Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 439: Berberine is remembered
Liu Dongshan was persuaded by the father and son of the Qu family and became more thoughtful, but he did not express his opinion on the spot. He just invited Qu Laokouer and Qu Shaoyang to drink.

After dinner, Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan went to the study to play chess and chat, while Qu Laokouer and Chen hurried back to their residence to pack up their things.

This time I’m going back to my hometown to celebrate the New Year there.

They have been out for several years, and their son is doing so well, so why shouldn't he bring some gifts for his relatives when he goes back?
Qu Laokouer has been in charge of the gold mine in recent years, and Qu Shaoyang has paid his father according to the standards of a chief steward.

With Mr. Qu's stingy personality, how could he not want the money given by his son?
Besides, it is only natural for a father to spend his son's money. Even if Mr. Qu doesn't want to go to the gold mine, Qu Shaoyang still has to show his filial piety.

Chen helped take care of the children at home, and Chen Xiuyun never treated her mother-in-law badly.

In addition to giving Chen money from time to time, Chen Xiuyun would also make clothes for her and buy her gold and silver jewelry, etc. Chen also had a lot of private money.

The old couple knew very well the character of their three sons, so after careful consideration, they decided that they could not take all the money back.

Leave half here as money for them to cross the river.

In addition to the silver, the old couple also packed up some clothes that they rarely wore and were half-new and half-old.

These are all good things to bring back to my hometown. Except for the closest relatives, no one else can get them.

"Xiuyun, you and Lanxin should spend more time to buy something for our parents tomorrow. It doesn't have to be expensive, but practical ones are best.

My hometown is poor and we can't wear silk or satin. Please find us some cotton, flag cloth and the like.

Those old clothes, especially cotton-padded jackets and fur coats, should be scratched more."

It’s not that Qu Shaoyang is stingy. When his parents go back to their hometown, they even bring him old clothes.

In the era of low productivity, these were all good things. Even a worn fur coat could be worth a lot of money.

For people with a hard life, a cornmeal steamed bread that can fill their stomach may be more attractive than delicacies from land and sea.

A tattered jacket that can keep you warm is definitely better than silk and satin.

Since they are all real relatives, there is no need to get those fancy things. It is best to choose things that each family can use.

"Okay, then I know how to arrange it, don't worry."

Chen Xiuyun nodded in agreement while helping Qu Shaoyang take off his coat and helping him wash up.

"Oh, and prepare some more money.

Didn't our father say that he wanted to go back and revise the family tree? We will pay for it.

But don’t give it all to our parents, leave half with Xingye.

I know the temperaments of the brothers at home. They must be jealous when they see my parents returning home in such glory.

Don’t let your parents get confused by your nice words and end up with no money to do real work.”

Qu Shaoyang is not short of money, nor is he afraid of spending money, but he has to figure out how to spend the money, and he can't be taken advantage of.

Even though Mr. and Mrs. Qu have been living in Maoer Mountain in recent years, every winter when the guys go back to their hometown, Qu Shaoyang or Chen Xiuyun will ask someone to send some things to their hometown.

After all, if they are living a good life, they have to take care of their brothers and not let people talk about them behind their backs.

But this money must be spent openly so that everyone knows about it.

You can't just ignore the good and mention the bad. In the end, others got the benefits while he didn't get any benefits at all.

“Well, we have silver at home, and the gold mine is pretty good this year, producing a lot.

However, the expenses at home are also high, and the gunpowder workshop spends the most.

From last year to the beginning of this spring, you have been fighting outside, while the workshop has been producing non-stop, using money from home to pay for it.

When the war broke out last year, our business in various places was delayed, and we couldn't sell any ginseng. We suffered a lot of losses as a result.

A while ago, my third brother went to Yingkou and transported away two years' worth of ginseng. The money has not been settled yet.

Plus, the warehouse has to pay for the mountain products, so I guess it will take until the end of the year before the money is returned."

Chen Xiuyun took the opportunity to tell Qu Shaoyang about the situation at home.

"The winery, flour mill, and oil mill are operating normally. Although they don't make as much money as other businesses, they are enough to support the family's expenses.

The other day Lan Xin told me that she wanted to build a deer farm on the other side of Shuangdianzi and raise deer, sables, musk deer and so on, and she could make a lot of money from those things.

I can't make the decision on this matter since you're not at home. You can discuss it with Lan Xin later.

I think this is feasible, but there is one thing: it needs to be led by someone who knows the business, and ordinary people can’t do it.”

From last year to the first half of this year, the family's expenses were high and the income was low, so Chen Xiuyun and Meng Lanxin had been thinking a lot about how to make money.

Meng Lanxin was born into a hunter family, and her family originally worked as livestock hunters in the Ula Yamen.

She was quite good at hunting and raising livestock, so she talked to Chen Xiuyun about raising wild livestock.

“This Lan Xin, she can figure it out day by day.

It's not impossible to raise livestock in the mountains, but we don't have the right people.

The business at home has grown quite big, and we are short of people everywhere, especially those who can take charge of things.”

Speaking of this, Qu Shaoyang was really worried. There were not enough people, especially those who were particularly reliable and trustworthy.

Nowadays, most of the earliest farmhands in the family have been sent out to be managers.

The ones we have at home now have only been here for a short time and need further observation and training.

There's really no one that suits my taste right now.

When this was mentioned, the couple looked at each other and then sighed.

This is the biggest disadvantage of coming from a grassroots background and having no foundation.

Unlike some big families, after many years of accumulation, they have all kinds of talents they need.

"Oh, there's one more thing I almost forgot to mention.

After you led the troops to suppress the bandits, a group of people came from Fengtian, including several foreigners.

They said that they were from Shi Hospital and wanted to buy our berberine prescription, and the price they offered was quite high.

I felt that this matter was suspicious, so I didn’t agree and just said I would discuss it after you came back.”

After Qu Shaoyang finished cleaning up and Chen Xiuyun found clean clothes for him to change, she suddenly remembered this and hurriedly said it.

"Shi Hospital? You want to buy the formula for berberine?" Qu Shaoyang was stunned.

The so-called Shi Hospital was a church hospital established in the Qing Dynasty by some missionaries sent by the Presbyterian Church.

For example, in the 13th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, English doctor James C. Miller bought land in Haicheng, set up a hospital, and preached and provided medical treatment.

In the 19th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Irish doctor John Dintz entered Changchun to preach and provide medical treatment, and founded the Changchun Men's Hospital.

This was the beginning of the introduction of Western medicine into China. From then on, many such hospitals appeared in various parts of Northeast China, most of which were called Shi Hospitals. Shi Hospitals adopted Western medical diagnosis and treatment methods to treat people. Unexpectedly, they also took a fancy to berberine.

"That's not right. How did they know about berberine?"

Qu Shaoyang was a little curious. How did these foreigners find Chen Xiuyun and inquire about berberine?

"Oh, I heard that it was a newspaper in Fengtian that reported the cholera incident in the East Road.

Didn’t the imperial court also send people to inquire about the entire treatment process of cholera in Dongbiandao?

My father and I didn’t think too much about it at the time. We just talked about everything, including the treatment plan.”

Chen Xiuyun was not quite sure about the details, but she roughly guessed that someone had leaked the cholera treatment plan to the newspaper.

In order to attract public attention, the newspaper reported the incident in detail, which happened to be seen by a foreign doctor.

Qu Shaoyang's guess is similar to Chen Xiuyun's.

How can I say this? It is a good thing to publish the cholera treatment plan, so that people can treat and prevent this type of disease correctly, and no longer be ignorant and superstitious and pray to gods.

"Wife, whether it's berberine or penicillin, the preparation method must be kept secret. No matter how much they offer, you can't sell it.

Keeping these things will be of great use in the future, so you must remember them."

Although Chen Xiuyun has produced penicillin, it is still a long way from mass production.

The main reason is that the yield of the strains is not high enough, and we have not yet found a suitable high-yield strain.

Other supporting technologies are also not mature. For example, impurity removal, freeze-drying, etc., are not achievable at the moment, and there are still many areas that need efforts.

Berberine is better, but it still needs to be improved. Once the technology is perfected and they find a way to import a batch of equipment from abroad, they can try to produce it.

These things will definitely be of great use in the future.

"Not only these two things, but also your family's ancestral secret recipes, and the wound medicines you and our father developed.

The recipe must be kept secret and not passed on to others. Things left by our ancestors must not be sold to foreigners under any circumstances." Qu Shaoyang solemnly warned Chen Xiuyun.

"Okay, I understand. I'll write to my father and tell him about this later.

My father opened a medical clinic in Phoenix and recruited many apprentices. We need to ask them to keep an eye on this matter."

Chen Xiuyun had not originally planned to sell the prescription, but she did not think too far ahead. After Qu Shaoyang said this, Chen Xiuyun immediately understood.

It was cold, so the couple went to bed early and chatted in the warm quilt.

As they chatted, Qu Shaoyang's hands started to get naughty, and Chen Xiuyun followed suit, and the two of them stayed close to each other for quite a while.

As the twelfth lunar month approached, there were many things to do in the government office. How could Qu Shaoyang have time to rest at home? The next morning, he ran back to the government office to do his work.

The expansion of the Inspection Office has not been completed yet and it is estimated that it will have to continue in the early spring of next year. At present, everyone is still doing their work in the former Inspection Office and Wood Tax Office.

Those who work in the yamen are all Qu Shaoyang's confidants, and their abilities are impeccable.

Qu Shaoyang has not been here for more than half a year, and has been out suppressing bandits for nearly two months. Most of the affairs in the yamen have been handled well, and there are only a few tasks that require Qu Shaoyang's final decision.

Qu Shaoyang dealt with official business for the whole morning and finally had time in the afternoon to write a memorial to Zhang Xiulan.

The content of the memorial was the conversation between Liu Dongshan and Qu Shaoyang yesterday.

The first thing is definitely to report the results of the bandit suppression campaign, as well as the difficulties encountered and problems discovered in the process.

In view of the serious bandit problem in Fengtian and Jilin provinces, Qu Shaoyang requested to transfer half of the Dingbian Army to form a mountain and forest patrol team and station them in various places.

Responsible for local public security and bandit suppression tasks to ensure peace in the area.

In addition, Qu Shaoyang also proposed that militia security teams be established in all parts of Dongbiandao and joint defense committees be established in each village.

They farm when they are busy and train when they are free. Once war breaks out, the militia can also be mobilized to fight.

When bandits smashed kilns, the villages could look after each other.

The most important point is that Qu Shaoyang requested to establish a county seat in the Maoershan area.

After years of reclamation and development, the population of Maoershan and surrounding villages has increased dramatically. Currently, there are nearly 3,000 households and a population of more than 20,000.

However, Maoer Mountain and its surrounding areas are still in a chaotic development stage, with no unified planning and no city walls.

The Korean people on the other side of the river took advantage of the war and began crossing the border from the other side since last winter.

From time to time, frictions and conflicts arise with local residents, which breeds banditry.

Therefore, Qu Shaoyang proposed that a county seat should be established in Maoer Mountain and a city wall should be built for defense and to facilitate future management.

Of course, this last suggestion is also to avoid suspicion.

Qu Shaoyang is now the Inspector General of the Eastern Circuit and the Commander of the Militia, and he holds great power.

It's fine for places like Kuandian and Andong where county seats have been established, after all, they are governed by county governments.

Qu Shaoyang only needs to be responsible for the militia, defense, and tax supervision.

However, places like Maoershan, Shuidonggou, Tadian, Shuangdianzi, Niangniangku, etc. have not yet established county governments, which means that Qu Shaoyang has almost complete the final say.

This matter has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that everything is under Qu Shaoyang's control, and if any situation really occurs, he can make the decision on his own.

The disadvantage is that you have too much power in your hands, which can easily make others wary of you. If someone accuses you of something, you don’t know what the outcome will be in the end.

Instead of doing this, it would be better for Qu Shaoyang to take the initiative to propose the establishment of a county seat, which would just show that he is not that ambitious.

Furthermore, establishing a county seat is a matter of time. Even if Qu Shaoyang did not mention it, Maoershan would have to establish a county in a few years.

After writing a long memorial with great eloquence, Qu Shaoyang read it again and felt that it was almost done, so he asked someone to copy it.

This thing is to be kept in archives or submitted to the court. Qu Shaoyang's handwriting is just readable. To say it is very good is pure nonsense.

For official documents like this, it is better to find someone with good handwriting to copy them so that they look better.

In addition to this memorial, Qu Shaoyang also wrote a letter to Zhang Xiulan, in which he naturally asked about his adoptive father's well-being and concern about his recent health.

He also said that he had found several good horses and a precious sword for Zhang Xiluan.

At the beginning, Liu Dongshan asked Qu Shaoyang to give the sword to Zhang Xiulan, but it was delayed because of cholera.

It just so happens that he has just returned from suppressing bandits, and a BMW and a sword are given to him together. I guess there are few men who would not like them.

The memorials and letters were all written, and all the gifts were ready, so people were arranged to send them to Phoenix together.

On the 20th of the winter month, Qu Shaoyang arranged for Xingye, a dozen guards, and two maids to drive four horse-drawn carriages to escort Qu Laokouer and his wife to leave Maoer Mountain and return to their hometown to visit their relatives.

Before leaving, Qu Shaoyang called Xingye over and gave him some instructions, and also gave him some extra money in case of emergency.

(End of this chapter)