The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji believed that a hero did not brag about his past achievements, but the navy captains could not take it lightly. They could not imagine how this skinny-looking envoy could single-handedly fight two pirate ships.

"Lord Min, please tell us about Lord Yun's battle against the pirate ship." Everyone couldn't wait to know the details.

Min Xi glanced at Yun Ji and said with a smile: "As you know, we were stranded in Europe back then. We made some money there and pre-ordered a galleon, which is now the Xiangyun. At that time, we didn't have enough money, so we returned to Daming to get the money to get the ship. At that time, we didn't have a galleon, so we could only sail the Fuzhou ship. But the Fuzhou ship is too slow, and most importantly, it has no cannons installed. In the Atlantic Ocean, where the weak are the prey of the strong, it is a big piece of fat meat and is most likely to be targeted by pirate ships. Fortunately, we found a few galleons willing to take us with us."

Min Xi paused for a moment and continued, "The first half was quite smooth, until the ship passed the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Atlantic Ocean, where it was targeted by pirates, and it was a gang. At the time, we also had four or five ships. In order to outflank us, the pirate group left one ship behind our fleet, and the other ships went to the front to call their accomplices. While one ship was left alone, we decided to capture that ship first. It was Lord Yun who did it at the time, and I don't know the specific details."

The captains stared at Yun Ji with sparkling eyes: "Sir, tell us about it."

Yun Ji looked at those eager eyes and said, "It's been a long time, and I have forgotten a lot of the details."

"Then tell us as much as you can remember. We won't mind."

It's no wonder that the captains were curious. After all, they had been fighting against the red-haired barbarians for many years and knew how difficult it was to take down a galleon. With such a hero in front of them, how could they not get to the bottom of it?

Yun Ji then roughly described how he boarded the ship and how he attacked. He was not as eloquent as Min Xi, so he described the thrilling process in a light and dry way. But everyone still held their breath and listened attentively, imagining those scenes in their minds, and couldn't stop their blood boiling.

When Yun Ji finished talking about how he attacked the pirate ship, everyone looked at him with a different look of respect. They had originally thought that the main mission of the court sending them out to sea was to escort the two envoys, but now it seems that the envoys may not need their protection, and the main purpose of calling them out is to protect the merchant ships.

Soon, all the naval officers and soldiers on the warships knew about Yun Ji's great achievements. Some of them could not wait to challenge Yun Ji. If they could defeat him, it would mean that he also had the ability to fight a galleon alone. Then, when facing the galleons of the red-haired foreigners in the future, they would have nothing to fear.

But this would have to wait until Yunji was free. The next morning, Yunji and Minxi entered the city and went to see the King of Luzon with the customs documents and gifts. The others on the ship took the time to replenish supplies, such as water, food, vegetables, fruits, meat, etc.

After Min Xi and Yun Ji entered the city, they were led to the royal palace. Although it was called a royal palace, it actually had little to do with a palace. It was just a decent stone house. The building in the city that looked most like a palace was the Spanish Governor's Palace. They were the emperors of Luzon.

Many of the buildings in the city are made of wood, and there are very few brick and stone buildings. Most of them were built by the Chinese, but they have now been taken away.

The King of Luzon was in his thirties, skinny and as dark as the locals. It was said that he was a distant relative of the original king, who died and was chosen by the Spaniards to inherit the throne.

As Min Xi and Yun Ji expected, they saw a Spaniard beside the king. The Spaniard looked more arrogant than the king and more like a master.

The two entered the reception room and bowed to the king. The King of Luzon said nothing, but the Spaniard next to them looked at them and said, "It is said that your Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette, how come you don't know how to kneel and bow to the king? Or do you Ming Dynasty people not take the King of Luzon seriously?"

He looked unhappy and spoke in Spanish, obviously targeting Min Xi and Yun Ji.

The Chinese translator who came over was sweating all over his face. He didn't know how to translate to Min Xi and Yun Ji. Min Xi replied directly in Spanish: "I don't know who you are? We Chinese only kneel to the emperor, elders and heaven and earth in our lives. Luzon is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and the King of Luzon is a minister of the Ming Dynasty. We are equal ministers with the King of Luzon. How can we kneel to our peers!"

When the Spaniard heard Min Xi's fluent Spanish, his eyes widened and he looked at him: "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"It's obvious!" Min Xi spread his hands.

“Where did you learn Spanish?”

"Lisbon. We have lived in Europe for several years and have been to Madrid and Valencia. It is normal to know a little Spanish." Min Xi said with a shrug.

The Spaniards were obviously very interested: "Oh, how did you get there?" Some of them also brought slaves from Luzon back to Europe.

"We had a shipwreck at sea and were rescued by a Portuguese merchant ship. We followed their ship to Lisbon." Min Xi briefly introduced the situation.

"I see!" The Spaniard was still arrogant. "Your experience is quite strange. What is the purpose of your visit to Luzon this time?"

Yun Ji said: "To restore the tradition of our Ming Dynasty, represent the Ming Emperor to inspect overseas vassal states. May I know your name?" He was not very fluent in Spanish, and he had almost forgotten it after not speaking it for so long. He spoke Portuguese. Anyway, there are only some differences in pronunciation between Portuguese and Spanish, but he could basically understand it.

"My last name is Marquez, and I'm the Spanish Governor-General of Luzon," said the Spaniard.

Min Xi and Yun Ji smiled slightly. No wonder he was so arrogant. He was indeed of an extraordinary status.

"The Kingdom of Luzon has not paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty for many years. Our emperor asked us to ask what is going on." This was naturally said by Min Xi himself. After all, Wanli did not care much about the affairs of these overseas vassal states.

It didn't matter to the Ming Dynasty whether the vassal states came to pay tribute or not, after all, they basically came to beg for money, and every time foreign envoys came, the Ming Dynasty had to pay. Min Xi didn't mean to question the other party, but since you have been sent here as an envoy, you must have an explanation. Otherwise, it would be too un-imperial to send such a large fleet here without making any demands.

The King of Luzon obviously also understood Spanish. Hearing this, he raised his hand to wipe his forehead and looked at Governor Marquez. He was not a legitimate heir to the throne, so he didn't know many things at all, so he didn't even think about paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

Marquez obviously didn't know about tribute, otherwise he would have sent people to the Ming Dynasty every year to ask for money. He thought the other side was putting pressure on them. He was a little unhappy, but he couldn't directly tear his face with the Ming envoy, so he could only say: "Your Majesty is not in good health and is busy with state affairs. I haven't been able to take care of it for the time being. I will go when I am free."

"In that case, I look forward to hearing from you." Yun Ji said.

Then they presented some gifts to the King of Luzon on behalf of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, including tea, silk, and the four treasures of the study.

Although Marquez had no shortage of these, he was somewhat envious of being able to get them for free, and could not help but take the opportunity to ask: "Our Spanish king has always wanted to establish trade relations with the Ming Dynasty. I hope the envoy can express our wishes to the Ming emperor and allow our Spanish merchant ships to dock at the Ming port."

Yun Ji played Tai Chi with him: "We can only convey your wishes to His Majesty the Emperor, but we cannot guarantee that we can make it happen."

Min Xi also took the opportunity to say: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has always been kind to the Kingdom of Luzon, and the requirements of your tribute team will be met as much as possible. Now we have many people from the Ming Dynasty coming to live in Luzon. I hope that His Majesty the King can treat our people in Luzon well for the sake of His Majesty the Emperor."

The King of Luzon laughed: "No problem, no problem!"

Min Xi could only stop here, because it was unrealistic to ask for the return of property, and no one would spit out what they had taken in. Their fleet could not protect the Chinese for a long time, and everything had to be done by the Chinese themselves.