Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 992 The Best Family in the World! The Story of Japan Stealing Traditional Chinese Medicine

Chapter 992 The Best Family in the World! The Story of Japan Stealing Traditional Chinese Medicine (Two Chapters Combined)
"So fast?" Fang Yan was somewhat surprised.

He had previously thought it would take several days to investigate, but after yesterday's report, the results were already available today.

Fang Yan said to his older sister:

"Sister, please keep an eye on the fire for me. I'll be right back after I take this call."

The eldest sister nodded:

"Go quickly!"

Fang Yan took the damp towel handed to him by his sister-in-law, wiped his hands, and then quickly walked into the study.

Pick up the microphone:

"Director Liao?"

"You're here?" Director Liao's voice came from the other end of the phone.

The dialect didn't beat around the bush, getting straight to the point:

"I heard things are looking promising?"

Director Liao responded:

"Yes, we've investigated it. The professor there received an invitation from Kyoto University in Japan. He'll be paid $800 a day to lecture there, so he plans to go."

Eight hundred US dollars?

Why are there so many more lectures on international politics than in their traditional Chinese medicine department?
Dialect inquiry:

"Then why did he bring my second sister with him?"

Director Liao said:
He said it was because of your father-in-law.

"Huh?" Fang Yan was taken aback.

All that could be heard was Director Liao explaining:
“That professor is a friend of your father-in-law. When your second sister went to Fudan University, he wrote to her to make arrangements. So after your second sister enrolled, he and his wife have been taking good care of her. Of course, your second sister is also very talented, so he plans to take her to Kyoto University this time.”

Fang Yan suddenly realized that his father-in-law had indeed mentioned having friends at Fudan University. (See Chapter 646)
However, until his second sister left, he never mentioned to me that he wanted his friends at Fudan University to take care of her. It seems that he probably spoke to his father alone.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. What's the point of him telling me this?

Fang Yan thought for a moment and asked:

"So it's been confirmed that no Japanese are causing trouble inside?"

Director Liao pondered for a moment, then said:

That's how it appears on the surface.

On the surface?
That's quite interesting, so Fang Yan asked:

"Is there something else going on?"

Director Liao said on the phone:
"He probably has. He has visited Kyoto University several times for exchange studies and has many friends in academic circles there. It's uncertain whether he is innocent now."

"This is a professor of international political economy, a very important professor, so we need to treat him with care."

After saying that, he continued:

"But don't worry, this matter will definitely be investigated thoroughly."

Fang Yan asked the question that concerned him most:
"What about my second sister and her family's schedule? Has it been interrupted?"

Director Liao said:
"The school leaders have intervened and used school rules to stop this matter, and then gave your second sister some opportunities to exchange ideas at other diplomatic occasions."

"As for international politics, with our gradual opening up, there will be no shortage of such training opportunities."

"I'm afraid she'll get tired of it after a while and won't want to do this job anymore."

Fang Yan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Director Liao's words and expressed his gratitude:
"Thank you for your guidance, Director Liao!"

Director Liao said:
"Hey, it's nothing. This is something we should have been paying attention to, but you were the first to notice the problem. Come to think of it, we didn't protect you well enough."

"We must take this matter seriously from now on!"

Fang Yan quickly spoke into the phone:
"Thank you for your concern, leader!"

Director Liao chuckled and then said:
"Alright, that's all for now. I heard from your brother that you're cooking in the kitchen, so go ahead and get busy!"

The dialect responded:
"Okay, Director Liao! Goodbye!"

Director Liao replied:
"Okay, I'm hanging up!"

……

After hanging up the phone, Fang Yan returned to the kitchen.

The older woman made way for Fang Yan to continue cooking, and at the same time asked him curiously:
"What did you ask Director Liao to investigate?"

He said in dialect:

"Investigate matters related to the Japanese."

After saying that, Fang Yan asked his eldest sister:

"By the way, do you have any exchange programs that allow you to go abroad to Japan?"

The older sister, both amused and exasperated, said to the dialect:

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm a law student!"

Dialect puzzle:
"Don't law students need to participate in international exchange programs?"

Although the laws of each country are different, there is still exchange in areas such as international law, comparative law, economic law, transnational legal practice, and intellectual property law.

The eldest sister said:

"Anyway, we students are not allowed to go abroad for exchange programs, and we are not even allowed to talk too much about our studies with others."

Fang Yan scratched his head, realizing he had stumbled upon a blind spot in his knowledge.

He quickly changed the subject, saying:
"What about Fang Chen? Has he participated in any exchange activities?"

The eldest sister shook her head:
"He...doesn't know."

Fang Yan turned down the fire and shouted outside:

"Fang Chen!"

Immediately, the younger brother ran out from the main hall:
"What's wrong, brother?"

He asked in dialect:

Do you have any literary exchange programs with Japan?

Fang Chen asked:

No, why?

Fang Yan breathed a sigh of relief:

"Oh, then it's alright."

The younger brother walked over and asked in dialect:

What problem are you having?

Fang Yan shook his head, then nodded.

Then he said:

"How about you add a story about the Japanese stealing our traditional Chinese medicine culture to your novel?"

The younger brother was somewhat taken aback and asked:
"Of course you can, but why did you suddenly think of this?"

He said in dialect:

"It's not that I suddenly remembered it, but I just felt that we can't forget this history, otherwise what we learn from others will become their own. The battlefield of cultural propaganda is also a very important position. If we don't occupy it, others will."

Upon hearing this, the younger brother nodded in agreement:
"Okay, I'll go and gather information on that right away."

He said in dialect:

"No need, I'll tell you some of their stories this afternoon."

"Okay!" the younger brother nodded in agreement.

Ma Wenying, standing to the side, looked at them blankly, not understanding a word of what they were saying in dialect.

When Fang Yan started cooking again, Ma Wenying asked:

"Dr. Fang is going to Japan?"

"No." Fang Yan shook her head.

He paused, considered his words, and then said:

"I recently had some dealings with the Japanese, and I found them to be truly despicable..."

Halfway through his sentence, Fang Yan noticed the other person's clear eyes and continued:
"Hey, why am I telling you this... Anyway, these people are no good!"

Ma Wenying pushed up her glasses:

"Understood!"

Then she suddenly looked down at Fang Yan's feet, her voice filled with surprise: "Hey! Mimi!"

Fang Yan was startled and looked down, only to see his own glossy Chinese tabby cat curling up its tail and coming closer.

The guy rubbed against his trouser leg, his eyes half-closed, and made a coquettish purring sound in his throat.

This little thing has always been greedy, otherwise it wouldn't have grown so fat.

At this moment, it is tilting its head back, its whiskers twitching as it stares at the plate of food on the stove.

From the dialect, it's clear this is something to eat.

He picked up a piece of fatty meat with chopsticks, and just as it was hanging in mid-air, the tabby cat suddenly stood up, placed its front paws on his shoes, and its tail swept across the floor with a rustling sound.

As soon as the meat slices landed, it quickly grabbed them and swallowed them in a few bites. Then it gently patted Fang Yan's ankle with its paw, raised its head and meowed twice, licking the corner of its mouth with its pink tongue, looking very eager.

Seeing this, Ma Wenying's eyes lit up with excitement.

He squatted down excitedly to take a closer look at the tabby cat.

Its back fur was patterned with alternating dark brown and light yellow stripes, glossy and shiny under the warm yellow light of the kitchen, and its fluffy tail swung back and forth like a feather duster.

When someone approached, it merely tilted its head and pricked up its ears, but did not run away like a normal cat.

"Dr. Fang, you've taken such good care of it!"

Ma Wenying reached out to touch it, but was afraid of startling it, so she paused, her fingertips hovering in mid-air.

Then, in surprise, he said:
"It's not afraid of the fragrance on me?"

"By the way, what's its name?"

Fang Yan stirred the vegetables in the wok, glancing at the cat amidst the rising smoke:

"It's probably gotten so used to the smell of Chinese medicine that it's desensitized to fragrances. As for its name..." He suddenly put down the spatula and blew lightly twice at the cat, the last syllable of which had a slightly rising arc.

Then, the tabby cat, which had been lazy just moments before, suddenly perked up its ears, its tail tip trembled slightly, and it took small steps to circle around to Fang Yan's feet, tilting its head back and responding with a "meow," with a speck of meat still clinging to the tip of its whiskers.

"Sizzle?" Ma Wenying's eyes widened, and she imitated the dialect tone by blowing twice, but the last syllable was a little weak.

The tabby cat tilted its head and turned towards her, as if trying to discern whether the unfamiliar call concealed food.

It hesitated for a moment, then walked up to Ma Wenying, placed its front paws on her knees, sniffed the perfume on her fingertips with its wet nose, then meowed, swished its tail, and turned to rub against Fang Yan.

Based on its assessment, the woman didn't smell of meat!
At this moment, Fang Yan dropped a piece of meat in front of Ma Wenying.

The cat turned back to Ma Wenying, squatted down, and started eating.

"Tsk tsk, what a unique name!" Ma Wenying was amused and laughed. While the cat was munching on the newly thrown piece of fatty meat, she finally gently stroked its back.

The tabby cat was focused on its food, its round cheeks puffing out, while its tail casually brushed against Ma Wenying's hand. She touched the soft fur on the cat's belly and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh dear, it looks pregnant?"

Before he finished speaking, the cat suddenly flicked its tail, finished eating the meat, shook its whiskers in disgust, turned around and jumped onto the stove, nuzzled its head against Fang Yan's elbow, and tugged at his sleeve with its paws.

"Want some more? We're out!" Fang Yan flicked its head with her finger, but the tabby cat was oblivious. Instead, it curled up into a ball of fur, resting its head on its front paws and wagging its tail around the spice jar.

Ma Wenying leaned closer to look at its round belly. Just as her fingertips were about to touch it, it impatiently flicked its tail and gently pressed its paw against her hand.

"Is it fat or pregnant?" Ma Wenying tilted her head and stared at the cat's belly. Suddenly, the cat stood up, stretched, and its round belly drooped down and swayed. Now it was clearly fat accumulated from overeating.

Fang Yan laughed out loud upon seeing this: "Even Miss Ma misjudged it. It seems this cat needs to lose weight."

As if it understood, the tabby cat meowed, slapped its tail against the salt shaker, turned around, jumped to the ground, and ran away.

"Hey!" Upon seeing this, Ma Wenying immediately chased after him.

After seeing this, the older woman standing nearby said to Fang Yan:

"This Miss Ma is quite amusing; she acts like she's never seen a cat before."

He said in dialect:

"She had no one to talk to at home, so I guess that's why she fell in love with cats."

Upon hearing this, the eldest sister was surprised:
"Oh, she's quite pitiful."

Nodding in dialect:

"yes……"

……

After a while, lunch was ready, and Fang Yan took off her apron and invited her family to eat.

There weren't many guests today, but the table was laden with several dishes: red sweet and sour pork ribs and braised pork belly, green stir-fried seasonal vegetables, white steamed fish, and a simmering mushroom and chicken soup in a clay pot, as well as pork tripe and three delicacies. The aroma wafted through the doors and windows, filling the courtyard and making one's mouth water.

No matter who you are, you can find a dish that suits you on the table.

Dishes from all over the country, even when cooked in local dialects, are quite authentic.

Ma Wenying stared at the brightly colored sweet and sour pork ribs, her eyes practically sparkling. Just as she was about to reach for the ribs with her chopsticks, Zhu Lin snatched a piece and put it in her bowl first.

"Miss Ma, please try it."

Ma Wenying nodded; she hadn't had a chance to try it during the tasting earlier.

After eating it, Ma Wenying gave it extremely high praise.

"A hundred times better than the food at Yanjing Hotel!!!"

Ma Wenying was eating with great relish, not caring about her image at all. Her cheeks were puffed out like a little hamster's, and some soup spilled onto the corners of her mouth as she spoke.

Seeing this, the eldest sister smiled and quietly handed her a handkerchief, which Ma Wenying used to wipe her mouth.

Then her older sister made her a bowl of soup.

"Thank you, sister!" Ma Wenying held the bowl in both hands and thanked her elder sister.

Then she scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and as soon as she put it in her mouth, her eyes widened after one sip. The mushrooms in the soup had absorbed the freshness of the chicken, and when she bit into them, the soup burst on her tongue, bringing out a hint of wild fragrance.

"This is so fresh!" Ma Wenying exclaimed.

I remember this dish contained dried sea cucumber powder, along with mushroom soup and dried ingredients; it was incredibly delicious.

Upon hearing her words, everyone else took a sip of their drink and nodded in agreement.

It's so fresh.

At this moment, Ma Wenying noticed that Fang Yan's cat was lying on the chair next to her. She put down her chopsticks and suddenly reached out to touch the tabby cat lying on the back of the chair. As soon as she touched it, she saw the tabby cat curl its tail and then nimbly jump onto the windowsill.

Fang Yan said to her:
"Let's eat, stop playing with the cat."

“That’s right, that’s right…” Others also tried to persuade her.

After learning that Ms. Ma was mentally unstable, everyone showed her great tolerance.

Even the children in Fangyan's family are like this.

Fang Yan saw Mingzhu put a piece of food on Ma Wenying's plate.

Ma Wenying was deeply moved.

At that moment, she felt that Fang Yan's family members were simply the best people in the world.

I wish I could pet that cat named "Cici" again.

Ma Wenying suddenly put down her chopsticks, looked at the family sitting together, and her eyes welled up with tears.

She recalled her apartment in Haojiang, where the cold marble dining table always had only one set of cutlery. Unlike now, where someone was handing her a handkerchief and someone was serving her food.

“Dr. Fang,” she suddenly said, her voice choked with emotion, “your family is so kind.”

Fang Yan was both amused and exasperated. Seeing the condensation on her glasses, he smiled and added a piece of sweet and sour pork rib to her bowl.
"Eat quickly, the food is getting cold."

Ma Wenying nodded and continued eating.

After lunch.

Huang Huijie had recovered her composure by now and started discussing playing mahjong that afternoon.

I originally planned to invite Ma Wenying along, but she kept her promise to Fang Yan and said she had to go back.

I can only come back later when I have another chance.

It sounded quite pitiful, but Fang Yan didn't respond. Although Ma Wenying seemed to have control over her travel, she still had to report to her superiors.

So Fang Yan didn't make any promises, nor did she change the agreement to let her stay a little longer.

Fang Yan led her and her assistant out the door, then drove them to Xiehe Hospital, got them into the car, and took them back.

Although Ma Wenying was still somewhat reluctant to leave, she understood the importance of contractual obligations and had no intention of reneging. However, before going upstairs, she still asked Fang Yan:

"Dr. Fang, can I still come to your house next week?"

Fang Yan remembered that next week was Xiao Zhang's wedding, shook her head and said:

"I have to attend a friend's wedding next week, so I'm afraid I can't."

Ma Wenying seemed a little disappointed, but immediately asked:
"What about the week after next?"

Fang Yan thought about it, and the week after next was Representative Huo's wedding in Hong Kong.

Although he hadn't asked Director Liao if he could go, he thought it shouldn't be a big problem, so he said:
"The week after next... I have a friend's wedding, so I'm afraid that won't work either."

"..." Ma Wenying was speechless. How come a friend gets married every week?

However, she still said:
"It sounds like a lie, but it also feels like it's true."

"Then I'll do it the week after next!"

Fang Yan said to her:
"I don't know if I'll be free then, we'll see."

Ma Wenying had no choice but to agree:
"All right!"

Goodbye, Dr. Fang!

"Goodbye." Fang Yan waved goodbye to her.

Then Fang Yan returned home. As agreed with his younger brother, Fang Yan was going to give him a few stories about Japanese people stealing traditional Chinese medicine.

"Brother, tell me quickly how the Japanese stole our traditional Chinese medicine. I've even thought of a title—'The Predators Behind Kampo'!" The younger brother looked impatient.

"Don't rush, we need to get to the root of the problem." Fang Yan dragged over a bamboo chair and sat down.

Then he asked his younger brother:

You know about the Japanese envoys to Tang China, right?

The younger brother nodded.

He said in dialect:

"These people ostensibly came to learn about culture, but in reality, they were carrying out a planned 'knowledge theft.' From the 7th to the 9th century, they sent nineteen groups of envoys to Tang China, each group accompanied by 'physicians' and 'medical practitioners' who were specifically tasked with copying prescriptions from Tang Dynasty pharmacies and the Imperial Medical Academy."

“The monk Saichō was even more extraordinary. He not only studied Buddhism, but also took away classics such as the Huangdi Neijing Taisu and Xinxiu Bencao, filling several large ships to take back to Japan.”

"The Japanese copy of the Tang Materia Medica, made in 731 AD, is 200 years older than the earliest extant Song Dynasty woodblock print in China. Can you guess how they did it?"

The little brother shook his head.

Fang Yan continued:

"Among the Japanese envoys to Tang China, there was a man named Tanba Yasuyori who worked as a 'student' at the Imperial Medical Academy in Chang'an. During the day, he would learn about medicines from the pharmacists, and at night he would secretly make rubbings of the pharmacopoeia's woodblocks. He even copied back the microscopic descriptions of how we distinguished between 'Aconitum carmichaelii' and 'Aconitum napellus' word for word."

"Master Kukai's 'The Names of All Things in Seal and Clerical Script' contains more than 1700 names of Chinese medicinal herbs, including all the alternative names from our 'Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica' copied word for word. At that time, we were doing cultural exchange, who could have imagined that they were laying the foundation for future substitutions?"

Upon hearing this, the younger brother quickly wrote it down.

Then Fang Yan began to tell him the story of how the books that appeared in the Imperial Library and the Mausoleum Department of various dynasties came about.

Fang Yan tapped the table with his fingertips and said in a low voice:

"You think they only steal folk remedies? The palace treasures are the real targets."

"Take the Imperial Household Agency's Archives and Mausoleums Department in Japan, for example. They have so many of our treasures hidden there. There's a handwritten copy of the 'Huangdi Neijing' from the Tang Dynasty, with annotations in cinnabar from the Imperial Medical Bureau on every page; and a movable-type printed copy of the 'Qianjin Fang' from the Song Dynasty, where even Sun Simiao's marginal notes have been copied and studied. How did these books get to Japan? Most of them were smuggled out by missionaries and merchant ships during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties."

"Remember during the Chongzhen era? Japan sent a Confucian scholar named Hayashi Razan to our place, ostensibly to exchange Confucian ideas, but in reality, he brought a 'medicinal herb identification team.' They stayed in Nanjing for three years, copied all the books in the Imperial Medical Academy, and even bribed eunuchs with a large sum of money to get their hands on the 'secret processing method' of the Imperial Pharmacy in the Forbidden City."

"The most infuriating thing is the Imperial Pharmacy Prescriptions. This book is a collection of secret prescriptions for the imperial court compiled by the Imperial Medical Bureau at the behest of Emperor Huizong of Song. Of the 180 prescriptions in it, 62 have been patented by Tsumura & Co., Ltd. of Japan."

"Do you know how they got it? In 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, the Japanese army was the first to rush into the Imperial Hospital and steal the copy hidden in the Golden Cabinet. Now the book is locked in the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library, and even our Chinese Medicine Research Institute has to pay a usage fee if it wants to make a copy."

“In 1930, the Japanese ‘East Asian Medical Association’ sent a group of scholars to our area under the guise of ‘academic exchange,’ but in reality, it was a ‘prescription survey.’ After the investigation was completed, their troops were able to accurately locate the local lineage of traditional Chinese medicine as soon as they arrived in a place, and then wipe them out completely.”

The younger brother couldn't hold back any longer and cursed:

"You bastard, you're a real piece of trash."

Fueled by anger, the young man began to work on these stories, intending to tell the readers through a novel.

After speaking in the dialect, I felt much better. Cultural promotion is about reminding more people of history.

To raise awareness among more people.

After finishing his business here, Fang Yan came out of his younger brother's room and returned to the main courtyard.

My dad, a motorcycle enthusiast, is still messing with the sidecar motorcycle that's sitting in the yard.

Fang Yan thought for a moment, "Now that I have money, why don't I get one for my dad too?"
But we'll have to wait a while. We can't give it to him now, or he'll definitely drive it off and wander around aimlessly.

For his safety, Fang Yan remained silent and turned to enter the main hall.

Right now, Huang Huijie is playing mahjong again in the main hall.

A group of women gathered together.

Zhu Lin also poured her a bowl of stewed white fungus and lotus seed soup.

Right now, Huang Huijie is happily acting as a money-giving benefactor.

Fang Yan saw her father-in-law watching TV and drinking tea, looking quite relaxed.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Yan sat down next to him and quietly asked about her friends at Fudan University.

When the father-in-law heard this, he thought something had happened to his second sister.

asked:

"Did your second sister encounter some difficulties over there?"

After saying that, he slapped his thigh and said:

"Oh dear, actually I just asked a friend over there to keep an eye on things... but..."