The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The purpose of the fleet was not to visit various countries, but just to replenish supplies. They would not stay in Manila for too long.

When the King of Luzon politely invited the delegation members to stay in Manila for a while, Yun Ji refused, saying that he had an imperial order and dared not delay and had to travel faster while there was no storm.

The Spanish governor was eager for the mission ship to leave as soon as possible. Such a large fleet was like a sword of Damocles, making them unable to sleep or eat. Hearing that the mission was leaving, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly winked at the King of Luzon, who really didn't dare to say anything.

The palace naturally had to host a luncheon. Probably influenced by the Spanish colonists, the food was paella, which tasted sour, sweet and salty, not quite to our taste, but just barely edible.

After finishing their meal, Min Xi and Yun Ji went back. As soon as they left the city, the captain of the Yongning came to greet them with his men: "Sir, you are back. Is everything going well?"

"Very good. How are the supplies?" Min Xi asked.

"Everything else is easy to deal with, but there is not much dried meat, only dried fish. Should we kill some pork and bring it on board so that we can dry the meat ourselves?" asked Captain Yongning.

Min Xi shook his head: "In this kind of weather, pickled meat needs a lot of salt to prevent it from spoiling. Let's just eat dried fish. Then we can go to the boat and try to catch fish. We have fishing gear on board. What about the fruit? Have you bought them all?"

"According to your instructions, the main items we bought are coconuts, green mangoes and lemons," said Captain Yongning.

Min Xi nodded: "That's about it. You can store more lemons, eat the others first, and save the lemons for last."

Captain Yongning added: "The captains of those merchant ships asked me to ask you if we can trade with the locals?"

Min Xi thought for a moment and said, "We can ask them to trade the goods that are not easy to store for goods that can be stored for a long time, and tell them that it is still a long time before they can return."

Min Xi and Yun Ji went to check the supplies on their ship Xingyun to see if they had been stored in place as required.

Min Xi looked at the large baskets of coconuts and mangoes in the cabin, but only two baskets of lemons, and said, "The number of lemons is a little small. Let's go check tomorrow and ask everyone to prepare as much as possible. If we can't find so many here, we can look for them somewhere else. Lemons should be grown in Southeast Asia. Try to stock up as much as possible so that we can use them when we go to the New World."

"Okay, let's go to the market together tomorrow." Yun Ji said.

When they came out of the storage warehouse, they saw Captain Reiss standing outside the door: "Boss, someone is looking for you outside."

"Who is it?" Min Xi asked.

Captain Reiss couldn't help laughing: "It's someone from the Yongning ship, saying that he wants to challenge the Yun family."

Min Xi looked at Yun Ji and laughed: "It seems that some people don't quite believe that you can take on two ships alone."

"It's not that he doesn't believe it. Maybe he's just young and full of energy and wants to prove himself." Yun Ji said lightly.

Min Xi grabbed his arm and went up to the deck: "What are you waiting for? Let's go and meet him. You haven't fought with anyone in so many years, you won't be unfamiliar with it, right?"

"Maybe." Yun Ji smiled.

Sailing on the sea is very boring, after all, the scope of activities is limited. Min Xi has high requirements for the entire fleet, especially the personnel on their own ships and naval warships, and strictly prohibits them from visiting prostitutes. Min Xi also tries his best to persuade the sailors on other merchant ships. So after the naval officers and soldiers landed at the port, there was nothing else to do except eating and drinking. Now that they know Yun Ji is a strange man, they all want to see his real skills.

When he reached the deck, Min Xi discovered that the people who came were not only from the Yongning, but also many people from other ships, including captains and ordinary soldiers. Everyone looked at Yun Ji with eager eyes.

Min Xi dragged Yun Ji forward and shouted, "Who among you wants to challenge Lord Yun?"

Everyone fell silent for a moment, then started laughing again. They pushed and shoved until a sturdy man came out: "It's him. He wants to challenge Lord Yun."

The sturdy man stood in front of the crowd, chuckled twice, raised his hand to touch the back of his head, and then clasped his fists: "I am Zhang Meng, the flag officer of the Yongning ship. I heard that Lord Yun is a martial arts master, and he took on two galleons alone. Zhang Meng admires him very much. I dare not challenge Lord Yun, but I just want to ask for your advice on martial arts. Please teach me!"

Yun Ji looked at the eager eyes of the soldiers and knew that it was impossible to refuse, so he said, "Okay, let's find a place that's not on the boat."

Everyone was excited, so they got off the boat and looked for a place. People on other boats also got the news and hurried over, and the scene suddenly became huge.

Soon they found an open space near the dock and gathered around it. Min Xi said to Yun Ji, "Seventh Brother, come on, make sure you don't get hurt! Don't let Xiaoqi get hurt either."

Yun Ji nodded, lifted the hem of his gown, tied it around his waist, walked to the middle of the circle, stood still, and raised his right hand: "Please!"

Zhang Meng also stepped forward and saluted: "Sir, please teach me!"

After saying that, he rushed towards Yun Ji, crouched down in front of him, and kicked him with a whip kick. Yun Ji's face was calm, and he jumped lightly to avoid the whip kick.

Zhang Meng often trains with others, and he is experienced and a good fighter. He kicked in the air and immediately turned around to punch Yun Ji. Yun Ji raised his hand to block, his movements were neither fast nor slow, and it looked light and fluttery, but he was able to block the opponent's attack appropriately. While their hands were moving, their feet were also moving, and in an instant, they had exchanged seven or eight moves.

It was the first time that Min Xi saw Yun Ji fighting with someone, and he couldn't help but hold his breath, fearing that he would suffer a loss due to his lack of experience. Facts have proved that although Yun Ji rarely fights with others, his basic skills are impeccable. No matter how fierce Zhang Meng's attack is, he can resolve it appropriately.

In the first half, Zhang Meng attacked and Yun Ji blocked passively, and the two fought back and forth. Everyone was dazzled and applauded.

In the second half, the offense and defense changed, and Yun Ji began to counterattack. His movements were wide and open, like flowing clouds and water. His movements seemed light, but in fact they were powerful. His moves were dense and impenetrable, and they were full of killing moves. Zhang Meng could only use quick attacks to defend.

However, Yun Ji did have actual combat experience. He took on two ships at once and killed dozens of people. His moves were all improvisational killing moves.

The further Zhang Meng went on, the more strenuous he felt. He even felt that Yun Ji was just showing him off in the beginning, and that his true level was revealed in the later part.

Soon, Zhang Meng found an opportunity to jump back, jumped out of the fighting circle, clasped his fists and said respectfully: "Thank you for your advice, sir! I lost."

At first, the naval officers and soldiers who were watching thought it was very lively and cheered loudly, but later on, they were so shocked that they were speechless.

Min Xi was the first to react, raising his hands and clapping: "Seventh Brother is so awesome!"

Until this moment, everyone felt as if they had just woken up from a dream, and they all applauded: "Master Yun is mighty!"

Yun Ji smiled, raised his hand, clasped his fists and bowed to everyone: "Sorry for the poor performance!" After that, he walked towards Min Xi.

Min Xi gave Yun Ji a thumbs up and said with a smile, "Not bad, your skills are still as good as ever!"

Yun Ji smiled and said, "Let's go, walk around and buy some food. You all can go back and do what you need to do!" The latter part of the sentence was said to the crowd watching.

Everyone answered in unison: "Yes, sir!"

This time, Yun Ji completely convinced these rough guys. The soldiers were all rough guys, they were all straightforward and they valued strength the most. Yun Ji conquered them with his strength.

Although he had only fought with Zhang Meng, the soldiers present knew clearly that Zhang Meng, as a small flag, was already stronger than ordinary soldiers. Yun Ji defeated Zhang Meng very easily, and it would be no problem for him to deal with two or three Zhang Mengs. He was a truly strong man, and one had to admit that.

The market has already dispersed at this time. If you want to buy something, you can only go to shops and fixed stalls. Usually these vendors are owned by Chinese. Only Chinese people are so hardworking that they do not close their stalls in the hot afternoon.

Min Xi planned to buy some vegetables and fresh fruits, and cook a delicious meal to reward himself and Yun Ji in the evening. Now that he was the deputy envoy of the mission, he would not have to worry about the kitchen work on the ship. He had not cooked for a long time.

Yun Ji looked at a tree beside the road and asked in surprise, "What kind of tree is this? Are the big bumps on the trunk its fruits?"

Min Xi looked up and said, "This is a jackfruit. Have you never seen it?"

Yun Ji looked at it carefully and said, "I've seen it before, but I don't know what it is. Is it edible?"

Min Xi looked at the football-sized jackfruit and said, "It's edible, but it's a little small, so it's probably not ripe yet."

"This head is still small?" Yun Ji was very surprised.

"I've seen jackfruits this big before." Min Xi spread his arms and gestured, "Those as big as this are inferior products that no one wants."

"Is it tasty?"

"It depends on personal opinion. It's very sweet. Some people like it, while others hate it. I'll ask the local Chinese if it's ripe. By the way, there should be a special fruit in Luzon. You should try it. I don't know if it's ripe this season. I'll go ask too." Min Xi took Yun Ji to ask the Chinese vendors on the roadside for information. "Big brother, let me ask you, that's the jackfruit, is it ripe now?"

When the vendor saw Min Xi and Yun Ji and heard their accents, he knew they were from the Ming embassy ship that docked yesterday, so he said enthusiastically, "You said the pineapple, it's ripe, but the pineapples on the tree are too small and not tasty. If you want to eat good ones, go buy the big ones."

"Is it sold at the market?" Min Xi asked.

"Yes. But I'm afraid it's gone now. You have to go early."

"Brother, let me ask you one more thing. Do you have durian here?" Min Xi asked again.

"What?" The vendor didn't understand.

Min Xi thought about it and thought it might be called differently, so he stretched out his hand to gesture: "It looks similar to a pineapple, but it has thorns all over and is a very smelly fruit."

"Oh, you mean Tu Liang? Yes, yes, yes! It's almost ready to eat now. You can go to the market early in the morning and maybe you can find it. But people who like it will love it, and people who don't like it will find it annoying." The vendor couldn't help laughing.