The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Because of the addition of the Harvest, they stayed a few more days. By the time they set out, it was almost December. The Indian Ocean was calm at this time of year, with almost no possibility of a storm.

Their ship was full of cargo and they had enough food and water, so they did not go to the Kingdom of Arabia. After coming out of the Strait of Malacca, they only made a brief stop for supplies in Ceylon, and the next stop was directly to Malindi.

After coming out of the Strait of Malacca, the other two Portuguese ships finally discovered a Chinese ship in their team. At first they thought they had met by chance. When they arrived in Ceylon, they were told that this Chinese ship was going to follow them to Portugal.

This is very strange because, so far, no Chinese ship has ever arrived in Europe.

After all, China has been regarded as the Celestial Empire in the eyes of Europe, West Asia and neighboring countries since ancient times. It has abundant resources, exquisite artifacts, and is powerful and advanced. Only other countries have always yearned for China, and China's demand for other countries is not that strong, because other countries will eagerly take their best things to exchange their goods with the Chinese.

The Portuguese themselves could not imagine what they had that was worth exchanging with the Chinese. What was this Chinese ship doing in Europe? They were very curious.

Despite this, they did not refuse the request of Min Xi and others, and even found it very interesting. Bringing a Chinese ship back to Lisbon would cause a sensation across the country and even throughout Europe.

Originally, after leaving Ceylon, these Portuguese ships would go directly to Phoebe Island or Mozambique for supplies. This journey would be quite long, and food would often spoil or be in short supply.

This time they chose to go to Malindi for supplies because there was a Ming ship in the fleet. The black natives of Malindi did not welcome the European whites who forced them with guns and cannons, but they still welcomed the Ming people who wanted to do business in a friendly manner.

After the ship arrived at Malindi, Min Xi and Yun Ji drove the Ming ship to the shore to exchange supplies with the locals. They also helped to purchase supplies for several other Portuguese ships, and the Ming sailors helped to deliver them to those ships.

Although it took two days, the process was relatively smooth and everyone was able to replenish fresh water and food in time, so there was no pressure to reach the next supply point.

It turned out that their choice to go to Malindi for supplies was the right one. Because when they arrived at the next supply point, Mozambique, they received news that the Portuguese stationed in Mozambique had a big conflict with the locals, which was even more serious than when they came here last year. They didn't allow large ships to approach at all, even the Ming people like Min Xi were not allowed to approach.

Several ships came together, thinking they had enough weapons to directly bombard the local natives and conquer them by force.

Min Xi did not want to fight, so he proposed to go to Phoebe Island in the east for supplies, which was the tribe that Captain Reiss's Shark went to for supplies and had a conflict with.

Finally, after several captains discussed, they concluded that they should go to Phoebe Island for supplies. Because they had returned from Asia with a full load, they were the ideal targets for pirates to plunder. They needed to keep gunpowder and shells to deal with possible pirates instead of wasting them on a group of natives. If they wanted to teach the natives a lesson, they had to wait until they came to Asia from Europe. At that time, there was not much cargo on the ship, so they could load more gunpowder and shells.

The supply point on Phoebe Island still did not welcome European whites, but the situation was slightly better than the station in Mozambique. Especially when they found a group of gentle-looking Ming people landing on the shore, they were particularly excited.

When Min Xi was about to negotiate with the locals using items such as sugar, scissors, and daggers to exchange food and water, he saw a girl coming out of the crowd. The girl stood in front of the crowd a little shyly, looked back at her companions, and then shyly looked at Min Xi and others.

Min Xi looked at the other person in confusion, but found that this girl looked different from the other girls. Her skin color was obviously not as dark as others, and her face was also a little different from the locals, that is, she looked more in line with the Chinese aesthetic. What are they going to do?

The girl who was pushed out said something in a babble. Min Xi naturally didn't understand the local native language. He pointed to the things he brought and said a few words he learned from other captains, such as food, water, fruit, etc.

The girl obviously ignored him and gestured something anxiously. It was obvious that both sides were talking at cross purposes and could not communicate with each other.

The sailors who followed Min Xi up couldn't help but make fun of him: "Mr. Min, does that black girl like you? She wants to take you back to be her son-in-law."

As soon as he finished speaking, the black girl reached out to pull Min Xi's hand. Yun Ji immediately pushed her hand away and blocked Min Xi behind him.

Then the group of black girls all laughed so hard that they fell down all over the place. The girl who came to hold my hand covered her face with her hands and ran away soon after.

Min Xi saw that the group of girls were just laughing and no one paid any attention to him. After a while, a few men came, heard their requests, and started to exchange supplies with them.

Just when they were busy, the black girl who had run away came back. She brought a porcelain bowl with a slight chip on it, and then walked up to Min Xi and others, showing it to them, and saying something.

One of the sailors said, "Is she holding a bowl to ask us for money?"

Min Xi suddenly realized something. He took the bowl from the other person and turned it over to look at the inscription on the bottom of the bowl. It clearly had four Chinese characters "Made in the Yongle Period" written on it. Min Xi looked up at the girl again and asked, "Are your ancestors from the Ming Dynasty?"

When Yun Ji heard this, he stopped the transaction at hand and walked over: "What's going on?"

Min Xi said excitedly: "Seventh brother, this girl's ancestor may be a Ming Dynasty person who came here when Zheng He sailed to the West. Look at her appearance, isn't she different from others? And this bowl was made during the Yongle period."

Yun Ji looked at the bowl, then at the girl: "It does look a bit like her. She has the blood of our Ming people. She is a descendant of the Ming people who have been stranded abroad."

Min Xi returned the bowl to the girl, picked out some items from the ones they brought and stuffed them into her hands: "These are for you, take them home." He waved his hand, motioning her to go back.

The girl obviously understood, gave Min Xi a friendly smile, said something, and then ran away with the things Min Xi gave her.

The same sailor said, "It has been many years since Eunuch Sanbao sailed to the West. There is still a bowl in her house. It looks like she used it very carefully. It must be a family heirloom."

Someone asked in confusion: "Why did those people stay here and not go back?"

Min Xi said: "They may have been left behind because of illness or injury, and the ship never came back, so they could only marry and have children locally."

This is indeed an interesting and sad thing. I didn't expect that after a trip to the sea, I would be stranded overseas forever.

Min Xi exchanged for some supplies, including coconuts, fresh water, dried fish, dried meat, and sheep and chickens raised by locals, but unfortunately there was a lack of staple food.

Just as they were counting the supplies and preparing to move them onto the boat, the girl who had held the bowl earlier came back. She had a wooden basin on her head that looked like it was dug out from the cross-section of a large tree. She walked up to Min Xi, took the wooden basin off her head, and placed it in front of Min Xi like offering a treasure.

Min Xi looked at it and was delighted. Isn't this rice? Although it was only husked and as rough as it could be, it was indeed rice: "For me?" He gestured to the other party, pointing at the rice in the basin and then at himself.

The girl smiled and nodded, motioning Min Xi to take it away.

Min Xi thanked her: "Thank you! Seventh brother, bring bags to fill with rice. They actually have rice on this island, we have to find a way to exchange for some food."

Yun Ji came over and said, "That's true. Let's find someone who knows the local language and tell them that we want to exchange some rice with them."

I didn’t expect to meet the descendants of a fellow villager on Phoebe Island, and I also learned that the island produces grain.

There was a sailor on the Harvest who understood the local language. He came over to help translate. The girl's family did have food and agreed to exchange it with them.

So Min Xi and others followed the girl to her home, and found that her family did not live in a house built of trees and grass like the locals, but a square earthen brick house. Although it was covered with a thatched roof, the building was very Chinese style.

Many of the furniture in the room also look similar to Chinese furniture, but with some changes, which may be due to factors such as the tools used to make them. In addition, it has been too long, and the descendants of those Chinese fellow villagers do not know what real Chinese furniture looks like.

Given these conditions, this family is much better off than other local families. Chinese people who are determined to be strong throughout their lives can succeed wherever they go.

The family was also very enthusiastic when they saw them, and probably listened to many stories about their ancestors.

However, the food they exchanged for was not much. Although rice was also grown locally, it was harvested every day after it was sown. The yield was extremely low. Not to mention meeting the needs of the people on five ships, even Min Xi's ship could not meet the needs. But at least it was a consolation.

Moreover, with the descendants of this fellow villager here, Min Xi and his team will face fewer obstacles when they want to come for supplies in the future.

Because of their knowledge, the people on the island did not reject the Portuguese ship that was traveling with them. They stayed here for three days and collected enough fruits and meat. Without food, they could only eat meat.

When Min Xi and his friends left, they planted some lemon seeds on the island, hoping that there would be lemon supplies here in the future. Although he and Yun Ji might not come to Europe again, other Chinese people would definitely come.

Min Xi also plans to bring some corn seeds and sweet potato seeds to the people here next time he comes, which will not only help the local people but also provide convenience for themselves.