The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi took the account book home and went to the wing room that Tao Wang mentioned to check it out. There were indeed many glass and colored glaze wares placed inside, all in pairs, and the workmanship was even more exquisite than those sold in the shop.

Min Xi thought about it and thought that these utensils were probably made according to the standards for the palace. He picked up a glass bowl and took a look. Fortunately, there was no "palace-made" on it. It seemed that the people in Liulichang were quite careful in their work.

Although glass is not a rare thing, these are not mass-produced industrial products. Each piece is a masterpiece of skill and it is no exaggeration to say that it is a work of art. The aesthetic taste of the Ming Dynasty craftsmen is really beyond reproach.

Yunlin also had shelves and bases made to display the objects one by one, making them look more refined.

While he was admiring these glassware, Yun Ji came back. When he learned where Min Xi was, he pushed the door open and saw that the room was brightly lit by countless glass lamps. All kinds of crystal clear glassware were dazzling in the reflection of the lights. He was so surprised that he was speechless for a moment.

Min Xi heard the sound of the door opening and turned to look: "Seventh Brother, you're back. Come and see, these are the colored glaze and glass fired in the Liuli Factory during the time we were away."

"So many!" Yun Ji walked to Min Xi, still unable to hide his surprise.

"Yes. Today I went to the glass shop and saw that they actually bought up all the shops on both sides, and the business is booming. Do you know how surprised I was when I saw the account book? The annual gross income of this shop in the capital is almost one million taels of silver, not including the income from the glass factory. I estimate that the income of the Yingtianfu glass factory will not be much less than that in the capital. These two glass factories can earn at least one million taels of silver a year." Min Xi still felt it was exaggerated when he said this.

"So many!" Even though he was a wealthy businessman, Yun Ji was still surprised when he heard this number. He knew that Liulichang made money, but he didn't expect it to make so much. "Isn't the scale of Liulichang enough to support such a large output?"

"I heard from Shopkeeper Niu that Liulichang has expanded its scale. Many merchants from other places have come to Beijing to buy." Min Xi estimated that mirrors and glass windows were the hottest sellers. As long as one family had these things, who would not want to have glass doors and windows inlaid? Which woman in the family would not want to use a mirror that could show every detail?

Although bronze mirrors are shiny and bright, they are inferior to glass mirrors in terms of color. Moreover, they need to be re-polished after a long time, which is far inferior to glass mirrors.

Yun Ji glanced through the account book and said in surprise, "This mirror was sold for a hundred taels of silver?"

Min Xi leaned over to take a look and shrugged: "This is a dressing mirror. It's large in size, with a silver coating on the back, and it's expensive. The most important thing is that no one except us knows the technology to make glass. This is the advantage of technological monopoly, the price can be set at will."

Yun Ji looked at him with a smile: "Is this the profiteer you mentioned?"

Min Xi laughed out loud: "Hahaha, how can this be called a profiteer? We don't cheat the poor. Who among the poor would spend a few taels of silver to buy a mirror? Who would spend thousands of taels of silver to install window glass?"

Yun Ji raised his hand and pinched Min Xi's earlobe, and said with a smile: "You are right, don't cheat the poor!"

"Let's go to Liulichang some other day. I want to know how big it has expanded to."

"Okay, let's wait until the Lantern Festival. We will have a day off during the Lantern Festival, so we can go to Liulichang and have a look."

The two of them admired the glassware together until Tao Wang came to call them to eat. There were only the two of them at the table. Yunlin had gone to Wenchang Academy yesterday. Overlord lay under the table. Min Xi and Yun Ji threw meat to it while eating.

Min Xi thought of something: "After dinner, let's sort out the gifts for relatives and friends and have them delivered tomorrow. By the way, let's make an appointment to hold a banquet at Yunxiang Restaurant and invite them to dinner. Is your Ministry of Revenue still busy now?"

"Fortunately, the New Year has just passed, and the Ministry of Revenue is relatively idle at this time of year, so I can spare some time."

So the two of them had their meal, and together they sorted out the gifts for their relatives and friends, wrote the invitations, and gave them to the butler to deliver them to the homes of their friends one by one the next day.

The only gift left was for Baron Fernando, which Min Xi wanted to deliver personally. They had been busy since they came back and had not visited the Baron's family yet. Although Yun Lin said that the Baron's family had adapted well, after all, they had left their homes and traveled across the ocean to come to Ming Dynasty to seek refuge with them, and as their friends, they should show their respect.

The next day, Min Xi went to the yamen to report for duty. After confirming that there was nothing to do, he prepared to leave and visit the baron.

As soon as he walked out of the gate of Honglu Temple, he saw a sedan chair parked at the door. Eunuch Yao opened the curtain of the sedan chair and came out. He met Min Xi face to face. When he saw Min Xi, he asked: "Master Min, where are you going?"

"Eunuch Yao! I haven't seen you for a long time. Are you in good health? What brings you here?" Min Xi hurriedly bowed to Eunuch Yao.

Eunuch Yao smiled and said, "Thanks to you, it's not bad. His Majesty asked me to present the imperial edict to Lord Min, congratulating Lord Min on his promotion again."

Min Xi was stunned for a moment. What official position could he be promoted to? The only officials higher than him in the Honglu Temple were the Minister and the Vice Minister of the Honglu Temple, and he had never heard of any promotion for them.

Seeing that he was in a daze, Eunuch Yao reminded him, "Master Min, let's go in first and talk."

"Yes, yes, yes! Please come in!" Min Xi then came to his senses and welcomed the angels into the government office. The officials who had not yet left the government office also received the news and hurried over to greet the angels.

The Minister and Vice Minister of the Honglu Temple were also wondering in their hearts which government office Min Xi would be promoted to. The fact that they had not received a transfer order meant that Min Xi would not be promoted to the Honglu Temple, but to another department.

Min Xi hasn't adapted to the situation psychologically yet, or it could be said that this is not what he expected at all. He just wants to spend his days in the Honglu Temple, a low-paying government office, and doesn't even think about promotion. Does the emperor not want him to have some free time?

Eunuch Yao took out the imperial edict and read out the emperor's will. The edict praised Min Xihao, saying that he had made great contributions during his mission to Southeast Asia and had outstanding abilities. The court would reward him. In addition to being the left assistant minister of the Honglu Temple, he would also be appointed as the censor of the Censorate.

When Min Xi heard about this supervisory censor, he almost burst into tears. He thought it must be Zhang Juzheng's handwriting, asking him to be a censor to supervise the emperor in the future. But he didn't want to be this censor. The supervisory censor was a seventh-rank official who was specifically responsible for inspecting local areas and officials for the emperor. He was also called a patrol censor.

After Min Xi heard this, he remained silent for a long while. Eunuch Yao said, "Min sir, what are you standing there for? Accept the decree."

Min Xi had no choice but to come forward and receive the imperial edict. He said uncertainly, "Eunuch Yao, which government office should I go to in the future?"

Eunuch Yao said, "Mr. Min, you are different from other censors. You are responsible for supervising officials in the capital, and His Majesty has specially ordered you to attend the court."

This court session refers to the morning court session. In the early days of Wanli's reign, he was very diligent and held a morning court session every three days. That is to say, Min Xi had to get up at four o'clock every three days to go to the palace for court session. Min Xi felt like the sky was falling!