The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The carriage and bicycle were stuck in the crowd and couldn't move. The onlookers asked Min Xi: "What is that thing you are riding? How can it move by itself?"

Min Xi got off the bike, patted the seat and introduced: "This is a bicycle, a little gadget I made myself. Everyone please stop crowding around, please make way, I need to hurry."

The onlookers did not disperse, but instead gathered together to get a better look, and some even reached out to touch it.

"A bicycle? A bicycle that can run on its own?"

“I walked on it.”

"What does it eat?"

……

Min Xi smiled and said, "I don't eat anything. I just rely on my own strength to turn the wheels to move. Please make way for me. I have something else to do."

But the curious people were unwilling to leave and surrounded them. It seemed that they could not leave. Fortunately, several Jinyiwei came and said, "What are you doing? You are blocking the street. Disperse!"

When everyone saw that it was the Jinyiwei, they didn't dare to block them and quickly dispersed spontaneously.

After the crowd dispersed, the Jinyiwei saw Min Xi and his car and couldn't help asking, "What is this?"

Min Xi said: "The bicycle, I made it myself."

Jinyiwei saw that Min Xi did not show any fear or avoidance when he saw them, and his tone was very normal. They guessed that the other party's identity should not be an ordinary citizen: "Bicycle, can it go?"

"Yes, we are going to visit a friend. Thank you all for your help!" Min Xi clasped his fist towards them, then got on his bike and slowly left.

The Jinyiwei were so surprised when they saw the strange moving two-wheeled vehicle that their jaws almost dropped. No wonder so many people gathered to watch, it was truly extraordinary.

"This guy is really weird. He actually made such a strange thing that can move!" said a Jinyiwei.

"I'm so curious. Why don't we ask him to come and have some fun too?" said a Jinyiwei.

Soon someone knocked him on the head: "Do you have a brain? That's the Yunxiang's steward, Commander Feng's friend."

"Do you know him?" the colleague asked curiously.

"Yes, I know him. He's the one who came back from Fulangji with the owner of the Yunxiang. He's the sworn brother of the Yun family. When the Yunxiang Restaurant reopened and held a buffet, I went to the Yunxiang Restaurant with Commander Feng to eat the buffet and met him there." the man said.

"So it was him! He's really a wonderful person. Did he learn this from Fulangji?"

"Who knows. Anyway, it's quite interesting. Let's talk to Commander Feng and ask him to take us to see this thing."

"Sure, call me when the time comes. I want to study it, too. This thing seems more interesting than riding a horse."

Under everyone's gaze, Min Xi walked through the bustling streets and arrived outside Zhao Shizhen's house. He did not enter the house, but shouted outside the door: "Brother Chang Ji, are you home?"

Zhao Shizhen was writing at home, and when he heard Min Xi's voice, he did not move, but continued to write. Mrs. Zhao heard the voice, came out and opened the door, and said, "Min Sir, my husband is writing, so it is inconvenient to welcome guests. Let me come over to greet him. Please come in!"

"No, ma'am, I'm not going in." Min Xi stayed on the bike and refused to get off. "I'll just wait for him outside. When he finishes writing, he'll come out to find me. I can ride a bike now."

Mrs. Zhao looked at the bicycle under him and said, "Is this the bicycle that my husband and I made together?"

"That's right!" Min Xi replied.

Mrs. Zhao was extremely curious, but in order to avoid suspicion, she did not step out of the courtyard, but waited for Zhao Shizhen in the courtyard. Not long after, Zhao Shizhen came out, saw the bicycle, his eyes lit up, and he stepped out of the door in two or three steps: "Brother Quanzhen, can you ride it?"

"I got it. It's extremely easy and you'll be able to do it in less than half a day. I'll show you how to ride it." Min Xi rode his bike back and forth in the alley in front of Zhao Shizhen's house.

Zhao Shizhen and his wife stood at the door with their eyes wide open. Zhao Shizhen clapped his hands excitedly and laughed: "Wonderful! It really is a bicycle. I want to learn how to ride it, too."

"No problem. Let me give it a try." Min Xi got off the bike and handed it to Zhao Shizhen. "Seventh brother, please help Chang Ji."

Yun Ji nodded: "Okay."

Zhao Shizhen also learned to ride like Min Xi, but he was not tall and his legs were not long enough, so he began to fall to one side as soon as he got on. Yun Ji held the bike steadily from behind: "Slow down, keep your balance, and pedal hard so that the bike won't fall."

However, Zhao Shizhen still couldn't grasp the trick, so Min Xi finally took the bike from him and taught Zhao Shizhen how to ride a bike by sliding it on one foot. Once he could slide steadily, he could get on and ride it.

Zhao Shizhen rode the bicycle back and forth in the alley for an hour or so before he finally learned how to ride it. He was so excited that he danced with joy and said, "Great! I learned how to ride a bicycle! I will make one in the future. I can ride it to and from the government office without having to buy a horse and a carriage."

Min Xi smiled and said, "I'll make one for you later."

Zhao Shizhen waved his hands and said, "That's impossible! The cost of making a car is not low."

"It's okay. Brother Seven and I plan to make more and sell them. We'll give you a share of the profits for every car we sell. Giving you one is also part of the compensation."

Zhao Shizhen was surprised and asked, "You want to make it and sell it?"

"Yes, when we were walking through the streets just now, we attracted a lot of people to watch. There is no shortage of rich people in Beijing, so there must be many people willing to pay for it." Min Xi said with a smile.

Yun Ji said: "But this car will probably be copied soon. We can make a batch first, sell them at a high price, and then let others copy them."

Min Xi nodded, touched his chin and said, "It's a pity that Ming Dynasty has no intellectual property rights, otherwise it would make a lot of money just by collecting patent fees."

"Yeah, that's a pity!"

Zhao Shizhen didn't understand what Min Xi said.

Min Xi said, "That's settled then. Let's go back and arrange this first. We can start doing other things tomorrow."

"Okay!" Zhao Shizhen had seen many design drawings from Min Xi and knew that there would be a lot of things to do next. Anyway, his life would not be boring in the future.

Yun Ji said, "Let me ride when we get back. I'll take Lin'er and you can ride in the carriage."

"Okay." Min Xi agreed readily.

Yun Ji carried Yun Lin onto the beam, let him sit there, and rode on it, moving forward steadily. Zhao Shizhen looked at Yun Ji's back and was very surprised that the beam could be used in this way!

Mrs. Zhao watched them leave and said, "It turns out that my husband doesn't come home after leaving the court every day. He goes to make that bicycle with Lord Min. It's really interesting. Lord Min said he would give my husband a bicycle like that. Then we don't have to raise horses. Our yard is small, raising horses is not only expensive, but we don't have the space to raise them."

Zhao Shizhen said: "Lord Min said that if we make money, we will give me dividends. When we have money, we will rent a bigger yard and buy a carriage, so that it will be convenient for Madam to go out."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhao couldn't help but feel relieved. It seemed that the skills her husband possessed could really earn her money. In that case, she would be less stressed. She was really worried about how long her dowry could fill the hole in the family. At least she wouldn't be living off the family savings.

Yun Ji rode the bike with Yun Lin all the way back, which naturally caused quite a stir. It turned out that this strange two-wheeled vehicle could actually carry people, and it seemed to be quite useful. Many people were tempted to own one, which would be great. It was fast, light, and much more convenient than a horse-drawn carriage.