More than 5,000 years ago, on the Indian subcontinent, the local indigenous people successfully domesticated wild sesame seeds into a crop.
But because of the barrier of the Himalayas and the tropical jungles of South and Southeast Asia,
The spread of the Indus Valley civilization was also blocked, and the crop of sesame did not spread to China.
It was not until 126 BC that Zhang Qian, who had sent an envoy to the Western Regions, returned to Chang'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty.
Zhang Qian's original mission was to attack the Xiongnu from afar and attack together with the Great Moon Clan.
Zhang Qian did not complete his mission, but brought back to the Han Dynasty various information about the countries of the Western Regions.
So seven years later, Zhang Qian again sent an envoy to the Western Regions and opened up the Silk Road.
With the opening of the Silk Road, it has brought new opportunities for China's development.
Many other crops of agricultural civilization also flowed into China along the Silk Road.
Sesame seeds, a crop native to the Indian subcontinent, also came to China via the Silk Road.
The Book of Han once recorded:
"Lingdi Good Hu Cake".
The Huan and Ling Emperors, known as the Emperor of The Dark Lords, especially like to eat pepper cakes that are sprinkled with sesame seeds and baked.
After the Chinese farmers deeply understood sesame seeds, they found that sesame seeds are really a good thing:
Sesame seeds are very easy to re-energize, and the yield is still very high, and the taste is also very fragrant.
Of course, the most important thing is that sesame seeds can also be ground oil, and the oil yield is particularly high.
At first, sesame oil was mostly used as lamp oil, and later it was used on the battlefield because of its flammable nature.
In 208 AD, Cao Cao led a large army south. Liu Bei formed an alliance with Sun Quan to jointly resist Cao Cao in order to protect himself.
When Cao Cao went south, he claimed to command an army of 800,000, but Liu Qi could not resist Cao Cao's soldiers and could only surrender.
Then Cao Cao wrote a letter to Sun Quan, saying that I now lead an army of 800,000 and will go hunting with you.
This frightened Sun Quan's ministers, who thought that those who could not resist Cao Cao's offensive might as well surrender.
For a time, people in Eastern Wu were panicked.
Later, at the suggestion of Lu Su, Sun Quan allied with Liu Bei and jointly resisted the playground in Chibi.
Cao Cao's soldiers were all northerners and were not used to taking boats.
So Cao Jun connected the warships end to end, and the men and horses on the ship were like walking on the ground.
This gave Sun Liu a chance to join forces, and Zhou Yu and Huang Gai played a bitter meat trick, and Huang Gai tricked Cao Cao into surrendering.
Huang Gai tricked Cao Cao into surrendering, then attacked with fire, piled up firewood and grass on a small boat to soak sesame oil, and suddenly lit a fire when he rushed towards Cao Cao.
This fire ignited Cao Cao's fleet and stained the sky red. Cao Cao was also defeated and lost the opportunity to dominate the world.
Sesame oil played a crucial role in this battle.
In 578 AD, the Turks attacked Jiuquan, a military stronghold of Jiuquan
The Northern Zhou army attacked the enemy with oil, water and fire, and sesame oil withdrew from the battlefield and completely returned to food.
In the Song Dynasty, stir-frying became popular, and sesame oil often appeared on the table.
Food made with sesame oil is fragrant and can be said to be appetizing.
Sesame oil has since changed from a war material to a seasoning.
Now when we are eating sesame oil, who would have thought,
This humble sesame oil was once on the Chibi battlefield,
It created the immortal myth of Zhou Yu "talking and laughing, the tree ashes and smoke".
bibliography:
Book of Han
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Diet and Vegetable Oils of the Song Dynasty
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