The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After leaving the house, Diego simply burst into tears. Min Xi had no choice but to pat his back and wait for him to stop crying. Then he said, "Diego, what happened to you today? Tell me." He and Yun Ji hadn't left yet, so he shouldn't be so sad.

Diego sobbed for a while and said, "Mr. Sanvis hasn't come back yet, and you are leaving again. I am afraid that you are all going to leave me."

Only then did Min Xi understand his inner panic and anxiety. The Shark set out to sea in June last year. At normal sailing speed, it would take about a year to make a round trip, but there are exceptions. If special problems arise, such as ship damage, storms or diseases, the sailing time will be extended, possibly even to two or three years.

Min Xi said, "Don't worry, Mr. Sanvis. It's normal for him to take more than a year to go from here to Asia and back. It may even take longer. He will definitely come back safely. Maybe he will come back tomorrow."

Diego wiped his tears: "Really?"

Min Xi nodded: "No matter whether he can get home tomorrow or not, he will definitely come back safely. Don't let your mind wander. Just pray for him silently, so that he can come back safely faster."

Diego wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve: "I'm sorry, boss. Am I so useless?"

"How could that be! This shows that our Diego is a good boy who values ​​friendship and loyalty. He always remembers the kindness others have shown you. I believe Mr. Sanvis would be pleased if he knew this." Min Xi said.

"But I can't bear to see you and Yun Dongjia leave." Diego said aggrievedly.

Min Xi patted his head and said, "We are only away temporarily and will be back soon. You can wait for us and Mr. Sanvis at home. If Mr. Sanvis comes back during our absence, he will be disappointed because we are not here and no one will receive him. If he comes back and finds out that you can manage a store, he will be so proud of you."

This reason really made Diego feel better. Yes, he still had to stay in Lisbon and wait for Mr. Sanves to come back.

Seeing that he was silent, Min Xi said, "Okay, let's go inside. We haven't eaten yet."

Diego nodded somewhat embarrassedly: "Okay!"

When the two men entered the house, Yun Ji was about to come out to look for them, but when he saw them come in, he sat down again.

Min Xi called Diego to wash his hands together, and then returned to the table to eat.

When everyone saw that everyone had returned to eat, they began to laugh and chat loudly. A promotion and a raise in salary were things worth celebrating.

After dinner, everyone left, and only Diego, Gale and Jasper stayed. Min Xi and Yun Ji had to tell them who would keep the money.

Min Xi said: "We will tell Lord Melo when the time comes. When you have saved up 100 reais, you should give the money to Lord Melo and ask him to write a receipt with the date. You should keep the receipt and ask Lord Melo for it when we come back."

Several people nodded, and Yun Ji said, "Remember, you must first set aside money to run the store and buy various ingredients and other items, such as wheat flour, cooking oil, coal, etc. We will tell you where and how to buy them. I will also take you to familiarize yourself with the blacksmith shop and the carpenter shop. If there is a problem with the kitchen utensils and tableware, you should find someone to solve it. Bring the original kitchen utensils and tableware and ask them to make them according to this specification."

Gail asked, "What if those hooligans come to cause trouble while you are away?"

"Report to the sheriff, or ask Lord Mello for help." Min Xi said.

Yun Ji heard this and sighed inaudibly. He really didn't want to owe Lord Melo a favor, but he didn't dare to say anything. He was afraid that if he said it, Min Xi would ask him to stay. He had no choice. Between owing a favor and being with Min Xi, he chose the latter.

Let everyone know in advance what they are about to face, so that the next work can be arranged more easily.

Min Xi began to teach Amanda and Gail how to cook, including the more complicated dishes, such as beggar's chicken, braised pork and braised pork, and taught them how to stir-fry sugar color and how to color the dishes. He bought the spices in advance and packed them into spice bags according to the size of each pot, so that they could directly add the spice bags to stew. What kind of fire should be used for stewing and to what degree of heat is just right.

Teach them how to make tomato sauce. At this time, the tomatoes they planted were not yet ripe, so they used the tomatoes from the Baron greenhouse for demonstration. They probably couldn't make squirrel fish, after all, if you don't practice knife skills at this level for a few months, you probably won't be able to get good at it, but they can make sweet and sour pork.

Yun Ji also introduced them to the butcher and asked the butcher to kill and castrate pork and send as many as possible to the store.

He also took them to see old farmers on Sundays and told them where their fields were. When the tomatoes and peppers were ripe, they should pick the best fruits and save the seeds. Gail understood this because he came from the countryside and had farmed at home.

Min Xi specifically told Gail how to take care of peanuts and corn. When the corn ears grow and bloom, shake the pollen on the top to the corn silk below. Because there are only two plants, the pollination rate will be very low without human intervention. When the peanuts bloom, press their branches to the ground so that they can produce more seeds.

They were also told how to preserve corn seeds and peanut seeds. There were too few corn and peanuts, so they had to be saved as seeds in the first year.

When Min Xi told Gale, he didn't do it in front of Yun Ji, because Yun Ji listened to the conversation between him and Professor Greeley. Obviously, Professor Greeley didn't tell him what he said. If Yun Ji heard it, he would be surprised if he didn't see a ghost.

Min Xi was a little worried about Gail, because he was too lively and might not take these things seriously. He also told Diego about these things. Diego was a reliable child and always took their instructions to heart.

Fernando had not come to dine very often recently, for he was on a diplomatic mission to England and had many things to arrange, including his own business and the affairs of the mission.

Min Xi and Yun Ji are going to the UK. In addition to arranging the work in the store, they also have to prepare the currency for going to the UK. If they are going to the UK, they must exchange some pounds.

The mission was allowed to exchange some currency from relevant government departments, but the quantity was limited. Each person was only allowed to exchange 5 pounds, and 1 pound was equal to 20 shillings and 240 pence.

One reais in the French currency can be exchanged for one shilling, so carrying 1 pounds is actually equivalent to carrying 1 reais, which is a huge sum of money.

Min Xi calculated. He had always thought that 1 real was equivalent to 1 tael of silver. According to the exchange rate between the pound and the real, 1 pound was equivalent to 20 reals. One pound could not be worth 20 taels of silver. Although the pound was a gold coin, how many grams of gold could be in one pound? It was definitely not as heavy as one tael of gold in the Ming Dynasty.

The British really have a good plan, no wonder they eventually became the financial center of Europe and even the world.

From this point of view, 1 real and 1 tael of silver are not equal. The French currency depreciated because of the large amount of gold and silver brought from the New World.

Min Xi shared his thoughts with Yun Ji, who said, "The purchasing power of 1 real is actually about the same as that of 1 tael of silver. The annual income of ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty is just over ten taels of silver. As for the situation of the British pound, I don't know. I will know when I go to the UK."

Min Xi couldn't help but ask Baron Fernando about the income of the British. Fernando said, "The annual income of an average British family is only one or two pounds."

From this perspective, the annual income of an ordinary person in France is not as good as that of a British person. This is inconsistent with France's current status as a maritime power. It can only illustrate one problem: the money has gone into the pockets of a small number of people, while ordinary people are still very poor.

Take the Chinese restaurant in Minxi as an example. The per capita consumption is far more than the average person's daily income. However, there are still many customers and the business is booming. This also shows that the middle and upper classes are rich. The society obviously has a serious gap between the rich and the poor, and there are huge social problems. This is probably why Britain will catch up.

But this is not what Min Xi needs to worry about. He is just a bystander. Where Fulang will go has nothing to do with him.

When Lord Mellor learned that they were leaving Lisbon for England, he agreed to help them look after the store and was willing to keep his money.

Fernando's friends, including Walter, Dr. Cafu and Colonel Ed, also said that they could be asked for help if they had any difficulties.

To express his gratitude, Min Xi invited everyone to a meal and cooked all his specialties. For this meal, he also asked the butcher to kill a pig and bought a lot of pork.

Everyone was very satisfied with the meal and said that they missed the food Min Xi cooked before he left.