Wu Zhenzhou knew that these short-haired officials were almost happy to kneel down, but he was afraid at this moment and didn't care much about it. He knelt down and kowtowed and begged for forgiveness, saying that he was obsessed with money and saw that ginseng was cheap, so he refused everyone.

"Boss Wu, we are not here to catch you today, otherwise there wouldn't be three people. But if you hide it for those people, you will be at your own risk."

"The villain is guilty! There are six gangs in the mountains. Xu Mazi's group has the most people, with more than 300 numbers. The other four groups have more than 100 numbers and the fewer have more than 30 people."

"You get up and talk. Which one was hurting people on the mountain road in the first two days?"

Wu Zhenzhou stood up and said unconsciously: "It should be Xu Mazi's person."

According to the Civil Affairs Bureau's visits and investigations some time ago, since the Qing army withdrew from Ningguta in May, some criminals who were exiled here took advantage of the chaos to escape into the mountains, gathered together to steal ginseng, rob border people's property, and injured people frequently.

Furthermore, today's Northeast ginseng is all natural ginseng, with the annual mining volume of about 100,000 taels. Nowadays, the average market price of ginseng in Beijing is 40 taels of silver, which is even more expensive when it comes to the south. In other words, this is a large industry with an annual trade volume of more than 4 million taels, and this is what Zhao Xin really cares about.

Since the late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing court decided to change the "Salt Induction Law" and take over the business of collecting ginseng by issuing "votes" to privately owned by the royal family. However, because of the hard work of collecting ginseng in the early days, the votes could not be distributed at all. So during the Yongzheng period, the Northeast ginseng industry was handed over to the royal merchant Fan family to contract.

This Fan family is the leader of the eight major unscrupulous merchants in the late Ming Dynasty, the Jiexiu merchant Fan Yong fights the family.

To put it bluntly, the most glorious period of the Fan family was in the Yongzheng Dynasty. Not only was the royal merchant in the family, but he was involved in many businesses such as copper industry and ginseng, but there were also people working as the Minister of Taipu Temple, and he was the second-rank official. However, good and evil were finally rewarded. In the 48th year of Qianlong's reign, the copper industry led by the Fan family suffered serious losses. Therefore, Qianlong issued an order to remove the Fan family's official position and the qualification of the imperial merchant, and his family property was also seized, and the head of the Fan family was also imprisoned and never recovered.

Since the Royal Merchants took over the procurement business, the benefits of voting were huge. Simply put, one vote was to collect 16 taels of voting, and ten taels were handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the merchants were satisfied with the 6 taels. The Fan family made a profit of about 300,000 taels of silver a year through this business.

Seeing that it was profitable, the Qing court wanted to take back the ginseng industry. So since the tenth year of Qianlong, it said that "the imperial merchants only seek to make profits but cannot sincerely release votes", and it was officially changed to an official office and was undertaken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Speaking of ginseng collection, Wu Zhenzhou talked about Zhao Xinzhi, which was no secret.

"In the past, the imperial court..." Wu Zhenzhou paused for a moment, and saw that Zhao Xin and the other two had no response, so he continued: "They set up official departments in Shengjing, Jilin and Ningguta. The votes will be issued by the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing and handed over to the General Shengjing and the various official departments. Every year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will also send people to help."

Zhao Xin said: "What are the rules for the number of votes?"

Wu Zhenzhou said: "This is not rated. As long as someone takes it, the court hopes that more will be better."

In short, the Qing Dynasty hoped that the more they earned, the better. Originally, "Ten taels were paid to the public, six taels were given to the public" was changed to "Ten taels were paid to the public, two taels were given to the public, and one tael was given to the insured"; in addition, ginseng would have to collect six taels of silver per catty. In the 18th year of Qianlong alone, the sales and tax silver income of ginseng was more than 1.5 million taels of silver, and the national tariff income was only more than 4.33 million taels.

The year when the most votes were issued in history was in the 25th year of Qianlong's reign. The three local governments issued more than 60,000 votes. Even if calculated at the price of 30 taels and one liang, the direct income of a vote was 300 taels, which was not considered tax. However, since the 42nd year of Qianlong's reign, the procurement industry in the northeast began to deteriorate and could not recover.

The civil affairs cadres on the side heard this a little strange and hurriedly asked what was going on.

Zhao Xin sighed: "It's nothing more than the four words 'Fishing the Exhaust the Scene and Fishing'."

Wu Zhenzhou stretched out his thumb and praised: "Master, it's true."

The Qing Dynasty's ginseng harvesting model was a large-scale excavation that only scattered, regardless of planting. It took more than two hundred years of more than a fishing excavation, and there were not enough mountains to dig. The Qing Dynasty not only did not support artificial ginseng planting, but also strictly prohibited it. It sent officers and soldiers to arrest people who plant ginseng in various places, but the reason was that it was "using fake and distorted the real."

A ginseng will take at least three years to be mined. Large-scale ginseng harvesting year after year will destroy the growth of ginseng seedlings, and the decline of the industry is inevitable.

Although the Qing Dynasty also explicitly ordered the ginseng to be raised, this was limited to the official ginseng bureau not allowing votes, but it was impossible to prohibit people from secretly picking. In fact, the more severe the ban, the higher the ginseng market, the more serious the secretly picking.

There is no way, who can make huge profits for the participants? Many officials and powerful officials secretly sponsor refugees to carry out private procurement, and transport them into the pass through entrainment. Some officials extort gangs, even using inferior products as good ones to make money, and feed their own pockets.

It took Wu Zhenzhou more than an hour to briefly introduce the situation of the Northeast ginseng industry. During this period, he also talked about how it is hard to dig ginseng. It must be processed in time after digging out, otherwise the moisture will be too large and the ginseng that has been dug to be decayed will rot and deteriorate.

After his explanation, he was so dry that Zhao Xin and the other two were also focused on listening.

However, after Zhao Xin finished listening to the other party's explanation, he returned to the first topic and asked: "That Xu Mazi and his gang, do you say there are more than 300 people, who are there?"

When Wu Zhen heard this on Monday, he thought that this person was still thinking about it! So he hurriedly said, "Master, Xu Mazi's place is mostly prisoners who have been exiled to this point, as well as escaped slaves from bannermen, unemployed vagrants, etc. In addition, there are some officers and soldiers who were beaten away by the vanguard. Their group only had dozens of people last year, and this year there were a lot of more people."

Don’t think that most of the exiles in Ningguta are wronged people. Local exiles can be roughly divided into political prisoners, criminal prisoners, and ethical and moral prisoners, among which criminal prisoners are the main ones. These were originally those who were responsible for death for major crimes, but because the Qing court had amnesty or other opportunities, they were sentenced to exile.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! According to the "Law of the Qing Dynasty", there are about 30 reasons for exile in Ningguta. These include those who were exiled to the smoky land in the south and were caught, those who were trafficked in humans, those who pretended to be in the banner, those who were exempted from death, those who sold private salt, those who engaged in secret sects, those who stole grain, those who made fake silver, etc.

In these days, those who dared to come to Ningguta to dig ginseng with severe punishment were not good at this time. Because they would be exiled again once they were caught, most of these ginsengers held weapons to resist the arrest of officers and soldiers, and sometimes they would rob the cross-border residents.

Whether it is oppressed or other reasons, these people will pose a threat to the future governance of Beihai Town and must be resolved.

Zhao Xin nodded. He was right to come to Hengfeng pawnshop today. Although this shopkeeper Wu is a pawnshop, he is very familiar with the ginseng industry.

It seems that the local Beihai garrison must be dispatched to clear out the gangs of thieves occupying the mountain and return the local area to safety. If this Xu Mazi and his gang are allowed to develop, it will definitely become the biggest unstable factor under the rule of Beihai Town.

He pondered for a while and gave a wink on his opponent. The man understood and said that he had something to do, so he left for a while. After that, he hurried out of the back hall and walked around the counter and went out.

Afterwards, while drinking tea, Zhao Xin asked about the local people indiscriminately, and asked about the situation of more than a dozen other pawn shops in the city. Wu Zhenzhou had to pick up what he knew and answered it one by one, and for a while, he couldn't figure out Zhao Xin's intentions.

After about a stick of incense, the civil affairs cadre who had just left came back and nodded to Zhao Xin as soon as he entered the door.

Zhao Xin suddenly asked, "Shopkeeper Wu, your Hengfeng pawnshop is the property of Qitai? Before the three of us came, who was the person who entered your shop? Where is he now?"

Three questions were thrown out one after another, which was really shocking. Wu Zhenzhou was so scared that his forehead was sweating. He collapsed on the chair, with no strength on his legs. Just as he was thinking about how to explain, he heard a loud footsteps outside the door, and then someone sternly said: "Come out! Don't come out and shoot again!"

Wu Zhenzhou suddenly panicked, and then heard another person beg for mercy: "No! Don't! The younger one is the shareholder of this company, come to settle accounts with Manager Wu!"

Who is Chang Wu who is not talking?

After a while, as soon as the door opened, Chang Wu, who was tied up tightly, walked in with two North Navy soldiers.

A soldier said to Zhao Xin: "Sir, this guy found a dagger."

Only then did Wu Zhenzhou understand what the person went out just now. He knew that he could not hide anything now, so he exerted his hands, walked forward, and knelt on the ground again.

Although Zhao Xin didn't want anyone to kneel down, he deliberately wanted to control the other party this time, so he did not let Wu Zhenzhou get up, but instead showed a sneer: "Although it's okay to say that there is no prohibition, but Zhangguan Wu, when we first implemented military control of Ningguta, we had already asked the shops to explain the shareholders' situation and said that we would not make things difficult for you, the businessmen who are in partnership. But you have come to ask about the situation several times. You said that it was your own business and there was no cooperation with the people in the government. Do we think we are easy to cheat?"

"Master, please spare my life!" Wu Zhenzhou lowered his head and leaned on the ground, trembling all over, as if he was sifted. "The master was the stock that Chang Wudai, his concubine's brother, had held. This person was. However, the master was of high position and power. How dare the villain ask for his old man's money? It was all given by the villain voluntarily. Chang Wu came this time to bring the capital back to Jilin. Before the man came, the villain was holding accounts with him."

Zhao Xin asked: "How much does Qitai want to take away?"

"Master! The young man is not an assassin. The knife is away from home and is guarding against wild beasts." Chang Wu was already in a state of no possession at this time, and he dared not say anything about money. He knelt on the ground with tears and kowtowed and begged for mercy.

"Are you the brother-in-law of Chitae or your elder brother-in-law?"

"The little man's sister is the fifth concubine of the adult."

"Tsk tsk~~" Zhao Xin sighed that Na Qitai was very physically strong, and then said, "Why are you crying? No one killed you. Go back and tell Na Qitai, don't think you have to make a fortune when you are about to come. If you want to do business, just look for me."

"Yes, yes, yes, the villain will never dare to...ah?" Chang Wu was stunned for a moment.

Zhao Xin smiled slightly and said, "If you go back and tell Qitai what I look like, he will naturally understand what's going on. Get out!" After that, he signaled his subordinates to take Chang Wu out and let go.

After Chang Wu left, Zhao Xin said to Wu Zhenzhou: "Shopkeeper Wu, do you think you should be punished?"

"If you should be punished, the villain will accept the punishment."

"How many ginseng have you collected these days?"

"More than 23,000 kilograms." Wu Zhenzhou lamented in his heart, thinking that he had already paid to his grandma's house!

What a guy, Zhao Xin was shocked when he heard this. If this was transported into the pass, it would cost nearly one million taels of silver!

"Well. What's the current market for ginseng in Guannei?"

Wu Zhenzhou said: "This is different. The master understood after hearing the younger one..."

According to the books of the Guangchu Department of the Qing Dynasty, the current classification of ginseng includes special ginseng, first to fifth ginseng, six categories, and seven categories, including diced ginger, slag powder, reed whiskers, raw ginseng, ginseng leaves, ginseng paste, and crushed ginseng.

Among them, the number of special grades, first-class and second-class collected is limited every year, and it is also very small to use; the whole piece of good ginseng is kept for life and emergency relief, and no one uses it to stew chicken.

The most commonly used ones are diced diced, slag powder, and whiskers. They often use up all the new harvest every year, leaving no inventory left. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs used it for sale, usually 4 and 5 ginseng.

Among them, the reeds are the cheapest, and the price is about fifty taels of silver per catty, and the soaked diced 200 taels of silver per catty, and the ginseng slag powder can be sold for three hundred taels per catty; the stock of fourth and fifth grade ginseng is the largest, and the price is eight hundred taels per catty; while the special and first and second grades are expensive, several hundred taels or even thousands of taels per catty.

After explaining the ginseng market in the pass, Wu Zhenzhou honestly said that the price of ginseng he received was basically about five or six times. After hearing this, Zhao Xin thought that opening a pawn shop was really bad.

"It's not difficult for you. If you sell all the ginseng you received to Beihai Trading Company, the price will be calculated according to what you received. There will be someone to count it for you later. In addition, you will be fined twenty taels of silver. This is because you did not truthfully explain the store's shareholding situation to the Military Control Commission."

"Ah? This... the villain is willing! The villain accepts punishment!" Wu Zhen was overjoyed when he heard this. He thought his home would be searched and imprisoned.

Zhao Xin nodded, then stood up and said, "Okay, then I'll say goodbye first, they both have something to ask you."

Wu Zhenzhou kowtowed quickly and said, "My little man, Mr. Qingtian!"

Walking back to the Military Control Commission office, Zhao Xin basically had a solution to the ginseng industry in the entire Ningguta and Sanxingcheng area. That is, guided by the Civil Affairs Bureau, ginseng is planted on a large scale in several mountain fields, and the ginseng market and sales are controlled through the exchange.

Speaking of which, these days, there are no smokes of sulfur, boiling sugar, dyeing potassium permanganate, and even playing with metal weighting.

Let Korean ginseng and American ginseng go to the ghost! Chinese people like to use ginseng as health products so much, so they must build this industry. How much does a pound of forest ginseng cost in later generations? The best cost is 1,200 yuan. (I once helped a Northeastern family invest in the field. After reading the relevant accounts, I know the price of forest ginseng.)
Chapter completed!