The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

In mid-December, Min Xi, Yun Ji and others boarded merchant ships and warships, waved goodbye to General Yan and others, and embarked on a new journey.

As for where to go next, no one knows except Min Xi, and Yun Ji is not sure either, but he completely trusts Min Xi and firmly supports his decision.

It was already summer in the southern hemisphere, and the wind direction had changed from southeast to northwest. This wind direction was very conducive to their southward journey. Going south, they didn't have to worry about typhoons. The only thing they had to worry about were tornadoes. However, there were not many tornadoes in Oceania, and the probability of encountering one was very small, so the voyage was relatively safe.

Min Xi was relatively familiar with the Australian coast because he had been there many times, especially Port Hedland and Port Dampier in the west. Although these two ports did not exist during this period, he had an impression of the topography near these two ports. After all, mountains, rivers and rivers could not change in a few hundred years.

As they sailed south, they always followed the coastline, dropping anchor from time to time and going ashore to check, sometimes to replenish water, sometimes to hunt, but they did not stop at the shore to look for natives or mines like they did the first time.

This was of course all Min Si Na's idea. This time he had a clear goal and headed straight for Port Hedland. Port Hedland was the Australian port he was most familiar with. It was the largest mining port in western Australia, and nearby was the largest iron ore mining area in Australia, which was also the largest and richest iron ore mining area in the world.

Min Xi was not sure whether the iron ore could be mined, but he had to find the mining area first and let the Ming Dynasty know about the existence of this giant iron mine. Even if it could not be mined now, it could be left for mining in the future.

A few days later, Min Xi finally saw a bay that looked familiar. There was a peninsula to the north and an island to the south. The landforms were not much different from what he remembered. The biggest difference was that the peninsula and island in front of him were more pristine, without any traces of human activity. This was the Port Hedland he was looking for.

Min Xi asked Captain Leis to sail the Xingyun into the bay, which was formed by the confluence of several rivers. The climate here was different from the place they had arrived before. It was a tropical desert climate with little rainfall, and the rivers were seasonal. This season happened to be the rainy summer, and the water volume of the several small rivers converging in the bay was relatively abundant, so it was possible to sail. Large ships might not be able to sail, but small boats could definitely sail.

Although it is a tropical desert climate, there is still some vegetation around the bay due to the presence of rivers. Going further in, it should be an endless desert. And the coveted mineral deposit is located in this desert.

They came from the northwest and thought the natural environment there was bad enough. In fact, this place was truly bad, with thousands of miles of yellow sand rolling, which was not suitable for human survival at all. If Min Xi hadn't known this in advance, he would definitely not choose to stay here.

Min Xi asked everyone to anchor the boat in the harbor: "Let's stay here for a while and go ashore to see if we can find anything to eat."

Everyone was used to following the command of the Xingyun, so they dropped anchor and got off the boat to look for food on shore.

When we were still on the boat, we saw the dense forest on the shore. After getting off the boat, we went straight to the dense forest. Min Xi also saw it. It was a eucalyptus forest. What could be in the eucalyptus forest? Maybe we could find some koalas, but koalas cannot be eaten.

Min Xi hoped to find some emus and kangaroos by passing through the forest, so he and Yun Ji followed.

"Will there be natives here?" someone asked.

Someone said: "That's not necessarily true. This place is too sparsely populated."

"It would be nice if there were natives. At least we could find some fruits to eat."

But Min Xi knew that there should be no indigenous people here. There were not many people on this vast land, and the indigenous people naturally would not choose to live on the edge of the desert.

As expected, koalas were found in the forest, but they were all staying in the tall eucalyptus trees, looking at the uninvited guests curiously.

"We don't know if it's edible, so why don't we shoot it down?" someone suggested.

Min Xi tried to stop them: "Forget it, we don't know if this animal can be eaten. Let's go look for something else, like emus or kangaroos." He knew that koalas were not edible. Koalas grow up eating eucalyptus leaves, which are poisonous, so he didn't allow anyone to hit koalas.

Everyone thought that was right. It was better to be safe when going out. At least emus and kangaroos were proven to be edible by the indigenous people.

After passing through the eucalyptus forest, they saw a barren wasteland. It was not the savanna they had seen before, but a large area of ​​red sand with only scattered bushes. There was not even the shadow of emus or kangaroos.

Min Xi said: "If you can't find emus and kangaroos, go to the beach to find seafood."

Everyone was a little disappointed, because now there was no fruit to eat. The fruit they brought with them had already been eaten, and the only vegetables they had were bean sprouts they grew themselves, which were not only limited in quantity, but also not available every day, after all, the soybeans and mung beans they brought with them were also limited.

The group drove the boat to the other side of the bay to search. This time they were luckier and found traces of kangaroos and emus. Fortunately, at least there was meat to eat. They could also find some fruits like those on the northwest grasslands, but the quantity was extremely rare.

As per custom, whenever we docked at a place, everyone would get off the boat and cook and eat on the shore. This was because we had been on the boat for too long and everyone longed to feel down to earth.

Min Xi and Yun Ji called several captains and told them: "Tomorrow we plan to sail a small boat up the river to see if we can get anything. Who will go with us?"

A captain said: "Everything is subject to your arrangement."

Min Xi said: "This trip may not be short. It may take three to five days to come back."

"Why does it take so long?" someone wondered.

"Actually, the last time I was in the grassland, I really wanted to go upstream to take a look. It was just that it was the dry season and the river was dry, so we couldn't sail there. Walking was too slow and dangerous, so we didn't go. This time we happened to encounter a river that can be sailed, so we plan to go upstream to take a look." Min Xi certainly couldn't tell the real reason. He couldn't say that he knew there was a giant iron mine a hundred or two hundred miles upstream.

Yun Ji had already learned the truth from him, so he said, "We are going to look for gold mines, but we can't always be so lucky and find gold mines near the coast. So it is necessary to go upstream and deep into the hinterland to look for it."

After hearing what they said, everyone naturally couldn't find any reason to refute. After all, the main purpose of their trip was to find gold and silver mines.