The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji was not tempted by the title: "Sir, we don't want to make a big fuss, nor do we want to become famous for this. As foreigners, we are too conspicuous. If the robber has accomplices and he knows that I killed his two accomplices, he will probably come to take revenge, and we will never have a peaceful life in the future."

"What the benefactor says is true, Pedro," said the count. "I think it is best that we keep this a secret, and let us keep it to ourselves."

Fernando calmed down after being persuaded. He said with some regret, "It's a shame for you that such a heroic act cannot be publicly praised! His Majesty likes heroes like you who are not afraid of tyranny the most."

Min Xi asked: "Have you heard that the robber gang has been executed?"

Fernando sighed helplessly and shook his head: "No, most likely there are still some remnants who have not been caught."

"So let's keep this matter low-key. We don't want to cause trouble." Min Xi said, "I think Brother Qi didn't save people for the sake of being praised."

Fernando looked at Yun Ji with admiration in his eyes: "I really didn't expect that you, Yun, would be so brave and dare to fight against the robbers."

Yun Ji said calmly: "The situation at that time was also forced. The other party not only robbed us of our money, but also wanted our lives. If I didn't resist, we might have died."

The count said: "The Portuguese bandits are too rampant. They dare to rob with guns. After such a long time, they have not been caught. His Majesty the King's governance ability is limited."

Fernando said unconvincedly: "Isn't there such a thing in Spain?"

The Earl said: "Of course, we can't completely eliminate them, but they will definitely not appear near the capital. Our Majesty is very tough. Once caught, the robbers will die miserably, and even their families will be implicated. So not many people dare to take the risk."

Fernando said: "The criminal's family is implicated. That is the behavior of a tyrant!"

The count argued: "Your king is kind, so there are endless thieves and robbers everywhere."

Min Xi saw that the atmosphere was not right, so he quickly interrupted them: "You two gentlemen, please be patient. All policies have their pros and cons, and the fundamental problem of rampant banditry is not whether the policies are tough or not. Since you have eaten your fill, we should also rest, so we will not accompany you."

In order to prevent them from quarreling, Min Xi did not hesitate to drive the guests away directly. He was not afraid that Fernando would mind, and he believed that the count would not mind. After all, he still owed Yun Ji a huge favor.

"You said that the fundamental problem of rampant banditry is not the toughness of the policy, so what do you think it is?" Fernando asked with interest.

Min Xi said: "We Chinese have an old saying, 'Seventh brother, know etiquette.'" The latter part of the saying is in Chinese.

Yun Ji understood immediately: "When the granaries are full, people will know etiquette."

Min Xi said, "Yes, that's it. Brother Qi, please explain to them what it roughly means."

Yun Ji readily followed suit: "It is because the people have enough food at home and don't have to worry about food and clothing that they will pay attention to etiquette."

The Baron and the Earl were both a little confused. What did this have to do with rampant banditry?

Min Xi added: "If every household has enough food and no worries about food, wouldn't there be a need for many people to steal and rob? Even if there are people who love leisure and hate work, if the country is prosperous, there will be enough financial and material resources to deal with various crimes, and the crime rate will drop sharply. Therefore, the fundamental problem of rampant banditry is that the people are not prosperous enough, and the country is not prosperous enough."

The Baron and the Earl suddenly realized: "Yes, that makes sense!"

Yun Ji looked at Min Xi with an approving smile. His ninth brother has always been like this, always looking at things from a far-sighted perspective.

Min Xi spread his hands and said, "This is just my humble opinion. You two can just listen to it casually. Goodbye, I won't see you off!"

"Thank you for your advice! Goodbye!" The Baron and the Count went out and downstairs together.

Yun Ji looked at Min Xi and said, "Ninth brother always says something surprising. He has a very unique perspective on things."

Min Xi said: "I once heard a saying that all problems are money problems. I thought about it carefully and found it to be very reasonable. Many problems in this world are ultimately related to money." The original words were that all problems are economic problems, and Min Xi didn't know how to explain the word "economy", so he rudely replaced it with "money".

Yun Ji couldn't help but frown when he heard this, and chewed on his words over and over again. It seemed that it was a bit contrary to the Confucian idea of ​​valuing righteousness over profit, but he was a businessman. From a practical point of view, this sentence made a lot of sense. Most of the world's problems can be solved with money.

Min Xi added: "Of course, this doesn't mean that everything should be based on money. Money is not everything, but without money, nothing can be done."

Yun Ji nodded: "I think what Ninth Brother said makes sense. From governing a country to food, clothing, housing and transportation, everything is closely related to money."

"Okay, Seventh Brother, just treat me as nonsense. Let's go to the dim sum shop and have a look." Min Xi suggested.

Yun Ji asked, "Why don't you take a nap?"

Min Xi waved his hand: "No, I've been eating hot pot recently, and I haven't cooked much. I feel quite relaxed and not tired. Let's go to the dim sum shop to see what's going on..."

"Okay, let's go take a look."

Normally, it is lunch time for the locals, but there are quite a few customers in the dim sum shop. I don’t know if they have just woken up or have not gone to sleep yet.

One of the two shop assistants was packing the food, while the other was collecting the money. There were also many customers choosing dim sum, and the two tables were full. Some customers were eating dim sum, and each of them had a bowl of double skin milk in front of them.

Min Xi found it strange. Double skin milk was not cheap, and the amount they spent was enough to go upstairs and sit in the tea room, so why didn’t they go?

The two of them went into the kitchen first, where Diego was cooking double-skin milk. Min Xi asked, "Diego, do you need help?"

Diego turned around, saw them and smiled happily: "The boss is here? I'm fine, I can handle it."

Min Xi took over the work in his hands and said, "Let me do it. How many copies do you want to make?"

"Four servings, ordered by the customers in the teahouse. Those ladies arrived in the morning and did not leave at noon. They came over just now and ordered four servings of double skin milk." Diego said.

Min Xi smiled and thought, this is using the tea room as a lounge.

Diego said, "The Baron just came by and left when he saw there were no empty seats. He bought some snacks and left."

Yun Ji nodded and asked, "Is the upstairs full?"

"Yes, it was full just after noon. Some guests even brought blankets and took naps here," said Diego.

Min Xi smiled and said to Yun Ji: "This really makes you feel at home."

Yun Ji also smiled: "That means our store is doing well."

Normally, if customers stay in the teahouse for too long, it will have a certain impact on the income of the teahouse, after all, it will affect the turnover rate. But they did not set a time limit for customers to spend, and the dim sum shop did not rely on the teahouse to generate income. Those who can come to the teahouse to spend are all middle- and upper-class people, who are the target customers of the dim sum shop. There is no need to offend these old customers for such a small profit. You can sit as long as you like.

Diego said, "Boss, Faria introduced a customer this morning who wanted to order 100 egg tarts from us and asked us to give him a cheaper price, 350 reais. He also said he wanted the same amount every day, but I didn't agree. Faria said I was stupid. He said he was a regular customer and I should agree." Faria is an employee of the pastry shop.

As soon as Min Xi heard this, he guessed which restaurant had placed the order, and said, "It's right not to agree. Egg tarts are difficult to make, and the profit margin is thin to begin with, so you don't have to make them for him. Even if there's no discount, if he wants 100, don't agree to it. Just say you can't handle it all by yourself. Just let him take whatever is on the shelf, and you don't have to bake them specially for him."

Diego nodded: "Okay."

When they came out of the dim sum shop, Yun Ji said, "The two employees in the dim sum shop are not as reliable as those in the restaurant."

Min Xi said, "Diego is still too young to control them. Brother Qi, please come here more often when you have time."

"Okay!" Yun Ji agreed readily.