The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After buying the land, Min Xi hurried back to Beijing, taking advantage of the time to get more things done before he went out to sea.

He returned to Beijing to report to Wanli on the purchase of mountain land in Yingtian Prefecture. After listening to Min Xi's report, Wanli nodded and said, "That's great. I will leave all matters concerning Liulichang to Min Qing."

After Min Xi got Wanli's approval, he naturally had no more worries and turned around to arrange the construction of the new factory.

With previous experience, it would naturally be easier to build another Liulichang, and all the unreasonable aspects of the Beijing Liulichang could be avoided.

It was just a difficult task to mobilize a group of people to go to Yingtianfu to build a factory and become masters. Jiangnan Liuli Factory was a new factory, and it was necessary to bring a group of craftsmen to preside over the entire glass firing process. This trip would take at least one or two years, and some would even stay in the south for a long time.

People in this period were more attached to their land and would not easily move to other places. Therefore, Min Xi not only needed to consider the resettlement of the craftsmen, but also their families. Only by letting them move their families there could they settle down in the south. Of course, whether to move or not depended on the craftsmen's choice.

Shortly after Min Xi returned to Beijing, Captain Reis rushed to Beijing from Macau. After receiving Min Xi's letter, he went to ask the Portuguese sailors who had not yet left whether they should follow them to the New World.

The Portuguese sailors who had been waiting for the opportunity to return home were very excited when they first heard about the chance to go to the New World. That was a familiar territory for them. As long as they reached the New World, why would they worry about not having the opportunity to return to Portugal?

However, when everyone heard that they were going to the New World from the Pacific Ocean, they all backed off. After all, no one had ever taken this route, the risk level was unknown, the road ahead was unknown, and it was also unknown whether they could return to Portugal.

"I've advised them, but few are willing to go to the New World. They've been away from home for too long and they all want to return to Lisbon as soon as possible." Captain Reis said this with a hint of apology, feeling that he had not done a good job of the task assigned to him by Min Xi.

"It doesn't matter. If you don't want to come, then don't come. We can go by ourselves. Don't we have the nautical chart given to us by old Hughes? We should be able to find the New World." Min Xi had a rough idea of ​​the coordinates of the Australian continent, so it wouldn't be a problem to find it. Although there would be some losses for those Portuguese sailors not going, it also meant that the location of the Australian continent would not be exposed to Europe.

"So when do we set off?" asked Captain Reiss.

Min Xi said, "It will take two or three months to set off."

"So early!" Reis was a little surprised.

"Leave before typhoons occur to minimize risks."

To be honest, they really don't have much time left. They have to set off at the latest in May or June of the Gregorian calendar, which is the Dragon Boat Festival. At the most, there are less than two months left.

I don’t know if Yun Ji is going well. If not, he might not be able to return to the capital to say goodbye to Yun Lin.

During the time when Min Xi and Yun Ji were away, Yun Lin had passed the county exam with excellent results and was preparing for the prefectural exam in April. Min Xi didn't dare to tell him that Yun Ji might not be able to come back to say goodbye to him, and he couldn't accompany him to the prefectural exam, because he was about to leave the capital to Yingtian Prefecture to arrange the construction of Liulichang, and go directly to Quanzhou. After all, sufficient preparations must be made for ocean voyages. One negligence may result in death, or even no return.

In mid-March, Min Xi received a letter from Yun Ji, which was sent from Fujian, saying that he was now preparing to set off for Guangzhou Prefecture because Guangzhou Prefecture had a galleon and a battleship.

If everything goes well, he will bring the two ships back to Quanzhou, and then prepare the supplies needed for the ocean voyage in Quanzhou. He probably won't have time to return to the capital, so let Min Xi go to Quanzhou to meet him.

After Min Xi received the letter, he knew that it was time for him to set off. He first notified the selected craftsmen in Liulichang to prepare to set off, and then took Yun Ji's letter to Wenchang Academy to find Yun Lin.

Min Xi and Yun Ji rarely went to the academy to see Yun Lin, so Yun Lin was very surprised when he saw Min Xi, but he also felt a little uneasy: "Second brother, why did you come to see me?"

Min Xi handed him the food box in his hand: "I brought you some food. The dishes were made by me and the snacks were made by Diego. Take it and eat with your classmates."

"When will brother be back?" Yun Lin asked as he took the lunch box.

"He should be in Guangzhou Prefecture now. The time for us to set sail is approaching, and he has to prepare for the voyage there. He has no time to come back. He wrote a letter to you, and I brought it to you." Min Xi handed him the letter that Yun Ji wrote to Yun Lin. This letter was sent together with the letter to Min Xi.

Yun Lin's mood suddenly dropped. He put the lunch box on the ground, opened the letter and read it. After reading it, he folded it up silently: "Is my second brother going to leave soon?"

Min Xi raised her hand and touched his head, and said with some difficulty: "I came here this time just to say goodbye to you. You should be good at home. In addition to studying hard, you should also take care of your body. Don't worry too much about me and my elder brother. We will definitely come back safely. You must believe this. If you are undecided about anything, you can discuss it with your grandmother and uncles. If there is anything else, let Tao Xing do it."

Yun Lin raised the back of his hand to wipe his eyes and nodded: "Yeah."

"My second brother originally wanted to accompany you to finish the provincial examination, but it's too late. Some things are forced by the situation, and my eldest brother and I have no choice. We have to go to sea now. We are afraid that if we miss it, we may not have the chance in the future. I will explain the reason to you when you grow up in the future." Min Xi said.

Yun Lin seemed to understand: "Second brother, just go ahead, I will take care of myself."

"If you miss us, just write a letter and we'll read it when we get back."

"Okay! When will you be back?"

Min Xi thought for a moment and said, "Maybe we'll be back in a year, or maybe a little longer, but no matter how long it takes, we'll be back safely."

Yunlin nodded, tears were about to come out.

Min Xi also reminded Yunlin of many small details in life. At the end, Yunlin burst into tears. Min Xi stopped talking quickly, not daring to say more, and urged Yunlin to go back to class, and then he turned around and left.

After getting on the carriage, he felt very upset, thinking of the panic and helplessness he felt when he was separated from his parents when he was a child. This made him lack a sense of security from then on, and he spent his whole life healing that trauma. Yunlin had always experienced separation and death at a young age, and he didn't know how to heal his panic and anxiety.