A doctor who travels through two eras

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 laymen.

But the gentlemen in the capital just love to talk about a lot of things. If you are an outsider and don’t understand, that’s the perfect opportunity for them to show off their skills, so they will start introducing things enthusiastically.

"My dear young comrade, you don't understand. Our Angong Niuhuang Pills contain volatile drugs, such as musk and borneol. If they are not sealed, the efficacy will be lost over time, so they must be wrapped with beeswax.

Moreover, our Tong Ren Tang Angong Niuhuang Pills not only have beeswax, but also a layer of gold foil wrapped around the outside of the pills. They are all made of 9999 natural pure gold, which not only increases the efficacy of the medicine, but also ensures that the medicine is not volatilized. "

Pan Cen became even more curious, blinking his big eyes and asked:
"Gold, is it the kind of gold used in rings and bracelets? Can gold be eaten? Isn't it said in our city that Emperor Tongzhi's empress, Arutai, committed suicide by swallowing gold? This shows that gold cannot be eaten."

A group of staff nearby all chuckled when they heard it.

It was afternoon and there were not many customers. People in the capital love to chat, both men and women, so several staff members gathered around and almost brought a handful of melon seeds.

A gray-haired doctor smiled and said:

"The little kid knows a lot, including 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. It is because gold has a high specific gravity that it presses on the intestines when falling and cannot be excreted, causing intestinal knots or obstruction and leading to death.

It is also possible that the gold is irregular in shape and its sharp corners cut organs, such as causing gastric perforation and death. It is a physical injury, not a chemical injury caused by gold. The principle of swallowing iron, copper, stone and gold is the same. "

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 food. It was a top-quality food for entertaining dignitaries. For example, as early as the Western Han Dynasty, wealthy people had the custom of sprinkling gold leaf on dishes.

Nowadays, eating gold foil is also popular in Japan, Europe and the United States. For example, gold foil wine and gold foil cakes have become high-end and popular goods in the market. People eat gold as a symbol of status. Do you think it is poisonous? "

Pan Ren also raised his hand and asked:

"Old man, does gold taste good? That's why they all eat gold?"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was another round of laughter. More and more staff members gathered around, and many of them were talking about it.

The gray-haired old doctor also laughed and explained:
"What does gold taste like? I have actually tried it, and to be honest, I can't taste anything. And what I mean by eating gold is not eating gold nuggets directly, but making gold into gold foil. Do you know what gold foil looks like? It is 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 edible and medicinal raw materials.

Let me put it this way. One ounce of gold can be stretched to an area of ​​nearly one acre after being hammered. You can imagine how thin and light the gold foil wrapped around the Angong Niuhuang Pills is. Only an expert and experienced pharmacist can do it."

Lin Sanqi really wanted to make a six gesture with his fingers and shout 666.

Who can handle such a complicated craft? Such a master is really rare. I guess he can't train many apprentices. Pan Ren is just a 12-year-old boy. There are some things that he can't understand at all, so he said:

"Old man, since gold foil is difficult to make and is very valuable, why do we have to use gold foil? You 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 mixing it with 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 the 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 medical benefits, and has the effects of calming the mind, soothing the nerves, and detoxifying.

In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica recorded that eating gold can calm the spirit, strengthen the bone marrow, and clear the evil spirits of the five internal organs. Taking it can make you feel like a god. Especially taking gold foil in pills and powders can break the cold and eliminate wind.

Therefore, this layer of gold foil can also be called the twelfth medicine of Angong Niuhuang Pills, because the presence of gold foil enhances the phlegm-removing, calming the nerves and heat-clearing effects of Angong Niuhuang Pills, making its therapeutic effect better.

In addition to Niuhuang Angong Pills, our Tong Ren Tang’s Niuhuang Qingxin Pills, Wuji Baifeng Pills, Dahuoluo Pills and other precious Chinese patent medicines 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 you need any tickets or letters of introduction?"

The male doctor smiled and said, "One pill costs 35 yuan. Just pay, no tickets needed."

(The author did not find the price of Tong Ren Tang Angong Niuhuang Pills in 1959, but only found that it was sold for 1980 yuan per pill in 68, and the price was inferred 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 more than half a month's salary for Pan's mother and also a month's food allowance for the Pan family.

Lin Sanqi didn't think it was expensive at all. He thought that selling such a treasure for only one month's salary was a very fair price, wasn't it?
By 2023, the price of Angong Niuhuang Pills produced in the 10s and 10s has been hyped up to over yuan per pill. How can an ordinary person earn yuan a month?
Lin Sanqi happily picked up the wax pill and looked at it from left to right, while asking, "Is there a limit on the number of Angong Niuhuang Pills we can buy?"

The male medical guide smiled 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 impose purchase restrictions, I’m going to ask for a lot of money. I still have more than a thousand yuan in my pocket anyway.

"Then 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 that this medicine might be useful, he didn't react.

But the staff of Tong Ren Tang were all shocked. The old doctor with gray hair advised:
(End of this chapter)