The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The pursuing ships were lighter and quickly closed the distance. Min Xi led the attackers in the cabin to attack the enemy, while Yun Ji and a group of sailors cooperated with Captain Reis on the deck to operate the Xingyun.

The war must be fought, but you cannot use yourself as a target for others to hit you. It is normal to dodge and fight at the same time.

Captain Reiss stood in the captain's room and saw that a ship had entered the firing range, so he gave the order: "Fire!"

Min Xi also noticed that the enemy was within range, so he said to everyone, "Okay, we can start firing. Let's blast him a few times to see how he behaves. Try to aim as much as possible."

So everyone couldn't hide their excitement and lit the fuse with torches. After a few breaths, they heard a few muffled "bang, bang" sounds, and the shells were fired. Two of them fell directly into the water, still far away from the enemy ship, but one fell on the side of the enemy ship, and the splash of water fell on the enemy ship. Another fell on the outside of the bow of the enemy ship and hit it hard. Although it didn't penetrate, this shell scared the enemy enough that they decisively stopped the pursuit.

As soon as the ship stopped, the ships behind it seemed to realize the terrifying power of the Xingyun. Its accuracy was so terrifying that it could hit the target with just one round of cannon fire. So they all slowed down and stopped chasing.

This is probably the way to stop war with war. Min Xi laughed and said, "Those guys are scared and don't dare to chase us! Come again, if I don't teach you a lesson, you will think that we destroyed the Seven Demon Pirates!"

Seeing that the pirates were no longer chasing them, everyone came down from the gun platform, went up to the deck, and celebrated together.

Captain Reiss's face was full of joy: "Well done!" He seemed to have regained the heroic spirit he had when he galloped across the sea.

Yun Ji and Min Xi bumped fists and said, "That's impressive. You defeated the enemy with just one shot. It seems those pirates are picking on the weak."

"That's right. The more you are afraid of them, the more arrogant they will be. They are just too cowardly. I want to fire a few more shots so that everyone can practice." Min Xi said with a smile.

"It's better if you don't dare to come. It saves a few shells."

After forcing those ships to retreat, they didn't encounter any more troubles. A galleon that looked lightly loaded didn't have much oil and water and was not worth robbing.

The previous ships probably noticed that the Xingyun was circling around them and thought that it was afraid of them, so they came to provoke it. They didn't expect to suffer losses as soon as they fought. Then they realized that they were not a soft persimmon at all. They could only swallow their bitterness in silence, after all, it was their own fault.

They returned to Lisbon smoothly in less than a month. They unloaded all the woolen fabrics they bought and moved them to the yard where Min Xi and his friends lived. After all, the humidity on the boat was too heavy and it was not conducive to the storage of fabrics, so it was better to move them to the shore.

It was not cost-effective to rent a warehouse for these tons of fabric. The house they rented happened to be quite spacious, so they moved the fabric into the house. It was just a little troublesome and required some manpower, but fortunately there was not much fabric, so it didn't take too much effort.

After returning from France, the sailors returned to their old jobs and set up stalls, and Diego also continued to sell his puffs.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were still at home studying, practicing calligraphy, and growing vegetables. During the time they were away, the vegetables in the yard had grown very well. Sanvis took good care of them, and the tomatoes and peppers were bearing fruit, and all kinds of vegetables and fruits were ready to eat.

The three of them could not finish all the food. Sanvis had some vegetables grown in his own yard, so Min Xi took the leftover vegetables to the courtyard in the city and the Xingyun and gave them to the sailors.

The sailors' food expenses were originally paid by them, but after the sailors set up stalls to earn money, they refused to let Yun Ji give them living expenses, saying that the money they earned was more than enough for food, after all, they had not been out to sea during this period, and the boss also taught them how to make money. Letting the boss support them while they earn money separately is a bit unfair, so when someone proposed not to let the boss pay for living expenses, everyone else agreed, although there were some who were not so willing, but they were definitely too embarrassed to say it.

Min Xi also sent them vegetables and fruits as they had them, which saved them money on buying vegetables. They only needed to buy some seafood and meat every day. The seafood here was as cheap as cabbage, so after arriving in Lisbon, these sailors lived a well-off life, at least in terms of food.

After learning that they had returned from France, Baron Fernando often brought his family to Min Xi and Yun Ji's place for free meals, because he knew that if he didn't seize the time to eat and drink now, he would not be able to eat in the future.

Their daughter Bella is very familiar with Min Xi and Yun Ji. The little girl likes Min Xi and Yun Ji very much because these two uncles smell good. In fact, Min Xi and Yun Ji don't use perfume, but only soap, and they choose the one with the lightest fragrance. There is no other way, the European soap smells too good, in order to cover up their own body odor.

That day the Baron came with his wife and children to have a meal. Of course, he did not come empty-handed, but brought dishes with him, including two large yellow croakers: "We want to eat boiled fish today." He knew that Min Xi liked to buy large yellow croakers, not only because they tasted delicious, but also because he liked to collect the maws of large yellow croakers. Every time the Baron's family ate large yellow croakers, they would dry the maws and give them all to Min Xi.

"No problem, I'll do it for you. Bella, hello. Come here and let your uncle hug you." Min Xi opened his arms towards Bella.

As soon as Bella saw him, she rushed from the nanny's arms to Min Xi. Min Xi hugged her small and soft body, and Bella kissed him on the face.

The baron was extremely jealous: "My Bella really likes you, she never took the initiative to kiss me like this."

Min Xi laughed after hearing this: "Is it because you have too much beard on your face and it hurts your lips when you kiss, so she doesn't like to kiss you."

Children all like pretty uncles and aunts, and when she saw Yun Ji coming out of the room, she opened her arms and wanted Yun Ji to hug her. Yun Ji was flattered, so he reached out to catch her, and Bella gave him a big kiss on the face.

The Baron stroked his beard and rolled his eyes speechlessly towards the sky. He finally understood what kind of person his daughter was: she just loved beauty.

Min Xi picked up the two large yellow croakers and said, "I'll go cook. Brother Qi, you treat them."

The two big yellow croakers are quite big, each weighing at least ten pounds. I didn’t go out to buy vegetables today, so I made a fish feast: half boiled fish, half steamed fish, half braised fish, and half fried fish.

Yun Ji put the little girl on the sofa to play, and went to make tea for the baron and his wife. He asked Min Xi, "Do you need help?"

"No, just a few dishes. I can handle it. You go and greet the guests. There are still a few puffs Diego made. Take them out to entertain the guests."

"Yeah." Yun Ji took out the puffs from the cupboard and brought them to the coffee table together with the tea. When little Bella saw the puffs, she clapped her hands happily. Every time she came over, there were all kinds of sweet pastries at her Chinese uncle's house. This was why she especially loved coming over.

Alice gave her one: "Eat it."

Bella didn't answer and crawled towards Yunji, sitting in his arms, pointing at Puff. Alice rolled her eyes helplessly. Her daughter was like this at such a young age, what would she do in the future?

Yun Ji smiled and gave her a puff. The little girl held it in both hands and bit into it happily.

A few people were chatting and talking about the latest news.

"Simon went hunting with His Majesty a few days ago and fell off his horse, spraining his ankle." The baron said this with a smile.

Yun Ji thought for a moment and said, "It must be because he was not careful when he got off the horse. Otherwise, how could he have twisted his ankle?"

The baron laughed. "When I went to see him, he said he did it on purpose. He didn't want to go hunting with His Majesty, so he wanted to fall off the horse and pretend to be injured. As a result, his foot was caught in the stirrup and he really sprained it. Fortunately, the horse was very smart, otherwise it would have dragged him for a while and he would have been injured."

Yun Ji asked: "Did His Majesty specifically ask him to go?"

"It was the Marquis who specifically asked him to go, saying that he lacked masculinity and should follow His Majesty to endure some hardships and exercise." The baron shook his head helplessly at this point. "The Marquis is really something. He has known Simon's character for a long time. If he could change, why would he have to wait until today?"

Yun Ji was thinking, Lord Melo was injured, should he and Min Xi go to see him? If he didn't know, then he definitely didn't need to go, since he knew everything. If he didn't go, it would seem unkind, so he could ask Min Xi to go there later and say that he went to the shipyard.

When Min Xi finished cooking and everyone was eating around the table, he heard about Lord Melo's broken leg and asked in surprise, "Is he really injured? Let's go see him some other day."

Yun Ji responded vaguely.

Min Xi looked at the baron: "I see that His Majesty the King particularly likes hunting. Does he want to go to the battlefield?"

"Yes, our Majesty's biggest dream is to personally lead the Portuguese army to fight on the battlefield and expand the territory. He has been training his body and improving his riding and archery skills over the years in order to be able to go to the battlefield," said the baron.

Min Xi pretended to be surprised and asked, "Is His Majesty really going to lead the army in person? Doesn't he worry about his own safety?"

"His Majesty feels it is very important to lead by example, and he does not worry about his own safety." The Baron shook his head.

Min Xi said: "But I think the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. It is too risky to lead the army in person. You should persuade His Majesty. He is not married yet and has no children. If he has any accident, what will happen to the Portuguese people?"

The baron was silent for a long time after hearing this, then he sighed and said, "This is what we are worried about. My grandfather was so worried about this that his hair turned white."

Min Si understood as soon as he heard it. It seemed that the king’s physical defect was not a secret among the aristocratic circle, and everyone knew it.

Sebastian I was too young and there was no time for him to consider an heir, which is why Portugal had no way out after his sudden death.