C013 New Ways Of Eating The Tapioca Or The Cassava
2022 Words
The paint had been dried and I said the 2 delivery boys would be carrying 2 each and slung it behind their backs like a shinobi and at the meantime, since the flag was not ready, they would just use a handkerchief to cover their faces.
Meanwhile, the 5 ex samurai were deep in their thoughts and I told them that during or after the limestone expedition we would be going to look for the elusive Youkai Taijiya Village and we could go demon hunting with them if they allow us. Furthermore, we could gain experiences as we had not been spilling blood for quite some time and it's time we practise on these demons to make us to create awareness and adds agility.
They agreed and we chatted on other things in general and had placed the incident at the back of our minds for the moment until it arises again. I knew what they were thinking and I said it's better we know we have enemies around rather than have friends that turned against us as hidden enemies.
Furthermore, I suggested we make acquaintances with the common enemies so that every movement of theirs could be monitors and secret messages could be relayed by our trusted stable boys.
We changed subjects and asked how many employees that we would have and said it is around 200 and this shocked them most. Since they had joined Fasuto Japan, the corporation had expanded within 30 days of operations.
At the rate the cosmetic products and the Refined Iron was produced and stocked, we had no problems in expanding our business. We just need to get to know some shipmates and captains to make open a proposal to them.
In this way, we could expand the business empire from Shibata towards the other neighbouring port of calls.
I took out my sketchpad and turned to a fresh page and commenced another part of the meeting.
"Seniors, we have now maintained Kitakata, Aizuwakamatsu, Yonezawa and Shibata. We wish to expand further into the other regions and then we can take it easy from there. Can anyone tell me the region that would be on the north side of us since the southern part had been conquered?"
"We have Tochigi Prefecture and it was more of a group of cities and towns. If I'm not mistaken there is a capital city named Utsunomiya that had a population 5 times of Aizuwakamatsu!"
"The trip to the Tochigi Prefecture would take 4 to 4.5 hours horseback ride."
"Do you intend to penetrate and invade the cities? With the 6 of us to penetrate and invade the same way as we did to Aizuwakamatsu, Yonezawa and Shibata would take several months because its a city and its size would be 25 times of our village. Just imagine, our town is only made up of 10,000 residents."
"No, we do it the smart way. But then can you named me the cities as populated as Shibata?"
Hiko-sama and the 4 managers rattled off the names of the cities of Tochigi Prefecture and I noted that they have at least 10 cities and 1 capital cities. I collected the time taken to travel from here to the cities, while I made them in order from the shortest travel time to the longest.
Nasushiobara 3.5hrs
***
Otawara 4hrs
***
Kanuma 4.5hrs
Moka 4.5hrs
Nikko 4.5hrs
Tochigi 4.5hrs
Utsunomiya (capital) 4.5hrs
***
Shimotsuke 5hrs
***
Ashikaga 6hrs
Oyama 6hrs
Sano 6hrs
"CFO-san, do we need to find a locale there like what we did last time?"
"Not necessary at this moment because we do not have enough manpower to delegate to each location. But I have an idea as I shared it with everyone, while everyone voices out that it's the most feasible idea.
"We won't be promoting the cosmetics products at this moment, let it be in full swing so that we can settle them when the time comes."
The managers knew that doing things too fast would harm the productivity and right now what we could do is to withhold stocks and release when there's surplus to Tochigi Prefecture.
The managers nodded that the idea is ideal so that the supply is higher than the demand.
I quickly draft a letter and addressed it to the Blacksmith Alliance. In that letter, we introduced ourselves as the ambassadors for Fasuto Japan and wishes to promote these plates for their consumption.
We also state that the price of each plate costs 6 gold coins but if they were to self collect here in Kitakata, the price would be discounted to 5 gold each.
Furthermore, they do not have to carry gold coins to do the necessary transaction but use the Treasury Department to issue them a deposit slip and adds Fasuto Japan KabushikiGaisha as the beneficiary or payee.
Enclosed is the Refined Iron plate for their assessment. Please reply and state the total number of plates needed and we will schedule a date for the Blacksmith Alliance to collect.
Since the Recto Shop opens 24 hours we could go there after our supper of baked apples.
The managers asked why we never think of these in the first place. I explained the corporation need to be built based on baby steps. In this way, we would know how difficult it is to do business and from there we learn to evolve and revolve, create to innovate.
I told them we would rarely go out once we have made this kind of arrangements and only delivers 3 days every fortnight.
The men agree as we could play our part as Bandits later on. Hahahaha
C068
After supper, Hiko-sama and I went to the trading district and made the letters addressed to individual cities and Blacksmith alliances and a return address for them to send in their accumulated orders.
The letters were beautifully calligrapher in Recto Shop that it looked somewhat identical to one another as 2 apprentices and the owner wrote each one of them carefully. Within an hour all the 11 letters with individual cities had been written and I paid 1 gold and silver for it.
"You want to graduate with honours, sir? We have diplomas and degrees from universities all over the world and we can make them for you within the hour."
"Haisshh... Never-ending touting their fake certificates and pass them as originals." I commented to Hiko-sama and wanted to see if they have a certificate for jive-talking especially to the mayor earlier.
I had arranged with the 4 ambassadors that we would be heading to the stable nous to collect the horses as buying them for information and these information needs to be verified and passed under the saddles of the horses as we collect them from time to time.
The information would include the movement of covert operatives since the stable boys would have the last contact before the covert operatives head out for their deadly mission especially to cause disruption, sabotage or incite riots within the corporation, the operations, employees and us.
The men had agreed to my ideas as it would pre-alert us for any incoming danger that we may face. However, we have to make sure no one knows where we might be heading since the friends that we know may turn out to be a double-bladed sword.
We had brought along 11 pieces of Refined Iron plates and in the distribution caged wagon since it had not been entered into the ledger. We carried it to the Messengers Guild that in many years to come, it was to be known as Post Office.
We talked to the clerk and told them our intention and the clerk showed us a recipient form to us and it would show the person that had received the item and letter would acknowledge and stamp their organisation seal. Thus copy would be sent to us by messenger.
He looked at the cities and calculated the cost for shipping and handling. We paid 15 gold and 9 silvers for the services and it would be delivered first thing in the morning.
We looked at the figure and it was a small price to pay for safety at this moment. The fees that we paid also included a self-return address that pointed directly to the corporation.
We thanked the clerk and discovered that it is time to replenish the Refined Iron stock level for up to 100,000 pieces which mean we would be doing 2,000 moulding trays per batch at 3 hours in the Realm of Mind.
We decided to dive into the Realm of Mind upon returning home. We walked back and reminiscing now we first started when Hiko-sama bought the first clothes on my back and now we have a wealth that even the Major is amazed at what we can make in a 30 day window period.
Upon reaching we monitor the time to process the Refined Iron plates and decided that time is on our sides so we decided to enter our meditative state and enter the Realm of Mind.
After the completion of the 2000 moulding trays, we logged off and went to our real world where we sat at the garden and drank a few cups of yumeshu before deciding to walk the product lines. Hanna and Gin were there and was busy helping the girls out with their production.
We asked how was everyone and the response that we received was very positive. Almost everyone in the outermost District knows what had happened in the afternoon and told us to be more patient when we were dealing with the mayor in the future.
We wished them adieu and went back to our house to freshen up before getting into bed.
The following morning after getting out of the shower, we sat in the garden to have our morning breakfast and enjoy another great day ahead. Breakfast was simple and it was steamed tapioca eaten with a bit of molten palm sugar.
I informed Hiko-sama that this tapioca could be eaten as it is, or with a bit of white sugar or palm sugar. It could also be eaten with a bit of grated coconut and a pinch of salt.
The best thing about this tapioca is that it could be slightly steamed and pounded and add screw pine extract and coconut milk then made into a patty and heated over a large saucepan or a large flat round pan with a little bit of oil. It could be made crispy on the outside and soft on the insides.
I asked the 'aunties' if they could prepare them for afternoon tea and they said no problem as there were 2 sackfuls of tapioca and they could make several variants of the tapioca cake or snacks. I thanked the 'aunties' as the 4 ambassadors had arrived and enjoyed their morning breakfast.
I glanced at the newly constructed warehouses and it seemed that the operation may start tomorrow. We cleared the breakfast and walked to the stable boys to collect 6 mounts while the delivery boys had taken 2 horses to pull the wagon.
The intended message had been delivered and they agree provided that their lives would not be compromised. We agree to it and we would be as discreet as possible. It was slightly 830 am and would be reaching there by 1130 am.
It would be a 6hours journey to and fro and the delivery boys packed some tapioca for the 8 of us to munch if we're hungry.
When we reached there, we discovered that we were not alone as there a group of miners as they were hacking and picking at the limestone extracts. We asked the men whether they are working for others or trying to earn a quick buck.
When we realised that they were working for themselves we asked how much does the handcraft load of limestone costs and they told me its a silver each. I saw that they had loaded a wagon full and each were picking the limestone and placing them on the 6 carts.
- Writer
