The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Professor Silva apologized, got up and went to the front clinic to see a patient.

Min Xi stood up and walked to the door between the two rooms to watch Professor Silva examining the patient.

There was no so-called earwax tasting or urine drinking. Professor Silva just checked the patient's eyes and tongue, then took out a knife from the tool box, cut a cut on the patient's arm, and let some blood out.

Yun Ji stood behind him, looking shocked, and asked Min Xi: "What are you doing?"

Min Xi said, "Bloodletting treatment." He had heard of this. There were all kinds of strange treatment methods in ancient Europe, such as bloodletting treatment, hot iron treatment, drilling holes on the top of the head, mercury infusion treatment and other incredible treatment methods.

"Draining so much blood?" Yun Ji was shocked beyond words. The Ming Dynasty also had bloodletting therapy, but it usually involved inserting needles into acupuncture points and squeezing out blood beads. It was absolutely impossible to do such an exaggerated method as making an incision on the arm to bleed.

Min Xi said: "They don't have our medical methods of observation, auscultation, questioning and palpation and Chinese herbal medicine, so they are a bit backward."

They were speaking in Chinese. The Count didn't understand a word they said, but he guessed what they were discussing: "Are you discussing Professor Silva's treatment?"

Min Xi said somewhat embarrassedly: "Yes, this is the first time we have seen European doctors treat diseases in this way."

The Count asked, "Don't you Chinese doctors treat patients this way?"

Min Xi shook his head: "We don't treat illnesses this way. Chinese medicine has a complete system of treating illnesses. We diagnose illnesses by observing the patient's symptoms, complexion, tongue coating, listening to the patient's voice, smelling the patient's odor, asking about the condition, taking the pulse, etc., and then treat them with Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, scraping, etc."

The count was skeptical: "Will it work?"

"I feel it's quite effective. Yun knows a little bit about medicine, if you don't believe me, you can ask him." Min Xi pointed at Yun Ji.

The Earl looked at Yun Ji in surprise: "Mr. Yun also knows medicine?"

Yun Ji said, “A little bit.”

Min Xi said to Yun Ji, "Seventh brother, why don't you feel the earl's pulse and show him what you can do?"

Yun Ji hesitated a little: "My medical skills are not very good, and medical skills also need constant practice. I haven't used them for too long, so they are a little rusty."

"It's just a try anyway. I'm not really treating him." Min Xi said.

They both said this in Chinese.

Yun Ji said, "Okay, I'll try. Please sit down at the table, and I'll take a look at it for you."

The Count sat down at the table and placed his hands on the table as Yun Ji had requested. Yun Ji raised his hand to feel his pulse, then used his other hand to feel it, and then asked the Count to open his mouth and stick out his tongue for him to see, and then he said, "Your Excellency has a strong temper, sores easily form in your mouth and tongue, you are thirsty easily, you have some minor stomach problems, and you have severe constipation." He said this in Portuguese because Spanish was not enough for him to express himself.

The Earl's eyes widened after hearing this: "How did you know? You can tell by touching the wrist? This is too magical!" He definitely did not tell Min Xi and Yun Ji that he was prone to mouth ulcers and had poor stomach, let alone mention that he was constipated. Did they observe this?

Yun Ji said, "In fact, I can tell by observing the color of your tongue, smelling the odor of your breath, and feeling your pulse. You must have had stomach problems for a while. You need to eat on time and eat softer food to avoid stomach pain."

After hearing this, the Count nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice: "Yes, yes, yes, if I eat something too hard, I will have a stomachache."

Yun Ji went on to say: "As for excessive heat and constipation, you need to eat more vegetables and fruits and drink more water." There are no medicinal herbs here, so naturally I can't prescribe any medicine. I can only relieve the symptoms through diet therapy.

"Thank you, Mr. Yun! I'll remember that. I didn't expect you could cure people's illnesses!" The Earl felt that the two men in front of him were truly extraordinary. Not to mention that Min Xi was a good cook, but Yun Ji was an even more talented person. Not only was he good at kung fu, he also knew how to cure people's illnesses.

At this time, Professor Silva finished treating the patient and came back to continue chatting with Min Xi and Yun Ji, but was told by the Count that Yun Ji knew medicine, and it was a very magical Chinese medicine. He had just diagnosed his condition by taking his pulse.

Professor Silva was skeptical and asked Yunji to feel his pulse to see if he had any symptoms. After feeling his pulse, Yunji said that he had many dreams, night sweats, and heart disease, which shocked Professor Silva because he knew that this was the first time he met Yunji and he had never told Count Hernandez about these problems.

Professor Silva was impressed by the exquisiteness of Chinese medicine and started to exchange medical skills with Yun Ji. Yun Ji's Spanish level was limited and he really couldn't communicate those professional terms, so Min Xi helped to translate. Sometimes Min Xi couldn't translate, so he asked the Count for help. The two of them overcame many obstacles and exchanged medical skills.

After listening to Yun Ji's description, Professor Silva became full of curiosity and yearning for Chinese medicine. As a professor of medicine, he actually felt that bloodletting was not so scientific and effective. However, patients did experience certain effects after bloodletting, which led to patients becoming more and more superstitious about bloodletting. No matter what disease they had, they had to let some blood out. It seemed that doctors who did not do so were not very good, and the disease would not be cured without bloodletting.

But Chinese medicine also has bloodletting therapy, but people only let out a little blood, instead of believing like here that the more blood is let out, the easier it is to cure the disease.

Min Xi didn't expect that his original purpose of coming to look for potatoes turned out to be a medical exchange meeting.

Finally, Yun Ji changed the subject: "I wonder if your school has a botanical garden. I am very interested in botany and hope to visit the botanical garden."

Professor Silva said, "Yes. Our school has a botany department that specializes in studying herbaceous plants. If you are interested, I can take you to visit it."

When Min Xi heard this, a raging fire of hope suddenly ignited in his heart. Most of the vegetables and grains that people eat are herbaceous plants, which means that if there are potatoes from the New World, they will definitely be the subject of research at the University of Valencia.

"Thank you, Professor Silva!" Min Xi hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

Professor Silva said, "I don't know how long you will stay in Valencia. I hope I can have another chance to continue discussing medical matters with Mr. Yun."

Min Xi said, "I'm not sure yet. He should be in Valencia these two days. Professor, if you are free, you can come to the count's house. We will be guests at the count's house."

The Earl also said, "Yes, Professor, please come to my house when you are free. You may be lucky enough to taste Mr. Min's cooking. It is extremely delicious."

Professor Silva was not that interested in eating, but after hearing what the count said, he said, "Since you said so, I must try it."

Professor Silva personally accompanied them to visit the botanical gardens of the Department of Botany.

The Botanical Garden of the University of Valencia does not have a glass greenhouse because the temperature here does not drop below zero and the plants will not be frozen to death. It is more appropriate to call it a vegetable garden rather than a botanical garden.

Herbaceous plants are mostly vegetables, fruits and grain crops. The main purpose of these botany professors is to domesticate and screen various useful plants and optimize the existing vegetable, fruit and grain seeds.

Even in winter, the Botanical Garden of the University of Valencia is still lush and green, with many varieties of vegetables cultivated. There are fewer fruits and vegetables, because they need higher temperatures to bloom and bear fruit, and these must wait until the spring when the flowers bloom before they can be planted.

Min Xi stood outside the fenced garden, his eyes already drifting inside. He hoped to find the potatoes he needed here.

Professor Silva found Professor Castro who was planting vegetables in the botanical garden and explained his purpose. Professor Castro learned that there were two Chinese people visiting and was very happy to receive them.

Min Xi also has a special liking for the surname Castro because many years later, there was a man named Castro who dared to say no to the American power.

Professor Castro personally took them to visit the botanical garden and introduced Min Xi to the plants in his garden. Some were from Asia, some from Africa, and some from Europe. Most of them were vegetables, with a small part being food crops.

Min Xi asked, "Are there no plants from the New World?"

Professor Castro said: "Yes, but the climate in the New World is generally hot, and it is difficult for plants there to survive the winter here. Most of them can only be planted in the summer when the temperature is relatively high. Only a few can be planted in the winter. Look at that tall plant. It looks like a tree, but in fact, it is also a herbaceous plant."

Min Xi had already seen the banana tree that the professor was pointing to: "I've seen this in Lisbon, it's a banana tree, right? Is it also a herb?" Of course Min Xi knew it was a herb, but he still pretended not to understand.

Professor Castro smiled mysteriously: "Yes, it is also a herb. In order to harvest its fruit, the locals in the New World will cut down the entire banana tree. The next year, it will grow again in the place where it was cut and continue to bloom and bear fruit."

"What a magical plant!" Min Xi said with emotion.

After a while, Min Xi said again: "Professor, can I have two leaves of it?" The banana tree had grown into a clump, with quite a few of them, and could be seen on the campus of the University of Valencia, which meant that it was no longer rare. Only then did he ask for leaves.

Professor Castro was surprised: "What do you want its leaves for?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "To thank the two professors for their hospitality, I want to send you two some delicious food, but I need banana leaves to make it." He planned to send the two professors a beggar's chicken. Although he had dried lotus leaves, why not use the banana leaves?

Professor Castro said, "If you want, just go and cut two pieces." He was also very curious about what kind of delicacy required banana leaves to be made.