"Nhat Buoi, Nhi Phu, Tam Thu, Tu Tin" is a saying that was passed down when referring to the famous "four great riches" in Tonkin at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. In particular, Nhat Buoi (ie Bach Thai Buoi) is the most successful businessman in the maritime business and is praised by the world as "the lord of the Bac Ky River".
Part 1: Lord of the Tonkin River
Bach Thai Buoi was born in 1874 into a peasant family in Yen Phu village, Thanh Tri district, Ha Dong province (now part of Hanoi). His birth name is Do Thai Buoi. His father died early, so he had to help his mother make a living as a street vendor. According to some documents, he once attended a seminary school of the Christian church, but due to poverty, he had to drop out midway. Later, due to his smart and agile nature, he was adopted by a rich man with the Bach family name, so he was able to continue his studies, from which he changed from the Do surname to the Bach surname.
After learning the national language and French script for a while, Bach Thai Buoi worked as a secretary for a French trading company in Trang Tien street, Hanoi, so people called him Ky Nam. In 1894, Bach Thai Buoi moved to work for a public contractor. Here, he had the opportunity to interact with Western equipment and machinery as well as learn how to organize and manage production of the French.
With quite fluent French and quick work, Bac Thai Buoi was selected by the Tonkin Governor Bonnet to introduce Vietnamese products at the Bordeaux Fair, France in 1895. Arriving in France, Bach Thai Buoi was opened. open your eyes to Western civilization. He tried his best to learn and learn the French way of working as well as the art of business.
Returning to the country, with the spirit of a young man who did not accept his fate, with an excited mood, Bach Thai Buoi was determined to go into business.
With the capital saved and accumulated knowledge, Bach Thai Buoi took over the contract to provide construction materials for the French to open the North-South railway. When the French built Long Bien Bridge, he applied for a job as a foreman. Working on the construction site of Long Bien Bridge, Bach Thai Buoi saw a business opportunity. Realizing that the construction site needed a large amount of wood, he joined forces with a Frenchman to act as an agent to supply timber for the Indochina Railway Department and a number of other firms. Obtaining a permit, he went to many places to find and organize logging.
Businessman Bach Thai Buoi
After three years of hard work, Bach Thai Buoi has earned enough capital to run her own business. At first, he bought corn for export, but his luck did not come because he met the right year of the corn crop failure. Because he did not supply enough corn according to the contract, he was sued in court and had to pay compensation. From this failure, he got his first lesson in the marketplace.
In 1908, Bach Thai Buoi won a pawnbroker bid in Nam Dinh, and won a bid to collect market taxes in Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Vinh - Ben Thuy with a little remaining capital. He also opened a Western-style restaurant in Thanh Hoa. In the service sector, his business is quite successful, thanks to which the accumulated capital is increasing.
After many years in the market, Bach Thai Buoi decided to enter a new field: river transportation. At that time, because the railways and roads had not been built yet, river and sea transport had a chance to develop.
Initially, Bach Thai Buoi chartered three ships of AR Marty - a French shipping company that carried mail and passengers on the Tonkin River, which had just expired its contract with the authorities. Three ships he named Phi Long, Phi Phuong, Bai Tu Long with the rental price of 200 Indochina Dong per month. Two passenger trains run the Nam Dinh - Hanoi route, the other runs the Nam Dinh - Ben Thuy route.
In the first step in the maritime transport industry, Bach Thai Buoi clearly showed his talent and bravery when facing Chinese and French opponents with strong power and rich experience in river transport. Starting with price competition. Bach Thai Buoi "catch customers" by lowering the freight rate, but he lowers the price one, the French businessman, the Chinese lower the price two. He lowered the price two, they lowered the price three. The Hanoi - Nam Dinh route costs 3-4 bucks a person, only 3-5 cents a turn.
Next is the competition for customer service. He invited guests on the train to drink free tea, while overseas Chinese invited guests to drink tea and offer cakes. Bach Thai Buoi is in danger of bankruptcy. The revenue of three ships is only about 15-20 Indochinese dong a month, while the charter price is already 200 dong.
It was in that extremely dangerous situation that Bach Thai Buoi used mental strength to escape and rise up: when material things are difficult to cope with, use psychological blows. He hired speakers and posted posters all over the harbor, calling for "Southern people support the South", "Southern people do not carry gold to pour the Ngo river". His call reverberated directly into the hearts of the patriotic Vietnamese people, promoting the spirit of the state. Bach Thai Buoi also hangs a tube on the ship, so that anyone who sees his work is encouraging, put money into it to help the ship owner save the loss. As a result, all passengers abandoned the Chinese train and took the Vietnamese train. Thanks to that, Bach Thai Buoi won and his wealth grew stronger and stronger, enough money to buy three chartered ships.
Launching ceremony of Binh Chuan ship on September 7, 9 (Source: History Library)
In 1912, Bach Thai Buoi opened more Nam Dinh - Hai Phong river route. In 1915, he bought the fleet and repair yard of Marty et dAbbadie when the company went bankrupt. He quickly owned 12 more ships, ie his fleet of 15 ships, running all over the river routes in the Northeast.
In 1916, Bach Thai Buoi moved its headquarters from Nam Dinh to Hai Phong and established the Giang Hai Rotary Boat Bach Thai Company, with a yellow pennant shaped like an anchor and three red stars.
In 1917, after Desh Wanden, a French shipping company, went bankrupt, he bought six more ships along with some barges and a shipyard. The ship he bought was named Lac Long, Trung Trac, Trung Nhi, Hong Bang, Dinh Tien Hoang, Le Loi... expressing pride and national pride.
Up to 1919, Bach Thai Buoi's company had many branches in Nam Dinh, Vinh - Ben Thuy, Hanoi, Mong Cai, Hon Gai, Viet Tri, Da Nang, and Saigon. On 7/9/1919, Giang Hai rotates Bach Thai boat. The company has glorified Vietnam's maritime industry when launching at Cua Cam (Hai Phong) the Binh Chuan ship completely designed and built by Vietnamese people. Binh Chuan ship is 42m long, 7,2m wide, 3,6m high, 600 tons tonnage, 450 horsepower engine, steam-powered with a capacity of 8m3, speed of 8 knots. The first voyage of the Binh Chuan ship was from Hai Phong to Saigon on September 17, 9, calling at the ports of Ben Thuy, Da Nang, and Quy Nhon. Cochinchina bourgeoises had a bronze plate engraved with the words "Au Binh Chuan, le premier bateau annamite à Saigon" as a souvenir for the ship. This event is considered a symbol of the "campaign revival movement" of the Vietnamese business community at that time.
After launching the Binh Chuan ship, Bach Thai Buoi expanded its operations throughout Indochina, including Hong Kong, China, and Japan… But the peak of the development of the Bach Thai Company was at the end of the years. 1920 early 1930, at that time Bach Thai Buoi owned over 40 ships, staffed up to 2.500 people with offices and branches in Hanoi, Nam Dinh, Tuyen Quang, Viet Tri, Ben Thuy, Quy Nhon, Da Nang, Saigon. And since then, Bach Thai Buoi has been called the "lord of the Tonkin River" by his contemporaries and is one of the four most successful businessmen in Tonkin including Hoang Trong Phu, Bui Huy Tin, and Nguyen Huu Thu.
Saigon businessman
