Tracing China: Through history, dialogue between ancient and modern

Chapter 187 The Zheng He Fleet Has Arrived in East Africa
Nearly a thousand years ago.

One person led the team, managed more than 100 ships, nearly 3 horses, and they were still in the vast sea.

With this ability alone, few people can do it.

After all, the sea is not land. At that time, there were no steam engines, fuel engines, satellite positioning, software navigation, and ships could not withstand the super storms at sea. Even so, Zheng He still completed the feat of seven voyages to the West, saying that he was It is not an exaggeration to be a pioneer in the era of new air routes.

In this ancient and modern dialogue.

It also allows more modern people to understand the difficulty of the ancients.

First of all, the fleet of Zheng He's voyages ranged from a hundred to as many as two or three hundred each time. With such a large fleet, it was not easy to ensure the organization and formation of the fleet.

Secondly, the number of Zheng He's fleet exceeds 800 people each time, and the maximum number reaches [-]. The daily consumption of food, fresh water, vegetables, clothing and other supplies for so many people is very high. amazing.What's more, they have to sail at sea for more than ten days or dozens of days to reach a shore to replenish supplies. This alone costs a lot, and it is very difficult to ensure the supply.

The third is that the countries along the coast of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean are far away from China. The nearest countries of Champa (Vietnam), Siam (Thailand) and Chenla (Cambodia) are hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away, and the distances are as far as East Africa. The countries are tens of thousands of kilometers.

The fourth is that the sea has no wind and three feet of waves. In case of severe weather such as typhoon, the fleet will have to endure the hardships of large waves and rain, and there is a danger of deviation from the course, hitting rocks, or being stranded.

Fifth, the languages, customs and habits of the countries along the route are different. It is very difficult for Zheng He to complete the missions of proclaiming edicts, repairing, conferring, and trading assigned by Ming Chengzu.

In addition, they have to face the negligence of some unfriendly countries, the temporary shortage of daily necessities, the harassment and attacks of pirates, etc.

The beauty partner, Bai Lu, then asked Zheng He a question: "The same goes for ocean voyages, why is your fleet safe and sound, but Western sailors are always close to death?"

About this question.

The audience discussed it enthusiastically, and the answers were almost the same.

"The reason is simple, because Zheng He's fleet was large, Columbus's ships were small, and Zheng He's fleet brought enough food, so He Zhenghe's fleet was safe and sound, but the western sailors narrowly escaped death."

"It seems to be a problem with the diet structure. Westerners like to eat meat too much, so the intake of vitamins is insufficient, causing a lot of people to get sepsis and infections due to the problem of diet structure."

"At that time, there was a considerable gap between Western shipbuilding technology and the Ming Dynasty, so that's why it happened."

"Because the maritime industry in the Ming Dynasty was relatively developed at that time, we ancients were more cautious in doing things, and Zheng He was fully prepared."

"Western sailors are pirates when sailing in the ocean, they rob things, they rely on looting. Zheng He brought a lot of materials and traded supplies along the way."

"The largest flagship of Zheng He's fleet was 44 feet long and 24.5 feet wide. It was the largest sea ship in the world at that time. Columbus's ship was only 6 meters long and [-] meters wide. When put together, it is not as wide as Zheng He's treasure ship."

"No problem. According to the "Ming History Zheng He Biography", the longest fleet of Zheng He reached 44 feet and four feet, which is about 152 meters now, and 18 feet wide, which is about 65 feet now. Such a ship can be said to be the largest sea-going ship in the world at that time, not one of them.”

"Yeah, maybe everyone thinks it's not that big, it's just a number. For example, take the aircraft carrier Liaoning as a reference. The aircraft carrier Liaoning is 304.5 meters long and 75 meters wide. Simply put, it is the Zheng He ship. A fleet of two ships is equivalent to an aircraft carrier Liaoning. Therefore, when sailing on the sea, the larger the ship, the stronger the ability to withstand wind and waves."

"The route is different, isn't it?"

"The Atlantic Ocean, where Western sailors go, seems to be more dangerous."

"Yes, the weather and ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean are extremely harsh, which is also the root cause of accidents among sailors in the West."

"Do you know the origin of the name of the Pacific Ocean? It was named the Pacific Ocean because Western sailors arrived in this water and saw such a "gentle" sea!"

……

While the audience was discussing, in the camera, Zheng He began to show the extraordinaryness of this Ming fleet.

What shocked people's jaws was that there were nearly a hundred doctors on board alone.

In addition, the chef who cooks is also a famous chef of Daming, and there is also Yanjing Imperial Chef, who solved the food problem to the greatest extent.

Besides.

There are hundreds of experienced fishermen on board to ensure safe navigation.

Not to mention the more than 2 heavily armed soldiers.

Disease treatment, dietary problems, route safety, defense capabilities, plus Zheng He, a natural adventurer, will naturally be invincible.

After seeing the strength of the huge fleet, Lin Feng asked curiously, "Senior, since the era of the new sea route, the common problems encountered by the crew are physical diseases, especially scurvy..."

What is scurvy?
Lin Feng explained that it is a disease caused by the lack of vitamin C in the human body. Bleeding gums, skin ecchymosis, anemia, loss of appetite, etc. are common.

Among them, crew members at sea are the most serious.

Sailors who sailed in the past were prone to scurvy because it was difficult to obtain fresh fruits and vegetables during the long-term voyage.

The Age of Discovery was marked by Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the American continent.Because the sailors could not eat fresh vegetables for a long time on board, the vitamins in their bodies were seriously insufficient. Many sailors got sepsis and embarked on the road to death.Scurvy killed most of the crew during Columbus' voyages.

After Columbus, another great navigator, Magellan, led the fleet to circle the earth for a week.It's just that their experience was more tragic than that of Columbus's fleet-two-thirds of Magellan's crew died of scurvy.

A story about this scurvy.

Modern people may have heard of it.

Columbus, the discoverer of the New World of America, led his crew to sail in the endless sea for several months. Many sailors were already sick, and their teeth were bleeding continuously.

What's more, the legendary land is still out of reach.

How long will this nightmare last?
With Columbus' persistence, this adventure was declared a success with the discovery of the American continent.

However, as long as it is a long-distance sea voyage, sailors are very easy to get sick, their teeth are also very easy to bleed, and in severe cases, they may even die.

People call this disease scurvy, but there is no way to cure it.

After Columbus, another great navigator, Magellan, led the fleet to circle the earth for a week.

It's just that their experience was more tragic than that of Columbus's fleet-two-thirds of Magellan's crew died of scurvy.

Until the eighteenth century, things took a turn for the better.

At this time, the country on which the sun never sets has crossed the ocean, doing business and colonizing all over the world.

However, the crew is still in danger of scurvy and death.

There was a young ship doctor named Lin Te, who found that scurvy occurred in the general crew, but none of the cadres on the ship, including himself, got scurvy.People with high official positions will not get sick.

How can there be such a reason in the world?
It wasn't until one day that he went to the general crew's restaurant to take care of patients that he made a new discovery.

It turned out that the meals of the general crew were only bread and bacon, but their cadres had potatoes and cabbage sprouts to eat.

Because Dr. Lindt believes that fresh fruits and vegetables may be able to treat scurvy.Later, they encountered a Dutch cargo ship full of oranges and lemons. Dr. Lint bought oranges and lemons to treat scurvy patients, and the effect was very good.

Dr. Lint found some scurvy patients, divided them into two groups, and ate the same food, but one group of patients supplemented with citrus fruits. As a result, in the group supplemented with fruits, the scurvy improved significantly.Dr. Lint wrote a report suggesting that all crew should be provided with fresh fruit, but unfortunately it was not adopted by the superiors.

But another well-known navigator, Captain Cook, after reading Dr. Lindt's report, took a large amount of fruit on the voyage, so that scurvy was effectively prevented.

After Dr. Lint's death, the navy of the country on which the sun never sets also began to provide sailors with lime juice to ensure the health of the crew.

They were able to enjoy the reputation of "the country on which the sun never sets" in the [-]th century. In addition to the strength of the ship, the lime juice also made incredible contributions.

……

When Zheng He sailed to the West, there was no such thing as "lime juice".

I'm afraid Zheng He himself didn't know that there was a relatively weird crew disease like sepsis.

Zheng He's answer was unexpected, "Growing bean sprouts and drinking green tea can solve the problem."

Bean sprouts?
green tea?

Many people are a little dazed.

Only after explaining.

The crew of Zheng He's voyages, because they brought beans before the voyage, soaked bean sprouts on board to eat, and supplemented vitamins and other trace elements in time.

In addition, there were many sailors in the Zheng He fleet in the Ming Dynasty who were from Yangzhou and other Jiangnan people, and the locals liked to drink green tea.

Green tea is steeped tea with high solubility. A cup of green tea contains 3~5 mg of vitamin C. The daily vitamin C requirement of a normal human body is about 60 mg.

Therefore, a few cups of tea can solve the problem of daily vitamin C supplementation.

In addition, Zheng He was from Jinning, Yunnan, and most of the sailors were from Yangzhou. Their main food was rice.

Rice can be preserved, but rice will go bad after a few days under high temperature, so Zheng He's fleet carried rice.

Due to the limited processing conditions on board, they can only eat brown rice, which is good for nutrition.

If they eat polished white rice, after a year, most of them will suffer from diseases,
In addition, Zheng He's fleet carried a large amount of easy-to-storage beans, which could be germinated as vegetables at any time. This was also an important reason why the crew of the Ming Dynasty were able to overcome sepsis during long-distance voyages.

Some viewers sighed: "The minds of the ancients are not inferior to modern people at all!"

Another human said, "The thousands of years of China's brilliant civilization, do you think it came out of nowhere?"

Who is smarter, the ancients or the moderns, sparked another round of discussions.

However this time.

Everyone in Zheng He's fleet cheered and jumped for joy.

They saw land.

Bailu asked curiously, "Brother Feng, where is this?"

Lin Feng looked into the distance and said, "This is the fourth voyage to the West. If there is no accident, we have arrived in East Africa."

Bailu's small face was stunned, and he read softly, "Really, is it really the distant East Africa thousands of miles away?"

Lin Feng said, "It is said that Zheng He's fleet brought back some "unicorns" this time."

Bailu was even more bewildered, "Isn't East Africa an animal savannah? How could there be a unicorn?"

Lin Feng shrugged and said, "The so-called "kylin" seems to be a giraffe."

As for authenticity.

Go to the land of East Africa in person, don’t you know?
Bai Lu was very excited to meet the East African tribe thousands of years ago, and he couldn't even bother to interview Zheng He.

(End of this chapter)