Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 191 Kuandian Jiang Family
After watching Qu Jiang leave, Qu Shaoyang led Xingjia Xingye straight to where the guys lived.

In the inn, more than twenty waiters had been waiting. After being introduced by Xingjia Xingye, they greeted their boss respectfully one by one.

Qu Shaoyang and his men stayed in an inn, and then arranged for someone to go to the dock to inquire about the news of the ship.

Coincidentally, the wind has been good recently, and ships have been sailing to Lushunkou, Yingkou and other places across the sea.

Xingjia Xingye made an appointment with the fleet and boarded the ship early the next morning.

Early in the morning on March 13, Qu Shaoyang and more than 20 of his men got up to have breakfast, and also bought a lot of dry food, pickles and other things.

Then everyone went to the dock and found the pre-booked boat.

It happened that the wind was quite strong these few days, and the sails were raised one after another, and the weather vanes on the ships were spinning with sharp whistles.

The boatmen shouted in unison, hoisted the sails and weighed the anchor.

"Hey, hey, hey, try your best to hold up the tent.

Get the oars ready, pull up the anchor, ride the wind and follow the waves.

Lady Hai, come and help me..."

A lot of people were crowded on the dock, and the noise and shouting were endless.

Qu Shaoyang had already made arrangements with the ship owner early on and offered him generous compensation, so the ship owner was quite polite and arranged for Qu Shaoyang and his companions to board the ship first.

Afterwards, we saw a crowd of people in ragged clothes, with their families, shouting and rushing to the boat.

Amid the shouting and cursing of the boat owner, the chaotic crowd gradually boarded the boat.

When almost everyone had boarded, a boatman removed the bridge plank and the boat slowly sailed towards the deep sea.

On the shore, those who missed the boat were stamping their feet in anxiety, and some who were separated from their families were crying loudly.

This large sailing ship relies on wind for power, so the sailing time is not fixed.

If the wind and current are favorable, you may reach the other side in a day or two. If the wind direction and current are not right, you may drift on the sea for several days.

Qu Shaoyang and his crew were very lucky this time. It only took two days for the ship to reach Lushunkou on the other side.

Before getting off the boat, Qu Shaoyang changed all his clothes.

He was dressed in rags and his hair was deliberately messy, just like the people on the ship who had left their homes and jobs to go to Guandong.

Not only Qu Shaoyang was dressed like this, but Xing Jiaxingye was the same, which shocked the fellows who were traveling with him.

Qu Shaoyang was too lazy to explain anything to them and just led everyone to the place agreed upon in advance.

The client then sent these twenty or so servants to the Qu family in Maoer Mountain.

He also asked these people to take a letter back, saying that they had important matters to attend to here and that it might take half a month to twenty days.

Afterwards, Qu Shaoyang and the other two followed the crowd that went to Guandong and headed for Jinzhou.

On the way, I met many middlemen who were helping wealthy families recruit servants.

Qu Shaoyang and his two companions were all strong and of good age, and people from several groups came over to join in the conversation.

After Qu Shaoyang started chatting with the other person, he regretfully rejected the other party's kindness.

"Hey, guys, where are you guys from?" Before we even reached Jinzhou, we met another group of people.

"Oh, I'm from Dengzhou, Shandong. I heard that the mountains in Guandong are full of gold, so I took a boat here."

Qu Shaoyang chatted with the other party in his native dialect.

"So are you here to stay with relatives or friends? Do you have a place to stay?

I have a good place here, a big family in Kuandian, with high wages, good food and accommodation. There is meat for every meal, and plenty of fine grains. What do you think? Do you want to go?"

It was obvious that the other party was attracted by Qu Shaoyang's physique and recommended him very enthusiastically.

"Where is Kuandian? What kind of wealthy family is it that can treat its employees so well?" Qu Shaoyang asked with pretended curiosity.

"The Kuandian Jiang family, who else could it be? Just ask around, there's no one in our area who doesn't know about the Kuandian Jiang family.

They were a very wealthy family, and half of the land and farms around Kuandian belonged to them.

What do you think? Do you want to go? Trust me, I'm sure you'll be fine. When you get to Jiang's house, you'll have a good time.

Save money for a few years, marry a wife and buy a few acres of land, wouldn't that be a life of luxury? It's a hundred times better than the hardship and starvation you endure in your hometown."

In order to earn this bit of money, the other party almost praised the Jiang family to the sky.

Qu Shaoyang couldn't help but sneer when he heard this. What a coincidence, the one they were waiting for was the Jiang family.

Chen Yunzhe and his friends had already found out that the Jiang family not only bullied men and women in the village, but also exploited the farmhands and tenants to the extreme.

Every day, we have to go to work before the rooster crows and finish work when it is pitch dark. The food is also very poor and we can never get enough to eat.

Moreover, the Jiang family did not keep their word. After the agreed wages were deducted by the time winter came, there was not much left. It was good enough that they did not owe the employer money.

Therefore, the Jiang family could not keep people. After settling their accounts in winter, most of the long-term workers simply left the Jiang family and found work elsewhere.

The Jiang family naturally didn't care about these things. There was not much work in the winter, and those long-term workers would be wasted if they stayed and just kept eating. It would be better if they left.

Therefore, the Jiang family has to recruit a large number of people every spring.

Especially those who just came from Shandong, they are completely in the dark and the easiest to fool. Many people were fooled by these middlemen.

"Is it really that good? That's fine. Anyway, I'm new here and have nowhere to stay, so I'll just go to the Jiang family."

Qu Shaoyang had a delighted expression on his face, as if he was deceived by the other party, so he readily agreed.

Over there, Xingjia and Xingye came over when they heard it, and asked in unison how many people the Jiang family needed and whether they could go as well.

The Jiang family needs a lot of long-term workers to do the work, and the middleman was particularly happy to see this.

In addition to Qu Shaoyang, Xing Jiaxingye and others, more than ten people were selected.

Afterwards, the middleman first took Qu Shaoyang and others to a yard and settled them down.

In the next few days, he found another twenty or thirty guys.

Then, the Jiang family arranged someone to come over. After the handover, Qu Shaoyang and others signed a one-year contract with the Jiang family's steward.

After the contract was signed, the Jiang family steward brought more than 30 people back to the Jiang family compound in Jiangjiabaozi, Kuandian.

It's warm here in Kuandian. It's late March, the busy time for spring plowing.

When Qu Shaoyang and other newcomers arrived at the Jiang family compound, the housekeeper first gave them a speech and briefly introduced the Jiang family's situation, including how many branches the family had, how many people there were, and so on.

The main purpose is to remind these farmhands to be careful and not to offend their bosses.

Afterwards, everyone was arranged to settle down in the worst accommodation conditions.

The next morning, before daybreak, I was called by the housekeeper to go to work in the fields.

The Jiang family owned a large tract of land around Kuandian. In addition to renting it to farmers, they also kept a lot for themselves to cultivate.

Qu Shaoyang and others got up earlier than chickens, slept later than dogs, and ate worse than pigs every day. After working hard for more than half a month, the work in the fields finally saw the light of day.

Qu Shaoyang was also noticed by the housekeeper because of his great strength, fast and good work, and his willingness to work hard without complaint and without any attempt to hide or play tricks.

(End of this chapter)