When The Fujian merchant Chen Zhenlong boarded a merchant ship to Luzon (present-day Philippines), he did not know that the journey would change the fate of the world' people.
It was during the Ming Dynasty's Wanli Dynasty, Chen Zhenlong was born into a Confucian family, read poetry and books since childhood, and like the vast number of intellectuals, he longed for the title of gold list in the imperial examination and the glory of the lintel.
However, it is difficult to ascend to the heavens in the examination of the imperial examination, and there are only a few proud sons of heaven who can stand out in this life examination. Chen Zhenlong was already talented, and he was admitted to xiucai before the age of twenty, but he has not been able to make further progress for many years.
Chen Zhenlong is a man who understands, and he does not want to gamble his life on an exam. It just so happened that chen zhenlong's hometown of Fujian had a strong business ethos in fujian during that period, and Chen Zhenlong decided to take his fate into his own hands, and he was not afraid of worldly prejudices and abandoned literature to engage in business.
Luzon was a Spanish colony at that time, and the Spaniards carried a large amount of silver, so Luzon became an important place for Fujian merchants to trade at sea, who brought sugar, silk, fine porcelain and other objects to Luzon to trade locally and earn silver.
Chen Zhenlong stepped onto this strange land, and everything here made him feel new. What surprised Chen Zhenlong the most was that the locals were eating a root-like crop, its shape was as big as a fist, the skin was vermilion, the heart was crisp and juicy, and it could be eaten raw and cooked. And it is extremely adaptable and the yield is also high.
Chen Zhenlong inquired and learned that this thing is called sweet potato, which originates in the Americas and is a super crop caused by the Spaniards in order to cope with the lack of grain production in Luzon. The Spaniards regarded it as a treasure, and they guarded it strictly and banned it.
Chen Zhenlong developed a strong interest in sweet potatoes, learned its planting techniques from the locals, and then thought of his hometown in the mountains, the soil is poor, and thousands of people have been displaced by famine, a bold idea arose in Chen Zhenlong's mind.
Yes, Chen Zhenlong wants to bring sweet potato seeds back to China. But this matter is not easy to talk about, the Spaniards have set up a lot of checkpoints at the customs, there are special people to check, countless people have tried to take away potato seeds, without exception are failures.
Chen Zhenlong did not flinch, but carefully planned a plan to smuggle potato seeds. On the day the Chinese fleet left, Chen Zhenlong took advantage of the lack of preparation to carry a sweet potato vine, wrapped it around the ship's water rope, and coated the surface with a layer of mud. Sweet potato vines and ropes crossed each other, coupled with sludge cover, Chen Zhenlong crossed the sea in secret and escaped the search of the Spaniards. After seven days and seven nights of sailing, after arduous experience, Chen Zhenlong protected this sweet potato vine and brought the sweet potato back to China.
Chen Zhenlong, who returned to his hometown in Fujian Province, tried to grow sweet potatoes in the local area, and was indeed successful. The following year, Chen Zhenlong wrote to the Fujian Inspectorate to contribute to the planting of sweet potato technology and began to promote the sweet potato planting technology in a large area in Fujian. Sweet potatoes have a great harvest in Fujian, and because they come from the outer pan, people also call it sweet potatoes. During the disaster years, the grain failed to harvest, and only the sweet potato stubbornly survived, saving the lives of countless people.
By the time of the Kang Yongqian period of the Qing Dynasty, sweet potatoes had served as the vanguard of the grain revolution and were promoted nationwide under the instructions of the Qing government.
With the help of sweet potatoes and corn and other crops imported from abroad, the people of the world carried out the famine and the population exploded, directly contributing to the prosperity of Kangqian.
Chen Zhenlong, a depressed talent in the first half of his life, his love for his homeland made him make a brave decision, with superior wisdom to bring sweet potatoes back to China, saving hundreds of millions of people in the world, and small people can also achieve greatness.