盛宣怀与中葡广澳铁路合同谈判中的选商

Sheng Xuanhuai and the Selection of a Commercial Director During the Sino-Portuguese Contract Negotiation on the Canton-Macao Railway

1902年10月中葡互换关于中葡铁路公司建筑广澳铁路照会,葡萄牙政府不满意这样的结果,不同意清政府在澳门地区设立海关分关,1903年10月再次派白朗谷为全权大臣,与清政府重新进行中葡商约谈判,并签订以商办为宗旨、以均股平权为核心内容的广澳铁路合同。铁路合同签订的前提是中葡双方派出各自的商董参与谈判,葡方较早派出商董伯多禄,但中方商董的选定有一个复杂的过程。盛宣怀先后在澳门地区华商、香港地区华商中物色合适人选,颇费周折,最后选定粤商林德远参与合同谈判。盛宣怀选商困难的原因在于:确有实力之华商难得,且身份复杂,他们顾虑在中葡合办铁路的机制中利权得不到应有保护,“虑葡商专权”是当时华商的基本心态。盛宣怀等人第一次尝试在一条铁路线的建设和管理过程中真正建立起商办体制和中外商民合办机制并非易事,近代铁路建设的曲折性和复杂性由此而得到充分体现。

China and Portugal exchanged notes with regard to the construction of Canton-Macao Railway by the Sino-Portuguese Railway Company in October 1902.The Portuguese government was not satisfied with the result and did not agree with the establishment of a division of customs by the Qing government in Macao region.In October 1903,Jose de Azevedo Castello Branco was once again appointed as the plenipotentiary ambassador to renegotiate the Sino-Portuguesc commercial agreement with the Qing government,and signed a contract for Canton-Macao Railway with commercial operation as its purpose and equity equality as its core content.A prerequisite for signing the contract was China and Portugal should send their respective commercial directors to participate in the negotiation.The Portuguese side sent its commercial director Peter Dorothy at a very carly time,but the selection of the commercial director on the Chinese side was a complex process.Sheng Xuanhuai searched for suitable candidates among Chinesc businessmen in Macao region and Hong Kong region,and finally selected Guangdong busincessman Lin Deyuan to participate in the contract negotiations.The reason for Sheng Xuanhuai's difficulty in selecting the commercial director lay in the fact that Chinese businessmen with real strength werc rare and their identities were complex.They were concerned that their rights and interests in the mechanism of the Sino-Portuguese joint railway would not get the due protection.Worring about the monopoly of Portuguese merchants was the basic mentality of Chinese businessmen at that time.Sheng Xuanhuai and others made their first attempt to establish a commercial system and a joint mechanism of Chinese and foreign merchants as well as civilians in the construction and management of the railway line,which was not an casy task.The tortuosity and complexity of modern railway construction was fully reflected in Sheng Xuanhuai's selection of the suitable Chinesc dircctor.