It took only 15 days for Sheng Xuanhuai to become a lost dog from a first-class minister.

1910 Before the Wuchang Uprising, Sheng Xuanhuai, Minister of State and Minister of Postal Services, couldn't believe that this earth-shaking change only took 15 days.

Sheng Xuanhuai, whose real name is Sun Xing, is from Wujin, Jiangsu. 1870, joined Li Hongzhang as a "copywriting operation" and started his career. Maybe it's his talent in economy. With the support of Li Hongzhang, he gradually left his official career and turned to industry, and successively founded China Merchants, China Telegraph Bureau, Huasheng Textile General Administration and China Industrial Bank. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Qing government changed part of official enterprise into official business. Sheng Xuanhuai took over Hanyang Iron Works from the government, managed Daye Iron Mine and Pingxiang Coal Mine, and was merged into Hanyeping Coal and Iron Factory and Mine Co., Ltd. as Prime Minister. Soon, he was appointed by the Qing government as the general manager of China Railway Corporation. All kinds of opportunities are another "red-top businessman" after he became Hu Xueyan, and he is also known as "the father of China industry".

At the same time, Sheng Xuanhuai is thriving in officialdom. Tianjin Customs Road, Shandong Denglin Qingbing Road, East Customs Supervision Agent, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Assistant Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, etc. 19 10 as the minister of postal services; 19 1 1 On May 8, 2008, the royal cabinet was established, and Shangshu was changed to Minister, while Sheng Xuanhuai remained as Minister of Postal Affairs and Minister of State. This can be said to be far better than Hu Xueyan, who only donated the title of envoy.

When Wuchang Uprising broke out, all provinces responded in succession. Although the Qing court immediately sent Yin Chang, the secretary of the army, to the south to suppress it, only half a month later, that is,1kloc-0/October 25th, Hubei, Hunan and Shaanxi declared their independence, and the Qing court faced a serious ruling crisis.

On 0/6th day after Wuchang Uprising, Cheng Berlin, Fan Zhijie, director of the Senior Civil Affairs Office, and others were lectured by the Hanlin Academy, and Sheng Xuanhuai was impeached for "violating the law and discipline". Wuchang Uprising was attributed to Sheng Xuanhuai's cheating on the imperial court and illegal collection of people's grievances. Sheng Xuanhuai's "monopolizing power, isolating the upper and lower levels and delaying the overall situation" is regarded as the country's first evil. That night, the Qing court ordered Sheng Xuanhuai to "dismiss from office immediately and never reuse it".

But firing doesn't seem to be enough to quell dissatisfaction. 10 year 10. On 27th, Chen Qinggui was asked to punish Sheng Xuanhuai in the right way, engage in military law such as Hu Rui, the governor of Huguang, and Zhang Biao, the magistrate of Hubei, and lost Wuchang. Many lawmakers also impeached Sheng Xuanhuai for "inciting mutiny", saying that according to the law, "it should be distorted" and "it should be distorted". The United States, Britain, France and Germany did not want to see Sheng Xuanhuai executed, fearing that the Qing court would change the state-owned railway policy, thus affecting the loan contracts of the four countries. The U.S. Chargé d 'affaires in China, Wiley, immediately contacted the diplomatic representatives of other three countries in Beijing, called on the Prime Minister of the Cabinet and the righteous prince of the Qing Dynasty, and asked him to promise not to harm Sheng Xuanhuai.

Under the pressure of various countries, King Qingyi was forced to agree: Regent Zai Feng thought it was serious enough to dismiss Sheng Xuanhuai immediately and never used him again, so he refused to consider Chen Qinggui's request for the Ming Dynasty to execute Sheng Xuanhuai.

101Late at night on October 28th, the British, French, German, American and Japanese embassies each sent two guards to form a security force of 10. Under the guidance of Counsellor Ding Jiali of American Embassy and Counsellor Baden of British Embassy, Sheng Xuanhuai was escorted to Tianjin overnight. Sheng Xuanhuai, a tycoon who has been in business for many years, left Beijing in a panic and never set foot in Beijing again until his death.

After arriving in Tianjin on the morning of October 29th, 65438, Sheng Xuanhuai immediately transferred to the German ship "Prefect" and took refuge in Qingdao at noon on October 30th, 65438. Sheng Xuanhuai had planned to stay in Qingdao for a long time under protection.

Not long after staying in Japan, Sheng Xuanhuai felt the cold face of Japan after tearing off the warm veil. Because the cost of staying in a hotel is too high, he moved out of the hotel and rented 8 rooms in Xishan, with a group of 20 people. Deep in the mountains, there are lush trees. This is a happy and self-cultivation place. However, every time I received a complaint letter from Shanghai, I learned that the real estate and shops were seized by the People's Army, and all the shares of the company in Shanghai were sold, and the family only had rent to live. I can imagine the tears in Sheng Xuanhuai's heart.

19 12 in July, Sun Baodi, Sheng Xuanhuai's in-laws and Yuan Shikai's government adviser, sent a message from Yuan Shikai, telling Sheng Xuanhuai that "it is best to stay in Japan for the time being and protect all property as much as possible".

When is the right time to return to China? Yuan Shikai did not say. He is busy reconciling North-South relations, so naturally he won't always be pestered by this down-and-out senior official. The weather in Tokyo is getting colder every day, and there has been no news of Yuan Shikai's return to China in Sheng Xuanhuai.

19 12 10, Sheng Xuanhuai returned to Shanghai. After returning home, facing the tragic situation of "the countryside is barren and property is washed", he laughed at himself "fortunately, the population is safe, so he is free from being a ghost in a foreign land" and devoted himself to recovering property. Through the mediation of Sun Yat-sen, especially Yuan Shikai, he donated no less than 6.5438+0.5 million yuan to the northern and southern governments, and the Shengjia property once seized by the government of the Republic of China was finally returned. After spending several years in Shanghai, Sheng Xuanhuai died in April of 19 16 at the age of 73.

A generation of officials and businessmen died, leaving behind huge wealth that they could not take away.