The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji fell silent. It was not easy for him to get out this time. It would be difficult to get out again in the future. Whether the emperor would release them or not was not an issue. He and Min Xi were not young anymore. Although they had not had any major health problems during this trip, they had been sailing on the sea for such a long time with poor food and accommodation. Their health had been damaged greatly. It would be difficult for them to recover without two years of rest.

"Do we really have to go to the New World?" Yun Ji looked at Min Xi.

Min Xi thought of the uses and functions of rubber in machinery and couldn't help but sigh: "Rubber trees are very important. Without rubber, many of my ideas can't be realized. But we'll see when the time comes. If it really doesn't work, I can only think of another way."

When Yun Ji heard him say that, he knew that rubber was very important, but it was difficult to decide whether to go or not at the moment: "Then we'll talk about it when the time comes."

"Well, let's go back first."

They stopped at Jinshan to rest and wait for the return trip with other ships. While waiting, Min Xi and Yun Ji revisited Jinshan and visited two indigenous tribes.

During the time they were away, Jinshan underwent considerable changes. First of all, it had a name, and everyone agreed to call it Jinshan.

Various businesses, including Yunxiang, have sent more ships and metallurgical workers to come here to pan for gold. Now there are hundreds of miners panning for gold here.

I originally thought that having a dozen houses near the dock at the river mouth was already a lot. In fact, there was an extra village under the gold mountain. These were the houses built by various businesses during this period. The gold miners ate and lived here, and the smelting workshop was also here.

Normally, the food of these workers comes mainly from hunting, in addition to the grains grown in the port. Nowadays, there is still considerable pressure on grain cultivation to meet everyone's needs, so there is an urgent need to expand the scale of cultivation.

The more people there are, the greater the productivity, but also the greater the destructiveness. In addition to Jinshan, the trees in this area were the most damaged. Those businesses had no environmental awareness. For their own convenience, they cut down trees wantonly and used them as fuel for smelting. Although Min Xi had mentioned long ago that as many trees as were cut down, the requirement to plant trees was obviously not taken seriously.

A lot of the mountains behind the Tulu tribe have been bald.

Min Xi frowned when he saw this. He called the heads of those businesses over, severely criticized them, and fined them as a warning. The gold and silver collected from the fines were used as rewards for planting trees.

Gold prospectors who plant trees during their breaks can receive a bounty. Local natives who plant trees can also receive a bounty. The local natives can use the bounty they earn to trade with Daming merchants for supplies and purchase the items they need.

This is an excellent measure that can encourage more people to plant trees. Some businesses that do not want to be fined but do not have time to plant trees can pay people to plant trees, which is cheaper than the fine for violation.

The two native tribes had changed a lot. During the time when they were away, the tribe where Tulu lived had renovated the houses they lived in. The standard was similar to that of the houses built by the Daming Merchants. They were all mud houses, and they also built doors and windows like the houses of the Daming Merchants. These doors and windows were made by carpenters brought by the Daming merchant ships.

However, the houses that Min Xi and his team first built for the indigenous tribes at the foot of Jinshan were still the same as before, still without doors or windows. Although the indigenous people saw that the houses of Daming Trading Company had doors and windows, they did not think of adding doors and windows themselves. Those who were more particular would set up a fence gate at the door.

Min Xi also discovered the existence of a third tribe. When they left, there were only two tribes here. Now, as time goes by, more tribes know about the existence of outsiders. They sent people to check the situation and communicate with the local indigenous people. Knowing that they can get better tools and supplies from outsiders, they also want to come and exchange supplies.

However, few of the things they possessed were valued by outsiders, only their manpower was valued, so they were hired to mine and pan for gold for various businesses, and after working for a period of time, they could exchange for some of the materials they needed.

Tulu has made great progress. He is the fastest native to learn Chinese and can now speak fluent Chinese. He is now employed by various businesses as an interpreter, and the employment of natives is relayed through him. Tulu also learned to read and write from the manager of the business and has learned simple arithmetic and Chinese characters.

After Min Xi came back, he asked Tulu to take them to find the third indigenous tribe. He asked the people of this tribe to go to the dock to learn how to grow vegetables and grain from the Ming people, and promised that if they had surplus grain and vegetables, they could exchange them with the Ming people.

The people of this tribe were worried that they had nothing to exchange with the people of the Ming Dynasty. When they heard that they could exchange crops, they naturally agreed without hesitation.

Min Xi's idea was to make the local natives accept the Ming people's way of life and production so that they would not become hostile to outsiders. Otherwise, there would be too many contradictions and conflicts would arise sooner or later. He did not want to see bloodshed.

Before they left, they received a nest of emu eggs from the local indigenous people. Six emu cubs hatched from the eggs and were left at the dock to be taken care of by the people who stayed behind. Now there are only four of the six emu cubs left, and two died for different reasons.

The four surviving emus have grown very big and look about the same size as adult emus, but they have not laid eggs yet. The emu farmers thought they were four males and planned to kill and eat them when Min Xi and the others came back.

These emus have been raised in captivity since they were young, and they are very friendly and gentle. They are now close to adult size and eat a lot. People usually give them the vegetable leaves and cobs they pick and the fruits and vegetables they don’t eat, but it is still not enough to feed them. On weekdays, they are also let out for a stroll and let them find food on their own. They are not wild enough and will not stray too far from home. In the evening, they will take the initiative to come back home.

"These emus are good, but they are all male and don't lay eggs. It's a bit of a waste to just keep them, sir! Should we kill them and eat their meat?" said the person in charge of breeding them.

Min Xi said, "They are less than a year old now. It takes half a year for a chicken to lay eggs. It will take at least one or two years for a bird this big to lay eggs. Let's raise it a little longer and see."

"Then we still have to keep them?" The breeder said with a worried look, "They eat too much. We can't keep them any longer."

Min Xi smiled and said, "Well, don't we have to deliver vegetables to the gold mine regularly? You can let these emus help carry vegetables and use them as labor, so that they can earn some food money for themselves."

"Will it work?" the breeder was skeptical.

Min Xi said confidently, "It's absolutely no problem. This time when we went out, we met an indigenous tribe that used emus to carry luggage, and the luggage was no less than that carried by humans. But you have to be careful and let them carry less at the beginning. After all, they are not used to it and will be exhausted."

"Then I'll try."

The next day, the breeder hung dozens of kilograms of vegetables on the emus, tied two ropes around the necks of the two emus, and led them to deliver the vegetables. Under the guidance of the people, the two emus completed the task smoothly.

This incident caused a sensation in the entire Jinshan mining area. It was the first time that people saw birds being used as cattle and horses, but it was indeed very useful.

The uses of emus have inspired everyone's confidence. Since they are so useful, we should raise more emus.

Now it is spring again, the season of revival of all things, and the season of breeding of birds and animals. Min Xi and Yun Ji are looking for emu nests everywhere as they did before. This time they are not only looking for emu eggs, but if they come across emu with cubs, Yun Ji will try to steal a few emu cubs back, of course, for the purpose of breeding emu as a means of transportation.

Emus can reproduce much faster than cattle and horses, and grow faster. Two-year-old emus are fully grown and can carry as much weight as a foal. Before cattle and horses grow and reproduce here, emus can replace human labor to carry materials, which can save a lot of effort.