The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After arriving at Quanzhou Port, Min Xi and Yun Ji found that Quanzhou Port was not as prosperous as expected. It was said that the maritime ban had been lifted for many years, and the number of ships coming and going should be more than when they went out to sea, but it was not. Although there were many large sailing ships coming in and out, compared with the Zhangzhou Yuegang they passed by, there were at least half fewer ships. This puzzled the two.

However, because there were few ships, they reached the port quickly. Yun Ji got off the ship first and hired two carriages to carry the luggage. After the luggage was moved, Min Xi gave the remaining ship fare to the two Cai brothers. The seeds were opened and given to them yesterday, and they were told how to plant and eat them.

The three people got on two carriages respectively. Yun Ji and Min Xi sat in the front carriage, and Diego sat in the second carriage.

Yun Ji reported that his destination was the Yunxiang branch in Quanzhou, and the coachman did not say that there was no such place, which shows that the Yunxiang still had a branch in Quanzhou.

Min Xi noticed that Yun Ji's hand on his knees clenched into a fist, then loosened it, and rubbed it on his knees again and again. He must be so nervous that he was sweating. Min Xi covered the back of his hand with his own hand: "Don't be nervous, everything will be fine."

Yun Ji's expression was quite unnatural. He smiled at Min Xi, but it was not much better than crying. After being away from home for four or five years, who knows if he will become a different person?

Yunxianghao is located on the most prosperous street in Quanzhou. It is a perfect afternoon, the March sun in Quanzhou is a bit hot, and there are not many pedestrians on the street.

The carriage stopped at the door of the store. Yunxianghao covers a large area and operates wholesale and retail of southern and northern goods. The back is a warehouse and residence. At this moment, two customers are selecting goods in the store, and a young clerk is serving them.

The customer complained: "Why are the spices here 10% more expensive than those at Fuyuanhao?"

The waiter smiled apologetically: "Sir, you have to look at the quality of the goods. Our goods are definitely not the kind of inferior goods that are passed off as good ones. Moreover, they are of full weight and we do not cheat anyone." The waiter spoke with a Beijing accent and it was obvious that he came from the capital.

"I think their nutmeg looks better than yours." The customer insisted.

The smile on the waiter's face disappeared, but he still said politely: "Sir, please compare them. If you think they are suitable, you can buy them."

Yun Ji walked into the store and saw the scene. He waited until the clerk finished speaking before he spoke: "Hey, clerk, I want 100 kilograms of rhino horns. Do you have any?"

When the waiter heard the familiar Beijing accent, he suddenly looked up towards the door. The sunlight outside the store was strong and he could only make out the outline of the person at the door. He was a tall man, but his face was not clear. He stared at Yun Ji with wide eyes. His vision gradually blurred and his lips trembled: "Big, big brother!" His voice was obviously filled with tears, and as he spoke, he stumbled out from behind the counter and pounced on Yun Ji.

Yun Ji took two steps forward, looked at the waiter and smiled: "Yun An, I'm back!" But there were tears in his smile.

The guy named Yun An rushed over and hugged Yun Ji: "Brother, brother, am I dreaming? Is it really you who came back? Where have you been? There has been no news for so many years!"

The two customers who were looking at the goods saw Yun An leaving them behind and said in dissatisfaction, "Are you still going to do business?"

Yun An came back to his senses, wiped the tears from his face, and said to the two merchants: "I'm sorry, my dear guests, but we have something to do today and have to close the shop. If you want the goods, please come back tomorrow! I'm really sorry!"

The two merchants looked at Yun An and Yun Ji in confusion, and walked out the door unhappily. When they reached the door, they saw Min Xi and Diego walking in with their luggage, and they couldn't help but stop again. Diego's appearance was really too strange. Although some foreigners with high noses and deep eyes could be seen occasionally in Quanzhou, they were basically from Tianfang and looked very different from Diego.

Min Xi entered the store with her luggage and saw Yun An holding Yun Ji, calling him "big brother" affectionately. Min Xi was a little surprised. Is he Yun Ji's cousin? Yun Ji's parents only had him.

Yun Ji calmed down the excited Yun An and said, "Yun An, don't ask for now. It will take a while to explain. Come and help me move all the luggage in. By the way, this is my sworn brother Min Xi. He fell into the sea with me and later drifted to Europe. Thanks to his care, I am still alive today. Just treat him as you treat me in the future."

Yun An looked at Min Xi, wiped his tears, and bowed deeply to Min Xi: "Hello, second brother! Thank you, second brother! Thanks to you for taking care of my eldest brother, I can see him. I knew that my eldest brother was blessed with a long life and would be fine." He cried and laughed at the same time, and was very emotional.

Min Xi said, "You're welcome. Brother Qi has always taken good care of me. We need to take care of each other so that we can come back alive."

Yun An saw what he was holding and responded, “I’ll carry the luggage.”

Min Xi saw Yun An go out, so he came over and asked Yun Ji in a low voice: "Your cousin?"

Yun Ji said, "No, he was my personal attendant. He didn't go out to sea with me because of illness. Fortunately, he didn't go with me, otherwise he would have been in great danger."

Min Xi was stunned for a moment before he realized that ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty were not allowed to own slaves, so wealthy families came up with a solution: adopting godchildren, so that they could legitimately keep slaves. These adopted sons and daughters called their masters "Dad and Mom" ​​and called the masters' children brothers and sisters.

After Yun Ji finished speaking to him, he went out to move his things. Yun An was frightened when he saw him moving his luggage himself: "Brother, how can you do this? I'll do it, I'll do it!"

Yun Ji ignored him, picked up a bag of sweet potatoes and walked in: "What's the big deal? I've been out there for a few years and learned everything. By the way, why are you the only one in this store? Where's Shopkeeper Xu?"

Yun An explained: "The shop assistants went to the dock to move the goods, and Manager Xu went to the branch in Yuegang, Zhangzhou. There are more official ships in Quanzhou now, and fewer private goods coming in from overseas, so the prices are high. There are more private ships in Yuegang, so the prices are cheaper, so everyone went there."

Yun Ji put the sweet potato on the ground, took a deep breath, and then asked, "Are my parents okay?" This was the question he cared about most and was most afraid to ask.

When Yun An heard this, he paused what he was doing, and the tears that had just stopped came down again. He sobbed, "Both my father and mother are gone. My mother passed away the year after your accident, and my father passed away last year."

When Yun Ji heard this, he was struck by lightning. He knelt on the ground with both knees, facing north, and kowtowed heavily: "Dad, Mom! I am unfilial! I am back late."

Seeing him like this, Min Xi's heart tightened and he hurried forward: "Seventh Brother, please accept my condolences!"

Yun Ji stood up and hugged Min Xi's waist: "Ninth brother, I have no parents!" After saying that, he couldn't help crying anymore and buried his head in his arms.

It was the first time that Min Xi saw him cry so sadly. He couldn't help choking up and raised his hand to stroke his back. "I'm sorry, Seventh Brother, we came back late. We should have come back earlier. You can coordinate the matters in Macau with the people here, and leave the rest to me. You can go back to Beijing to pay respect to your parents first."

After a while, Yun Ji stopped crying and looked up at Min Xi with red eyes: "I don't blame you. I'm sorry!"

Min Xi patted his shoulder lightly: "Do we need to be so polite to each other?"

This was the outcome Yun Ji feared the most: a son wanted to be filial but his parents were no longer around. At this moment, he finally understood the saying "Don't travel far away when your parents are still alive". When he left home, his mother was in tears and was reluctant to let him go, while his father said sternly: "He will be the head of the family from now on, and he should go through some storms!" Who knew that it would be their last farewell.

When Yun Ji calmed down, he called Yun An over and said, "Tell me in detail what happened in the past few years. How did my parents pass away? After the accident, did the fleet return? Who is the head of the family now?"

Yun An started talking from the time when the accident happened. In the year of the shipwreck, one of the five ships sank, one was damaged, and the other three were safe and sound. The one that sank happened to be Yun Ji's ship.

The three ships rescued everyone on the damaged ship and even saved 70% of the cargo. Strangely enough, there was no one on the sunken ship. It was said that no survivors were found and no one was sure where the ship had sunk. It was said that the storm was too strong.

When Yun Ji's mother learned that he was in trouble, she fainted.

After Yun Ji's father learned that his son was in trouble, his hair turned completely white overnight. He ordered that the family's ships were no longer allowed to go to Southeast Asia and were only allowed to sail near the coast.

"This is why our store's goods are more expensive than yours. We buy them from others and then resell them, so they are naturally more expensive. Otherwise, there will be no profit at all. However, our main purpose is not to do business with the locals, but to buy and sell them in the north." Yun An explained.

Yun Ji nodded: "What happened next?"

"Dad and Mom have always believed that you are not dead. They have been looking for people to go to Southeast Asia to search for your whereabouts. Just two months after learning about your accident, Mom fainted again. Dad asked a doctor to check and found that she was pregnant. Calculating the date, it seems that she was conceived at the time of your accident. Dad and Mom now believe that you are really gone, and this child is your reincarnation."

Yun Ji was surprised. His parents loved each other very much, but they only had him as their son. They had been trying to have another son for many years but to no avail. Although the elders in the family had always wanted his father to take concubines and have more children, his parents felt that he was enough. Unexpectedly, good news suddenly came when they were most desperate.

"Is the baby born?" Yun Ji asked.

Yun An nodded: "Yes, it's a boy, named Yunlin. After mom gave birth to my eldest brother, she never got pregnant again because her body was very weak. She was even weaker when she gave birth to Lin, and she died in less than half a year. After mom passed away, dad was too sad and fell seriously ill. He took medicine and acupuncture, but his condition did not improve. He didn't survive until last year." He wiped away his tears when he said this.

Yun Ji was already in tears. He was blaming himself so much at this moment. It was he who caused the death of his parents. He sniffed and asked, "Where's my brother?"

"When Dad passed away, Brother Lin was not even two years old, so his grandmother took him to the Tao Mansion to take care of him."

Yun Ji knew that his brother was being taken care of by his grandmother, so he felt relieved: "Is Brother Lin in good health?"

Yun An thought for a moment before choosing his words: "When mom was pregnant with him, she was too old and worried too much. He was weak and sickly when he was born. Fortunately, dad used all kinds of precious medicinal herbs to feed him, and grandma also cared about him and took good care of him. Now that he's older, he should be in better health."