The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Soon, two more pirates came up from behind, one of them holding a torch, and asked, "What's going on? Didn't they all abandon the ship and run away?"

A pirate pointed a gun at Yun Ji and said, "I don't know. We've only found these two. Tie them up first, and then look for them."

"Put your head in your hands!" said the pirate with the gun.

Min Xi translated: "Seventh brother, he told us to cover our heads with our hands." He said as he was told.

Yun Ji had no choice but to do as he was told. It was true that he had kung fu skills, but the other side had guns and they didn't. Even if he picked up the axe from the ground, he couldn't knock down four people at once. He couldn't put Min Xi in danger.

A few pirates came over and took away the axes. The man with the torch held the fire close to them and made a surprised sound: "They look so strange! They are different from us. Who are you?"

Min Xi replied in English: "We are Chinese, from Asia."

"Chinese? From Asia? Hey, no wonder you look different. How did you get here?" The man was very interested.

Min Xi said, "I took a ride on someone else's boat and wanted to go to London."

"You can actually speak English! Who did you learn from?" the man continued to ask.

Min Xi said: "I learned it from a Fulanji man."

"Why doesn't he speak? Is he a mute?" the man asked, pointing a gun at Yun Ji.

Min Xi said: "His English is not very good. He can't understand it, and he can't speak it very well."

"How did you get here? I mean, how did you get here from China?"

"We are Chinese merchants. We went out to sea to do business and encountered a shipwreck in the Indian Ocean. We were rescued by a merchant ship of the French Empire, so we came to Europe," said Min Xi.

"What are you doing in England?"

Min Xi said: "We went to England with the French embassy to England for the purpose of traveling and learning. We wanted to broaden our horizons in England."

"Where are the others? Did they abandon you?"

Min Xi did not answer this question. Isn't this an obvious thing?

"Do you want to live?" asked a ferocious-looking man next to them.

Min Xi nodded: "Of course." He knew that there were several types of pirates. Some only robbed things and did not kill people, some killed people for loot, and some forced merchant sailors to join the pirate group. It seemed that they encountered the second type today.

"Then what can you do? What reason is there for us not to kill you? Your families must not be in Europe, but in China, and we can't find your families to ask for ransom. There is no benefit in keeping you two alive, so I think we should just kill you." said the ferocious man.

Min Xi's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he said hurriedly, "Please wait a moment, sir. Killing us will not do you any good. We have friends in Lisbon, and I can write to them to help me raise the ransom. I can also cook, so I can cook for you."

This made everyone laugh: "Who can't cook? What kind of skill is this!"

Min Xi stopped talking and listened to the pirates laughing at him. More pirates boarded the ship, and they came to carry the spoils.

The last person to come up said unhappily, "Why are you still wasting time here? Hurry up and move your things. The boat will sink soon."

"Boss, we caught two Chinese. They were hitchhiking, and we don't know what to do with them. The man said he could cook." The ferocious-looking man then laughed, his tone full of sarcasm.

The pirate leader took the torch and shone it on Min Xi and Yun Ji. He touched his chin with his hand and showed an interested expression: "Chinese? Where are you from?"

Min Si said, "Yes. From Lisbon."

"You can actually speak English. Can you afford the ransom?" asked the pirate leader.

Min Xi asked: "How much ransom do you need?"

The pirate leader said, "At least 500 pounds per person."

When Min Xi heard this, he realized that 500 pounds was equal to Reais, and two people were equal to Reais, so how could they raise so much money!

Min Xi said: "We are stranded outside, we can't contact our family here, we only have friends, we don't have that much money, can you give less?"

The pirate leader glared and said: "You can't even come up with 500 pounds? What's the point of keeping you? Just kill them!" For pirates, it is possible to make tens of thousands of pounds by successfully robbing a merchant ship, so 500 pounds is indeed a small amount of money for them.

Min Xi had no choice but to say, "Okay, then I'll write to my friends and ask them to help me raise money."

Yun Ji didn't understand English very well. He saw that Min Xi was talking to the other party all the time, and he was very anxious. However, the other party had more and more people, and the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable to them. Yun Ji hurriedly asked: "Ninth brother, what are you talking to them about?"

"They want to kidnap us and demand a ransom of one reais per person," Minsit said.

Yun Ji was shocked: "Are you crazy? Where can we get so much money? If we can't pay the ransom, they will kill us?"

Min Xi shook his head: "I don't know, I can only agree to it first."

Yun Ji asked, "Where are they taking us?"

"I don't know. They all speak English. They should be British."

"The one who just came up is their leader, right?"

"Yes."

"I will find a chance to control him first, and then we will look for a chance to escape using their small boat." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi was shocked: "But this is too risky! Even if we can escape on a small boat, we may not be able to return to land. It is better to follow them ashore and then find a chance to escape." He really didn't dare to risk his life in the English Channel on a small boat.

Yun Ji's face was heavy: "Once we lose our freedom, what will happen next is completely out of our control. I don't want things to get out of control, and I'm even more worried that I won't be able to protect you."

The pirate leader was a little angry when he saw that the two of them were talking in a language he couldn't understand: "What are you whispering about? Go, tie them up for me!"

Immediately, several men with guns came up and approached them. Yun Ji weighed the pros and cons again and again, but finally did not take action, because there were too many guns. Even if he could take the opportunity to subdue the people who came to tie him up, the other party was a small fry and would not have any deterrent effect at all. Instead, it might cost his and Min Xi's life. He did not dare to take the risk.

Soon, someone came up to tie their hands. Yun Ji felt very aggrieved for the first time. Min Xi regretted it very much and blamed himself: "I'm sorry, Seventh Brother, it's all because of my willfulness. If I hadn't insisted on coming to England, I wouldn't have been caught by pirates."

Yun Ji said: "Since it has already happened, we should stop regretting and blaming ourselves. We have to find a way to solve the problem."

The two men had their hands tied behind their backs, and the pirates began to move the things on the ship, but soon someone came to report: "There are not many valuable goods on the ship. It is an empty ship."

The pirate leader couldn't help but get furious when he heard this: "Isn't this ship said to have a deep draft? How can it be empty?!"

The first person to board the ship and communicate with Min Xi said, "Boss, they said this ship is the ship that Frangji is sending to England, and the gift for the Queen should be on another ship."

When the pirate leader heard this, he came over and prepared to vent his anger on Min Xi and Yun Ji. Just as he was about to kick Min Xi, Yun Ji raised his foot to block it, and with a flying kick, he kicked the pirate leader to the ground.

Yun Ji twisted his hands in front of him in an extremely strange way, and then pulled hard, breaking the rope tied to his wrists. Before anyone could react, he had already put a dagger against the pirate leader's neck, quickly dragged him to Min Xi's side, and slowly retreated to the side of the boat.

Everyone was stunned: "Boss!"

After they tied up Yun Ji and Min Xi, they relaxed their guard and vigilance, and no one pointed a gun at them. So they did not expect Yun Ji to fight back and actually took their boss hostage in a flash.

Yun Ji said in Fulangji language: "Don't come close, or I will kill him!"

Min Xi also said in English: "Don't come over here, or he will kill your boss. Throw all the guns in front of us, or we will cut his throat. Brother Qi, use a little force and make him bleed."

The latter sentence was in Chinese. Yun Ji cooperated with a little force and blood flowed from the pirate leader's neck.

The pirate leader cried out in pain: "Quick, do as they say."

The pirates still don't understand how Yun Ji did it. Did he not tie him up tightly? The pirate who tied Yun Ji up whispered, "I swear, I tied him up tightly! God knows how he got free."

In order to save the pirate leader, they had no choice but to throw all their guns in front of Min Xi and Yun Ji.

Yun Ji said to Min Xi, "Go and push the axe over with your foot."

Min Xi did as he was told. Yun Ji saw the axe approaching, so he hooked the head of the axe with his toes, and in full view of everyone, he easily grabbed the axe in his left hand. Then he put the axe against the pirate leader's neck and said to Min Xi, "Come here, I'll help you cut the rope."

Min Xi quickly walked to his side, turned around, and showed his bound hands to Yun Ji. Yun Ji raised his knife and cut the rope on his hands, and Min Xi regained his freedom: "Thank you, Seventh Brother!"

Min Xi picked up a spring-loaded shotgun from the ground, then raised it and pointed it at the pirates: "Listen to me, my brother is a martial arts master, he knows Chinese Kung Fu! Even a dozen of you combined are no match for him, it will be easy for him to kill you. From now on, you all have to listen to me, otherwise I will not be polite with the gun in my hand." As he spoke, he raised the barrel of the gun and fired a shot into the air.