Portuguese navigator da Gama, bypassing the Cape of Good Hope and entering the Indian Ocean, 100 of the 160 seafarers on board died of scurvy; When Magellan led the team around the earth, the large fleet of more than 200 people was left with only 18 people, and many of the crew died of scurvy.
In the Middle Ages, once the crew suffered from this disease, they would lose their teeth, hair, and finally die in pain, and the death was extremely tragic, which was an incurable disease, which was necrosis.
At that time, once there were seafarers who suffered from this disease, they would be discarded into the vast sea, but Zheng He led tens of thousands of people to the West seven times, and none of them died of necrosis.
As the saying goes, the soldiers and horses did not move, the grain and grass went first, and Zheng He's fleet, every time they went to the West, the grain they brought with them may be beyond imagination.
How much grain did Zheng He's fleet need? There is no clear record in the historical data, so we can take the first trip to the West as an example to briefly analyze it.
Yongle set sail in June of the third year, and Yongle returned to China in September of the fifth year, a total of two years and three months.
If calculated for two round-trip years, the rations required for a fleet of 27,800 people per person per day are: 27,800 people× 730 days× 0.5 kg = 10,147 tons!
For more than 10,000 tons of grain, if each grain ship is loaded with 1,000 tons, it will take 10 ships.
In addition, the fleet needs other food products, such as vegetables, oil and salt, etc.
The vast majority of the members of Zheng He's fleet were sailors, craftsmen, and soldiers, and the rations actually needed by these people who worked all day would certainly be higher than the standard of 1 pound per person per day.
And for many years of sailing on the sea, the dishes are of course very simple to prepare, which increases the consumption of food. Therefore, the above more than 10,000 tons is still a relatively conservative estimate.
In addition, Zheng He's fleet also had water boats specially equipped with fresh water.
The water vessels in Zheng He's fleet were loaded with enough fresh water for the entire crew to eat for a year, and in order to keep the water fresh, the fleet often changed reserves at mooring places along the way to keep the water safe.
In the face of the "massacre" of scurvy, how did Zheng He do it, zero casualties?
The answer is beans, which are the common mung beans and soybeans.
Zheng He, in order to ensure that he could eat vegetables and fresh meat on the days when he sailed outside, he thought of 2 ways.
First, let the logistics supply officials bring a large number of soybeans and mung beans on board.
Beans are used to sprout on board, and can also be made into tofu, supplementing vitamins and protein by eating bean sprouts and soy products.
The other is that in the cabin, there is a special livestock breeding cabin, captive chickens, ducks, pigs and cows, etc., to ensure the supply of meat.
These fresh vegetables, legumes and meat not only improved the crew's diet and reduced the intake of spoiled food, but also prevented the occurrence of necrosis "crookedly".
In the Middle Ages, when there were no modern communication facilities such as radios, how did Zheng He command his huge fleet?
Such a large hybrid fleet, without an efficient and accurate command system, would lead to great disaster.
In order to solve this problem, Zheng He's fleet designed a unique command system that utilized sight and hearing.
Fleets rely on flags, lights, and sounds to convey signals to each other, from Zheng He's flagship of the treasure ship to the outer escort ships, relying on flag waving and color changes during the day to transmit signals, and at night relying on the lifting and lowering of lanterns to transmit signals.
It looks very simple, but it is very difficult to operate, and it is such a very unique command system that ensures the command of the sea navigation of the "Armada" of Daming, which is efficient and accurate.
At the end of the 20th century, when mankind was about to usher in the new millennium, the American "Life" magazine held the selection of the world's 100 most contributing figures in the millennium, and Zheng He ranked 14th, ranking first among the Orientals.
Zheng He's seven-voyage to the West made his name spread all over the world.
The temples and landscapes named after him are all over the world, more than 100 places.
Source: Zheng He's Seven Voyages to the West, The Feats That Shocked the World: Zheng He's Seven Voyages to the West
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