The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The office was dark and quiet, with only the laptop screen on the table still on. The light from the screen was projected onto a furry head on the table, and the person in front of the computer was sleeping soundly.

Suddenly, the phone rang, breaking the silence in the room. The head on the table suddenly looked up, obviously startled. She reached out to touch the phone next to the computer, without even checking the caller ID, and asked sleepily, "Hello! Who is this?"

"Xiao Jiang, how is your graduation thesis going?" an old voice came from the other end.

Hearing this voice, Jiang Zhi suddenly perked up: "Professor, I'm writing my thesis and it won't delay my graduation. Please don't ask me to change the topic again!"

"Okay, I didn't ask you to change your subject. Pack your luggage and go to Beijing on a business trip tomorrow. An ancient tomb was dug up at a construction site there. Experts in Beijing preliminarily determined that it was Yun Ji's tomb. Isn't your graduation thesis about him? Come with us to carry out the rescue excavation."

The professor's words were official, but in Jiang Zhi's heart they were like thunder: "Is it true? Professor, is this really Yun Ji's tomb? I'll go there early tomorrow morning! Thank you, professor!"

As she spoke, she hurriedly packed her things and went back to the dormitory to pack her luggage for the business trip. Excitement was not enough to describe her mood at the moment.

Jiang Zhi is a doctoral student in history, and her graduation thesis was about Yun Ji, the first minister of the Ming Dynasty. Oddly enough, Yun Ji was a famous official in history, and as a key figure in the Wanli Restoration, his importance was almost comparable to that of Zhang Juzheng. However, apart from the "Ming History·Biography of Yun Ji", there are few records of him in historical materials, and even few unofficial histories.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Yun Ji. According to historical records, he never married, had no children, and even his tomb is unknown. It should be noted that he died only 400 years ago, so this situation is really not right, unless he deliberately concealed it.

Jiang Zhi took Yun Ji as her research subject and collected all the information she could find. She still felt that it was difficult, but she didn't want to give up. Now that she had found Yun Ji's tomb, it was like a pillow was sent to her when she was sleepy. Now she should no longer lack research materials. No wonder she was excited. Finally, she could graduate smoothly without changing the subject.

Jiang Zhi was so excited that she couldn't sleep at all, so she searched the Internet for the latest news about Yun Ji. As expected, she searched on the familiar history forum and found some archaeological information about Yun Ji's tomb, which was updated by colleagues in Beijing. However, the information was very limited, probably due to the progress of the archaeological work, and a lot of information has not been made public.

Jiang Zhi noticed a key piece of information: Yun Ji's tomb was a joint burial tomb. She was a little excited. In ancient times, only husband and wife could be buried together. But the "History of Ming Dynasty" clearly recorded that Yun Ji never married and had no children. Who was the person buried with him?

She opened Yun Ji's Tieba, which was created by Yun Ji's fans. However, due to the decline of Tieba, it was usually very deserted. But today, there were many new posts, including news about archaeology. This archaeology post became a hot post. Just now, in the middle of the night, there were still people leaving comments under this post. It seemed that Yun Ji's fans had already started celebrating after hearing the news.

Since she couldn't sleep anyway, Jiang Zhi started reading posts from netizens with great interest.

"Friends, I seem to have discovered something shocking! According to the information released by archaeological experts, Yun Ji's tomb is a joint burial tomb. In ancient times, only couples could be buried together. It is known that Yun Ji never married in his life, so who could be buried with him?"

"Maybe the history books are wrong, and he actually had a wife."

"The history books cannot be wrong. Yun Ji was a famous official who could be compared to Zhang Juzheng. It is impossible for the historians not to know such a thing. The history books say that he did not have a wife, so he definitely did not have one. The one buried with him could be his concubine, who could not be his principal wife because of her low status."

"Do you think it's possible? In such an environment in ancient times, he could withstand the pressure and not marry or have children, which shows that he was quite unorthodox. If he had a concubine, he would ask to be buried with her after his death, which shows that he loved her to the core. He was in a high position and had great power, second only to the emperor. No matter what her status was, he could always find a way to make his concubine his wife's wife. I think he didn't have any concubines at all, and the one buried with him should be his lover."

"Hehe, I know what the above person means. Yun Ji must have a lover, so he doesn't marry a wife or a concubine."

"What do you two mean? Is it because he loves someone else's wife that he can't marry her?"

"Is this possible? Can someone else's wife be buried with him? Even if he agrees, will others agree?"

"Don't be too particular about gender. You should know that the south wind prevailed in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Yun Ji was shipwrecked and stranded overseas before he entered the officialdom. He was also stranded overseas with the great inventor and navigator Min Xi. I always felt that they had a special relationship."

"You mean, the person buried with him might be Min Xi? Oh my God, this is really shocking news!"

"It's not impossible. It is said that Min Xi's tomb in his hometown is a cenotaph. His real tomb has always been a mystery."

"You also think that Yun Ji and Min Xi have a special relationship? I've been supporting them for a long time! It's a pity that Min Xi's official position was not high enough, so there is no separate biography for him in the history books. He was recorded together with Zhao Shizhen and others. There is limited space for words, and the records are not detailed enough, so not much information can be seen."

"In fact, it is very simple to verify. Hasn't Yun Ji's tomb been excavated? As long as we know whether the person buried with him is a man or a woman, it will be easy to determine the identity of the other person."

“Perhaps the artifacts in the tomb can reveal the identity of another person.”

"It would be great if I could go to do archaeological research myself. Is it too late for us to study archaeology now?"

"Go to bed. I'd better wait for the great masters of archaeology to release the archaeological information as soon as possible."

"..."

When Jiang Zhi saw this, she suddenly felt that she was the happiest person in the world, because she would soon have the opportunity to verify it!

After arriving in Beijing, Jiang Zhi could not wait to go to the archaeological site. The tomb was located in the suburbs of Beijing and was dug out by an excavator of a real estate developer. This was originally a mountainous area, and there were no traces of tombs on the surface. Only after digging it up did we find a large tomb.

The tombs have never been robbed and are mostly well preserved. The funerary objects inside are extremely rich, exceeding everyone's expectations. The funerary objects are very diverse, including not only gold, silver, jade, jewelry, porcelain and other objects, but also various metal products, such as bicycles, steam engines, guns and cannons, and even medieval European currency, as well as seeds such as potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes.

There are also a large number of rich documents and drawings in the tomb, as well as a large number of exquisite murals. The contents of the murals are all nautical charts. If you look closely, it seems that there are not just one but two protagonists.

When Jiang Zhi arrived, most of the funerary objects in the tomb had been cleared out. She worked with her colleagues in Beijing and was shocked by the uniqueness of this tomb.

From a professional's perspective, the size of this tomb and the funerary objects are enough to build a museum. I just don't know whether the higher authorities will approve the construction of a museum. After all, this place has been bought by a real estate developer, and the identity and fame of the tomb owner are not high enough to build a museum.

Jiang Zhi listened to everyone's discussion and knew that most of the funerary objects in the entire tomb would be cleared out, and the murals would be cut up and moved away with the coffin to be placed in a museum. Some of the funerary objects would be exhibited in the future, and most of them would be stored in the warehouse and rarely see the light of day, which was quite a pity.

After the Yuan and Ming dynasties, there were few tombs with such lavish burials except for emperors, which shows how wealthy the tomb owner was during his lifetime. Of course, Yun Ji was a wealthy businessman before he entered the officialdom, so it is not surprising that he had such financial resources.

Jiang Zhi has always been curious about the identity of the people buried together, but she is still cleaning up the burial objects outside the tomb. The coffin has not been opened yet, and she has not had time to look through the documents in detail.

With such curiosity and questions in mind, everyone cleaned up the funerary objects unearthed from the tomb in an orderly manner.

Because time was tight and winter was coming, in order to avoid working in the cold, everyone arranged a heavy workload, cleaning first and then researching. Jiang Zhi worked day and night with everyone for two months, and finally learned the identity of the co-buried person from the tomb documents. It turned out to be the great inventor and navigator Min Xi mentioned by someone in the forum!

Upon learning of this result, the archaeologists were so shocked that their jaws almost dislocated. Although there were many times in history when the south wind prevailed, this was the first time in archaeology that such a grand burial was seen, not to mention that it involved two famous people in history.

This can also explain why the specifications and quantity of the burial objects in this tomb far exceed Yun Ji's identity. That's because this is not the tomb of one person.

This news is enough to shock the historical community.

As archaeological research deepened, information about the joint tomb of Yun Ji and Min Xi was gradually reported. This news not only caused a sensation in the historical community, but also in major media, and even became a hot search.

The cloud fans are as lively as the Chinese New Year, with accounts that have been silent for a long time popping up one after another, both professional and amateur, expressing their opinions, which is a feast for the eyes.

Jiang Zhi has been extremely busy lately, and her only pastime is to browse posts online, read the divergent thoughts of various great writers, and occasionally leave comments herself.

"Hahahaha, the joint tomb of Yun Ji and Min Xi! A joint tomb! From ancient times to the present, who else can be buried together except husband and wife? Who can understand my happiness? I am really obsessed with this couple!!! I am rooting for Yun and Min Xi!"

"CP fans are so happy! My CP is so worthy of my sincerity in cutting my own leg flesh! [tears streaming down my face.jpg]"

"Happiness came so suddenly that I couldn't believe it was real."

"Wake up upstairs, does being buried together necessarily mean they are husband and wife? Maybe they just have a good relationship."

"The guy above is obviously uneducated. From ancient times to the present, only husband and wife can be buried together. Is there any need to question their relationship? This is the conclusion given by archaeological experts, and they are officially recognized as husband and wife!"

"Although I understand why you guys like gossip, am I the only one who cares about the cultural relics and documents unearthed from the tomb? There is a saying in the historical community that in addition to Zhang Juzheng and Yun Ji, Min Xi must also be considered a key figure in the Wanli Restoration. The discovery of their joint tomb this time, can it prove that this saying is not groundless? The burial objects in it have already proved it, and I wonder if the documents unearthed from the tomb can prove it."

"The above person has mentioned the key point. I have always felt that Min Xi was the key figure in the Wanli Restoration. He brought high-yield crops such as corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes back to China from Europe, and invented machinery such as bicycles, steam engines, and internal combustion engines to improve productivity. He also led the way to discover the South Sea continent and solved the financial crisis for the Ming Dynasty. If Zhang Juzheng extended the life of the Ming Dynasty for seventy years, then the remaining fifty years were extended by Min Xi and Yun Ji. He is simply a bug-like existence. I suspect that he is a modern person who traveled through time. His thinking is definitely ahead of the times. Now looking at his relationship with Yun Ji, maybe even the policies proposed by Yun Ji are related to him."

"Great minds think alike. I also think that Min Xi is too unlike an ancient man. His vision is too advanced. It's a pity that he didn't pass the imperial examination. His academic qualifications prevented him from becoming a high-ranking official. Otherwise, he would definitely be able to enter the cabinet. Maybe if he entered the cabinet, Yun Ji would have no place among the cabinet ministers."

"You guys think too highly of Min Xi. He is just a low-ranking official who is not even in the cabinet. How can he be compared with Yun Ji? You are actually trying to drag him down!"

"Don't go off topic, the one above. Yun Ji and Min Xi were buried together. They definitely had a special relationship. You're trying to drive a wedge between them. Ask them if they agree to this?"

"That's right. It's called husband singing and husband following. No matter whose achievement it is, it's the couple's business."

"I also somewhat agree with the idea that Min Xi is a time traveler. So many modern machines were unearthed from Yun Min's tomb this time. Is there any objection to saying that Min Xi is the originator of modern machinery?"

……

There were many more discussions about Min Xi and Yun Ji, and Jiang Zhi couldn't read them one by one. Her top priority was to study the cultural relics unearthed from the Yun Min joint tomb.

For historical researchers, the most valuable unearthed cultural relics are texts. They are the most important clues and basis for studying historical culture. Jiang Zhi predicts that there will be major discoveries in this archaeological excavation because a large number of documentary materials were unearthed from the tombs.

There is a saying in the archaeological community: "Dry for a thousand years, wet for ten thousand years, and neither dry nor wet for half a year." The Beijing area is dry, and the middle and late Ming Dynasty is only four or five hundred years ago, so most of the documents in Yun Min's tomb are well preserved, which is why Jiang Zhi is so excited.

As the teachers worked day and night until the end of the semester, Jiang Zhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. The literature unearthed from the tombs was so rich that she finally had a place to write her graduation thesis. In the remaining months, she just needed to sort the information and compile it into a book.

Among the unearthed documents, there are not only various books that the tomb owner often read, but also many of his works: Yun Ji's poetry and prose collections, policy essays, notes, etc.; Min Xi did not have any poetry or prose, but he wrote a lot of travel notes, mainly recording his experiences overseas, as well as his mechanical drawings and overseas geomancy maps.

For Jiang Zhi, these contents were like treasures, as they provided first-hand information for studying Yun Ji's life trajectory, ideological changes, etc.

After reading all the literature, Jiang Zhi decided to add a chapter to her graduation thesis to discuss Min Xi's influence on Yun Ji. Because she saw Yun Ji mentioning more than once in his writings that he had exchanges of ideas and political views with Min Xi. Min Xi also had relevant exchanges in his travel notes, but they were relatively rare. This shows that in reality, the two of them would have more relevant exchanges, and their influence on each other was inevitable.

In addition to these, an epitaph carved on a stone slab was also found in the tomb tunnel. To be precise, it should be a sacrificial text, because the content and format cannot be strictly considered an epitaph. This sacrificial text is well preserved, with a total of 1,202 words, and the author is Yun Ji's younger brother Yun Lin.

Unlike the tombstone which only has Yun Ji's name written on it, the content of the eulogy records the life stories and evaluations of both Yun Ji and Min Xi.

Yun Ji and Min Xi both died in May of the 48th year of the Wanli reign. Min Xi died of illness seven days after Yun Ji at the age of 70. According to their wishes, they were buried together, but Min Xi did not leave a tombstone.

When Wanli learned of the two's death, he burst into tears and gave an oral order to allow them to be buried together. In July of the same year, Wanli died.

The sacrificial text clearly describes the deep friendship between Yun Ji and Min Xi, a pair of sworn brothers. The author writes about the two brothers' companionship in childhood, their teaching in youth, and their care in adulthood. It is so sincere and moving to read.

The memorial also records some small things about the two people's interactions, which seem ordinary, but all show their tacit understanding and intimacy. Although the relationship between the two is not pointed out, it is not difficult to see from the words that Yun Ji and Min Xi supported each other throughout their lives. They were friends and relatives who depended on each other for life and death, and even more so, they were close lovers.

Among the documents unearthed from the tomb, the most precious one is definitely not this sacrificial text, but Jiang Zhi's favorite is this sacrificial text. She read it over and over again and almost memorized it.

She made a decision in her heart that after completing her graduation thesis defense, she would write a biography for Yun Ji and Min Xi to record the magnificent, affectionate and warm lives of these two legendary figures of the Ming Dynasty.