The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Feng Qingzi lowered his eyes and drank tea silently. Danyangzi glanced at his master, and when Feng Qingzi glanced at him sideways, he also picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Min Xi said, "I want to hire someone who knows how to make elixirs to help me with alchemy. If there is such a talent in the temple, I hope the two Taoists can recommend him to me. Of course, it won't be for free, I will pay him."

The master and disciple remained silent.

Min Xi knew that the two Taoist priests must be very cautious, fearing that someone else would get hold of the evidence, so he could only quietly accompany them to drink tea.

At this time, Aunt Qu arrived and asked Feng Qingzi to take her pulse.

Min Xi then whispered to Dan Yangzi, "Master, can you please spare me a moment to talk?"

Upon hearing this, Danyangzi hesitated, glanced at his master who was treating a patient, and followed Min Xi out the door.

Min Xi walked into the yard and whispered to Dan Yangzi, "I just noticed that the Taoist priest looked strange. Does the Taoist priest know how to make elixirs?"

Dan Yangzi hesitated for a moment, but still said: "When Emperor Shizong was still alive, I learned alchemy from my master, but I haven't practiced it for many years."

"So Taoist Feng Qing knows how to make elixirs." Min Xi glanced inside the door, "Then is Taoist Danyang interested in alchemy?"

Dan Yangzi put his hands in his sleeves and said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince Master about this matter. He is old, and we, as his disciples, don't want him to be frightened."

Min Xi decided to reveal his identity: "To be honest, my brother and I are both appointed officials of the imperial court. How dare we go against the emperor's will and secretly make elixirs? I make alchemy, which can be said to be serving the imperial court. The best steel can not only be used to make bicycles, but also to make muskets and artillery for the Ministry of War. Taoist priest has learned the skills of alchemy, but he can no longer use them in this life. Isn't it a pity?"

Upon hearing this, Danyangzi looked at Min Xi in astonishment. Although there were many officials in the capital, he had never met officials like Min Xi and Yun Ji who were not at all arrogant. If it were someone arrogant and domineering, they would go directly to the temple to ask for people and force them to make alchemy for him, and they would not dare to disobey.

Danyangzi bowed hurriedly and said, "I am a poor monk who cannot recognize Mount Tai. If I have offended you, please forgive me."

Min Xi waved his hand and said, "No need to be so polite. I am the chief clerk of the Honglu Temple. Alchemy is my hobby, but I have little experience and the results are not good. I want to find some knowledgeable people to study together, so I bother you. If you don't believe me, you can follow me to the backyard to see if I am refining pills or something else."

Seeing that he was still polite after revealing his identity and did not use his power to bully others, Dan Yangzi bowed and said, "I dare not question you, sir. There is no need to go and see. I just need to ask Master whether I can come here to help you."

"That's fine. Go back and discuss it with your master. If you're interested, come to my house and help. By the way, there is a salary, two taels of silver a month. If you refine something useful, there will be extra rewards."

The price offered by Min Xi was really high. As an eighth-rank official, his annual salary was only more than thirty taels of silver. Of course, he did not live on salary. The reason why he offered Danyangzi such a high salary was naturally because he was a professional and technical talent, and the salary of technical talents should be higher.

Although Danyangzi had become a Taoist priest, he was still tempted by the salary. Their Baiyun Temple relied on incense to make a living. In the past, the emperor promoted Taoism, and the incense was prosperous, so they naturally had no worries about money. But now the court cracked down on Taoist alchemists, and Taoism was also affected. The incense was no longer prosperous, and life was naturally much poorer. Other expenses were not so bad, but the Baiyun Temple was quite large, and if it was not popular, the buildings with few people would easily fall into disrepair, and it would cost a lot of money to repair those buildings.

When the master and disciple left the Yun family, Danyangzi told Feng Qingzi what Min Xi had said to them.

Feng Qingzi, who was riding on a donkey, looked at him and asked, "Are they really officials appointed by the imperial court?"

Danyangzi, who was leading the donkey, answered: "That's what they said."

Feng Qingzi looked back at the Yun family's mansion. Even in the capital, it was considered a wealthy family. "Go find someone nearby to ask if it's true."

"Eh!"

Danyangzi asked a child playing on Jixiang Street, and the child said, "That family belongs to the Hanlin master."

This was different from what he heard from Min Xi. Dan Yangzi asked an elderly man again. The old man had lost all his teeth and said with a pursed mouth: "The Yun family? The Yun family is rich. They are all officials now, Hanlin masters."

"Does he have a brother who is also an official?" Danyangzi asked.

"That shouldn't be the case. His brother is still young, only about ten years old," said the old man.

Dan Yangzi was confused and went back to report to Feng Qingzi: "The Yun family is an official in the Hanlin Academy, but his brother is not an official. He is only in his teens."

Feng Qingzi scolded him: "Are you confused? The person who came to see us is surnamed Min, or did you forget the tablet you wrote for his parents?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I almost forgot, they must not be brothers."

Feng Qingzi continued, "He said he would give you two taels of silver a month and ask you to do the alchemy?"

"Yes, if you refine something useful, there will be a reward."

"You want to go?"

Dan Yangzi nodded: "Disciple wants to give it a try." He was quite interested in alchemy, but unfortunately he didn't have much chance to do it anymore. When alchemy was banned, all the furnaces in the temple were smashed.

"If you really want to go, ask someone about the situation there first, and then decide whether to go or not," Feng Qingzi said.

After a few days, Danyangzi didn't come to see Min Xi. He thought Danyangzi would not come, but he came again. He had been asking about Min Xi's situation these days, and finally confirmed Min Xi's identity. He was indeed not lying. The fact that he and Yunji encountered a shipwreck and returned from Europe was quite famous in the capital. He even inquired about the donation of the ship, which showed that what he said was true.

"Master, you are here after all. I thought you were not coming." Min Xi was happy to see people. Having someone come to help him would make the possibility better than what he imagined on his own.

Dan Yangzi said: "I only knew how to make pills before, I don't know if I can make what you need."

"It's okay. Try more and you will get something." Min Xi needs someone who is experienced and brave enough to try it together. "I'll take you to see my laboratory."

Dan Yangzi thought that the laboratory must be the alchemy room.

Min Xi asked: "Master, since you are here to work for me, do you have to go back to the Taoist temple every day, or do you live in our house? It's fine if you want to live here, because the last thing you need at home is a house."

"Let me consider."

Dan Yangzi followed Min Xi for a long way, through several courtyards, and finally arrived at the Osmanthus Garden. Min Xi explained: "Alchemy and alchemy actually have something in common. Both are dangerous, so I deliberately chose this more remote courtyard. In case of a furnace explosion or fire, it is not easy to spread to other places. By the way, Taoist priest, alchemy is risky, you should know that, right? When calcining, some things may be poisonous, you need to take appropriate protective measures to avoid hurting yourself."

Dan Yangzi said: "I know this."

When he saw the bellows and furnaces in the Osmanthus Garden, he could only think of one word: crude! It was too crude, not even a furnace. This was not what he had imagined.

Min Xi smiled and said, "The conditions are very simple. If you need anything else, just tell me."

Dan Yangzi asked: "Is there no alchemy furnace?"

"No, I'm not doing this for alchemy. So the Taoist priest may have to change his mind. I will take you to our blacksmith shop later to see how to make fine steel." Min Xi also knew that this matter could not be rushed. Dan Yangzi studied alchemy before, and at most he was a person with experimental experience, but the experiments he did might not be what he needed, so he needed to familiarize himself with the product, understand the direction of the work, and then slowly change it.