1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 562 Spice Terminator

On March 1646, 3, Hanzhou, Jianye City.

Bi Zhengyan walked gently to his father's side, took off the glass lampshade with his left hand, and cut the wick of the candlestick with scissors with his right hand, and the light in front of the table instantly brightened.

"Are you back?" Bi Maokang turned his head to see the eldest son, stopped the pen in his hand, and then twisted his stiff neck a few times, "Have you ever had dinner?"

"Dinner has already been eaten." Bi Zhengyan replied respectfully: "I think it's a little late to discuss matters in the palace, and the king gave me a banquet."

"Your Majesty has a great appetite, and the banquet in the palace is exquisite, so you must be able to enjoy it while waiting." Bi Maokang said with a smile.

"As my father said, all the ministers like to have banquets in the palace." Bi Zhengyan nodded and said: "The peppers introduced from Batavia last year have harvested a lot. Add some spices, after boiling, throw the chopped vegetable meat into it, after boiling, it also has...some unique flavor. After entering the mouth, it is extremely spicy, and the stomach is like a boiling fire."

"Hehe..." Bi Maokang laughed, "If you don't know that the king has the talent to rule the country, and only rely on these strange and weird diets, you should consider him a foolish lord."

"Your Majesty said that if we planted chili peppers in Hanzhou, it would be enough to ruin the so-called lucrative spice business of the Dutch." A word spoken.

"Chili?...Can this substance completely replace all kinds of spices?" Bi Maokang asked suspiciously.

"The king said that if chili becomes popular in the world, in time, spices such as cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and even pepper will all be reduced to common people's table seasonings in the future."

"Then...if that's the case, isn't it just taking the Dutch from the bottom of the pot!" Bi Maokang's eyes widened, "I'm afraid what the king said is a bit exaggerated."

"However, when the king said these words, his expression and tone were very firm." Bi Zhengyan thought for a while, and then said: "The king said that the function of pepper is completely equal to spices such as pepper and cinnamon. And this thing is easy to grow , can be transplanted everywhere, it can be said that it is specially used as a meal seasoning for common people's homes."

Peppers are native to Mexico, Colombia, and the West Indies in the Americas. When Columbus landed in the West Indies in the Americas, he looked at the red plants in front of him in a daze, because the local Indians said that this is the seasoning.But Columbus said, although I don't read much, you can't fool me like this.Indian pepper, we have seen it before, it doesn't look like this!

I thought that starting from Europe all the way to the west, I could reach the legendary country of spices-India, but I saw bright red peppers.Apparently Columbus knew that the thing called chili in front of him didn’t taste like pepper at all, but he tossed a big circle and crossed half the world, not only did not find India, but also did not find spices, so he returned to Europe empty-handed. Less difficult.So no matter what the outside world said, Columbus hypnotized himself first, telling himself that this thing is "pepper".

You must know that Indian spices were very popular in Europe at that time. Noble gentlemen would be sorry for the half-cooked outside and tender inside if they didn't sprinkle two catties of pepper on their steaks.It doesn't matter what the meat tastes like, as long as it doesn't die, it will die.At this time, the pepper noodles, pepper is no longer the main character, it is the noodles at the back that are awesome.

Old Europe loves this, and when their graves are dug up, there may be fresh cutlery wrapped in butter paper and small bottles of pepper next to them.This is authentic, this is the taste of nobility.

Therefore, when Columbus returned to Europe and told others that he brought back "pepper", Europeans may not be smart, but they are not stupid. Pepper and hot pepper are still clearly distinguished, so Europeans gave Columbus a new nickname—— -"big liar".

Therefore, until the middle of the 16th century, Europeans have been eating chili peppers as medicine.In a word, only eat this stuff when you are sick.

Around the second half of the sixteenth century, that is, in 1591, peppers entered China, that is, during the Longqing-Wanli period.But our ancestors didn’t think that this thing was for eating. Obviously, the color of this bright red is very auspicious. Isn’t this just a firecracker? Take a bite, it’s gone, it really smells like gunpowder.So peppers are regarded as ornamental plants and grown in gardens.

However, it is India that likes to eat chili the most and develops chili.According to available records, peppers came to India with the Portuguese around 1542.

As a big country of spices, India would rather sprinkle some strange powders without washing hands when eating. The locals quickly focused on these red cuties. They quickly developed the national talent of "delicious and delicious". What is it, even if it is a medicinal material, Indians are willing to be a medicine introduction.

Therefore, the brave and delicious Indians quickly upgraded the variety of chili and added it to their own curry. During this period, chili successfully replaced a series of spices such as pepper and became an indispensable seasoning in Indian cuisine. .

As for why Qi Tian is sure, the rise of chili peppers will inevitably bring down precious spices such as cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and pepper to the price of a cabbage, because, as an ingredient seasoning, chili peppers are the most cost-effective choice.

First of all, it can provide a stronger stimulation. In front of the pepper, the taste of pepper is as light as water; second, this thing is more economical to eat. It is impossible for ordinary people to throw a few catties of pepper powder like the nobles, but A small pinch of chili powder is enough to cook a hot pot for the whole family, which not only provides taste, but also does not cost a lot of money; third, chili is very, very easy to grow, as long as it is not in an extremely cold environment, it can survive and has strong reproductive ability.

Those spices before, they can almost only be grown in the coastal areas of the Indian mainland or in some places such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.Like tea and silk in China, it can only be produced locally, and cannot be transplanted and planted in Europe.The origin of pepper has long been limited to a few places such as parts of the western coast of India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and the East Indies for a long time.True cinnamon mainly comes from Ceylon (Sri Lanka).Cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg only come from the Spice Islands (now the Maluku Islands in northeastern Indonesia).

At that time, Europeans were obsessed with spices, which seems incredible now.Spices themselves are not addictive and do not stimulate the nerves like tea and coffee.And the European cooking method is also... just let it go, it doesn't matter whether you put the last spoonful of pepper after the steak is grilled or not.

However, Europeans, especially the aristocrats, the pursuit of face will make them crazy consumption of spices.Throwing away the tea after drinking tea, sprinkling pepper when eating, and wearing a pair of white silk stockings are the standard equipment for showing off wealth in old Europe, and it is also a trendy person of the times.

As a result, the ordinary people at the bottom also want to imitate the lives of the nobles in a decent way.But, without money, we can't learn.How to do?
But the presence of chili turns the spice into a joke.It was so cheap that it lowered the price of the entire market in one go.So chili is the pinduoduo of spices, so that the lower class people in Europe can also live a life of sprinkling some powder before eating.

"Even if the peppers are planted on a large scale, how can we transport these massive peppers back to Europe and hit the spice business of the Dutch?" Bi Maokang, after hearing the eldest son talk about the various advantages and substitution functions of peppers, proposed a Question, "You know, in order to ensure the business of spices, the Dutch artificially reduced the planting area and reduced the supply, just to ensure the huge profits of spices. How can peppers be so cheap, how can they travel tens of thousands of miles and transport them to Europe for profit? We all Does the country have such strength?"

"The king said that we can use the Portuguese to vigorously promote the use of chili peppers in Europe, so as to reduce the use of spices and hit the economic interests of the Dutch."

"Do you think it's feasible?" Bi Maokang shook his head, "You know, the Portuguese occupied Ceylon and India, and also had a huge supply of spices. How could they ruin their colonial interests for no reason in order to hit the economic interests of the Dutch? "
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"Of course the Portuguese will not take the initiative to promote peppers to replace the spices that Europeans have eaten for tens or hundreds of years." Qi Tian smiled and said to his guard Shi Guanghan: "In addition, after all, the trade and consumption of spices has lasted for several years. For a hundred years, in any case, it will not be easily replaced because of the appearance of chili. Chili can only be used as a means to combat and weaken the price of spices."

"If you want to completely eliminate the huge profits of the spice trade, there is only one way, which is to transplant the spices to all parts of the world on a large scale. The world is vast, and there are always a few places that are suitable for the transplanting environment and land environment of those spices. You know, in the market Once the quantity of something increases, its price will inevitably fall."

"The Dutch will not let people easily obtain those spice saplings and seeds." Shi Guanghan said softly: "They have strict control over the spice planting areas in the entire Spice Islands and Southeast Asia, and prohibit any saplings and seeds from leaving the planting area."

"The Dutch can't blockade all the places where spices are grown. Someone will always try to get spice saplings and seeds. Because not everyone sees the Dutch getting rich and doesn't feel jealous!"

Qi Tian still remembered that the British and the French secretly transplanted various spices in the colonies they controlled, and they all seemed to be successful.This kind of thing hasn't happened yet, it's because they haven't freed up their hands at this time.The king and the parliament of England are still fighting, and the civil war is raging, and it seems that the result has not yet been decided.The French are uniting the Netherlands, Sweden, and the Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire against the Shenluo Alliance, and they are also fighting a mess.

When the 30-year war is over, it is estimated that those European countries will turn their attention to the vast Africa, America, and Asia.The Dutch, who are in full swing, will face great challenges from France, England and other countries.Perhaps, at that time, it was also the most favorable time for Qi to take advantage of the situation to expand its power in Nanyang.

It is indeed a bit aggrieved to be restricted by the Dutch East India Company to the Hanzhou mainland.

(End of this chapter)