The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Baron Fernando was puzzled: "Can't we just rent it in the city? Do we have to rent it in the suburbs?"

Yun Ji glanced at Min Xi and said, "We want to have a garden where we can grow vegetables. I'm afraid the houses in the city don't have such conditions."

"This is indeed a bit difficult." The baron tapped his fingers on the table.

Min Xi said: "We will go to the dentist for help in the next two days. If you have any good suggestions, that's fine too."

Yun Ji leaned close to Min Xi's ear and whispered in Chinese, "Let's talk to Lord Mello alone about the boat later."

Min Xi nodded: "Okay."

After dinner, Min Xi and Yun Ji went upstairs to get the gifts they brought from Spain for everyone. Count Hernandez also prepared wedding gifts for the Baron and his wife and gave them all to them.

Min Xi said to Lord Melo, "I have something to ask Lord Melo in private, so I hope you will stay for a while."

Lord Mello was surprised. He nodded: "Okay."

When the Baron heard him say this, he knew that he must have something to talk to Melo about, so he called his wife and brother and left first.

Yunji poured tea for Lord Mello: "Please drink tea!"

Lord Mello looked at him somewhat flattered: “Thank you!”

Min Xi said: "My Lord, I will come straight to the point. I want to ask you, can foreigners buy ships in Portugal?"

Lord Melo was stunned for a moment, and then he responded after a moment: "You mean you want to buy a ship in Portugal?"

"Yes. We plan to come to Portugal to do business after returning home. Our ship cannot withstand the wind and waves of such a long route, so we hope to buy a large ship to take back. I heard that your father is in charge of shipbuilding, so he should also be in charge of foreigners buying ships, right?" Min Xi said.

Lord Mello scratched his ear and said, "I don't know much about this matter, but I can go back and ask my father for you."

Min Xi sincerely thanked him: "Thank you, it's too much trouble for you!"

Lord Melo said, "You're welcome. We are friends now. I'll come back to see you after I've found out more."

"Okay! Take care."

After seeing Lord Melo off, Min Xi and Yun Ji went to find the agent and explained their requirements for renting a house. However, the agent didn't seem to know much about the rental information outside the city, after all, everyone who came to him had to rent a house in the city, but he said he would help Min Xi find a suitable yard right away.

After leaving the broker, Min Xi and Yun Ji drove the cart and took the potatoes to the home of the farmer hired last year, McCaughlin. The house had not been rented yet, and the potatoes needed to be planted quickly, so they could only ask McCaughlin for help.

When the McCaughlins saw them, they were very warm and respectful: "Sir, are you going to grow vegetables again this year?"

"Yes. How were the vegetables we planted last year?" Min Xi asked.

Mrs. McCaughlin smiled widely. "The tomatoes are very good, sweet and sour, delicious, and they sell well, making a little money. Thank you, sir, for the rice seedlings you gave us. The chili is too spicy, we are not used to it, but we have sent it to your restaurant."

"That's good! I'll have to trouble you to help grow vegetables again this year."

"No problem. Just tell me what you need to plant and I'll help you." McCollum agreed readily.

Min Xi took potatoes out of the carriage: "I need to plant this now."

McCaughlin saw the potato and didn't recognize it at all: "What is this?"

"These are the crop seeds we brought back from Spain, and there are only a few of them. They need relatively loose and moist soil. A little dry soil is okay, as long as we water them appropriately. Do you have any good suggestions?" Min Xi asked.

McCaughlin asked: "What about light? Do they prefer shade or light?"

Min Xi thought carefully about the land where his grandmother planted potatoes: "It likes light, so it's better to have more sunlight."

"Then I understand. You put the seeds down and I will plant them for you," said McCaughrean.

"Let's plant it together. I'll teach you how to plant it." Min Xi said.

McCollin did not object, after all, this was a brand new variety and he had never grown it before.

Min Xi took out some wood ash from the stove in the McCaughlin family and cut the big potatoes into two or three pieces according to the sprouts of the potatoes. The largest ones were only the size of duck eggs. If they could not be cut any smaller, the small ones would be planted whole.

Roll the cut potatoes in wood ash to prevent the potato seeds from being infected with bacteria and becoming diseased.

McCollum found a piece of land with the best light in his own vegetable garden. After turning over the soil, he dug a hole according to Min Xi's requirements, placed the potatoes in the hole, covered them with a layer of wood ash, and then covered them with soil. Then he was almost done.

Min Xi gave the other party 500 riels and said, "Please take care of them for me. After the harvest, I will leave you some seeds so that you can plant them yourself next year. You can eat these potatoes, but if they sprout, you can't eat them. You will be poisoned. If they don't sprout, it's completely fine."

When McCaughlin heard about the poisoning, he was a little scared: "It will be poisonous, do I have to eat it?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "It can be planted in winter and harvested in spring. If the harvest is bad in a year, it can be used to resist famine."

Hearing this, McCaughlin nodded and said, "You have a point. I will take care of it for you. When it grows, please leave me some seeds."

"I will give you the remaining 500 Swiss francs when I harvest. In the spring, I will continue to trouble you to help me grow other vegetables." Min Xi said.

"No problem, leave it to me!" McCaughrean patted his chest and agreed.

By helping Min Xi to farm, he can not only rent out the land and earn labor fees, but he can also get some seedlings that no one else has. When selling vegetables at the market, he is the only one and can set the price. Last year's tomatoes sold very well, and this year he plans to plant more.

Among all the crops that need to be sown, only potatoes are in a rush; the others can wait until the spring to be sown. Min Xi plans to send them to the Baron's glass greenhouse for seedling cultivation in early March.

Min Xi asked again: "Excuse me, do you know if there is any vacant house nearby that can be rented out?"

McCollin stared at Min Xi with wide eyes: "You want to rent a house here? Don't you have a store in the city?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "Yes, the store in the city is still open. I also want to rent a house in the suburbs to live in. It should be more convenient for transportation and I can go in and out with a carriage. The house also needs to be better because I may need to entertain guests frequently."

McCaughlin frowned and thought about it. There were indeed houses that met Min Xi's requirements, but the people there lived there themselves and would not rent them out. "There is no house in our village that meets your requirements. There are vacant houses, but they have not been occupied for a long time and are very dilapidated. They need to be cleaned up."

"Okay, I understand." Although it was as Min Xi expected, he was still a little disappointed. After all, if he could rent a house nearby, it would be convenient to come here to pick vegetables in the future.

"By the way, Mr. McCaughlin, is there any land in your village that is particularly convenient for water diversion? I brought back a kind of grain seed from Spain that grows in water. I want to rent a piece of land with convenient water diversion to grow rice." Min Xi knew that there was a stream in the village, and there might be a land that was relatively convenient for water diversion.

McCaughlin thought for a moment and said, "Kuric had a low-lying piece of land that he reclaimed himself, but because there was too much water, he couldn't grow anything, so he left it abandoned."

"Really? Can you take me to see it? If it's suitable, I will rent this land." Min Xi said.

"Okay, I'll take you to see it." McCollum had nothing to do at this time of year, so he accompanied the two of them to see the land.

The land was right next to the pond where they soaked the wheat straw. It was low-lying and easy to divert water, but it was not as large as Min Xi had expected. It was only about three or four mu, and he probably couldn't grow all the ten kilograms of grain seeds he brought back. And because it was abandoned, the land was overgrown with all kinds of weeds.

Min Xi said: "This piece of land is a bit small, is there a bigger one?"

McCaughlin shook his head. "There are no bigger ones. The land next to them is actually wasteland. If you want a wider area, you can ask someone to clean it up."

Min Xi took a look and realized that if he reclaimed the land directly, it would be virgin land, which was very poor and the grain yield would definitely not be high. He wanted to rent cultivated land for planting, even if it needed irrigation, it would be better than the land he reclaimed himself: "I'll take a look."

Min Xi walked up the stream and spotted a piece of land. "Whose land is this? Can I rent it from him?"

McCaughlin said, "This land belongs to Mrs. Mona. If you want to rent her land, she should be willing to rent it. Old man Mona passed away last year, and she alone can't cultivate these lands."

"That's great. Take me to her. I want to rent her land. Let me know how much it costs."

McCaughlin took them both to see Mrs. Mona.

On the way, Min Xi discussed with Yun Ji: "Should we build a drum cart for this place?"

Yun Ji thought about it and said, "It's not impossible."

"Will you do it?"

Yun Ji said: "It shouldn't be difficult."

Min Xixiang said, "How about building a windmill? This place is close to the sea and the wind is strong. It would be easier to irrigate with a windmill."

"If we want to make a windmill, local carpenters can do it." Yun Ji has been in Europe for a long time and has seen many large windmills. Whether it is Portugal, Spain or the United Kingdom, they are all coastal countries with strong winds at the seaside, so windmills are very popular here. Using windmills for irrigation and grinding flour can save a lot of manpower.

"Well, let's build a windmill for irrigation."

Mrs. Mona's husband had died and her children had all moved to the city. She was worrying about what to do with her land. When she heard that Min Xi wanted to rent land to grow rice, she agreed without hesitation.

Min Xi spent 1 reais to rent the land and asked McCaughlin to manage it. Of course, he had to do the sowing and transplanting himself, after all, no one else had ever grown rice.