904 Hui merchants

On the first day, the Jin merchants competed against the foreign merchants in a contest, and on the second day, the Hui merchants took the stage—they were the Jin merchants' fiercest competitors.

The rivalry between the two great merchant groups, from salt trading to tea trading, has persisted without a clear victor, yet their influence spreads across the entire realm.

If the Jin merchants are imperial merchants, then the Hui merchants are Confucian merchants. They are not merely businessmen; they pursue the construction of cultural and spiritual ideals.

Regrettably, the Hui merchants have completely declined in recent times. Two trade wars shattered their handicrafts, as human labor proved powerless against machinery.

Then came the rise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the appearance of the Nian Army, which brought disaster to the aristocratic families. They were plundered by rebels, then plundered again by the government army, leaving them severely weakened.