Lychee preservation is a worldwide problem, in ancient times there was no modern preservation technologyHow did Yang Guifei eat fresh lychees? This is not only a historical mystery, but also an interesting historical question.
According to historical records, the fresh lychees eaten by Yang Guifei were paid tribute from the south. Due to the traffic conditions and the limitations of preservation technology at that time, the preservation and transportation of fresh lychees were very difficult. In order to ensure that fresh lychees can be transported to Chang'an in time, Tang Xuanzong specially built a special post roadLychee Road.
The construction of the Lychee Road can be traced back to the period of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, when in order to meet Yang Guifei's demand for fresh lychees, Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered the construction of a post road connecting Fuzhou (now Fuling, Chongqing) and Chang'an. The 1,200-kilometre trail passes through a number of mountains and water systems. According to historical records, the construction of this post road cost a lot of manpower and material resources, in order to ensure the smooth flow of the road and the timely delivery of fresh lychees, Tang Xuanzong also deliberately set up a series of post stations and post soldiers.
In addition to the construction of Lychee Road, a series of preservation measures were also taken at that time. According to the "New Tang Dynasty Book", the tribute ** will be strictly selected and cleaned immediately after the lychee is picked, then put into a special bamboo tube, sealed with wax, and then placed in a large bamboo basket filled with ice cubes, and transported to Chang'an with special means of transportation. During transportation, post stations are set up at intervals to change horses and ice cubes to ensure the freshness and taste of the lychees.
It is worth mentioning that the fresh lychee varieties eaten by Yang Guifei may have been specially cultivated. According to the record of "Youyang Miscellaneous", in order to satisfy Yang Guifei's appetite, Tang Xuanzong specially ordered people to cultivate an early-maturing lychee variety - "Yuhuang Li", which matures much earlier than ordinary lychees, and has a more delicious taste. In addition, Tang Xuanzong also ordered people to plant lychees in warm and humid greenhouses, and prolonged the shelf life of lychees through special maintenance measures.
To sum up, although there was no modern logistics cold chain technology in ancient times, Yang Guifei was still able to eat fresh lychees. This is due to the comprehensive use of various means such as the construction of special post roads, the adoption of advanced preservation measures, and the cultivation of special lychee varieties. These means and methods not only reflect the level of people's understanding of food preservation and transportation at that time, but also provide valuable information for us to study history, culture and ancient science and technology today.