The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi and Yun Ji were the first to board the boat, along with the captain, all the guns, and their own pots and pans.

Because there were still pirates left on the pirate ship, they did not intend to give the pirates a chance to communicate with each other after meeting up, so they had to deal with those remaining pirates first.

Because they had the pirate leader with them, things went smoothly. The men's guns were quickly confiscated, and then they were all fed flour balls.

These pirates usually act arrogantly and take other people's lives at will. Now their lives are in their hands. They finally feel the pain of having their lives hanging by a thread. It's so painful.

After getting on board, Yun Ji and Min Xi interrogated the pirate leader and learned that their pirate team consisted of two ships in total. The other ship was led by their second-in-command and was chasing another ship of the delegation.

Yun Ji and Min Xi looked at each other. It seemed that the Baron and the others were still in danger. They hoped that they were all fine. Even though they had abandoned them, they still believed that this was not Fernando's intention. After all, he was just a baron and his status in the delegation was not the highest.

Comparing the lives of the two of them with those of the nobles in the delegation, the captains must ensure the safety of the nobles first.

At the beginning, neither side dared to let down their guard and kept alert against each other. Min Xi and Yun Ji took turns to go to sleep, while those who were awake kept alert with weapons in hand.

Since they boarded the pirate ship, they let the pirate leader go, because theoretically, Min Xi had already controlled everyone with poison. If they still used force to control the other party, the other party would definitely think that their medicine might not work and would be counterproductive. The more confident they acted, the more fearful those people would be.

The two did not enter the cabin, but took turns resting on the deck. Fortunately, it was summer and it was not too cold on the deck at night. Besides, they brought their luggage with them and could cover themselves with blankets to keep warm.

The sky finally brightened, and the pirates, who had not slept well all night, finally got up and started moving. After the navigator measured the wind speed and direction, he ordered the sailors to go up to the mast, open the sails, and sail at full speed.

Sailboats also sail at night, but because there are too many uncertainties, they will not hoist all three sails. They will only hoist one, slowing down the speed of travel. They will not open all the sails and travel at full speed until daytime.

Min Xi was awakened by the pirates' cursing. It was already daybreak, but the sun hadn't risen yet. There were light clouds in the sky, and the sea was a deep blue. The cool morning breeze carried the salty smell of the sea, and the wind was not weak. It was a good day for sailing.

With this wind speed, we can reach Southampton in two or three days if we sail at full speed.

Min Xi found Yun Ji looking up at two pirates climbing up the tall mast to untie the furled sail. This was a physically demanding job, a technical job, and a life-threatening job. The mast, which was more than ten meters long, had been smooth after years of climbing, but the sailors had to hold on to the smooth mast and climb up, stepping on the horizontal bar to untie the ropes and put down the sails.

If you are unlucky and the wind is strong, the newly fallen canvas can easily sweep the person standing on the horizontal pole off. If you fall from there, you will be half dead if you don't die, so you need extremely experienced veterans to do this kind of work.

There were also sailors on the Ming Dynasty's sailing ships who often climbed the masts. They were called "dou shou". Their purpose was not to take down the sails, but to gain control of the wind and direction.

The two pirates were not in a good condition today. After last night's experience, few of them could sleep. In the morning, the navigator arranged for them to lower the sail. The pirate in charge of the mizzen mast climbed less than halfway with great effort. The pirate in charge of the main mast climbed faster, but the main mast was thicker and taller. He climbed to the highest point in one breath and lowered the top canvas. The people watching below were relieved. He hugged the mast and went down to the second section. When he lowered the canvas, he was almost knocked down by the bulging sail. He jumped in a hurry, clamped the crossbar with his legs, and then grabbed the cable with both hands, which saved his life.

His series of actions made everyone who was staring at him below break out in cold sweats. The pirate himself lay on the horizontal bar for a long time and did not dare to move at all.

He was safe temporarily, but the pirate who had just climbed to the topmost horizontal bar on the mizzenmast was frightened by him. His feet went soft and he fell down. He subconsciously reached out and grabbed only a rope, but the rope did not do much to slow down his fall. It only slowed him down a little before he continued to fall.

Just when everyone thought he was doomed, Min Xi, who was so frightened by the scene that his heart was about to jump out of his throat, only felt something flash past his eyes. He subconsciously looked over and saw that it was Yun Ji. He rushed forward like an arrow, and at the moment when the pirate fell to the ground, Yun Ji stretched out his hand and caught the other person.

The whole ship became silent, and everyone stared at the scene in disbelief. The pirate who fell off the mast thought he was dead, but he didn't expect that he was caught by something at the moment he fell to the ground. The pain he imagined didn't come, and before he could react, he was put on the deck.

Yun Ji was shaking his right arm. The impact just now was quite strong, and it made his right arm numb.

Min Xi rushed over and asked, "Seventh Brother, are you okay?"

Yun Ji stretched his joints and said, "It's okay. My hands are just a little numb."

Upon hearing this, Min Xi hurried over to massage his shoulders and arms.

The pirates finally reacted and swarmed over, surrounding the man who had just fallen. "Are you okay?"

Some people looked at Yun Ji as if he were a god. He could actually rush over and catch someone in such a short time. This ability was unheard of, but now they saw it with their own eyes. When he subdued the captain last night, the light was too dim and many people didn't see clearly how he did it. Now the light is so bright, everyone can see that he is indeed not an ordinary person.

The rescued pirate came to his senses, walked up to Yun Ji, and bowed deeply to him: "Sir, thank you for saving my life!"

Min Xi translated for Yun Ji, who said nonchalantly, "Those pirates deserved to die, but I didn't want to see anyone die tragically in front of you, so I rescued him."

Min Xi smiled happily when he heard this: "I knew that Seventh Brother treats me the best."

He said to the pirates: "You are pirates, enemies who want to hurt us, but we saved you out of humanitarianism. I hope you will not repay kindness with hatred."

At this time, the pirate leader also heard the news and rushed over from the captain's room. He first went to see his crew and found that they were fine. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Yun Ji and said, "Thank you for saving our crew. We are all grateful people and will definitely send you two to Southampton safely!"

Min Xi said: "I hope you remember what I said today!"

At this time, the man who was lowering the sail on the main mast also lowered the sail. He witnessed the whole process of his partner falling from the mast. He thought that the other party would be disabled if not dead, but he was saved by Yun Ji. He was really lucky. He and the other party did the same job, so he could empathize with him. He looked at Yun Ji with eyes full of admiration and gratitude.

The pirate leader said, "Bill, it's alright. Let's all go back to our own work. Tom, go lower the sail on the mizzen mast. We need to go at full speed and send our distinguished guests to Southampton as soon as possible. Owen, hurry up and cook and entertain our guests. They need something hot today."

Min Xi also remembered that it was time to make breakfast. He began to search his luggage and found his cooking utensils. The spatula and small stove were all there, as well as the ingredients, which were all long-lasting onions, cabbage and carrots. The meat was the ham that was pickled during the Chinese New Year. He brought one out, and everyone had just eaten half of it before they split it up.

Min Xi was not grateful: "We will cook our own meals. Do you have fuel on board?"

The pirate leader looked at him in surprise: "You want to cook for yourself?"

"Yes, I have cooking utensils and food, but I lack some fuel. If you have any, you can give me some, firewood or coal will do."

"Of course, I'll have someone get it for you," said the pirate leader.

Soon, someone brought Min Xi shavings and small pieces of wood to start the fire, as well as charcoal, which was better than coal. Charcoal was easy to ignite, burned without thick smoke, and had stronger fire power.

Min Xi and Yun Ji started to wash their hands and cook. Yun Ji kneaded the dough, while Min Xi cut onions, carrots, and cabbage into grains and strips, and cut the ham into thin strips, preparing to make pies.

The pirate leader did not leave the deck. He was curious and watched them cook. Seeing that they were eating vegetarian food, he asked, "Don't you have any meat dishes?"

Min Xi said, "It's the ham. We have been away from land for a week and have not been to the shore. All other meat dishes have been eaten up."

Upon hearing this, the pirate leader stood up and left. Not long after, he came back and gave Min Xi some shrimps: "These are the shrimps we caught yesterday. Here are some for you."

Min Xi took it without hesitation: "Thank you very much!"

He peeled the shrimps, cut them into small pieces, mixed them with other fillings, and added just a little soy sauce for seasoning.

By this time Yunji had already kneaded the dough and went to light the fire. Min Xi kneaded the dough into small pieces and placed them one by one, ready to wrap the fillings.

While they were cooking, several pirates gathered around them. They wanted to see how the Chinese people's cooking was different from theirs.