Nakajima Saburosuke, who is visiting next, is also an imperial family member like Naohide, but one level higher than Nakajima is the imperial family genealogy generation. The Nakajima family has been the head of the Uraga Shrine for generations, and is a distant relative of Naohide's neighbor Nakajima Kuro.

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The Uraga Office was established in the 5th year of Kyōho as one of the Tokoku Offices. The port where it is located is the future Yokosuka Port. It guards the exit of Edo Bay and is responsible for inspecting all ships entering and leaving Edo Bay and the cargo they carry, as well as managing nearby areas.

The Shouchou Civil Affairs Bureau is under the leadership of Lao Zhong. It was first established in 1720 (five years after enjoying the guarantee). It is responsible for inspecting ships entering and leaving Edo and the goods they carry, as well as taking care of the nearby Shouchou Civil Affairs Bureau. It can be staffed by one or two people, and the subordinates are very capable.

Two cavalry, fifty people of the same mind.

Saburosuke Nakajima's reputation is "clean and honest", which means he is law-abiding and unsociable. Historically, Nakajima was an enterprising technocrat: after the incident of the Black Ship's visit ten years later, the shogunate reformed

The shipbuilder, headed by Nakajima and guided by Nakahama Manjiro without the guidance of foreigners, successfully built the 550-ton foreign-style sailing ship Phoenix Maru, which was the first modern ship in Fuso history.

Nakajima suffers from asthma. Asthma is a chronic disease. It is difficult to cure, but there are many ways to relieve it. Neighbor Nakajima Kuroto brought Naohide to visit Nakajima. Naohide gave him a mask made of multi-layer cotton and provided acupuncture therapy.

, greatly relieved Nakajima’s asthma.

In the name of visiting Nakajima, Naohide visited the Uraga Prison several times, brought a large number of gifts and food, and made friends with many middle- and lower-level samurai at the prison.

Naohide also invested in Nakajima Kuroo's brother Nakajima Kijiro to open a restaurant in Uraga. The restaurant is a hidden private restaurant in the corner that also serves as a "bribe house" fast food takeaway business.

At this time, the lunch of the middle and lower-level samurai was very simple, mostly just pickled vegetables (pickles), rice and miso soup, sometimes with a little soaked dried herring roe or herring, or a little shellfish. Uraga Office

The work of inspecting all the ships in Edo Bay is very heavy, and meals without oil and water cannot meet the physical needs at all.

The cuisine at this time was relatively rich, but the eating habits were very strange:

One is to pursue a vegetarian diet. During the Edo shogunate period, Buddhism was prevalent. The fifth generation shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, especially loved kittens and puppies in order to have children. Feeling that the world was declining, he simply issued the "Pity for Living Beings Order", which strictly prohibited the killing of animals.

As a result, over the years, many kinds of meat cannot be eaten. Domestic animals such as pigs, cows, horses, dogs, and chickens cannot be eaten. Sheep are not available at this time, and goats are only found in the southern part of Kyushu Island. Meat is very tragic, and it is common to eat it.

The only meats eaten are ducks and rabbits. In addition, due to Buddhist reasons, pungent vegetables are not allowed to be eaten. Onions, ginger, garlic, seaweed, natto, etc. are prohibited. Fruits can only be eaten such as watermelon, pears, persimmons, oranges, plums, etc.

, other fruits can be used as food decoration but cannot be eaten. (In the early Western countries, in aristocratic societies, many fruits were not eaten but were used as decoration on the table, which shows the commonality of human culture.)

Of course, this is something that ministers, middle- and upper-class samurai, high-level monks, and some arty wealthy merchants need to abide by. Lower-class samurai, businessmen, town residents, farmers, etc. don't pay much attention to it. However, because of the low economic level, some things cannot be eaten even if they want to.

rise.

Second, there are many things to pay attention to. In order to be elegant and show their distinctive status, the upper class desperately divides food into three, six or nine grades. The top grade food includes the famous "three birds and two fish" of the five delicacies-crane, skylark, sphinx (black).

water chicken), sea bream, anglerfish, abalone, tofu, which are regarded as mascots, puffer fish which was banned by the shogunate, bean sprouts, "cranes among birds, carp among rivers, and sea carp"

Sea bream, carp, squid, etc., many of them are rare and uncommon foods. In short, the best food tastes good and either looks good or is rare.

Of course, fuso cuisine is said to be different from Chinese food that is cooked in oil. It is a dish that is cooked in water. There is basically no wok and sashimi, stews and grilled dishes are popular. In addition, there is a lack of spices, and many common foods cannot be cooked with rich flavor. Eat. And because of Buddhism’s aversion to blood, red meat is taboo.

Sushi, eel rice, tempura, oden and soba noodles were popular among the common people of Edo. Except for soba noodles, other foods included tuna, which was considered to be "very inferior and shameful to eat". Tuna), sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc.

Due to the hierarchical system, lower-class samurai could not put aside their status to eat these "lower-class foods" like civilians. However, many samurai had to keep exercising and had a heavy workload, and the "thrift order" issued by the shogunate every now and then reduced the number of samurai. Income, so the diet of middle- and lower-level samurai is very tragic - the expensive ones cannot be eaten, and the cheap ones are embarrassing.

Nakajima Kijiro's Ryotei bento is basically half-sale and half-free to the samurai of the shōshōsho. The "low-grade food" in it is exquisitely cooked and tastes good. The expensive food is cheap, so it is naturally welcomed by the shōshōshō with all his strength. At the same time, , because the restaurant is located in Uraga, so it is convenient to eat, and because it is familiar with the samurai, the location is hidden.

, the entrance and exit are not known, so many businessmen also like to hold banquets for the samurai of the Sanctuary here.

Through Nakajima Saburosuke and Kijiro, Naohide established a relationship with the Uraga Office, which was very important for Naohide's future plans.

As for Niijima Xiang, Naohide knew that he was born in Edo this year to a lower-level samurai family of Anaka Domain, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't find it, so he had to give up.

At this point, Naohide has completed the three major tasks of helping neighbors, hugging friends and building connections. At the same time, Naohide has also obtained the start-up funds for his business through his cooperation with Kinokuniya Rihachi.

At first, Zhixiu transferred the manufacturing technology of washboards to Liba for 40 small deposits, and Liba also started selling washboards. Liba thought carefully, he customized the specifications, stamped his own store logo, and sold a large number of It was fully released after production and stockpiling. With the support of the Oguri family, the Edo Ten Group House and the Osaka Twenty-four Group House, it captured most of the market share in Edo and nearly half of Osaka within four months. .

In fact, Liba didn't make much money from the washboard business. Zhixiu estimated that after excluding production costs, labor costs and marketing expenses, Liba earned at most a thousand days' guarantee. But Liba made a mark through this sale. The name of Ikuniya has also established his own business connections and credibility.

Because Rihachi's Kinokuniya was mainly engaged in oil and sugar, and also sold groceries, in order to make more money, Naohide introduced other products such as sesame oil and mahjong.

Fuso food is mainly light in taste, but it actually pays attention to tasting the original flavor of the ingredients, and does not exclude some condiments. For example, the pungent condiment Fuso mustard-wasabi is also very popular.

Sesame oil has a strong aroma and is used to enhance the flavor of cold dishes, stews, and soups. The most popular edible oil in later generations is sesame oil.

Sesame oil is called "flax oil" in Fusang. The name of flax indicates that sesame is not native to Fusang.

Legend has it that Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo shogunate, died of a stomachache after eating sesame-fried sea bream tempura in the spring of 1616. In 1749, when Kamio Haruo was appointed to increase taxes in the shogunate, he also compared farmers to Sesame: "The more you press, the more oil you get." It can be seen that sesame oil has been spread in Fusang for a long time.

Generally speaking, black sesame seeds, which contain a large amount of fat, protein, sugar, vitamins and other nutrients, are eaten, while white sesame seeds with high oil content are used for oil extraction.

Strictly speaking, sesame oil and sesame oil are not the same thing:

Sesame oil is directly squeezed out without high-temperature frying, and the taste is relatively light. It is called ordinary sesame oil in China.

The unique ingredients in sesame seeds are processed by high-temperature frying technology to generate substances with special fragrance, resulting in sesame oil having a unique fragrance, which is different from other edible vegetable oils and is called sesame oil in China.

In Fuso, the white sesame oil extracted directly without roasting is called Taibai sesame oil, and the one extracted after low-temperature roasting is called Golden sesame oil or Taixiang sesame oil. The two are similar to ordinary Chinese sesame oil and sesame oil. Both of them retain the unique characteristics of sesame oil.

The aroma is not particularly strong and overwhelms the original flavor of the ingredients. Among them, Taibai sesame oil is lighter in color, has a softer taste, and has a lighter texture; while Taixiang sesame oil is slightly darker in color, has a more mellow taste, and has a thicker texture.

Everyone has their own strengths.

Sesame oil is very expensive at this time, but many famous operators of Edo delicacy "tempura" use Taibai sesame oil, Taixiang sesame oil or a mixture of both, so the demand is not low.

After Zhixiu's understanding, at this time, Fuso's sesame oil was mainly produced by the direct pressing method, and the "water substitution method" did not appear. The sesame oil produced by the traditional direct pressing method has a large loss of nutrients and active substances, and the oil yield is low.

The quality of the oil is not very good, but the "water substitution method" overcomes these shortcomings. The sesame oil produced is crystal clear in appearance, and the color, aroma and taste remain fresh for a long time.

"Water substitution method" first selects the sesame seeds, washes them with water, and then drains them, then stir-fries the sesame seeds, grinds them with a stone mill to form a sauce base, and pours a certain proportion of high-quality drinking water into the sauce base to take advantage of the different proportions of oil and water.

, replace the oil from the sauce base.

There are three main advantages of the “water substitution method”:

1. Cultivate sesame seeds into sesame embryos during washing and draining to promote the production of sesamol, sesamin, sesamollin and other nutrients that are beneficial to the human body.

2. Stone grinding: The stone grinding process uses low temperature, low pressure, and the process temperature is only 60-65°C, which will not destroy the aromatic substances and functional nutrients in the sesame oil.

3. Water substitution method for oil extraction: high-quality drinking water is used to easily separate the oil embryos. There is no need to add any chemical solvents during the oil extraction process, so there is no chemical solvent residue. At the same time, the water substitution method production process eliminates heavy metals that are harmful to the human body.

The specific gravity precipitates out of the sesame oil. Therefore, in this way,

The sesame oil produced in France is very healthy.

The above advantages cannot be explained clearly based on the scientific level and Riba at this time. I can only infer that this is an ancient Chinese prescription, which has always been secret. I finally saw it in an ancient book in Kan'ei Temple.

Watching the process of making small sesame oil made by neighbors at Zaowu organized by Zhixiu, Liba was greatly surprised, because only unique products can sell for high prices. As for whether they taste good or not, it is another matter, but nowadays, if the taste is good, it will be better to sell for money.

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Another surprise is the bamboo mahjong provided by Naohide.

According to the research of Fuso scholars, Fuso Mahjong was brought to Fuso from China in 1909 by a Fuso English teacher named Nagawa Yansaku. Later it became a popular entertainment activity suitable for all ages. According to statistics, modern Fuso is popular all over the country.

There are about 20 million people playing mahjong, and there are about 15,000 mahjong parlors across the country.

There is a saying that mahjong was introduced to Fusang during the Tang Dynasty. In fact, modern mahjong was formed in the late Qing Dynasty, so it was not modern mahjong that was introduced to Fusang in the Tang Dynasty, but leaf play. The person who invented the leaf play was the famous astronomer Zhang Sui (a Buddhist monk) in the Tang Dynasty, who was dedicated to Xuanzong

Playing with Gong'e. Because the cards are only as big as leaves, it is called Ye Zixi. Later it was introduced to the people, and literati and bachelors flocked to it, and it soon spread. The earliest card game was called Ye Zixi, with forty cards divided into

There are four kinds of suits: Shiwanguan, Wanguan, Suozi and Wenqian, which later evolved into tiles and mahjong.

The mahjong recommended by Naohide to Rihachi is the Fuso Mahjong of later generations, with four cards each from one to nine for ten thousand, pancakes, and ropes, and four white hair cards each for the southeast, northwest, and middle, a total of 136 cards, which is the same as the northern Chinese mahjong. The rules are the same as those of later generations of Fuso Mahjong.

The rules of Mahjong are the same and similar to the principles of Chinese Mahjong.

Each deck of mahjong in northern China has 136 tiles. Mahjong in the south usually has 144 tiles, adding eight flower tiles of spring, summer, autumn, winter and plum, bamboo, orchid and chrysanthemum. There are also mahjong in some places, plus a cornucopia.

, God of Wealth, Mouse, and Cat each have 1 card, and 4 wild cards, for a total of 152 cards.

Class oppression in Fuso has been serious since ancient times, so there are many people who are addicted to gambling, hoping to get rich overnight and change their lives. As long as Fuso became popular all over the country, and there are pinball rooms everywhere in the streets, it is clear that many Fuso people are addicted to gambling.

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The popular gambling equipment in Fuso at this time was represented by dice and cards, which were divided into eleven categories, including literature and art, bows and arrows, lottery, animals, athletics, dice, and cards.

There are different opinions on when Fuso gambling originated. It is generally believed that it originated from divination, divine judgment, and competition. According to this point of view, Fuso gambling has a long history and has endured for a long time. More importantly, there are a wide range of participants. According to the Meiji era in the future

According to the record in "The History of Gambling" by the strange man Gong Wu Waigu, gambling has been not only a hobby of humble barbarians since ancient times, but also popular in the upper and middle class society. It is evenly distributed in the east and west in ancient and modern times. Officials, scholars and literati, and the rich and powerful indulge in it.

There are also many pranksters." And "monks are no exception, and they also like playing cards and other kinds of gambling." The shogunate of the past dynasties has repeatedly banned it.

But in addition to being a gambling tool, Mahjong is also an excellent entertainment tool. The duration is moderate and can be long or short. The gameplay is easy to learn but the card types are diverse. The number of participants is not too large or too small. It is suitable for emotional communication and there is confrontation during the game.

There is coordination and a lot of luck involved, so it is relatively fair.

After playing a few games of mahjong, Riba was very happy. He was keenly aware that this was a treasure that could be enjoyed by both refined and popular people, men, women, old and young.

In the end, Naohide exclusively licensed the technology to Rihachi's Kinokuniya with a small deposit of 500 days each for Mahjong and Xiaomo sesame oil, for a total of 1,000 taels. At the same time, the Zaowu production team composed of neighbors also served as Rihachi's supplier.

A member of the merchant. The payment is divided into three times: a down payment of 400 as a small deposit, 300 to be paid one year later, the last 300 to be paid in the second year, and the payment for the goods is settled separately.

In fact, the amount of one thousand taels of small fines was not too big for Kinokuniya at this time. For the low-level samurai of the shogunate, the annual income was about 20 to 30 days of small fines, but with the help of Saburo Nakajima

The annual income is about 200 days for small deposits. Looking at the prospects of mahjong and small sesame oil, mahjong is easy to be counterfeited, but the sales volume is large, and small sesame oil is not easy to be counterfeited, and the long-term profits are high, no matter which type,

As long as you manage patiently and grow bigger and stronger, long-term profits will be measured in units of 10,000 small judgments. At this time, Naohide was a doctor for the shogun's crown prince, so at this time, Rihachi did not dare to burn bridges and start thinking about something else.

With this small deposit of 400 as a down payment, plus the share of the Zaoya Group's previous medical treatment, medicine sales, etc., and the reselling between Kan'eiji Ishida Village, after deducting the expenses during this period, Naohide has about 600 Tianbao in his hand.

Xiao Bian, the initial expenses for the study tour were sufficient, so Naoxiu made an explanation and arranged a farewell banquet, preparing to set off for the study tour westward.
Chapter completed!