prosperous age

Opium, opium, opium, opium, opium, opium.

These different names actually all point to one thing, which is the oldest drug.

In fact, decades later, some people will still call this thing "Fu Shou Gao".

The ancients had no prejudice against anything, and in their eyes they were more concerned with studying its uses.

In a distant era, the ancestors of West Asia first discovered the mysterious effects of opium.

They roasted poppy seeds and inhaled the smoke, indulging themselves in a psychedelic euphoria.

As early as 400 BC, the ancient Greeks had begun to use poppies to calm the nerves and relieve pain. They mixed poppy juice into food and let patients take it to increase appetite and cure diseases.

Hippocrates, the founder of ancient Greek medicine at the same time, officially wrote poppy as a medicinal material into botany and named it "poppy juice".

Due to the magical properties of poppy juice, in the 2nd century AD, the famous ancient Roman physician Galen regarded it as a panacea.

He believed that poppy juice could not only resist poison, but also treat chronic headaches, dizziness, epilepsy, stroke, blindness, hoarseness, asthma, cough, vomiting blood, difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, jaundice, stones, leprosy, gynecological diseases, plague, etc. It was simply omnipotent.

By the 3rd century AD, poppy and opium had become very popular as medicines in Egypt, Greece, Rome, Persia, Türkiye and other regions.

After the rise of the Arab Empire, Arabs who were doing business everywhere began to bring poppies and opium to Asian countries such as West Asia, Southeast Asia, and India, and introduced them to China.

At that time, opium was also regarded as a panacea in the Tang Dynasty and was highly prized due to its limited availability.

By the Song Dynasty, the ancients had a deep understanding of opium, and medical scientists had begun to make it into medicine to treat diseases and eliminate disasters.

The people also regarded opium poppy as a tonic. Su Shi, a great writer at that time, wrote in a poem: "The Taoist advised people to drink chicken poppy water, and the boy could boil poppy soup."

As its use increased, doctors discovered the harm of opium poppy for the first time at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Excessive use can cause poisoning. "Although it can cure diseases quickly, it can kill people like a sword. We should be cautious of it."

From this we can see that there must have been many cases of death due to opium poisoning due to abuse in society at that time.

But even so, due to its powerful medicinal value, doctors still used opium to treat diseases in the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, if you do not take it for a long time or in large quantities, but instead take it in combination with opium and many other herbs as prescribed by the doctor, it is indeed not easy to form a drug addiction and it is also a good medicine for curing diseases and saving lives.

The real reason why opium bears a bad reputation is the invention of the "smoking pipe" during the Qing Dynasty.

Although opium had already appeared in the Ming Dynasty, it had one very notable feature: it was extremely rare.

Although there were places in the south of the Ming Dynasty where opium poppy was grown, it was not taken seriously due to its poor quality. Therefore, poppy flowers at that time were only regarded as ornamental flowers, and poppy juice was not extracted in large quantities for medicine.

Opium in the Ming Dynasty was mostly imported, shipped from overseas, including tribute trade from Southeast Asia and transactions with Yuegang foreign merchants.

This caused the price of opium to remain high, making it a luxury that ordinary people could not afford.

When Columbus discovered the New World, tobacco, a new and exotic addiction, spread.

The indigenous people of Southeast Asia were the first to mix poppies with tobacco and smoke it, and the Dutch discovered a new way of "entertainment".

In this way, opium began to transform from a therapeutic medicine to an addictive drug.

However, up to this point, no one had actually discovered the harm of drugs.

The reason is still the same, that is, the value of opium is extremely high and not affordable for ordinary people.

It is said that Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty was the first emperor in China to become addicted to opium.

He was addicted to the so-called "Fu Shou Gao", which was actually an opium product, because traces of drug abuse were found in the skeleton of Emperor Wanli.

For this reason, some people suspect that it was the temptation of opium that led to the Wanli Emperor's inaction in his later years.

In the West, as Britain completed its bourgeois revolution and established the capitalist system, productivity increased unprecedentedly, and the fate of opium truly underwent a radical change.

At this time, the wealth gap between the East and the West was obvious. The huge consumption capacity of the East allowed the East India Company to discover the huge profits from the opium trade and dumped large quantities of opium into China.

As opium became rampant in China, a tragic war broke out, which was called the "One Hundred Years of National Humiliation" - the Opium War.

With just a single thought, opium went from being a life-healing medicine to a life-destroying drug, bringing endless trauma and pain to the Chinese nation.

Wei Guangde didn't know much about the history before the Opium War, but now he sat at the dinner table and analyzed it seriously.

All he knew was that India was said to be the main source of opium grown by the British at the time. If he wanted to completely eliminate this hidden danger, did he have to let the Ming Dynasty continue its westward expedition to conquer India?

Counting on his fingers, Wei Guangde roughly estimated that after the Wanli Dynasty, there were two brothers, Tianqi and Chongzhen. As for their father, Wei Guangde vaguely remembered that he was a short-lived emperor, but he didn't know his name.

Later in the Qing Dynasty, who came after Kangxi and his sons and Yongzheng and Qianlong? The one who copied Heshen and made a fortune

It seems that the Opium War did not occur at this time, but should have happened during the period of Qianlong's grandson.

However, the spread of opium should have taken some time. Basically, the British had already started transporting opium to China around the time of Emperor Qianlong.

It seems that there is still time. Wei Guangde breathed a sigh of relief.

There were so many emperors in between, especially Kangxi and Qianlong, who had careers of more than a hundred years, so no matter how you calculate it, there is still a gap of two hundred years.

Wei Guangde didn't know that, in fact, apart from India, the area near Türkiye is said to be the main poppy producing area with the best quality, and the earliest medicinal value of poppy was also discovered there.

In fact, the Chinese are also an important driving force behind the development of drugs. The reason why opium is rampant is that the smart Chinese invented the opium pipe.

Initially, the Dutch learned from the indigenous people of Southeast Asia to put opium into tobacco and smoke it. Although it was addictive, it was not popularized because of its bad taste, and it was difficult to get addicted.

It is the invention of the pipe that allows smokers to easily inhale the pure aroma of opium, which has led to more and more people becoming fascinated and addicted to it.

The main components of an opium pipe include the mouthpiece, the stem, the butt and the pipe.

The mouthpiece is generally cylindrical, with a hole drilled in the center to connect to the pipe, and is the interface for smoking opium.

The pipe is used to hold opium paste, which is turned into smoke through fireworks and passes through the pipe and pipe rod to the mouthpiece for use by the smoker.

Unlike the later method of adding marijuana to tobacco, although opium was mixed into tobacco in Southeast Asia, it did not actually fundamentally improve the taste of tobacco.

However, at this time, Wei Guangde, based on the combination of marijuana and tobacco in later generations, firmly believed that it was the mixture of opium and tobacco that made opium gradually popular in China.

Thinking of the pipe and tobacco that Lao Kan had given him before, and that he had asked Lao Kan to deliver them to Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde wanted to slap himself.

Ban tobacco trade in Ming Dynasty?

Wei Guangde's first reaction was this: blocking tobacco leaves from entering China might be able to prevent the spread of opium.

Let’s go back and ask how Zhang Juzheng felt after smoking the tobacco that Lao Kan gave him.

As for sending tobacco to the Imperial Medical Bureau to study its harmful effects, forget it. With the current level of medical technology, it would take several generations of people to discover any clues that tobacco is poisonous to the body.

I solemnly advise my readers that "smoking is harmful to health" and the dangers of drugs have been publicized enough in China, so I will not repeat them here.

Before the court was dismissed that afternoon, Wei Guangde walked into Zhang Juzheng's duty room. After talking about the day's government affairs, Wei Guangde asked Zhang Juzheng how he felt about smoking.

"Cough, that thing makes me cough non-stop."

After hearing Wei Guangde's question, Zhang Juzheng immediately talked about his experience of using the tobacco leaves that Lao Kan gave him.

"But it's true. After smoking that thing, I feel energetic all night and can sleep soundly."

Zhang Juzheng smiled bitterly and said, "If it is not necessary, it is better to smoke less.

I'd like to tell you that I consulted Lin Yizheng of the Imperial Hospital. He said that smoking tobacco leaves might stimulate the heart and lungs. A little bit is fine, but long-term smoking is not sure. We need to observe. After all, the irritant is too strong. He coughed after taking two puffs. Although he didn't feel uncomfortable, it stimulated his body after all. "

"Well, what uncle said is very true.

I have thought about this carefully over the past two days. I am afraid that tobacco is bad for your health because it is choking. That is why I want to talk about this so that you will not smoke too much due to your busy schedule of state affairs."

Wei Guangde immediately said, "I don't know if this thing is harmful, but I think it's just like what Lin Yizheng said, it stimulates the body and may not be a good thing. How about banning it?"

When Zhang Juzheng heard Wei Guangde say that tobacco trading should be banned, he became serious.

After thinking for a long time, he said, "I asked about this when Censor Lao sent it to me that day. Initially, tobacco was traded in Yuegang, Fujian. Later, the seeds were introduced into China and planted in many places in Fujian. There is also a trend of spreading.

If we ban it when its harm is discovered, I am afraid that people will complain.”

Zhang Juzheng was very cautious about this matter. In fact, the Ming Dynasty court did not have strict management over the people and did not control everything.

After all, the government has limited manpower and cannot take care of everything, so it simply lets go and lets the people act on their own initiative.

"However, tobacco is an imported product after all. It would be inappropriate to allow people to use it without knowing the harm it may cause."

Wei Guangde continued.

"Then let the Imperial Hospital study it carefully to see what it is like. If it is really inappropriate, we can ask for an imperial decree to ban it."

Zhang Juzheng said.

At that moment, he had already offended the powerful people of the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Juzheng thought it was not worth it if he offended the common people as well.

The key point is that, no matter whether it was the performance evaluation system or the land survey, although the gentry cursed loudly, they actually knew what was going on.

As for tobacco, it is still unclear whether it is good or bad, and it does not make sense to ban it rashly.

At least, he had confirmed through personal practice that although it stimulated the body, it seemed to have no harm and could indeed refresh the mind.

"Alright, then let the Imperial Hospital study whether this tobacco is harmful."

Wei Guangde had no choice but to say, "By the way, I heard that the Imperial Hospital has black incense, which is also an imported product. Why not let the Imperial Hospital study it as well.

I remember reading in an ancient book from the Yuan Dynasty that if Wuxiang is abused, it can easily lead to addiction and is very harmful to the body.”

Speaking of asking the Imperial Medical Bureau to study tobacco, we might as well bring opium along as well.

If the Imperial Medical Bureau had discovered the addiction and the harmful effects of opium, it would have been possible to ban opium in the Ming Dynasty.

"Wu Xiang."

What Wei Guangde did not expect was that not only Zhang Juzheng, but also Zhang Siwei next to him and even the new cabinet member Shen Shixing looked at him with strange eyes, making him very uncomfortable.

"Brother Uncle, Ziwei, how do you look at me? And Rumo, how do you look at me?"

Wei Guangde felt as if there was something he didn't know, as the three of them were looking at him in surprise.

"Although Wuxiang is nutritious, it is also poisonous. It is better for Shandai to use less."

After a while, Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and said, "I only have that thing occasionally, and it is indeed quite effective. Doctor Lin has repeatedly told me to use it with caution. Didn't the doctor give you that thing without explaining it clearly?"

"Brother Uncle, do you also use Wuxiang?"

Wei Guangde asked in surprise.

“As I get older, I sometimes feel powerless, but don’t worry about it, as everyone will need it sooner or later.

Ziwei, Rumo, I think you guys also know the effect of this thing, you wouldn't use it at such a young age, right? Haha."

Zhang Juzheng joked.

"You are joking, Prime Minister. I have only heard about it from my friends and have never used it."

Shen Shixing immediately denied it and said that a friend had mentioned it and perhaps he had used it.

Zhang Siwei followed suit and stated clearly that he had never used that thing.

Wei Guangde blinked, and he had some guesses in his mind.

The men got together and said that they were unable to do it and that their friends had used it, generally suggesting that they already had it.

Feeling a little bit amused, he really didn't know that opium was still used as that thing at this time, and hurriedly explained: "I only learned about this thing when I visited Lord Tan's house yesterday.

Perhaps my uncle has also heard that Lord Tan’s old illness has relapsed and he is recuperating at home.”

After hearing Wei Guangde's explanation, the three of them nodded slightly.

They also heard about Tan Lun's physical condition yesterday.

So Zhang Juzheng took the opportunity to ask about Tan Lun's condition.

Wei Guangde briefly explained it, emphasizing that the prescription prescribed by the Imperial Hospital contained black angelica root to relieve his pain.

"You are here for the strange fragrance. Indeed, if you put it in the incense burner, it will emit a fragrant aroma."

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said.

Just as Xu Jianglan said before, many high-ranking officials in the capital city use black incense as a perfume in their backyards, so they are naturally familiar with it.

It’s because Xu Jianglan doesn’t like the smell, so she has never used it at home.

Otherwise, Wei Guangde would have known about the existence of opium in the Ming Dynasty earlier.

"Although this substance has excellent medicinal properties, I always feel uncomfortable after inhaling the fragrance. I seem to have read about this in some miscellaneous book, saying that abuse of this substance can cause poisoning."

Wei Guangde did not make this up. He had actually seen records of opium addiction in ancient books from the Yuan Dynasty.

But that was opium, not opium, it was just not connected at the time.

It’s different now. If you put all the things together, you will understand that it is drug addiction.

Drugs are extremely harmful. At the very least, they can destroy families, and at worst, they can overthrow a country. They are something that absolutely cannot be tolerated.

However, he could only guide people step by step, gradually making them aware of the harm of opium, and finally requesting an imperial decree to ban it.

"It's okay. The Imperial Hospital has long known that the abuse of this substance is poisonous, so they will repeatedly warn people not to drink too much.

I thought it was a loan for housing needs, haha."

Zhang Juzheng said with a smile. (End of this chapter)