The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

This was probably the most pleasant and relaxing day Wanli had ever had in his memory. Like a country boy, he took off his shoes and socks and went fishing barefoot in the creek, picked watermelons in the melon field with his own hands, picked vegetables in the fields, rolled around in the sea of ​​purple lavender flowers, dug up earth in the wild to build a kiln to make chickens, and lit a bonfire for barbecue.

Min Xi made stewed potatoes and roasted corn for Wanli, and it was the first time that Wanli tasted this imported food.

"Is this the food you brought back from Europe? It tastes very good and fragrant." Wanli ate until his mouth was full of charred food and praised it highly.

Min Xi also made fried potato chips and potato chips for Wanli: "There are many ways to eat these grains, and they have low requirements for the growing environment. They can be grown in both the north and the south, and they can grow well in the dry and rainless environment in the north."

"Such a good grain crop should be promoted nationwide," said Wanli.

"The Ministry of Revenue has been planting potatoes for several years and has also promoted them in the capital and northern Zhili. I think the promotion speed is still too slow. We should increase our efforts and promote them nationwide." The last time he went to Songshan, Min Xi saw potatoes in the market in northern Zhili, but he never saw them again when he arrived in Henan. It can be seen that the promotion speed is still not as fast as he expected.

Wanli said: "It should indeed be promoted nationwide. Later, you write a memorial to remind me and I will tell the teacher."

On this day, Wanli did many things on the farm that he had never done in his life. It was a brand new experience for him. There was no emperor, only a caged boy who had been imprisoned for a long time and finally returned to nature.

Wanli was exhausted after playing until it was dark, but he didn't want to go back to the city. He got on the bus reluctantly until he had to leave.

Yunlin had been following Wanli around for the whole day and was now extremely exhausted. He fell asleep on the way back in the carriage. Min Xi held him in his arms and let him sleep.

Min Xi looked at Wanli who was sitting opposite him and yawning, and said, "Are you tired, young master?"

"It's okay. It's just that the fragrance of the flowers is nice, and seems quite hypnotic." Wanli held a big bunch of lavender in his arms. He liked the fragrance of the flowers very much. When he left, he cut a big bunch of them and refused to let anyone help him. He insisted on carrying them himself.

"Young master likes the scent of this flower. I will make some essential oil and present it to you. This essential oil can help you sleep." Min Xi said.

"Okay." Wanli did not refuse. Although he was young, his sleep quality was not very good. Ultimately, it was because he was under too much pressure.

The carriages and horses quickly entered the city, and the surroundings suddenly became noisy. Wanli opened the curtains, looked at the scene outside, and sighed helplessly: "I'm back again."

Min Xi said: "If you like it, you can go again in the future."

Wanli shook his head: "It's okay to go once in a while, but it's not appropriate to go often."

This was mainly due to security considerations. If the emperor often left the palace and always went to the same place, security problems would easily arise and he might be ambushed by someone with ulterior motives.

Min Xi had no choice but to say, "If you want to find someone to talk to you, you can summon us to the palace at any time."

Wanli nodded: "I will."

As it was getting late, the carriage took people directly to the outside of the palace gate, where a sedan chair was already waiting. Wanli got on the sedan chair, waved to Min Xi and Yun Ji, and went into the palace.

Min Xi and Yun Ji returned home and put Yun Lin, who was already fast asleep, to rest. They ate something, took a shower, and sat on the lounge chairs in the yard to enjoy the cool air and chat.

Although the summer in the capital is hot, it is still cool at night. The wind is strong, making the leaves rustle. The two talked a lot about everything that happened in the farm today.

Yun Ji suddenly said with emotion: "It is said that being an emperor is the most honorable thing in the world, but in fact, there are many things that cannot be decided by one's will. When His Majesty entered the palace today, he seemed very reluctant to leave."

"So what? This is his fate. He has the most honorable position in the world, so naturally he has to pay the price of losing his freedom. The greater the power, the greater the responsibility," said Min Xi.

"Who said it wasn't?" Yun Ji shrugged.

Min Xi thought for a moment and said, "In fact, everyone is the same. To gain something, you have to lose something. Not to mention Your Majesty, even we ourselves have given up our free and easy lives for the ideals in our hearts, haven't we?"

"Yes. Do you still want to go to Portugal? Sometimes at night I would suddenly dream of returning to Lisbon when we were still living in the attic of the hotel." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi looked at him sideways, somewhat understanding him. At that time, they really depended on each other. They were so busy every day, but because they had a common goal, they didn't feel tired: "I occasionally dream about that time. But I haven't thought about going back. Portugal will change in the next few years, and Portugal will not be the Portugal we are familiar with in the future."

Yun Ji was shocked: "What do you mean?"

Min Xi said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the king will soon be gone."

"What do you mean? Are you saying the king will die?" Yun Ji asked in surprise.

"Almost. According to the course of history, the young king died on the battlefield. There is no heir to the Portuguese throne, and it will be annexed by Spain."

"How could it be! The king is still so young!" Yun Ji sat up straight, thinking it was such a pity. He had a good impression of the humble little king. "What about the barons?"

"The Baron is a noble. Under normal circumstances, as long as he does not oppose the new king's accession to the throne, it should not affect him. European nobles value bloodline. The new king is related to Sebastian I by blood. For the sake of stability, the new king will still treat the nobles well. It all depends on what the Baron chooses."

Yun Ji was silent for a long time, and could not help asking: "Ninth brother, you know the direction of history. According to the normal course of history, what is the future of our Ming Dynasty?"

Min Xi thought about it and said, "The drought will cause a peasant uprising, and the Jurchens outside the Great Wall will take advantage of the situation, enter the Great Wall, and destroy the Ming Dynasty."

Yun Ji took a deep breath: "Another foreign race! How long will it take?" As a person of the Ming Dynasty, which succeeded the Yuan Dynasty, Yun Ji had a deep understanding of foreign races ruling the Central Plains. It was inhumane for foreign races to invade and enslave the Han people in the Central Plains. He could already foresee the tragic scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Min Xi said: "From now on, it will only be fifty or sixty years."

Yun Ji was silent for a moment. Time passed much faster than he expected. "We must do something."

"Yes. I have been working hard to change the course of history a little bit."

"So you have to bring back those crops." Yun Ji finally realized why Min Xi had to look for those crops. Because of the drought, the food crop was completely cut off, leading to peasant riots. He brought back those drought-resistant crops, and today he did not forget to remind the emperor to promote them nationwide, for he was afraid that natural disasters would cause food crop failure again.

"Yes. If we can promote potatoes, rice and sweet potatoes, even if droughts cannot be eliminated in the future, the food gap can be filled to some extent. We can also requisition food from other places for disaster relief, and the people will not riot." Min Xi said.

"Tomorrow I will write a memorial to remind Your Majesty to promote this matter." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi said: "The Zhenren are a big problem, we have to find a way to solve it."

Yun Ji frowned: "The Jurchens are a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. They live in an extremely cold place. If we conquer them in advance to prevent any danger, the cost will be high and it may not be successful." In fact, in the early Ming Dynasty, the Jurchens were still a minority tribe ruled by the Ming Dynasty. It was only later that the imperial court gave up stationing troops in Liaodong and turned the Jurchens into a vassal state with a tributary relationship.

"Although there are not many Jurchens, they are too scattered and it is indeed difficult to fight them." Min Xi tapped his hand on the armrest of the recliner. "I have a bold idea. The Liaodong area is too cold. We can arrange a warm place for them."

Yun Ji asked: "Where?"

Min Xi said: "The Korean Peninsula is warmer than Liaodong, so they can conquer the Korean Peninsula."

Yun Ji coughed suddenly: "Aren't they all our vassal states?"

"They are just vassal states. We can't get any benefits from them. Instead, we have to let them come to us for profit every year. This is called diverting trouble to others. If they fight, we, the Ming Dynasty, will not get involved. We can also lend ships to the Jurchens and transport them to Japan, which is warmer than the Korean Peninsula. They will like it." Min Xi said.

Yun Ji was confused: "Why did you mention Japan again?"

"Of course Japan is indeed a good place, and the Japanese pirates are so hateful!" Min Xi said gritting his teeth.

"The Japanese pirates are indeed hateful. But can the Jurchens defeat the Japanese pirates?" Yun Ji said uncertainly.

"They definitely can't fight a naval battle, as they have no experience in naval battles. But once they get ashore, the Jurchens are still very capable of fighting, and each of them is brave and good at fighting." It's sad to think that two hundred thousand Qing soldiers could sweep across the Ming Dynasty!

"It sounds good, but the question is how to provoke a war between them?" Yun Ji frowned and thought seriously.

Min Xi said: "So this is where the difficulty lies."

In fact, he had a second-best idea. Based on his understanding of the Northeastern people's love for Hainan Island, if the Jurchens could be moved to Hainan, they would definitely like it. Moving to Hainan would be much easier than taking over the Japanese islands.