The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After returning from Wenchang Academy, Min Xi went to the Tao Mansion to say goodbye. Of course, the main purpose was to ask them to take good care of Yunlin.

Mrs. Tao is old and has experienced too many separations and deaths. At this time, she can only sigh helplessly. After all, Min Xi and Yun Ji were both sent on a mission, and the emperor's order cannot be disobeyed. She could only say: "You and Yun Ji are not young now. You must take extra care of your health when you go out. You must take care of each other and return safely."

"We will, grandma. You are old now, so you don't have to worry about us too much. Take good care of yourself and wait for us to come back, just like before. This time it is the imperial fleet going out to sea, and there are naval officers and soldiers escorting us, so it will be safer than before, so don't worry." Min Xi could only comfort the old lady like this, "It's just that Lin'er needs grandma and uncles to take more care of him. He is still young and has always relied on Seventh Brother. We don't know how long it will take for us to come back, and Seventh Brother and I are most worried about him."

Madam Tao sighed and said, "Just go ahead. Lin'er will be in our care. Take good care of yourselves and come back safely."

"I remember, grandma!" Min Xi came out from Old Madam Tao and went to say goodbye to his second uncle Tao Jingzhi who was still in mourning. Tao Lizhi was still working at the Ministry of Revenue, so Min Xi did not go to look for him, but went to see Yun Zhen instead.

Although Yun Ji has been in the capital these years, it is not convenient for him to personally manage the business of Yunxianghao because he passed the imperial examination and became an official in the court. Yunxianghao still asks his cousin Yun Zhen to preside over it, and Yun An has always been in charge of external affairs. The business of the shop has always been managed by Yun Zhen and Yun An, and they will continue to do it even if Yun Ji does not explain. But no matter what, he still has to say hello. Yun Ji can't make it back, so Min Xi has to say it on his behalf.

Yun Zhen was worried when he heard that Yun Ji and Min Xi were going to sea, but he also knew that the emperor's order was difficult to disobey, so he could only say: "You are in danger when you go out, you must take good care of yourselves. No matter what, you must return safely."

"Thank you for your concern and care, brother. We will return safely."

Min Xi went back to pack his bags and prepared to leave the next day. When everyone gathered at the Shichahai Pier and prepared to board the ship, someone came from the palace. Eunuch Yao came on behalf of Emperor Wanli to see Min Xi off: "Your Majesty wanted to come in person to see Lord Min off, but it was not in accordance with the rules, so he could only send a servant to convey the oral order: I hope Lord Yun and Lord Min have a smooth trip. The safety of the two Lords and the Ming soldiers is the top priority. Your Majesty will wait for your early triumphant return in the capital!"

Eunuch Yao also announced a piece of news in public: the court promoted Min Xi to be the left secretary of the Honglu Temple, and he would represent the court in overseas missions. The left secretary was a sixth-rank official position, and Min Xi was promoted three levels in a row.

When Min Xi heard about the appointment, he was a little stunned for a moment. This was too unexpected. Eunuch Yao came over and said in a low voice: "I heard that this was mentioned by the Prime Minister to His Majesty, saying that if your official position is too low, it will not be easy for you to represent the identity of the Ming Dynasty in public."

Min Xi understood that Zhang Juzheng was trying to promote him. Of course he had to accept the favor, because promotion was always a good thing.

In addition to the news of promotion, Eunuch Yao also brought him the pass issued by Wanli himself, as well as things that Wanli rewarded Min Xi and Yun Ji, including a Longquan sword representing imperial power, two long and short muskets of the latest model, two Western daggers that could cut through iron like mud, which were for self-defense for him and Yun Ji, as well as extremely precious medicinal herbs and medicines for external injuries, and even a royal physician was dispatched to the fleet.

Wanli truly cares about Min Xi and Yun Ji, and hopes that they can return safely.

"I thank Your Majesty for your grace and reward!" Min Xi knelt respectfully to express his gratitude.

Eunuch Yao personally handed the document and the sword to Min Xi and said, "Min sir, please take care of yourself on this trip. His Majesty will be thinking of your return every day."

Min Xi took the document and the sword and said: "I will not let your majesty down. I will complete my mission and return soon."

Min Xi turned around and boarded the ship, embarking on a journey southward under the gaze of everyone. No one knew when he would be able to return.

Min Xi was not idle along the way. He discussed the construction plan of Jiangnan Liulichang with Feng Ruo, who was in charge of supervising Liulichang, and the craftsmen in charge of building the factory. Along the way, they finalized the plan for building the factory. After arriving in Yingtian Prefecture, Min Xi and Feng Ruo contacted the Yingtian Prefecture government and informed the government that the court wanted to build a Liulichang here.

Liulichang belonged to the imperial court, so the government had to cooperate with them and not let anything go wrong at Liulichang, otherwise they would not be able to explain to the emperor. The government was determined to protect Liulichang, so the rest of the evil spirits in Yingtian Prefecture would naturally not dare to make trouble.

With the government's escort, Min Xi felt relieved. After all the matters concerning Liulichang were sorted out, he and Captain Reis boarded the grain ship to Quanzhou.

When they arrived in Quanzhou, it was already the fourth month of the lunar calendar, less than a month before departure. Yun Ji had already returned to Quanzhou from Guangzhou and was preparing supplies for the voyage.

Yun Ji was very happy to see Min Xi: "You are finally here. There are too many things to do. If it weren't for Yun An's help, I'm afraid I would be too busy to handle it."

"Don't worry, take your time. There is still time. You can handle it." Min Xi comforted him and looked at his face carefully. "Have you not eaten well recently? I see that you have lost weight."

"Sometimes I'm too busy to take care of it, so I just cook and eat one meal out of two." Yun Ji smiled.

"That won't work! Ask someone around you to buy you food. Now that I'm here, I'll make sure you eat well." Min Xi said.

"Okay!" Yun Ji smiled easily. As soon as Min Xi arrived, he felt relaxed both physically and mentally.

Min Xi asked: "Besides preparing the materials for going out to sea, do you have to deal with other matters?"

"Well, the navy often comes to me to solve problems. They have never been to the open sea, so they don't know a lot of things. And I feel that they are not as easy to manage as sailors, so there might be some trouble when they go out to sea in the future." Yun Ji expressed his true feelings.

"It's normal. They don't have to listen to us. The officers and soldiers of each ship only need to obey the orders of their captains. We just need to communicate well with the captains of each of their ships. There will definitely be some troublemakers at the beginning, and some captains may not even obey commands and dispatches, but as long as they reach the open sea, they have to obey our commands if they want to return safely." Min Xi was not too worried about this. Once they reached the vast ocean, those ships that had never been out to sea would not be able to find the direction to go, and would definitely cooperate with them.

Yun Ji continued, "I followed your advice and asked Yun An to contact some ship owners and ask them if they are interested in going out to sea with us. But so far, only one ship owner has responded. He is interested in going out to sea with our fleet, but he has not yet confirmed whether to go. The other ship owners are waiting and watching. After all, we are not going to the traditional South China Sea and the Western Ocean, but to seas that have never been explored before. Everything is unknown and the risk is too great."

"They also have to understand that risks and opportunities coexist." Min Xi hopes that more Ming merchant ships will explore the new world together. Otherwise, relying solely on the Yunxiang and the people of the imperial court, even if they discover the New World, they may not be able to develop that territory, let alone cultivate various mineral resources from those places and bring them back. No matter what era, if you want to develop, you must first have people.

But the Ming merchant ships also had a huge disadvantage, that is, their Fuzhou ships were not suitable for ocean voyages. When Min Xi and Yun Ji drove a Fuzhou ship to Europe with the Jazz, they encountered many difficulties and obstacles along the way. If there were merchant ships following them, they could only go to Australia and could not go any further, but Min Xi only planned to let these merchant ships reach Australia and not go any further.

Min Xi said: "I will go there myself tomorrow to persuade more ship owners to go out to sea with us. The larger the fleet, the better."

"Okay, let Yun An go with you."

The two exchanged their information, discussed the next work allocation, and then went to rest.

The next day, when Min Xi woke up, Yun An was already waiting: "Good morning, second brother! Today I will accompany you to meet those ship owners. However, there are not many ship owners in Quanzhou, and many ship owners are in Yuegang. Should we go to Yuegang?"

"Let's see the situation first. If the shipowners in Quanzhou are not interested, we can go to Yuegang to have a look." Yuegang is not far from Quanzhou and can be reached in one day. "Tell me about the situation of the shipowners in Quanzhou. Which shipowner is willing to go with us? What's his situation? Tell me about the other shipowners, too."

"Okay!" Yun An quickly introduced the situation of the shipowners in Quanzhou. The shipowner who was willing to go was from Tianfu Trading Company. They were not a big business in Quanzhou and had a total of six Fujian ships. Perhaps because their development was not going well, they were willing to take the risk and go out to sea in order to make a bigger fortune.