The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After leaving Quanzhou Port, heading east, you will reach the Penghu Islands. During this period, Taiwan Island was called Dongfan, and both it and the Penghu Islands were under the jurisdiction of Quanzhou, Fujian.

However, there were no Ming government officials or soldiers stationed on the island, and usually the Yongning Guard sent naval officers and soldiers to patrol the island. Therefore, Spanish merchant ships would occasionally dock at Penghu Island to trade with Ming merchant ships.

However, in recent years, Yongning Guards have galleons and battleships, which greatly increased their firepower and deterrence against foreign ships. No foreign ships dared to dock at Penghu Island. If Ming merchants wanted to do business with the Spaniards, they had to go to Luzon Island to trade.

The route planned by Min Xi followed the inland route he had taken before from China to Australia: starting from Quanzhou, passing through the southern part of Taiwan Island, to Luzon Island, crossing the Mindoro Strait, to the Sulu Sea, Sulawesi Sea, Makassar Strait and then to Java Island, crossing the Lombok Strait, and then heading east along a series of islands, and then heading south to Timor Island to reach the west coast of Australia.

This is not the shortest route, but it is the safest one, because it is a route that Min Si is familiar with. There are many islands along the way, at least in the section to Java Island, during this period, there are already traces of Chinese activities, and it will be more convenient to land for supplies.

If you take this route, the nautical chart given by old Hughes will be of great use. Although Magellan's fleet perfectly bypassed Oceania, after they arrived at Luzon Island, they almost returned to Europe through the Sulu Sea, Sulawesi Sea, Makassar Strait and Java Sea.

Min Xi's sailing route was planned by combining his own experience with old Hughes' nautical chart.

The ship sailed around the southern part of Taiwan Island and did not stop for supplies, but went directly south to Luzon for supplies. It was early summer, and the wind direction at sea had turned to the southeast, which was not very favorable for ships like them going south, especially since there were more than a dozen unmodified Fuzhou ships in the fleet, so the speed could not be fast.

In order to take care of these Fu ships, the galleons and battleships also slowed down and surrounded these Fu ships in the middle.

Although Min Xi and Yun Ji had never been to Luzon Island, the merchant ships they traveled with had basically dealt with the Spaniards, and many of them had come to Luzon to do business and knew where was the best place to get supplies.

The first supply point they chose was Manila, the largest port city in Luzon, which later became the capital of the Philippines and was also the capital of the Spanish colonial authorities at that time.

Since they were sailing in the opposite direction and were carrying the Fu ships, they could not go fast and the originally planned eight-day voyage ended up taking two days longer. Fortunately, they made sufficient preparations before departure and the ship was not short of water or food.

It was just that the sailors who were doing ocean voyage for the first time could not adapt to the life of being away from shore for a long time, and they were all miserable. When they arrived in Manila, they all breathed a sigh of relief and could not wait to go ashore to relieve their restlessness.

Min Xi did not intend to avoid the sight of the Spaniards, but led his fleet into Manila in a swagger. Their fleet was huge, and even if the Spaniards were now in charge of Luzon, they dared not do anything to this fleet.

There are a large number of Chinese immigrants from Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian in Manila, some of whom have lived here for hundreds of years and have formed Chinese settlements there. Therefore, it is most suitable to come here for supplies. Not only can you get supplies, but you can also get all the information you need.

Before entering the port, their fleet hoisted the flag of the Ming Dynasty. After all, they were nominally an embassy ship sent by the Ming court.

Due to its large scale, it caused a sensation when it entered the port. The local Chinese were all excited and told each other about it. The Spaniards stationed in Manila felt like they were facing a great enemy. They were just occupying the magpie's nest, because Luzon was originally a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and now they were the masters of Luzon. Not only that, they also drove the Chinese who originally lived in Manila out of the city, and even occupied many of the Chinese's industries.

The Spaniards set up watchtowers and artillery batteries in the port, but they did not dare to fire at the Ming ships. Firstly, the fleet was too large and they might not have a chance of winning. Secondly, they always did business with Ming merchant ships, and the Ming was also their God of Wealth, so they did not want to tear their faces against them. After confirming that the Ming fleet had no ill intentions, they turned a deaf ear and treated it as an ordinary merchant ship and allowed it to dock.

Since the Chinese lived outside the city, they were the first to react. The locals sent their most influential Chinese representatives to welcome the Ming envoys and enthusiastically led them to their homes. By the time the King of Luzon learned the news and sent people to welcome them, the envoys had already been properly settled by the Chinese.

When Min Xi, Yun Ji and others were being warmly received by their Chinese fellow countrymen, they heard someone outside reporting that the King of Luzon had sent people to welcome the envoys.

It was the first time for Min Xi and Yun Ji to serve as envoys. They were not yet accustomed to their new identities. When they heard the report, they remembered that they should be more cautious and wait on the boat for the people sent by Luzon to greet them instead of getting off the boat to find supplies themselves.

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other and smiled knowingly. Yun Ji put down the teacup in his hand and said, "Then let them in."