The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The construction of the Earl's ship is nearly halfway complete. The skeleton has been completed, the bottom of the ship has been completely paved, and anti-corrosion and sealing treatments are currently being carried out.

This step is particularly critical because it affects the ship's corrosion resistance and watertightness, which are related to the service life of the ship.

The bottom plate of the ship had to be repeatedly coated with corrosion-resistant pine tar. Since there were no tung trees in Europe and tung oil could not be produced, the only option was to extract oil from pine trees.

After the bottom of the ship is completely sealed and anti-corrosion treated, the copper sheet will be used to completely cover the bottom below the waterline, which is not only waterproof and anti-corrosive, but also reduces the resistance of seawater. The bottom of the ship wrapped in copper sheet is stronger and more collision-resistant, and travels faster.

Like the carrack that Min Si took to England last time, that ship was too old, and the shipbuilding technology at that time was not as advanced as it is today, so the bottom of the ship was not covered with copper, and it was easily penetrated by cannons. However, the risk of the bottom of this galleon being penetrated was very low.

However, in this case, the cost of shipbuilding increases a lot, which is why large ships are so expensive.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were visiting while listening to the shipbuilding officer introducing the progress of the ship. When he encountered something he didn't understand, Min Xi couldn't help but ask a few questions. Seeing that he was Chinese and brought by the earl, the other party would answer a few questions as long as it didn't involve confidential information.

Min Xi and Yun Ji had learned a lot along the way. There were some things that they could let the shipbuilders of Ming Dynasty learn from after returning to Ming Dynasty. Only by learning from others' strengths could they build the best ship.

They spent most of the day at the shipyard, had lunch there, and in addition to visiting the Earl's half-finished ship, they also boarded a large ship that was about to be launched for a visit, which was a real feast for the eyes. They didn't leave the shipyard until the afternoon.

After returning, Yun Ji wrote down everything they saw and took it back to the Ming Dynasty shipyard when the time comes.

Min Xi did not ask whether the shipyard would accept foreign orders, because the price of the Valencia shipyard was too high, one-third more expensive for a ship. It would be better to go to Portugal to find a solution.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were wondering when would be the best time to visit Professor Castro at the University of Valencia again, but the professor came to them himself, bringing two banana leaves with him.

His face was full of shame. He looked at Min Xi, hesitant, and did not talk about the topic. Instead, he asked when they planned to leave Valencia.

Min Xi saw the two banana leaves in his hand and vaguely guessed something: "We will stay in Valencia for a few days. Is the beggar's chicken very popular with the professor's family?"

Castro nodded awkwardly, "Yes. My kids love it very much. My youngest son Rafael's birthday is in two days, and he made a wish that he could eat beggar's chicken on his birthday, so I shamelessly came here to ask for it. If you are free, can you help me make a beggar's chicken? I'll buy whatever ingredients you need."

Min Xi saw the professor's embarrassment and said with a smile, "Of course, the child's birthday wish is to eat a beggar's chicken. It's my honor. When is his birthday?"

Professor Castro said, "Tuesday, two days left."

"No problem. If your house has enough space, I can come over and cook a meal for you," said Min Xi.

This was completely beyond the professor's expectations. He hesitated for a moment: "Will this not cause you trouble?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "It's okay, actually. To be honest, cooking is my hobby. It's my greatest honor to see that the dishes I cook are liked by others."

The professor was relieved when he heard this: "That's too much trouble for you. I will come to pick you up when the time comes."

Min Xi said: "Professor, can you tell me in advance how many people will be dining in your family, what they like to eat, or what they don't eat."

When the professor heard this, he realized that this was tailor-made. He quickly told him about his son's preferences and the dietary taboos of his family.

"I understand. We will buy some groceries and then go to see you at school on Tuesday morning," said Min Xi.

Professor Castro said, "No, no, just tell me what vegetables you need to buy and I'll ask my family to buy them."

"I'd better buy it myself, because I know what ingredients I need."

"Then I'll give you money. I can't let you spend money after you have done the work." Professor Castro took out a few silver coins from his pocket.

Min Xi said, "Okay, just give me two reais." Min Xi took two silver coins from him. If he only bought vegetables, it wouldn't cost much.

"Then I'll leave it to you!" Professor Castro thanked him profusely and left.

Min Xi did not think that the professor was spoiling his child. Instead, he felt that the professor was willing to ask for help for his child. He was a very good father. At least, he was much better than many incompetent fathers in the world.

The Count soon learned that Min Xi was going to prepare a birthday meal for Professor Castro's child: "So you won't be going to Barcelona for the time being?"

Min Xi said: "We may not go to Barcelona, ​​Barcelona is too far, we will just play in Valencia."

When the count heard him say this, he said: "Okay, then let's stay in Valencia for a few more days." In fact, they didn't want Min Xi to go to Barcelona. If he stayed in Valencia and Madrid, they could eat his cooking more often.

Professor Silva was also very happy to know that they would not leave Valencia for the time being, and he often came to Yun Ji to exchange medical skills whenever he had time. When they were communicating, Min Xi would accompany them and act as an interpreter.

Spanish and Portuguese are somewhat interoperable, similar to Mandarin Chinese and a northern dialect. Professor Silva has not studied Portuguese deliberately. He can understand Portuguese but cannot speak it. As a foreigner, Yun Ji cannot switch between the two languages ​​​​fluently. He cannot fully understand Professor Silva's Spanish and sometimes needs Min Xi to help translate.

Some more professional Chinese medicine terms still require Min Xi and Yun Ji to work together to translate them into Spanish or Portuguese.

Communicating medical skills with Yun Ji for a few days did not enable Professor Silva to master Chinese medicine treatment methods, but it only provided him with a new idea.

Professor Silva thus learned about another medical system. The more he communicated with Yun Ji, the more he felt the scientificity and rationality of traditional Chinese medicine. In comparison, their Western medicine seemed a bit like a headless fly, bumping around everywhere, seeking a way out at the cost of life and blood, and this way out is currently chaotic.

Min Xi did not object to Yun Ji and Professor Silva exchanging medical knowledge. Before the emergence of modern Western medicine, Western medicine was a method of trial and error without any rules, and the various treatment methods were outrageous. Who would have thought that Louis XIV had also received mercury infusion therapy?

Later, after the development of modern Western medicine, for the purpose of profit, it began to encircle and suppress traditional Chinese medicine from many aspects such as public opinion and policy. It slandered traditional Chinese medicine as an empiricism and used Western medicine methods to manage traditional Chinese medicine. As a result, traditional Chinese medicine experienced an extremely dark period of history and many excellent medical skills and prescriptions were lost.

If Professor Silva can be inspired by his communication with Yun Ji and start on another path of medical research, it is unknown what kind of chain reaction it will cause in the future.

Early Tuesday morning, Min Xi and Yun Ji drove a horse-drawn carriage to the market to buy vegetables. After buying the vegetables, they drove to the gate of the University of Valencia. Professor Castro had been waiting for them at the school gate for a long time.

Yun Ji stopped the carriage in front of him, and Min Xi asked, "Good morning, professor. Aren't you going to class today?"

Professor Castro saw them and said, "Good morning! You are here! Have you bought the food? I don't have classes today, so I can focus on celebrating my child's birthday."

"That's good. I have bought the food, let's get in the car!" Min Xi said to Professor Castro.

Soon, they arrived at Professor Castro's house. Although the professor's family was not very rich, they still had some assets. His house was an independent house, and he also hired a servant. However, there were too many children, and the four children filled the house.

The professor's family had known for a long time that Min Xi and Yun Ji were coming to their house to celebrate Raphael's birthday, and everyone had been waiting at the door. Min Xi and Yun Ji received a warm and grand welcome.

Rafael is seven years old today, but he is not as tall as Miguel who is six years old. He looks like a small bean sprout. When he saw Min Xi and Yun Ji, he politely bowed like a gentleman: "Dear sir, thank you for coming to celebrate my birthday. It's hard work!"

Min Xi smiled and stretched out his hand to him and shook his hand: "Raphael, happy birthday to you! This is a gift from us."

Min Xi gave Raphael a wooden sculpture of a cow, which Yun Ji had made in the past two days.

Raphael's eyes lit up, and he took the lifelike wooden cow and said, "Thank you, brother. Is this a cow?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "Yes. According to our Chinese zodiac, your animal sign is the ox, so this brother carved a ox for you as a gift."

Everyone is curious: "What is the zodiac?"

Min Xi explained what the zodiac was. The brothers and sisters were also very curious and asked about their own zodiac signs. Min Xi and Yun Ji patiently helped them calculate their zodiac signs. The children were very happy and envied Raphael's woodcarving cow.

Raphael said, "Brother, why are the horns of this cow so curved?"

Yunji said: "This is our Chinese water buffalo, its horns are curved like this."