Chapter 182

Fan Jin asked Shuiqing and Qin Yilin to go to the teahouse to sit for a while. He accompanied Ding Heli outside, ostensibly to take a stroll, though it was unlikely he would just walk around for the sake of it.

He took Ding Heli to the back hill.

Last autumn, he scattered Polygonum multiflorum seeds on the back hill. Later, fearing he had not scattered enough or that the germination rate might be low, he bought more seeds several times and scattered them all.

This spring, upon inspection, many seeds had sprouted, though not evenly. Some areas were densely covered with small shoots, while others were bare.

Before the rainy season, the stems of Polygonum multiflorum had grown over half a meter long. Now, he wasn’t sure how they were faring.

He brought Ding Heli here with selfish motives.

His selfish reasons were twofold: firstly, he wanted him to see how well the Polygonum multiflorum was growing and if there were any areas needing attention;

Secondly, and most importantly, with the floods and the impact of reducing fiefs, life in Guangning Prefecture was tough, and it likely wasn’t any better outside.

Since the end of last year, the rice wine business had been forbidden from brewing privately, so naturally, they couldn’t sell it.

If the situation worsened, the brush business would inevitably plummet—when safety couldn’t be guaranteed, literacy would be the first to go;

He had thought about this period carefully, and for the next few years, Polygonum multiflorum was the most suitable way to earn money for the family.

However, he didn’t know if these Polygonum multiflorum could be sold or whether they could be sold at the original price.

And if they couldn’t be sold or if the price had to be lowered, the Polygonum multiflorum would have to be dried for storage, but since Polygonum multiflorum was expensive, would simple slicing and sun-drying suffice?

Even after a heavy rain, the mountain road was still not easy to walk on after a few days of strong sunlight.

But Fan Jin was used to walking, and Ding Heli had collected herbs for decades. He had walked on even harder roads, let alone this small hill.

Fan Jin introduced Ding Heli: “Uncle Ding, this is the mountain I’ve divided. I planted some orange trees last year, and there will be plenty of fruit this year. When autumn comes, you can come pick them to bring home.”

“Okay.” Ding Heli smiled and agreed without hesitation.

He didn’t like eating fruit, but Yilin loved it. Sweet or sour, she loved all kinds of fruit. When they lived in the capital, there were many varieties of fruit and it was easy to buy;

Coming here, it was inconvenient to go out, even if they went to the prefectural city, there were few fruits. The villagers were not accustomed to eating fruit, and the few fruits that were there were picked by children before they ripened.

Just as Fan Jin heard that Shuiqing also liked to eat fruit, he planted hundreds of fruit trees last autumn and this spring. Apart from the most orange trees, there were also peaches, pears, dates, bayberries, and grapes.

He naturally had to follow the host to the mountain to see how the fruit was hanging, even if some could not be eaten this year, next year would be fine, and he could wait.

As they walked, they saw vines and leaves by the roadside, and their smiles turned into surprise, their eyes gradually widening.

Fan Jin kept an eye on Ding Heli and led him to where the Polygonum multiflorum was flourishing. When he saw him stop, he knew he must have seen it.

Ding Heli opened his mouth slightly, looking at the green leaves shaped like chicken hearts about half a hand wide under the trees not far away. There were many more beside them.

Afraid of being mistaken, he walked forward on dry twigs and fallen leaves, stood in place and looked around, only to find that it was densely packed all around!

He ran a long way into the distance, and everywhere he looked, there were vines with these leaves.

My God, Fan Jin and Shuiqing are going to make a fortune.

The pharmacies in the prefectural city bought fresh Polygonum multiflorum with long years of storage for more than four hundred texts per kilogram, and those with shorter years for more than two hundred texts per kilogram. But if it was already processed Polygonum multiflorum, it was calculated in liang!

“Uncle Ding, what’s wrong?” Fan Jin’s puzzled voice came from afar.

Ding Heli’s face was full of smiles, thinking, I’ll surprise you later!

He walked out of the woods and pointed to the green vines between the trees and asked, “Do you know what this is?”

“Uncle Ding, this spring suddenly discovered a lot of these vines, they are everywhere in the mountains and fields, you can’t even pull them all!”

“I don’t know how to get rid of them completely. I’m really afraid they’ll steal the nutrients from the fruit trees,” Fan Jin said anxiously.

Ding Heli became even happier, feeling useful: “You fool! Let me tell you, you’re going to strike it rich. This is Polygonum multiflorum!

Although it’s not as valuable as ginseng, which goes for one or two silver coins per liang, even the worst processed Polygonum multiflorum can fetch over a hundred wen per liang! You’re going to strike it rich.”

“Is it really that valuable?” Fan Jin knew Polygonum multiflorum was a precious medicinal herb, but he didn’t expect it to be worth so much.

Selling fresh Polygonum multiflorum for over two hundred wen per kilogram already seemed very expensive and good. But the fact that even the worst processed Polygonum multiflorum could fetch over a hundred wen per liang, and this was calculated in liang, was key.

“That’s right. If you knew how troublesome it is to process Polygonum multiflorum, you’d understand why well-processed ones can fetch this price!

Let’s not even talk about methods like black bean processing, ginger processing, and alcohol processing, just the simplest steaming process: clean and grade the Polygonum multiflorum, soak it for a day and night, lift it out, large pieces must be moistened with water, place it in a steamer, and never use an iron pot.

Steam for half a day, simmer overnight, flip and steam again the next day, repeat this process for four or five days and nights until the Polygonum multiflorum turns black and glossy… Oh, it’s really troublesome, it’s hard to explain in a moment!”

“That’s just the simplest method; for good medicinal effects or different effects, there are dozens of processes, and every one of them must be done perfectly. One mistake could ruin an entire batch,” Ding Heli said, reluctant to continue.

It wasn’t about keeping secrets or not wanting to teach Fan Jin; it’s just that talking about it verbally was useless. The timing and temperature control in steaming, you just can’t learn that from verbal instruction.

If he were to try it himself, he would only waste batch after batch of Polygonum multiflorum.

After listening briefly, Fan Jin already understood that this couldn’t be learned just by talking about it. It required experience and actual practice, just like writing.

If he couldn’t do it, he could only sell fresh ones. Fortunately, Polygonum multiflorum is a perennial, so it won’t spoil in the ground.

He could only wait until the situation stabilized before selling.

Ding Heli thought of Fan Jin’s complaints about these vines and couldn’t help feeling sorry: “The stems of Polygonum multiflorum can be propagated by cuttings. You can cut the stems and plant them in empty spaces without affecting the harvest here. Isn’t that great?”

Then he added, “By the way, you probably don’t know how to propagate. It’s okay, I do. I’ll teach you!”

This was simple, and he could teach it right then and there.

Fan Jin really didn’t expect Ding Heli not only to collect and process herbs but also to understand the growth habits and cultivation of medicinal herbs.

In just half an hour, Ding Heli had taught Fan Jin how to take cuttings from the vines, how long they should be, how to separate them, how deep to dig each hole, how many cuttings to put in each hole, and where to place the soil cover…

Every detail was covered comprehensively.

Fan Jin listened carefully, committing it all to memory.

Ding Heli taught him seriously. After teaching him, he looked at the fruit trees and saw that their posture had improved significantly!

He had made a contribution, so it wouldn’t be excessive for Fan Jin to give him a few fruits in the future, right?

But when he saw what Fan Jin called “orange trees,” he fell silent.

This was what Fan Jin called an orange tree?

The most planted orange trees?