The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

It was not until the ship disappeared from his sight that Min Xi withdrew his gaze. He turned his head and saw Doctor Qiao standing beside him. His eyes were still in the direction where the ship disappeared, and his face was full of loneliness.

Min Xi felt a little reluctant and called out softly, "Doctor Qiao."

Doctor Qiao came back to his senses and said, "Sir!"

Min Xi said apologetically: "I'm so sorry for leaving you behind."

"Your Excellency is too polite. His Majesty asked me to come with you to ensure the safety of you and Lord Yun. If you don't go back, I naturally cannot go back either. This is my duty." Doctor Qiao said respectfully.

"Having said that, I really feel bad for keeping you away from home for so long, and for keeping you from going back here, especially in a wild place with so little and you having to suffer so much with us. But don't worry, Doctor Qiao. Lord Yun and I are grateful for your kindness, and when we return to the Ming Dynasty, we will definitely ask His Majesty for credit for you." Min Xi knew that Doctor Qiao was working hard, but he couldn't let him go back, so he could only promise him big things.

Yun Ji also said, "When I return, I will personally discuss this matter with His Majesty."

Doctor Qiao smiled bitterly and said, "Your Excellency is too kind. It is my duty to serve the court."

Captain Reis, who was standing next to Yun Ji, asked, "Boss, they've gone back. Should we set off soon?"

"It's almost time. Let's make some preparations and then we'll set off," said Min Xi.

The preparations that Min Xi mentioned refer to the preparations for supplies. When the merchant ships returned, they brought some vegetables and fruits, but only a small amount of potatoes and corn. After all, the crops themselves were not much, and could not meet the needs of hundreds of people. Moreover, they were going back to the islands in the South Seas, where they could replenish food and fruits and vegetables. Unlike here, they could not replenish supplies and could only rely on farming.

Although most of the potatoes and corn were left behind, the total amount was actually not that much. At most, only a few hundred kilograms could be harvested, which was totally insufficient for the remaining one hundred people to eat. It could only be said that it was better than nothing.

Min Xi planned to wait until he harvested potatoes and corn before continuing his exploration. During this period, they did not mine anymore, but were busy clearing land for farming. With the arrival of spring, the rains increased, making it the best season for sowing. They had to seize the time to sow more crops in the hope of harvesting more food, vegetables and fruits.

The grass and trees on the grasslands have regained their vitality, the withered savannah has become green, and various animals have become lively. In particular, various birds are busy building nests and breeding. The local indigenous people’s favorite thing to do is to look for bird nests and pick up bird eggs everywhere. For them, this is the most easily available source of high-nutrition food.

The people from the two indigenous tribes knew that they lived by the sea and would come to visit occasionally, especially the Tulu tribe. They came to hunt and came more frequently. They found it very magical to see that these outsiders were actually digging the ground and planting things.

Min Xi was generous and generous, teaching them how to farm and giving them rice seedlings and seeds, intending to slowly change their lifestyle. Once the locals learned how to farm, they would not have to rely on themselves to prepare everything in the future.

Min Xi saw the locals picking up bird eggs everywhere, so he also took Yun Ji to pick up emu eggs. Emu eggs are very special, they are dark green in color, very rare, and each egg weighs one or two kilograms. A nest of emu eggs has at least seven or eight eggs, and sometimes as many as fourteen or fifteen. They don't just take all the eggs. When they find an emu nest, they take two or three eggs if there are few, and four or five, or even seven or eight eggs if there are many. They can take them back to improve their food.

One emu egg can be used to make a large bowl of vegetables, and the taste is very good, not inferior to eggs. Everyone loves to eat it, and it is no wonder that the local natives like to eat it. The emu eggshell is very thick and the color is unique. The local natives like to use emu eggshells as containers, such as for drinking water. Yunji specially kept a few relatively intact eggshells and planned to carve them into handicrafts. It would be nice to take them back and give them as gifts in the future, and it can also be regarded as a local specialty.

As for other bird eggs, Min Xi was not interested, especially parrot eggs. They were too small. What could they be done with?

That day they picked up a bag of emu eggs and came back. When they passed by a big tree, the chirping of parrots on the tree almost broke their eardrums. Min Xi frowned and looked up at the tree. There were not many parrots on the tree, only about 10 or 20 in total, but they were very noisy. He couldn't help but wonder: "What are they noisy about!"

Yun Ji looked up and said, "There is a snake on the tree. It should be eating the bird eggs."

Min Xi quickly jumped to the side: "Where is it? I saw it, my god, it looks like a Taipan snake. It's extremely poisonous! Let's go, let's go!"

Yun Ji stood still: "Doctor Qiao said there are too many poisonous snakes here, and he wants to make some medicine for everyone to use for self-defense. He needs to use the poisonous snakes themselves as medicine, which you may not always come across. We happened to come across one today, so don't miss it."

Min Xi's scalp tingled: "Seventh Brother, this kind of snake is extremely poisonous. If you get bitten, even a god can't save you. Are you sure you want to catch it?" There was no place to get serum these days.

"It's okay, I'll be careful. Stay away from me." Yun Ji was skilled and brave, and was not afraid of the giant snake that was more than two meters long.

Although the parrots in the tree were afraid of poisonous snakes, they refused to give up resistance in order to protect their eggs from being poisoned, and kept calling at the Taipan snake.

Yun Ji took off his bow, bent it and aimed at the snake on the tree. He knew the principle of hitting the snake by the right size. Min Xi held his breath and saw Yun Ji's arrow shot out and hit the snake exactly. The snake's head suddenly dropped down, and its body twisted a few times on the branch, and then fell from the tree.

Yun Ji walked over slowly with his long stick, and hit the snake a few more times. When he was sure it was dead, he drew his sword and chopped off the snake's head. "Okay, it's dead. I'll put it away now."

Min Xi then slowly approached and looked at the long worm, still a little frightened: "Seventh Brother, you are really brave!"

Yun Ji looked back at him and smiled: "It's okay, I'll take care of everything."

Min Xi thought about it carefully and realized that he could handle a boat alone, so how could he be afraid of a snake?

Yun Ji pulled the arrow out of the snake, stuck the arrowhead into the ground, and then put it into the quiver. He picked up the snake with a stick and took it back to Doctor Qiao to make medicine.

What's more, the snake that Yun Ji killed came in handy the next day. A hunter from the Tulu tribe was bitten on his left leg by a poisonous snake while hunting. They treated the wound with a folk method and strangled the bitten leg tightly to prevent the venom from flowing into the body. Several people carried the injured person to find Doctor Qiao, hoping that Doctor Qiao would save him.

Doctor Qiao was also helpless. He could not cure all diseases, but as a doctor, he could only do his best and gave the patient the medicine made from the poisonous snake that Yun Ji had killed the day before. He repeatedly emphasized that he could not guarantee that he could cure the disease, but just give it a try.

Those natives were easy to talk to. People bitten by Taipan snakes have a 10% chance of survival, so they just wanted to try their luck. It was not Doctor Qiao's fault if they couldn't save him.

After they applied the medicine, they carried the patient back home. Two days later, someone from the indigenous tribe sent a message saying that the person bitten by the snake was not dead. Doctor Qiao's medicine was effective. The patient also asked someone to bring a pair of newly hatched parrot chicks to Doctor Qiao to express his gratitude, saying that they could learn to talk when they grow up.

Doctor Qiao looked at the two little parrots whose feathers had not yet fully grown and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What do I need two parrots for? I don't know how to raise birds."

Min Xi smiled and said, "Since it is their good intention, then let it stay and we will raise it together."

Yun Ji asked, "Do you know what it eats?"

"Nothing more than insects, seeds and the like." Min Xi has seen other people raising parrots. Those parrots can even learn to speak like humans, and they are very realistic. It's quite interesting. He wonders if these two parrots can learn to speak.

"Then leave it to Lord Min." Doctor Qiao didn't like raising birds, so he gave the parrot to Min Xi.

The little parrot didn't seem to be interested in the small insects and the little remaining millet that Min Xi found for food. Instead, it ate the young buds and flowers of plants that Min Xi found for it. It turned out that it was a vegetarian.

Yunji used emu egg shells to make two bird nests for the two little birds. They slept comfortably and were not picky at all.

Taking care of the two little parrots after busy work every day has become their leisure time pleasure.

The patient who was bitten by the snake recovered after a few days, but his legs were not as flexible as before, but it did not affect his normal life. After he recovered, he sent Doctor Qiao ten emu eggs, which seemed to be an emu nest.

Doctor Qiao gave the emu eggs to the cook and confiscated them for use as kitchen ingredients. But when the cook was cooking at night, he was surprised to find that one of the emu eggs had a crack and made a faint sound. It turned out that the emu nest was about to hatch.

The eggs that were about to hatch could not be eaten, so everyone worked together to think of a solution: put the eggs in the emu's feathers to keep them warm, hoping that they would hatch.

Within two days, a total of six cubs hatched from the eggs. The other four eggs remained hatched after two more days, so they seemed to be dead.

There were only two parrots, and now there are six emu chicks. What should I do?

Min Xi was very happy. He thought he could keep these emu cubs in captivity. He would no longer have to hunt emus. He could raise them himself and eat them, just like raising chickens and ducks.

They built a bird pen for these emu cubs, and threw some grass, young leaves, green vegetables, small insects and the like into it every day. They ate happily, eating almost the same food every day, and grew very fast.

After all the corn was harvested, Min Xi decided to set sail. He divided the potatoes and corn into two parts, one part they took on the ship, and the other part was left for the people stationed here. In addition to eating, they also had to keep seeds for sowing, and also gave some to the natives to sow.

Before leaving, Min Xi and Yun Ji called General Yan and repeatedly reminded him of the precautions for staying here. Min Xi also recorded the climate and wind direction in Australia and gave it to General Yan. If they were not back when the Ming merchant ship returned here, they would arrange the time to return to Ming according to what he said.