The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

They had been delayed here for too long. It was already winter in Australia, and the southeast wind was blowing in this season, which was very conducive to their sailing.

After the fleet sailed around the southeast corner of the continent, the speed of sailing became significantly faster. Except for the necessary supplies of food and water, they rarely docked, and even if they docked, they would not stay on shore for too long. They would leave after replenishing the supplies and never go looking for gold mines again.

This inevitably disappointed those who were still looking forward to finding gold, and they couldn't help but ask Min Xi and Yun Ji why they didn't look for gold anymore.

Min Xi said: "We have discovered enough gold mines, and we may not have the manpower to mine the existing gold mines. Our current task is to understand the general situation of this continent, explore the way for future generations, and make it easier for future generations to come and develop this continent."

"So are you planning to go back later?"

Min Xi nodded: "Almost. After we finish traveling around this continent, we will go back to Ming Dynasty."

When he left the Ming Dynasty, he thought about going directly from Australia to South America, but he realized that the conditions were too simple and that Australia's current situation could not provide them with enough food to cross the Pacific Ocean, unless they completely disregarded the consequences.

Besides, this trip took too long, more than a year, and everyone on the ship missed home. He and Yun Ji also missed home. They were also a little worried about Zhang Juzheng's health, wondering whether he was okay. So they had to put the plan to go to the New World on hold for the time being and wait for an opportunity to go again in the future.

Actually, his main purpose of going to the New World was to find rubber trees. It would be great if the Europeans could bring rubber trees out, so that he wouldn't have to go there himself. Unfortunately, the Europeans hadn't brought rubber trees out yet, so he had to find a way himself.

The further north they went, the warmer the weather became. When they found islands and reefs on the sea, Min Xi ordered the fleet to lower the main sails and slow down the speed of the ship. Because there is a huge coral reef in the northeast of Australia, which was called the Great Barrier Reef in his time. These islands and reefs appear and disappear with the tide. They are the most ideal habitat for marine life, but they are a huge threat to ships. If they are not careful, they will run aground on the reef. Once they run aground on the reef, the ship will be damaged at the least and destroyed at the worst. The cost is huge, and they cannot afford such a price.

Min Xi had been to the Great Barrier Reef to dive and had seen the magical beauty of this coral reef. Given the Chinese people's love for corals, if this coral reef was discovered, the place would probably be in trouble. So Min Xi did not take everyone to find corals, but stayed away from those coral reefs.

Normally, large sailing ships will not go to the middle of the islands and reefs because it is too dangerous and may run aground. The routes will avoid the islands and reefs. No one will discover this coral reef unless they intentionally look at it or accidentally come across it.

Min Xi led the fleet around the Australian continent in order to draw a route, so that future ships would not deviate from the route and go to the islands and reefs. Of course, the coral reefs would be discovered sooner or later, but that was not something Min Xi could control.

Soon, Min Xi led the fleet to the shore, because they saw natives fishing on the beach. Since there were people, it meant that there might be local products for trading, and perhaps there would be the sea pearls they needed.

The coast here is an endless stretch of golden sand beach, which complements the ever-changing color of the sea water of the coral islands and reefs. It is truly a holy place on earth.

They found a suitable place to drop anchor, lowered the small boat and went ashore. When the natives who were out to sea saw a large ship docked and people getting off, they quickly picked up their belongings, called their friends, and ran away. Before Min Xi and others could get ashore, the natives had already disappeared without a trace.

This situation has never happened before. You know, in the places they have been to before, every time they met the natives, the other party would stop and watch with great curiosity, instead of running away like a frightened rabbit like now.

The people on the boat were surprised and asked, "Why did those people run away when they saw us? Are we that scary?"

Seeing this, Min Xi spoke up to remind everyone: "Everyone, be careful. The natives here are different from the ones we met before. They may not be very friendly. Try to keep your distance and don't force yourself."

"Will those natives be bad for us?" someone asked.

Min Xi nodded: "Maybe. We have encountered natives who use animal and plant venom to coat their spears to hunt before, so don't underestimate them."

"We didn't do anything to them, do they want to kill us?" someone said indignantly.

Yun Ji said, "We don't know what they've been through, so we can't use our knowledge to speculate on other people's experiences. It's better to be safe than sorry, so everyone should be more careful. If we can deal with the natives, we can fight them. If we can't, we can just restock some food and water and leave, and don't get into conflict with them."

After hearing this, everyone felt worried. They had heard that the people here might have pearls and were thinking of exchanging some pearls. However, they did not expect that the natives here were unwilling to deal with them. It was really a waste of time.

Even if we took a small boat, we couldn't go directly to the shore. After the boat ran aground, everyone had to jump into the water and walk on the waves to get ashore. Thinking of this season, it felt a bit cold. Everyone took off their shoes and socks, rolled up their trouser legs, jumped off the boat, and stepped into the sea water. They found that the water was not as cold as they imagined. It seems that the climate here is different from other places.

Some people stayed at the beach to watch the boats, while the rest put on their shoes and socks, carried their things and went ashore.

Yun Ji said loudly: "Let's go together, don't get separated."

The sun was warm on his body, and the sound of waves washing the beach behind him made Min Xi feel as if he had returned to the past, to the time when he used to live, strolling on vacation on the sunny coast. However, the illusion lasted only a moment, and he returned to reality, because Yun Ji reached out to take the backpack off his shoulder: "Ninth brother, let me help you carry it."

"No need, Seventh Brother, the things are not heavy. I can do it. You already have enough things on you." Min Xi rejected Yun Ji's suggestion.

Yun Ji did have more things on him than him. His backpack was filled with daggers, clay pots, porcelain bowls, cotton cloth and other goods, to see if there was an opportunity to trade with the local natives. The quantity was small and not heavy. Yun Ji, on the other hand, carried a bow and arrow, a musket, and a sword. He was responsible for protecting everyone's safety and could have to take action at any time. Min Xi naturally could not hold him back.

Yun Ji thought about it and didn’t insist. If he carried the backpack, it would indeed affect his flexibility and it would be difficult to protect Min Xi.

The group walked across the beach and to the shore, where they discovered that there were many eyes in the woods staring at them. They were probably the natives who had run away when they saw them before.