The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi was very curious. He would ask the Baron the name and origin of each plant. He could even name some similar plants in China. Fernando felt that Min Xi was a kindred spirit and that he felt they had met too late.

Min Xi said: "I don't know anyone who is as interested in plants as His Excellency the Baron. I believe this greenhouse should be the largest greenhouse in Europe!"

Fernando blushed. "I don't dare to claim to be the best. In the field of botany, I am only an entry-level enthusiast. I know many senior experts in this field. They have spent almost their entire lives on this, collecting plants from all over the world, comparing and classifying them, and have made many achievements. Strictly speaking, they are all teachers worthy of my learning."

"Your Excellency the Baron, you are too modest. Among all the people I know, you are the greatest expert in botany. I am also very interested in plants. In our country, no one has conducted specialized research in this field, so I would like to visit them and ask them for advice if I have the chance." Min Xi boasted to the other person just to find out this.

"So, we are like-minded. But they are not in our country. There are more experts in this field in the UK. There is an Oxford University in the UK that has a botany major. I have attended several classes there and benefited a lot. Their school also has a huge glass greenhouse botanical garden, which houses a large collection of plants from all over the world. My glass greenhouse was inspired by this," said Fernando.

After listening to this, Min Xi looked fascinated and said, "If I have the chance, I would also like to visit and study at Oxford University." Of course, the visit and study was fake, but trying to obtain the seeds of sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes was real.

After hearing this news, Min Xi did not stay and said goodbye to Fernando and went back to the tavern with Yun Ji.

Along the way, Min Xi was somewhat silent. He had been thinking about how to get all those seeds. If he wanted to get all of them, he couldn't do it in just two or three months. He had to stay. It might take two or three years to complete the goal, but considering the importance of those crops, two or three years was worth it. So he still had to open the restaurant, and the more money the better.

He figured out the problem and stopped to talk to Yun Ji, but Yun Ji behind him didn't notice his movements and bumped into him.

Min Xi was almost knocked down by Yun Ji, but fortunately the martial artist reacted quickly and caught him in one fell swoop: "Sorry, I didn't see you stop. Are you hurt?"

Min Xi shook his head: "It's okay. I have something to say to Brother Seven."

"You say." Yun Ji looked at him with sharp eyes.

Min Xi suddenly realized that he had been talking to the Baron to get information about the crops, and had completely ignored what Yun Ji was doing. He didn't know much Portuguese, so he could only communicate with himself. He must have been very lonely: "I was talking to the Baron and ignored Brother Qi. You won't blame me, right?"

Yun Ji said, "Of course not." But when he saw him chatting and laughing with the baron, he did feel a little jealous. At that time, Min Xi seemed a little strange and distant to him, as if he and the baron were from the same world.

Min Xi explained: "I came to visit the Baron's greenhouse today to find some crops that I can bring back to Ming. Here, I only found this spicy spice and this wolfberry. I asked him where to find the crops brought back from the New World."

Yun Ji asked, "Did you find out?"

Min Xi said, "I found out. He is in England."

"Where is England?"

Min Xi looked up to identify the direction and pointed to the northwest: "Probably in the northwest, there is a relatively large island country. It's not close to get there. If you take a boat, it will probably take about four or five days."

"Should we go? Can we go?" Yun Ji asked.

Min Xi said: "This is what I want to tell you. I want to go, but I don't know how to go. If we decide to go to England, we won't be able to return to Ming in the short term. It may take one or two years or even longer. Are you willing to accompany me?"

Yun Ji's throat twitched. He had been away for such a long time without any news, and his parents must have endured a lot of suffering. He was very worried that he would never see them again.

Min Xi raised his hand and patted his arm: "Seventh Brother, take your time to think about it. I am different from you. I am alone and have no worries, so it doesn't matter how long I stay outside. You are different. You still have parents and relatives at home waiting for you to return. If there is a ship going to Southeast Asia, you can go back first."

Yun Ji asked hurriedly: "What about you?"

Min Xi said: "I will go back later. I must go to England."

"That's impossible! I was the one who brought you out, and I must bring you back." Yun Ji said in a firm tone.

"Don't worry, even if we go our separate ways, I will definitely be able to come back. I have much more experience at sea than you do." Min Xi said.

"But you don't know martial arts, and you're stranded overseas alone. How can I feel at ease? I can't leave you here and go back first." Yun Ji said.

It was difficult to find a unified opinion on this issue for a while, so Min Xi had to change the subject: "Okay, let's not talk about this for now. What I want to say is that since we have decided to go to the UK again, this restaurant must be opened."

Yun Ji nodded: "Go ahead." Min Xi decided to stay. Probably because he couldn't be persuaded, he had no choice but to go along with his idea.

The two returned to the tavern. Min Xi found a wooden box, filled it with a lot of soil, took out the seeds from the dried chili peppers, and scattered them all in the pot, covered it with a layer of soil, and poured water on it. Then he found some grass and covered the pot. He also found a broken wooden bowl, put soil in it, sprinkled seeds on it, and placed the wooden bowl in front of the window of the attic where they lived.

Yun Ji knew that he wanted to grow peppers, so he asked, "Why are some covered with grass and some not?"

Min Xi said: "The ones covered with grass are placed outdoors. The temperature is still a bit low now, so the grass is used to keep warm. The ones placed in the room are not so cold, so there is no need to cover them with grass. I am also doing an experiment to see which situation produces better seeds. Let's give it a name! What do you think it should be called?"

Yunji thought for a moment and said, "It tastes spicy and comes from foreign countries. Why not call it Fanla?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "I think it's called Fanla." The history is surprisingly consistent. In the history he is familiar with, chili peppers are also called Fanla.

"Seventh brother, do you want to try this spicy flavor? I'll make you something spicy to try." Min Xi hasn't tasted the original version of the pepper yet, but it should be very hot, because when he was taking the seeds, his fingers were already burning.

"Okay. Let me try it and see what the difference is with mustard and ginger." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi thought about it and decided to grill him a few skewers of mutton. He said, "Just wait!"

He did it right away. He cut the mutton into pieces, found a few thin branches, and skewered the mutton. He lightly fried the dried chili peppers and crushed them into powder. In just a moment, the spicy taste choked him. He put the mutton on the fire and started roasting it. The mutton was roasted until it was smoking, and then it was brushed with oil, and the aroma immediately filled the air.

Barbecue food is not healthy, but it is really delicious. Even Yun Ji couldn't help but say, "It smells so good!"

"Delicious, right? It's good to eat it occasionally." Min Xi sprinkled cumin powder on the almost cooked mutton, and only sprinkled some chili powder on two of the skewers. "These two skewers are spicy. I'll give you one. You can taste it."

Yun Ji took it and was about to eat it, but Min Xi stopped him: "Wait, have a bite of something that's not spicy first."

Yun Ji took the advice and ate a bite of the non-spicy one. His eyes lit up: "It smells so good!"

Min Xi also took a bite of the non-spicy one. Cumin powder is indeed the golden partner of lamb. We really have to thank the West Asians for bringing cumin to Europe.

Min Xi said to Yun Ji, "Try another spicy one."

Yun Ji glanced at him, took a piece of mutton into his mouth, chewed it once, then stopped, not daring to chew any more.

Min Xi looked at his expression and couldn't help but asked with a smile: "Is it spicy?"

Yun Ji looked at him speechless and just nodded.

"What delicious food have you made?" Sanvis' voice rang out at the kitchen door.

Min Xi looked at Yun Ji's expression, then handed over his skewer of spicy lamb: "Good stuff, roasted lamb, let you try it."

"Thank you!" Sanvis took it happily and took a big bite. The next second he screamed, "It stung my tongue!"