Rishengchang

In the nineteenth century, at its peak, it controlled almost half of the Chinese economy and its branches were widespread throughout major cities in China, and also in some foreign countries, including Russia, Mongolia, and Japan.

Rishengchang, the first draft bank or piaohao (票號), originated from Xiyuecheng Dye Company Pingyao in central Shanxi.

From the time of the Taiping Rebellion, when transportation routes between the capital and the provinces were cut off, piaohao began involvement with the delivery of government tax revenue.

Piaohao grew by taking on a role in advancing funds and arranging foreign loans for provincial governments, issuing notes, and running regional treasuries.

[5] The new konggu had full voting rights during grand assessment days and unlike the capital shares, did not require any investments in silver.

[5] In 1915, under the new Chinese Republican civil code, the creditors that were owed the money would become the new common shareholders of the Rishengchang and they subsequently withdrew the charges that were held against the Li brothers.

[5] The reorganised Rishengchang, which only had a single equity class, would continue to operate until 1932, when the bank was forced to permanently close its doors at the height of the global economic Great Depression.

In order to work efficiently, Rishengchang introduced the world's most advanced printing technology at that time—the watermark method.

When the Shanxi traders went to other provinces and the frontier border transaction station, they always brought the drafts written by the professional official in Taiyuan Rishengchang using an ink brush.

Specifically, the drafts were executed with codes, using Chinese writing to replace numbers and regularly changing the password method to prevent disclosure of confidential information.