The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Eunuch Yao continued, "As for which government office Lord Min will go to, you may have to run back and forth between the two."

Min Xi wanted to cry but had no tears. Not only did he have to get up early, but he also had to run back and forth. The emperor didn't want him to have any free time. It was not until Eunuch Yao said he was leaving that he realized what was going on. He reached into his sleeve pocket and took out some silver to reward Eunuch Yao: "Thank you for your hard work, take this and have some tea."

"Thank you, Lord Min!" Eunuch Yao took the silver with a smile. Seeing his distraught look, he guessed that he might not be very happy to serve as the Supervisory Censor. Based on his understanding of Min Xi, he was not a particularly ambitious person. He did not take the imperial examination and took the initiative to ask to go to the Honglu Temple, a low-income government office, just to seek leisure and freedom. After all, with his ability, he did not need to rely on promotion to have wealth that rivals a country. The two Liulichangs he opened for the emperor could earn a million taels of silver a year, and he also found several gold mines overseas. As long as he moved his fingers casually, he would never lack money in his life.

Being the Censor-in-Chief is not an easy job. To put it bluntly, it is an offensive job. It is normal that he is unwilling to do it.

Yao Gonggong comforted Min Xi: "Min Sir, His Majesty has appointed you as the Imperial Censor of the Capital, which shows his respect for you. Min Sir is very capable, so naturally, more work should be done. Our Ming Dynasty still needs capable officials like you to share His Majesty's worries."

What could Min Xi say? He could only thank God for his grace.

As soon as Eunuch Yao left, his colleagues from the Honglu Temple came up to him and said, "Congratulations, Lord Min, on your promotion!"

However, judging from everyone's tone, not all of them were congratulating sincerely, but rather were joking. After all, the Censor was only of the seventh rank, not as high as the Left Assistant of the Honglu Temple, so this was not considered a promotion, and the salary increase was limited. Min Xi did not think highly of this salary.

Min Xi turned around and looked at everyone helplessly: "My Lord, please stop making fun of me. This is not a promotion at all! Your Majesty thinks I am too idle, so he found me such a tough job. I have to attend the morning court every three days!"

The Minister of the Honglu Temple laughed and patted Min Xi on the shoulder: "Your Excellency Min, welcome to join the ranks of those who get up earlier than the chickens!"

Everyone couldn't help laughing, but they still tried to comfort Min Xi: "Min sir, this shows how much His Majesty values ​​you. The position of the Imperial Censor is so important that it's hard for ordinary people to do it. I think Min sir is the best fit for the job."

This statement was unanimously agreed by everyone. Min Xi was a lonely man without a strong family background, which meant he had no weaknesses. He had plenty of money and would not accept bribes for money. Moreover, he was deeply favored by the emperor and could not be easily slandered by ordinary people. For the Beijing officials who committed crimes, Min Xi was like an iron plate, and there was no way to pry it open.

"You gentlemen are joking!" Min Xi was feeling overwhelmed. They were putting high hats on themselves, as if they were putting him on such a pedestal that he couldn't get down from it.

The Minister of the Honglu Temple said, "Lord Min, you don't have to report to the Honglu Temple every day. If there is anything in the office, I will let someone know. We will meet in the court in the future, and we can talk about it in person if there is anything."

Min Xi hurriedly thanked him: "Thank you for your consideration!" In fact, he didn't really want this kind of consideration. If he could choose, he would rather come to the Honglu Temple to report than go to the Duchayuan to work. There is no leisure there. And what about his inventions in the future? He won't have time to tinker with them.

Although he had received the imperial decree of promotion, Min Xi was not in a hurry to report to the Censorate. He went to Baron Fernando's house as planned. No one stipulated that he had to report to work immediately after receiving the transfer order.

Baron Fernando was so happy to see Min Xi coming that he opened his arms and said, "Dear Min, you are finally back! I missed you so much! I heard that you were back the day before yesterday and was about to visit you, but I thought that you had just returned and there were so many things to deal with, so I didn't bother you."

Min Xi hugged him warmly: "Dear Pedro, long time no see! I wanted to visit you when I just came back, but there are too many things to do and I am too busy to spare the time. Please forgive us. My old friend, are you used to it in Beijing?"

The baron could already speak in fluent Chinese: "It's so-so! Except for the cold winter and strong wind and sand, everything else is fine."

Fernando was wrapped up like a dumpling, with three layers inside and three layers outside, and his whole body was furry. It seemed that he was quite afraid of the cold.

"It's true in Beijing. It's very cold in winter, and there are strong sandstorms in spring and autumn. The climate can't be compared with Lisbon." Min Xi also admitted that Beijing's climate is far less livable than Lisbon.

Speaking of Lisbon, the Baron's homesickness came up again, but he quickly adjusted his mood: "Let's not talk about bad things, let's talk about happy things. Did your trip go smoothly? Where's Yun, why didn't he come?"

Min Xi said, "It's going pretty smoothly. Yun is in the government office. They have a lot of things to do in the Ministry of Revenue, so they won't be home until the evening. I came here today to visit you and give you an invitation. Tomorrow afternoon, we are inviting friends to a small gathering at Yunxiang Restaurant. I hope you can come too."

Min Xi gave the invitation to the baron, who opened it and saw Portuguese words written on it. After reading it, he said, "Thank you. I will definitely go tomorrow."

"Where are Alice and Bella? Aren't they home?"

"Yes, they are taking classes with a tutor. Alice fell in love with storybooks, but she couldn't read them, so she could only listen to Bella reading to her. She didn't find that satisfying, so now she is taking tutoring classes with Bella to learn Chinese characters." The Baron shrugged.

"It sounds interesting. Pedro, aren't you learning Chinese characters along with us?" Min Xi said with a smile.

"I also learn, and study with the housekeeper at home, but not as fast as them." The baron spread his hands helplessly. He did not have as much motivation to study as his wife.

Min Xi took out the gift he brought for their family and said, "This is a gift I brought from Southeast Asia for you. I don't know if you like it."

"Thank you dear, we enjoyed it very much. It's time for them to finish their get out of class now, I'll ask Alice and Bella to come out." said the Baron.

The baron was in no hurry to open the presents, but first sent someone to invite his wife and children. When he came back, he said to Min Xi: "I have another good news to tell you. Bella will soon have a brother or sister."

"Really? Then congratulations! You're going to be a father again." Min Xi was sincerely happy for his old friend. Their family of three was a little lonely after all. Bella was not young anymore and might get married in a few years. If they had more children, they would not feel so lonely in a foreign country.

The baron smiled happily: "When Alice was three years old, Bella was pregnant with a child, but for some reason she miscarried and never got pregnant again. It was not until we arrived in Beijing that Diego's wife introduced us to an old doctor. He prescribed medicine for Bella for several months to regulate her body, and she finally got pregnant this time. The baby will be born in the spring."

"That's great. You can have more children, so that your home will be more lively." Min Xi looked at the huge house. If there were no children, it would be really empty. He had never lived in his own home because it was too empty. The Yun family was too big, with few people, and it was also empty.

Not long after the servant left, Alice and Bella came. Alice was bloated, her face was rounder, her belly was very big, and she was already very pregnant. Bella was slim and slender, very cute, and her clothes and appearance were completely like a Ming Dynasty girl, except that her hair was curly and her Chinese hairstyle looked messy.

When Alice and Bella saw Min Xi, they bowed to him. If you ignore their faces, you can tell that they followed the etiquette of Ming Dynasty women.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Mrs. Alice, Miss Bella, long time no see! You have adapted to the local customs."

Bella said, "Uncle Min, when did you come back?" Her Chinese was close to that of a Beijing accent, with only a slight accent. It seemed that children learn to speak the fastest.

"You've been back for a few days. Bella has grown so tall and is now a big girl. Come, the New Year isn't over yet, so uncle will give you a red envelope and wish you peace and health." Min Xi took out a red envelope with a gold ingot inside.

"Thank you, uncle!" Bella took it, opened it, and smiled immediately, "This little ingot is so cute!"

Min Xi said to Alice again: "Mrs. Alice, congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Alice's accent was still as strong as before, but she could finally speak Chinese.

The Baron called his wife and daughter over and opened the gift sent by Min Xi. Opening the gift in front of Min Xi seemed to be a Western tradition.

The gifts that Min Xi brought to their family were pearls, corals and opals, which they could use to make jewelry.

Min Xi chatted for a long time with his old friend whom he hadn't seen for a long time. It took him half an afternoon to come out of the Baron's house and he also had lunch at the Baron's house.

After returning home, Min Xi thought about the miserable early morning life he was about to face, and he felt a little overwhelmed. In order to distract himself, he took out the various machine drawings he had drawn before, and planned to organize them. He would invite Zhao Shizhen to dinner tomorrow and talk to him about machine manufacturing.

If he doesn't have time to develop these things himself, then he can hand it over to the Ministry of Industry. The Ministry of Industry has many capable people and with the collective wisdom, maybe they can implement his ideas.

When Yun Ji came back, he saw Min Xi working on a drawing at his desk: "Are you going to start making the machine now?"

Hearing this, Min Xi turned his head to look at Yun Ji, put down the pen in his hand, and opened his arms to Yun Ji: "Seventh Brother, come and comfort me!"

"What's wrong?" Yun Ji walked over quickly.

Min Xi hugged his waist and buried his face in his abdomen: "The emperor is so annoying. He asked me to go to the Censorate to be a censor. I have to follow them to the morning court. How can I get up!"

Yun Ji thought he had been wronged, and was about to raise his hand to stroke his head. Hearing this, he couldn't help but smile: "It's okay, I'll get up early with you."

When Min Xi heard him say that, he looked up at him and said, "Forget it, just sleep as long as you can."

"I can't sleep either. I received a transfer order today. His Majesty promoted me to the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue, but also required me to attend the morning court." Yun Ji said helplessly.

Min Xi was stunned when he heard this. It took him a few seconds to react, and then he burst into laughter: "Really? Is it true? Brother Qi, you got promoted! Congratulations! You have to accompany me to the morning court, that's great, I won't be lonely anymore."

The misery of one person is really tragic, but when two people are miserable together, it seems not so tragic. Min Xi's mood instantly became much better at this moment.