Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 475: Green Forest Eyeliner
In the blink of an eye, the 32nd year of Guangxu passed and the 33rd year arrived.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhenye led his brothers and sisters to the Liu Mansion to pay New Year's greetings to Liu Dongshan and Lin Ruolan.

Unexpectedly, the children had just arrived and had not even had time to say a few words when a servant came to report that Liu Xinyuan's wife, Zhao Yinglan, suddenly had a stomachache.

Not long after Zhao Yinglan married Xinyuan, she was diagnosed with pregnancy. According to the time, she should have given birth in the late twelfth lunar month.

These days, Lin Ruolan felt like she was facing a great enemy, worrying about her daughter-in-law's belly all the time.

Unexpectedly, the baby in Zhao Yinglan's belly was able to remain patient and only thought about coming out after spending New Year's Eve in her mother's belly.

When Lin Ruolan learned that her daughter-in-law was about to give birth, how could she care about talking to the children? She quickly asked someone to prepare things and send Zhao Yinglan to the hospital for delivery.

Jilin public health hospitals have specialized obstetrics and gynecology departments.

Many of the obstetricians and gynecologists there were the children who were arranged by the Qu family to study at Shi Hospital and Shi Women's Hospital. Wanyu also worked in the hospital before.

These people combined Western medicine's delivery methods with Li's secret methods of delivery and fetal preservation, and saved many women suffering from difficult labor.

However, people nowadays rarely go to the hospital to give birth. Most people still find a midwife. Only some wealthy families will hire a doctor to deliver the baby at home.

Lin Ruolan had a difficult labor when she gave birth and almost died.

So she took it very seriously and had agreed with Liu Dongshan and the Zhao family early on that Zhao Yinglan would not give birth at home but in the hospital.

Just like that, after the chaos in the Liu Mansion, Lin Ruolan took the maids and wives in the family and escorted Zhao Yinglan to the health center by car.

When Zhenye and others saw this, they hurried back home to inform their parents.

"Is Xinyuan's wife about to give birth? Oh my God, it's finally started. If there is no movement, Master's wife would be going crazy."

When Chen Xiuyun heard this, she was delighted.

This little kid was too eager to get married. He was seven or eight days late.

"Lan Xin, I'm not feeling well right now, please go to the hospital for me.

If there is any news from Yinglan, please send a letter back immediately."

Yes, Chen Xiuyun is pregnant again.

Originally, she and Qu Shaoyang had agreed not to have any more children. Now that her daughter-in-law is about to marry into the family, she will become a mother-in-law. If she has another child, people will laugh at her.

For this reason, Chen Xiuyun even took medicine, but it didn't work. She got pregnant again at the beginning of winter last year.

The coming of a child is fate and cannot be rejected.

Fortunately, everything is now on track in the mansion. The maids and wives are doing their respective duties, Jialing and Zewen can also take care of household affairs, and Meng Lanxin is helping out.

Chen Xiuyun simply let go and handed over the affairs of the mansion to everyone else, and she rested with peace of mind.

Chen Xiuyun is already 36 years old. She must be extra careful when getting pregnant at this age.

The hospital was crowded and messy, so she couldn't go there, so she simply arranged for Meng Lanxin to go and take a look on her behalf.

As for why Yang Chunhong or Lin Yuhuan were not sent, it was very simple. They were also pregnant and were already quite advanced in their pregnancy. It was inconvenient for them to move around with big bellies.

"Okay, I'll go check it out right away, don't worry, big sister.

Yinglan is in good shape, and the doctors at the clinic were all trained by you personally, so they have good medical skills."

Meng Lanxin nodded with a smile, stood up and walked out with her people.

At the hospital, Zhao Yinglan was successfully admitted, and then her stomach began to ache violently.

At noon, the doctor checked and found that the cervix was almost dilated, so he sent her to the delivery room.

After more than three quarters of an hour, the sound of a baby crying was heard in the delivery room.

After a while, a nurse came out of the delivery room and informed Lin Ruolan and others who were waiting outside that Zhao Yinglan had given birth to a boy weighing 6.6 jin, and both mother and child were safe.

When Lin Ruolan heard this, she was extremely happy and quickly sent someone to deliver a letter to the Zhao family to announce the good news.

Meng Lanxin also quickly arranged people to return to the general's mansion to report the good news.

Upon learning that Zhao Yinglan had given birth to a child safely, Qu Shaoyang and his wife breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now that we have both a grandson and a granddaughter, Master and his wife must be so happy that they can't sleep, right?"

Taking advantage of the time when the guests left, Qu Shaoyang went back to the backyard to see Chen Xiuyun and started chatting and laughing with her.

"Isn't it? Master and his wife have been looking forward to holding their grandchildren all the time. Now that they have got their wish, they must be very happy." Chen Xiuyun also laughed.

"In a few years, we will be looking forward to having grandchildren.

Time flies by so fast. It seems like it was just yesterday when we first met. In the blink of an eye, we have been married for almost 20 years. "

"Yes, I was a raftsman back then, but I never thought that I would become better and better over the years."

Qu Shaoyang held his wife in his arms and reached out to touch her belly.

Chen Xiuyun is less than three months pregnant and her pregnancy is not obvious, but after all, she has given birth to five children, so it is impossible for her belly to be as flat as that of a little girl.

"Right now, I don't want anything else but to hope that the baby in your belly can be born safely.

I think, when you give birth, we should go to the hospital, the conditions in the hospital are better. "

If we were to ask what Qu Shaoyang is most worried about right now, it would be the baby in Chen Xiuyun's belly.

After all, Chen Xiuyun is old now, and she has been taking care of housework over the years. Her health is not as good as before, so she had a very difficult pregnancy.

As his first wife, with whom he has been in love for twenty years, Chen Xiuyun is very important in Qu Shaoyang's heart.

Others may hope to get promoted, get rich, and have their wives die, but Qu Shaoyang never had such thoughts. He just hopes that everyone around him is well.

Especially Chen Xiuyun, there cannot be any mistakes.

"Okay, it's up to you. We'll give birth wherever you say."

Chen Xiuyun would not be stupid about this matter. Now that she has the conditions, she will definitely go to the hospital.

The couple chatted for a while, and then a message came from the front that another guest was coming, so Qu Shaoyang hurried to the front hall.

Zhao Yinglan gave birth on the first day of the first lunar month and stayed in the hospital for three days. After observation, she was found to be in good condition and was discharged to go home to recuperate.

At this time, Wanyu had not yet finished her confinement, and there were two new mothers at home who needed care. Fortunately, there were enough people in the house, so Lin Ruolan did not have to be in a panic.

Even though it was New Year's Day, the general's office was still busy. Qu Shaoyang only rested at home for a few days before going back to handle official business.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the general of Jilin sent a telegram to the Qing government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying that the Japanese were smuggling guns in Jilin to help bandits.

In fact, since the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan has bribed many green forest bandits and secretly provided various financial assistance.

Qu Shaoyang had known about this for a long time. After all, he had spies throughout the three northeastern provinces, and any move by Japan would not escape Qu Shaoyang's eyes and ears.

In fact, among the outlaws currently bribed by Japan, at least half are Qu Shaoyang's men.

These outlaws were commissioned by Qu Shaoyang to deliberately infiltrate the opposing camp in order to gather information for Qu Shaoyang.

The Japanese have been active recently, so Qu Shaoyang took the opportunity to make a report to warn them. Not long after, Qu Shaoyang, under the instruction of the court, took a series of measures to prohibit the Japanese from living outside the settlement.

The Japanese also realized that this Jilin general of the Qing court was always hostile to them.

So those people thought of many ways and used various channels to try to make friends with Qu Shaoyang.

In response to this, Qu Shaoyang did not express any attitude, stating that everything he did was assigned by the court and that he personally had no opinion on the Japanese side.

Immediately afterwards, Qu Shaoyang appointed Song Yu, chairman of the Jilin Local Self-Government Association, to lead a team to Japan and various provinces in China to investigate the new policies and learn from their experiences.

As a result, the Japanese side was also confused, and no one could figure out what Qu Shaoyang's attitude was.

On the 18th day of the first lunar month, Tianzhi and Wanyu's baby was one month old. Tianzhi took a special leave and rushed back from Tianjin to reunite with the family.

Tianzhi is already this old and he just got a daughter. He loves her so much that he wants to hold her in his arms all day long.

After discussion, the couple named the child Zhang Manshu, nicknamed Yueyue.

Now that Tianzhi is back, Qu Shaoyang has to find a chance to get together with him no matter how busy he is.

During the day, Qu Shaoyang was busy with official duties and had no time, so the two brothers got together in the evening, made some side dishes, had two pots of wine, and chatted while drinking.

After Zhang Tianzhi returned to Tianjin from Jilin, he was assigned to the 1st Artillery Battalion of the 4th Regiment as the commander because of his meritorious service in boundary survey, and was stationed in Jinghai, Tianjin.

When Tianzhi left Jilin, Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan gave him a large sum of money, so he bought a house in Tianjin and hired maids and old women.

Just wait for a while, when the weather gets warmer and Yueyue is a little older, and then take Wanyu and the child over.

Qu Shaoyang was very happy to learn that his younger brother was promoted, so he encouraged him to work hard and strive for further promotion in the future.

Although the Beiyang Fourth Town is not as good as the Third Town which is purely Yuan Shikai's direct line, it is also quite good.

Tianzhi is not even thirty years old yet he has already become a standard commander. His future is limitless.

Zhang Tianzhi had asked for leave to visit his family, but he could not stay long due to time constraints. He stayed at home with his wife and daughter for a few days, then left in a hurry and returned to Tianjin.

On the 26th day of the first lunar month, the Qing government and representatives of Tsarist Russia held a special customs meeting in Harbin.

He Houqi, governor of Binjiang Province, and Song Xiaolian, general manager of the Heilongjiang Negotiation Bureau, met with Liu Ba, the acting consul general of Tsarist Russia in Harbin, and Trakin, the customs supervisor of the Trans-Amur region.

The issue of Harbin Customs was discussed at the meeting and the "Draft Regulations for the Trial Operation of the North Manchuria Customs" was formulated.

Subsequently, Tsarist Russia abolished its military and political office in Changchun.

Qu Shaoyang issued an order prohibiting private individuals from selling or renting land to foreigners. Once discovered, the transaction would be invalid and the person would be severely punished.

On the first day of February, in accordance with the Sino-US Treaty of Commerce, the Andong Customs was established at the Andong Port, and an opening ceremony was held immediately afterwards. Andong Port officially became a foreign trade port.

Various countries set up commercial ports, embassies and consulates in Andong, and Andong ushered in another great development.

When Xinyuan's son was one month old, Liu Dongshan held a grand banquet to entertain relatives and friends.

Chen Xiuyun was pregnant and could not go to congratulate the couple, so Meng Lanxin sent a generous gift on her behalf.

Xinyuan was not at home, so Liu Dongshan and Zhao Bingzhang discussed and named the child Liu Songcheng.

After the full moon banquet, the Zhao family took Zhao Yinglan and Xiao Songcheng back to stay for a while, which people call "hiding in the pee nest".

Xinyuan had already tried to send a letter to Germany about his wife's childbirth, but due to the mountains and seas, Xinyuan could not receive the message for a while.

Besides, even if he received the news, it would be useless because Xinyuan had not completed his studies yet and could not come back to see the children.

After the first month of the year, the affairs of the general's office became increasingly busy. Qu Shaoyang went out early and came back late every day, and was very busy.

At the end of February, Yang Chunhong's brother Yang Yulin came to Jilin City, under the pretext of visiting Yang Chunhong, but actually came to find Qu Shaoyang.

"General Qu, I have a letter here, please take a look." In the study, Yang Yulin took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Qu Shaoyang.

When Qu Shaoyang took the letter, he was shocked to find that it was written by Song from the Tongmenghui and addressed to the leaders of the green forest armed forces in three provinces.

In the letter, Song praised Yang Yulin and others for gathering righteous men between Liaohai and their lofty ambitions to help the weak and suppress the strong, to resist officials and to help the people.

He called on everyone to gather the volunteer armies east and west of the Liaohe River and north and south of the Heishui River into one group to carry out great events together.

The letter also analyzed two points. The overall idea was to win over the group of bandits in the Northeast who were seen as bandits by others, and to make them change their scattered struggles to mutual unity, and from economic struggles to revolution.

The fundamental purpose of Song's contact with the "Ma Xia" in the Northeast was to attack the North and the South together and plan a major move.

"General, I have inquired and found that many people have received similar letters, including Li Fengchun, Zhu Erjiao, Yang Guodong and others.

More than half of these people are ours.

What do you think we should do about this? Should we send someone to arrest them directly?"

After receiving the letter, Yang Yulin immediately came to Jilin City to find Qu Shaoyang. Deep down, he didn't want to have anything to do with these people.

These people were supported by Qu Shaoyang, who provided them with food, wages and arms.

They would rob the Russians, Japanese, or the rich and unkind landlords from time to time, and their lives were so carefree.

Those people thought that they could risk their lives just by a letter. Is that possible?
Even if you praise these people to the utmost in the letter, without any practical benefit, who would be willing to help?

Qu Shaoyang has informants from all walks of life, distributed all over the place. In fact, he has also received news in the past few days.

Song changed his name to Taoyuan Zongjie and set out from Tokyo with the Japanese man Furukawa Kiyoshi, met up with Bai Yuhuan in Moji, crossed the Yalu River and arrived in Andong.

It seems that the purpose of these people's trip to the Northeast this time is to contact armed forces in various places and intend to start an uprising.

"Brother, the intentions of these people are unclear at the moment, so we shouldn't act rashly.

So, please go back and write them a reply, invite these people to meet, and find out their real purpose."

Qu Shaoyang didn't have much good feeling towards these people, but he couldn't say he disliked them either.

How to say it, the Qing government was corrupt, and people of insight awakened and tried to save it by various means, which is worthy of respect.

However, Qu Shaoyang did not want to get involved with these people, nor did he want to cause too much trouble in the three northeastern provinces.

The people of Northeast China have suffered enough with years of war and disasters. Now they finally have a chance to breathe. They should just develop quietly and not get involved in those things.

The common people don't care who is the emperor, they just want to live a peaceful life.

However, Qu Shaoyang must grasp the movements of those people.

That's why he gave Yang Yulin some advice, telling him to find a way to infiltrate those people, get information, and then make plans for the next step.

Yang Yulin nodded after listening, "Okay, then I know what to do. I'll contact Li Fengchun and the others later."

Just like that, Yang Yulin did not stay in the general's mansion. He only met Yang Chunhong once and then left quietly.

In early March, Li Fengchun invited Song, Guchuanqing and others to Dagu Mountain for a meeting, expressing their support for the leadership of the alliance and jointly establishing a branch.

At the same time, Yang Yulin also learned that Song intended to go to Jiapigou in person to visit Han Dengju.

(End of this chapter)