The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The Strait of Malacca is very busy, with merchant ships from Europe, West Asia and the Ming Dynasty entering and leaving the port every day.

When Min Xi saw the merchant ships from the Ming Dynasty, an idea came to his mind: "Seventh Brother, should we inquire about the news of the Yunxiang?"

When Yun Ji went out to sea, he led a fleet of five ships. This scale was not small among the ocean-going ships of the Ming Dynasty, so many merchant ships should have heard of them, and it should not be difficult to find out the news about the Yunxiang.

Yun Ji hesitated for a moment and said, "Forget it. The journey to Ming Dynasty is not far. We will know everything when we get to Quanzhou." He was a little homesick now and was afraid that he would hear bad news.

Min Xi also understood his feelings and said, "Okay, we'll be home soon anyway." He knew Yun Ji was afraid of hearing bad news.

Although they did not inquire about the news of Yunxiang, Min Xi and Yun Ji still tried their best to inquire about the situation in Ming Dynasty. After all, they had been away from Ming Dynasty for several years, and they might not know what new policies the court had issued. To do business with foreign merchants, they must have good relations with the government.

From what they knew, foreign ships were not allowed to dock directly at the ports of the Ming Dynasty. Only ships coming to pay tribute were allowed to enter the port.

The Ming government did not collect the goods brought by the tribute ships for free, but also charged a certain fee, but the price was so low that it was almost like robbing. Therefore, it was impossible for the Jazz to dock at the port on the grounds of tribute, otherwise the baron would lose all his money, and there was still a dividend for him and Yun Ji.

After collecting the information, Min Xi and Yun Ji discussed with Captain Almeida for a long time and finally decided that the Jazz would first dock in Macau, because the Portuguese had obtained the right of residence in Macau more than 20 years ago.

Min Xi and Yun Ji returned to Quanzhou to find a ship to purchase the goods. If the ship did not show up beyond the agreed time, Captain Almeida could dispose of the goods on his own.

After leaving Malacca, the ship headed north and arrived at the territory that Min Xi and Yun Ji were familiar with. They were more familiar with the routes in this area than old Zeus, so they were the ones who took full charge of the navigation.

They set out from Malacca, and first went to Chenla for supplies, and then to Champa for supplies, and from Champa they could directly reach Macau. This journey took them a month.

In mid-March, they arrived in Macau safely. It was already spring in the Ming Dynasty at that time, and the wind in the South China Sea had changed direction, from the original north wind to the south wind, so their last leg of the journey was smooth and extremely successful.

After arriving in Macau, Almeida and his crew settled down in Macau, waiting patiently for Min Xi and Yun Ji to come and pick up their goods.

Min Xi and Yun Ji used the Portuguese currency they carried with them to exchange for Ming silver and copper coins at the local bank. However, there was no other way. The Portuguese currency that was circulated all the way could not be circulated in the Ming Dynasty. They could only exchange it at an equal value based on the purity and weight of the silver coins.

Although they are said to be of equal value, of course the final say is still in the hands of the money houses.

Yun Ji always thought that one real silver coin was almost equivalent to the value of one tael of silver. In fact, it could only be exchanged for 5 cents of silver. The two had to bear the pain and exchange 200 real silver coins, which is 100 taels of silver.

They needed the one hundred taels of silver to hire a boat to Quanzhou.

Fortunately, the weather is getting warmer and they no longer need to buy winter clothes. They can just wear the thin sweaters they bought in Malacca over their dresses.

After leaving the bank, Min Xi said angrily, "Seventh Brother, why didn't your bank open a bank in Guangdong and Guangxi? It would definitely be very profitable if you opened a bank here."

Yun Ji smiled and said, "It means our business is not big yet. Wait, we will definitely open a store here in the future."

"Let's go and hire a boat!" Min Xi walked to the dock to hire a boat.

Those small sailboats docked at the port usually travel between Guangzhou and Macao. When they heard that we were going to Quanzhou, Fujian, they all shook their heads, saying it was too far, they had never been there, and it was not safe. Anyway, they had all kinds of reasons to refuse and did not even mention the price.

After asking around for a long time, I finally found a boat that was willing to go. It was a sailboat owned by a pair of brothers. The captain of the boat said, "You can go, but you have to pay enough silver. 100 taels. We won't go if the price is lower than that!"

Min Xi said, "Boatman, I know the journey is long and I should pay more, but 100 taels is too much."

"How much is considered a lot? We may encounter many dangers along the way. If we encounter pirates or storms, we may die in the sea. We should at least leave some hope for our family. We are the backbone of the family. If we are gone, who can the elderly, children and women rely on? If it weren't for the elderly in our family waiting for money to save their lives, we would not be willing to take this risk." said the older captain.

When Yun Ji heard this, he said to the captain, "Captain, we understand your concerns, but we have limited money. 100 taels is too much. We can't take it out. How about a little less, 60 taels?"

"You can't leave with 6 taels!" The second boatman refused without waiting for his brother to speak.

Finally, the two sides bargained and agreed on 70 taels, and they needed to pay half of it as a deposit first, which they would give to their families.

After agreeing on the price, the two boatmen brothers went back home, bought some necessities such as firewood, rice, oil and salt, and got on the boat, planning to do a big job.

Min Xi and his companions also moved their luggage from the Jazz to the ship one after another, leaving only pots, pans, and other items. These things were precious in Portugal, but in China, they could be bought everywhere and there was no need to carry them with them.

The boatman's surname is Cai. He used to make a living by fishing at the mouth of the Pearl River. In recent years, the imperial court lifted the maritime ban, and the number of merchant ships coming and going increased. The two brothers pooled their money to buy a larger sailboat. They waited for loading business at the port during the day. If there was no cargo to transport, they would fish at night to make a living.

During the Ming Dynasty, the average annual income of ordinary people was only 10 to 20 taels of silver. The brothers earned almost two years' income in this trip, of course, provided that the goods could be delivered smoothly and safely. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty when bandits were rampant, traveling such a long sea route was really a risk of life.

On the third day after they arrived in Macau, Min Xi and Yun Ji said goodbye to Captain Almeida and others and boarded the boat to Quanzhou. Diego and Xiao Ba Wang followed them on board.

Old Hughes was entrusted to the care of Captain Almeida. After all, the risk factor of a small sailboat is much higher than that of a large ship, and they dare not gamble with the old man's life and health. Besides, Old Hughes is now the navigator of the Jazz.

The two brothers of the Cai family have very different personalities. Cai Da talks a lot, while Cai Er has a stutter, so he doesn't talk much. Not long after they set out, Cai Da found out their origins. When the two brothers heard that they came back from Europe, they were very surprised: "Were you saved by the foreigners? And then you followed the foreigners to their country?"

When Min Xi heard him say the word "ghost", he couldn't help but look at Diego and smile: "That's right."

"Then you made a fortune from the foreigners!" said Cai Da.

Min Xi sighed, "What kind of fortune! We worked for the boss and earned some hard labor money. In the end, we only survived. If we had money, we would have returned from Europe long ago. Why would we have to wait three or four years to come back? We two brothers had a hard time earning enough money to travel back."

"You're right. The only rich people who make a living on a ship are the poor ones." Cai Da also sighed.

The two brothers thought they had found a rich man, but unexpectedly they turned out to be two miserable people.

Cai Da asked curiously, "What's in your bag?"

"This is good stuff. I brought back grain seeds from Europe. These things are different from the grains of our Ming Dynasty. They do not need as much water as rice. They can be planted even in barren land on hillsides, and the yield is high and the taste is good. When we get off the boat, I will bring some back for you brothers to plant. It is spring now and it is warm and rainy in your Guangdong and Guangxi regions. They will grow well without even watering." Min Xi opened the bag and took out sweet potatoes and corn to show the two boatmen brothers.

The Cai brothers were skeptical about Min Xi's words, thinking that there must be a lot of gold, silver and jewelry in those heavy luggage, after all, they were really generous. Unexpectedly, when they opened them, they found that they were all things they had never seen before. Only then did they believe that they really did not make a fortune. However, they were naturally very happy to hear that there were such good seeds for them, after all, food is the foundation of farmers: "Really? Thank you very much!"

Min Xi said: "If you plant more, you can plant one for each of your neighbors, relatives, and friends." Min Xi's idea was to plant more and promote sweet potatoes and corn as soon as possible. As for potatoes, he did not plan to give them to the two brothers because it was already hot in Guangdong at that time and it was no longer suitable for potatoes to grow, so it would be a waste to give them to them.

Most of the villages in Guangdong and Guangxi are inhabited by clans. Giving Min Xi to one person is basically equivalent to giving it to a family. A family also has to marry with other families. In this way, the speed of promotion can naturally be accelerated.

The wind was blowing from the southeast on the sea at this time of year, and they were heading northeast. The direction of the ship and the wind were actually a bit conflicting. The two brothers had not been sailing for a long time, and they were just sailing back and forth between the Pearl River Estuary and the Pearl River route. The wind direction was not complicated, so their level of sailing operation was not very high.

However, Min Xi and Yun Ji had operated large sailboats on the sea before, so the wind direction was not a problem for them. They helped the boatmen adjust the sails to the direction where they could take advantage of the force, so that the boat could move at the fastest speed.

But the Cai brothers' sailboat was just the most rudimentary one, with very inefficient sails, and its speed was far slower than Garen's.

The distance from Macau to Quanzhou on the sea is more than a thousand miles. With the help of Min Xi and Yun Ji, they got up early and worked late, and it took them 9 days to reach Quanzhou Port.