Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 260 The Big House

This man named An looked to be in his fifties, of medium build, wearing a fur coat and a raccoon fur hat.

He looks wealthy and from his appearance, he seems to be a humorous person.

But after hearing what Zhao Erkui said, Lao An frowned.

"Erkui, I'm not being nosy, but did your friend lead people here to collect mountain products and go to the big house to pay his respects to the head of the family?"

As soon as Lao An said this, Zhao Erkui exclaimed, "Uncle, look at my memory, I really forgot.

Well, uncle, you arrange a place first, and I will take my friend to the big house to look for Mr. Li."

After saying that, Zhao Erkui turned around and came to Qu Shaoyang, whispering a few words. Only then did Qu Shaoyang understand what was going on.

The area around Dianzi Street was under ban for a long time and was only opened for a short time. There was no county government established and only a Changbai Pacification Bureau was set up in the first year of the Guangxu period.

In fact, the real person in power in this surrounding area is the Han family in Jiapiqiao, Huadian.

After the eighth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, Emperor Xianzong of Han took control of the Changbai Mountain area.

In Manjiang, Tanghekou and other places, meeting houses are set up, commonly known as big houses. The person in charge is called the head of the family, also known as the master.

The big house holds the power of life and death, and local households, wood gangs, passing merchants, etc. all have to pay taxes to the big house.

When Qu Shaoyang brought people to collect mountain products and skins, he had to go to the big house first to meet the boss.

Only after getting permission can he receive the goods normally, otherwise the locals would not dare to sell things to him.

After listening to what Zhao Erkui said, Qu Shaoyang nodded. So this is the truth.

Well, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. Since we are already on his territory, it would be okay to go and meet him.

Tanghekou Meeting House is located not far from Tanghekou Village.

So Qu Shaoyang led a few people and followed Zhao Erkui to the big house. The others went to Lao An's house to drink some water and warm up.

The group walked out of the village and forward four or five miles, and from a distance they saw a large yard in front of them. In the yard were two large houses with blue bricks, white walls and gray tiles.

Most of the local houses are short thatched houses or adobe houses. These types of houses are very rare, so people call them big houses.

According to the rules, each club has a head, who is also known as the boss or the boss.

The meeting house had fifty soldiers who were responsible for local security, taxation and other related matters.

As soon as Zhao Erkui led Qu Shaoyang into the courtyard, they were stopped by two soldiers. "What are you doing?"

"You two, these are merchants from Maoer Mountain. They are here to buy mountain products from Dianzi Street and come to see the boss."

Zhao Erkui bowed towards the other party and spoke very respectfully.

The two men looked at the people behind Zhao Erkui, especially Qu Shaoyang, and looked at him a few more times.

The winters in Northeast China are extremely cold. When you go out, it is most important to keep warm.

Qu Shaoyang wore a dark blue satin cotton jacket with a satin lynx fur vest of the same color over it.

He wore an otter-skin hat, a wolfskin cloak with dark blue satin, and deerskin boots.

At first glance, you can tell that this outfit is not something that ordinary people can afford. It must be worn by the rich or the noble.

The two soldiers were knowledgeable and did not make things difficult for them, so they just let them go.

So Zhao Erkui led Qu Shaoyang and others into the house in front.

Entering from the main entrance of the meeting room, the two rooms on the east side are the accounting office, which have several large cabinets with account books inside.

The above records the situation of ginseng households and hunters in the surrounding villages and how much tax is collected each year.

On one wall, there was a huge abacus hanging, and two "small fighters" were standing there.

On the counter in front of the abacus, there were two "weight scales", which were small balance plates used to collect taxes and weigh silver. The two rooms at the west end had kangs facing north and south, and tables on the kangs.

One person was leaning against the quilt, half sitting and half lying on the kang, smoking a water pipe, while the others were either looking at small cards or playing mahjong, playing for money.

Seeing a stranger coming in, the guys who were playing for money immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Qu Shaoyang and the others.

The noisy room suddenly became quiet. The person lying on the kang, smoking with his eyes squinting, opened his eyes and glanced towards the door.

"Erkui, why did you bring a stranger here? Who is this?"

“Boss, this is my brother’s former friend from the Wood Gang, he came from Maoer Mountain.

They wanted to collect some mountain products around Dianzi Street, and came to visit the owner." Zhao Erkui stepped forward and replied politely.

"Oh? Are you from Maoer Mountain?" Upon hearing this, the man smoking the water pipe sat up and looked at Qu Shaoyang carefully.

"I heard someone say that there are people in Maoer Mountain who specialize in buying pig bristles, and the price they pay is quite high? Is that true?"

Qu Shaoyang stepped forward and bowed to the other party, "Thank you for your hard work, head of the family.

We do collect pig bristles, and in addition to pig bristles, we also collect all kinds of mountain products, medicinal materials, hides, etc.

I'm just doing small business to make some money to support my family." Qu Shaoyang did not reveal his identity directly.

The Han family made their fortune by panning for gold and were formerly called "gold bandits" by the imperial court.

Although the Han family has been recruited by the imperial court and the head of the Han family has received a fifth-rank official title, he still behaves in the ways of the underworld.

These people below do not have much respect for the government.

Although Qu Shaoyang was assigned the post of a sub-defense patrol inspector, this area was not under his jurisdiction after all, so there was no need to bring it up to avoid embarrassment.

"Boss, I'm really sorry. We came in a hurry and didn't know the rules here. I didn't prepare a generous gift for you.

These fifty taels of silver are for you brothers to play cards and drink with."

It's appropriate to sing the song that suits you. Qu Shaoyang came here for important matters, so naturally he doesn't want to cause any trouble. He should show filial piety, and there is nothing shameful in it.

Fifty taels of silver to buy them peace and quiet, so that no one can cause trouble for them.

Han Bianwai set up many meeting houses in the Changbai Mountain area, most of which were located around gold mines, mainly to manage gold workers and gold panning.

Gold is valuable, so the guild that looks after the gold mines naturally has a lot of money to make, and the guild leader can make a lot from it.

There is no gold mine in Tanghekou, and the main function of the association is to manage the ginseng households and collect ginseng taxes.

Although this ginseng is very valuable, it is not currently cultivated on a large scale.

There are only a few large ginseng farms in the area, and the rest are scattered ginseng households. How much tax can be collected?
With less income, there is less profit, and life is naturally not very affluent.

Therefore, when Qu Shaoyang calmly took out fifty taels of silver, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Even the boss Li excitedly put his hookah on the table.

"May I know the shopkeeper's name? I am sorry for being so rude and rude to you, my dear guest."

Anyone who can casually take out fifty taels of silver must be worth a lot.

Moreover, the head of the family, Li, also realized that Qu Shaoyang should be a martial artist.

It is better not to offend such a person if possible, so Mr. Li immediately changed his attitude.

"Excuse me, Mr. Qu. Thank you for being so polite. I am the one who didn't know the rules. I should have come to visit you long ago."

Qu Shaoyang bowed to the other party again and said with a smile.

"What? Last name Qu?"

(End of this chapter)