat. So far, the plates have disappeared and the garden has been rebuilt into a land shrine, but the place name has not changed. There is an alley near Yiquan Palace in Quanzhou, which is called "Thirty-two Lane". It is said that this is the place where Pu Shougeng spent the night with 32 women who acted as chess pieces. The other benefits of these women are unknown now, but when Pu Shougeng arranged the dormitory, everyone had a room.

What supports such a luxurious life is Pu Shougeng's huge maritime business empire. Only his son-in-law Folian (a native of Bahrain) owns 80 seagoing ships. When his property was confiscated because he had no children after his death, there were 130 stone pearls. It can be seen that there are naturally many more ships under the name of Pu Shougeng. It is said that the ships under his name are "like huge rooms, with sails hanging in the sky, rudders dozens of feet long and hundreds of people on board." They accumulate food for a year, they make wine in it, and they are born. " In order to better inspect his huge fleet, Pu Shougeng also built a pavilion in Baojue Mountain (a stone mountain) near Jinjiang Harbor to overlook the ships at sea. There is also a "10,000-acre pavilion" downstairs, standing in front of the pavilion, and the sea and the sky can be seen in a panoramic view. This is the famous "Tianfeng Haiyun Building", whose name is Pu Shougeng's word "Haiyun". Obviously, without strong economic strength and a large number of seagoing ships, there is no need to build or afford to build watchtowers.

As for his brother Pu Shoubi, he went back to his hometown to live in seclusion. Fashi is backed by the seashore, and the Song and Yuan Dynasties were the key points of Quanzhou's overseas traffic. According to "Chronicle", "The cloud foot is on the left side of Fashi Mountain. This is a small village. Located in the southeast corner outside Quanzhou, about three kilometers away from the urban area. ..... According to legend, during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Pu Shoubi had a large-scale garden.

During the tenth year of Xianchun in the Southern Song Dynasty (1274), one thing made Pu Shougeng rise politically, that is, he and Shou Bi led the fleet to defeat Haikou, which invaded Quanzhou, and kept the port safe. Haikou in Fujian and Guangdong will always be the same as the Southern Song Dynasty. "In just four years from the 13th year of Shaoxing to the 17th year of Shaoxing, there were at least 50 pirate gangs on Fujian Road every year, and an average pirate team was born every week." Thieves occupied coastal islands and harassed places. The imperial court sent troops to encircle and encircle many times, plundered ships coming and going at sea, and burned and looted ashore, which was very rampant. However, in the Southern Song Dynasty, "the government troops did not take risks in the mountains, but were infected with malaria", and the power of the sea bandits was so great that even the left-wing army of the official regular water army could not resist it. According to "Quanzhou Prefecture Records Gathering Soldiers", there were six incidents in Quanzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty and eight incidents in Tongzhi, Fujian. In the tenth year of the Southern Song Dynasty (1274), pirates attacked Quanzhou, and the officers and men were helpless. The court in the Southern Song Dynasty had to recruit civilian boats and encourage civilian armed forces to catch thieves, and encouraged officials and people to catch thieves by rewarding officials.

Fortunately, the Pu Shougeng brothers are not only familiar with maritime affairs, but also have a huge fleet and "thousands of children", so they are naturally handy in dealing with pirates. The two men took the initiative to attack, retreat from the enemy and shake the ruling and opposition parties. * * * Pinghaikou made meritorious service in the Southern Song Dynasty, made him a peace envoy of Fujian and a coastal garrison (collectively referred to as Fujian appeasement coastal garrison), appeased Fujian's military and political affairs all the way, and granted him the power of general manager of Fujian-Zhejiang coastal navy, and was later promoted to a city ship. As far as the practice of the Southern Song Dynasty is concerned, Fujian's Anfu Ambassador has always been concurrently held by Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province. Most famous people in Fuzhou choose prestigious senior officials, such as Zhang Jun and others, who are all officials at the prime minister level. This is a great honor for Pu Shougeng. This foreigner, born and bred, has become a local official of the Song Dynasty court, and his power has become the actual controller of Quanzhou City. Although he is not the magistrate of Quanzhou, many documents call him "the satrap" and "the county magistrate".

When Pu Shougeng was in Quanzhou, the Song Dynasty, which lasted for 300 years, had reached its twilight. 1276, the Yuan Army was at the gate of Lin 'an. On February 5th, the second year of Deyou, under the careful planning and manipulation of Bo Yan, commander-in-chief of Yuan Army, a surrender ceremony was held in Lin 'an Imperial City. Song Gongzong Zhao, the little emperor who took off his yellow robe? (7 years old), led a civil servant and general to Xiangxi Hall, announced his formal abdication and surrendered to the Mongols. However, before the Yuan Army entered Lin 'an, the stormy small court of the Southern Song Dynasty, in order to continue the country, quickly made Zhao Yun, the king of Kyrgyzstan, as the beneficial king and ordered him to be sentenced to Fuzhou (high official and low post); At the same time, Zhao Min, Xin Wang, was appointed as Wang Guang and ordered to sentence him to Quanzhou. When Lin 'an, the second king, was about to fall, he left Beijing and went to Wenzhou via Wuzhou (now Jinhua, Zhejiang) under the escort of Yang Zhen, a captain of Xu. Bo Yan, who wanted to uproot the Song Dynasty, sent troops to pursue it, but failed to return it.

On the first day of May in the second year of Deyou, wangyi officially ascended the throne in Fuzhou, namely Song Duanzong, and changed the title of this year to the first year of Jingyan. As a result, he ascended the throne in Fuzhou for only half a year, and Zhejiang lost the battle against Yuan. In that year 1 1 month, the Yuan Army marched into northern Fujian, forcing Duanzong to leave Fuzhou by boat and arrive in Quanzhou.

Traditionally, after the new emperor takes office, he will generally give ministers a promotion and reward their support. When wangyi proclaimed himself emperor in Fuzhou, most of his generals were in western and northern Fujian, such as Fuzhou, Jianning Prefecture, Nanjian Prefecture and Shaowu County. At that time, Quanzhou was actually controlled by Pu Shougeng, so how to treat Pu Shougeng immediately became a problem after Duan Zongnan fled Quanzhou. In order to win the support of Pu Shougeng, Song Ting did not hesitate to add Pu Shougeng as the ambassador of Fujian and Guangdong and the "master ship at sea", which made him get his wish and become a veritable "master ship at sea". Of course, under the situation of war at that time, it is hard to say that Pu Shougeng's power can be extended to Guangdong, Fujian and Guangzhou, and the titles of the two courtiers are more honors. Song Ting, who survived, was nothing more than netting senior officials in exchange for his loyalty. If Pu Shougeng is willing to be loyal to the Song Dynasty, this position may be worthy of the name in the future, but this native foreigner, the powerful figure in Quanzhou, may have made up his mind to make a different choice when he looked at his huge merchant fleet in Haiyunlou.

*** (4) Quanzhou (3) Haikou (2)