Chapter 84 Gold can also be eaten
The staff of Tong Ren Tang have seen countless people and are very experienced. They can now be sure that the young people in front of them are all laymen.
But the gentlemen in the capital just like to talk a lot. If you are an outsider and don’t understand, that’s the time for them to show off, so they will start to introduce things enthusiastically.
"My dear young comrade, you don't understand. Our Angong Niuhuang Pills contain volatile medicinal substances such as musk and borneol. If they are not sealed, they will lose their efficacy over time, so they must be wrapped in beeswax.
Furthermore, our Tong Ren Tang Angong Niuhuang Pills not only contain beeswax, but are also wrapped in a layer of gold foil. They are made of 9999 pure natural gold, which not only increases the efficacy of the medicine but also prevents it from evaporating.
Pan Cen became even more curious and asked with blinking eyes:
"Gold, the kind used for rings and bracelets? Can gold be eaten? Isn't it said in Beijing that Emperor Tongzhi's empress, Arutai, committed suicide by swallowing gold? This proves that gold is not edible."
A group of staff nearby all chuckled when they heard it.
It was afternoon and there were not many customers. People in the capital like to chat, both men and women, so several staff members gathered around and almost brought a handful of melon seeds.
A gray-haired doctor on duty laughed and said:
"The little kid knows a lot, even the secrets of the palace? Haha.
Let’s not talk about how the Empress of Tongzhi died. In fact, even if she committed suicide by swallowing gold, it is not because gold is poisonous, but because gold has a high specific gravity. When it falls, it presses on the intestines and cannot be excreted, causing intestinal knots or obstruction and leading to death.
It's also possible that the gold's irregular shape and sharp corners may have damaged organs, such as causing gastric perforation and death. This is a physical injury, not a chemical injury caused by the gold. Swallowing iron, copper, or stone is similar to swallowing gold.
The old doctor saw that the young people were nodding slightly and looked like they were listening attentively, so he talked more about sex.
"In fact, in ancient times, gold leaf could be used as a food ingredient. It was a top-notch ingredient for entertaining dignitaries. For example, as early as the Western Han Dynasty, wealthy people had the custom of sprinkling gold leaf on their dishes.
Nowadays, consuming gold leaf is also popular in Japan, Europe, and the US. Gold leaf wine and cakes, for example, have become high-end, sought-after items on the market. Eating gold has become a status symbol. Do you think it's poisonous?
At this time, Pan Ren also raised his hand and asked:
"Old man, does gold taste good? That's why they all eat it?"
As soon as these words were spoken, there was another burst of laughter all around. More and more staff members gathered around, and many of them were talking about it.
The gray-haired old doctor laughed and explained:
"What does gold taste like? I've actually tried it, and to be honest, I can't taste anything. And when I say eating gold, I don't mean eating it directly as a nugget. I mean turning it into gold foil. Do you know what gold foil looks like? It's something thinner than paper.
The production of gold foil not only requires extremely high-purity gold, but also requires millions of times of hammering to turn gold of varying sizes into uniform, cicada-wing-thin gold foil. At this time, the components can be easily separated and can be used as raw materials for food and medicine.
Let me put it this way: one ounce of gold, after being hammered, can be stretched to cover an area of nearly one mu (approximately one acre). You can imagine how thin and light the gold foil wrapped around the Angong Niuhuang Pills is. Only an expert and experienced pharmacist could make it."
Lin Sanqi really wanted to make a six gesture with his fingers and shout 666.
Who can handle such a complicated process? Such master craftsmen are so rare that they will be eliminated one by one. I guess he can't even train many apprentices.
Pan Ren was just a 12-year-old boy, and there were some things he simply couldn't understand, so he said:
"Old man, since gold foil is difficult to make and is very valuable, why do we have to use it? We can just wrap it in rice paper."
Glutinous rice paper is made by mixing starch from sweet potatoes, corn or wheat flour into a thin slurry, then adding hot water to make a starch paste. After baking, it becomes thin and transparent paper. It is mainly used for the inner packaging of candies, cakes or medicines, and is edible.
Lin Sanqi thought the same thing. Why did they have to wrap the medicine in gold foil? Was it a gimmick to make their product look more noble?
The old doctor chuckled and shook his head, then continued to explain patiently:
"From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, edible gold has health and medicinal benefits, and can calm the mind, soothe the nerves, and detoxify.
In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica recorded that eating gold can calm the mind, strengthen the bone marrow, and clear the evil spirits of the five internal organs, and it is said to be magical. In particular, gold foil can be made into pills or powders to break cold air and eliminate wind.
Therefore, this layer of gold foil can be called the twelfth ingredient of Angong Niuhuang Wan, because the presence of gold foil enhances the pill's efficacy in clearing away phlegm, calming the mind, and clearing away heat, making its therapeutic effect even better.
In addition to Niuhuang Angong Pills, our Tong Ren Tang's precious Chinese patent medicines such as Niuhuang Qingxin Pills, Wuji Baifeng Pills, and Dahuo Luo Dan also use gold foil as medicine, and the principle is the same."
Oh~~~
Lin Sanqi, Pan Ye and others nodded repeatedly. They didn't expect that they could learn so many skills in a pharmacy. They would have something to brag about in the future.
Now it was Lin Sanqi's turn to speak. He wanted to monetize the traffic and was more concerned about the price.
"Then may I ask how much does this Angong Niuhuang Pill cost? Do I need any receipts or letters of introduction?"
The male doctor smiled and said, "One pill, 35 yuan. Just pay, no tickets needed."
(The author did not find the price of Tong Ren Tang Angong Niuhuang Wan in 1959, but only found that it was sold for 68 yuan per pill in 1980, and inferred the price based on this.)
"35 yuan a pill?"
The three siblings of the Pan family all stuck out their tongues when they heard this. This was equivalent to half a month's salary for Pan's mother and also a month's food expenses for the Pan family.
Lin Sanqi didn't think it was expensive at all. Selling such a treasure for only one month's salary was a very reasonable price, wasn't it?
By 2013, the price of Angong Niuhuang Pills produced in the 1950s and 1960s had risen to over 100,000 yuan per pill. How could an ordinary person earn 100,000 yuan a month?
Lin Sanqi happily picked up the wax pill and looked at it from left to right, asking, "Is there a limit on the number of Angong Niuhuang Pills we can buy?"
The male doctor smiled slightly and said, "There is no limit, as long as you have the financial resources."
Lin Sanqi thought to himself, oh no, you are looking down on me. Since you don’t limit the purchase, I will ask for a lot of money. I still have more than a thousand yuan in my pocket anyway.
"Then how about this? First, give me 30 Angong Niuhuang Pills."
Pan Ye was confused after hearing this, but when he thought that the Lin family was a family of traditional Chinese medicine, and this medicine might be useful, he didn't react at all.
But the staff of Tong Ren Tang were all shocked. The old doctor with gray hair advised:
(End of this chapter)
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