The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

They crossed the river from Liuyuankou in Kaifeng. After crossing the river, they arrived at the ancient city of Kaifeng, which is the capital of Henan Province.

Wanli had never been to the south of the Yangtze River and had never seen its wealth and prosperity, so in his eyes, Kaifeng was the second largest city after Beijing.

The city has neatly organized streets and alleys, with houses lined up one after another and shops standing in great numbers. The streets are bustling with people and are extremely prosperous.

Along the way, we passed through some large cities, but none of them could compare to Kaifeng.

Wanli was very excited and said, "We are in Kaifeng now. Let's take a few days off. I want to have a good look around."

Naturally, everyone had no objection. Although they did not have to sleep in the open air during the journey, it was still very hard. Especially for the emperor who had never suffered any hardship before, it was truly rare that he could successfully reach Kaifeng and rarely complain about the hardships of the journey.

Kaifeng is the center of the Central Plains, and Yunxianghao also has a branch here. So after arriving in Kaifeng, Yunji went directly to the Yunxiang branch. The shopkeeper saw that it was the boss himself, and hurried out to greet him.

Hearing that they would stay in Kaifeng for a few days, the shopkeeper arranged for them to stay in the courtyard purchased by Yunxianghao in Kaifeng. There was no one living in this courtyard on a daily basis, and only one or two people were hired to clean and maintain it. So it was also clean and they could move in directly.

After being out for so long, they finally had a decent place to stay, and everyone felt very comfortable. After everyone settled down, they didn't have time to go around the city, so they spent a day or two washing and cleaning up. After all, it would be inconvenient to take a bath if they stayed in an inn along the way. There were public baths in some places, but they didn't dare to take the emperor to take a bath.

Fortunately, the weather has turned cold, so changing clothes frequently and not taking a shower doesn’t seem so unbearable.

Kaifeng is worthy of being an ancient capital, and the fun and delicious things are obviously more than one level higher than other places. After the rest, Min Xi and Yun Ji also got a guide to Kaifeng from the shopkeeper of Yunxianghao, which places are worth visiting and which foods are worth eating, even down to which street, shop and stall.

After arriving in Kaifeng, Wanli refused to eat the food cooked by Min Xi. He wanted to try the food in Kaifeng, but everyone was helpless. Finally, after unanimous discussion, they came to the conclusion that it was ok to eat, but only after screening and qualified hygiene conditions.

Wanli finally got to taste the local specialties, including steamed dumplings in soup, mutton steamed buns, Bianjing roast duck, barrel chicken, carp baked noodles, etc., and he found them delicious.

Fortunately, there were no side effects to the food, so he ate it to his heart's content, trying new and different kinds of food every day, even street snacks.

It was only after arriving in Kaifeng that Wanli felt that he was out for fun. Before that, he had been on the road, experiencing life and investigating people's livelihood. It was not a trip for fun, but a business trip.

In fact, Wanli was a little confused about the purpose of his trip. He thought he was out for fun, but in fact, he was sent on an official business by Zhang Juzheng and the Empress Dowager.

After this incognito tour, he knew the situation of the Ming Dynasty under his rule. When he took over the government in the future, he at least knew where the problems lay. As for how to solve them specifically, that would depend on his wisdom and the wisdom of the officials under his rule.

They stayed in Kaifeng for four or five days. When leaving Kaifeng, Wanli still felt a little reluctant to leave and said he wanted to continue eating when he returned.

The group drove to Dengfeng. They came from the capital, and wherever they passed was almost a vast plain. They had long been tired of the endless skyline, until they arrived in Dengfeng, and their vision finally began to be blocked, and there were undulating mountains, which suddenly felt refreshing.

Wanli had never climbed any mountain except Wansui Mountain since he was a child, and he had not even been to Xishan Mountain. So when he saw the mountain, he was extremely excited because he could finally climb a mountain.

Wanli was excited, while Zhao Yu and others were as if they were facing a great enemy. The emperor lived a life of luxury and rarely traveled, so how could he have climbed any mountain? Songshan is the Central Mountain. Although it is not as famous as Mount Tai, and not as steep as Mount Heng and Mount Hua, it is still one of the Five Mountains. It is definitely not an ordinary small mountain. The steep part is almost straight up and down. Some small paths carved out on the cliffs are extremely dangerous. If you are not careful, you will be doomed.

The Shaolin Temple in Songshan is not very high, but it stands out in the vast Central Plains. Therefore, for thousands of years, countless emperors, generals, and literati have left their footprints here. Buddhism and Taoism also chose to build temples and dojo here. There is also the famous Songyang Academy.

Therefore, Songshan Mountain not only has magnificent natural scenery, but also has a long and rich historical and cultural landscape.

Empress Dowager Li was a Buddhist and Shaolin Temple was known as the "ancestral home of Zen Buddhism". When Wanli came to Songshan, he naturally had to burn a stick of incense on behalf of the Empress Dowager.

Everyone accompanied Wanli to Shaoshi Mountain to visit Shaolin Temple and Pagoda Forest.

Wanli was young and energetic, and wanted to climb Mount Shaoshi by the way.

Min Xi had made a guide. The Songshan Mountain range consists of Taishi Mountain in the east and Shaoshi Mountain in the west. Shaoshi Mountain is steeper and more difficult to climb than Taishi Mountain, and it is very dangerous. The mountaineering road carved out between the cliffs will not have reinforced concrete guardrails like the era he lived in. Now there may not even be guardrails. They really dare not take the emperor to climb Shaoshi Mountain.

Min Xi advised Wanli: "Sir, I heard that the peak of Shaoshi Mountain is very steep and dangerous. Why don't we send someone to explore the route first to see if we can climb it. If not, we can go to Taishi Mountain, which is a little gentler."

Wanli became even more interested when he heard this: "It's fun only when there's a challenge. I'm going to climb Mount Shaoshi."

Zhao Yu said, "Sir, safety comes first. Let Teng Feng climb the Shaoshi Mountain first to see the situation. We will accompany you to climb the Taishi Mountain first."

Wanli frowned and said, "Okay, let's climb Mount Taishi first, and then climb Mount Shaoshi after climbing Mount Taishi."

Zhao Yu frowned when he heard this.

Min Xi quietly comforted Zhao Yu: "Brother Zhao, don't worry. Although Taishi Mountain is gentle, it will take at least four or five hours to climb up and down the mountain. Young Master has never climbed a mountain before. After he finishes climbing Taishi Mountain, he may never want to climb a mountain again."

Zhao Yu heard this and said, "Really?"

Min Xi smiled and nodded: "If you don't believe me, let's wait and see." With Wanli's small body, his legs will definitely be sore for several days after climbing Mount Taishi.

Min Xi's guess was correct. The fledgling Wanli had never experienced the hardship of climbing a mountain, so he was very happy when he climbed the mountain, jumping for joy all the way like a bird just out of a cage.

Mount Taishi has a gentle terrain. There are countless stairs all the way up the mountain from the entrance of Songyang Academy. Wanli thought it was too easy and not challenging at all. He thought it would be more interesting to climb Mount Shaoshi.

So after climbing for less than an hour, he declared that he would climb Mount Shaoshi the next day. However, before reaching the top of Junji Peak, he was speechless. He obviously lacked exercise and was panting and sweating profusely.

On the way, Min Xi found a Taoist temple for him to change his sweat-soaked underwear. Fortunately, although he was tired, Wanli was still very firm. He did not say he was tired, nor did he back down. He just did not say that he would continue to climb Shaoshi Mountain tomorrow.

Everyone took the initiative to slow down and cooperate with the little emperor to climb the mountain slowly.

Min Xi was well prepared. He not only brought spare clothes, but also enough dry food, such as roast chicken and tea eggs, and sesame-covered sesame cakes, one of the three best things in Dengfeng. He also carried enough water and stopped to replenish his energy when he was tired.

When climbing the mountain, I didn’t feel the scenery was so special because there were endless stairs in my view. Only when I turned around and looked back, I could see the scenery of Songshan. But when I went down the mountain, the scenery was completely different. Steep cliffs, rolling green hills, rugged mountain roads, treacherous rocks, bottomless mountain streams, and clear deep pools were all beautiful scenery.

Moreover, when we were going down the mountain, clouds and mist rose up in the mountains. For a moment, the clouds and mist were rising, making it look like a fairyland.

The mountain wind was howling, and people standing on the steep mountain road felt as if they were about to be lifted up by the wind.

Wanli was extremely satisfied with the mountain climbing experience and said that it was indeed one of the Five Great Mountains and the trip was well worthwhile.

However, the cost of this climb was quite high. When he reached the last section, he really could not walk anymore, so Yun Ji and Zhao Yu took turns to carry him down the mountain.