The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

With an agreement with Zhang Juzheng, Min Xi had to put the voyage on the agenda and decided to set off next year. Although no one could guarantee that Zhang Juzheng would be able to hold on until they returned from overseas, Min Xi believed that with Zhang Juzheng's ability and skills, he should leave himself a way out.

Since it was decided to set off next year, Min Xi had to write a letter to call Captain Reis back. The Baron's sailors were probably not all arranged to leave yet, so he asked them if they were willing to be hired to go to the New World. After all, those sailors were used to the New World. Although they had not traveled the Pacific route, they were definitely more familiar with the situation in the American continent than Min Xi.

Min Xi told the Baron about his decision to go to sea, after all, it concerned his captains and sailors. When the Baron heard that he was going to go to sea, he couldn't help but want to go with him.

Min Xi advised him: "You just moved to Beijing not long ago. Alice and Bella are not yet fully familiar with the environment and they don't speak the language very well. When we are all gone, they won't even have anyone to rely on. Are you sure you want to leave them here?"

Upon hearing this, the baron could only sigh helplessly: "It's a pity that I can't go on this adventure with you."

Min Xi smiled and said, "You have already had a huge adventure from Europe to the Ming Dynasty. Aren't you satisfied yet?"

"Of course not. Although the sailing process is hard and painful, it is very interesting to see different scenery and people and come into contact with new things every time we arrive at a port. Don't you like adventure too? Otherwise, why would you still want to go to sea?" The baron asked Min Xi.

Min Xi couldn't tell him the real reason why he went to sea, so he just said, "I don't like adventure, but we gave up the European route and wanted to open up a new route, so we had to go on this trip."

"Why don't you just leave it to Reis? Why do you have to go yourself?"

Min Xi shook his head: "This time, we are not only sailing on our own ships, but also on the ships of the imperial court. We are going on a mission in the name of the imperial court, and we need an official from the imperial court to represent the Ming Dynasty, so the imperial court sent me and my seventh brother to go."

The baron understood that they were going to sea this time under the order of the Ming Emperor: "Well, I wish you a smooth voyage and a safe return soon."

"Thank you!"

The imperial edict of the court came down soon, appointing Yun Ji as the chief envoy and Min Xi as the deputy envoy. The two led a fleet of ten galleons and battleships. The purpose was the same as Zheng He's, to promote the country's prestige. After all, Min Xi's talk of going to the New World to enclose land and mine for gold was not something that could be brought to the table.

With the imperial edict, organizing a fleet would be much easier.

Yun Ji's work as a Deputy Director of the Ministry of Revenue was also stopped. He took the opportunity to hand over the work at hand at the end of the year. After the New Year, he concentrated on organizing the sea voyage and no longer went to the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhang Juzheng took this opportunity to report the situation to the emperor, saying that he had lost Yunji, his right-hand man, and that the Ministry of Revenue had a lot of work to do at the end of the year. He proposed to recall Tao Lizhi, who had been in mourning at home for two years, and return to the Ministry of Revenue to take over Yunji's work.

Although allowing Tao Lizhi to resume his post ahead of schedule was a form of taking advantage of others' feelings, after all, his mourning period had not yet been over, but he had already been in mourning for two years. The court was in urgent need of people, and the Ministry of Revenue had complicated official business, and a newcomer was simply not qualified for it. Tao Lizhi was originally the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and was very familiar with its work. It was most appropriate for him to come back and take charge.

The emperor also thought it made sense, so he issued an order to reinstate Tao Lizhi and restore him to his original position as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. It is hard to say that the emperor did not agree to this for the sake of Min Xi and Yun Ji.

This was also Zhang Juzheng's way of leaving a way out. If he really didn't make it until Min Xi and Yun Ji came back, at least Tao Lizhi's existence could remind Wanli that there were still Min Xi and Yun Ji. Zhang Juzheng knew very clearly that the young emperor trusted Min Xi and Yun Ji more than himself. If he died, with Min Xi and Yun Ji around, those treacherous villains would find it difficult to deceive the emperor and disrupt the government.

Min Xi's work was handed over easily. The Honglu Temple didn't have much work to do. His main work this year was to settle Baron Fernando's family and assist the court in buying three galleons. There was nothing else for him to deal with in the government office, so he left easily.

On the contrary, the work of handing over to Danyangzi and others was much more tedious than the work in the yamen. Min Xi was going to sea, but he did not want the research on the nature of things to stop, so he handed over the authority of the research to Danyangzi, who was in charge of continuing the research with Qiu Mengxing, Li Haichang and others. As for the silver needed, he would go to the manager of Liulichang to withdraw it.

After they left, everything in Liulichang remained the same. In the past two years, the operation of Liulichang has matured. Some people are responsible for production, some are responsible for taking orders, and some are responsible for overall planning. They are all trained by Min Xi himself and are trustworthy. Wanli also sent people to supervise, but Wanli's people did not care about the specific matters. They were only responsible for collecting money.

During the Chinese New Year, Wanli summoned Min Xi and Yun Ji into the palace and talked a lot about going to sea and also asked about the arrangements for Liulichang.

Min Xi told Wanli about the arrangements for Liulichang, and he nodded: "Just make the arrangements. But aren't you planning to build a Liulichang in Jiangnan after the New Year? If you leave, will the Liulichang in Jiangnan not be built?"

Min Xi said, "Build it. We still have some days before we can leave. I will go to Jiangnan to select a site first. Once the address is finalized, the original team from the capital can go there. When the factory is built, we can send some of the craftsmen from the capital to start production. But I am afraid I can't take care of the rest. Your Majesty needs to ask about it occasionally."

"It's okay. I'll take care of it." Wanli was still very interested in the money made by Liulichang. The Liulichang in the capital could earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year. Jiangnan was prosperous, so the profit could be even greater.

Although hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were not much compared to the financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty, it was not a small amount of money for the emperor's private treasury. At least the emperor would not have to worry about money when rewarding court officials and concubines. If the Liulichang in Jiangnan was opened, he would not have to worry about money.

Who could understand the embarrassment of an emperor who had to count carefully in the account book while giving out rewards with a wave of his hand? Min Xi's Liulichang just solved his urgent problem, so he attached great importance to Liulichang.