The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Diego waited for the hot water to be brought and took a comfortable hot bath in the tub. The Yundong family was really rich. They used such a big tub for bathing and such fragrant soap. This bath was really comfortable.

After taking a shower, he changed into the new clothes prepared for him by Yun Dongjia. He couldn't help touching them again and again. These were better than the clothes that Min Dongjia bought for him in Malacca and Quanzhou. The close-fitting clothes seemed to be made of silk. They were soft and smooth on his body and very comfortable.

Diego never thought that he would have the chance to wear silk in his life. The Yun family is so good to him!

Diego was shy about wearing new clothes, and he went to find Min Xi happily. He remembered what the courtyard of Min Dong's family looked like, and when he walked to the gate of Xiwei Courtyard, he saw someone standing in the courtyard, but they were not the two masters he was familiar with.

Diego hesitated for a moment, but still carefully moved forward and went in. The little bully who was locked outside the bathroom heard the familiar footsteps and ran up happily to greet him. Its two owners had entered the bathroom and had not come out yet.

Diego raised his hand and touched the little bully's head, and said in a bit stiff Chinese: "I'm looking for a boss."

When Tao Xing saw him, he knew that he had come back with Min Xi: "Master Min is still taking a bath, please wait a moment. Come in and have some tea and snacks first."

Diego nodded: "Okay, thank you!"

When Min Xi hurriedly climbed out of the bathtub, his whole body was red, like a shrimp that had just been scalded in boiling water. He turned to Yun Ji in the bathtub and said, "You stay here honestly, don't come up, and don't peek!"

Yun Ji smiled meaningfully in the bathtub: "Okay, I won't come up and I won't look. You should dry yourself quickly and put on your clothes to avoid catching a cold."

"Do I need you to tell me!" Min Xi blushed, hid behind the screen to dry his body, picked up the clothes Yun Ji prepared for him and put them on one by one.

When getting dressed, she discovered that her clothes were different from Yunji's clothes hanging on the screen. Her clothes were obviously much better, with woven cloud patterns on them, while Yunji's clothes were plain and had no patterns at all, and even the fabric was not as good as her own.

Min Xi put on his clothes and said, "There's no need to prepare such nice clothes for me. Just wear whatever you want."

Yun Ji said, "When I went to the shop to get the fabric, I fell in love with the cloud pattern on it. I can't wear it myself, so I got it especially for you."

"Why can't you wear it?" Min Xi asked.

"I am a merchant, and merchants cannot wear silk."

Min Xi was stunned: "Is there such a saying? This is too unreasonable. Merchants are the richest. If they are not allowed to wear silk, the sales volume and price of silk will be affected. It is better to let merchants wear it, so that silkworm breeders, silk reelers, and cloth weavers can make more money, and the court can collect more taxes."

Yun Ji laughed when he heard this: "You always consider things from a unique perspective. But this is the rule set by Taizu, and no one dared to disobey it later."

"Taizu also said that no ship was allowed to go into the sea. But didn't Chengzu still organize voyages to the West, and didn't Longqing Emperor still lift the maritime ban? Whether the ancestral laws will change depends on the situation, doesn't it?" Min Xi disagreed.

Yun Ji raised his eyebrows: "What you said makes sense. However, since ancient times, merchants have been considered to value profit over loyalty and have an inferior status. The imperial court has always suppressed them and did not encourage them to do business."

"But there is no life without business. Without business, how can the court maintain the operating expenses of such a huge country relying solely on the land tax and head tax? Moreover, the land tax and head tax of the court have been reduced every year. The big landlords are annexing land and concealing the population. I think the court has been unable to make ends meet for a long time, otherwise it would not have lifted the maritime ban." Min Xi curled his lips after saying this.

Yun Ji smiled and said, "So I encourage you to take the imperial examination and present your ideas to the court."

This time, Min Xi did not directly reject Yun Ji: "I wonder what the chances are that I can pass the exam."

"Are you really willing to take part in the imperial examination?" Yun Ji said happily.

Min Xi then told the story of his trip to Quanzhou to offer crop seeds: "Without official title, I am really inferior to others. I have no interest in being superior to others, but I also don't like others to be superior to me. I'll take the exam to become a scholar, at least I don't have to kowtow to others. But it's not easy to take the exam to become a scholar, in addition to writing articles, there are too many books to memorize."

"Not many, just a few books. With your intelligence, three to five years should be enough." Yun Ji said.

For people of this era, if one could pass the imperial examination and become a scholar after studying for three to five years, he would be a real child prodigy. But for Min Xi, three to five years was indeed a bit long, and he couldn't calm down and study hard now.

Min Xi said, "Let's wait until we buy the galleon."

Yun Ji did not object. This was a problem that they had to solve.

Min Xi finally put all his clothes in order. In this weather, a coat was too hot, and a single layer was too thin. He didn't have a sweater, so he had to put on several layers. It was really troublesome. He put on his clothes, tied his belt, and said, "I'm ready. You can come up too. The water is cold."

Yun Ji reminded him: "Wait a moment, I'll wipe your hair before you leave."

Min Xi grabbed a handful of wet hair and said, "I'll go outside to wipe it."

Yun Ji added, "Ask Tao Xing to bring me a change of clothes."

"Where is it? I'll get it for you!" Min Xi really didn't want people to know that Yun Ji and he were washing in the same pool.

Yun Ji smiled and said, "It's the one opposite your bedroom."

Min Xi stopped suddenly and asked: "Is this your yard?"

"Yes." Yun Ji said with a smile, "Go out through the door on the right, it leads to my bedroom."

It turns out that the two bedrooms are connected to one bathroom. Doesn't that mean you can go to the other room without leaving the house? Who designed this?

Min Xi thought about it but didn't say it out loud. Forget it. He didn't ask to live in the same room or sleep in the same bed with her. This was probably the biggest concession she had made. She should have guessed it earlier. No wonder Diego was not allowed to live in this yard.

Min Xi went out from the door on the left and entered Yun Ji's bedroom. From his country bumpkin's perspective, he couldn't tell how luxurious it was. He just felt that the carvings on the furniture were not very complicated, but the lines were extremely delicate and clear. He couldn't see anything else.

He opened the cupboard in the room and saw the clothes hanging inside. He rummaged through them and picked out a few pieces of clothes and pants that he thought he needed to wear. He did not care whether they should be matched or not and quickly took them into the bathroom.

Yun Ji had already come out of the water and was slowly wiping the water off his body with his back to him. As soon as Min Xi entered, he saw his figure. Although he was backlit, his outline was still visible.

Min Xi didn't feel like staring at him, so he quickly put his clothes on the screen and said, "You just came out like this, aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"

Yun Ji turned around and smiled, "It's okay. This room has a floor heating system. When the water is heated, the room is warm, so it's not too cold. Go back to the bedroom first, and don't go out to get some fresh air. The wind in Beijing is strong, and you'll get a headache if you get some. I'll dry your hair before you go out."

Min Xi didn't answer him and quickly ran into the door on the left. This was the room Yun Ji prepared for him.

The furnishings in the room were similar to Yunji's room, except for the color of the furniture. The furniture was dark purple over there, while the furniture in his room was natural wood. Min Xi suddenly had an idea and went over to smell it. He actually smelled a pleasant aroma. Was this yellow rosewood? Was Yunji's furniture red sandalwood?

This whole set of rosewood and huanghuali wood furniture is so luxurious!

When Yun Ji came over, he saw Min Xi moving towards the table, almost sticking to it, so he cleared his throat.

Min Xi asked excitedly, "Seventh Brother, is this furniture made of Huanghuali wood?"

"Yes."

"Is your house made of rosewood?"

"Correct."

Min Xi gave a thumbs up and said, "What a rich guy! He is so rich! This whole set of furniture, do you know how much such furniture from the Ming Dynasty would be worth in our time?"

Yun Ji suddenly reached out his hand, covered Min Xi's mouth, and whispered, "Walls have ears. Tao Xing, go prepare the food, we will come to eat in a while."

There was a response from outside, and footsteps were heard, then gradually faded away.

Min Xi pulled his hand away: "I didn't expect it would be so inconvenient to return home. It's better to be in Europe. No matter what we say, no one can understand us."

Yun Ji reached out and pinched his face: "It's okay, I will try to let them stay away from our house in the future, and you can say whatever you want." As he said that, he took the handkerchief, pushed Min Xi to sit on the chair, and wiped Min Xi's hair himself.

Min Xi enjoyed his service and stroked the armrest of the chair. The touch was so good: "Are these furnitures very expensive?"

"I don't know, but it should be OK. They were all bought by my father."

Min Xi looked around the furniture in the house and said with great satisfaction: "The people of the Ming Dynasty had a really good taste in furniture, simple and elegant."

Yun Ji wiped his hair gently and said, "Thank you!"

Min Xi rested his head on the back of the chair, looked at him and laughed: "You are really rude."

Yun Ji looked at his wanton smiling face and almost couldn't control himself and kissed him. His throat slid, and he restrained his impulse, reminding himself to go slowly and not scare him.

Min Xi looked at Yun Ji's eyes and slowly changed. He felt his back getting hot. He quickly sat up and coughed lightly to cover it up. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard Diego's voice from outside: "Boss, are you in there?"

"Diego is here!" Min Xi quickly changed the subject.

Yun Ji replied: "Yes, you wait outside for a while. After Mr. Min dries his hair, we can go eat together."

"Okay!" Diego was in a very happy mood when he heard Yun Ji's voice. This was really Yun Dong's home. He was really worried that he had walked into the wrong house and wore the wrong clothes. Now it was okay, he was not wrong.