The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi's clansmen had already known the news that he had passed the imperial examination, and had been preparing for the celebration. As soon as he returned, the clan arranged a banquet and invited all the successful candidates and gentry in the village. Many of them came to them on their own initiative to establish relations with him.

After Min Xi came back, he offered sacrifices to his ancestors, had a feast, and chatted with the scholars and gentry. Then the elders in the clan began to help Min Xi count the gifts, some for shops, some for fertile land, some for gold and silver, some for antiques and rare books, and even some for girls.

Min Xi looked at the gift list and finally understood why those scholars who were already old and gray continued to take the provincial examinations. It was really too profitable.

Min Xi did not intend to accept these gifts, he asked the elders in the tribe to return all these things and refused to accept any of them. He told the elders in the tribe that he was not short of money now and they were not allowed to accept gifts in his name in the future, otherwise he would not be in charge of the tribe's affairs in the future.

Although the elders in the clan felt painful, they did not dare to go against his wishes.

The old house of Min Xi's family had been repaired and was now used as a private school. Min Xi also left 200 taels of silver to the clan, and any children in the clan or the neighbors who were willing to go to school could be accepted and well trained. He would have people send money back every year.

Because he was thinking about Yunji and the trip to Mount Tai, Min Xi did not dare to stay for long. He quickly left his hometown and returned to Beijing.

When they returned to the capital, it was already early October. It was already late autumn in Beijing and the weather was quite cold.

Before Min Xi got off the boat, he heard someone calling him, "Master Min, you're finally back! Cousin, Master Min is back!"

Min Xi looked carefully, who else could it be but Tao Sheng? Before he could even greet him, he saw a man jumping out of a carriage near the dock. The man was tall and handsome, who else could it be but Yun Ji?

"Ninth brother!" Yun Ji's voice could not contain his joy.

Min Xi was surprised and delighted when he saw him: "Seventh Brother?! How did you know I was here today? By the way, did you pass the exam?"

Yun Ji showed a warm smile on his face, like a ray of warm sunshine in the cold autumn: "I passed. You passed the exam, and if I didn't, wouldn't it be too embarrassing."

Yun Ji did not answer why he was here. He had been waiting here for three days. He estimated that he should arrive in the next few days and wanted to see him as soon as possible.

"Really? That's great! Congratulations, Seventh Brother!" Min Xi congratulated while jumping onto the shore.

Yun Ji was quick to act. He opened his arms and caught Min Xi who jumped off the boat. "Be careful!"

Min Xi took the opportunity to hug him and patted him on the back: "Haha, that's great, congratulations on getting into high school, Brother Qi!" Then he let him go.

Yun Ji smiled and said, "Congratulations to my ninth brother for getting into high school!"

Tao Yuan got off the boat and stretched out his hand to Yun Ji: "Brother Ji, help me up."

Yun Ji stretched out his right hand and took it from him: "Congratulations, Tao Yuan!"

"Haha, let's celebrate!" Tao Yuan laughed happily, "That's good, everyone in our family has passed the imperial examination."

"Yes, there are too many people and we can't fit them all in. I'll call a car to take you back first. Let's go home first and go to Tao's house later." Yun Ji arranged for Tao Yuan to go home first, while he and Min Xi went straight back to their own homes.

In the carriage, Min Xi talked about his success in the imperial examination: "I never thought I could pass it, I just wanted to give it a try, so I was very relaxed and did not give up in every exam. I didn't expect to be the last one to be admitted. Isn't that funny?"

Yun Ji's eyes were full of pride: "This shows that you are a good student. You can pass any test like this."

"I really feel like I'm lucky!" Min Xi said with a smile, "How about you? What place did you get?"

Yun Ji said, "No. 51."

"Not bad, not bad, it's higher than our ranking." Min Xi said happily, "Next year's spring exam, there will be a chance to be on the list, come on, Seventh Brother!"

Yun Ji shook his head: "I feel a little worried. After all, the imperial examination is a gathering of candidates from all over the country. I have only studied for a few years. How can it be so easy to pass the exam?"

"It doesn't matter. If I fail next year, I can still work hard for three years and try again. But Seventh Brother, I will at most try the Spring Examination next year, and I will never take part in the imperial examination again in the future." Min Xi said.

Yun Ji was surprised and asked, "Why?"

Min Xi looked at him and said, "I have already told you the reason before. For me, the status of a scholar is enough. Now that I have the status of a juren, it is even more convenient."

Yun Ji was silent. Min Xi had said that if they both passed the imperial examination, they would be doomed to separate. "Why don't I not take the exam and you take it instead?"

"No! I'm not very interested in being an official. I just want to do something I like."

Because Tao Xing and the cook were still there, Yun Ji didn't say anything else. But the two were already shocked. Min Xi had passed the imperial examination, but he didn't want to take the imperial examination.

When Min Xi returned to Xiweiyuan and went to the bathroom to wash off the dust and fatigue on his body, Yun Ji, who was rubbing his back, said, "You passed the imperial examination and became a juren, but you didn't take the jinshi exam. Isn't that a pity?"

"I don't think so. Being an official is not what I want. I just want to be a technician and make use of my strengths. You can be an official, and I will do technical research and development. It doesn't matter where you go to be an official, as long as there is money. No matter where you go to be an official, I can follow you. Unless you don't want me to follow you." Min Xi said.

"How could that be! I don't want to be separated from you. So I want you to take the exam, and I will follow you wherever you go." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi laughed and said, "Will you open a branch of Yunxiang wherever I go? A small shop is not enough to display your talents. If I become an official, I won't have the energy to do research and development, so this is not the best choice. I think what I want to do is more important than being an official."

Yun Ji looked at him: "Are you sure?"

"It's absolutely true!" Min Xi said with certainty.

Yun Ji nodded: "Okay, that's it."

Min Xi suddenly sighed again: "You are now considered to have achieved fame, and your grandmother will probably be busy. How do you plan to deal with it?"

This sentence silenced Yun Ji again. Yes, he said before that he would not talk about marriage without fame, but now that he has fame, what excuse can he use to shirk it? He has been thinking about this problem for a while. Nanfeng is not a new thing in the Ming Dynasty, but it seems that no one has ever heard of someone not getting married because of Nanfeng. With his current status, he can indeed marry a woman as a decoration, but he is deeply influenced by Min Xi and thinks that this practice is really disgusting and unfair to everyone.

After a long time, Yun Ji said, "I will refuse it."

"What if they use filial piety to pressure you?" In this era, filial piety is more important than anything else. As a younger generation, it is almost impossible to reject the arrangements made by the elders.

Yun Ji comforted Min Xi: "Don't worry, I will definitely take care of it."

Min Xi said, "Forget it. Let's not dwell on this issue today. It's been so long since we last met. It's a bit of a letdown to talk about such a heavy topic right after we got back. Are you still going to Mount Tai? It's a bit cold now."

"Go. You should be able to go back and forth within a month. If you're lucky, it shouldn't snow yet." Yun Ji said.

"Okay, let's get ready early. Once we meet up with Grandpa and the others and have a meal, we'll be ready to leave."

"Then we still need to have a banquet. I haven't held a thank-you banquet for my teacher since I passed the imperial examination. Let's have one together when the time comes." Yun Ji said.

"Okay, but we have to hurry." Min Xi was worried that winter would come and it would snow on Mount Tai, and it would also snow when he returned to Beijing. That would be really miserable and unsafe.

"I'll arrange for Yunxiang Restaurant to do it."

After washing up, Min Xi and Yun Ji set off for Tao Mansion, one to thank the teacher, and the other to pick up Yun Lin.

Everyone in the Tao family was very happy about their return. Now everyone in the Tao family passed the imperial examination, even the grandson and his brother-in-law passed the imperial examination. The whole house was full of juren, which was unique in the capital.