Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 379 Ginseng Garden
Qu Shaoyang went home to rest for two days, and wrote a detailed report on his experience of following the rafting, including the comparison between the various sentry posts, the changes in the water flow of the Yalu River, etc.

At the end of the memorial, Qu Shaoyang also suggested that the same approach could be adopted for Beiliu Shui, which is the other side of the Songhua River.

Compared with the South Flowing Water, the North Flowing Water is much shorter, but it has more dangerous rapids and sentry posts, and is also more dangerous.

If all the dangerous shoals and guard posts along the Beiliu Shui River can be blown up, it will be obviously beneficial to the shipping on the upper reaches of the Songhua River.

After the memorial was written, Gao Jiangcheng was arranged to send it back to Phoenix City and hand it over to Daotai Yuliang.

Afterwards, Qu Shaoyang took his men to Shuangdianzi.

The branch office of the Wood Tax Office over there is being planned and built. Although Li Daishi is there to help, Qu Shaoyang also has to show up.

It happened that they passed by Xigang on the way, and Qu Shaoyang stayed in his own ginseng garden for a few days. Meng Lanxin took him around the ginseng garden.

For artificially cultivated ginseng, the more reasonable growth cycle is six years.

Ginseng seeds are sown in the ground and grow for three years. In the first year, three small leaves clustered together grow, which are called three flowers.

In the second year, the three small leaves become five, which are called five leaves.

In the third year, two branches grow on the main stem, each with five small leaves, which are called Erjiazi.

Under normal circumstances, the Erjiazi plant can grow to be thicker than chopsticks. Some that grow well can be as thick as a little finger.

At this time, the ginseng seeds dug out from the ginseng field are called ginseng seeds. The medicinal properties of ginseng seeds are not strong enough, so they are generally not used as medicine.

The ginseng seedlings are dug out of the soil, and those with good stems, without rot or water rust are selected and transplanted to another ginseng field.

After another three years, the ginseng can basically be harvested and made into goods.

Of course, there are also those with a growth period of eight years, four years after ginseng planting and four years after transplanting.

But this kind of thing may not grow particularly large.

The four-year-old ginseng plant is called Wo Lao'er, and its head cannot grow as long as the two-year-old or five-leaf plant.

Moreover, ginseng takes too long to grow in the ground, and the soil lacks nutrients, which makes it easy for bacteria to grow and cause rot, which is not cost-effective.

The ginseng seeds were planted in the late autumn of last year and hibernated in the ground over the winter, so they emerged a little later in the first year of planting.

When Qu Shaoyang arrived, the ginseng seeds had not yet emerged from the ground.

Meng Lanxin led Qu Shaoyang to the ginseng field and dug up about two or three inches of soil with their hands. They could see that the ginseng seeds underneath had already sprouted, and would probably break through the soil in about ten days.

Ginseng likes shade, so a shed should be built above the ginseng field to provide shade.

In those days there was no plastic film like today, so most ginseng sheds were made of wood or straw.

According to the positive entrance of the ginseng field, a slope is adopted and covered with wooden boards or straw mats.

Most wooden boards are made up of two boards at the bottom and another board on top.

In places with large slopes, fish-scale planks are used, which are called "bangchui planks" by the locals.

If a family was poor and their elderly died without a coffin, they would just nail one together with a hammer and a board and send the person away.

Thatched huts usually have two layers of straw curtains, which are made of rice straw, sedge, wormwood stalks, reeds, etc.

First, a large curtain is laid underneath, and then a small curtain made of short grass is laid on top, covering from the lower eaves to the upper eaves.

Finally, tie the thin wooden poles with hemp rope and press them on top of the straw shed to prevent it from being blown away by strong winds.

The Qu family participated in the seed sowing last year and obtained a total of about 500 meters of ginseng. They could not prepare so many mallets and boards at once, so some of them were built in straw huts.

Although Meng Lanxin is a woman, she manages the garden in an orderly manner.

The people in Shenyuan were also quite impressed by Meng Lanxin.

Qu Shaoyang stayed in Cangyuan for a few days and found that he was really not needed here, so he gave Meng Lanxin some instructions and then took people to Dianzi Street. On Dianzi Street, Li Daishi chose a place in the most prosperous area as a branch office of the Wood Tax Office.

When Qu Shaoyang arrived, the foundation had just been laid and the walls had not yet been built.

"Hey, bro, you're here at last.

Come and see if the place we chose is suitable. If you think it is not suitable, we can choose another place before we start building the wall."

The moment Li Daishi saw Qu Shaoyang, he was obviously relieved.

Qu Shaoyang went to the site to take a look. He found that the place chosen by Li Daishi was very good and occupied a large area, which was enough for the wood tax office.

"Okay, big brother, this place is pretty good. You have good taste."

That is to say, the population of Dianzi Street is not that large at present. If a county seat is established in another 20 or 30 years, this piece of land alone will be worth a lot of money.

"Well, what's the matter with having good vision? This place is surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on one side, and only this little bit of space in the middle is flat. Where else can we choose if not here?" Li Daishi laughed.

"Brother, you must be tired after coming all this way. Let's settle down and rest first, and then we can talk about business later."

Just like that, Li's father and son accompanied Qu Shaoyang and his party and stayed in the best inn on Dianzi Street.

That evening, Li Daishi hosted a banquet at the best local restaurant to welcome Qu Shaoyang and others.

"Hey, why don't I see Tiezhu, Tieniu and the others? Where are they?"

Qu Shaoyang looked around, but didn't see Zheng Tiezhu and the others. He felt strange and asked.

"Oh, Brother Zheng and his men were sent to Gudong River and Niangniangku.

Isn't your Excellency planning to organize militias in these places? They are good at fighting, so they are going to recruit people from all over the place."

Li Zhengwen poured wine for Qu Shaoyang and said.

According to the instructions of Taotai Yuliang, Qu Shaoyang not only had to control the timber taxes in the upper reaches of the Songhua River, but also had to train local militia to protect the country and the people.

When it comes to building the house here, Li Daishi and his son are enough.

Zheng Tiezhu and his men are good at fighting. In addition to recruiting people, they also have to investigate the gangs in various places and the distribution of mountain areas in the upper reaches of the Songhua River.

This arrangement was quite reasonable, and Qu Shaoyang had nothing else to say.

Just as the food and wine were served, the Li father and son accompanied Qu Shaoyang to drink and chat. Li Zhengwen also took the opportunity to report to Qu Shaoyang about what happened after he returned from Maoer Mountain.

The climate on the Dianzi Street side is later than that on the Maoer Mountain. After Li Zhengwen and others came back from the Maoer Mountain, they went to various mountain sites to investigate.

Wherever he went, he distributed the regulations of the Wood Tax Office.

And they informed the people in charge of the mountain farm that starting from this autumn, they must go to the Dianzi Street Wood Tax Office to go through the relevant procedures before they can open the mountain farm.

At the same time, before the beginning of spring every year, one had to go to the government office to apply for a ticket before the raft could be released.

If you don't have a ticket, the wood tax office inspectors will confiscate it directly if they catch you.

Of course, Li Zhengwen also told the people in the mountain areas that starting this year, only the Wood Tax Office could come to collect taxes.

As for those bandit gangs, no matter which one they are, just ignore them.

If anyone dares to make trouble again, just report it to the Wood Tax Office and they will find a way to solve it.

The taxes collected by the Wood Tax Office were less than the offerings demanded by the bandits, and the office could also ensure that the mountain areas were not harassed by the bandits.

Therefore, when the owners of the mountain farms and material warehouses heard the news, they were very happy and unanimously supported the establishment of the Wood Tax Office.

(End of this chapter)