The Rishengchang, or "Sunrise Prosperity", exchange shops. [Photo by Pete Marchetto/For chinadaily.com.cn]

For Li Daquan, life was good. A businessman in the Old Town of Pingyao in the early 1820s, Li had opened a dye shop. His products and services had proved both reliable and popular, and business was expanding with his new branch in Beijing, but Li was content to continue with Pingyao as his base of operations, too attached to his hometown to consider relocation to the capital.

One day, Li was approached by a friend about to undertake a hazardous journey to Beijing — hazardous because the road was lawless, and travelers came under frequent attack from the bandits who patroled the route. Li's friend wanted to carry a great deal of money with him, necessitating the expense of hiring protection for the length of his journey and knowing any amount of protection would prove inadequate against some of the stronger of the bandit gangs.

In the course of conversation, Li's friend made a proposition: What if he were to give Li the money then and there, Li were to write a letter for his Beijing branch and, upon arrival, Li's friend were to recoup his money from them?