The birth of a nightmare
/kloc-at the end of 0/5, the rise of commodity economy and the circulation of money made western countries want to find more wealth. In order to find more gold, the Spanish began to cross the Atlantic. This also means the arrival of a new era, and the era of great navigation was born.
The landmark event of this era is that Columbus crossed the Atlantic for the first time to reach the American continent. Although the voyage was successful, it experienced unprecedented challenges.
Columbus voyage
A few months after the voyage, Columbus found that many sailors began to feel strange. They lost their appetite, and their emotions began to be agitated and even depressed.
At first, the captain thought that this was caused by the limited range of activities of the sailors. After a period of time, some sailors began to show red bleeding spots, but the doctors on board believed that this was caused by unintentional scratches at work.
Little did they know that what awaited them was a nightmare. Later, these sailors began to have symptoms of bleeding gums and loose teeth. Soon, they began to have persistent high fever and musculoskeletal pain.
These sailors who are sore and have a high fever can only stay in bed. The sailors showed these symptoms one after another, and the strength of the sailing team was quickly weakened. This not only brings physical pain to the crew, but also adds many risks to maritime navigation.
The crew suffered from septicemia.
incurable disease
Columbus's voyage was a success, but the nightmare was not over. After Columbus, another great navigator, Magellan, began a sailing challenge. He wants to complete the voyage around the earth. His fleet was hit harder than Columbus's, and two-thirds of the crew died of illness.
Originally there were more than 200 crew members, but in the end only 18 crew members completed the round-the-world voyage. At that time, the ship doctors were helpless about the sudden illness, and the sailors were always entangled in this "siren".
When the disease appeared, everyone had no choice but to let the sick crew leave one after another. The disease will increase the fragility of human capillaries, thus causing subcutaneous mucosal bleeding. When the patient's limbs fester, they will be sawed off, but the disease will still affect other parts of the body. People think that the invasion of disease makes the blood in human body worse, so this disease is called "scurvy".
Unable to solve the cause of scurvy, people began to rush to the hospital. It was found that the mice on the boat showed no symptoms and were still lively and active. They think that mice have special factors that can resist viruses. In this way, mice have become a hot commodity on the ship, and people's looting has raised the price of mice a lot, but it has no effect at all.
At that time, people chose a variety of remedies to treat scurvy, such as bathing with animal blood, bleeding patients, fitness and so on. These methods failed to help people get rid of diseases.
The eastern fleet is a world of difference.
Compared with sailing in the west, Zheng He of China had traveled between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean seven times in the decades before Columbus began to sail. But there was no scurvy in China's sailing team at that time. This disease, which is rampant in European countries, is completely unaccustomed in China.
Some researchers and scholars are more curious about what caused such a big difference between the two countries' sailing teams, and some people have made a detailed comparison of the lives of the crew of the two countries.
It has been found that western seafarers prefer meat and dairy products, and their food on board is mostly dried meat, canned meat, dried cheese, dried bread slices and so on. These foods can provide them with enough energy to ensure their physical strength during the long voyage. But these foods all have one characteristic, low moisture content.
Western sailors take in water through stored fresh water, but obviously they can't meet the long-term demand, so they prefer to use wine instead of water. In order to open up new routes, their fleet often drifts at sea for a long time, and there is little time to shore for replenishment.
Seafarers in the East will choose to carry foods with more water content, such as vegetables and fruits. China's unique kimchi has also become the "cooking artifact" of the crew. Seafarers in China have a relatively rich variety of food and sufficient water supply.
China tea culture has a long history. When Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, there was a lot of tea on board, and the crew also liked to drink tea. Moreover, the purpose of Zheng He's voyage to the West is to publicize national strength, so ships often stop to rest. Richer supplies and fresher food.
The truth of nightmares
Finally, after careful observation and research, people discovered the truth of scurvy. 1753, Scottish navy doctors discovered that the disease was closely related to diet, and this discovery was further confirmed by another British explorer.
They found that drinking orange juice and lemon juice can treat and prevent scurvy. It turns out that scurvy is caused by vitamin C deficiency in the body, also called vitamin C deficiency.
Vitamin C is an important trace element in human body and participates in the synthesis of intercellular substances. Insufficient content will cause gastrointestinal bleeding, which is also the reason why the crew lost their appetite at first. With the development of the disease, patients will have subcutaneous tissue and bone bleeding.
The main way for the human body to obtain vitamin C is through eating fresh fruits and vegetables. The daily supply of vitamin C for adults is about 30mg. Choosing foods rich in vitamin C is the key to prevent scurvy, and fresh fruits and vegetables are the best choice.
From the pathological analysis of scurvy, it is obvious that the Chinese sailing team was not entangled in scurvy. Sailors like to eat fruits and vegetables, which can effectively prevent scurvy. Sailors also have more opportunities to get fresher and richer food, which is a healthier eating habit.
China's unique pickled pickles can retain some vitamin C after long-term preservation ... favorite tea leaves also contain a lot of tea polyphenols and vitamins, which is also an important way for sailors to obtain vitamin C. In short, the eating habits of China sailors can meet the human body's demand for vitamin C, so naturally, scurvy will not find you.
The emergence of scurvy put European sailing teams in trouble, which put them on the brink of danger. They spent a lot of time and energy to find out the essence of the disease. In China at the same time, the voyage was not as tortuous as theirs. The ancients defeated the so-called "siren" with wisdom. Small details hidden in life helped China sailors avoid danger, and the wisdom of China culture contributed greatly.