Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 318: Bandits Are Rampant
Li Daishi is a warm and hospitable person. Since Qu Shaoyang comes here once every six months, he must treat him well.

It just so happened that at this time of year, there was everything available in the mountains and rivers. Li Daishi just gave an order and his men went to prepare.

Feilong stewed with hazel mushrooms, clear-boiled fine-scaled fish, stir-fried roe deer meat, deep-fried small river shrimps, deer tendons with pine nuts, braised bear paws with monkey head, and a crayfish tofu soup.

"Brother, time is running out and we don't have enough time to prepare the three fresh delicacies.

Let's eat these today, and I'll have someone go up the mountain and bring us some delicious food some other day."

Li Daishi looked at the dishes on the table and seemed a little dissatisfied, so he hurriedly explained.

"Brother, this is good enough. Don't waste your time on cooking the three fresh delicacies.

We two brothers get together just for fun, as long as there is wine." Qu Shaoyang was happy when he heard it.

The three fresh vegetables that Li Daishi mentioned are not the eggplant, pepper and potato of later generations. The original three fresh vegetables are tiger, black bear and sika deer, which are absolutely fierce.

Just like the dish of flying dragon stewed with hazel mushrooms on the table, this is the most original version of chicken stewed with mushrooms. In later times, you can’t eat this even if you have money.

"Yes, I have some wine. I happened to have brewed a jar of ginseng and tiger bone wine this spring. Let's drink to our heart's content today. I will definitely drink with you."

Li Daishi was also a straightforward person. He poured wine for Qu Shaoyang. The two of them sat on the kang and started drinking from cup to cup.

As for Qu Shaoyang's entourage and those people in the meeting room, they found another place to eat and drink, and no one dared to come and disturb Qu Shaoyang and others.

"Brother, to be honest, I came here to take a look around Shuangdianzi and learn about the conditions of the mountain and water fields here."

After three cups of wine, Qu Shaoyang told Li Daishi the purpose of his trip.

Li Daishi is the head and boss of the Tanghekou Guild. Although the wood tax is not under the jurisdiction of the Guild, Qu Shaoyang cannot do without the assistance of the Guild if he wants to do his job here.

"Mountain farm, water farm? What, brother, do you want to build a mountain farm here?

That's easy. You just need to gather enough wood, choose a forest not far from the river, build a few horse sheds, and go into the mountains to cut wood in winter.

I can’t say anything else, but there’s plenty of wood in the forest.”

"The government doesn't collect taxes here. As long as you pay enough tribute to the gangs, you can do whatever you want and no one will bother you.

Besides, don’t you still have me?

I dare not say anything else, but I can have some influence in front of those gangs. If you want to do it, I can help you find a way."

The area around Shuangdianzi is very close to the main peak of Changbai Mountain. In the past, it was a strictly prohibited area by the imperial court.

Although the ban has been lifted, the population is still not very large and there is no government jurisdiction.

Although the Han family set up a meeting room here and included it in their sphere of influence, the focus of the Han family's business is after all in the Jiapigou area.

Moreover, the current head of the Han family is old, and his son is not very capable, so he neglects the management of these remote areas.

In recent years, many bandit gangs have appeared around Shuangdianzi, and their power has gradually grown.

Although Li Daishi was the leader of the gang, he only had forty or fifty people under his command, so it was unrealistic to suppress the bandits.

And those gangs were in awe of the Han family's power.

Therefore, the gang members and the meeting room maintained a very delicate relationship. On the surface, they were brothers, but secretly they were wary of each other.

Qu Shaoyang had heard that this bearded guy was very troublesome, but he didn't expect him to be so rampant.

The government couldn’t do anything about it, and even the Han family’s meeting room had to give up some space.

"Brother, there is nothing that we cannot talk about, I will tell you the truth.

This is what happened. My brother, at the beginning of this spring, I was appreciated by the Eastern Daotai and was promoted.

Now I am also the general manager of the timber tax in Dongbian Road, which mainly manages all matters related to the felling, transportation, taxation, etc. of timber within the Dongbian Road. "

Qu Shaoyang picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Li Daishi's, and continued, "As for the Yalu River coast, my brothers have been running it for a few years, and it's in good shape now.

The Taotai has given me another order, asking me to come and take a look at the areas around Shuangdianzi and Mengjiang. The wood tax here is also under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Circuit.

I am not familiar with this, so I need your help and advice."

Since you have come to someone else's territory, no matter whether the other party is an official or not, you must show due respect.

Li Daishi understood as soon as he heard it.

"Oh, brother, this is not easy for you.

There is definitely no problem on my side. The Han family is not involved in the timber business, so this area is not under my jurisdiction.

But if you come here to collect taxes, you will definitely come into conflict with those bearded men.

The gangs here are all big, a hundred or eighty people are nothing, some even have four or five hundred.

They are numerous, cruel, and lawless. Even if you have the government behind you, you may not be able to defeat them." Li Daishi sighed.

"Oh, so there are so many things going on.

OK, I understand. I will report the truth to the Taotai later. I will follow his arrangements."

Qu Shaoyang came here purely to explore the way, and his superiors did not ask him to solve these problems immediately.

All he needs to do is to understand the situation here and report it truthfully.

As for whether to suppress the bandits or what to do next, that is something the people above should consider. Qu Shaoyang is only responsible for following orders.

Qu Shaoyang and Li Daishi chatted while drinking and learned a lot about the situation around Shuangdianzi.

Li Daishi was very open with Qu Shaoyang, telling him everything he had in mind without hiding anything.

Qu Shaoyang also admired this older brother very much. The two of them had a very pleasant chat and drank until quite late.

Qu Shaoyang stayed in the big house in Tanghekou for two days, and Li Daishi accompanied him around.

Afterwards, Qu Shaoyang led his men away and headed for the market town, which was Dianzi Street.

When they arrived at the market town, Qu Shaoyang took his men to look around, learn about the local situation everywhere, and also found out some things about the bandit gangs.

There are indeed several gangs around Shuangdianzi, such as Baishanhao, Zhandongshan, Xiaosihai, Mantianhong, etc., which are all quite famous.

In fact, there are many reasons for the local bandit problem, including the remote location, high mountains and dense forests, fierce folk customs, and poor government control, which have led to the current situation.

"Young man, I can tell from the first glance that you are not from here, how could you not know these things?

Let’s not talk about the distant things, but just a while ago, we passed Hu Zi at the other end of Sandaimiaoling.

I don't know how those bearded men were pissed off, but I heard that a fight broke out between the two sides and two bearded men were beaten to death.

Then, the group of bandits were not satisfied yet. They gathered their forces and massacred the Sandaomialing Village.

Oh, it's tragic. I heard that many people died, and many young girls and wives were killed."

An old man selling wontons on the roadside told Qu Shaoyang what had happened recently.

"There's also a wealthy man named An at the water pumping station. I don't know which gang he offended.

At the beginning of spring, someone broke into the house and killed Cangzi. All ten members of the family died.

Alas, these beards are lawless. "

(End of this chapter)