浙商与沪商的竞争及合作:上海内地自来水公司回购案(1915-1917)

Competition and Cooperation BetweenZhejiang Merchants and Shanghai Merchants: Repurchase Case of Shanghai Waterw orks Co. Ltd.(1915-1917)

上海内地自来水公司是国人自办自来水公司之始,是上海最早的华商水厂。该公司系1897年由粤商投资经营,上海本地绅商一直想参与经营管理。因欠款,该公司于1915年春收归官办,这为上海本地绅商争夺经营权创造了机会。然正当沪绅代表陆伯鸿积极回购时,浙商姚慕莲成功竞购。这极有可能与姚慕莲家族背景有关,他与盛宣怀有姻亲关系,走上层路线;同时,除了姚慕莲家境殷实,他背后还有实力强大的浙商群体参与其中;此外,还与他的个人能力分不开。面对上海本地绅商的竞购与发难,姚慕莲多种应对措施及时有效,最终获得了上海本地绅商和官方的认可。

Shanghai Waterworks Co.,Ltd. was the earliest water supply company run independently by the Chinese and the first Chinese-run waterworks in Shanghai. The company was invested and operated by Cantonese businessmen in1897. Shanghai local gentry merchants had always wanted to engage in the management. Due to arrearage,in the spring of1915,the company was taken by the government,which created opportunities for Shanghai’s local gentry merchants to compete for management rights. While Lu Bohong,the representative of Shanghai gentry merchants,was actively engaging in the buy back,the company was successfully repurchased by a Zhejiang businessman Yao Mulian. This could largely be credited to Yao Mulian’s family background,which had a relationship by affinity to Sheng Xuanhuai,making the upper-class channel unobstructed;in addition to his family wealth,he was also backed up by the powerful Zhejiang merchant groups;moreover,he himself was a resourceful man. In the face of the competition of the Shanghai local gentry merchants and the difficulties laid ahead,Yao Mulian timely and effectively resorted to various countermeasures and eventually won the approval of local gentry merchants and officials in Shanghai.