Volume 2: The crown and the hat are all over the capital, and the spirit is full of energy and enter the foggy city Chapter 84: Mahjong House (Part 2)
The subtitle of this chapter: The President seeks talented people and Yuan Sheng has the most unparalleled talent.
"Mr. Yuan, did you bring your things?"
In fact, they had already made it clear on the phone that Master Yuan was invited here today to teach us how to play Mahjong.
It was unknown where this group of people got the information from, maybe from Wall Street or Washington, Yuan Yanshu didn't care. What he cared about was how to use the charm of mahjong to conquer the American president and his "Ohio Gang".
Our Master Yuan looked around at the people who were either curious, perfunctory, questioning, or disdainful, and suddenly felt like a drug dealer peddling "Ma Fei San", "Xiao Yao Wan", "Paraquat"... uh, "Paracao".
Yes, I am selling a "good medicine" that can soothe the mind.
No, what I am doing now is not just promoting mahjong, but promoting the traditional culture of Seris.
Does mahjong really have that much significance?
Yuan Yanshu was not deceiving himself, nor was he just trying to make history more readable. At this moment, he remembered another piece of wisdom of the Seres, that is, Go.
In 1909, the Japanese 4th dan chess player Michihei Takabe came to China for a tour. At that time, Michihei Takabe was only a second-rate chess player in Japan, but none of Octavian Duanyang's chess players could defeat this 4th dan player.
In 1918, Japanese 6th dan chess player Hirose Heijiro visited Beijing. He gave three stones to all famous Beijing players from Wang Yunfeng down, but he still won more games. Hirose's favorite student Iwamoto Kaoru also came to China. At the age of 16, Iwamoto was also a leader in the Beijing chess world and was unrivaled.
In 1919, Japan's top chess player Honinbo Shusai came to China and played chess with Chinese players with handicap.
Later, China did produce a young genius who dominated the Japanese Go world, but Wu Qingyuan became the "Showa Go Saint."
One year, at the invitation of Chuanlin Beitui, Lao Duan went to Mount Lushan to escape the summer heat. He talked about Go and mentioned Wu Qingyuan. He said that this rare genius might become a Japanese citizen, which would be a great loss for China. We should try to call Wu back to China to teach Chinese people how to play Go. Otherwise, Japan will become stronger and stronger, and China will fall further and further behind. However, Chuanlin Beitui was submissive in front of him. However, he was not willing to do such things, so the matter was left unresolved.
As the saying goes, the fortune of chess is like the fortune of a country.
If Seris had not fallen to such a low point , how could it be that it could not even beat the Japanese in playing the game left by its ancestors? When China surpasses Japan to become the world's second-best player, it will also be the time when the Chinese dominate the Go world.
For Oriental people, Go is much more prestigious than Mahjong. But if we want to export Eastern culture to the West, Go is definitely not as suitable as Mahjong.
As for the level of prestige, this is something given by humans.
He has always believed that it is better to open a mahjong parlor than to build a hundred Confucius Institutes. Could Confucius II be more popular than these 144 cards?
Our Master Yuan very rarely adjusted his charm to 19 points, smiled at everyone, and immediately made these old men fall into confusion.
"Gentlemen, I am honored to be invited by the President to come to the White House, the center of the world, and I am very happy to introduce a traditional Seres entertainment method to you, the American elite."
"Mr. President, and everyone, please make way..."
Yuan Yan suddenly picked up the box and placed it on the table. She took a deep breath before opening it and taking out two small boxes from it.
He did not open it immediately, but took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands carefully.
“Click! Click!”
"Gentlemen, look!"
"Wow……"
When he opened the box, everyone's eyes lit up and they exclaimed in amazement.
They lost their composure because the two sets of mahjong tiles looked so beautiful and exquisite, like works of art rather than gambling tools. At least they looked more stylish than the scattered cards next to them.
Style, style, isn’t this what gentlemen pursue?
Mr. Doherty took a mahjong tile, touched it carefully, and asked, "Mr. Yuan, are these jade and ivory?"
"That's right, sir." Master Yuan nodded. "These cards are indeed carved from jade and ivory."
If it were a hundred years later, he would be considered a bad element who was against the movement and the protection of animals. Using ivory to make mahjong tiles would not only make environmentalists scold him to death, but would also be enough to send him to jail and eat steamed buns for a few years.
American politicians cannot afford such a gift. This is not a question of value, but a question of values.
But isn't it 1921? Ivory is ivory. The American people ate passenger pigeons to extinction and nearly killed bison to extinction, so why would they care about elephants?
"Gentlemen, in addition to the Mahjong, I also brought you a special instruction manual."
Yuan Yanshu really put in a lot of effort this time. Since he didn't have time to print the book "The Art of 144 Cards", he simply used the Master Ball system to print it out.
This broken system is a bit of a rip-off, but the "void printing technology" is truly unique in the world. These twelve mahjong manuals are beautifully decorated, with crisp paper and even a faint scent of sandalwood. As soon as you see them, you can feel... well, the charm of knowledge.
The pattern on the cover is a Tai Chi diagram made up of 144 mahjong tiles. The two Tai Chi eyes are composed of four red centers and four green hairs. A strong and extremely Seres style is overwhelming.
"Mahjong has been passed down in Seris for three thousand years. It was originally a divination tool passed down by gods to mortals. So it is not only a form of entertainment to kill time, but also a technique to adjust the body and mind..."
Master Yuan distributed the books to everyone, cleared his throat and said, "But we won't talk about this today. Students... um, gentlemen, please skip the introduction and turn directly to the basic rules."
With a look of bewilderment on their faces, they turned to the rules as he said, and exclaimed in admiration. It turned out that Yuan Yanshu used a lot of illustrations to make it easier for Westerners to understand, and it was like a book of pictures.
"Gentlemen, let's learn the basics of Mahjong today..."
"Each person has thirteen cards, and the dealer has fourteen..."
"The types of cards include pure, mixed, wind, and pong..."
"Come on, repeat after me. This is called Chi... This is called Peng... This is called Gang... This is called Hu... This is called Zi Mo... This is called Gang Kai..."
"Gentlemen, do you understand?" Yuan Yan suddenly saw President Harding raised his hand high, so she asked, "Mr. President, what's the problem?"
The handsome old man laughed and said, "Mr. Yuan, my question is, can we start now? I can't wait any longer!"
"Of course!" Master Yuan smiled and nodded, "Mr. President, we can start now!"
“Clatter…”
The clear and pleasant sound of shuffling cards was heard in the future "center of the world".
As the saying goes: Poor Oval Office, instead of playing poker, they play mahjong.
