The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji finally made the decision: "Since no one objects, I will arrange it. Three small boats and eight or nine people will be enough."

Min Xi and Yun Ji were definitely going, along with two craftsmen, and five skilled naval officers. The next morning, the nine people were divided into three boats, carrying basic living supplies, tools and weapons, and rowed out of the bay, going upstream along the northernmost river.

Min Xi knew that from Port Hedland to the west, hundreds of thousands of square kilometers were all iron ore areas. At that time, Australia's largest iron ore mine was about 120 kilometers away from the port. This meant that if you walked more than a hundred miles upstream along the river, you would see iron ore deposits everywhere.

They set out very early because it was summer and it would be extremely hot at noon, so they had to take advantage of the cooler mornings and evenings. The riverbed was not wide and the water was not deep, but they were in a lifeboat, which was small and shallow, and did not affect navigation.

Because of what he saw behind the eucalyptus forest yesterday, Min Xi thought that the place they were going to would be a desert. In fact, the banks along the river were not as desolate as expected, and there were even shallow weeds growing. Probably because of the rainfall, life also tenaciously took root and multiplied in this wasteland, but there were rarely any shrubs, let alone tall trees. Occasionally, a tree could be seen standing alone in the vast wilderness, which was very eye-catching.

But even so, it has given Min Xi enough comfort. He doesn't want to face the endless yellow sand. It would be too difficult to find ore under the sand. Now it is just right.

The boat went upstream. At first, everyone felt it was novel, but gradually, the monotonous scenery in their sight lost its appeal, so they had to concentrate on rowing.

After walking upstream for about thirty or forty miles, Min Xi asked everyone to find a place that was convenient for landing and stopped. He left three people to watch the boat, and he and the others took weapons and tools and went ashore to explore for minerals.

I didn't feel it when I was sitting on the boat, but after walking ashore for a while, I was sweating profusely. The unobstructed scorching sun made my head hot, and the strong light made my eyes go black.

Min Xi walked in the wilderness with squinting eyes, then realized that he had made a mistake. He should have made some sunglasses. This was not difficult for him to do. He could burn colored glass and then make them into sunglasses to block out strong light. They were very practical for sailors and people doing outdoor activities. He decided to have someone make them after he returned.

After walking for a while, they chose a place to dig stones for testing. After the craftsman looked at them, he said, "The stones here do not contain gold, but they do contain iron."

Yun Ji weighed the heavy stone in his hand and said, "It really is iron ore."

"It's iron ore, but the iron content is not high," said Min Xi.

The craftsman disagreed with him: "Sir, the iron content of this iron ore is already high enough. The iron content of our Ming Dynasty iron ore cannot catch up with this."

"Really?" Min Xi said this. He certainly knew that China's iron ore was mainly poor quality ore, but the iron ore they had was indeed considered poor quality ore in Australia.

"It's absolutely true. It's a pity that iron is not valuable. If it were valuable, we would make a fortune by digging it back." said the craftsman.

"Then let's continue to go forward and take a look." Min Xi suggested.

Those who were traveling with him thought that his purpose was to find gold mines, but only Yun Ji knew that he was looking for rich iron ore.

There are many gold mines in Australia, but they are not near Port Hedland. As for the exact location, Min Xi doesn’t know, so he can only rely on luck to find it.

They had wanted to go to the other side of the river to check, but it was too hot, so they had to give up the idea and continue on their way. When they saw a tree in their sight, they decided to get off the boat to get some shade, have lunch, and rest before setting off again.

It must be said that this trip was a huge test for them, because it was too hot and there was almost nowhere to hide. They ate lunch under the shade of the trees and moved with the movement of the shade until most of the afternoon, when they felt the weather was cooler, and then they returned to the boat and set off again. They also tested the nearby stones and found that they were still iron ore, and the iron content seemed to be higher than the previous test.

They rowed up the river until the sun disappeared on the horizon, and then they found a suitable place to spend the night. It was a small hillside, and there were some bushes growing there. If they wanted to spend the night, they would definitely need to make a fire to avoid being attacked by the Tasmanian tiger, which was one of the few wild animals on this land that threatened human life.

They spent the night in the wild. Min Xi and Yun Ji brought tents, but the others did not.

"The adults are so thoughtful that they even thought of bringing a tent." Everyone was a little envious of the two people's tent.

Min Xi explained: "This is the experience we learned in Europe. At that time, when we traveled far away, we always brought tents with us. In this way, no matter where we went, we could set up camp anytime and anywhere without worrying about accommodation."

Yun Ji set up the tent and said, "We will take turns to keep watch at night to prevent any danger from approaching. Let's arrange four people to be on duty tonight, two people in a shift, and arrange others to be on duty tomorrow night."

When everyone heard his arrangement, they asked, "Sir, how far do we have to go?"

Min Xi said, "Let's go ahead and have a look tomorrow. If we still haven't found the mine, we'll go back. This place is too big to be explored in a short time. We already have a base here, and when there are more people, we can explore slowly. I believe there must be more than one gold mine here."

Gold mines are still very attractive to domestic businessmen. Digging for gold is much more profitable than doing business. Doing business requires capital and the risk of commodity price fluctuations, while gold panning only requires hiring manpower, and the gold you dig back is real gold and silver, which is much less risky. For this vast and sparsely populated land, gold mines are almost ownerless. As long as you give some benefits to the local indigenous people, the risk you need to bear is minimal.

Min Xi's idea was to attract merchants from the Ming Dynasty through the gold and silver mines. More and more people would take root in this land, turning it into a place dominated by the people of the Ming Dynasty. Even if the Chinese here established an independent country in the future, they would not regard China as an enemy country.

Min Xi and Yun Ji arranged themselves to be on duty in the second half of the first night. This approach convinced those who were traveling with them, because the second half of the night was the most difficult, and the two of them leading by example naturally made people believe it.

It is very hot here during the day, but very cool at night because it is close to the sea and the breeze from the sea dissipates the heat, making it easy to fall asleep.

Min Xi and Yun Ji slept until midnight, and were awakened by the guard. They got up and gave their tent to the guard. The two of them whispered by the fire, as if they were back to the time when they traveled together in Europe. When the dawn broke, they woke everyone up and started to work. In such a weather, they could only work when it was cool.

While someone was preparing breakfast, Min Xi, Yun Ji and the craftsmen went to the nearby area to look for ore for testing. As expected, they found nothing except iron ore.

That day they went up the river and collected stones from several places along the way, all of which were iron ore.

The craftsmen were getting more and more excited: "Sir, this iron ore has a very high content, at least twice as much as the iron ore in our Ming Dynasty. This piece of stone can produce half a piece of iron!"

"Is that true?!" Min Xi certainly knew that Australia's iron ore was of extremely high grade, with the iron content exceeding 60 percent.

"It's absolutely true! The iron ore is exposed directly on the ground. We can just dig it directly. It would be much better if it were in our Ming Dynasty. It would save us a lot of time and effort!" The craftsman shook his head with emotion, "What a pity, what a pity!"

Min Xi and Yun Ji understood the craftsmen's regret. This place was too far away from the Ming Dynasty. Even if the iron was smelted and a shipload of it was brought back, it would not be worth much. After all, iron was too heavy. The value of a shipload of iron was far less than that of a shipload of gold, silver, and spices. No merchant was willing to transport the iron back to the Ming Dynasty.

Min Xi said, "We have been running for two days and have not found any gold or silver mines. Let's stop looking and go back first."

Min Xi did not tell anyone not to tell others about the discovery of iron ore here. After all, even if someone knew there was iron ore here, would they come here to mine, smelt iron and make weapons? It was hard to find even a tree here, and fuel was scarce. You couldn't just rub iron out with your hands.

When they returned to the beach, they were not surprised to learn that they had found nothing. After all, it was impossible for gold to be everywhere.

The reason why Min Xi brought everyone here was to determine the location of the iron mine, report back to the court, and record the coordinates in a book. Even if it cannot be mined now, there will always be a time in the future when it can be mined.