Great Tang Southern Emperor

"What is it? Spices, do you know?" Li Zhen finally told the truth: "This is a spice island—to be precise, the plants on this entire archipelago are made up of spices."

"What? Spices?" Luo Zhe was inexplicably shocked.

"An island made of spices?" Pei Xingjian was almost speechless.

"Oh my god, how much spice does that have?" Cheng Chuliang was insane.

"We're going to get rich, we're going to get rich." Yuchi Baoqing even exploded.

"..." Zhang Jianzhi remained silent.

"..."

When they heard about spices, everyone became excited. If you have never been to ancient times, you will never know how valuable spices were in ancient times. It can be said that in ancient times when the catering industry was underdeveloped, people relied on spices to remove fishy smell when eating meat. smell of mutton.People in Tang Dynasty especially love to eat mutton, but if the mutton grown on grass does not use spices, the roasted mutton will have no way to eat.

It's just that there are too few types of local spices in the Tang Dynasty, basically there are only a few types. Fortunately, Western businessmen poured in and introduced the spices from the Western Regions to China.

Especially in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the spice trade flourished.Merchants in Arabia and Persia, with their extraordinary business skills, trafficked various exotic spices from East Africa, West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia into China through sea routes and the Silk Road.

The Tang Empire, with its inclusive grandeur, never rejects anyone who comes.

In addition to being used in the country's major sacrificial activities and religious activities, spices were also widely used in daily life by the rich and luxurious Tang people.

Who would have thought that the people of Tang Dynasty, who are so fast and unscrupulous, who never put anyone in their eyes, would be conquered by these dead branches and leaves?

The Tang people loved spices very much, and their social life, especially that of the upper classes, was not only rich but also fragrant.

Opening the classics of the Tang Dynasty, I often feel the aroma is tangy, and there are too many records about spices.

"Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" said: Ning Wang (Ning Wang Li Xian, the eldest son of Ruizong, gave up the throne to Li Longji, and was posthumously named Emperor Rang after his death) was delicate and attached great importance to his personal image.Before meeting guests, he chews two pieces of agarwood or musk.As soon as he opened his mouth, the fragrance overflowed the four seats.

"Tan Bin Lu" said that Tang Xuanzong dug a pool in Huaqing Palace, and there was a boat beside the pool, which was carved out of sandalwood (such a big sandalwood, it is worth hundreds of millions now).Where are you heading in a fragrant boat?Drive to the giant rockery made of sandalwood in the center of the pool.It is said that this rockery was piled up in imitation of the appearance of the legendary Yingzhou fairy mountain, but even if it is the real legendary Yingzhou fairy mountain, it is not as sweet as it.

As for the stories about burning and laying out spices in large quantities, such as "When the emperor of the Tang Dynasty wanted to travel to a certain palace, the eunuchs first covered the way with dipterocarp and tulips", or "When the rich Wang Yuanbao slept, he always arranged two A boy, holding a Boshan censer, standing in front of the bed. Burning incense all night long" and so on are countless in various historical novels.

Chapter 832 Spice Island

Chapter 194 Spice Island

The most exaggerated example of Tang people's love for incense is Xue Yaoying's relatives.

"Du Yang Miscellaneous" said that Yuanzai's beloved concubine Xue Yaoying: "Good at singing and dancing, with fairy appearance and jade quality, light muscle fragrance and light body, although Xuanbo (a beautiful woman from the Yue country in the Spring and Autumn Period), Yaoguang (Xiao Yaoguang), Feiyan (Zhao Feiyan) ), Luzhu (the concubine of Shi Chong in the Western Jin Dynasty, a famous beauty), they cannot live."

It can be seen from this that her beauty is not entirely due to her innateness, but also due to the good intentions of her mother-in-law.Xue Wu did not smear it since she was a child, but fed Xue Yaoying with various spices.Over time, the spice soaked into Yaoying's internal organs and blood texture, and it was hard for her to think whether it was fragrant or not - it was not so much incense, it was better to say it was pickled.

The people of Tang Dynasty, in the luxury lingering with strange fragrance, were extremely extravagant.

"The bright moon, white dew, and night are cold, and the fragrant clothes are empty and beautiful", the clothes are fragrant, touching the skirts and sleeves, and the dark fragrance floats in the moon dusk;

"Five-flowered horses ride on the white cloud road, and seven-scented chariots run over Yao and the moon", the carts are fragrant, the sound of the wheels extends forward, and the fragrance overflows backwards. They respectively tell the driver, the longing for the front and the lingering for the past;

"Xia invades the green lake, the fragrant quilt is warm, and the building leans against the Qingyun Temple, and the tiles fly", the quilt is fragrant, covering the body, the dream is like honey;

"Singing the distant mountain beads drop by drop, leaking incense candles to tears", even the candles are fragrant, and the flames are dancing, illuminating the mind and the room, and fragrance the night.

What's more, the fourth volume of "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" records: "...Guozhong (Yang Guozhong) used agarwood as a pavilion, sandalwood as a column, and musk and frankincense as mud. Every spring, When peonies are in full bloom, guests gather at this pavilion to enjoy the flowers. The pavilion of agarwood in the forbidden area is far less magnificent than this."

It can be seen how extravagant and corrupt Yang Guozhong's life is.

According to legend, Tang Minghuang loved Concubine Yang Guifei very much. It can be said that three thousand loves were gathered in one body.

So in order to invite Xuanzong to favor him, An Lushan even presented it to Tang Xuanzong with exotic fragrances as aphrodisiacs.

Volume [-] of "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" records: "The emperor of Ming Dynasty favored his concubine and ignored the government. Anlu Mountain first inherited the holy family, and because of the help of a hundred grains of fragrant flowers, the size of japonica rice, the color is red. When sleeping, It contains a grain of fragrance. It helps to stimulate the emotions and make the muscles and muscles tireless."

Xuanzong was addicted to wine and sex, indulged in extravagance, and ignored the government.

It led to the later Anshi Rebellion, and internal mutiny, all pointed the finger at Concubine Yang, as if she was the one who caused the rebellion—this is the nature of ancient Chinese men, and it is also the most despicable One point, always give back the fault to a woman, but how much influence can a woman have on the king?If it weren't for the king himself to be addicted to wine and sex, and willing to degenerate, how much role could a woman play?He kept shouting all kinds of discrimination against women, but once a woman was of value, he would immediately beautify her in various ways (such as when getting married, such as Wang Zhaojun, such as Princess Wencheng...).

Tang Xuanzong was originally a hero of a generation, and he couldn't control himself. Amidst the lingering luxury of strange fragrances, he dragged the flourishing Tang Dynasty into a situation beyond redemption. into a desperate situation.

It can be said that Datang and spices have always been inseparable, but there is one truth that is the same as ancient and modern—that is, the price of imported goods has never been too low.

The price of local spices in China is already ridiculously expensive, and those imported spices are a tael of spices and a tael of gold.

We talked about Xue Yaoying, Yuan Zai's favorite concubine, so we have to talk about his husband, Yuan Zai, Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty.

Speaking of this Yuan Zai, he was the prime minister during the Tang Dynasty, with power in the court and the public, and extravagance.Someone denounced him, and Daizong ordered people to search his mansion. As a result, dozens of tons of pepper powder were found in his home.

Daizong was furious. Originally, he didn't want to do anything wrong. After all, Yuan Zai had done a lot for him (helped Daizong eradicate the power of the powerful minister Li Fuguo), and he didn't want to be said to kill the donkey, but this pepper However, the matter of Fan made Daizong furious, and under one order, all members of the Yuan family were copied and beheaded.

why?

The reason is that pepper was very, very, very expensive in ancient times.

Pepper pepper, as the name suggests, is a pepper from Hudi, which is an imported spice.

Pepper powder was introduced from the Western Regions, and limited by the underdeveloped planting technology in ancient times, the output was very small, let alone the Tang Dynasty, and even foreign countries were not enough.

So in the Tang Dynasty pepper was a valuable ingredient, and even pearl powder was not as expensive as it, because those spices were relatively scarce compared to the Tang Dynasty, which had a relatively large sea area.Most of the things like pepper powder came from the current Western Regions, but the pearl powder is domestically produced, so pepper must be much more expensive in comparison.

And more importantly, pepper is not only a vulgar food, but also a symbol of wealth.Pepper, like gold and silver, can be stored as goods and is a symbol of wealth. This is probably why Yuan Zai stored so much pepper.

The value of more than 60 tons of pepper powder is really huge. Even if it is scattered all over the country, it is enough for the people of the whole country to use for a long time.

Yuan Zai was ordered to commit suicide. In ancient times, suicide was often done by finding someone to strangle him to death.

The person in charge of strangling Yuan Zai asked as usual before doing it: "Do you have any wishes to fulfill?"

Yuan Zai replied: "I just want to die quickly."

The man thought that the former prime minister was also afraid of pain, so he took off the stinky socks on his feet, stuffed them into Yuan Zai's mouth, pulled the white ribbon hard, and Yuan Zai returned to the west in a short time.What a pity for the 64 tons of pepper, just grab a handful and stuff it into your mouth, it's more seasoning than smelly socks!

Yuan Zai died, and was ridiculed by later generations. Song Dynasty Luo Dajing "Helin Yulu" also specifically mentioned this matter, and wrote a poem for Yuan Prime Minister, saying, "Smelly socks must come to the mouth, and the harvest is in vain." Eight Hundred Dendrobium Peppers”!

After Yuan Zai's death, his wife and children were all executed together, and all the pepper noodles belonged to Tang Daizong.Li Daizong became even more angry when he saw a handful of powder, so he ordered the digging of his ancestral grave, the destruction of the coffin and the ashes of the corpse, the demolition of Yuanzai's family temple, and the burning of the main god's tablet.The 16-year old prime minister, I'm afraid he never thought that he would end up on this pepper.

Through this incident, everyone can also know how precious spices are.

Therefore, after hearing Li Zhen say that the island in front of him is a spice island, why did Pei Xingjian and the others go so crazy—compared with this spice island, Silver Island can only be regarded as pediatrics.

Chapter 833 Spice Island (2)

Chapter 195 Spice Island (2)

It's no wonder that Pei Xingjian and the others are so crazy. It's because they know the preciousness of spices too well. If things can really be like what Li Zhen said, the entire archipelago is made of spices, then this trip will really happen. Big fortune.

If a brand-new spice can be found on this island (like the Cook tree found in Luzon), then the gains from this trip will be even more amazing, and it is definitely impossible to buy Datang Yes, but it is absolutely possible to buy a large piece of land in the undeveloped land of Nanyang and dominate it yourself.