The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

However, it is very rare for an emperor who lives in luxury to eat such delicious pancakes. It can be considered as an experience of the life of ordinary people.

The next day, they encountered no accidents and arrived at a small town at night, staying at the best inn in the town.

Nothing happened overnight, and when Wanli set out in the morning, he was already a little depressed. He looked out the window boredly. The harvested fields were all gray, with no green to be seen. The horizon was flat, with no ups and downs except for some trees, and not even a village to be seen. Such scenery seemed fresh at first, but after two or three days, it became monotonous.

Wanli asked Min Xi: "Is there nothing worth seeing along the way?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "Sir, there really isn't much scenery worth seeing as we head south. I'm afraid we'll have to go to the Yellow River to see some scenery."

"So we're going to keep on traveling like this?" Wanli asked, "If we go to Mount Tai, it won't be so boring, right?"

"There are many mountains over there, so the scenery is naturally different. But we can ask around and see if there are any markets along the way, or if there's a wedding or funeral being held or a play being performed," said Min Xi.

Wanli asked: "Can we have an opera at a wedding?"

Min Xi scratched his head: "Maybe. But this kind of thing can only be encountered by chance." He also didn't know to what extent the local operas have developed now, and whether anyone can afford to hire a troupe to perform.

Wanli said: "Then let's go to the market."

"Actually, I went to the market this morning and bought some ingredients we needed," said Min Xi.

When traveling, Min Xi’s favorite place to go is the local market, because he can buy the fresh ingredients he needs, see the local food characteristics from the market, and find local specialties.

There are no scenic spots worth seeing along the way, so visiting the market can add some fun.

"You went to the market this morning, why didn't you call me?" Wanli said.

Min Xi said: "Because I was not sure if there would be a market today, I wanted to go to the street to buy some food. I didn't expect that there would be a market today, so I went shopping."

"Next time you go to the market, be sure to call me." Wanli said, "I haven't been to the market yet. Is it fun?"

Min Xi nodded: "I think it's fun, and I can taste the local specialties. In fact, I also want to take you there, because the market is the place that best reflects people's livelihood and can also show some of the local economic conditions."

Wanli was eager to try: "You must ask me to go next time!"

"Okay!" Min Xi agreed readily.

They stayed overnight at the post house that day. There was a market nearby, but it was only held on the first, fourth and seventh days. These two days were not market days, so they could not catch it. If they wanted to go to the market, they would have to wait two days.

Wanli wanted to stay here for two days before leaving. Min Xi asked the postmaster and was told that there was a big town ahead with a small market every day and a big market on the third, sixth and ninth days of the lunar calendar. It was very lively and if they hurried there, they would be able to catch the big market tomorrow.

When Wanli heard this, he didn't want to stay and quickly set off to the town ahead to attend the market.

They traveled all day until it was completely dark before they arrived at the town the postmaster had mentioned. They found the largest inn in the town in the dark and wanted to stay there, but there were no rooms available. All the upper rooms were booked, leaving only one lower room, which was not enough for so many people.

Zhao Yu rode his horse to look for an inn elsewhere and asked several of them. Finally, he asked the farthest one and found out that it had one upper room and two lower rooms vacant.

They had no choice but to stay in this inn, and Min Xi had to run to the kitchen to cook noodles for everyone for dinner.

Because they arrived late today, the guest rooms were not connected, and the safety factor felt not so high. During the meal, Zhao Yu arranged: "Yun Ji, stay with me in the young master's room tonight."

Yun Ji glanced at Zhao Yu, then at Wanli, knowing that he was worried about the emperor's safety and that he trusted his skills. He looked at Min Xi with some concern in his eyes, and Min Xi nodded at him: "Okay. I can live in the same room with the doctor and Fang Yuan."

Yun Ji could only nod: "Okay, be careful."

Neither Min Xi nor Yun Ji slept well that night. Min Xi woke up because it was too crowded, with three people sleeping in one bed, and the imperial physician had a habit of snoring, which woke him up several times.

Yun Ji didn't sleep well because he and Zhao Yu couldn't sleep in the same bed with the emperor, so they could only squeeze into a makeshift bunk bed. The bunk bed made of benches and wooden boards was too narrow, and Yun Ji didn't want to be too close to Zhao Yu, so half of his body was hanging in the air.

Thanks to his great kung fu skills, he was able to fall asleep, but he was almost pushed down by Zhao Yu.

That night, probably only Wanli and the two bodyguards slept well.

The next morning, Wanli got up excitedly and wanted to go to the market.

Min Xi came out yawning and said, "It's great, let's go to the market and see what's on sale. Maybe we can have breakfast at the market."

Compared to Wanli's excitement, Zhao Yu and his companions felt as if they were facing a great enemy, because there were many people and a mixed crowd in the market, and there were also many animals. If they were to bump into anything, the risk would be huge.

Helplessly, the emperor liked it, and Min Xi and Yun Ji had no objection, so they had no choice but to go with him.

Although they were accompanying the emperor on his incognito tour and the protagonist was the emperor, the ones who really played a decisive role were Min Xi and Yun Ji, because they had the most travel experience. There were many things that Zhao Yu and others had no experience in and had not seen, so whenever they encountered any trouble, they were the ones who solved it.

After leaving the inn, they followed the directions given by others and soon found the market. It was quite large, much larger than the market Min Xi visited last time.

There were crowds of people and many livestock. Upon asking around, I found out that this was the largest livestock trading market within a hundred miles. There were all kinds of cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, sheep, and even camels.

No wonder there were so many inns in the town, but they had no difficulty finding a place to stay. It turned out that they were all occupied by people buying and selling livestock.

Because there were so many animals, Zhao Yu became even more worried. He was afraid that if one of the animals went crazy and could not be controlled, it might collide with and injure the emperor, which would be a big problem.

It was the first time that Wanli had seen such an occasion, and also the first time he had seen such a lively livestock gathering. He was so excited that he kept wanting to go to the livestock market to watch the excitement. He had never seen a camel before.

Min Xi grabbed his arm and said, "Sir, don't worry, let's go buy some food first, and then we can go and see when there are fewer people."

Wanli still trusted Min Xi. After hearing what he said, he was no longer in a hurry, so everyone went to the other side of the market.

The market is divided into two parts, one is the livestock market, and the other is where people buy and sell daily necessities and vegetables and fruits.

Min Xi also saw many food stalls, selling noodles, pancakes, buns, and even a stall selling donkey meat hotpot.

Min Xi said, "I want to try donkey meat kabobs."

"I want to try it too!" Wanli was eager to try.

Min Xi looked at him awkwardly: "Sir, we can eat this, but you should forget it. Let me try it first to see how it tastes, and then I'll buy donkey meat to cook for you."