The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Captain Pereira of the Goddess rowed his boat to the side of the Jazz and looked up to talk to Captain Almeida: "What should we do? These damn natives won't let us land. Should we organize a team to kill them with guns? Otherwise, we won't have enough water and food to make it to the next supply point."

Captain Almeida frowned: "If it really doesn't work, then this is the only way." He felt quite regretful, as he had originally wanted to exchange tobacco leaves and sugar for some ivory and rhino horns.

Yun Ji took the initiative to say, "Captain, why don't you let me give it a try? I've been here before and did business with the locals. I can speak a few words of the local dialect. I'll go negotiate with them and see if I can buy some food and water."

Captain Almeida looked at him and nodded: "Okay, go ahead and try it. Be careful."

Min Xi said, "Seventh brother, I will go with you."

Yun Ji disagreed: "Don't go. I can handle emergencies by myself, but if you go, I will be distracted."

Min Xi frowned and said, "No, if they shoot arrows, how can you block the arrows and row the boat at the same time? I will go with you. If they really shoot arrows to drive us away, you block the arrows and I row the boat. We can go forward or backward."

Yun Ji thought about it and realized that it was true. However, he did not want Min Xi to take risks and wanted to ask Diego to row the boat for him, but Min Xi persuaded him: "I'll go. With two oriental faces, it will be easier for us to gain their trust."

Yun Ji gritted his teeth and said, "Okay! You hide behind me, and no matter what happens, don't show your head."

"understood."

When Captain Almeida learned of their plan, he warned them: "You must pay extra attention to safety. If we really can't change the ship, forget it. We can go somewhere else to change it."

"knew."

Min Xi went into the cabin and took out a short musket. He checked it and made sure it could be lit: "Seventh Brother, take this with you."

Yun Ji refused: "Use it for self-defense."

"I'm not very good at shooting, so it would be a waste if I keep it. It will be more effective if I put it on you. I believe you will definitely protect me." Min Xi looked into Yun Ji's eyes.

Yun Ji looked at him for a long time before nodding: "Okay." He put the gun in his pocket.

Captain Almeida prepared some tobacco leaves, sugar and small metal products for them to take to trade with the locals.

The two men carefully got onto the lifeboat and rowed slowly towards the shore.

As expected, the people on the shore continued to shoot arrows when they saw that there were still boats approaching. Yun Ji stopped rowing, picked up the oars and easily blocked the arrows, and began to shout to the shore: "I am from Daming, I am Daming, and I want to exchange something with you."

He repeated it several times, and the people on the shore seemed to understand what he said. The arrows they shot gradually became sparser, until the arrows stopped completely, and then the two men slowly approached the shore.

The people on the shore were standing on the beach. The locals were really dark, with only the whites of their eyes and teeth being white. They were dressed very simply, using cloth or leather to cover their bodies. They looked at Yun Ji and Min Xi with scrutiny, and one man said, "Wait a minute, don't come up!"

Min Xi and Yun Ji stopped rowing and stopped a few meters away from the shore.

After a long while, someone came over with an elderly man. He looked at them carefully before allowing them to dock. The old man looked at Yun Ji and Min Xi and asked, "Are you from the Ming Dynasty?"

Yun Ji used simple words and gestures to describe how he encountered a shipwreck, fell into the sea, and was rescued by Europeans. He explained that he was now following a European ship back home, but there was not enough water and food on the ship, so he wanted to exchange some with the locals, and that he had no ill intentions.

The old man asked, "What do you want in exchange?"

Yun Ji took out sugar and tobacco leaves. Sugar was what the locals needed, because people from the Ming Dynasty would also bring sugar to trade goods with them. As for tobacco leaves, no one knew what they were used for.

Min Xi demonstrated to them, made a simple cigarette, lit it with tinder and took a puff. He choked and coughed. The unprocessed tobacco was so strong that everyone watching, young and old, burst into laughter.

In the end, they didn't ask for tobacco leaves, but only for sugar and some scissors and knives in exchange for water and food, and also agreed to allow the people from the Goddess to come over to trade.

Before leaving, the old man called Yun Ji and reached out to touch the tobacco leaves in the boat, as if he wanted some. Min Xi took the initiative and gave him some tobacco leaves. It can be seen that he was quite interested in tobacco leaves.

Almeida was relieved when he saw them rowing back and asked everyone to bring sugar and small commodities to exchange for water and food. Min Xi told him that he had sent some tobacco leaves to the old man, and the captain didn't say anything.

The captain did ask if there were any ivory and rhino horns available for exchange, but Yun Ji said that the communication was not smooth and he did not mention this. In fact, he did it on purpose. Min Xi was unwilling to buy ivory and rhino horns, so he did not buy them.

It took them about half a day to successfully exchange for several days' worth of food and water. It should be enough to get from here to the next stop, the Kingdom of Tianfang, in just a few days.

When they were about to leave Malindi, the old man was already puffing on his cigarette. The way he puffed out smoke made him look like a seasoned smoker, not at all like someone who had just started smoking.

He sent someone to ask Yunji if he could exchange some more tobacco leaves for something else.

Yun Ji asked: "What do you want to exchange for it?"

Soon, the other party came out with a bundle of thick ivory, at least four or five complete tusks. Captain Almeida's eyes lit up. Isn't this the ivory they want? In the end, he exchanged one tusk for three bundles of tobacco leaves and got five tusks.

If this ivory were taken to the Ming Dynasty and sold, each piece would be worth at least several hundred taels of silver.

Min Xi looked at it and thought, this is really a way to make money from the information gap. The tobacco leaves are worth only a few dollars, but after crossing the ocean and arriving here, their value has increased a hundred times.

But he was just thinking about it. He and Yun Ji didn't have anything valuable to exchange with others, and they were reluctant to exchange those crop seeds with others.

After leaving Malindi, they continued to head north. When they reached the North Indian Ocean, the wind direction changed significantly. Because it was winter in the northern hemisphere, the wind blew from the north, which was almost in the opposite direction here. Fortunately, they were almost at their destination, so they could walk slowly and there would be no food shortage.

After the Goddess came out of Malindi, it parted ways with them because the destination of the Goddess was Malacca. The tobacco leaves, sugar and other commodities on their ship could be sold in Indochina, and after unloading, they would ship the goods directly back from Malacca.

Instead of going to the Ming Dynasty to do business like the Jazz, it needed to purchase goods along the way and exchange them for the items needed by the Ming Dynasty in exchange for tea and porcelain, etc. Because the Ming Dynasty was not short of sugar, they even exported white sugar to Southeast Asia, South Asia and North Africa.

Yun Ji and Min Xi are very familiar with this voyage, so they can do without the Goddess leading the way.

The Jazz sailed around the Horn of Africa and arrived at the Gulf of Aden. Their next destination was Aden, a port where the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea meet. It has been one of the trading ports on the Maritime Silk Road since ancient times, gathering goods from North Africa, West Asia and South Asia with a very complete variety, the most distinctive of which are pearls and gems.

Maybe the price is not as cheap as the place of origin, but the selection range is extremely wide.

More importantly, the Adans welcome visitors from all over the world. They are not xenophobic like the natives of Africa. Yunji was like a fish in water when he arrived here. With his help, Almeida exchanged sugar, tobacco leaves, small commodities and Portuguese gold and silver coins for gems, pearls, Persian carpets, spices, medicinal materials, ivory and rhino horns.

Yun Ji and Min Xi, two Ming people, were so popular in Adan that Almeida and others were jealous. Every local merchant wanted to do business with them when they saw them. Even if they knew that they were not selling goods from the Ming Dynasty, they didn't mind and just said that they would trade with them next time when they brought good goods.

The Sir bought most of the goods it needed in Adam, and then rushed to Ceylon to buy a large amount of spices, filling the Sir's cargo hold, and then headed straight for the Strait of Malacca.

Malacca seafood was completely under the control of the Portuguese. They charged tolls to every ship passing through. Of course, the tolls collected by their own country were just a token of their appreciation, and the main purpose was to block the ships of other countries.

After arriving in Malacca, the Jazz felt as comfortable as if it had returned home, and Captain Almeida decided to rest here for a few days.

Min Xi and his three companions also got off the boat, and then they saw many shops with bright red Spring Festival couplets posted on the local streets.

It was February in the northern hemisphere, which was also the Lunar New Year of the Ming Dynasty.

When Min Xi saw the familiar and friendly Spring Festival couplets, he was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes and said to Yun Ji: "Seventh Brother, it's the New Year!"

Yun Ji said: "Yes, let's go and find out the situation."

The two walked towards a restaurant called "Yongfu". It was around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, not yet time for lunch. The shopkeeper, who was in his 40s or 50s, was dozing off under the banyan tree in front of the door, wearing a thin Ming-style gown.

Yun Ji raised his hands and clasped his fists: "Excuse me, shopkeeper, can we eat now?"

The shop owner opened his eyes and saw the appearance of Yun Ji and Min Xi clearly. The two of them had their hair in buns and were wearing pure Western-style suits. Behind them were two foreigners, one old and one young, and the young one was holding a big yellow dog in his hands.

He was stunned for a long while before he said, "Okay, okay. Please come in and sit down. I'll ask the chef to cook for you. What would you like to eat, sir?" He heard Yun Ji speaking Mandarin, so he also replied in Mandarin with a heavy accent.

Min Xi asked, "May I ask what day it is today, shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Today is the sixth day of the first lunar month! Our shop just opened today."

"The sixth day of the first lunar month?" Min Xi confirmed with the other party.

"Of course! Where are you from, young man? How come you even forgot the date?" said the shop owner with a smile.

Min Xi's nose felt a little sour: "Happy New Year, father-in-law. I wish you a prosperous business! We left Daming and went to Europe. This is the fifth year since we left our hometown. I don't know what day it is."

The shop owner was stunned after hearing this: "Are you back from Europe?" He received guests from all over the world here and had heard countless legends. This was the first time he met a Ming Dynasty person who had returned from Europe.

Min Xi nodded and said, "Our ship was hit by a storm at sea. The ship was destroyed and everyone on board died. Only the two of us brothers were saved by the Flanji people and went to Europe with them."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper muttered, "Amitabha, may the Buddha bless you! You two are really blessed, and you will have good fortunes in the future if you survive a disaster! Come, come, although we just met by chance, it's rare to meet fellow villagers who are so blessed. I'll treat you to a meal today!"