The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After repeated consideration, no one chose to quit halfway. The temptation of Gold Mountain was still very great, not to mention that the purpose of this trip - to reach the New World - had not yet been achieved.

Min Xi did not tell everyone that Australia was only a few days' sailing distance from Timor Island. After all, he could not explain his ability to predict the future.

After preparing sufficient food and water, Min Xi led the fleet on their journey again. It was almost mid-to-late July, the hottest summer in the northern hemisphere, and they had entered the southern hemisphere, which was winter. However, their latitude was still very low, so no one noticed the abnormal climate.

But one thing is very obvious, after passing the Lombok Strait, the rainfall decreased significantly. This is also the reason why Min Xi resupplied on Timor Island, because the western part of Australia has a dry climate with little rainfall. Even if you find land, you may not be able to find water and food immediately.

Entering the southern hemisphere, the wind direction changed to southwesterly, but this was not too difficult for their sailing, at least it was not against the wind. They only needed to adjust the direction of the sailboat and could still make good use of the wind.

The ship left Timor Island and headed southeast. It was not completely desolate, at least some islands and reefs could be seen from time to time. However, these islands and reefs were not a good thing for the sailing team, because where there were islands and reefs exposed on the sea surface, there would be reefs hidden under the water. The most feared thing for a ship on the way was to run aground, and Magellan's nautical chart was completely useless at this time, because they had never taken this route.

This requires the navigator's rich sailing experience, which requires observing the direction of ocean currents and the color of the water surface to estimate risks, avoid reefs, and ensure the safety of the fleet.

At night, they would drop anchor and stop sailing, no longer hasting their journey, and would only sail during the day when the light was good.

On the fifth day after leaving Timor Island, the navigator saw the outline of land in his telescope. It was rolling and undulating. He excitedly shouted down: "Land, there is land ahead!"

Upon hearing this, Min Xi quickly ran to the bow, picked up the telescope and looked around. After a long while, he finally saw the horizon and finally arrived in Australia!

Min Xi said, "Yes, we have reached land. Let's find a place to land."

Yun Ji lowered his voice and asked, "Is this the land we are looking for?"

"That should be it. But I don't know the specific situation, and the mine needs to be explored. I don't know the exact location of the mine." Min Xi was also helpless. He was just a seaman at the time and was only loading cargo at the port. He had never been to the mining area, but he knew roughly where it was.

"It doesn't matter. As long as we can confirm that it is the Australia you mentioned, we must find these mines." This is the purpose of their trip. It is impossible to find a gold mine and return empty-handed.

The Xingyun led the fleet to select for a long time, and finally decided to go ashore at a beach. After anchoring the ship in the shallow water, the crew went ashore in a lifeboat, leaving a small number of people on the ship to guard.

Min Xi and Yun Ji got off the boat first. After arriving at the beach, they stood on the beach and waited for everyone to come over. Min Xi called everyone together for a brief and serious meeting: "This is an unfamiliar land. We don't know what dangers there are. So don't act alone. The crew of the merchant ship must follow the navy officers and soldiers, because they have weapons and can protect you when you encounter danger."

Yun Ji said: "Let's divide the teams first. The navy officers and the merchant ship crews will form teams together, and then we can go exploring after the teams are formed."

Min Xi added: "Everyone here must not be careless. Do not hunt animals easily when you encounter them. Do not underestimate even the smallest ants and spiders, as they can poison people. Do not eat unfamiliar fruits. You can pick them and bring them to me and Lord Yun to identify them. Boil water before drinking. If you meet locals, you must get along with them in a friendly manner and try not to conflict with them."

Under the organization of Min Xi and Yun Ji, they were quickly divided into ten teams, each with 20 to 30 people, usually composed of more than a dozen navy officers and soldiers with muskets and swords and a dozen merchant ship crew members. The number of people cannot be too small, because they are afraid of encountering danger.

There are only three naval officers in Min Xi and Yun Ji's team, because the Xingyun has its own weapons, and the sailors of the Xingyun have been drifting on the sea all year round. They can fire cannons and shoot guns. Although they do not practice as often as naval officers, they still have the ability to fight back. Besides, with Yun Ji there, there is almost no need to worry about anyone doing something bad to them.

When you arrive in an unfamiliar place, the first thing you must do is to find the locals, because this is the fastest way to complete supplies.

Min Xi knew that there were many aboriginals living on the Australian continent, but he was not sure where they were distributed, what their productivity level was, and whether they could provide sufficient supplies for such a large fleet. If not, or if their productivity was low and they could not provide enough supplies, then they would have to find a way to solve the food problem themselves.

Everyone was divided into teams and agreed to meet at the beach before dark. Everyone left the beach and climbed up the coast. The scene in front of them made Min Xi's heart sink. This land was too desolate. It was not that there was no green, but it was mainly yellow-brown. The trees grew sparsely and the grass was withered.

The northwest coast of Australia has a tropical savannah climate, and the season they arrived happened to be the local dry season, so it seemed that finding supplies would not be easy.

Yun Ji asked Min Xi: "Ninth brother, do you think there is anyone around here?"

"I don't know either, let's look for it. Everyone, please pay attention to the surrounding environment. In such a hot place, there may be all kinds of poisonous insects and ants. Everyone, please tie your trouser legs tightly." Min Xi instructed everyone.

Few trees and many grasses meant few fruits to be picked, so people placed their hopes on animals, hoping they could hunt down animals they could eat.

But after walking for a while, everyone found that there were not many species of animals here. Birds were the most numerous, and they were all kinds of parrots with colorful feathers. Sometimes you would see a tree full of flowers from afar, but when you got closer, you would find that it was full of colorful parrots, which were very noisy.

The most common animal on the grassland is the kangaroo. Those kangaroos are more than one meter tall and hide in the shade of the trees. They don’t seem to be afraid of people. They just chew their food and look at the outsiders with innocent eyes.

Except for Min Xi, everyone else was stunned: "How can there be such a big rat in this world! It can catch up with a person. What a hell of a place!"

Min Xixin said that the kangaroos in the west are not the largest in size. The red kangaroos in the southeast are really big. They can almost send people to death by kicking them with their legs.

Yun Ji asked quietly, "Ninth brother, have you seen these things? Will they hurt people?"

"I've seen them. They're not rats, but kangaroos, and they eat grass. They won't attack people under normal circumstances, but if they're in danger, they'll fight back with great strength." After Min Xi finished whispering to Yun Ji, he said loudly to his teammates behind him, "Don't panic, everyone. Although these rats are big, they seem to eat grass and won't hurt people. Try to avoid them."

"This place is so evil, how could there be such big rats?" Some people couldn't help but mutter.

"So I say, when you arrive at a new place, everyone should be cautious and don't be careless." Min Xi reminded everyone. Although in Min Xi's impression, there are no large carnivores in Australia, there are also dangers that are not easy to detect, such as highly venomous snakes and highly venomous spiders, and if you get poisoned in this place, it will be very difficult to treat.

Yun Ji leaned on his hands and looked into the distance. He said, "There are only wastelands ahead. It doesn't look like there are people living there. Let's go to the mountains over there. There are more trees. If there are people, they should live there. There may also be water sources."

"Okay. We should find a high place to check the surrounding environment." Min Xi agreed.

"I'll find a big tree to climb up and take a look later." Yun Ji said.

Everyone had no objection to their arrangements, mainly because this place was too unfamiliar and different from any place they had been to before. Everyone felt inexplicably uneasy, so they didn't dare to act rashly.