The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi laughed: "It would be great if I were an imperial envoy! I wouldn't have to pay for things myself, I could just get reimbursed."

Yun Ji said seriously: "Ninth brother is concerned about the country and the people, and is exactly the talent the court needs urgently."

"I never thought about serving the court. I just thought that the country would be peaceful and the people would be safe. If the country is invaded by foreign races, the people will suffer in the end, including me," said Min Xi.

Yun Ji nodded: "That's right. Don't worry, buy it back and I'll get the money back from the government for you."

Min Xi smiled: "Seventh brother, do you still have this ability?"

"My family has some business dealings with Ouchi."

"Wow, is that the imperial merchant?" Min Xi asked.

Yun Ji shook his head: "No, we buy materials for the imperial court and are called compradors. There is no such thing as imperial merchants."

Min Xi understood that the imperial merchants were unique to the Qing Dynasty, and there were no imperial merchants in the Ming Dynasty. It seems that compradors were originally used to purchase materials for the court and government, and only later did they specifically refer to merchants who helped foreigners do business in China.

"I see. Since Seventh Brother's family has business dealings with the imperial court, they must also be able to come into contact with imperial officials."

“It’s not hard to get in touch with.”

Min Xi clapped his hands and said, "That's easy! We can ask the court officials to reimburse us for the guns we bought."

"it is good!"

Min Xi added: "I originally thought that the University of Coimbra was in Lisbon, but I didn't expect it to be so far away. If I want to go there, I have to close the store for one more day, so I need to prepare well."

Yun Ji knew that whatever Min Xi said he would do, he basically had to do it, and he might not just go to the University of Coimbra once. But he did not object. Although Min Xi was younger than him, he was the one who made all the important decisions here. Yun Ji was used to cooperating with him and did not think there was anything wrong with it.

"Okay, then let's take one more day off. It wouldn't be a bad idea to walk around and take a look around. We haven't been out much since we came to Fulanji." Yun Ji said.

"Yes, I just went to Mora." Min Xi said.

Although they had a day off this week to visit Captain Reiss, they still took a day off on Sunday because they had agreed with the butcher who sold pork to go to his house to castrate pigs.

The butcher also remembered this and confirmed it with Min Xi again on Saturday.

Min Xi didn't ask him to pick her up at the store, but asked for his home address and prepared to go there directly.

On Sunday morning, Min Xi and Yun Ji rented a carriage. The driver had to go to church, so they drove the carriage themselves. The driver was relieved because they paid a lot of deposit and there was such a big store there, so he was not afraid that they would not return their carriage.

The butcher's house is on the outskirts of the city, about seven or eight miles away. He usually comes to sell pork in a ox cart.

The two men didn't know the road and it was difficult to find someone to ask for directions. As a result, they went too far. When they met someone and asked, they realized that the village ahead was the one, so they turned the car around and went back.

When they arrived, the service had just ended. People came out of the village church and saw two unfamiliar oriental faces. They gathered around them curiously, and some children even tried to climb onto their carriage to see what was inside.

Yun Ji grabbed him with one hand and put him on the ground: "There's nothing inside."

The butcher squeezed through the crowd, smiling widely: "Please make way, they are here to see me. Sir, you are really early, my house is just ahead."

When everyone saw the butcher coming, they all scattered. Butcher is the lowest profession and is not popular in the village. He is a marginal person.

The butcher got on the carriage and directed them to drive it to his home.

The butcher's pigs were raised free-range in the backyard. The yard was full of pig manure and was never cleaned up.

Min Xi frowned as he looked at it: "Why don't you build a few pig pens, raise the pigs, and clean up the pig manure regularly." The most important thing is, how to catch the pigs in such a big yard.

The butcher was puzzled and asked, "What pigsty? Villagers have always raised pigs like this, together with cattle and sheep."

Min Xi sighed and said, "But how can we catch the pig like this? Aren't we afraid of wolves attacking us at night?"

The butcher said, "We have dogs, so we are not afraid. To catch pigs, we just put a rope on them at night when they are asleep."

"You knew we were coming today, but you didn't put the piglet in a trap. How can we catch it now?" Min Xi said helplessly.

The butcher smiled awkwardly: "I'll go ask my family to help."

He quickly called everyone in the family, young and old, and they came with poles to drive the pigs.

Min Xi could already imagine the scene of various animal feces flying all over the place, and he couldn't help but feel a headache. He said, "Find a food bowl, cook some food for them, and then catch them when they come to eat."

Pigs are actually very clean animals. If they are kept in a pen, their sleeping and defecation areas are separate, which makes them easier to catch. They are also more likely to grow fat. Free-range pigs are more active and have more lean meat, but these days everyone is short of oil and fat can be refined into oil, so lean meat may not be more popular than fat.

The butcher's wife mixed some feed for the pigs and used a strange sound to call the pigs to eat. As a result, cows and sheep came, and of course, pigs came too.

All the livestock were crowded around the trough. The butcher was quick and grabbed a piglet: "Sir, I caught it, what do you want to do with it?"

Min Xi looked at Yun Ji: "Seventh Brother, are you going to do it or should I?"

Yun Ji rolled up his sleeves and said, "Let me do it." He felt that this trip to Europe was very challenging. He had learned so many of the 360 ​​trades.

Yun Ji took the piglet, put it on the ground, and stepped on the piglet's front and back legs with his feet.

Min Xi helped to fetch a basin of clean water and handed over the carving knife he had brought. There were no other knives available, so after looking around, he decided that the carving knife was more suitable, as it was sharp and the right size.

When the butcher saw that the butcher was about to use the knife, he hurried over to see what was happening.

Min Xi said to the butcher, "You have to watch carefully. You will have to castrate the pig yourself when the time comes. We are just here to demonstrate."

Yun Ji asked Min Xi: "Where should I cut?"

Min Xi took a look and said, "This is a young boar. It should be OK if we just remove the eggs."

The eggs are outside the body, so just cut them off. Under Min Xi's instruction, Yun Ji cut open the two eggs of the little boar and cut them off.

The little boar screamed, and it was really like the cry of a pig being slaughtered. Min Xi couldn't help but silently say that it was a sin when he saw it.

After cutting off the testicles, the butcher asked, "Is this all right? Will it be okay?"

"It shouldn't happen. You should lock up the castrated piglets separately, feed them good food, and let them out after their wounds have healed in two days. Don't let the wounds come into contact with water or rain, otherwise they will easily become infected and won't be able to survive." Min Xi said.

The butcher nodded, called his wife over, and locked the pig in the sheep shed.

The successful completion of the first one gave Yun Ji courage. He felt that he could do it. However, the second one was a bit difficult. It was a sow. The sow's ovaries were inside the body, so it was a bit difficult to take them out. He only knew the approximate location.

Min Xi said, "Let the butcher come and take care of this little sow. I'll show you what to do, and you wash your hands."

The butcher washed his hands and held the knife very steadily. After all, he was used to killing pigs, so cutting a pig's body was no mental barrier for him, and it was not difficult for him to take something from the pig.

Moreover, the butcher often slaughters pigs and cuts meat, so he knows where the organs of a pig grow, which makes it easier for him to find the location of the ovaries of the gilt. Although it was his first time to do this, the butcher still castrated the first gilt smoothly.

The butcher said with some pride: "It's not difficult."

Min Xi nodded: "It's not difficult, it's easier for you. The remaining piglets are also left to you to cut. Remember, the castrated piglets should not touch water, and they should be fed separately for two days. These pigs will grow faster in the future. When this batch of pigs can be slaughtered, you tell me, I want two whole pigs. You can slowly slaughter the rest, I will come to buy a lot."

The butcher nodded: "Okay!" This is an important customer, and we must maintain a good relationship with him.

Min Xi said: "After these pigs survive, you can recommend this method to your neighbors and help them castrate their pigs. Piglets under two months old can be castrated, but those older cannot. Castrated pigs have no odor, their meat is more fragrant, and they have more fat, which is convenient for oil refining. Your pork will also be easier to sell."

Since it concerns the butcher's own interests, Min Xi believes that the butcher will take it into consideration.

The remaining few pigs were all slaughtered by the butcher himself, but catching the piglets took a lot of time.

When Min Xi and Yun Ji left, they gave the butcher a carving knife. The butcher would figure out the rest himself. He was used to using knives and should know what kind of knife was more suitable for castrating pigs.

Min Xi was actually a little worried that the castrated piglets would get infected and die, but when he met butchers at the vegetable market in the next few days, they all said that the piglets were doing well, able to eat and sleep, and did not seem to be too affected.

Min Xi put his heart at ease: "It seems that there is no problem. You should be careful when you castrate pigs in the future. Be careful not to touch water. Don't do it on rainy days. Do it when the weather is sunny. Also, you should build a few pig pens. Pigs grow faster in pens. Castrated pigs can grow more than 200 kilograms a year."

The butcher was very excited to hear him say this, because the pigs he was raising now only grew a little over 100 kilograms a year at most. If they could grow 200 to 300 kilograms after two or three years of feeding, they would be very fast-growing pigs.

"Okay, I'll go home and build a pigpen." The butcher agreed readily.

The castration went smoothly. Min Xi couldn't help but sigh: "It's not easy for us to eat a few bites of good pork."

"My life was even more difficult. I also learned how to castrate pigs," said Yun Ji.

Min Xi laughed out loud: "There are 360 ​​professions, and Brother Qi can be the top scholar in many of them."