golden scales

It has been four years since Zhao Qiming arrived in North Korea by boat in Chongzhen in 18 years, and used the silver given by Gong Dingzi to buy land and build houses.

Speaking of which, it was he who settled here that attracted several families of North Korean mountain people, who used the iron farm tools he brought from Daming to reclaim wasteland and plant crops, thus forming the small village today.

It can be said that although Zhao Qiming is not a landlord, he is actually revered as a saint. He doesn't need to worry about the fruits and vegetables throughout the year, and the farmers deliver them to his home.After the autumn harvest every year, the villagers will also send new rice over.

Zhao Qiming also invested in Songshang and made a lot of money from the ginseng trade, but he still refused to spend money to buy land.

I am afraid that this day has been prepared for a long time, but the fields cannot be taken away.

Mao Shi chased him into the mountains, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.But at this time, two ruts can be seen from the ground, and a hidden mountain depression was found by following the vines.

There is a thatched hut in the depression, like a hunter who occasionally spends the night and rests.In front of the hut there were two plowed vegetable fields, already green and apparently tended to.A yellow cow was grazing by the side of the vegetable field, when it saw outsiders, it let out a low moo.

"Who are you looking for?"

Mao Shi was walking towards the hut when suddenly a middle-aged man's voice came from behind him.

Mao Shi turned his head, but saw a farmer on the shady hillside, wearing brown clothes and a bamboo hat, leaning on a hoe in both hands, looking at him vigilantly.

"Since you speak Chinese with me, you naturally know who I'm looking for." Mao Shi was still in a bad mood, and walked up the slope without showing any emotion, holding the handle of the knife, with a familiar look, and said: " Are you digging a ditch?"

A small straight canal has been opened on the slope, and a mountain spring is flowing in it.The farmer is digging a canal horizontally to divert the mountain spring water to the nearby fields.

"What can be grown here?" Mao Shi asked, "Mr. Zhao."

The farmer was Zhao Qiming whom Chen De searched hard for.

Zhao Qiming revealed his name when he saw the visitor.Seeing that he was pressing the knife with one hand, he knew that there was no hope of escape, so he simply said generously: "Ginseng."

Ginseng has always been a holy product for invigorating vitality since it was discovered by people.Many ancient ginseng with strong medicinal effects even have the effect of hanging people's lives, which has been exaggerated.If you look at it from a historical perspective.Ming and Jianzhou Jurchen, as well as North Korea's chaotic situation in the Northeast, can also be called "ginseng war".

At the beginning, it was the ginsengers from Han, Manchu, and North Korea who gradually accumulated blood feuds because of digging ginseng.

"Hey, I've never heard that ginseng can be grown." Mao Shi looked down at the field and looked at the green leaves of ginseng seedlings or weeds, quite disbelieving.

Zhao Qiming didn't explain much, but out of his sharp nature, he casually replied: "That's because you don't know much."

Mao Shi was choked up, but he was overjoyed: this level of verbal wounding is almost the same as that of Cao Junshi!

Don't underestimate the matter of choking someone, first of all that person must have a good brain.The reaction is fast enough.Secondly, you must have self-confidence, that is, an arrogance that surpasses ordinary people.With these two foundations, you will definitely not be a mediocre person.What's more, this Mr. Zhao can grow ginseng, regardless of whether he can grow it or not, at least it shows that this person really dares to think about it!

——Not mediocre, definitely not mediocre!

Mao Shi felt secretly refreshed.

Zhao Qiming saw that the warrior was staring at him in a daze, with a treacherous and wretched smile on his face, and couldn't help feeling cold.Said: "What are you doing here, just tell me." Then he used a hoe to fiddle with the water canal.

"I want to invite Mr. to come out of the mountain." Mao Shi said bluntly.He snatched Zhao Qiming's hoe again, and said, "It's up to me to do the hard work." As he spoke, he twisted his waist and lowered the hoe, and sure enough, he dug out a large piece of soil, which was naturally very different from Zhao Qiming's gentle approach. .

Zhao Qiming didn't directly refuse, but said: "Don't dig too deep, the ginseng will die if it gets flooded."

"So difficult to serve?" Mao Shi said: "No wonder I only heard about digging ginseng. I have never seen ginseng planting."

"That is," Zhao Qiming paused, "It's also because there are few people in the north who can read and write, and they haven't read "Agriculture"."

""Agronomy"?" Mao Shi hadn't done farm work for more than ten years, and he blindly wanted to be quick.After a few breaths, I was already a little out of breath.

"It was written by your prince, teaching people how to grow crops." Zhao Qiming simply took a rest under a tree beside him, and said: "The so-called Five Theories of Heaven, Earth, Water, Customs, and Style are indeed thought-provoking, and the words have never been said before."

"His Highness knows how to do farm work? Hehe, I haven't read it, but I have only read the "Code of Exercises" written by His Highness." Mao Shi said.

"If there is a sage who is born and known in the world, he is probably like the crown prince." Zhao Qiming sighed.

When Mao Shi heard Zhao Qiming flattering the crown prince, he felt happy for some reason, and he also had a good impression of this sick-brained scholar.

"Hey, why did you come to North Korea?" Zhao Qiming asked.

"We? You mean General Chen De, the admiral of North Korea's military affairs?" Mao Shi said, "Our Liaodong Division gave Donglu a little advantage, so..."

"Have been dispatched?"

"It's called relegation, and he's still an officer. I'm the one who was assigned." Mao Shi sighed, "If I don't make mistakes, maybe I can still be a division commander."

"Don't you complain?" Zhao Qiming asked.

"Who is to blame?" Mao Shi said disapprovingly, "If you choose me again, I will still make that mistake."

"You are so persistent, obviously you don't think you are wrong, so don't you blame the person who assigned you?"

"Don't complain. Military law is military law, why complain?" Mao Shi chuckled, "It's better now than I used to be, when I was still looting houses on the mountain."

Zhao Qiming let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky. It was the clear sky dotted with white clouds.

He thinks life is a joke.He used to look down on Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Cheng, but now he has to be loyal to him under the pressure of "moral loyalty" for the rest of his life.

He originally thought: the crown prince is so arrogant and domineering, he will inevitably end up in confinement, and when the time comes, he will plan carefully and avenge Zhu Chunchen, which will be regarded as the honor of the guest of honor.Who knew that the Crown Prince would become even more high-spirited, as if Guangwu was reincarnated, he would fall into a serious illness, his flesh and bones, and forcibly pulled the entire Ming Dynasty back from the brink of destruction.

If you still have the idea of ​​revenge at this time, you will be the most stupid person in the history.

The only thing Zhao Qiming can do is to take Zhu Chunchen's only flesh and blood, go far away, and spend the rest of his life safely, which can be regarded as his own reputation.

Who knew that Daming's tentacles would eventually reach North Korea.

"What do you want me for?" Zhao Qiming asked.

Mao Shi stopped his hoe: "General Chen wants to ask Mr. to come out of the mountain to help him show his military power in North Korea."

"Where did you hear my name?" Zhao Qiming is not the kind of person who thinks that Lao Tzu is the best in the world, and he doesn't believe that the name of a small servant in Cheng Guogong's mansion can be known by the crown prince.

"It is from the North Korean merchants that I learned about Mr.'s virtuous name." Mao Shi said.

"Oh." Zhao Qiming said calmly: "I still have a wife here, so I can't leave suddenly. When this piece of ginseng grows, I will definitely serve in the general's tent."

With a smile on his face, Mao Shi said: "Sir, we are far away in the East, and we are fellow villagers. There is no righteousness in business, so don't run away."

Zhao Qiming blushed, waved his hand, and said impatiently: "Got it, got it, you go now."

Mao Shi put down his hoe and clasped his fists at Zhao Qiming: "Sir, when your ginseng grows, we will all drink together!"

Zhao Qiming calculated the time, and his family members were coming back soon, waving repeatedly: "Go, go, don't come back if the ginseng hasn't grown yet."

Mao Shi laughed loudly and walked away.

After returning to the village to retrieve his mount, Mao Shi quickly returned to Pyongyang City and found Chen De.

At this time, Chen De was talking to two Korean Han merchants, both of whom were selling ginseng, hoping to obtain the military flag of the Ming army as proof of customs clearance along the way.For them, giving Chen De a fixed bonus is far better than being harassed and exploited by North Korean officials along the way.

Chen De also often does some guard work in the name of training to supplement military expenses.

Mao Shi had met these two people several times, and wanted to save Chen De's face, he deliberately stepped forward and said, "General, then Mr. Zhao Qiming finally felt the sincerity of the General, and he is willing to join the account soon! "

Chen De was overjoyed, got up and grabbed Mao Shi's hands, and said happily: "It's so good! It's all thanks to you!"

"It's easy to talk about." Mao Shi laughed.

Chen De asked again: "Is there any confirmation of when that sage will come? Let's get ready to welcome him."

"He planted a ginseng field, and he just took out the seedlings, saying that he would wait until they grow. It would take a few months anyway."

Before Mao Shi finished speaking, the two businessmen burst out laughing.

The two hurriedly got up to apologize, and said again: "I'm afraid the general has been fooled. Not to mention that ginseng cannot be grown, even if it grows in the wild mountains, it takes at least fifteen or sixteen years to grow into medicine. That man really They are entertaining the general."

Mao Shi blushed, and argued strongly: "It takes fifteen or six years to be used as medicine, maybe it only takes three to five months to fry it and eat it! I only agreed with him to grow up, and I didn't say that I have to wait until it can be used as medicine? Otherwise, if he wants to Plant a thousand-year-old ginseng, and we still wait for him for 1000 years?"

"What the general said is very true, what he said is very true." The two businessmen secretly laughed and admitted defeat.It is not clear why the so-called scholar meets a soldier. This kind of verbal lawsuit can only win a lot of trouble, and it is wise to admit defeat.

Chen De didn't care how long the ginseng had to stay in the field.Whether it is fifteen or sixteen years or three or five months, he has no patience to wait.

"How many ginsengs are there in his field?" Chen De asked suddenly.

"Just looking at the tassels, I'm afraid there are thirty or fifty trees." Mao Shi said.

Chen De turned to the two businessmen and said, "Let me borrow fifty people to join me."

"General, is this going to be a trick?" The older businessman at that time was afraid that the ginseng would be like Jingzhou. , he sent Xu Shu to the general to enter Cao Ying - without saying a word, what should we do at that time?"

Chen De made sense when he heard it, but it was difficult for him to make a decision. (To be continued..)

ps: Ask for a recommendation ticket, ask for a monthly ticket~~!