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Ten. In the 9th and 20th centuries, China experienced the baptism of internal and external wars, and many ordinary people in Fujian and Guangdong chose to immigrate to Nanyang, and there may be millions of them.
On the plantations of the colonists, most of them may only be able to work as cheap labor, keeping them busy all day long.
Despite this, there is such a person, he was born in Guangdong, and came to Nanyang with the tide of immigrants when he was young, but unlike other immigrants, he not only worked hard in Indonesia with his extraordinary talent and perseverance, but also became the richest man in Indonesia!
The richest overseas Chinese in Indonesia not only achieved success in his career, but also married a European beauty. Because his family has lived in Indonesia for a long time, his descendants can no longer see half of the Chinese appearance.
Although he made his fortune as an overseas Chinese, he always cared for the motherland and made many contributions to the development of the motherland.
Zhang Hongnan, the name of Indonesia's richest man is forever etched in the hearts of Indonesian businessmen. Although he has been out of this world for 100 years, his influence is like a god, and it is still alive among Indonesian businessmen.
Born in 1861 in Songkou Township, Meixian District, Guangdong Province, like many immigrants to Nanyang, he was born into a poor family of eight siblings.
Therefore, he has to live a life of often not having enough to eat since he was a child.
When Zhang Hongnan was a child, he was forced to give up his private school education due to his poor family. He knows that only by changing his destiny can his family live a good life. Although the academic path was also a way out, due to his poor family, he chose the path of business.
Although business was seen as a lowly profession, there were many precedents for successful business in his family, and he decided to follow their example and try to lift his family out of poverty.
During the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Hongnan's elder brother Zhang Yunan was planning to run a rice grain business. So, Zhang Hongnan decided to go to his brother to open a rice shop together. However, the people in the Meixian area were experiencing war and famine, which made it very difficult for the Zhang brothers' rice shop to operate, not only with huge losses, but also with a lot of debts.
After this failure, Zhang Hongnan and his brother realized that Guangdong was not suitable for them to do business, because the major industries were already monopolized by the local wealthy businessmen, and it was very difficult to get a piece of the pie.
They had considered expanding to the north, but under Qing rule, China was not just poor in Guangdong, and the people in most areas were even poorer than Meixian.
Therefore, many people in the south choose to immigrate to Nanyang, hoping to start a new life there. Zhang Hongnan's elder brother, Zhang Yunan, also saw this trend.
In Zhang Yunan's family, there are also ancestors who lived in Nanyang to work hard, and finally successfully returned to China and became the pride of the family. This inspired Zhang Yunan to see them as role models from an early age.
With the rush of immigration, he decided to venture into Nanyang, but the lack of capital at home and the need for his parents to take care of him put him in a difficult situation. In the end, he decided to go to Nanyang alone, while his younger brother Zhang Hongnan stayed in his hometown to help his father run a small grocery store.
However, soon after, Zhang Hongnan's father died of illness, making his life even more difficult. Zhang Hongnan decided to follow in his brother's footsteps and go to Nanyang to work hard. He handed over his mother and the small grocery store property to his other siblings and embarked on a ferry to Nanyang alone.
Zhang Hongnan chose to defect to his brother Zhang Yunan on the way to Nanyang for business. However, how will Zhang Yunan's story of going to the South Seas unfold? Let's start with Zhang Yunan's experience in the South Seas.
Prior to this, we already knew that Zhang Yunan went to Nanyang alone to seek new opportunities after failing to run a rice shop. However, when he first arrived in Nanyang, he was unfamiliar with the place and it was difficult for him to display his talents.
After much understanding, he learned that the most famous overseas Chinese in the local area was Zhang Bishi. So, he went to seek refuge with Zhang Bishi and became a member of Zhang Bishi's disciples. Zhang Bishi, many readers may not be familiar with it, but when it comes to Changyu wine, everyone is familiar with it.
This Zhang Bishi is the founder of Changyu Wine and one of the first pioneers to go to the South Seas. Zhang Bishi admired Zhang Yunan's intelligence very much, so he included him in his disciple and gave him an important position.
Under Zhang's leadership, Zhang Yunan showed excellent business acumen and talent, and helped Zhang Bishi achieve a lot of business.
Zhang Bishi has a discerning eye, not only discovering Zhang Yunan's talent in the business field, but also seeing his hard work. So, he unreservedly entrusted him with the important task of handing over his important industry to Zhang Yunan to take care of.
Zhang Yunan lived up to expectations, ran the industry in an orderly manner, and also accumulated rich capital. When Zhang Yunan realized that he already had the strength to establish an independent business in Nanyang, he expressed the idea of establishing his own business to Zhang Bishi.
Zhang Bishi understood the righteousness and did not retain it, but provided the necessary financial support, paving the way for Zhang Yunan's entrepreneurial road. In this way, with the support of Zhang Bishi, Zhang Yunan went to the Medan region of Indonesia and decided to establish a company mainly engaged in rubber, coffee and coconut cultivation in the wilderness.
He told Zhang Bishi about the idea, and with Zhang Bishi's full support, the two decided to co-establish the company.
In 1878, Zhang Yunan and Zhang Bishi co-founded the Liwang Company, and with Zhang Bishi's assistance, the company was very successful, and Zhang Yunan's wealth continued to increase.
Later, Zhang Yunan and Zhang Bishi founded the Rili Bank and opened the Yongchang Commercial Bank in Medan. After years of operation, Zhang Yunan soon became the richest man in Medan, and his capital also reached a huge number.
At this time, Zhang Yunan's younger brother Zhang Hongnan took a ferry to Nanyang, hoping to defect to his brother. Seeing his brother's career so successful, Zhang Hongnan felt both surprised and surprised.
When they separated, Zhang Yunan was just a bankrupt rice shop merchant, but now he is the richest man in the party. Zhang Yunan was very happy about the arrival of his younger brother.
He knew that his brother's business talent was not inferior to his own, so he appointed him as the company's general manager, responsible for the company's financial projects. Zhang Yunan and Zhang Hongnan helped each other and set their minds to business, and their company grew rapidly, quickly becoming an influential local business.
Therefore, Zhang Yunan and Zhang Hongnan have also become important figures among overseas Chinese.
Zhang Hongnan and his brother Zhang Yunan bought and operated a rundown plantation from a Dutchman, and hired a white man as its administrator, becoming the first overseas Chinese to own a plantation and hire a white manager.
In 1897, they took over all the properties of Zhang Bishi in Southeast Asia, and after a period of hard work, they have become one of the important overseas Chinese consortiums in Southeast Asia, and have won the respect of the Dutch colonists.
After that, Zhang Hongnan was invited by Zhang Bishi to go to Singapore to develop his business territory.
When Zhang Hongnan was preparing to go to Singapore, the German mail shipping company implemented a policy of racial discrimination, including overseas Chinese as the target of discrimination. This made Zhang Hongnan very unhappy, and he decided to establish two ocean shipping companies, Yuchang and Guangfu.
After doing this, he took the ferry to Singapore. In 1910, Zhang Hongnan was again invited by Zhang Bishi to Batavia, where he met with Xu Jin'an and Li Quanjun, the leaders of the local Chinese, and prepared to set up a joint venture with them to establish the Bank of China.
Zhang Hongnan subscribed for 200 shares in the upcoming Zhonghua Bank, and Xu Jinan and Li Quanjun each subscribed for the remaining shares. At this point, Zhang Hongnan's business territory expanded to the Batavia region, and his business also developed to the area of Java Island.
After a series of outstanding achievements in his career, Zhang Hongnan began to consider the issue of inheritance. He married a white beauty in Medan, and his married life was very fulfilling and happy.
In 1911, Zhang Yunan unfortunately died of illness, and Zhang Hongnan took over the industry under Zhang Hongnan's name and continued to develop. With his strength and influence, he was promoted to the title of "Medan Chinese Margar" by the local Dutch colonizers in Medan to lead the local Chinese.
At this time, Zhang Hongnan had reached the peak of his career.
Zhang Hongnan's former residence donated generously to give back to the motherland without borders. Zhang Hongnan, who has a successful career, knows that it is the responsibility and obligation of every successful person to give back to the society and dedicate to his hometown.
He has carried out many public welfare activities, contributed to the peaceful and stable development of the local society, and also invested a lot of time and energy in many public welfare construction.
Zhang Hongnan has not forgotten his motherland, and he has made many important and outstanding contributions to the development of our country. He knew that education was the key to changing his life, so he and his brother Zhang Yunan jointly funded the construction of an overseas Chinese school in the local area to provide educational opportunities for those poor children.
In addition, he has donated a large amount of money to other local Chinese schools in Medan, which has injected impetus into the development of education. With his help, education in Medan, Indonesia has grown rapidly, allowing more people to have access to quality education.
In addition to education, Zhang Hongnan has also made outstanding contributions to the development of medical services in Medan. At that time, leprosy was prevalent in Medan, but due to superstition and the lack of technical means, many medical units refused to accept leprosy patients, and ordinary people also avoided leprosy patients.
Zhang Hongnan did not sit idly by, he actively participated in the research and research of leprosy, which not only solved the problem of leprosy patients, but also improved the public's awareness and understanding of leprosy.
Zhang Hongnan's generous donation is not only a support for the local education and medical services in Medan, but also a contribution to the development of the motherland. His actions let us see a person's public welfare spirit and deep love for the motherland, and also make us believe that as long as each of us does our part, our society and country will become better.
Zhang Hongnan is a figure who is deeply loved by the people of Medan and has made outstanding contributions to Medan's medical care, education and transportation construction. In order to alleviate the pressure on the medical industry in Medan, he donated funds to build a hospital dedicated to the reception of ** leprosy patients, and invested in the construction of a hospital with free medicine, so that the local poor can see a doctor for free.
His kindness has greatly enhanced his reputation among the people of Medan, who many regard him as a "great benefactor" and a "reborn parent". In addition to his contributions in Medan, the Zhang Hongnan brothers have always been concerned about the development of their motherland.
Although they do business overseas, their hearts are always in China. They have made a great contribution to the development of the motherland. Overall, Brother Zhang Hongnan is a person of love and responsibility, and their contributions to Medan and the motherland will always be remembered in people's hearts.
In that era of internal and external troubles, the Qing Dynasty made the decision to expand the navy in order to enhance its naval strength, which was strongly supported by the Zhang Hongnan brothers.
Zhang Hongnan not only provided a large amount of funds for the expansion of the navy of the Qing Dynasty, but also donated money to help the victims as soon as possible during the domestic famine. In addition, they also pay attention to the education of the motherland, donate more than 300,000 yuan for the construction of various schools and schools in China, and encourage the publication of excellent academic works in China.
They also advocated that entrepreneurs "save the country through industry" and donated huge sums of money to promote domestic economic development. The most famous contribution of the Zhang Hongnan brothers was to finance the construction of the Chaoshan Railway.
In general, Brother Zhang Hongnan has supported the development of the motherland with practical actions and made outstanding contributions to the motherland.
For the sake of practice"Industry saves the country"Zhang Hongnan's elder brother Zhang Yunan once proposed to the Qing court to build the Chaoshan Railway. After receiving the approval, the Zhang Hongnan brothers immediately began to raise funds and plan a detailed plan for the construction of the railway.
After three years of hard work, the Chaoshan Railway was finally completed, becoming the first purely commercial railway in China's history. The railway has greatly improved the transportation situation in the Chaoshan region and laid a solid foundation for local business and economic development.
As the Qing dynasty declined, a revolutionary uprising led by Sun Yat-sen set out to overthrow the rotten feudal rule. After learning the news, Zhang Hongnan did not hesitate to donate a large amount of money to the revolutionary army led by Sun Yat-sen.
Although this move was strongly condemned by those who defended the rule of the Qing Dynasty, it shows Zhang Hongnan's deep patriotism.
Zhang Hongnan, the pride of overseas Chinese in Indonesia, has devoted his life to promoting the cause of overseas Chinese and made outstanding contributions. He died in Medan in 1921 at the age of 61. His funeral attracted many famous overseas Chinese and businessmen of the Nanyang generation, who all came to pay tribute to the leader of the Indonesian diaspora.
Due to his long-term activities in Southeast Asia, Zhang Hongnan's descendants chose to settle in Indonesia and integrate into the local society. Although they have lost their typical Chinese looks, and many of them do not even speak Chinese, they still regard the Zhang Hongnan brothers, who were born in Guangdong, as the glory of their family.
Although the Zhang Hongnan brothers have left us, their glorious deeds will forever be recorded in history and will always be remembered by future generations.