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Supposedly during one of his journeys to the Arabian seas, Cheng Ho brought back, to China, a shipload of coffee, and dedicated to the Emperor as an exotic delicacy.

He kept some seeds for himself, and planted them in his native Yunnan province, tended by one of his adopted sons. (I'm not sure whether he had one, but Eunuchs often do.)

Cheng Ho had a religious motive behind his coffee plantation program as well. As the drink was used in Arabia as a substitute for alchoholic drinks, Cheng Ho wanted to help muslims to quit wine with this drink. As there were quite a few muslims in early Ming bureaucracy (Eunuchs, Astronomers, Generals), the drink had been, since its very beginning, associated with prestige and status.

It soon gained popularity, as Mandarins forced to overwork by the Yong Lo Emperor needed a strong stimulant to their brains.

Please: any input is welcomed, please at least write something.

It's a scenario I long wanted to write a TL about. And because I did not have have a fixed "objective" in mind, I can accept any events or changes this POD lead to. (Maybe this is what AH supposed to be like, just accept any concequence of a what-if, and do not reluctantly force an objective to come true.)
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