The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

They walked towards the nearby farmers' houses. At this time, people who went to church for worship had returned one after another, and even the farmers who usually wore shabby clothes to work in the fields wore their most respectable clothes at this time, which showed their piety to their faith.

Min Xi always felt that China was more civilized than the West. In the fields of culture, science and technology, China was ahead of the world for many years. It was not until the end of the Ming Dynasty that China was gradually surpassed by the West in the field of science and technology, suffered repeated military defeats, and ceded territory and paid compensation. China went from being a sacred country that Westerners yearned for to a fat sheep that everyone wanted to take a piece of, being trampled on and despised, and losing the right to speak in various fields.

In fact, even during those years when the West was ahead of China in technology, it never surpassed China in the fields of culture and thought.

For example, in the field of ideology and morality, Westerners need strong religious propaganda and laws to restrain their moral behavior. Once there is a loophole, they will expose their barbaric nature.

Under the same external conditions, the moral bottom line of the Chinese is definitely much higher than that of the Westerners. Some people would say that this is the result of high political pressure, but Min Xi believes that this is the result of thousands of years of subtle influence of Chinese civilization.

Western civilization originated late and has no continuous lineage, with serious ideological divisions. In modern times, it became rich through technology, plunder and war, and seemed to have suddenly become the benchmark of civilization. In fact, they are the nouveau riche with a weak foundation.

In the era when Min Xi lived, Chinese technology was catching up with the West in all aspects. China was gradually returning to the top position in the world. People lived and worked in peace and contentment. No one picked up things on the streets and did not lock their doors at night. China once again became a benchmark of human civilization. Unfortunately, he came to this era.

Fortunately, China had not lost its leading position and had not been despised by Western powers. Since he had come here, Min Xi felt that he could not come in vain. At least, he should try to change the future course of Chinese history, so that China could embrace the world earlier, strengthen the exchange of science and technology, and no longer be closed off and impoverished.

Perhaps his firefly light cannot illuminate the direction of history, nor change the course of history, but at least he has tried, so he will not regret it.

Yun Ji was walking in front, not expecting that Min Xi behind him had so many associations after seeing the locals going to worship. He stopped outside a farmer's yard, and Min Xi, who was following him mechanically with his head down, didn't notice and bumped into the basket.

Yun Ji felt his strength and turned around hurriedly: "What's wrong?"

Min Xi rubbed his forehead and said, "It's okay. I bumped into you accidentally. I was distracted and didn't notice that you stopped."

Yun Ji looked at him with concern: "Did you hit anything? Let me see."

"No." Min Xi put down his hand and grinned at him.

Yun Ji raised his hand and rubbed his forehead: "What are you thinking about?"

Min Xi said, "I've been thinking about this for a while and I'll tell you later." He not only wants potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn, but also the Westerners' powerful ships and guns. This plan is a bit too big and it is unknown whether it can succeed.

"Can't you say it now?"

Min Xi shook his head: "It's still early. Is anyone home?"

Yun Ji said, "It seems not, but there is a lot of straw in the yard. Should we wait?"

Min Xi looked around and saw that they still had to go a long way to reach another farmer's house, so he said, "Then wait a while."

In fact, wheat straw is not valuable. Local people use it as firewood to feed cattle and sheep. But you can't just go in and take it just because it's free. You have to at least say hello.

After waiting for a while, they heard a dog barking. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw an old man and an old woman walking towards them. In front of them was a black and white curly-haired dog that barked at Min Xi and the others, barked twice and then stopped to look at its owner. This was a water dog, with fur so long that its eyes could not be seen.

Min Xi and Yun Ji guessed that it was the master who had returned, so they waited quietly for a while.

When the others approached, before they could speak, the old man spoke first: "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The old woman stared at the two men without blinking; their appearances were so unusual.

Min Xi explained his purpose: "I want to ask you for some wheat straw. We can pay for it."

When the old man heard that he wanted straw, he waved his hand and said, "Take whatever you want. Straw is not worth much."

Min Xi said, "We need a large bundle, a lot. I'll give you some money."

Seeing this, the old man looked at Min Xi again with his gray eyes and asked, "Where are you from? Why do you speak Fulangji?"

Min Xi said: "We are Chinese, coming from the far east."

"From the New World?" the old man asked.

Min Xi shook his head: "No, it's from the Old World."

I guess the old man has no idea about China. He just heard someone talking about the New World when he was chatting with someone, so he asked about the New World.

Min Xi said, "Then I will go in and bundle the grass. Thank you."

He and Yun Ji entered the fenced yard. The water dog was smart. When it saw its owner talking to them, it stopped barking and just lay there quietly looking at the two strangers.

The wheat straw had just been harvested and had been threshed, and there was still a fresh smell of wheat straw. Min Xi and Yun Ji gathered a large bundle of wheat straw from the yard and tied it up with the hemp rope they brought.

The old man and the old woman looked at them without saying anything.

After the bundle was tied, Min Xi walked over and gave the other party two Reeses: "Thank you, we need these for now, and we may need them in the future, so we will buy them from you again."

The old man took the two Reeses, still a little unconvinced that they would give him money: "What do you want the straw for? If you want to burn it, I have firewood here, which is more durable."

Min Xi smiled and said, "No, it has other uses. Thank you, and goodbye!"

They left with the bundle of grass on their backs. Min Xi said, "If this is successful, we'll come back to buy more in the future. Then we'll see if we can get them to help us grow tomatoes and peppers. Now we rely entirely on the weather, and the yield is really too low."

Yun Ji did not object to his approach. After all, the tomatoes had been cooked and everyone had been eating them for so long without any problems, which showed that there was really no problem and it was reasonable to plant more.

After leaving the farmhouse, Min Xi found a pond, threw the whole bundle of wheat straw into the pond, and found a few stones to weigh down the wheat straw: "Okay, let it soak, and take it back when it softens."

Yun Ji was very curious: "Can you also make paper?"

"No. I've only seen them in workshops before. They use rice straw. They soak the straw, wash it, boil it, chop it up, and pound it into pulp. Then they can make paper. The specific method is very complicated. They need to add lime and so on. We don't have lime or anything like that. We can add some straw ash and see if we can make it. Anyway, we are only making straw paper and we won't use it for anything else."

"Ninth brother, you are so capable. How come you know everything?" Yun Ji couldn't help but admire.

Min Xi smiled and said, "I don't know how to do it. I've seen it but I haven't done it myself. I don't know if I can do it. Anyway, it won't be easy. You know, Europe only learned papermaking from the people of Arabia in recent years. We live in the Ming Dynasty and think it's normal to eat with porcelain and use straw paper in the toilet. For Europeans, these are all extremely luxurious behaviors."

Yun Ji nodded: "I noticed it too. I never thought the difference between the two places would be so great."

Min Xi added, "But Europeans also have their strengths. Look at their sailboats, which are more advanced than those of our Ming Dynasty. They are also equipped with cannons. Although their range is limited, their attack power should not be underestimated. They can destroy large ships like galleons. Their muskets are more lethal than our muskets and fire guns. They don't know how to make silk, porcelain and paper, but they have advanced ships and cannons, as well as advanced navigation technology. They are now using these to conquer the backward natives in the New World and the barbarians in Southeast Asia. If they use these things to deal with our Ming Dynasty, what do you think we can rely on to resist these artillery fire? Swords or bows and arrows?"

Yun Ji frowned upon hearing this and said, "You are absolutely right. We are indeed a little behind in this regard, and we must pay more attention to it so that we will not be afraid of provocations from foreign races in the future."

Min Xi couldn't help but sigh: "We are always worried that the enemy will invade from land, so we stationed a large number of troops in the west and north to prevent barbarians from entering the pass to plunder. We don't take pirate invasions seriously, but just ban the sea. This has not stopped the frequent harassment of the Japanese pirates on our coast. In my opinion, the small-scale attacks of the Japanese pirates are not to be feared, but the fanatical adventurers like Europa will be our biggest enemy in the future. They have now occupied a lot of territory on the islands in the South Pacific, and there is no guarantee that they will not use this as a base to expand towards our Ming Dynasty in the future."

Yun Ji nodded seriously: "Maybe when the Ming Dynasty is prosperous, they are not afraid of threats from the other side, but when it is weak, they may take advantage of the situation to rob."

After all, he was educated and knew that the rise and fall of history was a cycle, and no dynasty could avoid it. The Ming Dynasty had been in existence for 200 years, and according to the laws of history, it was also in its middle and late stages, so he really had to worry.

Min Xi said nothing more.

Yun Ji suddenly said: "Ninth brother, I think your knowledge is not inferior to those who are well-read. If you can read, you will become a pillar of the country."

Min Xi smiled and said, "I just read a lot, thought a lot, and had wild thoughts."