Four hundred years ago, with the arrival of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Edo developed from a fishing village to the political and economic center of Japan, and Nihonbashi served as the "Edo Castle" (the location of the Imperial Palace where the Emperor of Japan lives today).
The core area of "Castle Town" has convenient land and water transportation, making it the first core commercial area to be developed and constructed.
Since the completion of Edo Castle, Nihonbashi has been a gathering place for merchants from all over the country. From seafood and fisheries to dried bonito, seaweed, fruits, knives and kitchen utensils, kimonos and cloths, it is bustling with activity every day.
This newly opened trading company is called Beji Trading Company.
His products are all in demand, such as iron tools and farm implements. Japan is short of iron, so many farmers farm with hoes covered with wood and iron. The plowshares are made of pure wood, with just a little iron on the head of the plowshare.
As a privileged class, samurai used all the good iron materials to make samurai swords.
Japanese armor is the most bizarre armor in the world. The main materials are actually bamboo and leather. Only the dongwan of high-ranking generals have pure iron breastplates and helmets. Many other parts are still made of bamboo and wood.
As soon as the iron tools and agricultural tools here were put on the market, they immediately attracted many buyers. They soon discovered that the quality of these iron tools was very good, far superior to local iron.
Taozi was worried that the steel would attract the attention of the shogunate and did not dare to sell the steel ingots directly, otherwise it would be more popular.
The last time she transported weapons from Tanggu, she brought back one hundred tons of pig iron and ten tons of steel produced by Yang Fan as ballast for ocean-going ships.
In Momoko's workshop in Nagasaki, the pig iron is made into various farm implements and tools for sale, which makes more money than simply selling iron materials. The steel is made into unobtrusive small items such as kitchen knives and scissors.
.Sold under the cover of daily necessities.
On this day, Miss Inukai Chichiyo was shopping in the castle town. She suddenly remembered that she wanted to buy a new pair of scissors to sew her wedding dress. The one at home was really hard to use and the fabric was cut into pieces.
Just like what a dog chews.
This Wuji trading company has become very famous recently. People say that its ironware is of good quality, the portions are sufficient, and the price is at a medium level. Many people come to buy it.
Miss Inukai Chichiyo walked into the room and was immediately greeted by a little girl. She bowed ninety degrees and saluted the guests.
"Welcome to our store, what do you need?"
"I want to buy a pair of scissors for cutting cloth," Chichiyo said with a smile.
He also gestured with his hands to imitate scissors.
The little girl understood immediately and invited her to a counter and asked the clerk inside to take out a dozen pairs of scissors of various sizes and shapes.
Miss Chichiyo's family is relatively wealthy. She has studied Chinese characters and saw inscriptions on the scissors. On them were "Zhao Xiaoquan", "Li Mazi" and "Yongdeli".
She took a look and found that Zhao Xiaoquan's scissors were the best and most expensive. They were made of very good steel and were polished to a shiny silver surface. They looked many times better than the local black iron scissors. They were also engraved with Tang grass.
pattern.
She placed the pad of her finger gently on the edge of the blade and carefully felt the sharpness. She nodded with satisfaction at the feeling from the pad of her finger. It was very sharp, no worse than a kitchen knife at home.
"Dear guest, this is the best scissor in our shop. The outer body is made of wrought iron, and the blade is made of fine steel. It achieves the perfect combination of toughness and hardness. It is guaranteed that you will not use it for decades.
Bad. Our store is also responsible for providing free knife sharpening services. If the blade is dull, we can take it back and sharpen it for you for free. Our store has professional knife sharpeners.”
"Really? It's great to have such a good service. How much does this pair of scissors cost?" Miss Chichiyo said in surprise.
"This pair of scissors costs 2 taels of silver. Although it is a bit more expensive, the experience of using it is very comfortable. It is definitely worth the money."
Ms. Chichiyo nodded. The pair of scissors she bought at home were cheap, but the experience was very bad. She always cut the cloth badly and was almost maddeningly irritated.
"Pack it up for me. Here are two taels. Keep them."
At this time, Miss Chichiyo suddenly noticed some square yellow objects placed on the shelf behind the counter. She didn’t know what they were, but they were marked with three taels of silver per dollar.
Next to it were things packaged in exquisite wooden boxes. Among them were opened and displayed, two-inch-long pieces of various colors, carved with patterns and exuding various fragrances. You could smell them across the counter.
"What is this?" Miss Chichiyo asked.
"This is a new product launched by our trading company. The large piece is soap, used for washing clothes. The small piece is soap, used for bathing and washing face in the morning."
"Why does it smell so good?" Miss Chichiyo sniffed hard, feeling the refreshing fragrance. She looked at the small piece of soap placed in front of her and gently touched it with her hands. She couldn't tell what it felt like, and then she picked up her fingers.
Put it under your nose, and a nice vanilla scent comes out.
"Dear guests, our store provides five different scented soaps. For example, this white soap is for milk skin rejuvenation, this one is jasmine scented, and this one is rose essential oil. When taking a bath, just use this hand towel to
Just apply the foam on the body, then rinse with water, and the body will be washed very clean. The fragrance will also stay on the body for a long time." The little girl introduced with a smile.
Miss Chichiyo suddenly smelled a faint orchid-like fragrance on the little clerk girl, and couldn't help but ask, "You smell really good, have you used this kind of soap too?"
The little girl said shyly: "Yes, distinguished guest, I use the one scented with gardenia. The store requires every receptionist to take a bath with soap every day. Only when you use good things yourself can your guests feel safe using them.
"
Miss Chichiyo nodded, that was indeed the truth. Then she asked: "I want a gardenia scented piece. How much does it cost?"
"Ten taels of silver, all soaps are the same price."
Miss Chichiyo paid the money with satisfaction. Although it was very expensive, she liked it very much. When she gets married, her husband will definitely like it if she makes herself smell good.
Soaps and toilet soaps were put on the market, and within a few days there was a sales boom. Edo Castle is now the center of power in Japan. Around the Tokugawa shogunate, countless officials, samurai, and businessmen gathered here. People and wealth gathered here, and it became a
A place where wealth gathers.
The clothes of these people are all made of precious silk fabrics. The traditional way of washing is to use a mallet by the river and beat it gently. This is a technical job and can easily damage the expensive silk. The emergence of soap has completely solved the problem.
solved this problem.
In the morning, General Tokugawa Hidetada sat up from his bed. The maids brought fresh clothes on a wooden tray. Mrs. Ajiang was awakened. She opened her eyes and saw the general sniffing the clothes like a child.
A change of clothes.
Mrs. Ajiang smiled softly, sat up, gently hugged the general, and asked with a smile: "What are you smelling?"
Everyone in Japan knows that the General is afraid of his wife.
When Xiuzhong was seventeen years old, he married Mrs. Ajiang. Ajiang was six years older than him, and she still remarried. However, the general loved her very much. Ajiang, who was six years older, exuded the brilliance of motherhood. In her, the general
The adults received spiritual comfort.
"This clothes has a smell similar to that of orchid. It smells very fresh and nice."
Mrs. Ajiang looked at the maid, and the maid quickly replied: "This is washed with the soap and scented soap that are very popular in the castle town recently. Wash it with soap first. There is no need to beat the clothes with a stick, which will not damage the clothes. Just rub them gently with your hands and they will be washed."
It is very clean. Then wash it again with gardenia soap. This is the smell. If this soap is used for bathing, the body will also maintain this fragrance."
Mrs. Ajiang is no longer young, although her charm is still there, and the general's favor is still there. Looking at the general, sniffing the clothes like a puppy, this fragrant soap that can wash the body immediately aroused her interest.
Interested, she asked: "Do you still have this kind of soap in the house? Bring a piece and show it to me."