Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 445 Natural and man-made disasters
Qu Laokouer and Chen, crying, told Qu Shaoyang the whole cause and effect in a disjointed manner.

At the beginning, the three brothers squeezed out Qu Laokouer and his wife. They used the money that Qu Shaoyang gave to the family, and partnered with others to buy a big fishing boat and went out to sea to fish.

Everything was fine in the beginning, and the three brothers gained a lot every time they went out to sea.

They also had horse-drawn carriages, so they could transport their catches to distant places to sell them, and they made a lot of money.

After the three brothers made money, they discussed using the money to buy all the boats from their partners.

Later they hired a few people to follow the boat so that they could earn more.

Unexpectedly, less than a year after they got the ship, the three brothers started a quarrel over the uneven distribution of profits.

The three brothers each had their own ideas, all trying to put more money into their own pockets.

In the end, the meeting ended in a bad mood, and both Qu Hai and Qu Fu wanted to withdraw their shares.

Qu He was eager to have a big boat all to himself, so he wrote a contract with his brothers and found a way to make money for the two brothers.

From then on, the big ship belonged to Qu He.

At the instigation of his wife, Qu Hai sold the house in Qujiazhuang, and the couple moved to Wencheng with their son and daughter.

They rented a house in Wencheng, did some small business, and made a lot of money.

The couple was also planning to save up some money and send their son to school.

The eldest son went to the city, the second son wanted a boat, and the remaining seven or eight acres of land in the family belonged to Qu Fu.

Qu Fu rented more than ten acres of land from others and decided to make a living by farming at home.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese pirates captured Weihaiwei and then broke through Wencheng. After entering the city, they burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of atrocities.

Qu Hai and his family could not escape and died in the war.

However, Qu He encountered a storm during one of his voyages. The boat capsized and no one on board survived.

Because Qu He was the boat owner, all the others were hired by Qu He. When the boat had an accident and someone died, all the families came to look for Qu He's wife.

When Qu He’s wife saw this, she wondered how she could have so much money to compensate the other party.

So she took advantage of the night, packed up the valuables in the house, left her two sons behind, and ran away alone.

Qu He died and his wife ran away, leaving behind two little kids, one five and one three years old.

Those people went to find Qu Fu, but Qu Fu and Qu He had separated long ago. They had only heard of a son paying off his father's debts, but had never heard of a younger brother paying off his brother's debts.

In the end, there was nothing those people could do but let it go.

However, Qu Fu could not ignore the two children of Qu He's family, so he had to take them to his home to raise.

This made Qu Fu's wife unhappy again, and the couple quarreled all day long.

After a while, Qu Fu's wife started to have other ideas, and she followed Qu He's wife's example, stealing valuable things from the house and running away.

When Mr. and Mrs. Qu Laokouer returned to their hometown on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, there was only Qu Fu and their four children at home. The house was empty and nothing was prepared.

Upon inquiry, I learned that two of the three sons had died, and two of the three daughters-in-law had run away and one had died.

Qu Laokouer fainted on the spot and almost didn't survive the New Year.

"Well, your father and I went home to see them with great joy, looking forward to a family reunion.

Who would have thought that the end result would be the destruction of the family.

When the families where people had died learned that we had returned, they all came to ask your father for money.

They are all from the same village, and are related. Now that they have lost their strong labor force, their lives are becoming difficult.

Your father and I discussed it and gave each of them some money. There was no other way. Who told you that your second brother is gone?"

Both Mr. Qu and Mrs. Chen are honest people. Besides, it is reasonable and logical for the Qu family to pay compensation.

Now that Qu He is gone, Qu Laokouer and his wife have to take care of the aftermath for their son.

So Qu Laokouer distributed the money they brought back to those families.

As a result, none of the original plans, such as ancestor worship, repairing ancestral tombs, and compiling family tree, were accomplished.

"Your father fell ill shortly after he came home, and he's been recuperating ever since. Now that he's almost recovered, we're back." Chen said, shedding tears.

After listening to the old couple's story, Qu Shaoyang couldn't help but sigh.

People say that when brothers are united, they can accomplish anything. A family must think and work together, only then can the family become more and more prosperous.

Especially when the world is in turmoil, brothers should unite to have the ability to resist risks.

But the brothers of the Qu family all have their own ulterior motives. They only know how to play tricks on their brothers and scheme against their own family members.

In the end, after all the calculations, you only end up calculating yourself.

"Dad, where's Lao Wu? When you came back, didn't you bring Lao Wu and the two kids with you?"

Qu Shaoyang didn't see the fifth brother Qu Fu and the two children of Qu Fu's family, so he asked.

"Oh, the fifth child went to look for the third child. The two children were in the yard just now, but now they have gone into the house to play."

There is only one son left in his hometown. Could it be that Mr. Qu doesn’t bring Qu Fu here?

After going through so many things, Qu Fu has changed a lot.

After living here for a few days, he felt it was inappropriate to stay here all day.

When Qu Shaoyang was not at home, Qu Fu went to find Qu Jiang, wanting to help Qu Jiang and do something, otherwise how would he support his two sons in the future?

"Dad, Mom, don't be too sad. The world is in chaos now and no one can guarantee what tomorrow will be like. Just take care of the present.

Later, I will arrange a job for Lao Wu. As long as he is willing to humble himself and work hard for a few years and save some money, I will find him a wife.

As for my second brother's children, don't worry, I will definitely treat them as my own children, raise them and provide them with education."

Now that things have come to this, what else can Qu Shaoyang say?
At the beginning, Qu Laokouer had said several times that he wanted the three brothers to come here, but Qu Shaoyang was worried that the three brothers would cause trouble if they came, so he kept delaying it.

If those three brothers had come here two years earlier, perhaps none of this would have happened.

Of course, considering the tempers of those three brothers and the spendthrift wives they married.

Even if they were brought here, there is no guarantee that after a few days of good life, they would not become high-profile, do stupid things, and cause a big disaster.

As I said, living in troubled times, human life is as worthless as grass. No one knows what will happen one day, and if you are not careful, your life will be gone.

"Alas, we know that these days, your mother and I have gradually let it go.

Those two brothers are no good. Ever since the family had some money, they have been jumping up and down all day, showing off a lot.

Now, my life is gone, and I don’t have to do it again in the future.”

Although Qu Laokouer said this, he still felt uncomfortable.

But what could they say in front of the fourth son? If they said more, it would be as if they had something against the fourth son.

No matter how you look at it, this matter cannot be blamed on the fourth brother. Over the years, Qu Shaoyang has sent many gifts and money to his hometown to support his brothers.

Moreover, the old couple Qu Hai sent many messages back privately, asking the three brothers to pack up and come to the Northeast to seek refuge with Qu Shaoyang. It was because Qu Hai and his family did not want to leave their hometown and live under someone else's roof and depend on others for their livelihood in the Northeast that they did not come.

No matter how unreasonable Qu Laokouer and Chen were, they could not blame this matter on their fourth son.

"Well, I hope you two can see things in a positive light. In the future, I, the third brother, and the fifth brother will be here. The three of us will definitely be filial to our parents."

Qu Shaoyang didn't know how to comfort the old couple.

After all, he was their own son. The pain of seeing a young person die cannot be comforted by a few words.

"Dad, Mom, you stay with the kids first. I'm going to take care of some other things. I'll talk to Lao Wu later."

Qu Shaoyang had just returned after being away for more than 20 days. There were still many things at home waiting for him to deal with, and he couldn't just focus on talking to his parents.

Qu Shaoyang left this place and returned to the front yard. He called Xingye and others over and asked about the situation in Shandong.

"Sir, last year the Yellow River flooded again, breaking its banks in several places, flooding twelve counties and nearly 20,000 villages, and killing many people.

In addition, the imperial court had to raise money for compensation, and various taxes were added layer by layer. Back home, life was almost unbearable. "

When talking about the situation in his hometown in Shandong, Xingye could only sigh.

When the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 broke out, the governor of Shandong withdrew most of the troops from the Yellow River Flood Control Camp in Shandong in order to strengthen the defense of the Weihaiwei area.

The River Conservancy Battalion, which has been engaged in flood prevention work in the Yellow River for many years, is not good at fighting and has low combat effectiveness.

Not only did the mobilization fail to produce any effect, but it also hindered other troops.

Although Governor Li Bingheng adjusted and supplemented the River Conservancy Battalion after the war subsided, the various sections of the Yellow River embankments had not been maintained for more than a year, posing a considerable hidden danger.

More importantly, the war also exhausted Shandong's already meager stock of grain and silver, leaving no money to repair the Yellow River embankments.

Immediately afterwards, a flood occurred and the Yellow River burst its banks in many places, causing heavy casualties among the people and leaving them homeless.

In order to pay war reparations, the imperial court doubled taxes in various places.

The people, who were already living a difficult life, had no choice but to flee from famine and became refugees.

“Your Excellency didn’t see it, but on the road from my hometown to the northeast, there were groups of disaster victims.

Those people were half-naked, pale and thin, and some were even barefoot. As they were walking, some of them suddenly fell down and couldn't get up.

The bodies were eaten by wild dogs before they could be buried, and some people even ate them secretly because they were so hungry.

Xingye still felt uncomfortable when he thought about what he saw on the way back.

Upon hearing this, Qu Shaoyang could only sigh. Living in troubled times, life was very difficult for ordinary people.

As the saying goes, it is better to be a dog in peace than a person in chaos.

At the end of the dynasty, chaos broke out frequently, including floods, droughts, insect plagues, and epidemics. In addition, the court's heavy taxes and levies became increasingly heavy. All the disasters were ultimately borne by the ordinary people.

"How many people came back with you this time?" Every time the guys in the family went back to their hometown, they would recruit a lot of refugees.

Before Xingye escorted Qu Laokouer and his wife back to their hometown, Qu Shaoyang also reminded them that if there were anyone from their hometown who were willing to come, they could be brought along.

Just now, Qu Laokouer and Chen were in a bad mood, so Qu Shaoyang didn't ask them. Now he had to find out.

"Well, they brought back quite a few people. There were dozens of them coming from around Qujia Village alone.

There are also about two to three hundred people who have come here from our hometown.

On the way back, we couldn't bear to see it anymore, so we took in a lot of people.

Among those refugees, most of the men are working on construction sites.

Aren't we repairing the county government and building the city wall? We are hiring a large number of workers. Not only will we pay them, but we will also provide them with two meals a day.

There are also some women who were recruited to work on construction sites as cooks and such.

The people from Qujiazhuang were taken to the gold field by the Third Master, and some were taken to the ginseng garden by the Second Madam. "Xingye replied.

Qu Shaoyang nodded. As long as these refugees could be properly resettled, it would be fine. There were plenty of wastelands in Linjiang and surrounding areas, and if more people came, they could be resettled.

Only with more people can the economy develop. Linjiang City will get better and better in the future.

Qu Shaoyang chatted with Xingye and the others for a while. Just then, Chen Xiuyun learned that her husband had returned and came to the front yard to look for him.

Qu Shaoyang waved his hand and asked Xingye and the others to go and do other things.

"Shaoyang, have you seen your parents? What happened in your hometown, ah, I really didn't expect it."

As soon as Chen Xiuyun saw her husband, she had to talk about things in her hometown.

"If we had known this would happen, we would have arranged for people to bring those three families here earlier."

Ever since Qu Laokouer and his wife came back and learned about the changes in their hometown, Chen Xiuyun has been regretting it.

That year, my father-in-law mentioned it once, saying that he wanted to invite the three brothers Qu Hai to come as well. Chen Xiuyun was worried that it would be difficult for the sisters-in-law to get along with them, so she told Qu Shaoyang to wait and see.

Unexpectedly, despite this delay, such a big change happened in my hometown.

"No one is to blame for this, so don't take it personally.

The three brothers all have legs. If they want to come, who can stop them? Didn't the third brother come by himself at that time?

It's them who don't want to come. Am I going to be so cheap as to invite them in a grand ceremony?
Everyone has their own destiny, so you don't have to take it to heart. Just live your life well and be more filial to your parents in the future."

Qu Shaoyang knew that his daughter-in-law was kind-hearted and couldn't get over this hurdle, so he could only persuade her patiently.

"Okay, I understand." Chen Xiuyun sighed, nodded, and put the matter aside for the time being.

“There is one more thing I want to discuss with you.

Didn’t I say years ago that the foreign doctors from Fengtian Shih Hospital came over and wanted to pay a high price for the formula of berberine? I didn’t agree, so they left.

A few days ago, they came again, and this time they didn’t come to buy the formula, but to buy medicine, finished medicine.

I still can't make up my mind, so I'm thinking of discussing it with you."

Berberine is effective in treating intestinal diseases.

In the past two years, cholera has also been prevalent in many places abroad.

Those foreigners thought that even if they couldn't buy the formula, they could buy the finished medicine, and then sell it back to make a lot of money.

"If they just want to sell the medicine, we can discuss it. But I'm worried that they want to buy the medicine and study it themselves.

So, you can sign a contract with them, requiring them to purchase a minimum amount of kilograms or bottles of medicine from us every year.

This quantity cannot be too low, otherwise we will have no profit.

Another thing is, you have to think of a way to make it into a compound preparation.

I remember when you and my father worked out some formulas for treating cholera, didn't they? Pick out the most effective ones and mix them with berberine.

In this way, even if they buy our medicine, they won’t be able to research anything for a while after returning.”

(End of this chapter)