The legend of leeks

legend

During the period from 202 BC to December 8 AD in the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang, the eldest son of the then King Xinxian, plotted to seize the throne, so he killed the then Emperor Ping of Han, Liu Xin. The emperor had a son named Liu Xiu. In order to avoid future troubles, Wang Mang decided to cut the root of the problem and kill Liu Xiu. At such a dangerous moment, Liu Xiu was rescued by a loyal subordinate of Emperor Ping of Han, Liu Xin, and fled from Chang'an City without stopping. From then on, I no longer revealed my name. On the way to escape, they had to sleep in the open air and often suffered from hunger and cold. After many days of fleeing, they finally arrived near Bozhou, Anhui, where they recruited talented people, accumulated reserve troops, and vowed to kill Wang Mang and retake Chang'an. But in the final battle, Wang was finally defeated. His men had lost confidence, his military strength was greatly damaged, and more than half of his soldiers were killed or wounded. He no longer had the strength to fight Liu Xiu. After Liu Xiu's victory, he became emperor and the first king of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Suddenly one day, Liu Xiu recalled the time when he was down and out, and thought of the dish he had eaten in that restaurant, "the saving dish". He then ordered his companions to go to the store to cut some for him, and asked the palace chef to prepare the dish. He found that the dish tasted even more delicious and refreshing than before. He then rewarded the person who grew the "life-saving vegetable" by giving him land and asking him to grow this "life-saving vegetable" to supply the imperial palace. Later, after research by the imperial doctors in the palace, they discovered that "jiucai" contained a large amount of nutrients, which they recorded and reported to Liu Xiu. After Liu Xiu learned about this, he became even more fond of "Jiushecai". I eat it almost every day. But calling it "jiucai" felt inappropriate, so they gave it the name "jiu", and thus it came to be known as leek.