Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 114: Fighting for the Supply Source

Li Xu ordered a dish of Aconite chicken and a side of stir-fried seasonal vegetables.

While waiting for his food, he overheard a few customers at the next table talking loudly:

"...The Aconite from Anchi Village was completely bought out by Japan’s Tsumura Pharmaceutical again this year."

"Well, they offer a high price. 26 yuan per jin for the fresh product, with labor costs covered separately, and they even handle shipping."

"I heard they sent technicians to supervise the harvest. They even take soil samples for testing..."

"Heh, they call it ’supervising,’ but really, they don’t trust the villagers and are watching them the whole time."

Li Xu listened in silence.

Tsumura Pharmaceutical is Japan’s largest Kampo Medicine company, and their quality standards for medicinal herbs are almost draconian.

Even so, many growers were still scrambling to sell to them.

It couldn’t be helped. They simply offered the most money.

By ’eavesdropping,’ Li Xu learned something else.

Most of the Aconite destined for export was not soaked in Daban Liquid.

Even if a few countries didn’t restrict its use, they had very strict tests for residue.

The Aconite he’d seen soaking in Daban Liquid that afternoon in Xinzeng Town was partly for domestic retail. The other part was actually ’pass-through’ Aconite.

This meant Aconite from other regions was brought to Jiangyou and passed off as genuine Jiangyou Aconite to sell at a higher price.

"Tsk tsk..."

Li Xu didn’t even know what to say.

He recalled seeing processed slices of Jiangyou Aconite for sale online.

Ninety percent of Jiangyou Aconite was exported, and the remaining few dozen tons were bought up by domestic pharmaceutical companies.

So were the ones sold online real or fake? The answer was obvious.

The steaming hot Aconite chicken arrived at the table.

The broth was milky white, the chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender, and semi-translucent slices of Aconite floated within.

Li Xu took a bite. The savory flavor had a slight numbing astringency, and a wave of warmth quickly spread from his stomach throughout his body.

"How is it?" the owner asked, leaning in.

"It’s really good," Li Xu praised sincerely. "The Aconite slices are processed perfectly, removing the toxicity while preserving the medicinal properties."

The owner’s eyes lit up. "An expert, I see! We only use lightly processed Aconite slices prepared with traditional methods. The flavor is absolutely pure!"

Back at his hotel, Li Xu looked up information on Tsumura Pharmaceutical.

The 130-year-old pharmaceutical company had monopolized nearly 70% of Japan’s Kampo Medicine market.

What shocked him even more was that Tsumura had established multiple GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) planting bases for medicinal herbs in Dragon Country, including one for Jiangyou Aconite.

’No wonder their quality standards are so high...’ Li Xu muttered to himself.

A photo on the webpage caught his eye: a Tsumura technician was instructing herb farmers in a field, and the background was unmistakably the mountain landscape of Anchi Village!

Digging deeper, Li Xu discovered an even more unsettling fact: over 80% of the traditional medicinal materials exported from Dragon Country were raw ingredients. Japanese companies would then process them into Kampo Medicine, some of which was sold back to Dragon Country at exorbitant prices.

Take Aconite, for example. The black processed slices produced by domestic factories were exported at around 200 yuan per kilogram. Meanwhile, the "Aconite and Ginseng Pill" made by Japan’s Tsumura sold for over 300 yuan for a single box of 42 packets.

"This is just..."

Li Xu put down his phone.

He decided not to think about it. The more he did, the angrier he got.

「The night passed without incident.」

When Li Xu woke up the next day, the first thing he did was check his intel.

’Will there be any special intel now that I’m in a prime Aconite-producing region?’

[Today’s Intel: The patient Ma Rui is suffering from Aconite poisoning, resulting in nerve damage. He can be treated with the Calming Pill. Take ten pills, three times a day. Symptoms are expected to significantly lessen in seven days, with a full recovery in one month.]

’Huh? Ma Rui? Aconite poisoning?’

Li Xu immediately thought of the ’fool’ he had seen in Anchi Village the day before.

The staff member at the Anchi Village committee had said the ’fool’ was suffering from Aconite poisoning and was Village Chief Ma’s son.

He had the same surname, Ma, and was also suffering from Aconite poisoning.

The patient mentioned in the intel was, in all likelihood, the ’fool’ from yesterday.

’It can actually be treated with the Calming Pill.’

The formula for the Calming Pill had also come from his intel.

It was derived from the Six God Pill,

using Purple Sandalwood to replace Musk, giving it anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, and nerve-soothing properties.

Li Xu had made some himself.

He had brought a bottle with him when he went to Shanghai for the award ceremony.

He had originally planned to discuss it with Professor Wang Tao and Professor Gao Guanghui.

But they were very busy that day.

He only managed to speak with the two of them alone for about ten minutes.

He had told them about the Mao Dudu Eye Drops but didn’t get a chance to bring up the Calming Pill.

Moreover, the Calming Pills he made used the Eight Hundred-Year-Old Purple Sandalwood Core Material, making them even more effective.

After taking it, the effects would probably be seen in much less than seven days.

’Today’s a sure thing.’

Li Xu felt relieved.

He might not be able to get all of Anchi Village’s Aconite, but he was confident he could buy those twenty mu if he wanted to.

Feeling confident, Li Xu was in no hurry.

After washing up, he checked out of his room and went into town.

The town’s morning market was already bustling, with vendors selling medicinal herbs and locals buying and selling daily necessities, fruits, and vegetables.

Li Xu ordered a bowl of Aconite congee from a breakfast stall—it was a local specialty made by cooking processed Aconite slices with japonica rice. It was said to warm the stomach, dispel cold, and drive out the dampness from the mountains.

After finishing the steaming hot Aconite congee, Li Xu felt warm all over.

He checked the time. It was already 7:30 in the morning, so he hailed a cab and headed to Anchi Village again.

The car wound its way up the serpentine mountain road. The morning mist drifting through the mountains created a scene like a fairytale land.

Li Xu rolled down the window and took a deep breath of the air, fragrant with the smell of earth and herbs.

What he had seen in Xinzeng Town yesterday had left him with mixed feelings. He had to secure those twenty mu of Aconite today, or this trip to Jiangyou would be for nothing.

Several commercial vans were parked in front of the Anchi Village committee office. A black Toyota was particularly conspicuous—it had a "Tsumura Pharmaceutical" logo on its rear.

Li Xu got out of the car. As he reached the entrance, he could hear a heated argument inside.

"Village Chief Ma, Renhe Hall can offer 22 yuan per jin this year. That’s three yuan higher than last year!" a middle-aged man in a dark blue suit said, slamming his hand on the table.

"22? Are you kidding me, Old Liu?" a woman with black-rimmed glasses next to him laughed. "Nanyao Group is offering 24, and we can pay half the deposit upfront!"

Li Xu pushed the door open and entered. He found seven or eight people sitting in the conference room, the atmosphere tense and hostile.

The most eye-catching person was a well-dressed man from Japan in the corner, calmly sipping his tea and paying no mind to the surrounding argument.

Li Xu guessed this must be the ’overseer’ sent by the Japanese side.

They had a contract in hand, so there was no need for them to negotiate. They just had to wait for the Aconite to be harvested and then supervise the processing.

Seated at the head of the table was a portly, middle-aged man around fifty years old. His round face featured a pair of small eyes that glinted with shrewdness.

With his hands folded on the table, he listened to the various offers, a professional smile on his face, but he was in no hurry to commit.

This had to be Ma Jinhua, the village chief and the director of the Aconite processing factory.

"Everyone, everyone," Ma Jinhua said, raising a hand to quiet them down. "I know you all want the Aconite from Anchi Village, but our output is limited. Since you all want it, we’ll just sell to the highest bidder."