Chapter 42 Chapter 42 True and False Ginseng (Part 1)

Shopkeeper Liu lifted the wooden box, which was about two feet long, with a little force from his arms, and then he slowly placed it on a wooden table.

Under everyone's eager gaze, Shopkeeper Liu gently opened the box.

A row of ginsengs were neatly arranged in a fine carved pearwood box.

Ginseng grows very slowly; if it grows a little bit a year it is considered very good.

The ginseng in front of me are all about two feet long, with clear lines on the surface, slightly wrinkled and yellowed, indicating that they are aged ginseng.

Ginseng whiskers are as thin as cow hair and as tough as golden threads. They are dense but very smooth, hanging down in strands without any tangles.

It is wild ginseng of excellent quality!

Zhao Mingsheng had never seen ginseng in his life. He had only read the description of ginseng in the "Compendium of Materia Medica".

However, she knew that there was a 300-year-old ginseng in the mansion, which was only three feet long and was hidden in the warehouse like a treasure.

This time she was able to open her eyes and watched without blinking.

Even more valuable than its quality was its quantity. Huang Furen didn't have time to count them. A cursory glance revealed that the wooden box contained at least twenty ginseng plants.

He was so excited that his fingertips began to tremble uncontrollably and his palms began to sweat.

If such a batch of precious ginseng were released into the capital, one can imagine what kind of sensation it would cause!

Shopkeeper Liu noticed his reaction and a smug smile appeared on his face.

He put his hands behind his back and asked knowingly, "Is Mr. Huang satisfied?"

"Of course I am satisfied!" Huang Furen nodded hurriedly.

He had originally only prepared a budget of 20,000 taels of silver. But after seeing this batch of ginseng, he decided to empty his entire family's savings to buy it.

"I wonder what price Shopkeeper Liu plans to sell it for?"

A wild ginseng of ordinary quality on the market costs one thousand taels of silver, while a better quality one can be sold at a high price of two thousand taels of silver.

Shopkeeper Liu pretended to be pretentious, walking back and forth slowly in the warehouse with his hands behind his back.

"Brother Huang, such good ginseng is rare on the market..."

Huang Furen's heart sank. This was the rhythm of raising the price. If Shopkeeper Liu asked too much, he was afraid that even if he emptied his family's savings, he would only be able to buy half.

Just when Huang Furen was secretly calculating how much ginseng he could buy with the remaining money at home.

Shopkeeper Liu changed his usual fussy attitude and said generously, "There aren't many good ginsengs like this on the market. If you weren't in such a hurry, you could sell it for two thousand taels."

He changed his tone and said, "Since you, Brother Huang, are so sincere in wanting to buy it, I'll give you a discount. For 35,000 taels of silver, this box of ginseng will be yours."

Zhao Mingsheng was shocked when he heard this number. How could these ginsengs be sold at such a high price?

She turned her head to look at Huang Furen's expression and found that he didn't seem to think it was expensive, but instead looked happy.

Huang Furen was stunned for a moment, wondering if he had heard it wrong, and then he was ecstatic.

Fifty thousand taels would not be too much for this box, but it only cost thirty-five thousand taels. Huang Furen felt like a pie in the sky, and he had gotten such a huge bargain.

Although thirty-five thousand taels of silver exceeded his budget, it was still possible to get it by scraping together some money.

He hesitated and said, "Manager Liu, I can't come up with that much cash right now. How about I offer you 20,000 taels of silver plus 500 acres of land near the capital?"

If five hundred acres of land near the capital were sold for not only ten thousand taels of silver, but even twelve thousand taels of silver, there would be people scrambling to buy it.

A hint of greed flashed in Shopkeeper Liu's eyes. He didn't expect that this boss who came from the capital would be so rich that he could take 30,000 taels so easily.

Seeing that the fat meat was about to be obtained, he was unwilling to let go of the small amount of meat. He pretended to be embarrassed:

"Thirty-five thousand taels is the lowest price I can offer. If Brother Huang can't afford it, I'll have to see if someone else wants it."

"No, no, no, Shopkeeper Liu." Huang Furen gritted his teeth and took out the last of his family's assets. "Add to that two well-located shops on East Street in Beijing. This should be enough, right?"

Shopkeeper Liu narrowed his small green eyes and smiled with satisfaction.

"That's enough, Mr. Huang is really generous."

Huang Furen breathed a sigh of relief: "Then it's settled."

Turning around, Shopkeeper Liu took out a contract that had been drafted long ago from somewhere.

"Boss Huang, why don't we sign this contract now and pay the money in exchange for the goods?"

Huang Furen nodded after a little thought.

Anyway, he had the silver and land deeds with him, and he was afraid that things would get more complicated if the time went by, so he might as well settle the matter now.

Thinking of this, Huang Furen immediately took out 20,000 taels of silver notes and land deeds from his arms, placed them on the table beside him, and took out a small seal from his arms.

When Shopkeeper Liu saw the thick stack of banknotes, which was as thick as a finger, his eyes widened and he couldn't help but stretch out his greedy hand.

Zhao Mingsheng felt that there was something strange about this, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

At this time, a waiter from Xing'antang walked past Zhao Mingsheng carrying a box, ready to seal it again.

She caught a glimpse of the human-shaped ginseng in the box, and a flash of inspiration passed through her mind.

“Wait!”

Zhao Mingsheng suddenly spoke, startling the two people who were trading.

Huang Furen, who was about to make a name for himself, stopped when he heard the shout.

"What's wrong?" he asked puzzledly.

Zhao Mingsheng motioned him to wait a moment, then stared into Shopkeeper Liu's eyes and asked, "Your ginseng is two thousand taels per plant, right?"

Shopkeeper Liu boasted: "Don't even mention two thousand, there will be people who want three thousand."

Zhao Mingsheng threw a silver ingot on the table and said, "Okay, then I'll spend fifty taels to buy you a ginseng beard."

Before Shopkeeper Liu could say anything to stop her, she plucked a piece of ginseng beard the size of a little fingernail from the box that had not yet been closed.

Zhao Mingsheng raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and under the panicked eyes of Shopkeeper Liu, he put the small piece of ginseng root into his mouth and chewed it.

Shopkeeper Liu could only watch her eat the "ginseng beard" bit by bit, his face pale, with only one thought in his mind.

It’s over!

It's all over now!

As the chewing time increased, Zhao Mingsheng clearly felt a distinct numbness on the surface of his tongue.

She knew she had made the right bet.

Zhao Mingsheng spat out the residue in his mouth and said slowly, "Uncle Huang, don't rush to buy it. Take a closer look."

Hearing her say this, Huang Furen instinctively felt that something was wrong.

"What's going on?"

Seeing that the silver he had received was taken back, Manager Liu became anxious.

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Zhao Mingsheng was not annoyed, but just looked at him with a smile.

"What am I saying? Doesn't Shopkeeper Liu know?" Zhao Mingsheng said word by word, "I said that what's in your box isn't ginseng."

“It’s not ginseng?!” Huang Furen took a big step back in shock and said in disbelief.

"What's going on? How can this not be ginseng? Sister Zhao, please tell me quickly!" Huang Yuexin gently pulled Zhao Mingsheng's hand and shook it, her face full of curiosity.

"The Compendium of Materia Medica records a medicinal herb called Phytolacca strychnifolia. While the rhizomes of Phytolacca strychnifolia and ginseng look very similar, their medicinal properties are in conflict with each other!"

In other words, if you use Chinese rhubarb as ginseng to treat diseases, it is not saving people but harming them!

"So how can we tell them apart?"

"Ginseng has a unique fragrance when chewed, but this one doesn't. Instead, it tastes like the roots of pokeweed. It has no taste at first, but after chewing it for a long time, your tongue will become numb."

Zhao Mingsheng took off another piece and handed it to Huang Yuexin.

"Here, try it too."

Huang Yuexin couldn't wait to put it in her mouth.

"Ptui, tui, tui! It's so numb!" She couldn't stand the numbness after chewing for just a while, so she spat it all out.

"Dad, what Sister Zhao said is true!"

Zhao Mingsheng smiled and handed her the handkerchief in his hand, then turned around and continued, "Actually, there's another way to identify it. Divide it horizontally in half. The one with chrysanthemum-like patterns on the cross section is ginseng, and the one with concentric dot patterns is pokeweed, also known as compass patterns.

Every time Zhao Mingsheng spoke more, Manager Liu's face turned paler, and in the end it looked as pale as a ghost.

"If you still don't believe it, just cut it open and you'll see."

Huang Furen's face darkened when he heard this. Seeing the panicked expression on Manager Liu's face, he guessed that the girl was not just talking nonsense.

He ordered coldly, "Then cut it."

Manager Liu didn't expect that the matter would be exposed so quickly. When Huang Furen came to his door for the first time, he sent someone to find out.

This man is just an ordinary wealthy businessman, and he has been engaged in the cloth business before. He has only recently started to get involved in the medicinal materials business, so it is certain that he is not familiar with medicinal materials.

So Shopkeeper Liu planned this scheme of substituting rhubarb for ginseng, disguising it as ginseng, and then selling it as wild ginseng.

In order to make it perfect, he specially selected from hundreds of kilograms of Chinese pokeweed overnight. He picked out more than 20 plants from several large sacks of Chinese pokeweed. The appearance of these Chinese pokeweeds was so good that they could be mistaken for ginseng.

He had wanted to make a fortune today by taking advantage of this sucker, and in order to avoid any complications, he even drafted a contract and brought it with him. If Huang Furen found something wrong later, he could also firmly say that he was the one who secretly replaced it.

Unexpectedly, before the night was over, a little girl next to Huang Furen saw through his plan. This seemingly young girl turned out to be a capable person who knew how to identify medicinal herbs! She saw through his plan so quickly!

Shopkeeper Liu naturally wouldn't let them cut it open again, so he blocked their way with his staff and said stubbornly:

"You believed what a little girl said? This ginseng is worth thousands of taels of silver! If you cut it open, it will be ruined!"

The more Manager Liu tried to stop and cover up the matter, the more it proved that what Zhao Mingsheng said was right.

Huang Furen sneered, "Shopkeeper Liu is really looking down on me. How could I not pay a mere few thousand? Whether it's ginseng or pokeweed, we'll know after we cut it open. Isn't Shopkeeper Liu afraid that I'll go back on my word?"

He didn't give Shopkeeper Liu a chance to argue, and continued, "How could I, Huang, be such a mean person who would forget his loyalty when he sees profit? If it turns out to be real ginseng after it's cut open, I'll naturally give you a cent!"

Shopkeeper Liu looked pale and anxious.

If we cut it open, it will be a done deal, right? We can’t cut it open!

"I won't sell it anymore." Shopkeeper Liu protected the box with his body. He ordered several shop assistants to kick Zhao Mingsheng and the others out directly. Wasn't it okay for him to not sell it?

But Huang Furen is not someone who can be bullied. Although his business has not been going well in recent years, he has been in Beijing for many years and has seen all kinds of storms. He didn't expect that he almost capsized in this gutter!

Thinking of this, he gave Zhao Mingsheng a grateful look.

"You come when I call you and send away when I dismiss you. If you say you won't sell, then don't sell. Do you think I'm easy to bully, Manager Liu?" Huang Furen's eyes were cold. Even in the capital city where there were so many nobles, he had never been bullied like this.

Huang Furen waved his hand and brought a few of his men with him, all of whom were tall and strong.

They immediately stepped forward, pulled away Shopkeeper Liu's servant, and snatched the box from Shopkeeper Liu's hands.

Huang Furen took out one of them and cut it with his knife.

The dot-shaped concentric patterns are coiled in circles, and they are clear as day.

Facts speak louder than words. This time it was really over. Shopkeeper Liu looked as pale as death.

Huang Furen took only one look and then looked away, saying coldly, "Manager Liu, you are truly amazing!"