As we all know, pepper is just a seasoning for people today, in addition to its medicinal value. But what few people know is that in the past, peppercorns were extremely precious, and ordinary people could not even afford to use them. How valuable were the peppercorns in ancient times?
Let's first look at a clip in "Golden Bottle Plum", Meng Yulou and Li Zhen'er are both rich and pampered Miss Qianjin, but they are willing to paste their silver and treasures to Ximen Qing, which is really shameful. At that time, when Li Zhen'er gave all the belongings in his tea box to Ximen Qing, one of the treasures was pepper, and it weighed eighty pounds, in addition to some white wax, mercury, etc., and these things were enough to buy a house.
You may not be very clear to the audience, now it seems that the contents of her tea box seem to be general, but in the context of the times at that time, this agarwood, ash, mercury, pepper are all rare things, just the so-called rarity is expensive, so these things were placed at that time, it was a well-deserved treasure.
Ordinary people may not see these rare things, not to mention that she has taken out so many in one breath. Li Zhen'er's husband's uncle, the flower eunuch, had been in charge of the palace for many years, and all the silver and treasures he had accumulated were given to Li Zhen'er's husband, Hua Zixuan. Before Hua Zixu had returned to see Yan Luo, most of his belongings had almost been given to Ximen Qing by Li Zhen'er.
In the "Ming Dynasty 1566", there are also relevant records about pepper. At that time, it was approaching the New Year, but the imperial court was still losing money to withhold the money of the officials for many months, and the household department ordered Hai Rui to organize the distribution of the salary owed, but the treasury was not enough silver, what could be done? Then pepper it up. Mr. Hai Gangfeng said to send a few liters of pepper to the officials, but what he did not expect was that as soon as the voice dropped, the officials protested en masse.
You visitors may wonder again, Li Zhen'er's pepper can be pawned for silver, used by Ximen Qing to build a house with a thousand gold, why did the Ming Officials swear not to pepper, but to ask for money?
In fact, at that time, the official's Feng Lu was mainly composed of two parts, one for money and the other for things. When the treasury is full, more silver is distributed to officials. When the treasury is empty, there are more so-called "treasures". Originally, these peppers were distributed to officials at a discounted price, so that officials could sell at the right price and earn the difference. However, the essence of the problem is that the national treasury suddenly clears a large number of inventory, the market is instantly filled, Rao is pepper no matter how precious and rare, can not stand such a flood!
In the context of a market in short supply, the use of pepper against silver is obviously a loss-making transaction. As the year draws to a close, the money officials earn from reselling pepper may not be able to pay for the holidays at all, and who is willing to suffer such a dumb loss?
Emperors are resourceful and strategic, and officials are not all stupid. Yes, they didn't want any "treasures", and collectively beat Hai Rui violently, tossing and turning them down, making the emperor furious. However, no matter how the officials make trouble, they cannot change the fact that pepper itself is extremely precious. It is not only a rare spice to be cherished, but also a rare medicinal herb. The Taoist monks who asked the immortals in ancient times believed that directly eating pepper or inhaling its burning smoke could achieve the effect of prolonging diseases and strengthening bones, which shows how valuable pepper was at that time
Pepper, which was extraordinarily valuable in China, was also true in ancient Rome. In 410 AD, the Goths surrounded the city of Rome, demanding thousands of pounds of pepper. It can be seen that in that era, pepper was comparable to gold. Time has passed in modern times, and although its value has decreased slightly at this time, it is also a kind of hard currency that cannot be underestimated. Walking in the ancient Roman Empire, you can not substitute any currency, carrying a bag of pepper is enough. The road of history has rolled by, and the times have developed to this day, and it has become a very ordinary ingredient that everyone can enjoy.