The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Lu Zhan stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, please let me go first."

He drew his bow and shot an arrow steadily, hitting the target straw man's torso, but it was still a little short of the bull's eye.

The Jinyiwei applauded to show their appreciation.

Min Xi looked at Yun Ji who was about to go on stage and said loudly: "Seventh brother, come on! Don't tarnish the reputation of us scholars."

Yun Ji looked back at him, smiled and made a scissors hand gesture, which he naturally learned from Min Xi.

Min Xi gave a thumbs up.

Yun Ji bent his bow and drew his arrow, quietly feeling the force of the wind, moved the arrow slightly northward, and then released the arrow. The arrow shot out and landed on the target, just half an inch closer to the center of the target than Lu Zhan's arrow.

Min Xi clapped his hands vigorously: "Beautiful! Keep it up, Brother Qi!"

Jinyiwei looked at Yunji and thought it was a case of a blind cat catching a dead mouse, definitely a result of good luck. Only Min Xi knew that it was not the case. Yunji's previous three arrows were actually testing the wind. He even thought that he deliberately missed the bull's eye with the last arrow.

With the second arrow, Lu Zhan surpassed Yun Ji's arrow, but was soon overtaken by Yun Ji again, still a little bit ahead, right next to the red circle of the bull's eye.

This time even Wanli couldn't help but applaud: "Beautiful!"

Seeing his arrows surpassed by two in a row, Lu Zhan was really angry. He really couldn't believe that he would lose to a weak scholar. So he was more alert for the third arrow and aimed for a long time before shooting. This arrow hit the bull's eye and was very close to the center of the bull's eye. The Jinyiwei applauded crazily, thinking that Lu Zhan would definitely win.

Yun Ji walked forward calmly, bent his bow and drew his arrow, without aiming for too long, and easily shot an arrow that hit the center of the bull's eye, right next to Lu Zhan's arrow.

Min Xi shouted, "Seventh Brother is so powerful!"

Yun Ji turned around and clasped his fists towards Lu Zhan: "What a lucky guy! Thank you for letting me win!"

Lu Zhan looked at Yun Ji, finding it a little hard to believe that he would lose to a scholar!

Wanli looked at Yunji and said with a smile: "Yunqing is really good, he is good at both literature and martial arts, a complete talent!"

"I don't deserve it. My skills are so humble, Your Majesty, thank you for your praise." Yun Ji walked back to Min Xi and saluted Wanli respectfully.

Zhao Yu looked at Yun Ji, and he couldn't believe that this guy actually played the fool and beat Lu Zhan. There were indeed many good-for-nothings in the Jinyiwei, but Lu Zhan was definitely not one of them. He suspected that if he played in person, his chances of winning would not be 100%.

"I didn't expect that Mr. Yun is actually a martial artist. I was wrong about you. I believe that in addition to your excellent archery skills, your kung fu and riding skills should also be quite good. It is not convenient to demonstrate your riding skills in the palace, so let's compete with each other to entertain His Majesty." Zhao Yu said.

After hearing what Zhao Yu said, Yun Ji also wanted to test the skills of the Jinyiwei, so he did not refuse: "Since the lord thinks highly of me, I will obey your command."

Wanli smiled and said, "If Zhao Qing wants to compete with Yun Qing, there must be some jackpot."

Zhao Yu looked at his whole body and took off a sword: "This is a precious sword from Tianfang Country. If Yun Xiucai wins, this sword will belong to him."

Yun Ji looked at himself. As he was going to meet the emperor, he could not be too ostentatious. The only valuable things on his body were a piece of mutton-fat jade and a bag of gold beans given as New Year's money.

Min Xi smiled and said, "We brothers came to the palace without knowing the rules. We didn't bring anything with us, and we don't have anything to give as a prize. Can we buy on credit? If Lord Zhao wins, we will make up for it after we leave the palace. Is that okay with you?"

Zhao Yu smiled when he heard this. Just as he was about to agree, he heard Wanli say, "How difficult is that? I will pay for Yunqing's prize. What does Zhaoqing want?"

Zhao Yu was overjoyed: "Your Majesty, can I have anything you want?"

"That won't work! It has to be something I can afford," said Wanli.

"Your Majesty is wise! I want the pure black Arabian horse in your Majesty's stable." Zhao Yushi opened his mouth loudly.

Wanli looked at Zhao Yu and said, "Zhao Qing, you are really good at choosing things. You traded a knife for a Ferghana horse. You are really good at calculating."

Zhao Yu smiled frivolously: "Your Majesty, are you unwilling to give it?"

Wanli felt a little pain. Although he seldom rode horses, how many men didn't love horses from childhood to old age? Wanli looked at Yunji: "Can Yunqing beat Zhaoqing?"

Yun Ji said, "Your Majesty, I haven't competed with anyone for a long time, and I don't know if I can beat Lord Zhao."

Wanli felt pained but still agreed: "I agree to the lottery. Yunqing, you should do your best."

"Student obeys your order!" Yun Ji saluted respectfully.

Zhao Yu's face was full of joy, he felt that he was sure to win. Even if Yun Ji was good at archery and had great skills, he was still a scholar. He was a military general, how could he lose to a scholar!

A palace servant had already led the prize-winning Arabian horse out of the stable. It was indeed an extremely majestic horse, tall, with no black on its body, and shiny black fur without a single stray hair.

This Arabian horse was presented to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty by the envoys of the Kingdom of Arabia. It has been in Beijing for some years and has gradually adapted to the climate of Beijing. However, it is still too cold for it. So when it was taken out in this weather, it was not very excited but a little wilted. It snorted uneasily and hot air came out of its nose.

"Yunqing, whether I can keep this horse depends on you." Wanli said to Yunji.

"Student will definitely do his best." Yun Ji took off the Taoist robe he was wearing outside, revealing a narrow-sleeved jacket. He was wearing a woolen warm coat inside, so he was not particularly cold.

Min Xi said at the side: "Your Majesty, since we are just sparring, then we should stop at a certain point and not hurt the harmony. It is not appropriate to see bloodshed during the New Year."

He knew how skilled Yun Ji was, but he didn't know how skilled Zhao Yu was, so he wasn't sure if Yun Ji could win.

Wanli nodded: "It's time to stop here, don't hurt the relationship."

Zhao Yu smiled and said, "I will show mercy, I promise."

Yun Ji tucked the hem of his robe into his waist, stood tall, and clasped his fists towards Zhao Yu: "My lord, please teach me."

Zhao Yu placed the embroidered spring sword and the precious sword on Wanli's desk, tucked in the front of his robe like Yunji did, and made a move: "You punch first."

Yun Ji hadn't fought with anyone for a long time, so he was itching to show off his skills. So when the other party proposed a competition, he agreed. He wanted to know to what extent his current level had regressed.

He was an unknown scholar, and the other party was a famous general, so he had very little pressure. The other party asked him to make the first move, so he naturally would not be polite, and took a step forward and punched Zhao Yu.

Originally, the group of Jinyiwei were planning to watch Yunji get beaten, but as soon as they saw him make a move, they knew he was truly a martial artist, more of an expert than many of the Jinyiwei present. This was definitely not a temporary Buddhist move, but rather the result of practicing martial arts since childhood.

Zhao Yu originally knew that Yun Ji was quite capable, but he didn't expect him to be so skilled, with a stable lower body, dense punches, and flawless punches. He had been planning to have some fun with him, but now he had to cheer up and deal with him seriously.

The two men exchanged moves, punches and kicks with great force, and the fight was so back and forth that it was unclear who would win for a while.

Wanli and Min Xi were both watching intently. Min Xi was afraid that Yun Ji would suffer a loss, while Wanli was more and more surprised the more he watched. He originally thought that his Arabian horse was doomed to lose, so he even led the horse out. Unexpectedly, after watching it now, there was actually a chance of recovery.

Zhao Yu originally thought that he had a sure win and it would be easy to win, but he didn't expect that Yun Ji's skills were better than he expected. He couldn't get the upper hand for a while. As time went on, his chances of winning would only get smaller and smaller. After all, the other person was younger and stronger than him.

The thought that he, a third-rank military general, was about to lose to an unknown scholar in front of the emperor made him a little impatient, and his punches and kicks became more fierce, trying to win in a short time, but this could easily reveal his flaws.

Min Xi watched for a long time and found that something was wrong. He couldn't help but move closer to Wanli and whispered, "Your Majesty, why don't we call a halt? How about a draw?"

Wanli thought about it and felt that this made sense. As long as Yunji didn't lose, his horse wouldn't lose, and Zhao Yu's face would be saved. He said loudly, "Okay, all of you stop fighting. I don't think it will take a while to tell the winner. How about a draw?"

When Yun Ji and Zhao Yu heard that the emperor had spoken, they quickly took the opportunity to jump out of the circle and stop fighting.

Yun Ji clasped his fists and said, "Master Zhao, I'm grateful for your kindness."

Zhao Yu looked at Yun Ji and laughed, "Not bad, not bad. You are so skilled at such a young age, and you are also a scholar. You are truly a man of both civil and military talents. Your Majesty is so lucky! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

Wanli smiled and said, "It is indeed a blessing for the Ming Dynasty. Both of you are very good at fighting. Although there is no winner, there is no prize, but I still want to reward you! Let's go back to the Qianqing Palace. It's very cold outside. Let's go in and talk."

So everyone surrounded the emperor and went to the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Although the weather was fine, it was torture to stay outdoors on such a day. The emperor actually stayed outdoors with them for half a morning, which was enough for him.

Wanli did not take a sedan chair back to the palace, but walked back by himself. Min Xi vaguely remembered that there was a saying that Wanli's leg was lame, but Min Xi saw that it was not the case. Wanli's leg had no problem.

In fact, it is conceivable that Emperor Longqing did not have only this one son. If Wanli had been a cripple since childhood, he would not have been chosen to be the emperor. Under normal circumstances, people with congenital disabilities would not be allowed to be emperors unless there was no choice.

After entering the Qianqing Palace, the charcoal fire made the room warmer.

Wanli fulfilled his promise and gave rewards to Yunji and Zhaoyu. Yunji was given a Longquan sword, and Zhaoyu was given the four treasures of the study.

Zhao Yu looked at it and said puzzledly: "Your Majesty, the sword is still useful to Yun Xiucai, but what use are the four treasures of the study to me?"

Wanli smiled and said, "I hope you can be as good at both literature and martial arts as Yunqing. Read more and learn more."

Zhao Yu could only helplessly say: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"