The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji found a tree and made sure there were no poisonous insects, snakes or ants on it before climbing up the trunk. His climbing posture was comparable to that of a macaque, and he quickly and flexibly reached the treetop. Standing at the highest point, he looked around for a long time before saying, "I see a river ahead, just below the mountain, but not too close."

Min Xi said, "We need to replenish fresh water. Where there is water, there may be people living there. Let's go in that direction."

Before Yun Ji came down from the tree, he used the dagger he carried with him to cut down a long branch. After coming down from the tree, he cut off all the leaves on the branch, and then walked in front to clear the way, while walking, he used the branch to knock on the grass in front of him, in order to scare away the small animals in the grass.

This is probably the case when you see a mountain and then run to the death. The mountain looks not far away, but as you walk, the sun starts to set.

Along the way, in addition to seeing many chirping parrots and innocently curious kangaroos, he also saw two long worms. With Min Xi's knowledge of snakes, he recognized that they were some kind of viper, which is a highly poisonous snake on the Australian continent.

Everyone can't help but feel their scalps tingling when they see poisonous snakes. In this land where few humans have set foot, these poisonous snakes are not afraid of people and are even reluctant to hide. After being startled, they will just slowly slide away.

In addition, I saw some red wild fruits, but I don’t know if they are edible. Other than that, there is nothing valuable.

Min Xi looked at the mountain in the distance, and then at the road they had come from. They were already a long way from the beach where they had disembarked. Min Xi stopped and said to everyone, "Let's pick up some firewood and go back to the beach. Even if we can reach the mountain today, we won't be able to get back before dark. It's better to go after dawn tomorrow. Let's go to the beach to pick up some shellfish and catch some fish to finish tonight's dinner first."

After hearing his arrangement, everyone did not object and started to collect firewood. At this time of year, the grassland was covered with dead grass, so it was easy to collect firewood. Some bushes that could not be broken were chopped off with the knives and axes they carried with them.

They were the first group to return to the beach. After arriving at the beach, everyone went to look for work. Some went on the boat to carry food, fresh water and kitchen utensils, some went to the beach to pick up shells, and some went on the boat to get nets to go fishing in the sea.

Min Xi and Yun Ji led people to find stones from the beach to build stoves for cooking.

These crew members grew up by the sea. There didn't seem to be much seafood on the endless white sand beach, but they still dug up a lot of shellfish under the beach. Some of them caught crabs, and the nets in the shallow water quickly caught fish.

After Min Xi and others lit the fire, the smoke quickly rose to the sky. Yun Ji also blew the assembly horn. When the teams that had gone out to explore saw the smoke, some of them heard the horn and gave up their exploration and rushed back.

Most of the team came back one after another, and everyone joined in making dinner. We didn't have much experience making dinner on the beach, so everyone was a little excited, just like having a picnic.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were watching the sailors collect the nets. There were a lot of fish caught in the nets. Although they were not very big, the number was much more than expected. Not only was there enough food for tonight, but there was also a lot left for drying. Since there was no sufficient food on land, they could only fish from the sea.

A crew member came over and said to Min Xi and Yun Ji, "Sir, the No. 3 formation has not returned yet."

Min Xi and Yun Ji frowned upon hearing this. The No. 3 expedition was led by Captain Yongning. The other nine expeditions returned one after another, with little gain. One team hunted down an emu, and another team hunted down a kangaroo.

Min Xi asked Yun Ji: "What should we do? Should we go look for him?"

Yun Ji said: "Ask the other teams first and see when they last saw Formation No. 3."

Yun Ji picked up the whistle hanging on his waist and blew a few times. The lively beach soon became quiet. Yun Ji walked into the middle of the crowd and said loudly: "We still have a team that has not returned. It is the No. 3 formation, led by General Yan of the Yongning ship. Which of your teams has seen the No. 3 formation?"

A captain stepped forward and said, "Sir, I have met General Yan of the Yongning ship. They said they want to go to the other side of the mountain to have a look. It's getting dark soon. Should we go find them?"

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other and said, "I will discuss with Lord Yun to see what to do. You guys hurry up and cook and eat."

An accident occurred on the first day ashore, which was beyond the expectations of Min Xi and Yun Ji.

Min Xi still held out a glimmer of hope: "We agreed to meet up on the beach before dark. They may be on their way back."

Yun Ji looked up at the sky. Although it was not dark yet, there were already stars, which meant that it would be dark soon. "If they don't get back before dark, we'll go find them."

"Where can we look for them? Once it gets dark, we won't even be able to identify the direction, so there's no way to start looking. Besides, none of us are familiar with this place, and it's dangerous at night. If others don't come back, we'll be the ones who are looking for them." Having said that, Min Xi couldn't help but worry, "They didn't come back as agreed. Either they were delayed by something, or they met with danger."

Yun Ji's brows were also furrowed. "Didn't you say that apart from various poisonous insects, there are few things that can pose a threat to us in this place?"

Min Xi shook his head: "But I don't know what the local indigenous people are like. It's possible that I accidentally fell into their hunting traps."

Yun Ji said: "Why don't I go find it? I'll go alone. I'm good at fighting, so there shouldn't be any problem."

"How can that be possible!" Min Xi hurriedly stopped him, "There are twenty or thirty people in their group, and they are carrying muskets and knives. They are all young and strong men. There is no way they would be wiped out. Let's wait and look for them after daybreak." Min Xi was determined not to let Yun Ji go to look for people alone. No matter how good his skills were, it would be very dangerous to travel at night in a completely unfamiliar grassland.

"In that case, let's light a few big fires there after dark. If they walk back, they should be able to see the fire, which can serve as a guide for them." Yun Ji said.

"This is a good idea. Let's quickly ask everyone to collect firewood, cut more grass, and burn it longer at night." Min Xi said, and arranged for those who were free to prepare firewood.

Sure enough, until dark, Team No. 3 did not return to the camp.

After everyone had eaten, Min Xi ordered two huge fires to be lit. The dry firewood burned vigorously, almost lighting up the beach. Yun Ji blew the horn again, hoping that the people in Team 3 could hear the horn, see the bonfire, and find the direction to move forward.

It was quite hot during the day, but at night, it was noticeably cooler, and since we were at the beach, the strong sea breeze made it even cooler. We had originally planned to spend the night on the beach, but the temperature made us afraid to camp on the beach, so we took the boat back to the ship.

Only Min Xi and Yun Ji stayed on the shore. They took the tent off the boat, set it up next to the campfire, and took turns to keep watch and add firewood, waiting for Team No. 3 to return.

In the second half of the night, it became noticeably colder, which shows that even in low-latitude areas, the temperature will still drop in winter.

Min Xi went to bed first, saying that he would take a nap and Yun Ji would take over. As a result, he slept until dawn, and Yun Ji did not wake him up to take over. It was not until dawn that Yun Ji woke him up and said, "Ninth brother, get up."

Min Xi suddenly opened his eyes: "Change shift?"

Yun Ji said, "No shift change. When the day breaks, we will get ready and set out to find General Yan and the others."

"Ah! It's already dawn? Why didn't you wake me up? You've been guarding all night." Min Xi got up quickly, crawled out of the tent, and found that it was indeed dawn, but the morning light was only just breaking and the light was still limited.

"It's really dawn. Brother Qi, you didn't sleep all night? Why didn't you wake me up?" Min Xi was a little unhappy.

"It's okay, I slept. I took a few naps sitting by the fire. That was enough." Yun Ji yawned after saying that.

Min Xi was infected and yawned as well: "You should have woken me up. I need to sleep for at least an hour or two. They haven't come back yet?"

"No. The fire was lit all night, but they didn't come back. Let's go find them early. I'll go to the boat to call people. Don't send too many people out today. Two or three teams, all of them navy soldiers, and the rest of you will stay here on standby." Yun Ji said.

"it is good."

After everyone on the boat got up, Min Xi and Yun Ji began to arrange their work. They selected nearly a hundred fully armed naval soldiers to go look for people, and the rest stayed in the camp and tried to prepare supplies, such as firewood, fish drying, and even hunting nearby, hunting kangaroos and emus, which could be stored as meat.

Min Xi and Yun Jize formed a team with the naval officers and soldiers and headed towards the direction where the river was discovered yesterday. According to the information provided, the No. 3 formation was also heading in this direction.

Everyone was feeling a little heavy, but Min Xi was still relatively optimistic. He felt that it would not be a big deal, and it was probably just too dark and inconvenient to travel, so they did not rush back.

Their goal today was relatively clear. Although they were divided into three teams, they were all heading in the same direction. A fully armed team of 100 people would still be able to fight even if they encountered a powerful indigenous tribe and were regarded as an enemy.

Because the goal was clear, everyone moved forward much faster. It took only more than an hour to reach the place where Min Xi and his team turned back yesterday. It was still early at this time, and the sun had just risen for a short time.

It is also safer to travel at this time because snakes are cold-blooded animals. Before the sun rises, they stay in their caves and will not come out to bask in the sun.

After walking a long distance, they heard a team blowing a whistle, which was their signal for communication. Min Xi and others rushed over and asked, "What did you find?"

The leader of the team said, "This shrub has traces of recent felling. It must have been cut yesterday. Perhaps it was left there by General Yan and his men."