At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Muyu Chronicle recorded an unprecedented crisis. The Xiaoice period led to a significant reduction in grain production, but the Ming court was unable to cope, and farmers everywhere revolted.
At the same time, the population of China has also reached an unprecedented high, approaching 60 million. The phenomenon of peasants not having enough to eat is increasing, and in some places mountains are beginning to pop up, and some people are revolting in pursuit of a better life, while others have become gangsters, looting everywhere, bringing war and turmoil to the whole country.
The Ming Dynasty entered decline in internal and external troubles, and the army was victorious, and the Qing army entered the customs again, and finally replaced the Ming Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty faced greater pressure than the Ming Dynasty, and the population rapidly increased to 1500 million, and even later skyrocketed to 300 million, a record high.
Given the effects of the Xiaoice Age, such massive population pressures should have triggered widespread famine and uprisings.
However, there was not much social upheaval in the early Qing Dynasty, and the Qing court sat firmly on Mount Tai, why is this?
There is an important factor in the formation of this phenomenon, and that is:"Sweet potato"Widespread promotion. Sweet potatoes originated in South America and are a high-yielding crop. In the 16th century, the Spaniards introduced it to Southeast Asia and banned its export.
After a long process, sweet potatoes were introduced to China through three roads, namely Yunnan, Guangdong, and Fujian.
The heroes who promoted sweet potatoes include Chen Yi, Chen Zhenlong, Chen Chuangui and others.
Chen Yi, a native of Humenbeizha, Dongguan, Guangdong, was engaged in business during the Wanli period.
In the eighth year of Wanli, he decided to go to Vietnam (Shi Annan) with his friends to seek better business opportunities. There, they found that the area was almost in the era of slavery, but there was no food problem.
Chen Yi was treated with courtesy by the local chiefs, and sweet potatoes were the staple food at every banquet. This soft and glutinous sweet taste gave Chen Yi the idea of introducing.
Since the Spaniards strictly forbade the export of sweet potatoes, Chen Yi spared no expense to dredge up the relationship between the chiefs, successfully purchased sweet potatoes and smuggled them back to China, planting them in the flower platform.
An accident allowed the sweet potato to really find the technology to grow and promote. Chen Yi's servant curiously pulled the sweet potato vine, causing it to be cut off.
In order to escape punishment, the servant buried the sweet potato vine in the soil, but he did not expect that the vine would soon grow new shoots, which was faster than directly planting sweet potatoes. This discovery became the opportunity for the real promotion of sweet potatoes.
Chen Yi began to grow a large number of sweet potatoes in Xiaojie Mountain, Jinzhou, Humen. Because the sweet potato came from Southeast Asia, it was called Fanbang at that time, and later it was called"Sweet potatoes"。
Chen Yi is also known as the first person to introduce sweet potatoes. Chen Yi's efforts and discoveries laid the foundation for the promotion of sweet potatoes in China.
However, Chen Yi is not the only one who plays a role.
At the same time, Chen Zhenlong was also an important figure. He discovered sweet potatoes in the twentieth year of Wanli, and Chen Yi died in the same year.
Argue who is"The first person to have a sweet potato"There is a lot of controversy in history. Chen Zhenlong saw sweet potatoes growing everywhere in Luzon and was attracted by their high yield, wide variety and barren tolerance.
He skillfully brought the potato vine back to China and became another key figure in the introduction of sweet potatoes. Chen Zhenlong vigorously planted sweet potatoes in China, achieved remarkable results, and made important contributions to solving the national famine.
The introduction of sweet potatoes greatly expanded China's arable land area, allowing the Qing Dynasty to achieve unprecedented prosperity despite high population pressure"Kangqian prosperous times"。
Although the sweet potato is not a perfect crop because of the short storage period and excessive consumption can easily cause gastrointestinal upset, at that time, it solved the problem of famine and fed the people.
Nowadays, whenever we taste delicious sweet potato rice or sweet potato soup, we should remember these heroes of sweet potato propagation.
Their efforts and wisdom have made indelible contributions to China's food security and social stability.