The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The carriage stopped in front of a restaurant called Zui Xiang Lou. Tao Yan turned his head and said respectfully to the carriage behind him: "Master Min, we have arrived."

Min Xi opened the curtain, got off the carriage with Diego, and helped old Hughes down. As soon as they got off the carriage, they attracted the attention of the people around them. Diego and old Hughes looked too eye-catching. Although they were wearing Ming clothes, they still looked out of place.

As soon as they entered, Tao Yan told the waiter who was receiving them, "We have already booked a private room, Chunlan Pavilion."

"Chunlan Pavilion is on the second floor. Please follow me, guests." The waiter led them upstairs enthusiastically.

Min Xi himself owns a restaurant, so he pays special attention to restaurants. The scale of this restaurant is at least twice that of the Chinese Hotel. There are twenty or thirty tables in the lobby on the first floor, and the second floor is full of private rooms.

Being able to open a restaurant of this size in the capital city shows how strong its financial resources are. And this restaurant definitely has something special. A quick glance shows that the occupancy rate of the lobby on the first floor is at least 80%, and the sound of stringed instruments can be heard from time to time in the private rooms upstairs. This is because some diners have ordered performers to entertain in the private rooms.

The names of the elegant rooms are all named after the four gentlemen "plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum" that are favored by literati and poets. Chunlan Pavilion is one of them. The waiter knocked on the door first, then pushed it open and said, "Sir, another guest has arrived."

As soon as the door was opened, Min Xi saw Yun Ji sitting opposite the door. When he saw him, he couldn't suppress the smile on his face anymore and stood up: "Are you here?"

He was not the only one in the private room. There were three other young men. They also turned their heads to look at the door because they had heard from Yun Ji that the people having dinner with him today were his sworn brother and two foreign friends from France.

"Seventh Brother!" Min Xi entered the private room.

After Min Xi and the other two sat down, Yun Ji introduced them to everyone: "This is my sworn brother, Min Xi. Ninth brother, these three are my former classmates and friends. I heard that you are coming to the capital today, so I want to welcome you. Let me introduce you, this is Lord Feng Hao, the commander of the Jinyiwei..."

Just as he said this, he was interrupted by a tall and strong man: "Sir, if you still remember the friendship we had as classmates, don't be so formal. Just call me Feng Hao. I'm a little older than Yun Ji, so you can call me Brother Feng."

Min Xi quickly clasped his fists and said, "Brother Feng, nice to meet you!"

The other two did not wait for Yunji to introduce themselves, and they introduced themselves: "My name is Qiao Zhilian, and my name is Mingjie. I used to skip school with Yunji."

"Brother Qiao!" Min Xi readily followed suit. Qiao Zhilian looked rather frail, and judging from his clothes, he should be a scholar.

Yun Ji said: "Brother Mingjie is now a juren. He is very talented. He only needs to pass the imperial examination and he will be able to rise to prominence in the future."

Min Xi hurriedly said, "I wish Brother Qiao will win first place!"

"I am so ashamed!" Qiao Zhilian clasped his fists in return.

The last one was a fat man with a round face and a friendly look. "My name is Sun Hua, and my courtesy name is Wenhui. I am not very successful. I have neither studied nor served in the army. I just love to eat and drink. You can call me Sun."

Feng Hao slapped Sun Hua on the shoulder and said, "Brother Wenhui is a great eater. He only needs to take a bite to know whether a dish is good or not. So when restaurants and even street stalls in Beijing open new shops or launch new products, they always invite him to try a bite. If he thinks it's delicious, then his reputation will spread."

Min Xi clasped his fists respectfully and said, "So Brother Sun is a gourmet. I am so sorry!"

Sun Hua touched his chin and said, "A gourmet? That's an interesting statement. I heard from Yun Ji that Brother Min is good at cooking. I wonder if I can have the pleasure of tasting it?"

"I don't deserve it, these are just home-cooked dishes. If you guys don't mind, I'll treat you all to a meal some other day." Min Xi said.

Yun Ji replied at the right time: "When the date is set, I will send someone to send you invitations."

Everyone agreed excitedly. Then the dishes were served one after another. Everyone clinked glasses, toasted each other, and chatted while eating and drinking.

During the conversation, Min Xi learned that these three people had a close relationship with Yun Ji in the past, and now they have achieved success, and they can be regarded as Yun Ji's own connections. In this lawsuit with the Yun family, it is inevitable to rely on these friends for help, so it is necessary to build a good relationship with them.

These people were particularly curious about their experience in Portugal. Although they had heard Yun Ji talk about it once, they couldn't help asking Min Xi about it again. They listened to their experiences as a legendary storybook. Qiao Zhilian even said that he would write a storybook based on them and let everyone in the capital come to listen to their legendary story.

Several people were particularly interested in their experience of meeting the King of Portugal and the Queen of England. After all, if foreigners came to the Ming Dynasty, it would not be so easy to meet the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. They almost met a king in each country, which was quite interesting. It was just as legendary as what was written in the storybook.

Feng Hao thought: "These European countries must be small and weak, otherwise how could they easily meet the king?"

Sun Hua said: "I think that it must be the extraordinary appeal of our Ming Dynasty cuisine that attracted the attention of the kings of other countries."

Qiao Zhilian said, "You said that they were a small country with weak power, but they were able to sail a large sailing ship to find the New World, and they were able to come to our Ming Dynasty from Europe to do business. This is not only bravery, but also ability. At least this shipbuilding ability should not be underestimated."

Yun Ji nodded: "Brother Mingjie is right. My ninth brother and I both agree with this. As for ocean-going sailing ships, the European countries now have better ships than our Ming Dynasty ships."

Sun Hua slammed the table unwillingly: "That's because we have lost the manufacturing drawings and techniques of the treasure ship. Otherwise, where in the world can we not go?"

Feng Hao waved his hand: "A hero never brags about his past achievements. What is lost is lost. Now it is true that we are not as skilled as others."

Yun Ji threw out a piece of news: "My ninth brother and I saved some money in Fulangji and booked a galleon at their shipyard."

Several friends were shocked when they heard this: "What?!"

Min Xi added: "We both think that Europa's large sailing ship has its merits, so we bought one and studied it. Maybe we can build a better ship in the future."

"How much does a Europa sailing ship cost?" Feng Hao asked.

Yun Ji thought for a moment and said, "No less than 200,000 taels of silver."

"So expensive!" everyone exclaimed.

"We plan to ship a shipload of porcelain and tea over there, sell them there, and then buy the ship back, provided that the ship can arrive safely in Fulanji," said Yun Ji.

"Can our ship sail that far?" Qiao Zhilian asked worriedly.

Min Xi shook his head: "I don't know. Let's go with a galleon, the same ship we took back. At least it will be safer."

Sun Hua frowned: "So, you still have to go to Europe?"

"Yes."

"When to set off?"

"We will set off after autumn, when there are no hurricanes in the South China Sea."

Feng Hao tapped the table with his fingers: "Your lawsuit with the Yun family may not have a conclusion in the next few months."

Yun Ji said: "I will try my best to settle the lawsuit before leaving. So I need your help with some things, Brother Shiyuan." Shiyuan is Feng Hao's courtesy name.

Feng Hao nodded: "I have asked people to investigate the cause of Meng Jia's death. You just wait for the news." Meng Jia was the right-hand man of Yun Ji's father.

During the whole dinner, Old Hughes and Diego just ate and didn't say anything. Diego could understand a little, but he couldn't say anything. Old Hughes didn't understand anything at all. Only when they talked about the old navigator did Yun Ji and Min Xi say a few words in Portuguese to him. For the rest of the time, only he and Diego ate and discussed the taste of the food.

It's true that Zui Xiang Lou's dishes tasted really good, especially since Sun Hua ordered all of Zui Xiang Lou's best dishes. The most famous one was the drunken chicken, which was made with Shaoxing rice wine as the base and peppercorns as the spice. The wine was rich and the peppercorns were refreshing, giving it a very unique taste. This was also Min Xi's first time eating drunken chicken.

When the drunken chicken was served, Yun Ji talked about the chicken dishes made by Min Xi. Whether it was boiled chicken, roasted chicken or beggar's chicken, they were all very special. Boiled chicken did not exist in the Ming Dynasty, but roasted chicken and beggar's chicken did, but the cooking methods were slightly different from Min Xi's. Min Xi's obviously tasted better.

Sun Hua swallowed his saliva when he heard this: "Then I must try Brother Min's cooking. You two have both reached adulthood, right? When are you going to give us some names? It will be easier to address you."

In this era, people of the same generation would address each other by their given names to show respect. People who addressed each other by their given names were usually elders addressing younger people, superiors addressing subordinates, or friends of the same generation who were particularly familiar with each other. Therefore, when people reached the age of 20, they would ask their elders or teachers to give them a given name.

Yun Ji was not at home at all when he came of age, and he has no time to take care of him now. Not to mention Min Xi, he didn't even know that he had to give himself a name.

Yun Ji smiled and said, "Brother Wenhui has reminded me. I will go to visit my grandfather tomorrow and ask him or my uncle to give us a name."

Min Xi said, "Let me prepare. I will send a message to you brothers in two days, asking them to come to Seventh Brother's house for dinner."

"Then we'll just wait!" Sun Hua rubbed his hands excitedly.

By the time they finished their meal, it was already past 1:30 and the curfew had already begun. Feng Hao was a member of the Imperial Guard and was not subject to the curfew, so he took the initiative to send them home.

After returning home, Min Xi said to Yun Ji happily: "It's great that you still have a few reliable friends."

"Yes, otherwise it would be really difficult. Now I feel much more at ease. With their help, and more importantly, with you by my side, I am not worried at all." Yun Ji said.