孙宝琦与汉冶萍公司

孙宝琦是一个在汉冶萍公司发展历史中扮演重要角色和起过重要作用的人物。晚清时期,因具有相似的家庭环境和早期的人生经历,孙宝琦同盛宣怀建立了良好的私人友谊,并十分关注汉冶萍的发展。辛亥革命后,汉冶萍的发展形势急剧恶化,面临中央政府的"国有"、地方官绅的"省有"及日本的合办等多重挑战。为维护汉冶萍的既得利益并使其能继续发展,孙宝琦以汉冶萍和轮船招商局为抓手,尽力调和盛宣怀与袁世凯之间尖锐的利益冲突。为此,孙宝琦还参与推动轮船招商局和汉冶萍所谓的"国有",获得袁政府的支持,消弭了地方官绅的攘夺。日本提出"二十一条"后,汉冶萍公司成为中日交涉的重大议题之一。在袁政府的部署下,孙宝琦卸任外交部长,专事折冲日本提出的中日合办问题,为接管汉冶萍作准备。1915年底,为谋取政府的资金支持,孙宝琦为汉冶萍公司牵线1200万元的通惠借款,最终因日本干预而流产。在担任公司近十年的董事长期间,孙宝琦虽政务缠身,无法深度参与汉冶萍公司的经营与管理,但在很多关键时期利用其特殊身份为稳定汉冶萍大局和创造良好的发展环境做出了自己的努力。

Sun Baoqi and the Hanyeping Company

Sun Baoqi played an important role in the development of the Hanyeping Company. In the late Qing Dynasty, Sun Baoqi established good friendship with Sheng Xuanhuai because of similar family background and early life experience, and paid close attention to the development of Hanyeping. After the Xinhai Revolution, the development situation of Hanyeping deteriorated sharply. The company faced multiple challenges such as vicious mergers and acquisitions by the central government, the provincial officials, and Japanese capital. In order to maintain the vested interests of Hanyeping, Sun Baoqi mediated between Hanyeping and the Shipping and Investment Bureau to reconcile the conflict between Sheng Xuanhuai and Yuan Shikai. During that time, Sun Baoqi pushed forward the company’s so-called "nationalization", won the support of the Yuan government and eliminated the raven of the local power. After "article 21" was made, Hanyeping became one of the major issues in the negotiation between China and Japan. The Yuan government asked Sun Baoqi to step down as the foreign minister and focus on the proposal initiated by Japan in the aim of taking over the Hanyeping. At the end of 1915, Sun Baoqi tried to seek financial support of 12 million yuan from the government for Hanyeping, but the loan was aborted due to Japanese intervention. During his ten years presidency in the company, Sun Baoqi made great efforts to stabilize the overall situation of the company and create a favorable environment by taking advantage of his political power during hard periods, though he was tied up with government affairs and could not deeply participate in the operation and management of the company.