Ye Tian was stunned for a moment when he heard this. This place was a hillside, covered with low miscellaneous trees, and the view was very broad. If there were ginseng here, wouldn't it have been harvested long ago?
"Yes, it's right here." Hu Hongde nodded and said with certainty: "I discovered it the year before last. The ginseng was not old enough, so I kept it."
"This place is only two hills away from the outside. If someone touches it, won't it be taken away?"
Ye Tian asked the question in his mind, and he always thought that ginseng grew in high mountains. He didn't expect to encounter a wild ginseng so easily.
You must know that when Ye Tian was in the medicinal materials market in Hebei, real wild ginseng was definitely rare to see. Not to mention century-old ginseng, even those that were several decades old were regarded as treasures by some merchants.
After hearing Ye Tian's words, Hu Hongde showed a proud look on his face and said: "The old guys all know that this is my territory. Even if they move the mountain here, they will not touch the stick I left behind!"
"Fangshan, what is that?" Ye Tian heard another term he didn't understand.
"Digging wild ginseng is called releasing mountains. Those who go into the mountains are afraid of trouble. Usually there are seven or eight people who go into the mountains. One of them is the leader, called the leader..."
When Hu Hongde was young, he also went to the mountains with others. Later, after he gained experience in picking ginseng in winter, he changed to going into the mountains alone, so he also knew a lot about the mountains.
Every word and deed of the Fangshan people may seem mysterious to outsiders, but in fact, these words and deeds all have practical purposes.
At the beginning of the release of the mountain, the people who released the mountain should line up in a line, use wooden sticks to push away the weeds, and search from the foot of the mountain up the hillside. This is called "pressing the mountain". Another way is called "moving the mountain", which means everyone disperses.
Find and use the knocking stick as a communication signal.
However, no matter which method is used, talking and eating are strictly prohibited. According to the herders, once the ginseng doll wearing a red bellyband is disturbed, the ginseng will run away.
The real reason is that you need to concentrate on looking for ginseng. Talking and eating will distract everyone. Also, if you shout loudly in the mountains and forests, it is easy to produce echoes and get lost.
Whoever discovered the ginseng immediately stuck a wooden stick in the ground, tied it to the ginseng stem with a red thread tied with ancient copper coins, and spread a red cloth under the ginseng. It is said that the ginseng doll has the ability to escape from the earth.
If you tie the red line, you won't be able to escape.
In fact, tying a red thread is just for eye-catching, because ginseng grows among weeds and will be broken if you are not careful. Tie a red thread, red and green, to make it particularly eye-catching.
As for the red cloth on the floor, it is used to catch the ginseng seeds that fall off when touched. This stuff is also very precious and is a good medicine to induce labor and assist in childbirth. After all this is done, the lucky person who finds the ginseng will shout "Bang Chui"
!".
Then friends will ask: "What kind of goods?" The answer is: "Five-grade leaves!" When everyone hears it, they will say: "Quickly do it!" Kuai means quick, reliable, and smooth. This is also a jargon in the Changbai Mountain Forest Area.
"Why do I sound like a bandit on the mountain telling me the password? What is a fifth-grade leaf?" Ye Tian looked at Hu Hongde with some suspicion and said with a smile: "Old Hu, isn't this the slang you learned in the village?"
"Hey, haven't you ever bought ginseng? Why don't you even know the grade of ginseng?" Hu Hongde, an unreasonable person, had no choice when meeting Ye Tian, so he could only patiently explain to him the special properties of ginseng.
It turns out that wild ginseng grows only one compound leaf on the ground in 1-5 years, commonly known as "three flowers", and can grow a complete five-palm-shaped compound leaf in 5-10 years, commonly known as "slap".
However, 10-20 years later, wild ginseng only had two palm-shaped compound leaves. Fangshan called it the "key to the mountain", which means that finding the small ginseng is a clue to getting the big product. There are probably many "keys" nearby.
wooden club".
The wild ginseng that is 30 years old has three palm-shaped compound leaves and is commonly known as "dengtaizi". The wild ginseng that is 50 years old is called "four-grade leaves". The wild ginseng with four-grade leaves is usually 50-80 years old.
Wild ginseng with five palm-shaped compound leaves is the "five-grade leaves" that Hu Hongde just mentioned.
The fifth-grade leaves must be at least 80 years old, which is very rare in the Changbai Mountains. The top of the mountain is called "a pile". If you look around, you can find large and small wild ginsengs, some of which are 60 or 70 years old.
generation, and also has grandchildren who are thirty or forty years old.
As for the "six-grade leaves", they are more than a hundred years old and are extremely rare. They can be described as rare national treasures. The people who put them on the mountain used to call them "one piece", implying that the whole hillside will have countless descendants, just like a ethnic group.
Nowadays, there are no sixth-grade ginseng leaves in the mountains that are difficult to reach even for ginseng pickers. This is also the highest level of existing old ginseng. Even Hu Hongde has not seen the legendary seventh-grade leaves.
pass.
"Old Hu, you said there is a fifty-year-old wild ginseng here, wouldn't it be called a fourth-grade leaf?" Ye Tian learned it very quickly and urged: "Hurry up and point it out, let me see what a fourth-grade leaf is.
Something like that.”
"I said, where are there any leaves in winter? Ginseng, like black bears, hibernates in winter!" Hu Hongde really didn't know if he was right or wrong in taking Ye Tian into the mountains. This kid didn't even know a little bit about ginseng.
The growth period of wild ginseng is very short every year. The peak growth season is June, July and August of the year. The first frost is in mid-September and the last frost is in mid-May of the following year. The dormancy period is as long as more than 240 days.
With such a short growth period, wild ginseng only gains about 1 gram per year. In bad years, it may even shrink and become negative. This is one of the main reasons why wild ginseng is so valuable.
When Ye Tian heard that there were no fourth-grade leaves, he said a little disappointed: "Okay, let's dig out this fifty-year-old plant first. The smell of wild ginseng stew is so fragrant!"
Hu Hongde said hesitantly: "Ye Tian, these fourth-grade leaves can still grow. How about I take you to dig the sixth-grade leaves? That one should grow out by now."
"Don't worry, Lao Hu, even if it grows into a fifth-grade leaf, how many years can you live? If you don't dig this thing, someone will dig it up sooner or later!"
After hearing Hu Hongde's words, Ye Tian shook his head, thinking that he could not even afford a thirty-year-old wild ginseng in that medicinal material market. Now there is a fifty-year-old wild ginseng. How could Ye Tian let it go?
"Okay, if you say we'll dig it, we'll dig it!"
Hu Hongde smiled bitterly. Fortunately, Ye Tian didn't know how to identify ginseng. Otherwise, if he came to pick ginseng, it would definitely be a disaster in Changbai Mountain. Perhaps ginseng, deer antlers, and mink, which are among the three treasures of Changbai Mountain, would have disappeared since then.
The fifty-year-old wild ginseng was already within the scope of digging. Hu Hongde didn't feel too sorry for it. He squatted down and cleared a piece of snow in front of him.
"Did you keep this?" Ye Tian saw a red rope tied to the root of a dead tree under the snow, and a copper coin hanging on the red rope.
"Yes, there is my mark on it. Anyone who sees it will know that it was left by me."
Hu Hongde took off the red rope and handed it to Ye Tian. When Ye Tian took it into his hand, he saw that the words on the copper coin had been smoothed, and then he carved a "beard" on it with a knife.
"Don't you have to tie the rope to the ginseng when picking ginseng? Why did you tie the rope to the tree?" Ye Tian was a little confused.
"The branches and leaves on the ground of ginseng will wither this winter. Where can I find them?" Hu Hongde was overwhelmed by Ye Tian's question. Even an eight-year-old child in Changbai Mountain understood this knowledge, but Ye Tian didn't understand it.
"Oh, so according to you, this ginseng is nearby?"
Hearing what Hu Hongde said, Ye Tian understood. Suddenly his heart moved and he released his spiritual consciousness. This ginseng is formed by gathering the essence of heaven and earth. Maybe he can sense it?
"Huh? Sure enough, it can be found?!" As soon as he released the Qi machine, Ye Tian sensed that the ground less than thirty centimeters away from his left foot contained an extremely rich spiritual energy.
"Lao Hu, where is the ginseng?" Ye Tian pointed to the ground.
"Eh? How did you know?" Hu Hongde was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then reached into the bag Ye Tian was carrying and took out his old cigarette pouch.
"You can't learn this even if I tell you, Lao Hu, just wait and see me find a seventh-grade leaf for you!"
Ye Tian was overjoyed to discover that his spiritual consciousness had such a magical effect. Although his skills were still weak and his spiritual consciousness could only detect a range of about ten meters, if he was lucky enough, he might be able to find some top-quality old ginseng.
"How can there be seven-grade leaves in this world?" Hu Hongde shook his head, lit his pipe and started smoking.
"Maybe I'm lucky enough to meet him?" Ye Tian pushed Hu Hongde, "How can you smoke now? Come out quickly and let's go pick the six-grade leaves!"
"I'm afraid my hands will shake if I don't smoke. I'll wait until I smoke this bag of cigarettes before I smoke!"
Before picking ginseng, the farmers will smoke a bag of cigarettes to relieve the tension in their hearts. You must know that if you accidentally break a little of the skin or dig out a ginseng tendon, the ginseng pulp will seep out.
The value will be greatly reduced.
Hu Hongde was also a herder in his early years. Although he later became a solo gang, this habit remained. Moreover, there were many bugs when picking ginseng in the summer, and smoking also had the effect of repelling bugs.
"Old Hu, if you are afraid of shaking hands, let me do it." Under the induction of Ye Tian's spiritual consciousness, all the ginseng roots in the ground appeared in Ye Tian's mind. He was confident that he would never hurt a single ginseng.
Must.
"No, Ye Tian, is this not a joke?"
Hu Hongde was so frightened by Ye Tian that he jumped up from the ground. He almost couldn't hold the pipe steady. Wild ginseng that has been produced for fifty years has become relatively rare. It is worth at least 1.8 million yuan. If Ye Tian
It would be a shame if it was wasted.
Hu Hongde's reaction made Ye Tian very unhappy, and he said: "Old Hu, you don't believe me, do you? If something goes wrong, I'll give you this ginseng money!"
