Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 446: Pharmaceutical Workshop

“Moreover, it can produce not only berberine, but also other things.

I remember that you have developed many prescriptions. You can try them all.

Especially the medicines that were used on us before, which were so effective in stopping bleeding and reducing swelling, we can also sell them to foreigners.

In the future, if penicillin can break through the technical bottleneck and be mass-produced, we can also sell it abroad and earn money from foreigners, or use the drug to exchange for advanced machinery and equipment, guns and ammunition, etc.

Don't take foreigners seriously, they are not as powerful as you think.

Hundreds of years ago, our ancestors were already able to systematically treat various diseases, but they were only able to perform bloodletting.

You don’t know, at that time in Europe, many people were sick but didn’t die, but died from bloodletting.”

Qu Shaoyang said this deliberately in order to dispel Chen Xiuyun's concerns.

Of course, he didn't make this up; it really existed.

The development of Western medicine and Western medicine has only happened in recent years. Traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese medicine have a long history and cannot be compared with the tricks of foreigners.

China has always been ahead of the world in science and technology, culture, and medicine, but was delayed by the Qing Dynasty.

"If it's your idea, we'll have to build another medicine factory." Chen Xiuyun was amused by her husband's words. She said while laughing.

"It's a must, I can't just rely on you and the girls at home, right?

In this way, you can talk to them first, and it would be best if you can import a batch of machines from abroad.

After all, we are selling to foreigners. We can't always think about dosage forms such as pills, powders, pastes, and pills. Foreigners are not likely to buy into that.

Make it into pills, similar to those used in foreign hospitals, they are more accepting of it. "

If the foreigners hadn't come to him on their own initiative, Qu Shaoyang really wouldn't have thought about these things.

Now that I think about it carefully, I think exporting medicines is also a good business.

After hearing what Qu Shaoyang said, Chen Xiuyun also understood.

Yes, the foreigners came to us on their own initiative, which means their medicine still has advantages. In this case, let's give it a try.

"Oh, what a pity that I can't go abroad to see how foreigners make pharmaceuticals." Chen Xiuyun sighed.

"When the children grow up, we must send them abroad to see the world and learn some skills."

"Well, then you have to have more children. We have too few children. There are not enough."

Upon hearing this, Qu Shaoyang hugged his wife and touched Chen Xiuyun's belly.

After returning from Phoenix, Chen Xiuyun discovered that she was pregnant again. Estimating the date, it might be around the New Year or before.

Therefore, during those days in Phoenix, Chen Xiuyun felt uncomfortable all over and always wanted to sleep.

This pregnancy is going well, with no major reactions. Now, three months have passed, the fetus is stable and there is no delay in doing anything.

Of course, Chen Xiuyun doesn’t have to do much now. She just has to take care of the household and worry about everything.

“Shengshengsheng, I’m almost turning into a sow, and it’s still not enough.

If you still complain, go find another woman to have a baby. I won’t have a baby for you.” Chen Xiuyun glared at Qu Shaoyang and then smiled.

In fact, she loves children very much and hopes to have more for her beloved man.

"Haha, if I really find another woman to give birth to, you will be unhappy again." Qu Shaoyang laughed.

"Come on, I didn't stop Lan Xin from coming in." Chen Xiuyun curled her lips. She was too lazy to care about so many things.

However, Meng Lanxin's body was indeed not very good. After several years of marriage, she only gave birth to one child, Zhenwu. People still expected her to give birth to more children to expand the Qu family.

"How about you take in two more concubines? They can help me manage the household as well.

Lan Xin is now in charge of the ginseng garden, and my third sister-in-law has a little one to take care of, so there is no one to help me at home." Chen Xiuyun said this deliberately.

"Come on, you're not helping me to take a concubine, you're just looking for help to do the work for yourself.

Don't work so hard. If you see any of the girls and wives at home doing a good job, give them some advice and let them share some of the work." Qu Shaoyang said with a smile.

Do you really think that he can bring anyone into the family? Even if you want to take a concubine, he has to be someone he likes, right?
"Okay, let's talk about something serious. Where do you think we should arrange for Lao Wu? We have to give him a job so that he can live in our house with peace of mind."

After the couple had laughed and joked enough, Qu Shaoyang started talking about business.

"Is Shenyuan okay? Shenyuan is currently managed by Lanxin.

The second wife of a patrol inspector is almost as good as a farmhand in the family. This is outrageous.

If we really set up a medicine factory, the scale of the ginseng garden will have to be expanded, and we need someone to keep an eye on it all year round.

There's already a third brother at the gold field, so don't let the fifth brother get involved." Chen Xiuyun thought for a moment and said.

What Chen Xiuyun said was similar to what Qu Shaoyang thought. He planned to discuss this matter with Lao Wu in the evening.

The couple chatted for a while, and as there was something else to do in the backyard, Chen Xiuyun went to do it.

Qu Shaoyang went to Liu Dongshan's house next door and chatted with him for a while.

In the evening, Qu Jiang and Qu Fu came back together.

Qu Shaoyang called his two brothers over, and the three brothers got together to drink and chat.

"Fourth brother, it is only today that I finally understand how big your family business here is.

If I had known this, I would have come earlier, really.

Oh, I regret it so much now. I shouldn't have listened to my elder and second brothers."

After a few drinks, Qu Fu was obviously not as reserved as at the beginning and talked more.

In the past, I had only heard that Qu Shaoyang was doing quite well in the Northeast and had built up a large fortune, but since I had never seen it with my own eyes, I had no idea how large the fortune was.

When the servants of the Qu family returned to their hometown, they would be specifically warned not to talk about their employer's affairs outside. No matter who it was, if they were discovered, they would be kicked out.

Therefore, even if people came from Qujiazhuang, they would not dare to easily reveal the specific situation here when they returned.

When Qu Hai and the others asked, people wouldn't say much. At most they would say that everything was fine here and much better than back home.

Therefore, Qu Fu had no idea how rich his fourth brother's family was. In his opinion, Qu Shaoyang was only slightly better off than the big landlords in his hometown.

It wasn't until he came here that he realized how wrong he was.

Fourth brother's family not only owns thousands of acres of land, but also three gold mines, two coal mines, various shops, and even has businesses in Yingkou, Fengtian and other places.

Especially today, Qu Fu was in front of the gold panning machine in the gold field and saw with his own eyes that more than ten kilograms of gold sand could be panned out in a single day. He was completely shocked.

How much silver can be exchanged for more than ten kilograms of gold sand? This is the amount in one day, how much in one year? If one gold mine produces this much, how much will three gold mines produce?

Qu Fu wouldn't even dare to dream of having so much money.

That's why Qu Fu sighed like that. "Well, I'm just wondering, my parents probably sent a lot of messages back asking you three to come over.

What on earth are you three thinking? Why don't you come? What? Are you afraid of being cheated?"

Qu Shaoyang has never been able to understand this problem.

It is said that people go to high places and water flows to low places. Knowing that life in the Northeast is better and that their brothers are prosperous, the three brothers just refused to come. What were they thinking?
If it were Qu Shaoyang, and someone told him that his brother was doing well somewhere and had become rich, and wanted him to come over to enjoy the good life with him, Qu Shaoyang would definitely go there without hesitation.

Qu Fu drank the wine in the glass, then put it down and looked up at Qu Jiang and Qu Shaoyang.

"Third brother, fourth brother, I am telling you the truth, please don't be angry.

Actually, I wanted to come, but my eldest and second brothers wouldn't let me.

What should I say? Actually, they look down on you two.

The eldest and second brothers often complained that the third brother was stupid and the fourth brother was dull, and that the fact that you two were successful was because God was blind.

Qu Hai Jing and Qu He Zei, these two brothers have always thought that they are very powerful and capable, and they look down on the third and fourth brothers the most.

But the third and fourth brothers became rich and lived a good life, which made Qu Hai and Qu He very dissatisfied.

On the one hand, they coveted the money given by Qu Shaoyang, and on the other hand, they looked down on Qu Shaoyang.

The two brothers thought that whether they went to the Northeast or not, the fourth brother would send money home.

Then why did they have to leave their hometown and go there all the way, to work for the old man and be managed by others?

Wouldn't it be better to just do your own thing like you are doing now, and get so many benefits for free in a year? How great would that be?
Qu Fu is the youngest in the family, with four older brothers and loved and cared for by his parents. He has never had to worry about anything since he was a child and has no ideas of his own.

Since his two brothers wouldn't let him, and he wasn't like Qu Jiang who was forced to that point, he just muddled along and focused on the present.

"What happened next? Your eldest and second brothers were gone, and you were left taking care of four children by yourself.

Life is like that now, why don't you come to the Northeast to join Lao Si?" Qu Jiang asked from the other side.

"Hey, Third Brother, the war had just ended and everything was in chaos.

I heard people say that the situation in the Northeast was terrible, with many people dying. In Lushun, there were so many dead bodies that there was no place to bury them, so they were all piled up in the sea.

At that time, I didn’t know how you were doing here. I thought you were in trouble too. No one went back home for the New Year, and no one sent letters home. ”

Qu Fu scratched his head and said embarrassedly.

"How can I dare to bring four children here rashly? What if something happens on the way?"

Qu Jiang and Qu Shaoyang looked at each other, and this time the two brothers finally understood.

Qu Shaoyang led his troops to fight outside and did not go home for the New Year. At that time, the war was intense and the Japanese army was burning, killing and looting in Lushun, Dalian and other places.

The guys didn't dare go back to their hometown to visit, so naturally no one sent gifts or messages to the three Qu Hai brothers.

So, the three brothers thought that something had happened to Qu Shaoyang and the others here.

"Okay, what's past is past, let's settle down here and live a good life from now on.

I have discussed this with your fourth sister-in-law today, and would like to arrange for you to go to the garden to help out. Do you think it is okay?

As for the ginseng garden, we plan to develop it vigorously in the future, and may even build a deer farm to raise some sika deer, musk deer and the like.

You go over there and get familiar with the place for a while, and then you can replace your sister-in-law." Qu Shaoyang poured wine for his brother and asked Qu Fu for his opinion.

"Okay, I'll listen to Fourth Brother. Wherever Fourth Brother tells me to go, I'll go."

Qu Fu went to see Qu Jiang today, and after Qu Jiang's guidance, he understood his current situation.

Since he has come to seek refuge with Qu Shaoyang, he will have to do whatever his brother arranges.

With Qu Shaoyang's temper, as long as Qu Fu is obedient and does his job well, he will definitely not suffer any loss.

So, when Qu Shaoyang asked this, Qu Fu didn't hesitate at all and agreed directly.

Seeing that the fifth brother had a good attitude, Qu Shaoyang nodded. Just like that, the three brothers drank and chatted until quite late.

The next morning, Qu Shaoyang arranged for someone to send Qu Fu to the ginseng garden.

As for the two children of Qu Fu's family, they stayed at home and were taken care of by Chen. Chen Xiuyun specially assigned four maids and two old women to help take care of the four children.

The four children's food, clothing and other expenses in the Qu family were all the same as Zhenbang and his family.

Qu Shaoyang also commissioned Fang Xingwen to give names to the four children.

The two from Qu He’s family are called Qu Zhenquan and Qu Zhensheng, and the two from Qu Fu’s family are called Qu Zhenqing and Qu Zhenyi.

At this point, the three brothers and their descendants were all in the Northeast. Old Qu didn't have much in mind and no longer talked about returning to his hometown, nor did he mention things like worshipping ancestors, repairing graves, and compiling a family tree.

Chen Xiuyun negotiated with the foreigners several times and finally finalized the cooperation between the two parties.

The other party helped purchase pharmaceutical machinery, including a full set of equipment for crushing, soaking, filtering, purification, pressing, etc., and the produced medicines were sold to them at the agreed price.

Afterwards, Chen Xiuyun selected a place in Linjiang City and planned to build a medicine workshop.

At the same time, a notice was posted to recruit young men and women between the ages of fifteen and twenty with good learning abilities, who would be trained uniformly and work in the pharmaceutical workshop in the future.

During the training period, they were paid and provided with two meals a day. As soon as the news came out, many people signed up.

Chen Xiuyun invited He Yuanzhi to come over and ask him for help, and also sent Bai Zhi, Bai Wei and several other maids around her to train those people in pharmaceutical operations and other related knowledge.

Chen Xiuyun was busy, so Qu Shaoyang had no time to spare either.

While supervising the construction progress of the county government and the county town, he also submitted memorials to the imperial court, requesting that more areas in the eastern region be opened up for reclamation and that more favorable conditions be used to attract and recruit refugees.

On the seventh day of April, General Changshun of Jilin resigned due to illness, and the Qing court appointed Yan Mao as acting General of Jilin.

At the end of April, the Qing government sent envoys to St. Petersburg for secret talks. Under the bribery and coercion of Tsarist Russia, Li Hongzhang and Witte signed the Sino-Russian Treaty of Mutual Assistance against Enemies in Moscow, which is the Sino-Russian secret agreement.

In the name of joint defense against Japan, Tsarist Russia obtained the right to build the Chinese Eastern Railway in Northeast China.

By August, the "Sino-Russian Joint Venture Eastern Province Railway Company Contract" was signed.

When the news came out, it caused a sensation in the country. Many Qing businessmen and officials volunteered to undertake the construction of the railway and did not want the Qing Dynasty to jointly run it with Tsarist Russia.

However, the contract has already been signed and there is no point in objecting.

In June, heavy rains hit the Dadonggou area of ​​Andong County, the sea tide surged, houses were washed away, and there were heavy casualties.

Haicheng, Gaiping and Meigouying areas were also hit by heavy rains and caused flooding.

The disaster in the Dadonggou area was severe, and Zhang Xiulan ordered Qu Shaoyang to lead troops there to maintain public order and provide relief to the victims to prevent bandits from taking advantage of the disaster to rob after the flood.

At the same time, he petitioned the imperial court to exempt local taxes so that the people could recuperate and avoid being displaced.

(End of this chapter)