Ling Chen was confused.
spices?
This thing has been in his sight for a long time.
Because in Yintan City, and even in the entire Liangzhou, Long Yan, with the birth of Gongzi Perfume, the fragrance seems to have less of a strong presence. I think back then, when Gongzi came out with perfume, many spice merchants went bankrupt and cried.
But what Ling Chen didn't know was.
How important spices are to Europe.
This can be seen in Europe in the Middle Ages. As we all know, Europe is not that rich in natural resources. He does not have the fertile, fertile arable land of China or North America. The continent of Europa has a mainly temperate oceanic climate. It does not have the same rainy and hot weather and smooth weather as China's monsoon climate, but has more rainfall and less sunshine.
As a result, farming in Europe is not developed. What to do in this situation? People want to survive, so they must have enough food. Fortunately, Europa is not suitable for agriculture, but the climate there is suitable for the development of pastures. Therefore, Europa at that time was mainly based on animal husbandry, and the people of Europa also mainly ate meat.
Then the problem arises.
The animal husbandry industry is so developed, but when winter comes, the weather is extremely cold and the animal husbandry industry cannot be developed. People in Europe need to stockpile food for them to survive the winter before winter, that is, a large amount of meat. Then when storing these meats, you need spices. As for whether spices are used for preservatives or seasoning, there are different opinions now.
Some say that ancient people did not have refrigerators and cold storages, so excess meat must be disposed of to avoid waste. This is especially important in tropical areas. In terms of short-term treatment, it is to add spices or spicy vegetables such as green onions, rosemary, thyme, mustard and other materials containing bactericidal substances.
But there is also a saying that spices cannot be used as a preservative, but they can definitely bring a different taste to the cured meat, so that it will not taste the same.
No matter which statement is made, at least one thing is true.
For a long time in history, the value of spices in Europe was more than gold.
And where do spices come from?
China, Southeast Asia, and India produce the most spices, which are then shipped to the West through the Silk Road.
The spice business has always brought considerable benefits to Long Yan.
But this money-making machine was broken hundreds of years ago.
Broken by the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Empire monopolized the entire trade channel to the West, and naturally, it monopolized the entire spice business.
Naturally, no one dared to offend Osman, who was in great power for a while.
So in this case, Europeans can only endure the high prices to buy spices.
certainly.
Of course there are some people who can't stand it.
As the saying goes, Osman succeeds and loses.
When the Ottomans were arrogant and domineering, Prince Enrique of Portugal began to organize a sailing team, bypassing the trade routes ruled by the Ottomans, and directly came to India, Asia, and even Africa... Unintentionally, this was the beginning of The Age of Exploration also made Portugal the first major maritime country to take advantage of the situation, and it began to be domineering.
so.
The inevitability of history is vividly reflected here.
Until now.
Spices are still an indispensable thing for Europeans.
so.
Very important.
Liu Zheng believes that it is very important.
Guo Supernatural also thinks it is very important.
East India should be the number one supplier of oriental spices. This is why Liu Zheng suggested that Ling Chen temporarily stop conquering other countries.
Control the spices from India, control the spices from Central Asia, and then get the spices from Southeast Asia on your own side...
in addition.
Liu Zheng’s suggestion, and tea.
Speaking of tea.
This is about this era, when the maritime hegemony of Portugal and Spain began to decline, the rise of the sea coachman, the Netherlands.
The rise of the Netherlands has nothing to do with its strong military strength.
It really thrived on trade.
The rise of the Netherlands, a small Western European country with a population of only one million, is quite interesting. It's because of a fish, herring. In the Netherlands at that time, almost the entire country's income depended on catching herring, and 80% of the Dutch people were fishermen. However, fish resources are natural resources after all. If you can fish, others can also fish.
At that time, three wars broke out between the Netherlands and Scotland because of herring fishing.
So, a Dutchman stepped forward and invented a method that could remove the belly of fish with one knife. This began to make Dutch herring very popular.
Later, in order to gain an advantage in trade competition, the Netherlands refitted its merchant ships, allowing them to disassemble the cannons and increase the warehouse space. As a result, their shipping costs began to become low. Among European countries, low-cost The herrings are starting to stand out.
From then on, the Netherlands began to rise.
The so-called tea trade was invented by the Dutch.
After they used their money to build military power and occupied Portugal's former colonies, at the end of the 16th century, the Dutch navigator Van Lins Thorton published "Traveler's Miscellaneous", which described a Portuguese colonial empire in the east. Tea is introduced in detail.
The Dutch, who are good at doing business, seized this business opportunity.
They began to publicize the healing, health and wellness functions of drinking tea, emphasizing that tea is a healthy drink and drinking tea is a healthy lifestyle habit. And began to advocate that the health and longevity of Eastern people should be attributed to tea. Chinese people rarely suffer from swelling, neuralgia, and bladder stones, precisely because of long-term tea consumption.
Suddenly, Europeans flocked to it.
The Netherlands also became the largest tea dealer in Europe, almost monopolizing the tea trade for eighty years.
And they don't know.
At this time, on the other side of the world, another East India Company was also slowly rising, that is, the British East India Company.
If this trend continues, and according to the trajectory of historical development, the British East India Company will soon replace the Dutch East India Company and become the ruler, propagandist, and monopolist of the tea trade.
Their propaganda even surpassed that of the Dutch. It even caused a beverage revolution in Britain, causing the British to abandon coffee and become a hobby of drinking tea.
Some even say.
“Tea revenue accounted for almost all of the East India Company’s profits and even became the East India Company’s raison d’être.”
"Tea is God, before whom anything can be sacrificed."
certainly.
Tea trade.
It also directly triggered the greatest humiliating war for Liu Zheng's motherland in his previous life.
Tea Wars.
That is, the Opium War recorded in Uncle Master.
