Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 380 Completed
"I have submitted a memorial to the Taotai, planning to blow up some sentry posts in the upper reaches of the Songhua River starting this winter.

I guess the Taotai won't have much to say.

Zhengwen, please help me think of something. When the rafting gang comes back, we'll need to find a few experienced oarsmen, especially an experienced foreman.

Ask them which outposts are the most dangerous, and we will blow them up first."

Since Qu Shaoyang has accepted this task, he must do it well and beautifully.

Make preparations in advance so that you won’t be at a loss as to where to start when the time comes.

Li Zhengwen quickly agreed, and others took the opportunity to flatter him, praising Qu Shaoyang for truly standing up for the people and for truly caring about Mu Ba.

Everybody was laughing and talking, and drinking a lot of wine. In the end, they were all dizzy and went back to the inn to rest.

The news that the Dongbiandao Taxation General Manager and the Yalu River Inspector had arrived at Dianzi Street spread quickly.

In theory, Qu Shaoyang was the inspector of the Yalu River and had no jurisdiction over Shuangdianzi, and the wood tax office was only related to mountain fields and material warehouses.

But don't forget that last year Qu Shaoyang led his men to defeat the Zhan Dongshan gang, which was considered to have eliminated a threat to the local area.

The shops in Dianzi Street had to pay a lot of money to Zhan Dongshan every year. Now that Zhan Dongshan's gang is gone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

So when they learned that Lord Qu had arrived in Dianzi Street, the local wealthy families had to pay him a visit and express their gratitude.

These people didn't know Qu Shaoyang, but they had a good relationship with Li Daishi, so they found Li Daishi and asked him to act as a matchmaker.

Qu Shaoyang not only had to set up a wood tax office here, but also had to shoulder the responsibility of training local militia, so naturally he had to make friends with the local gentry and wealthy families.

So when Li Daishi mentioned it, Qu Shaoyang agreed.

So local participants, chamber of commerce and others took turns to host banquets for Qu Shaoyang and express their gratitude to him.

When they learned that Qu Shaoyang was going to organize militia here to protect the country and the people, they were all very happy.

He also said that he would definitely cooperate with Qu Shaoyang to improve local public security.

There were also many people who, when they learned that Qu Shaoyang had channels to get the best guns from abroad, directly placed orders with Qu Shaoyang.

Nowadays, the world is in chaos and wealthy families all hire gunners and guards.

When it comes to guns and ammunition, the more advanced the better. Who would want to use an old cannon when there are fast guns?

These big customers are not short of money, they just don’t have the channels. Now that they have found the right person, why don’t they place an order quickly?
Qu Shaoyang didn't expect that he would have an unexpected gain from his trip.

Since the other party took the initiative to ask, Qu Shaoyang agreed and said that he would arrange for someone to go to the foreign company to place an order when he returned.

Qu Shaoyang and his party lived in Dianzi Street for half a month, and they also built walls from the foundation to the entrance at the Mushui Yamen.

On May 22, the beam-raising ceremony was held under the chairmanship of Qu Shaoyang.

At this point, the prototype of the Wood Tax Office had basically taken shape.

Qu Shaoyang had been away for quite some time, and he was thinking about the reply from the governor and Chen Yunzhe's participation in the college entrance examination.

So the next day after the beam-raising ceremony, he took his people and hurried back.

On the way back, I passed by Xigang and went to the ginseng garden for a visit.

At this time, the ginseng in the ginseng garden had all emerged from the ground and stretched out their hands. Qu Shaoyang went to the ginseng garden to have a look. It was all good. The seedlings had grown out in an even pattern. It looked like they were growing well.

"The veteran ginseng farmers we hired said that our ginseng seedlings are growing in good order. As long as we take good care of them and don't drop too many seedlings, we should be able to produce a good yield in three years."

Meng Lanxin was leading people to pull out the weeds in the field. When she saw Qu Shaoyang coming, she smiled and said to him.

Qu Shaoyang saw that Meng Lanxin was wearing a faded coarse cloth dress, with mud on her knees and her hair wrapped in a blue floral scarf. She looked like a country girl. "Oh my God, are you working in the fields? How can you work for so many people?"

Qu Shaoyang looked at those guys a little angrily and said unhappily.

The last time he passed by, although Meng Lanxin was dressed quite simply, she didn't look like this.

It's been just over half a month since I last saw you, and you look so dusty and dirty.

It’s not that Qu Shaoyang cares so much about appearance, but Meng Lanxin is with him to live a good life.

He is an official after all, but he makes his concubine work in the fields. If this gets out, won't others laugh at him to death?

If you can't afford to support him, don't bring him into your house. It's not right to ask him to do hard labor after he gets home.

"What do you know? We have to pull out the weeds here as soon as possible, otherwise it will delay the growth of the mallard and make it easy for it to get sick.

Last year we planted so many trees, and we didn’t have enough people to do the work. Now that I’m here, let’s help and finish the work as soon as possible.”

Meng Lanxin glared at Qu Shaoyang, feeling that he was angry for no reason.

If you don't pay attention to your own work, how can you expect others to get anxious and angry?
"Hongling, Hongshao and I can get a lot of work done in a day, so don't underestimate us.

It will be done soon, probably tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and we will have finished pulling out the weeds. It will be a good time for us to go home together."

Meng Lanxin was raised as a boy since she was a child. She was used to working and didn't think it was a problem at all.

"Well, I can't argue with you. Let's go. I'll work with you guys."

What else could Qu Shaoyang say? So he tucked the collar of his robe into his waist and went into the ginseng field with Meng Lanxin.

The two men knelt on the edge of the pond facing each other, reached out to pull out the weeds on the surface of the pond, and then crushed the soil.

Qu Shaoyang and Meng Lanxin both went to work in the fields, so how could the followers who went out with Qu Shaoyang be idle?

So they all tucked in their clothes, and knelt on the edge of the pond in groups of two, facing each other, pulling out the weeds and loosening the soil.

With Qu Shaoyang and a few others helping, the work naturally went much faster.

The next day, everyone went to the fields to weed and loosen the soil and worked all day. The first round of weeding was done.

After weeding the pond for the first time, the rest will be easy. You just need to shovel the pond edges and weed the pond a second time after a few days.

There are no pesticides or fertilizers these days. Everything depends on the fertility of the soil to grow as big as possible.

If you take care of it diligently and pay more attention, it will have fewer diseases and pests and grow well, and the yield will be higher in three years.

After finishing the ginseng farming work, Meng Lanxin led Hongling, Hongshao and others, and followed Qu Shaoyang back to Maoer Mountain.

When they got home, it was already May 28th. Qu Shaoyang estimated that Chen Yunzhe had already finished the college entrance examination and the results might have been announced by now.

"I don't know how big brother did in the exam this time. It would be great if he could pass the exam.

Wife, didn't you send someone back to Kuandian to ask?" Qu Shaoyang asked Chen Xiuyun as soon as he saw her.

"I sent someone, but there's still no reply.

I guess, now that the results have just been announced in Fengtian, we’ll know in a few days whether or not we passed the exam.”

Chen Xiuyun was even more anxious than Qu Shaoyang, but it was useless to be anxious. They didn't have wings, so how could they fly to Fengtian in an instant?

"Oh, if only there was a telephone, or even a telegram." Qu Shaoyang muttered softly.

(End of this chapter)