The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Although Min Xi only casually talked about provoking a war between the Jurchens, Korea and Japan, Yun Ji was seriously considering its feasibility.

He is now an official appointed by the imperial court. Although what Min Xi said will happen decades later, a gentleman must know the greater and the more distant, and cannot only care about the immediate interests. At the very least, he must get rid of the potential threat of the Jurchens.

Not long after this, Zhao Shizhen returned from his hometown with his newlywed wife. His family knew that he had sought an official position in the capital, and they also provided financial support. Although he could not buy a house in the capital, he could at least rent a decent house near the government office.

After Zhao Shizhen went to the yamen, it took him some time to adapt to the routine of the Honglu Temple. He was very uncomfortable with this state of doing nothing every day, and he said to Min Xi: "Brother Quanzhen, we eat the emperor's salary, but do nothing. Is this really good?"

Quanzhen is Min Xi's pen name, which was given to him by Tao Hong. Min Xi himself felt it was strange, but he didn't want to object. He seldom introduced his pen name to others and only people he was familiar with knew it.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Changji, it takes a thousand days to raise an army, and when the foreign envoys come, we will have something to do. The affairs of the government office are very leisurely, but the salary is not much. You have five stones and I have five and a half stones. If we only rely on this salary, we can barely make a living in the capital. If you want to buy some pens, ink, paper and inkstone, I'm afraid you will have to budget carefully. Changji can use this free time to think about how to make money."

Zhao Shizhen frowned. This was indeed a problem. His salary was only thirty taels of silver a year. Besides, the Honglu Temple was a poor government office with almost no benefits. It was almost impossible for him to make extra money.

When he was in the Imperial College, his family had to prepare at least 100 taels of silver for his expenses every year, which was still a little insufficient, so he had to sell some calligraphy to supplement. Now he has married, his wife brought a maid as a dowry, and he brought a maid and an old man from home. These five people cannot be supported by 30 taels of silver. They have no property in Beijing, so they still need to be supplemented by their family.

Zhao Shizhen couldn't help but sighed: "I thought I had finally gotten a chance to make a name for myself by getting a job, but in the end, my life is still so difficult."

Min Xi patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I have a way to make money and I can teach you how to do it."

"Really? What is it?" Zhao Shizhen became interested.

Min Xi said, "I want to make something, and I've been waiting for you to come back and help me. If I can make it, I will definitely get your reward."

"What is it?"

"You'll know when you come to my house. Get in the carriage." Min Xi said.

Zhao Shizhen was stunned: "Go now?"

"Yes. Should we say hello to Mrs. Zhao in advance?" Min Xi asked.

Zhao Shizhen thought for a moment and asked, "Will it take a long time?"

"That depends on your arrangements. I think it's better to say hello in advance. You may come to my house often in the future. I'll let the carriage take you back." Min Xi suggested.

"Okay." Zhao Shizhen was newly married. Although he could not say that he had a deep relationship with his wife who was arranged by his parents and matchmaker, they at least treated each other with respect.

After sending Zhao Shizhen home, Min Xi also paid a visit and told Mrs. Zhao that he would ask Zhao Shizhen for help and that it would be like this for a long time in the future. He would not come home immediately after leaving the office, so she should relax and not worry.

Min Xi could be considered Zhao Shizhen's boss, so Mrs. Zhao naturally agreed with his polite explanation and even wanted to invite him to have lunch, which of course Min Xi refused.

Min Xi invited Zhao Shizhen to have a meal at Yunxiang Restaurant and then took him back.

Zhao Shizhen looked at the words on the door and asked in surprise, "Is this Lord Yun's residence?"

"Yes, I have been living with my seventh brother since I came to Beijing," Min Xi explained.

Zhao Shizhen knew that they had a good relationship and were sworn brothers, but he didn't expect that Min Xi had been living in Yun Ji's house. It seemed that their relationship was unusually good.

When the servants in the house saw them, they greeted Min Xi respectfully.

Min Xi led Zhao Shizhen to the study: "Brother Zhao, please wait here. I will go get the painting."

The Yun family's study is usually used to receive guests, while Min Xi and Yun Ji read on a daily basis in their own Xiwei Courtyard, where there is actually a small study as well, and the design drawings he drew are also kept in the Xiwei Courtyard.

Zhao Shizhen was drinking tea in the study while checking the books in the Yun family's study. Needless to say, he found a lot of good things, including many rare books and even unique books. After all, the Yun family was wealthy and had a bookstore with wide channels, so they naturally wanted to keep the good things for themselves.

Zhao Shizhen was filled with envy, thinking that it was better to be rich.

When Min Xi came over with the blueprints, Zhao Shizhen was reading a rare book. Min Xi put the blueprints on the table and said, "Chang Ji, these are the drawings I drew. I want to make them all. Can you help me take a look?"

Zhao Shizhen put down the rare book in his hand and went to the desk to look at Min Xi's painting.

Min Xi pressed the blueprint with a paperweight. Zhao Shizhen's eyes widened: "Did you draw this?"

"Yes."

Min Xi's design drawings were all drawn using the perspective method, which was not common in actual application in the Ming Dynasty, and could even be said to be rare, so Zhao Shizhen was so surprised. He himself was good at handicrafts, so he understood this perspective drawing method very quickly. After taking a few more glances, he understood the meaning of the picture.

"This painting method is very interesting. Did you learn it from Europe?" Zhao Shizhen asked.

"I guess so." The perspective method that Min Xixue learned was almost entirely introduced to China from the West. Traditional Chinese perspective painting methods do exist, but they have not been used in design drawings.

Min Xi said: "These drawings are all designed by me, such as this one, which is a bicycle, and this one is a steam engine. I want to turn them into real objects."

"What are these used for?" asked Zhao Shizhen.

Min Xi then told Zhao Shizhen about his design ideas.

After listening to this, Zhao Shizhen said, "So these things can't be made of wood or stone, right?"

Min Xi nodded: "Yes, if you want to realize their functions, you have to use copper and iron. What I'm thinking is to make a wooden model first, and then make the real thing based on this model."

"Okay, then let's make a bicycle model first." Zhao Shizhen was very interested in bicycles. It was amazing that a bicycle could be moved by human pedaling without the need for animals. If he had a bicycle, he wouldn't have to consider buying a horse and a carriage.

Min Xi learned carpentry for a few months, but he was still far behind Zhao Shizhen, who had been doing handicrafts for many years.

Zhao Shizhen was very smart, had strong analytical and hands-on skills, and that afternoon they had processed some of the materials needed for the bicycle model.

The studio is right next to the study. It was specially cleaned out by Yun Ji for Min Xi to use. He usually saws and planes wood and makes small things to play with here.

However, there are barriers to entry when learning carpentry. He did not hire a master to teach him, but relied entirely on his own exploration. As a result, he did not grasp many tricks, such as the mortise and tenon structure that could never be put together.

In this respect, Zhao Shizhen is much better than him. The mortise and tenon structures he makes always fit together perfectly.