According to the memories of the old people, this place was once a huge commercial bazaar. The problem is that in building such a large market in this remote village and town, what did they trade here? It turns out that there is a unique business in the town that has been going on for hundreds of years and is still very prosperous today.
The key to a small Panax notoginseng being able to create a big market lies in its habits. Panax notoginseng, also known as Panax notoginseng and Southland sacred grass, is a precious medicinal material and belongs to the same family as ginseng. Regarding its medicinal properties, the Qing Dynasty pharmaceutical book "Compendium of Materia Medica" describes it this way: "Ginseng is the first to nourish qi, and Panax notoginseng is the first to nourish blood. They are both the most precious among traditional Chinese medicines."
As for why Panax notoginseng is the most valuable. It is called "Panax notoginseng", and there are many opinions. Some people say that the seedlings of Panax notoginseng have 3 branches, each branch has 7 leaves; some say that it likes 30% light and 70% shade. The ancients said that its performance is very similar to the lacquer tree in the mountains, which is just a homophone.
Why did such a special medicine become associated with Hepingba Town alone? Lei Shaowu, who was born in Pingba, has also been investigating the same problem for many years. He is now the director of the state 37th Bureau.
In fact, all the houses in Pingba Town are at an altitude of about 1,800 meters. So what is 1,800 meters? Does it have anything to do with Panax notoginseng? In addition to being 1,800 meters above sea level, the Tropic of Cancer also happens to pass through the center of the town. 1800 meters plus 23.5 degrees north latitude, this is no coincidence, it just meets the harsh environmental requirements for the growth of Panax notoginseng, that is, low latitude and high altitude.
Most of Wenshan Prefecture, including Pingba, is located in the southeastern part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It meets a series of harsh conditions such as low latitude, high altitude, light, humidity, temperature, soil pH, etc. It has become the most suitable place in the world for growing Panax notoginseng. 90% of the world's Panax notoginseng is produced in Wenshan, which is recognized by the country as the "Hometown of Panax notoginseng in China" and is known as "the place where Panax notoginseng flowers bloom". There are only two specialty product bureaus in China, one is the Ginseng Specialty Products Bureau in Jilin, and the other is the Panax Notoginseng Specialty Products Bureau in Wenshan.
The mystery that Pingba Town has served as the base camp of Wenshan Sanqi for hundreds of years may be solved! But from an economic point of view, for the formation of a commercial center, there must be a sufficient market around it to stimulate it. So where was the earliest buyer of Wenshan Panax notoginseng? How did it give birth to a new industry?
What secrets are buried in the ancient mines 300 years ago? But to really solve the problem of ventilation, we now feel that there is no way to explain it. The small town has started a big business, and the rich people also have troubles. "People are guarding there with live ammunition on their backs. This is how it is.
This is Xiaojie Xiachang Silver Mine, about 10 kilometers away from Pingba. The employees of Sanshui Mining Group who came here to mine suddenly reported last night that during the excavation and exploration process, they came across a mine that was mined by the ancients.
We checked the "Wenshan County Chronicle" and found that there was indeed a huge silver mine near Pingba. Due to the huge profits of the silver mine, most of the people who came here to mine came from all over the country. Prisoners and thieves, when they were most prosperous, there were more than 20,000 people mining here at the same time. Judging from the mine ruins, the ancients dug more than 300 meters below the ground. Considering the technical level of the ancients, this is an incredible depth. , because the ventilation problem cannot be solved.
They solved the ventilation problem. Now I think that on the one hand, it has two holes coming down at the same time. One hole can generate a little bit of circulating air, but the ventilation problem is really solved now. We feel that there is no way to explain why it can solve this ventilation condition so well.
Dr. Cui Xiuming, after long-term research, found that taking local Panax notoginseng could help the ancients solve hypoxia. Question. When you take Panax notoginseng, on the one hand it can reduce the oxygen consumption of your myocardium, and on the other hand it can expand and increase your coronary artery flow, which is to increase your output, blood output. It is mainly from These two aspects produce its hypoxia-resistant effect.
What should you do when you have chest tightness? If we have chest tightness, this place specializes in Panax notoginseng. Let’s eat some Panax notoginseng powder, or after eating some Panax notoginseng, the problem of dizziness or chest tightness will be solved. Do you think the ancients would also use this method? Woolen cloth? Ah, this place is the hometown of Panax notoginseng. The ancients should also use Panax notoginseng to solve the symptoms of dizziness and dullness.
It turns out that the ancients actually thought of everything that people today can think of! The location of these ancient mine sites is called Laojun Mountain. Laojun Mountain lies across the border between China and Vietnam and is the birthplace of wild Panax notoginseng in the world. Thinking back to those days, tens of thousands of people were scattered on various hills of Laojun Mountain, working hard to mine. When they feel chest tightness and breathlessness, they chew a few slices of Panax notoginseng. According to local elders, it takes at least tens of thousands of kilograms of Panax notoginseng to meet the huge demand in a year! Wild Panax notoginseng is not enough, so because of mining, a huge buyer's market has arisen in this big ravine.
Smart Han people from Nanjing will certainly not miss such a perfect business opportunity. After careful inspection, they finally selected the hillside with the best conditions in Pingba, began to plant Panax notoginseng artificially, and then sold it to workers in the silver mine at a high price. According to the "Wenshan County Chronicle", Pingba Town sold Panax notoginseng at that time. The average price given to miners is that 1 catty of Panax notoginseng is equivalent to 1,000 catties of rice. It is truly gold that cannot be exchanged, and what is exchanged for it is the snowflake silver just produced in the mining area.
But this is just the beginning! Sanqi has only been in business for more than ten years. A huge mine seepage buried tens of thousands of miners hundreds of meters underground. The silver mine suffered this setback and almost collapsed. Despite many efforts, it never returned to its former size. The newly established Sanqi Base is in danger of disintegrating. Pingba Town’s tens of thousands of pounds of Panax notoginseng must find a new market quickly.
In 1587, two officers from Guangnan Prefecture brought a few Panax notoginseng trees all the way to Beijing and asked Li Shizhen, a great pharmacologist at the time, to identify them. Because this medicine has recently been secretly circulated among soldiers as a medicine for golden sores. It is said that it has magical effects, but its pharmacological properties are unclear. "This medicine recently came out of the Southern Army and was used as an important medicine for golden sores. It seems to have miraculous effects."
"So after Panax notoginseng passed modern research, if it is used to stop bleeding, it contains There is a substance called notoginseng. This substance generally behaves like this: if you have a trauma, it exhibits a hemostatic activity. It is very sensitive. A little bit of it can cut your blood. It stopped, and it can promote platelet coagulation."
Li Shizhen studied this miracle drug that he had heard about for a long time. He deliberately made a wound on his arm and then applied Panax notoginseng. The results healed quickly, and he tried it on prisoners who had just been sentenced by the government, and the effect was surprisingly good. Li Shizhen was so excited that he carefully recorded his findings: "If you are beaten until the blood is dripping during torture, just chew the Panax notoginseng and apply it on it, and the bleeding will soon stop; if you take one or two qian in advance before being tortured, , it can ensure that the blood does not impact the heart. Probably this medicine can promote the invigoration of Yang Qi and the smooth flow of Yin blood, so it can treat all blood diseases."
Li Shizhen's greatest contribution to Panax notoginseng is to make Panax notoginseng official. It was confirmed as a kind of medicine for golden sores, thus Panax notoginseng was widely promoted to the military who dealt with injuries and illnesses day and night. In addition, its hemostatic effect is really amazing, and it first became popular among the Yunnan army.
Relying on such a huge market like the army, the cultivation of Panax notoginseng in Pingba Town expanded like a balloon, and the price of Panax notoginseng increased again and again, so much so that the ancestors of the He family in Pingba were When planting Panax notoginseng, we have to take measures to protect it at all levels.
In 1908, a young man named Qu Huanzhang processed Panax notoginseng into semi-finished medicinal powder and sold it to the army, which became more popular. At that time, the military had to stuff gauze to treat injuries, and the gauze had to be pulled out when changing dressings. The wounded were in agony and screamed horribly. Qu Huanzhang's treatment is not painful at all. He only needs to clean the wound and sprinkle white medicinal powder on it, and it will be cured in a month. Qu Huanzhang named these gray-white medicinal powders "Yunnan Baiyao" and soon became famous. The main component of Yunnan Baiyao is Panax notoginseng.
In March 1938, on the front line of Taierzhuang near Xuzhou, Qu Huanzhang donated 500 boxes of Yunnan Baiyao to the 60th Army of Yunnanese origin. During the battle, the 60th Army charged bravely and fought to the death. Japanese newspapers were shocked. Called: "The Yunnan Army cannot be beaten to death! Since the war with the Chinese Army on September 18, it is rare to encounter a fierce charge from the Yunnan Army." The Japanese soldier wrote in his diary that the Yunnan Army applied a white medicinal powder externally and internally, this mysterious The powder can quickly repair even a ruptured artery. And thus get back into battle. In 1950, Qu Huanzhang's widow dedicated the formula of Baiyao to the Republic of China. Since then, Yunnan Baiyao has become the unique wealth of the Chinese nation.
The success of Yunnan Baiyao has caused great repercussions in Pingba Town and touched the nerves of many people in Pingba Town. In the past, I only knew how to grow Panax notoginseng and sell Panax notoginseng. I never thought of making and processing Panax notoginseng. It seems that it is time to change. At that time, there was an important person in Pingba named Xiao Guanghan. He was the first person to open a Panax notoginseng store from Pingba to Kunming. The Panax notoginseng he sold was named "Mother of Baiyao".
Since Panax notoginseng was sold to the Central Plains, the trade of Panax notoginseng has been booming. This is a rough road map of three ancient Panax notoginseng trade routes restored based on ancient books.
——Every year hundreds of thousands of kilograms of Panax notoginseng departs from Pingba, passes through Mengzi and Kunming, and is sold to the Central Plains; or from Pingba via Xichou and Baise to Guangdong and Guangxi, and finally sold to the Central Plains ; Or enter Southeast Asian countries through Shimonoseki and Hanoi, Vietnam, and even exported to Europe and the United States. These three ancient roads have the same axis, which is Pingba Town; and the earliest foreign trade in Wenshan turned out to be Panax notoginseng.
——For hundreds of years, horse caravans loaded with Panax notoginseng have traveled day and night through the high mountains on the Sino-Vietnamese border. Since the army conducts its own business and is fully armed and escorted, the journey has always been smooth.
——This is Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. There are 36 streets in the urban area of ??Hanoi. Among them, there is a special Sanqi Street that has lasted for more than 200 years. Walking on the street, you will be greeted by Everything in sight is Sanqi.
Trade with domestic and foreign countries lasted for hundreds of years, and the Pingba people accumulated a lot of wealth. Today, when we walk through this ancient street in Pingba Town, it may be difficult to imagine that behind these brick walls and wooden doors, some little-known stories of wealth have happened. Some Sanqi businessmen who were once rich have turned their headquarters into It is located in these houses. The money comes so fast! They often counted the white silver coins late at night, and they were so worried that the whole town thought of going together to build a secret passage. In case the enemy came to rob the town's wealth, the whole town could calmly Retreat from the secret passage. Therefore, the sewer that is as tall as a person is not just a sewer, it is also a military tunnel.
To this day, Panax notoginseng is still the first pillar industry in Wenshan Prefecture, and the people who support Wenshan Panax notoginseng industry are still Pingba people. Today, 70 of the Qinong who have spread to various counties in Wenshan Prefecture to grow Panax notoginseng are from Pingba. It is said that there are people from Pingba serving as cadres in almost every department of the Wenshan Prefecture government.
Although the history of Panax notoginseng as a medicine for golden sores has become a thing of the past, Panax notoginseng’s unique function of unblocking blood vessels and dilating coronary arteries makes it useful in the treatment of modern diseases such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension and migraine. It has become a super health product. Some well-known domestic manufacturers, such as Yunnan Baiyao, Pien Tsai Huang, Livzon Pharmaceutical and many other pharmaceutical companies, are quietly using Panax notoginseng as raw materials.
Shaba South Road, located in the downtown area of ??Wenshan, is known as a street for Pingba people. The owners of these houses are more than 100 major Panax notoginseng growers from Pingba. They spent thousands of dollars to build In the contiguous residences, wealthy households sit in these halls and easily regulate the turnover of millions of kilograms of Panax notoginseng. Someone once joked: Their every move and every move may very well cause the death of some people thousands of miles away. Fluctuations in stock prices of well-known companies.
It will be ripe every three to seven to three years! Every year from August to September, a magnificent landscape will appear on the hillsides of Wenshan Prefecture - "the garden is full of red in three years"! After three years of careful cultivation, care and cultivation, the red Panax notoginseng flowers bloomed, indicating that the Panax notoginseng fruits were ripe and ready to be picked and sold for money.
This is an exciting red color, which symbolizes happiness and harvest. It is the most joyful festival in Wenshan Prefecture.
In 1946, Mr. Duan Pengqi, who had been the district chief in Pingba, decided to go to Nanjing to find his roots. He wanted to find out where "Gaoshikan Liushu Bay" was? Where did your ancestors come from?
It turns out that the residents of Pingba are likely to be descendants of the Ming Dynasty’s expeditionary force more than 600 years ago. Historical records record: In 1381, Zhu Yuanzhang’s general Mu Ying led an expedition of 330,000 troops to Yunnan, and Gaoshikan Liushuwan was in the middle of an expedition. It was the military parade platform back then. Many years later, a small team among them came to Pingba in Wenshan and started a business of their own.
Since then, several generations of Nanjing people have lived in seclusion in this mountain to make a fortune secretly. They have constantly attracted fellow villagers to come and live there, and then spread to various parts of Wenshan. They opened mountains and fields, built water conservancy projects, and thrived. Gradually, On the basis of the original Kaihua Prefecture and Guangnan Prefecture, a large immigrant county was developed with Nanjing residents accounting for 90%. Later, the small Pingba Town could no longer meet the needs of economic development, so Pingba's population was The planned area was moved in batches to the Panlong River Valley area 20 kilometers away, and was officially named "Wenshan" in the 8th year of Emperor Yongzheng's reign in the Qing Dynasty.
This is the Wenbi Tower standing high on the hilltop on the east side of the county. It was built by Pingba businessmen during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. The tower is 20 meters high and has seven floors. From the topographic point of view, three peaks cross and guard Wenshan County, forming a character "文", and Wenbi Tower just symbolizes the point on the head of the character.
Afterwards, people learned that the Pingba people’s decision to build the Wenbi Pagoda was not an impulsive decision. They seriously reflected on themselves. All Pingba people were soldiers, and they had one regret in their hearts. No culture! Future generations cannot suffer this loss again. Therefore, Panax notoginseng merchants donated money to build Kaihua Academy, Puyang Academy and the huge Confucius Temple in Wenshan, introducing Central Plains culture to Wenshan and letting the light of civilization shine on this red plateau! This is the origin and profound meaning of the name Wenshan.
Today, those ancient Sanqi trading houses in Pingba Town are like actors who have taken their final call on the stage, quietly standing behind the curtain of history. Only Wenbi Tower stands quietly on the highest peak of Wenshan Mountain, overlooking the place where Panax notoginseng flowers bloom. It has been 600 years.
The growth of Panax notoginseng is very regional. Wenshan is the origin and main production area of ??Panax notoginseng. The productive cultivation of Panax notoginseng has a history of nearly 500 years. Its planting area and output account for more than 90% of the country's total, and its quality ranks first in the country. Wenshan Panax notoginseng is the best in the world. In Wenshan Prefecture, Panax notoginseng can not be grown everywhere. The most suitable and suitable areas for Panax notoginseng cultivation are mainly distributed in some townships (towns) in Wenshan, Yanshan and Maguan counties. According to the Specialty Economics Committee of the Chinese Agricultural Society, Wenshan County and Yanshan County are respectively the "Hometown of Chinese Panax Notoginseng".