Chapter 52: Tobacco

At this time, smoking was done using simple bamboo tubes; tobacco leaves were crushed and stuffed directly inside, lit with fire, and smoked, or sometimes chewed raw.

In some gentry families, there were naturally specialized smoking pipes, complete with mouthpieces, stems, bowls, and gourds; the main stems were made of jade or ivory, and Cao Er owned a pipe made of purple clay with silver plating.

Due to the true or false propaganda from major medical practitioners of the time, coupled with the powerful narcotic properties of tobacco, the common people of the Great Ming increasingly regarded tobacco as a divine object.

The "Jingyue Complete Book" records that tobacco was introduced during the Wanli era, when it was called "Luzon smoke." There are also claims that tobacco leaves had already reached the Central Plains during the Yuan Dynasty, with tobacco pouches to hang and pipes to use.

In any case, tobacco developed extremely rapidly during the Wanli era; by the Chongzhen era, the cultivation and smoking of tobacco among the common people had become extremely widespread, to the point where "there was no child of three feet who did not smoke," and "men, women, old, and young, all had a pipe in hand and a pouch at their waist."

The main reason was a misunderstanding in perception, and for this misunderstanding, human factors played a huge role:

During the Tianqi era, the medical scientist Ni Zhumo (a native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang) compiled the "Compendium of Materia Medica," in which he mentioned: "This medicine (tobacco) has a very pungent and fierce energy. When ignited, the smoke is inhaled into the throat, which can greatly resist the cold of frost, dew, wind, and rain, and ward off the miasmic and evil spirits of the mountains. Children who consume this can kill intestinal parasites; women who consume this can eliminate abdominal masses."

During the same period, the outstanding medical scientist Zhang Jingyue (a native of Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang) praised tobacco even more strongly in his "Jingyue Complete Book," claiming it was fast-acting in curing illnesses, strengthening the body, dispelling cold and stagnation, eliminating bloating, stopping vomiting and cholera, removing accumulated parasites, relieving depression, stopping pain, circulating Qi and blood stasis, lifting prolapse, and unblocking the triple burner... Not only could it dispel wind-dampness and cure a hundred diseases, but most importantly, it could also strengthen the yang, and was even "intoxicating yet harmless." [Note]

Also during the same period, there was a rumor among the people in Zhejiang: when the Ming army was once campaigning in the Southwest, most of the soldiers in the army were infected with a disease, but only one smoking detachment had no one fall ill.

This favorable news, of which the truth was completely unknown, was fueled and fanned, and it was even said that tobacco could bring good luck, directly deifying it. In those years of natural and man-made disasters, everyone lived miserably, so wanting to live well, eventually not only did men smoke, but they brought their whole families to smoke, and women and children also began to smoke.

Tobacco even became a gift for entertaining guests; among the common people, regardless of gender or age, everyone had a smoking pipe in hand!

What a large number of smokers brought was the expansion of tobacco planting areas. By the Chongzhen era, tobacco planting had spread all over the Great Ming, and in some regions, tobacco even became the main cash crop, which further aggravated the famine.

Why were these two, who were considered influential "public intellectuals" at the time, both vigorously promoting it?

And why were their ancestral homes both near Hangzhou, Zhejiang?

And the story of the Ming army's tobacco-saving life in the Southwest, was it also spread from Hangzhou?

Then one must know that Hangzhou had a Hangzhou Port.

The Hangzhou Port at that time was a major port with a very large throughput in the late Ming Dynasty; entering the port meant one could directly enter the Grand Canal, the Qiantang River, and the Hangyong Canal.

Among them, the Grand Canal connected to the Qiantang River, integrating the water system of northern Zhejiang, giving Hangzhou Port the ability to extend north into the Yangtze River and east toward the ocean, reaching the Central Plains in a few days.

Hundreds of years later, the siltation of Hangzhou Bay made the seawater shallower and shallower, and with the accumulation of silt day by day, it eventually led to the abandonment of the original port. The port moved eastward continuously, and Hangzhou Port became further and further away from a major port. At the same time, Yangzhou in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River lost its port advantage because of this and declined.

How could there be so many absurd and stupid things in the world?

All ridiculous stupidity—the things themselves are mostly not ridiculous.

Looking back at London, England, two hundred years later, ignorant people believed that air pollution could make people less prone to illness, and thus flocked to coal dust, wishing they could take a few more puffs facing the chimney. It is obvious that "ignorance" is the same in ancient and modern times, at home and abroad, so do not drag in any problems of the national character of the people.

Capital never sleeps, from ancient times to the present.

[Note]: "Jingyue Complete Book, Materia Medica, Volume 2": Tobacco, pungent in taste and warm in energy, slightly hot in nature, ascending, and yang. Burning and inhaling it can greatly intoxicate a person. When using it, only inhale one or two puffs; if inhaled too much, it makes people drunk and collapse, only reviving after a long time. In severe cases, a mouthful of cold water will sober one up; if one feels stifled, just use white sugar to resolve it and one will be at peace. It is indeed a strange object. When inhaling, one must open the throat and inhale deeply to let it reach the lower burner. Its energy ascending can warm the heart and lungs, and descending can warm the liver and kidneys. After taking it, it can make the whole body warm and slightly sweaty, and the original yang is suddenly strengthened. Used to treat the exterior, it is good at driving away all evil cold toxins, mountain miasma, and wind-dampness blocking the pores, muscles, and bones; it is truly a divine agent that takes effect in an instant. Used to treat the interior, it is good at strengthening stomach Qi, improving appetite, dispelling cold stagnation, eliminating bloating and food retention, stopping vomiting and cholera, removing accumulated parasites, relieving depression, stopping pain, circulating Qi and blood stasis, lifting prolapse, and unblocking the triple burner, taking effect immediately.

"Intoxicating yet harmless"