Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 64: Muba Reunion
"Brother Liu, the work in the mountains this year is different from previous years."

Li Yongfu looked embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

"What's the matter? Just tell me directly. What else can I do if it's different?"

Shui Laowu frowned, not understanding what Li Yongfu was up to.

"Well, I'll tell you straight out, this mountain farm of ours is no longer yours from now on.

Now it is a government-run place, and the big cabinet can only be regarded as a shareholder. "Li Yongfu gritted his teeth and said directly.

After hearing this, Qu Shaoyang and Shui Laowu were dumbfounded.

"How did this become a government-run place? What does this have to do with the government?"

"Well, what can I do? Some people are jealous of me because they see me making money."

Li Yongfu sighed and told the master and his disciple the whole story.

In the second year of the Guangxu period, the imperial court established a county seat in Andong.

At the same time as the land tax was being levied, a timber tax bureau was also established in Dadonggou, which recognized the legality of timber harvesting and levied raft taxes.

From then on, when logging and rafting, woodcutters no longer had to worry about the imperial court confiscating their wood and leaving them with nothing.

Each material warehouse and lumber yard can legally harvest and transport timber after obtaining a logging permit from the government and paying taxes.

Therefore, many material warehouses and lumber yards are making a lot of money.

Seeing how prosperous the timber business was, the government was naturally not satisfied with just collecting timber taxes.

So this autumn, officials from the East Province took the lead and joined forces with various material warehouses and lumberyards to jointly establish a government-run timber planting company.

From then on, all matters related to timber harvesting, timber tax payment, etc. were the responsibility of the government-run timber planting company.

The company can lend funds to material warehouses, lumber yards, and foreman to provide protection.

Qian Xiucheng was the first person to build a mountain farm in Hengshan, and it was also the largest one among the mountain farms in Hengshan. He would definitely not be left out of such a task.

Today, the Hengshan mountain farm also belongs to the government-run wood planting company.

In the future, Muzhi Company will take a share of the income from the mountain farm.

“It’s still us who are doing the work, but Muzhi Company wants to assign a big boss and bring a few people with him.

Brother Liu, I have no choice but to let you be the second in command. Look at this matter..."

Li Yongfu had no choice. The government's words sounded nice, but in reality they were just making up excuses and robbing people by force.

But they are all ordinary people, how dare they not listen?

If you don't listen, you won't be allowed to work in the mountain field. How can you expect to make money then?

After hearing what Li Yongfu said, Shui Laowu and Qu Shaoyang were silent.

After a while, Qu Shaoyang spoke, "Second Cabinet Manager, I signed a three-year contract with the cabinet manager.

Since the mountain farm has become a government-run wood-planting company, my contract should be invalid, right?"

Qu Shaoyang thought that if he could take the opportunity to terminate the contract, he would simply stop working in the mountain field and think of other ways to make money.

"Lenghu'er, it's not that I'm not willing to show my respect, this is just not okay.

Our mountain farm is now under the management of the Wood Planting Company, and your contract still counts."

Li Yongfu sighed. He had no choice. It was not something he could decide.

"If you don't do it before the three-year contract is over, you can only pay one thousand taels of silver according to the contract, or you will be sued."

The government officials were not fools either. When they set up the wood planting company, they already knew how many wooden handles each store had on its counters.

If Qu Shaoyang quits before the end of the contract, the government will definitely not let him go.

"Shaoyang, we are here now, what else can we do if we don't work? Stay." The old man beside him sighed and advised. The old man signed a contract with the cabinet for one year. Every year when the raft was exiled to Andong, the contract ended. When he went to work in the mountain field in winter, he signed another contract for the next year.

So if Shui Laowu says he doesn't want to do it, no one can control whether he stays or leaves.

But Qu Shaoyang couldn't do that. Once the three-year contract was signed, there was no chance to go back on his word. They couldn't come up with one thousand taels of silver, and they couldn't just let Qu Shaoyang run away, right?
When the time comes, they will take the contract to the government, and if the lawsuit is successful, won't they come back to work obediently in the end?

Shui Laowu was afraid that Qu Shaoyang would become stupid again, so he hurriedly tried to persuade him.

Qu Shaoyang also understood his current situation, and he couldn't run away as long as the contract was still there.

Unless he hides in the deep mountains and forests, no one can find him. But there are still many years before the fall of the Qing Dynasty. He can't stay there forever, right?
"Okay, I'll listen to Master. We make a living by working hard anyway.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a counter or a company, as long as you work and get paid, it’s fine.”

Qu Shaoyang knew his master’s good intentions, so he nodded and agreed.

"Well, that's right, then, let's go to the big house first and discuss how to do this year's work.

In two days we will have all the wood ready, and we will start work as soon as the snow starts to fall."

When Li Yongfu heard that Shui Laowu and his apprentice agreed to stay, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and hurriedly invited them to go to the big house to rest.

The so-called big house is a wooden house.

Compared with ordinary people's houses, this house is much bigger, with two large bunk beds in the north and south, and two turtle stoves in the middle of the floor.

This turtle stove is a unique heating device invented by the Mu Gang.

Place a thick iron pot upside down on a square stove about one and a half feet high, and cover the edges of the pot with yellow mud.

Then a stove door was left at one end, and a rising chimney was built with bricks and yellow mud at the other end.

It is cold in winter and this wooden house is drafty everywhere. Even if the kang is heated, the house is not warm.

In addition to the two turtle stoves, there was someone responsible for adding firewood throughout the night so that people living in the house would not freeze to death.

As soon as everyone entered the big house, many wooden handles gathered around to greet them.

"Hey, you're back, Lenghu'er. Long time no see."

Wang Changliang, Lao Sun, Dazhuzi, Ermaozi and others all came back with Li Yongfu. They hadn't seen each other for some time, so they felt particularly cordial when they met.

"Okay, okay, everything is fine." Shui Laowu was also very happy to see the guy in the middle row, and nodded in response with a smile.

"Changliang, have you recovered from your injury? The work in the mountain farm is much more tiring than the work in the water farm. If you haven't recovered, you should take a rest."

"Boss, my injury has long been healed. I've been well fed and well cared for by Anton. Look at me, I'm so fat that I can hardly walk."

Wang Changliang smiled, patted his chest and said with full energy.

Shui Laowu nodded, then looked at Ermaozi and the others.

"Er Maozi, didn't you always say you didn't want to be a wood handle anymore? Why did you go into the mountains again?"

They were all acquaintances. Since Shui Laowu got married, he was not as serious as before, so he started joking with Ermaozi.

"I don't have any skills. Being an apprentice means I get beaten and scolded, but I don't make any money. How can it be as happy as being a woodcutter? I'd better come back to the mountain."

Ermaozi was teased by Shui Laowu and scratched his head embarrassedly.

When everyone heard this, they all burst into laughter.

"That's right. It's fate that we brothers can get together. It's so lively, isn't it, Lenghu?"

"Oh, I forgot to say that from now on you can no longer call me Leng Hu'er, you have to call me Shao Yang.

When in Andong, Shaoyang found a fortune teller to give him a great name. "

Shui Laowu suddenly remembered this matter and quickly announced it to everyone.

(End of this chapter)