The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi and others soon saw these indigenous villages near the bay. What was different from the indigenous villages they had seen before was that the houses of this indigenous tribe were built with tree trunks and bark.

The climate here is temperate oceanic, and the vegetation is completely different from the places they have visited before. The local trees are not only numerous but also tall. There is one kind of tree that grows very fast. The natives can peel off the bark with simple wooden and stone tools and use it to build houses.

These bark houses are obviously more sophisticated than the tribal houses they have seen before. They have doors and windows, and the roofs are covered with thatched grass. At first glance, they are quite similar to the houses of the Nanyang people. Moreover, the appearance of the natives here is a bit like that of the Nanyang people. Because of the high latitude, their skin color is lighter than that of the natives in the west and northwest. They may have migrated from the islands of Nanyang.

Min Xi was not in a hurry to trade with the local natives, but decided to explore the gold mine first. This time they sent out two exploration teams, each equipped with a craftsman from the Ministry of Industry. One team was led by him and Yun Ji, and the other was led by a warship captain. The rest of the people stayed in the bay to guard the ship.

This time they did not set out in a small boat, because there was no river connecting the harbor, so they could only search on foot. There were no carriages or boats to carry daily necessities, so all supplies had to be carried by people, so this exploration trip was destined to be difficult.

The two teams went north and west respectively. Each team had more than a dozen people, all of whom carried large bags because the weather was cold and the nights were very cold, so they had to bring blankets with them. In addition, they had to bring some necessities, but they brought less food and water, which they mainly looked for while walking. The climate conditions here did not allow for water shortages, and food could be collected and hunted everywhere, so it would be easier to survive here.

Min Xi and Yun Ji chose the route to the west. Yun Ji wanted to bring the tent with him, but the tent was too big and he had to abandon it.

As a result, this exploration trip was the most difficult one since they arrived in Australia. On the third day, it started to rain. Although they had considered carefully before departure, everyone brought umbrellas, waterproof oil paper and animal skins, and the bedding they brought was not wet.

But when it rained, it was hard to find a place to stay, because everything was wet, there was no place to take shelter, and even making a fire was extremely difficult. Finding a place to lie down at night became a luxury, and everyone could only burn a blazing fire, hold umbrellas, and wear oil paper and animal skins to endure the long night in the dark and damp night.

After daybreak, everyone drank a large bowl of hot ginger soup to dispel the cold and dampness so as to prevent everyone from getting sick.

Min Xi looked at the rain that had stopped and the light that was emerging in the sky, and asked for everyone's opinion: "Should we continue forward or turn back?"

Last night, when we were sitting by the fire, we discussed for a long time whether to go back or continue looking for gold. The climate here is indeed more suitable for human survival, but compared with the tropical grassland, tropical desert and Mediterranean climate, it is really not conducive to outdoor activities. More importantly, this place is too primitive, sparsely populated, and there is no place to shelter from the rain.

But everyone knew that if they went back, they would never come back. After all, they had no way to change the weather here, and no one could guarantee that it would rain again. But it was hard to go back without gaining anything.

Someone said, "I see that we are in the mountains ahead. Where there are mountains, there must be caves. Then there will be a place to take shelter from the rain and spend the night."

This suggestion made many people excited: "Yes, let's go to the mountains and take a look, maybe it's a mine."

Min Xi discussed it with Yun Ji, and Yun Ji said, "Let's go over and take a look. We may be able to find a place to take shelter in the mountains. And it doesn't look like it will continue to rain."

"Okay, let's go take a look first."

So after breakfast, everyone picked up their bags and continued on their way. Along the way, they found a lot of fruits, but they only dared to eat the tangerines and finger limes they knew. Fortunately, these two fruits were available here and were ripe, and the taste was much better than the green ones.

As they walked along, they passed through plains and hills everywhere. Even rocky mountains were rare. Min Xi was quite worried that he would not be able to find a cave that could live in.

However, when they walked to the edge of the mountain, they found that it was actually a rocky mountain. Where there are rocks, there may be caves. After searching for a long time, they finally found a cave that could accommodate people. The cave was not deep, but it was enough for more than a dozen people. So they decided to use this as a base and spread out to the surrounding areas to look for gold mines.

Although they arrived quite early, they did not rush to look for gold mines. Instead, they took the time to rest. After all, they had been sitting all night and traveling for most of the day, and they were extremely tired.

Some people went hunting to prepare dinner, while the rest found firewood and lit a blazing fire in the cave, burning the entire floor of the cave to make it warmer and drier. Then they moved the fire and ashes away, spread waterproof oil paper and animal skins on the ground, and then covered them with mattresses and quilts to make a simple bed, so that they would not feel cold when sleeping on the ground.

After dinner, before it got dark, everyone lay down. Only one person was assigned to watch the fire at night, and of course they took turns.

Everyone slept soundly. Although they were lying on the ground, they did not feel cold because of the fire lit at the entrance of the cave.

The next day, everyone was full of energy, feeling like they were finally alive. Two people were left here to look after the luggage, while the rest of the people began to explore for minerals near the cave.

But for two consecutive days, they found nothing, which made everyone a little disappointed. Although this is a normal situation, after all, gold mines cannot be found everywhere, but who doesn't want to be extremely lucky?

At night, everyone sat in the cave to discuss the next plan. Min Xi said, "I have two plans. One is that we will not go around in circles tomorrow, but go further in one direction, as long as we get back here before dark; the other is that we leave here tomorrow and continue on our way with our luggage."

Everyone felt that looking for gold mines was aimless. Even if they walked further with their bags on their backs, the possibility of encountering gold would not be greater. It would be better to choose the first option, at least they would have a place to stay at night.

So everyone voted and chose the first option.

The next day, everyone traveled light. Before setting off, Min Xi took off his shoes, closed his eyes, turned around twice, and then threw them away. He walked in the direction where the toe of his shoes was facing.

This is pure metaphysics, but there is no other way, because finding gold mines depends on luck.

Yun Ji looked at the shoes lying on the ground and said, "Northwest direction."

Min Xi picked up his shoes, wiped off the dust on his feet, patted his shoes, and put them on: "Then let's go northwest!"

So they headed northwest. Maybe it was some kind of metaphysics that helped them find something, but it wasn't a gold mine, it was a coal mine. This was the first time they had found a coal mine in Australia.