The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

"I heard that Min Qing and Yun Qing both passed the imperial examination. Congratulations to you!" Wanli couldn't contain his excitement when he saw them, and knew that his incognito tour had been arranged.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Min Xi found that Wanli's mental state seemed much better than before.

Wanli said, "I've heard that you two are planning to climb Mount Tai. Do you still want to go?"

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other. Did they not tell Wanli that they had changed their destination? Min Xi thought about it and said, "I have discussed with my brother and decided to go to Zhongyue Songshan instead."

Wanli laughed and said, "Really? I am also going to Songshan. Would you two like to go with me?"

Yun Ji hurriedly said, "It is my brother's honor to be able to travel with Your Majesty."

When Min Xi heard Wanli's words, he thought to himself that he was indeed the emperor. Even if he traveled with the two of them, he would eventually have to say that they were traveling with him, and he would have to keep the initiative in his hands.

Because they were accompanying the emperor on a trip, it was not a casual trip. They needed to make careful plans. Although they had already thought of countless unexpected responses the night before, as the number of people traveling increased, these strategies still needed to be adjusted.

As the two had expected, Wanli went on a secret tour and was equipped with three masters of the palace as bodyguards, one of whom was Zhao Yu, whom they knew. In addition, there was an imperial physician accompanying him, plus a eunuch who took care of him personally, a total of five people, three carriages and three coachmen.

Min Xi and Yun Ji did not even bring a coachman, just like when they traveled in Europe before, they just drove a long and wide carriage filled with all the necessary items for the trip. Tao Yuan originally wanted to go with them, but in the end, because the matter was of great importance, the Tao family did not dare to let him go and cause trouble.

Wanli and his entourage drove three carriages, one for the emperor, one for the imperial physician, and another for the supplies the emperor needed. In addition, there were three horses ridden by the three palace masters.

It's obvious that this is a trip by rich people, and they can't keep a low profile.

Finally, after the persuasion of Min Xi and Yun Ji, the carriages were reduced to two, one for carrying people and one for carrying things. Only one of the three horses was kept, and the other two were responsible for driving the carriage, so the coachman was eliminated.

Since we are traveling incognito, we should keep the number of irrelevant people to a minimum to reduce the burden.

They set out under the name of studying abroad. Wanli also obtained the status of a scholar. The imperial physician who accompanied them was in his thirties and also obtained the status of a scholar. The four of them went out to study together.

Wanli quietly left the palace the day before and lived in the Yun family. The palace announced that a palace maid had been infected with smallpox, and the emperor and Prince Lu were isolated for protection and could not go out to attend court until peace was restored in the palace.

Empress Dowager Li continued to rule the country from behind the curtain every day, while Zhang Juzheng and the Hanlin Academy scholars continued to go to the palace to teach Wanli every day, although they were naturally separated from him by a screen from a distance.

It was the first time for Wanli to stay overnight outside, and the novelty made him so excited that he couldn't sleep well all night. Although there were unknown dangers in traveling incognito, for a teenager, the novelty and excitement of the unknown world made him completely ignore those dangers.

The next morning, Min Xi personally prepared breakfast for Wanli. The breakfast consisted of dumplings stuffed with pork and green onions and soup dumplings. Because there is a saying in the north that "eat dumplings when you go out and noodles when you come home", they naturally had to eat something special when they went out today.

Wanli looked at the two simple staple dishes on the table, with a dipping saucer, and not even a side dish. For an emperor whose breakfast consisted of at least twelve dishes, he was not used to it.

We also had dinner here yesterday. Min Xi cooked sixteen dishes himself. Needless to say, the food tasted even better than that of the imperial chef. Wanli was very satisfied with it. But why did the food become so simple this morning?

Wanli asked: "Is this what we are going to eat today?"

Min Xi said respectfully: "Your Majesty said yesterday that he wanted to experience the life of ordinary people. This is what I eat every day."

Wanli remembered what he said yesterday and said, "So the common people only have one or two dishes every day?"

Min Xi explained: "Breakfast is simpler. If you eat out, you can buy more variety, but if you eat at home, you usually only have one or two items."

Wanli nodded and picked up the chopsticks to pick up the dumplings. The imperial physician Jiao Huang had already tested the poison with a silver needle and confirmed that the food was safe: "Your Majesty, you can eat now."

Wanli looked at Jiao Huang and said, "There is no need to test for poison in the future. If I don't trust Min Qing and Yun Qing, I won't travel with them."

"But Your Majesty..." Jiao Huang said with some embarrassment. This was his job responsibility. If anything happened to the emperor, he would be the first one to be beheaded.

Wanli said: "If I dine outside and test the poison in such a high-profile manner, wouldn't that be equivalent to exposing my identity as a person of high status?"

Zhao Yu coughed lightly and reminded, "Your Majesty, please be careful with your titles in the future."

Wanli looked at him and said, "I, I understand."

Although the breakfast was simple, Wanli was still very satisfied with it because the soup dumplings made by Min Xi tasted so good.

After eating, everyone got on the carriage and left the Yun family.

Yunlin was sent to his grandparents' house yesterday. While they are away, he will continue to live in the Tao family. Although the little guy was very reluctant, he finally agreed after Min Xi's patient persuasion.

They left very early, and when the carriage arrived at the city gate, the gate had just opened. People in and out of the city entered and exited in an orderly manner, following the order of left and right.

At this time, several horses came from outside the city. The riders did not dismount and rushed into the city gate recklessly: "If you don't want to die, get out of the way!"

Seeing this, the guards at the gate did not come forward to stop them, but helped to drive the people into the city: "All of you, please move aside and don't block the road!"

Zhao Yu, who was leading the horse, was furious when he saw this. He took a step forward and blocked the middle of the road: "According to the laws of this dynasty, no one is allowed to ride a horse into the city unless there is a report of war."

The man on horseback saw him blocking the road, and without even looking at him, he whipped him and said, "If you don't want to die, get out of my way!"

Zhao Yu reached out and grabbed the whip, then pulled the man off the horse, sneering, "I thought it was someone else, it turns out to be the son of Yang Basi, the left sentry of the Shenji Battalion. Why are you rushing into the city so early in the morning? Do you have any military intelligence to report?"

The man who fell off the horse was originally full of anger. When he looked carefully, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat: "Master Zhao, Master Zhao, there is no military intelligence. I accidentally bumped into Master Zhao. Please forgive me, Master Zhao!"

Zhao Yu didn't even look at him. He glared at the other two people who were still on horseback and roared, "Why don't you get off the horse?"

Although Zhao Yu was not wearing a uniform, his aura was terrifying. The two men were so frightened that they quickly rolled off their horses and knelt in front of him to beg for mercy. Zhao Yu snorted coldly: "Go to Shuntian Prefecture to receive your punishment. Each of you will be punished with twenty sticks! If you commit the same offense again, you will be severely punished!"

The three men were so scared that they led their horses and slowly followed the crowd into the city. Zhao Yu stood in the middle of the city gate, staring coldly at the backs of the three men.

Min Xi's caravan had already left the city. Zhao Yu led his horse out of the city and quickly caught up with the caravan.

Without being called, he took the initiative to walk to Wanli's carriage and said, "Master, I'm back."

Wanli asked through the car window: "What's going on?"

Zhao Yu then told the story of how the three soldiers from the Shenji Camp violated regulations, rode their horses into the city and almost injured someone.

Wanli gnashed his teeth and said, "The people from the Shenjiying are so bold that they openly violated the rules. It seems that they are used to abusing their power. They dare to act like this right under my nose. What will happen to those places far away from the capital?"

"Master, please calm down! It's not worth getting yourself hurt over such a small matter. I have already punished them." Zhao Yu hurriedly advised.

Wanli was still furious.

Seeing that he could not persuade him, Zhao Yu hurried to find Min Xi and Yun Ji for help. After hearing this, Min Xi got off his carriage, walked to Wanli's carriage, and knocked on the carriage: "Sir, can I get in?"

Wanli heard his voice and paused before saying, "Come up."

The carriage stopped, Min Xi got on, and said to the eunuch Fang Yuan who was curled up inside, "You go to my carriage in front first, I will talk to you, young master."

Fang Yuan felt as if he had been pardoned, and whispered, "Then I'll leave it to you!"

After Fang Yuan left, Min Xi bowed and sat down in the same place where Fang Yuan had just sat.

Wanli looked at Min Xi and asked, "Did Min Qingke see what happened at the city gate just now?"

Min Xi nodded: "I saw it."

"What does Min Qing think?" Wanli asked.

Min Xi said: "Sir, you have been in the government for a long time. What you see and hear are all what others want you to know. You have never seen the whole picture of the martial arts world. This is the significance of this incognito tour."

Wanli slapped the wall of the car angrily: "But I never expected that the gang would be so lawless! They dared to act like this under my nose! It really makes me angry! When I get back, I will get rid of them all!"

Min Xi was silent for a moment, and then said, "My lord, you must know that human nature is complex: some are noble, some are despicable; some are full of passion and ideals, serving the country and the people, while others are selfish and indifferent, full of bad intentions, serving only to dominate others, enrich themselves, accept bribes, and abuse their power; some are full of passion and ideals at the beginning, but power and pleasure will gradually make them lose their original intentions and become the person they hated the most in the first place."

"You mean I can't deal with them?" Wanli asked.

Min Xi shook his head: "Of course. What I mean is that human nature is complicated. If we really investigate, I'm afraid there will be few innocent people. I advise you to be more open-minded and not be too angry."

"They have enriched themselves and abused their power, so why can't I deal with them?" Wanli asked Min Xi.

"There are many popular sayings among the people. Let me tell you: 'All crows are black' and 'Three years as an honest magistrate earns you 100,000 silver coins'. These are what the common people think of officials," said Min Xi.

"According to you, there are no honest officials in my Ming Dynasty?" Wanli asked.

Min Xi shook his head: "Of course there are, such as Lord Hai Rui. He is honest and incorruptible, but he is too upright and can't tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. His colleagues are afraid of him."

"Because he is a mirror that can reflect the ugliness in other people's hearts?" Wanli obviously knew Hai Rui's character well.