War, famine, and cold.
It was the main theme of the ancient dynasties.
It is also the cycle of suffering that the people cannot escape.
History is ruthless, and every living life will eventually merge into a cold number.
The upper-level rulers are busy fighting for power and profit, and no one cares about the life and death of a few ants.
However, there are still unsung heroes in the dark who are working silently for their compatriots and their country.
【During the Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty】
A scholar with a bruised face and nose came down from the merchant ship. He was slightly hunched over and looked nervous, as if he was hiding something precious in his arms.
After leaving the port safely, Chen Zhenlong breathed a sigh of relief as if he had survived a disaster. He found an empty corner and carefully took out the things in his arms.
This thing looks like a vine of a plant, wilted and unattractive, but he regards it as a treasure.
Coincidentally, the sky screen was showing a scene of a sweet potato harvest.
Chen Zhenlong held the sweet potato vines in both hands and looked at the full granary, and couldn't help cheering excitedly.
"That's great! From now on, the villagers won't have to go hungry anymore!"
In the same year, Lin Huailan from Wuchuan and Chen Yi from Humen introduced sweet potatoes from Vietnam, which greatly alleviated the famine at that time and in later generations and saved countless poor people.
————
In addition to sweet potatoes, the First Empress also brought high-yield crops like corn, potatoes, and pumpkins, as well as many varieties of vegetables. This greatly enriched the Qin people's diet, eliminating the need for them to be limited to just five vegetables: sunflower, 藿, scallions, onions, and leeks.
As the deep male voice slowly narrated, vivid pictures of crops switched on the golden screen.
In front of the sky curtain, the rulers of all dynasties and all walks of life hurriedly ordered people to record it and prepare to send people to look for it later.
After all, for them, each one is a golden political achievement!
The people think very simply.
Write down everything you can eat. Fill your stomach first, and whether it tastes good or not is another matter.
If the first dowry of the First Empress was to eliminate starvation in the Qin Dynasty, then the second was to eliminate the freezing of the world.
Unlike our interstellar age, where planets maintain constant temperature, ancient times often experienced mini-ice ages, with heavy snow and extreme cold every winter.
As we all know, a person won't die from hunger for three days, but if they are hypothermic, they will freeze to death in half an hour. This is why "firewood" is ranked first in the ancient Chinese necessities of life: firewood, rice, sauce, vinegar, and salt.
Some people might say, since winter is so cold, why not stock up on firewood in advance?
[Do you think the ancients didn't want it? No! It's simply because they couldn't get it!]
Every winter, not only would trees but even blades of grass be ripped clean from the earth. During the winter, the lower classes could only hut in dilapidated thatched huts, using linen and straw to keep warm. Whether they could survive depended entirely on their luck.
[So, our ancestors who survived were either quite capable or simply had a tough life.]
At this point, all the people in front of the tent were deeply moved.
Some people who had just experienced the separation of life and death cried out loudly.
Countless pedestrians died, and some people even froze to death in their homes.
Du Fu, the great poet who was always concerned about his country and its people, was deeply moved by these words and could not help but sigh: "I wish I had thousands of mansions to shelter all the poor people in the world and make them happy!"
————
When the First Empress taught the technology of kangs and brought a crop called "cotton," a spark of hope finally ignited in the hearts of the people.
In fact, the kang (firebed) appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It was invented by the Sushen people in northeastern China. It is a combination of a bed and a stove, built of bricks, stones and mud. It can be used for cooking and heating at the same time, saving firewood.
As the man spoke, the screen played the detailed steps of building a kang.
For a moment, the people in front of the sky did not have time to marvel, and began to record in a hurry.
The emperors of various dynasties did not need to worry, as they had already arranged for recording officials and painters to be on standby at all times to record all the information conveyed by the sky curtain.
The people were illiterate, so they had to find other ways.
Some watched intently to note down every step, some drew on the ground with branches, and some were smart enough to place orders directly with the craftsmen.
Besides the kang, the most important thing was clothing to keep warm. Cotton was a crop that was not only high-yielding and low-cost, but also very warm and comfortable. It could be woven into cotton cloth, used to make cotton clothes, quilts, cotton shoes, cotton hats, and other items to keep warm.
In order to promote cotton cultivation, the Empress proposed a cotton support policy to the First Emperor, which led to the rapid spread of cotton.
With the kang, cotton, and later the development of honeycomb coal, the people of Daqin no longer had to worry about not being able to survive the cold winter.
————
【New Dynasty】
Wang Mang made an international friendly gesture to the sky, and then began to criticize the national quintessence with gritted teeth.
"God damn it, you're targeting me, right?"
"It's bad enough that a son of the plane came, but now a time traveler with cheats has come. I￥#%&*@..."
"God, if you have the guts, please give me a golden finger!"
Eastern Han Dynasty
Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu: "Hurry! Pass down the method of the kang, send craftsmen to develop honeycomb coal, and send more people to investigate the cotton situation."
Grand Tutor Deng Yu said: "Your Majesty, please do not worry. It is not too late to make plans after we have discussed these matters in advance."
Liu Xiu sighed with a worried look on his face, "Alas, how can I not be anxious? Back then, during the chaos at the end of the Xin Dynasty, only two out of ten people survived. After years of recuperation, the country still has no good governance, disasters continue, the people are in panic, and no one can protect themselves. I am so worried!"
Queen Yin stepped forward and comforted her softly.
"During the reign of Emperor Wu, Zhang Qian, Marquis of Bowang, traveled to the Western Regions and brought back many new and exotic species. Perhaps such rare species as sweet potatoes and cotton have been found there."
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