The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

They said good-bye to the King, and left the castle, and got into their carriage.

Fernando looked at the wooden box in Min Xi's hand and said, "Look at what His Majesty has rewarded you."

Min Xi opened the heavy wooden box, and what came into view was a pair of pure gold wine glasses carved with intricate patterns, which looked very exquisite.

Fernando exclaimed, "Your Majesty is very generous. This pure gold wine cup was made from the first batch of gold that our Flanji brought back from the New World. Your Majesty gave it to many people as a reward. My grandfather had a set. I didn't expect that he would give you a set as well."

"This is so precious, Your Majesty is so generous!" Min Xi said with emotion.

"It means His Majesty appreciates you." Fernando asked, "Anything else?"

Min Xi took a look inside: "There are also two brooches, and some gold and silver coins. His Majesty has given too much." The brooches are also made of pure gold, both in the shape of laurel branches, but the shapes of the two are different. As for the gold and silver coins, a rough look shows that there are dozens of them.

Fernando said, "This brooch is for both of you. The gold and silver coins are probably the prepayment for the roast chicken and duck by His Majesty, hahahaha."

Min Xi also laughed: "This is too much. Your Majesty can't spend this much even if he eats roast chicken and roast duck for a lifetime."

"Your Majesty is rich, but if you don't do it, he won't be able to eat it," said Fernando.

Min Xi said, "Then I will have to cook more for Your Majesty in the future."

Fernando looked at Yun Ji and said, "Today, Yun pleaded for Captain Reis in front of His Majesty. I was really shocked. But you said it very well and in a measured way. You expressed your concern for Reis without making things difficult for His Majesty. This matter is under the jurisdiction of the Congress, but if His Majesty personally inquires about it, the situation will develop in the best direction."

Min Xi said: "I never thought that His Majesty was so young!"

Fernando said: "His Majesty ascended the throne at the age of three and took power only two years ago. He is very motivated and always wants to expand the territory, but we hope that he can get married and give birth to a prince as soon as possible, which is related to the future of our country."

When Min Xi heard about the king who ascended the throne at the age of three, a light bulb went off in his head. He seemed to have some impression of this king! The most powerful Aves dynasty in Portuguese history created the feat of being a maritime hegemon. The second to last king of this dynasty ascended the throne at the age of three and died at the age of 24 while on a campaign in Africa. He was unmarried and had no children. After his death, his great-uncle succeeded to the throne. That great-uncle also died after only two years. The great-uncle also did not get married. Then the Portuguese royal family was annexed by Spain because of the extinction of the royal family...

Seeing that Min Xi was silent, Yun Ji took over the conversation and said, "Your Majesty is in his prime, it is only a matter of time before you give birth to a royal heir."

Fernando smiled bitterly. "It's no wonder we're not worried. The late king, your majesty's grandfather, had nine children, all of whom died young. Your majesty's father died two weeks before he was born. Your majesty was born amid the people's clamor. He was given high hopes from the moment he was born. Now, of course, the people are also looking forward to him giving birth to a heir soon."

Yun Ji was extremely surprised. He glanced at Min Xi, and his mind wandered to some unknown place. He then said, "I think your Majesty is in good health, so you don't have to worry."

Fernando just sighed when he heard this.

Min Si finally spoke and said, "Everything is destined." The king who died at the age of 24 seemed to have never married because of physical defects, so how could there be an heir to the throne?

He couldn't help but ask, "How old is your Majesty this year?"

Fernando said, "Sixteen."

After listening to this, Min Xi sighed. In that case, it will only be a few years, and he should have left Europe by then. Fernando is a nobleman, so even if Spain annexes Portugal, they should not be affected too much.

However, when I think about the fact that there are only a few decades left before the Qing army entered the pass and the Ming Dynasty was destroyed, I suddenly feel a kind of sadness.

Seeing that Min Xi did not reply after asking, Yun Ji answered for him: "You are still young."

Min Xi came back to his senses: "Yes, everything will be fine." These words were to comfort Fernando and also to comfort himself.

When we got back to the hotel, it was already past four o'clock, and Fernando asked, "When are you going to take a break next time?"

Min Xi said, "We take one day off every two weeks, what's wrong?"

"Next time we have a break, I will take you to see my horse and let Yun paint a picture of my horse," said Fernando.

Yun Ji said, "You can actually ride the horse over here. I'll watch it a few more times, and it will be easier to draw once you are familiar with it."

Fernando thought for a moment and said, "That makes sense. I'll ride over here tomorrow to show you."

After Fernando left, Min Xi said to Yun Ji, "Let's go to the suburbs to see if the straw we soaked is still useful. It's been too long."

Yun Ji said, "Let's go and take a look. It's time to check out the vegetable garden, too."

Min Xi first took the wooden box given by the king to the attic, put it in the cabinet and locked it. No one should come to steal things in broad daylight.

Diego knew that they were going to the vegetable garden, so he quickly followed them. He liked hanging out with Min Xi and Yun Ji, and they wouldn't dislike him.

"Sir, you went to see His Majesty the King today. Isn't he very tall and mighty?" Perhaps in the minds of the French people, their king should be tall and mighty.

Min Xi said, "He is quite tall. Your Majesty is actually only two years older than you. He is very young and generous."

"Compared to Mr. Yun, who is taller?" Diego tried to visualize his majesty more concretely.

Min Xi glanced at Yun Ji and said with a smile, "Mr. Yun is still taller."

Yun Ji also looked at Min Xi. He felt strange when he heard him call him Mr. Yun. He suddenly said, "Diego, from now on, you should call us Dongjia instead of Mr.." The two words Dongjia are in Chinese. Diego always called him Mr., and Mr. in Ming Dynasty means Master. He felt that he did not live up to the name.

Diego looked at Yun Ji in confusion: "Dongjia? What is Dongjia?"

Min Xi couldn't help but laugh when he heard Yun Ji's words, and explained, "In China, Dongjia means boss."

Diego said, "But I prefer to call you sir."

Min Xi added: "Dongjia refers specifically to your own boss. If someone else's boss is you, you can't be called Dongjia."

Diego was puzzled for a long time, and finally said, "Okay, I will call you the boss from now on."

He didn't pronounce the two sounds of "dongjia" correctly, so Min Xi taught him several times. Finally, Diego memorized the word "dongjia". This was the first Chinese word he learned.

They first went to the vegetable garden and picked the ripe peppers and tomatoes, then weeded and watered them. All the onions on the other side of the stream were in bloom, and the white flowers looked pretty nice. Min Xi also asked the two to help pick a lot of chive flowers to take back and make sauce.

After they finished picking the vegetables, they went to the pond to look at the straw that had been soaked half a month ago. The rope was still there, Yun Ji bent down to pick it up and slowly pulled it back. It was quite heavy at first, but gradually became lighter. By the time it was pulled to the shore, less than half of the original bundle of straw was left.

Min Xi said, "Is it because it was not tied tightly? How come so much is missing!" He squatted down, leaned over to smell it, and smelled a rotten stench. He immediately looked embarrassed.

Yun Ji naturally smelled it too: "It stinks, do you still want it?"

Min Xi pinched the wheat straw, which had softened, and said, "Papermaking requires soaking, so it's normal for it to smell bad." His tone was obviously a little uncertain.

"So what should we do next?" Yun Ji asked. Although his family also sold paper, he only knew what kind of paper sold for what price. He had never really understood how the paper was made.

Min Xi said, "Wash it, boil it, and mash it into pulp."

Yun Ji looked at him and said, "It sounds like a big project. What kind of pot should I use to cook it?"

This puzzled Min Xi. Yes, what pot should I use to cook? Is it really necessary to prepare a pot?

Yun Ji saw that he was silent: "Why don't we buy some paper? Although it is possible to make it, the time cost is too high. It's tiring enough to run the store every day. It's hard to rest for a day, but I still have to be busy with this and that."

Min Xi had been a little hesitant about the smelly wheat straw, but after hearing what he said, he didn't insist on making paper anymore: "Okay, let's not do it." The main reason was that he had made a fortune today, which was more than enough to buy paper, so there was no need for him to try making paper.

On the way back, they went straight to the paper shop and bought a bundle of the cheapest paper. The paper was very rough and not suitable for writing, but it was enough for toilet paper.

It's not expensive, 30 riels per bundle, and you can cut out about a hundred sheets. It's indeed a luxury for ordinary people, but for Min Xi and Yun Ji, this price is still acceptable.

After returning home, the three of them picked the chives together. This was a very long process. The chive stalks were not to be kept, and the old and rotten flowers were also not to be kept. The three of them did not pick up the chives until it was almost dark. After washing and drying the chives, they crushed them in a stone mortar, added chili powder, minced garlic and salt, and mashed them together. The chive sauce was ready.

Put the chive sauce in a ceramic jar and seal it, then just wait for the magic of time to give it a unique flavor.

Diego asked curiously, "Boss, how long will it take before we can eat it?" He had never known that the flowers of the bear onion could be eaten, so he was very much looking forward to it.

Min Xi said, "It won't be long. You can taste it next week."

After I finished making the chive sauce, it was already dark, so I made a simple dinner and ate it.

After washing up, Min Xi returned to the attic, opened the cabinet, took out the wooden box inside, and placed it on the table: "Count it and see how much His Majesty has rewarded today."