The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji stood on the deck, looking at the busy harbor, and was completely shocked: on one side, large and small ships were densely lined up, waiting to enter the port to unload, and on the other side, there were ships loading cargo and supplies waiting to leave the port. The entire harbor was bustling with people and it was an extremely lively scene. This scene was truly unheard of.

"I thought Quanzhou Port was busy enough, but I didn't expect it to be dwarfed by the Portuguese port." Yun Ji sighed from the bottom of his heart.

This level of prosperity was of course nothing to Min Si, but he still said: "Yes. The only port that can be compared with the port of Fulani is probably the port of Greater Luzon." Greater Luzon refers to Spain, named after its colonization of Luzon (Philippines).

"Greater Luzon is more prosperous than here?" Yun Ji asked in surprise.

Min Xi nodded: "Yes, they say that the fleet of Greater Luzon is the most powerful fleet in the world today, sweeping across the oceans, unmatched."

"So strong!"

Min Xi nodded: "Yes, they occupied a large amount of land in the New World and dug millions of kilograms of gold and tens of millions of kilograms of silver from there."

Even though Yun Ji had seen a lot, he still gasped at this number. He couldn't help but ask, "What is the New World?"

Min Xi took the opportunity to teach Yun Ji some basic knowledge about the New World and that the earth is round.

Yun Ji was stunned and murmured, "Our ancients always believed that the sky was round and the earth was square, and we were in the center. It turns out that the world we live in is actually a circle?" This completely subverted his worldview.

Min Xi said: "To be precise, it is spherical. Theoretically, if we start from where we are standing and go straight in any direction, we will eventually return to this point."

Yun Ji showed an expression of disbelief: "Are you telling the truth?"

"Europeans believed that the earth was round, and that if they sailed westward on the sea, they would definitely reach our Ming Dynasty. As a result, they found a new continent, which they called America. The local people had low productivity and still used the primitive method of slash-and-burn agriculture, but they had abundant resources and many crops that we didn't have. Perhaps we could take them to the Ming Dynasty to enrich our resources," said Min Xi.

"If that's the case, it would be an unexpected gain." Yun Ji nodded.

"I heard that it is like this. The Europeans should have brought them all back. We will know when we get there. If it is true, I want to bring some seeds back to Ming Dynasty." Min Xi said.

Of course, Yun Ji didn't know at this time how important the crops that Min Xi mentioned were. Perhaps with these crops, the future course of China's history would be different. The fuse of the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty was caused by years of drought, and corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes are all drought-resistant crops.

Yun Ji continued the previous topic: "It's not that the earth is round, they still haven't reached Ming Dynasty yet."

Min Xi said: "They arrived. Later, the French navigator Captain Magellan led a fleet around the southern tip of America, crossed the Pacific Ocean, and successfully arrived in Luzon. The French then arrived in Guangzhou of our Ming Dynasty from Luzon. The fact that we can arrive here from the Ming Dynasty is enough to prove that the earth is round." For him, who is a maritime major, these maritime histories are like treasures.

Yun Ji looked at Min Xi: "Why do you know so much?" He felt that Min Xi's talent and knowledge were not inferior to those of the young masters of noble families he knew. If he had the money to study, he would have passed the imperial examination long ago.

Min Xi smiled and said, "When I was chatting with the sailors, they told me that Captain Magellan was a great navigator in France and even in the world. They are very proud of him."

Yun Ji said: "It seems that I need to learn the Fulangji language well."

"I'll teach you." Min Xi said with a smile.

"it is good!"

They waited from noon until dark before the Shark finally docked at the port. The sailors on the ship were already cursing loudly. They had been at sea for almost a year and finally arrived home safely. How could they not be excited?

When getting off the ship and going through customs, Min Xi and Yun Ji encountered some minor trouble. They had no identification and were stopped by the routine port inspection.

There really was nothing that could be done about it. They both had black hair and black eyes, and their facial features were considered three-dimensional among Orientals, but their looks were still very different from those of Europeans with high noses and deep eyes. Especially since they wore their hair in a bun, they looked like foreigners at first glance, and there was no way they could get away with it.

They fell into the water from the boat, and the pass issued by the Ming government had long been lost, so there was no way to prove their identities.

Captain Reiss was a good man and explained their origins, guaranteed the two of them, and stuffed two silver coins into the inspector's pocket, and the inspector let them go.

Min Xi and Yun Ji saw all of this. When they passed the checkpoint, Yun Ji clasped his fists to express his gratitude to Reis. During this period of time, he had learned some simple Portuguese.

Reis waved his hand and asked, "Where are you going next?"

Min Si did not answer, but said: "I wonder when the captain will return to Malacca? We want to follow your ship back."

Leis said: "It's not impossible to go back with our ship. But I'm not sure when we'll leave. It may take two or three months, or it may take a year. You guys find a place to stay first, and I'll let you know when it's time to leave."

Min Xi said quickly: "Captain, we have just arrived in your precious place and are unfamiliar with the place. We only know you, Captain, and may need to trouble you. So where should we go to find you?"

Reis said, "Go to the owner, Sanvis, at the Magellan Tavern on Lighthouse Avenue, and he'll tell you where to find me."

Min Xi quickly wrote it down.

Reiss added, "You two still don't have a place to stay, so you can go find Old Sanvis. Well, I'll take you there, and we can go have a drink with Old Sanvis while we're there."

"Thank you, Captain Reis!" Min Xi hurriedly thanked him.

After walking for a while, Leis asked again: "Do you have money?"

Min Xi and Yun Ji both shook their heads, but Min Xi was not too worried. There were so many ships entering and leaving the port every day. As long as they were willing to work hard, they would definitely not starve.

Reis stopped, grabbed a handful from the leather bag on his shoulder, and counted out ten silver coins: "This is 10 reais, just as your payment for your work on the ship during this period of time."

Min Xi did not refuse. No matter where you are, you can't move forward without money. This money is exactly what he and Yun Ji need. He took the silver coin with both hands and said, "Thank you, Captain Reis. You saved us. We can't ask for wages. This money is a loan from us. We will return it to you when we make money."

Reis smiled and nodded after hearing this. After getting to know them for such a long time, he knew that these two Chinese people knew how to repay kindness, and they were both very educated people. They must have good family backgrounds in the Ming Dynasty. It would not be wrong to make friends with them: "Okay. I'll deduct the money from your wages when we go to Asia."

"Okay!" Min Xi agreed readily.