Chapter 289 The Key to the Mountain

Ginseng is divided into several different growth stages: three flowers, five leaves, two leaves, three leaves, four leaves, five leaves and six leaves.

This product is generally pronounced as "horse" among the local population.

Three flowers means that there is only one three-petal compound leaf on a stem. Most of them are the shape of ginseng when it has just sprouted from the seed.

The five leaves are actually one stem and one leaf, but this leaf becomes a five-petal palmate compound leaf.

Erjiazi, two palm-shaped compound leaves grow on one stem, forming the shape of Y.

It looks a bit like the old keys, so in the eyes of mountain builders, Erjiazi is the key to the mountain.

If you go into the mountains and see Erjiazi, you are likely to encounter a big deal.

Sanpinye is three compound leaves on a stem. It looks a bit like an inverted candlestick, so most people call it a candlestick.

Fourth-grade leaves, fifth-grade leaves, sixth-grade leaves, and so on, that is, there are four, five, or six leaves growing on one stem.

If ginseng is artificially grown, it can grow to six leaves in six years.

The sixth-grade leaves are the ultimate form of ginseng. Even if it is many years later, it will only be the sixth-grade leaves.

Wild ginseng growing in the wild is different from artificially planted garden ginseng. One stage takes many years.

Sometimes, the ginseng in the ground feels that the year is bad and is not conducive to growth, so it simply stops sprouting and waits for a few years before re-emerging.

Moreover, in wild ginseng, some fourth-grade leaves do not become fifth-grade leaves, but jump directly to sixth-grade leaves.

Once the reed heads of the six-pin leaves are damaged, the ginseng will not necessarily rot, but will accumulate nutrients underground.

After a few years, the reed heads will sprout again, which is called the transborn ginseng.

The reincarnated ginseng usually grows in the form of a second-grade leaf or a fifth-grade leaf. It will take several years before it can turn back into a sixth-grade leaf.

Erjiazi is also called the key to the mountain, and it will guide the mountaineer to find the big stuff, so Sheng Xiping was particularly happy when he heard it was Erjiazi and blurted out questions. "how many?"

As soon as these words came out, Sheng Xiping regretted it. He shouldn't have asked this.

Because the people I brought today are all beginners who have never climbed a mountain before, and they don’t understand.

The correct answer to this sentence should be that it is everywhere.

This is called asking for words, which means that the trip will be smooth and fruitful, and it contains the simple wish of the person who released the mountain.

But the three men of the Sheng family were heading into the mountains for the first time, so Sheng Xiping was worried that they didn't know how to answer, so he just said one tree.

Just when Sheng Xiping was worried, fearing that the third child would answer incorrectly, Sheng Xikang's voice sounded over there, "I have an old nose."

One sentence made Sheng Xiping's hanging heart relax.

In the Northeastern dialect, old nose means a lot, which is similar to the meaning of the mountain is full.

Anyway, as long as Sheng Xikang doesn't answer, there is only one tree, so it makes sense.

Sheng Xiping and Sheng Liancheng were very excited and hurriedly ran to Sheng Xikang, asking as they ran, "Where are you? Where are you?"

"Here, brother, look, there are several trees here, all of them are Erjiazi." Sheng Xikang pointed forward with the treasure stick and said loudly.

Sheng Xiping looked in the direction pointed by his younger brother.

Sure enough, right in front of them, within an area the size of a bed, there were four or five plants with two branches.

There is also a thin stile emerging from the middle of the two twigs, with three or five, or seven or eight small, bright red fruits gathered on it.

Sheng Xikang was right. This was exactly the goal of their trip to the mountain, wild ginseng.

Of course, judging from the size of the Erjiazi seedlings in front of us and the number of ginseng seeds, these Erjiazi trees are not big products.

"Xiping, should we take it or not?" Although Sheng Liancheng didn't let go of the mountain, he had heard many rules for letting go of the mountain. He knew that when digging into the mountain, you shouldn't say "dig" but "take".

This was Erjiazi in front of him, and it was obviously not a big deal. Sheng Liancheng was also a little hesitant, not knowing whether to dig with the stick or not.

"Here, Erjiazi is the key to the mountain, and it is the first time we see it when we enter the mountain. No matter how big or small, take it.

However, let’s not take them all back. Take only one ginseng tree with you, and pluck the ginseng seeds from the others and keep them where they are.

Let's wait for ten or twenty years to come around again when we have time, and maybe it will grow into something big. "

The ginseng is too small. If you take it back and buy it for the price, you are doing harm to the ginseng. It is better to leave it where it is and grow slowly.

As long as they remember the place, come and take a look every year when they have free time, and pinch out the ginseng seeds, it will be difficult for others to find them.

In another twenty or thirty years, the ginseng will grow up. By then, if you can get a big ginseng seedling, it will be worth a lot of money.

"Okay, let's do as you say." The three men didn't understand. Anyway, they would do whatever Sheng Xiping said.

In this way, Sheng Xiping selected one of the Erjiazi trees in front that seemed to have a slightly thicker stem and more ginseng seeds.

Then he inserted the Sobao stick near the mallet and took out a red rope with copper coins tied at both ends from his pocket, which is what Fangshan people call the mallet lock.

Wrap the mallet-locked red rope around the ginseng stem, and place both ends on the Soba stick.

Then, Sheng Xiping took out the deer bone skewer and began to follow the ginseng stem downward, bit by bit to remove the turf and soil.

The deer bone stick used by Sheng Xiping was polished by Liu Changde himself. It is very smooth and will not scratch the surface of the stick. It is the best tool for lifting ginseng in the mountains.

Of course, for experienced veterans, there is no deer bone skewer. Just poke out a strong branch and the mallet can be lifted out.

Sheng Xiping had only seen his master lift ginseng, and this was the first time he did it himself.

I saw him carefully removing the soil layer by bit. If he encountered thick grass roots, he would use a quick scissors to cut them. If he encountered very thick tree roots, he would use a quick ax to cut off the roots.

"Quickly act as scissors" and "quickly act as axe" are jargon in the Shen Gang, which means good luck and success.

Originally, everyone thought that a ginseng tree was not that big, but as Sheng Xiping kept pushing back the soil to reveal the ginseng body hidden deep in the ground, Sheng Liancheng couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"This, such a big ginseng, shouldn't be Erjiazi?" Sheng Liancheng asked in confusion.

Yes, judging from the exposed ginseng shoulders, this ginseng is almost as thick as a man’s finger.

Of course, the ginseng is not completely exposed at this moment, and it is still unclear how long and what shape the mountain ginseng is.

But in terms of thickness, it shouldn't be Erjiazi.

"It's a reincarnated ginseng. This was originally a sixth-grade leaf. I don't know if a mouse ate the reed head or something happened, but the reed head swelled again and was unearthed.

It's probably only a few years old, so it's still in the form of Erjiazi. "

When she saw these ginseng trees just now, Sheng Xiping felt strange.

There were no old signs around, and it was obvious that this was not the old Bangchui Dengzi, nor was it the germination of ginseng seeds casually sown by the elders.

In this case, there should be some big products around, but he looked around and saw no big products, only these few Erjiazi trees.

After a long discussion, this is a reincarnated ginseng tree. It is estimated that it was reincarnated a few years ago and took the form of a 2-year-old ginseng.

Thinking of this, Sheng Xiping felt hot. If he calculated it this way, this ginseng would not be too small.

"Second brother and third child, you two go to the wind outlet and build a fire. When the fire starts, throw some wormwood or something."

Sheng Xiping cleared the soil and continued to lift the ginseng while ordering his two younger brothers to work.

Logically speaking, before lifting the ginseng, the weeds around the ginseng should be cleaned up to facilitate operation.

At the same time, a fire should be built upwind to drive away mosquitoes, etc.

At first, Sheng Xiping thought it was Miao Erjiazi. It was not very big and he could easily lift the ginseng out without much effort.

Therefore, Sheng Xiping did not let his brothers build a fire to smoke out mosquitoes.

But now the shoulders of the seedling ginseng were exposed, and you could tell at a glance that the ginseng was quite big.

Sheng Xiping estimated that it might not be possible to lift it out in three or four hours.

At this moment, there were more and more mosquitoes and small bites around Sheng Xiping. They were swarming around Sheng Xiping, flying straight into people's faces, and some were drilling into their eyes. It was really disturbing the lifting of the ginseng.

That's why Sheng Xiping said to ask Sheng Xian and the others to quickly build the fire.

One can smoke away these mosquitoes, and the other can prevent surrounding wild animals from approaching.

Wild animals are afraid of fire. Even if any animals come out during the day and see the fire here, they will not dare to approach.

Sheng Xian and Sheng Xikang had nothing to do, so they just stood there and watched their elder brother carrying the ginseng.

Mainly because the two brothers were so focused on watching that they didn't even notice the mosquitoes gathering around them. At this moment, after listening to the elder brother's instructions, the two of them immediately went to do it.

They all brought axes, saws and other tools with them into the mountains. There was plenty of firewood in the forest. After a while, they came back with some standing rods, chopped them into pieces, and ignited them with birch bark.

After the fire is strong, cover it with some grass, especially mugwort, or vines that penetrate the keel. The smoke produced by these can smoke out mosquitoes.

The fire was in the wind, and the breeze blew to Sheng Xiping's side. The mosquitoes were smoked and fled away one after another.

With the smoke on top, Sheng Xiping lowered his head to lift the ginseng, but the smoke didn't hit him very much. In this way, Sheng Xiping could lift the ginseng without any distractions.

Lifting ginseng is not as simple as digging it out of the soil. Doing so can easily damage the roots of the ginseng and cause the ginseng to lose its pulp, making the ginseng worthless.

You have to be careful and pull out every root bit by bit, even the smallest one, without any damage.

Moreover, while lifting the ginseng, cover the removed ginseng whiskers with soil to prevent the ginseng whisks from losing moisture after being blown by the wind for too long.

Sheng Xiping used to watch his master lift ginseng and never did it himself.

This was the first time that he lifted ginseng by himself. He was not very skilled at it at first, but he gradually got used to it.

He carried this ginseng for nearly four hours, and finally he finally lifted it out completely.

"Beautiful, this ginseng looks so good-looking." When all the ginseng was unearthed, Sheng Liancheng over there couldn't help but admired it.

Indeed, this ginseng is in good shape.

The main body is about the thickness of a thumb, about three fingers long, and is divided into several legs, each of which is long and thin.

The main body is covered with horizontal stripes, and there are not only horizontal stripes on several legs, but also pearl bumps. The slender ginseng whiskers are also covered with large and small pearl bumps.

On the ginseng neck, there are also two small beards growing out, which are shaped like jujube pits and are also covered with horizontal stripes and pearl bumps.

Speaking of which, this ginseng is not perfect. The shortcoming lies in the reed head.

Because it is a reincarnated ginseng, the previous ginseng reed head was destroyed, and the new ginseng reed head has only a few sections.

Unlike those old ginseng, there are very obvious bamboo segments and reed bowls.

No matter how you say it, this ginseng is not small. You can get it for two taels anywhere. According to the current market price, it can be worth one or two hundred yuan.

It's good. I had such a harvest just after entering the mountain. It's a good start and a good sign.

"Boss, hurry up, wrap up the ginseng, don't let the pulp leak out." Sheng Liancheng was at the side, handing over the birch bark and moss that had been prepared.

Sheng Xiping took it over, placed the ginseng on the moss, and sprinkled some soil to ensure that the ginseng could always stay moist.

Then wrap the moss around the ginseng and roll it up, then tie the first layer of the ginseng bag, then place the moss bag on the birch bark, roll it up again, and tie it up with soft bark.

"That's it for today. Let's go back to the shack to rest and have lunch. We'll wander around here tomorrow morning. Maybe we can still gain something."

Sheng Xiping looked at his watch. It was already one o'clock.

I came out at around eight o'clock in the morning and found this piece of ginseng not long after entering the mountain. It took nearly four hours just to lift the ginseng, plus making the ginseng buns, and half a day passed.

Everyone hasn't had lunch yet. Since we have gained something today, we should go back to rest in the afternoon and recharge our batteries, lest we encounter a stick tomorrow.

When they entered the mountains, Sheng Xiping did whatever he said. Even Sheng Liancheng couldn't object. Who told him to be the leader?

"Okay, let's go back then." Sheng Liancheng nodded in agreement, and everyone packed up their tools and stood up to leave.

"Brother, don't you need to cut the omen?" Sheng Xian suddenly remembered this and asked.

"Erjiazi, what does chopping mean? No need to chop. Just pinch off the ginseng seeds from the surrounding ginseng trees and scatter them around."

Usually, they only cut down the omen when they have a big product. This is a reincarnated ginseng, regardless of how many grades of leaves it had before. Anyway, when Sheng Xiping and the others saw it, it was just two-year-old.

Erjiazi is not a big deal, so there is no need to cut off the omen.

Sheng Xi'an also heard people say that if Fangshan encountered a stick, he would cut off the omen.

Just now he saw that Sheng Xiping didn't move, so he thought that his eldest brother had forgotten, so he wanted to remind him, but he didn't expect that there were many rules.

Sheng Xi'an nodded and didn't say anything else. He just went over to put out the fire and cover it with soil to prevent it from escaping. Then he followed his father and brother and left.

The two men just carried the ginseng buns on their backs and returned to the shack where they lived. They rekindled the fire, cooked some soup in a hanging pot, and had pancakes for lunch.

In the evening, the four men worked in two shifts, taking turns keeping watch on the fire to prevent wild beasts from approaching.

Fortunately, the night was quiet. Although there were sounds of wild beasts in the distance, there were no wild beasts coming around the shack, and everyone had a good rest.

On the morning of the 27th, the four of us had breakfast, carried our tools again, and headed in the direction of yesterday.

After passing the forest yesterday and walking further, we reached the area where we encountered a snake last year.

"Go around here more and be more careful." Sheng Xiping held the treasure stick in his hand and pointed at the big tree stump not far ahead.

That's where Zhou Qinglan met the snake when he went into the mountains last year, and it's also his destination this time.

Sheng Xiping has always suspected that there is some treasure nearby.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have made any arrangements to go up the mountain to free the mountains. In fact, the main purpose was to come here and take a look.