The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The speed of a Chinese sailing ship on the sea is indeed not as fast as that of a galleon. If a galleon were to sail at full speed with full sails, it would disappear from sight in less than half a day.

In order to match the speed of the Minxi Tengyun, the Portuguese merchant ships did not set sail at full sail, and accompanied them on their journey slowly. Although the speed would be slower, everyone was not worried because the supply was still smooth along the way.

After Phoebe Island, we went south to a place that Chinese ships had never been to before. It was the first time for Ming sailors to go so far. Although the narrow space on the ship was easy to make people anxious, fortunately there was still a sense of freshness, and the endless stories of Min Xi and Yun Ji prevented the entire journey from becoming anxious and depressing.

When the ship arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, the Tengyun was surrounded by Europeans who were also replenishing supplies there, because this was the first time they saw a Ming ship go so far.

Being watched by a lot of people is not a good thing, because it is equivalent to telling everyone that there is a fat sheep here who has no ability to fight back, so come and grab it!

Of course, there is no need to worry too much when anchoring in the harbor for supplies, because there are many merchant ships anchored here. If pirates dare to start a war here, it is equivalent to going against all the merchant ships and they will not gain an advantage.

But it's hard to say after leaving the Cape of Good Hope. Who can guarantee that there are no pirate ships among the ships replenishing supplies in the harbor? After all, pirate ships are ordinary galleons. No one can tell that they are pirate ships unless they fire at you. They usually roam around the supply points disguised as merchant ships, looking for targets to attack.

When leaving the Cape of Good Hope, the four ships traveling with Min Xi and his crew tacitly surrounded the Teng Yun in the middle to prevent attacks by pirate ships.

Min Xi and Yun Ji both knew that the real challenge of this voyage would begin after passing the Cape of Good Hope. There were too many pirate ships on this voyage, and they specifically attacked ships returning fully loaded from Asia. What's more, the Tengyun had no ability to fight back and was slow.

Yun Ji practiced archery every day. Although the Ming merchant ships were not equipped with cannons, they were still equipped with cold weapons, including bows and arrows, swords and knives. Unfortunately, these could not be compared with hot weapons and cannons.

They still had several guns on board, in addition to the ones they had brought back, the other four Portuguese ships also shared a few guns with them. If pirates really boarded the ship, they would not be completely helpless.

On the third day after leaving the Cape of Good Hope, two other ships appeared in their sight, catching up with them from behind.

The two ships were sailing at full sail, but after seeing them, one of them removed its fore and aft sails and slowed down, trailing behind them at a leisurely pace, while the other ship continued to sail at full speed and soon passed them.

Looking at the waterlines of the two ships, they are obviously empty.

Min Xi couldn't help but frown. This was clearly the behavior of pirates. One ship followed closely behind them to alert their companions, while the other went to the front to gather their accomplices to intercept them.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were worried, as it seemed that they would soon encounter a naval battle.

Yun Ji said: "Since we know they are pirate ships, why don't we take the initiative and destroy the ship behind them first."

Min Xi's eyes lit up when he heard this: "That's a solution, so we won't be attacked from both sides."

So Min Xi used flag signals to gather the four ships together. After they got together and discussed it, they found that the other ships had the same intention. Everyone hit it off and began to find ways to deal with that ship.

It was actually quite difficult to ambush the pirate ship. All five of their ships were fully loaded with cargo, had a deep draft, were slow, and were clumsy to turn around. The pirate ship, on the other hand, was empty at the moment, so it was easy to adjust its speed and was also flexible in turning around.

Moreover, the pirates were experienced and would not enter the range anyway. The merchant ships could not catch up with the pirates. It was really a sticky plaster that could not be shaken off. Finally, Yun Ji said, "Leave it to me. I will take action when it gets dark. You wait for my signal."

After planning like this, when it got dark, all the boats began to lower their sails and slow down, which was the custom for sailing at night. Yun Ji then lowered the lifeboat, took his sword and tools, called a strong sailor, and prepared to board the lifeboat. Min Xi was worried and told him: "Seventh brother, you must pay attention to safety and don't be stubborn."

Yun Ji stared at him: "Don't worry, I will, and you should also pay attention to safety."

Under the gaze of Min Xi and others, Yun Ji and the sailor got on the small boat, and the two of them rowed hard towards the pirate ship behind.

The pirates had always focused their attention on the big ship, so they naturally didn't notice the small boat on the sea. They also didn't expect that the other party would use a small boat to launch a sneak attack.

Therefore, Yun Ji quickly approached the pirate ship, threw the grappling hook directly onto the pirate ship, and said to the sailor: "You pull this rope and let the boat follow this ship. I will go up and come down after I finish my work. You stay here to meet me."

Min Xi stood at the stern, looking in the direction of the pirate ship. It was already completely dark, and he had no idea what had happened on the ship. Min Xi's heart was in his throat, and he was worried about Yun Ji's safety.

Although we know that Yun Ji is very skilled, we can go up and kill a few pirates on the deck, and then cut the sail ropes on the mast to completely slow down the pirate ship, making it easier for the ships here to fire at the pirate ship. This sounds simple, but who knows what kind of situation we will encounter.

He kept waiting in the dark, but there was no signal from Yun Ji. Did something go wrong?

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, the pirate ship finally lit up its lights, but the signal it gave was not the agreed one. The waiting Portuguese merchant ship was very confused. What did this mean?

After a while, Yun Ji's voice came from the other side: "I have taken the boat!" He first spoke in Chinese, and then in Portuguese.

Min Xi was stunned. He robbed a pirate ship by himself?!

"Seventh brother, what about those pirates? How did you deal with them?" Min Xi asked loudly while rolling up the loudspeaker in his hand.

Yun Ji said, "I threw them all into the sea."

Min Xi knew that this was a bit cruel, but he also knew that if he didn't do this, the fate of their group of people would be the same as those people.

Min Xi asked: "Do you need us to go over and help?"

Yun Ji said: "Let's have a few people from other ships come over, the kind that can fire cannons. If those pirates come over tonight, we'll have an extra ship to fight with."

So Min Xi quickly discussed with several other ships, and the captains all agreed very readily.

Yun Ji's performance completely exceeded everyone's expectations. He took down a pirate ship without firing a single shot, refreshing their understanding of Yun Ji's combat power. This man's ability was really too strong. There were at least a dozen people on a pirate ship, and some even had twenty or thirty. No one expected that he could subdue so many people. It was really admirable.

They could only be thankful that Yun Ji was not their enemy.

That night, Yun Ji drove the pirate ship behind them. When daybreak came, they looked at the ship behind them and found it incredible that the ship had changed its owner overnight and remained unscathed.

After dawn, Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other from a distance and discussed what to do next.

Several other ships also came up with ideas, and finally decided to go to the next supply point and transfer the cargo from the Tengyun to the pirate ship.

Of course, that's assuming the pirates don't come and attack them.

In order to avoid the pirates, several ships discussed and finally decided to adjust the route, sailing west twice and bypassing the usual route, perhaps avoiding the pirates' search range. When they arrived in Cape Verde, the Tengyun changed ships and the safety factor was improved.

One degree is 60 nautical miles, and two degrees is 120 nautical miles, which is a very large range. Generally speaking, on a fixed route, the deviation will not be so large. They are prone to deviating from the route and encountering unknown dangers when they travel so far. More importantly, the farther away from the coast, the more difficult it is to resupply.

But now they had an extra boatload of food and water, so the risk was worth taking.

Just after they deviated from the route, the ship that had left earlier came back with five pirate ships, but they found nothing. They searched back and forth for a long time, and then searched eastwards towards the coast, but found nothing. They sent flares into the air, but received no response, and the ship they left behind disappeared. This is really weird!

Finally, the pirates decided to go to the Cape Verde Islands to block the Portuguese ships.

Although there are Portuguese supply points in Cape Verde, they do not need to get close to the Portuguese supply points. They just need to block them outside the port.

Min Xi and his crew took advantage of the time when the pirates were searching for them, and after sailing west for a day, they adjusted back to their original route. So as soon as they arrived at the port of Cape Verde, the pirate ship arrived.

Min Xi and others didn't know that the pirate ship was waiting for them outside the port. At this supply point, everything was safe, so everyone decided to take a good rest and move the cargo from the Tengyun to the pirate ship.

Of course, this pirate ship has since had a new name, Xingyun. As for Tengyun, since it has no cannons and cannot be adapted to ocean voyages, it has to be abandoned.

It would be a pity to just throw it in Cape Verde, so Min Xi and Yun Ji decided to take it to Portugal to sell it. Without the cannon, it could still be used for inland transportation. Without the load on the ship, its speed would be faster and it could keep up with the speed of several other galleons.