Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 294 Opportunity
The new year begins with a new beginning, and in the blink of an eye, the 17th year of Guangxu began.

On the first and second days of the New Year, the Qu family's home was especially lively. Runners from the inspection office, people from the patrol team, farmers in the mountains, and neighbors all came to the Qu family to pay New Year's greetings and sit for a while.

There was a constant stream of guests at home, and Qu Shaoyang had nowhere to go but to chat with the guests.

On the third day of the first lunar month, we say farewell to the New Year early in the morning.

After dinner, Qu Jiang and Yang Qionghua drove their sled back to the Yang family in Hulutao, bringing gifts.

Qu Shaoyang and Chen Xiuyun also packed up and planned to return to Chen's house.

Unexpectedly, the brothers Chen Yunzhe and Chen Yunhan came over first. They were there to pick someone up.

Xiao Gensuo wore a thick cotton-padded jacket, a hat and a scarf, and was covered tightly in the arms of Chen Yunhan.

Qu Shaoyang supported Chen Xiuyun, carried some gifts, and went to Chen's house.

Doctor Chen and Mrs. Li were extremely happy to see their daughter, son-in-law and grandson coming.

Without waiting for Gensuo to wish him a happy new year, Li took out a big red envelope and stuffed it into Gensuo's hand.

Gensuo is a small boy, but he is very smart. He was very happy when he saw the red envelope. He hugged Li's neck and kissed her on the face twice.

Li was coaxed into a happy smile, and went out to play with the lock in her arms.

Chen Xiuyun also followed her mother into the house to chat.

At noon, the Chen family prepared a sumptuous meal to entertain Qu Shaoyang and his wife.

Qu Shaoyang accompanied his father-in-law and two uncles and drank some wine.

At the dinner table, Chen Yunzhe said that they planned to leave on the sixth day of the New Year and asked Qu Shaoyang to arrange some people to deliver the goods.

He also told Qu Shaoyang to hurry up and collect two more batches of goods while the Yalu River was still frozen.

Especially for pig bristles, collect as much as you can.

Qu Shaoyang had to remind the two Chen brothers not to forget about the explosives. The two promised to go back and find the people from the foreign company to ask about the explosives and blasting personnel.

It is estimated that it will be too late in the early spring this year, but it will definitely be fine after the winter freezes.

Qu Shaoyang and his wife played at Chen's house for a day and returned home in the evening, just as Qu Jiang and his wife returned.

Qu Shaoyang told Qu Jiang about the warehouse and asked Qu Jiang to arrange people to deliver and receive the goods.

Qu Jiang agreed, and on the fourth day of the New Year, he led his men to count the goods in the warehouse and loaded them onto the sled.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Doctor Chen hosted a dinner party.

Early in the morning on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Yunzhe and his brothers led more than 20 men from their own family and the Qu family, drove more than ten sleds, and left Maoer Mountain.

On Qujiang's side, together with Xingye, they led about twenty people to Shuangdianzi and other places to collect pig bristles again.

As for Tadian, Shuidonggou and other places, there are now collection points for warehouses.

Just send someone over to tell them, and they will deliver the goods to Maoer Mountain. You don't have to worry too much.

Before leaving, Qu Shaoyang brought a lot of things and told Xingye and Qu Jiang that these were gifts for Erkui and Li Daishi.

Li Daishi helped Qu Shaoyang a lot, so he should have given him some New Year gifts before the New Year.

But Li Daishi's home was in Jiapigou, and they returned to Jiapigou to celebrate the New Year in the twelfth lunar month, so no one accepted the New Year gifts they sent.

So this time Qu Shaoyang asked Qu Jiang and the others to bring more foreign goods and rare items that were not available locally, as a thank you gift.

On the sixth day of the New Year, Liu Dongshan's family hosted a dinner party, and on the seventh day, it was finally Qu Shaoyang's turn.

The Chen family, the Liu family, the Zhou family, and the Yang family, these are all relatives, and we must invite them.

In addition, there were people from the inspection office, several captains and deputy captains of the patrol team, the owners and foremen of the family's warehouses, flour mills, and wine shops, as well as local wealthy people in Maoershan. There were indeed quite a lot of people.

Everyone gathered together, talking and laughing, it was very lively. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Qu Shaoyang took gifts and went to the county town to pay a visit to the county magistrate.

The county government office did not start working until the 16th day of the first lunar month. County Magistrate Chen had a rare chance to rest and was very happy to see Qu Shaoyang.

It just so happened that all the officials and staff of the county government were there, so County Magistrate Chen held a banquet to entertain everyone.

Because of the gift-giving experience years ago, everyone felt very close to Qu Shaoyang when they met him.

Among this group of people, Qu Shaoyang is the youngest. Everyone can't help but praise Qu Shaoyang, praising him for his promising future at a young age.

At the banquet, Qu Shaoyang took the opportunity to propose that he wanted to use explosives to blow up the dangerous outposts on the Yalu River to reduce the danger of ships and rafts.

County Magistrate Chen and others had only heard of gunpowder, so how could they know anything about explosives?
Upon hearing this, they were all quite surprised and asked Qu Shaoyang to give a detailed introduction.

Qu Shaoyang explained to everyone in detail what the explosives were and how to blow up those sentry posts.

You know what, County Magistrate Chen is really a pretty good guy.

When he heard that blowing up several dangerous shoals and sentry posts could reduce a lot of casualties, he immediately expressed his agreement.

He also said that he was willing to step forward and write a memorial to be sent to the eastern government office.

However, there are many outposts along the Yalu River, and the amount of explosives required is huge, which is estimated to cost a lot of money. I am afraid that the government office in the east may not be willing to pay for it.

Qu Shaoyang then told him the solution he had thought of a long time ago.

Since the purpose of blowing up the sentry post is to facilitate navigation and rafting, the fee must be collected from merchants, rafting gangs, etc., and there is no need for the government to pay for it.

As long as the governor agrees to give this task to Qu Shaoyang, he will find a way to get the job done successfully.

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Chen became excited and immediately said that he would give full authority to Qu Shaoyang to handle the matter.

Tomorrow he will write a memorial and ask Qu Shaoyang to go to Andong and present it to the governor.

This is exactly what Qu Shaoyang wanted to hear. He also had to go to the East Road government office to handle the matter of Xigang ginseng soil, so this way they could do it together.

Moreover, he can also take this opportunity to show his face in front of Lord Daoyin.

If I can take this opportunity to establish a good relationship with Lord Daoyin, it will be much easier to get things done in the future.

"Please rest assured, sir. I will do my job well and live up to your expectations." Qu Shaoyang said immediately.

After several contacts, County Magistrate Chen felt that despite Qu Shaoyang's young age, he was a rare talent with outstanding talent and courage, sophisticated interpersonal skills, and broad knowledge.

So the more County Magistrate Chen and Qu Shaoyang talked, the closer they became. As they talked and drank, they became closer and closer.

When the others saw this, they had different thoughts, but they didn't show anything. They just became closer to Qu Shaoyang.

Qu Shaoyang stayed in the county town for two days. After County Magistrate Chen finished writing the memorial, Qu Shaoyang led his men back to Maoer Mountain.

"Wife, prepare a generous gift for me and some more money, because I have to go to Phoenix City to do some work.

I don't know how long it will take for me to come back, please take care of my family." Qu Shaoyang said as soon as he entered the house.

Chen Xiuyun looked curious, "When are we leaving?"

"Let's leave tomorrow and get to Phoenix as soon as possible."

Qu Shaoyang took off his outer coat and hung it on the hanger, then picked up Gensuo and spoke while teasing his son.

"So you're not going to spend the Lantern Festival at home? Or you can stay until after the festival?"

Chen Xiuyun calculated that today was the twelfth day of the first lunar month, and the Lantern Festival was only a few days away.

"No, tomorrow is the 13th, so I can go out. We can celebrate the festival anytime, so we can't delay important things."

Qu Shaoyang must seize this rare opportunity, which is very important for their future development.

(End of this chapter)