(Information)
Facing the extremely conservative Jin merchants, Zhu Wencong also didn't know what to say, and couldn't persuade them to change.
Ultimately, only the Coastal merchant groups in the East survived, while those in the Mainland perished along with the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
The current Jin merchants are very similar to the Thirteen Hongs. They thrived on the imperial privileges granted to them.
Once those privileges disappeared, their absolute advantage vanished as well. They had to either find their own way or slowly sell off their ancestral properties.
From the previous eight major Jin merchants to the current four, it is evident that they could not withstand the torrent of history.
The Kong family, backed by the Saint Confucius, remained an evergreen through the dynasties, as the legitimacy of the Emperor's rule was bestowed by the Kong family.
