Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 206 Natural and man-made disasters
In mid-July, it’s the annual Red Hammer Market again.

Last year, a lot of wild ginseng was unearthed, and several ginseng gangs got large quantities of it. So as soon as July began this year, some people started making preparations to go into the mountains.

The Qu family was building a house, and Chen Xiuyun was already seven or eight months pregnant, and would not be long from giving birth, so Qu Shaoyang did not plan to go into the mountains.

Last year and the year before, he encountered big catches when he went into the mountains for two consecutive years, which was already extremely lucky.

This year Qu Shaoyang had a feeling that even if he went into the mountains he might not gain anything, so he might as well stay at home and accompany his wife.

On July 15th, the Ghost Festival, Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan went to Xiaodonggou again, bringing with them incense, candles, paper money, sickles, pickaxes and other tools.

I went to the grave of the two people in the mountains to burn paper, and cleared the weeds and added some soil.

The trip into the mountains was quite smooth. We didn't encounter any wolves, tigers or anything like that, and of course, we didn't encounter any big sticks either.

The ginseng fields near the grave were all there, and Qu Shaoyang still picked all the ginseng seeds and took them back home.

The ginseng seeds he brought back last year have been properly preserved. When Qu Shaoyang returned home a while ago, he took out the dried ginseng seeds.

Qu Shaoyang compacted a square piece of flat ground with loess in his own garden, and surrounded it with half-foot-high wooden boards.

Then mix the sand, black soil and ginseng seeds, spread them evenly in the wooden frame, and cover them with black soil, straw, etc.

Finally, build a shed on top to block the sun and rain.

The dried ginseng seeds need to go through a fermentation process to open. Once the ginseng seeds have opened, they will be sown in the ground and will sprout in the second year.

If you sow dry ginseng seeds directly into the soil, they will germinate, but it will take time.

It is very likely that no seedlings will appear in the second year, and it will have to wait until the third or fourth year.

The newly acquired ginseng seeds are still treated in the old way: after cleaning, they are spread on gauze.

Dry it in the morning and evening when the sun is not too strong, and move it to a cool place for ventilation and drying at noon.

Next summer, just like this year, we will build a shed to ferment the ginseng seeds.

If all goes well, and it continues to develop year after year, a large-scale ginseng garden will be formed in the future.

Growing ginseng can make much more money than growing crops.

On July 28th, the beams of the new house were raised.

Almost all the families around Maoer Mountain came to help.

The Qu family's place is small, so the beam-raising banquet was held at the Chen family's end.

The family slaughtered a pig directly, and the wives of the helpers were busy in the yard, preparing more than a dozen tables of sumptuous banquets to entertain everyone.

This year, there was an extra July, so the solar terms were a bit messed up. In the middle and late July, the crops in the fields had reached their final stage, and the weather was different every day.

The wild animals in the mountains know the solar terms better than humans. At this time, black bears, wild boars and the like also begin to enter the fields and damage the crops.

In previous years, people only needed to guard against wild beasts, but this year is different. Not only do they have to guard against wild beasts, they also have to guard against people, including Goryeo on the other side of the river.

In early summer this year, heavy rains hit the upper reaches of the Yalu River for several days in a row, causing the river to overflow and submerging many villages and fertile fields.

The Qu family relied on their high terrain and were fortunately not flooded by the river, but the families living closer to the river suffered serious losses.

Of course, the country on the other side of the river suffered even greater losses.

There are many mountains and little land over there, so many people have cultivated good farmland in the fertile soil of Jiangwan.

After a flood, the fields turned into a swamp, and all the cattle, sheep and other livestock were washed away, so the people there had a hard time this year.

As autumn approaches and the crops in the fields are barren, many people begin to have evil thoughts.

Many people came together, crossed the Yalu River under the cover of night, and came here to steal things.

Once these people come, they will steal whatever they can get their hands on: grain, vegetables, poultry and livestock.

They loved to eat dog meat, so they would not even spare the dogs. They would strangle the dogs to death, skin them and stew them in a pot, then sing and dance to celebrate.

"Have you heard? Last night, someone from the other side of the river came to steal something and was discovered by the Zhang family.

As a result, the group of people beat Old Zhang to death, the eldest son of the Zhang family was knocked unconscious by a stick, and the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family was raped by those beasts. "

Early in the morning of that day, people in the Maoershan area were talking about it.

There are many carpenters and bricklayers working at the Qu family's side, and they also brought the latest news.

"These Koreans are such a piece of shit, they even dare to come to our side and do evil.

Didn't the Zhang family file a complaint? The government has to intervene in this matter." Everyone started discussing while they were working.

"It's useless to sue the officials. We only have one inspection office here with only a few people.

Normally they are better than anyone at oppressing the people, but when they are really put in charge, they all become cowards." The people around him kept shaking their heads.

"Alas, the world is becoming more and more chaotic.

The government is exploiting us, the bandits are rampant, and now Goryeo is also causing trouble. This is not allowing us ordinary people to live a good life."

Everyone was very angry, but they didn't have any good ideas.

Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan also heard the news.

So he instructed his farmhands to carry guns when they patrolled the fields at night. Those who didn't have a gun should take any handy item and never go empty-handed.

Our land is actually quite far from the river, so logically speaking, people from the other side of the river would not go to such great lengths to cause trouble.

But there is no certainty in this matter. It is better to be safe than sorry. If you really meet someone who comes to steal things, don't be polite. He will beat him to death.

In this way, the farmhands in the family either cleaned the house during the day or collected potatoes, sweet potatoes and other things.

At night, they were divided into two groups to patrol the fields to prevent wild animals and people from damaging the crops.

Everyone still used the same method as last year, digging traps and setting traps on the edge of the wasteland near the forest, mainly to deal with wild animals.

Then, dozens of shacks were built in other directions, and after changing patrol shifts, they would go to the shacks to sleep.

If there is any special situation, get up and help when you hear the gong.

The Qu and Liu families now have nearly fifty long-term workers.

Under the leadership of Qu Shaoyang, everyone worked together as one. No one slacked off, and they all stared with wide eyes to guard their own land and food.

The clamps, traps and snares that Qu Shaoyang set himself were naturally very effective.

In less than half a month, they caught several wild boars and stewed them at home. Everyone enjoyed the food to satisfy their cravings.

At the same time, many families along the river frequently lost food, property, etc., and even a few lives were lost.

Gradually, those people became bolder and bolder, and as more and more people gathered, they just robbed things.

Everyone reported the matter to the authorities, but the matter involved two countries, and the patrol officers had no authority to deal with it, so they could only report it to Tonghua.

The people in Tonghua were even more worried and confused, because the same thing happened not only in Maoer Mountain, but also everywhere along the river.

"No, we can't go on like this. The government can't do anything about it, so we have to find a solution ourselves.

Let's go and discuss this with Lao Liu and Xiao Qu. We need to come up with a plan for this matter."

Lao Zhou and several other big investors got together to discuss, and finally decided to go find Liu Dongshan and Qu Shaoyang.

Last year, when there was a wolf disaster, it was Qu Shaoyang and his team who led the way in exterminating the wolves. Given the situation this year, we have to ask them, the master and his disciples, for a solution.

(End of this chapter)