The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The next day, Fernando brought the silk cloth, paint and brushes.

Fernando said, "I forgot to tell you about the reward yesterday. His Majesty said that this painting will cost 500 reais, and asked you to paint well."

Yun Ji felt unworthy of the reward. His paintings were not worth 500 reais. When Tang Yin was alive, a painting could not be sold for 500 taels of silver.

Yun Ji called Min Xi over and said, "Ninth brother, come here for a moment."

"What's wrong?" Min Xi put down the work in his hands.

Yun Ji licked his lips and said, "His Majesty said he would give me 500 reais and let me paint a picture."

"Your Majesty is so generous, so just paint well." Min Xi said with a smile.

Yun Ji said, "Your Majesty has given me too much. I feel ashamed to accept it. How about painting four scrolls for him?"

Min Xi said, "Is it in time? Your Excellency, Baron, when does His Majesty say he wants it?"

Fernando said, "Before the end of the month, is it in time?"

Yun Ji said: "Today is the 5th, we should be able to make it in time."

Min Xi said, "From today on, you won't be needed to help with anything except settling bills and collecting payments. Brother Qi, just focus on painting."

Yun Ji nodded: "Okay."

Fernando was also very excited. He originally only wanted to paint one picture, but he didn't expect Yunji to paint four. This was really good value for money.

Yun Ji said, "Since you want to paint four scrolls, why not just make four folding screens? This way it will be both beautiful and practical."

"The screen's borders may need some decoration," said Min Xi.

"Let the carpenter make the frame and I will do the carving." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Seventh Brother, you really don't mind doing too much trouble. Why are you making things more and more complicated?"

Yun Ji smiled and said, "It's a good deal. I can make a net profit of 500 reais a month. I'm the only one doing this, so it won't be harder than cooking for you. Don't worry, leave it to me."

After listening to Yunji's plan, Fernando agreed to provide rosewood for the screen frame. He first asked the craftsmen to make the frame of the folding screen according to the size, and then let Yunji carve the pattern of the frame.

Rosewood has a naturally beautiful color and does not need to be painted. It only needs a thin layer of anti-corrosion oil.

From that day on, Yunji began to conceive of the four-panel painting of flowers and birds. The theme of the four-panel painting is easy to decide: joy on the eyebrows (magpie and plum blossom), prosperity and prosperity (peacock and peony), harmony and auspiciousness (lotus and mandarin duck), and pomegranates and sparrows, all of which are classic themes of traditional Chinese painting.

Fortunately, the style used was freehand, rather than detailed brushwork, otherwise Yun Ji would not be able to finish a single painting in such a short time.

Ever since Yun Ji took on the painting job, Min Xi never let Yun Ji do any work in the kitchen. However, Yun Ji insisted on going to buy groceries in the morning, and Min Xi did not refuse, because the light in the early morning was not good and it was indeed not suitable for painting.

Yun Ji spent two days sketching out the sketches for the four paintings.

Min Xi couldn't help much and could only pretend to give him advice. He knew that his suggestions were not professional at all, but he just wanted to let Yun Ji know that he was also trying his best to help.

Originally, Min Xi had planned to arrange two days this month to go to Coimbra to meet Professors Greeley and Boyle, but because of the painting matter, he had to cancel the trip and postpone it.

Yunji paints whenever he has free time. Painting on silk is more difficult than on rice paper because silk is more smudge-prone than rice paper. This is something that needs to be considered when painting. Fortunately, these silks are several years old and not new. New silk is oily and cannot be used for painting. It needs to be processed.

Because the light at night is yellowish and there will be color difference, Yun Ji only paints during the day and rests at night.

A few days later, Fernando delivered the finished screen frame, and Yunji began carving the border at night, because there was no need to consider color difference when carving.

Sometimes Min Xi would help Yun Ji carve a few strokes during the afternoon break. Of course, all the work he did was rough, and he didn't dare to do the details of the carving.

He also took this opportunity to start learning carving, hoping that he could help Yun Ji one day.

One day in late September, Lord Melo came to Min Xi and said, "My uncle and his family will come to Lisbon from Setubal at the end of the month. We will have a family gathering. I would like to invite you to help cook at my house. I will pay you, just like you cook at the Duke's house."

Min Xi asked: "Which specific day?"

Lord Mellor said, "Can we prepare lunch and dinner on the 28th?"

"How many people exactly?" Min Xi asked.

"There are 12 people in total."

Min Xi thought for a moment and said, "Each meal will have six dishes, plus the main course and dessert, a total of eight dishes. You can make a menu first, list what you want to eat, and I will give you suggestions if it's not enough. Although you are making two meals, you are a small group, so just give 20 reais."

After all, it was a family dinner, with only a dozen people, and the scale was far from comparable to the Duke's birthday party. 20 reais was almost the daily income of their store, and a family dinner only required a dozen dishes, which was much easier.

Lord Mello said: "I hope you can suggest the dishes and try to come up with new ones."

Min Xi shook his head: "It's unlikely that all twelve dishes are new. I can only guarantee that there will be at least one or two new dishes for each meal."

Lord Melo thought for a moment and said, "Well, I don't want any of the dishes from the Duke's birthday party. I want the beggar's chicken. I think only Baron Fernando, His Majesty, and I have eaten this dish, right?"

Min Xi nodded: "Yes, this dish can be added."

"I need to go back and think about the other dishes. If there is not enough, please add more for me." Lord Mello said.

"No problem, give me the menu as soon as possible." Min Xi said.

The reason why Min Xi accepted Lord Melo's invitation was, first of all, of course, that he wanted to gain points with Marquis Melo and leave a good impression; secondly, he wanted to take a day off so that Yun Ji would not have to go to the store to help and he would have a whole day to finish the four screens.

On the day of cooking at Lord Melo's house, Lord Melo sent a carriage to pick people up early in the morning. He found that there were only Min Xi and five hired workers, but no sign of Yun Ji. Lord Melo asked, "Where is Yun? Isn't he going?"

Min Xi said, "He has something to do and can't go. I'll take the five of them with me, that's enough."

"Why can't he go?"

Min Xi explained: "He is painting for His Majesty the King. The work will be completed in two days. There are still some finishing touches to be done, so he can't go."

Lord Mellor was extremely disappointed, but when he heard that he was going to paint for His Majesty the King, he knew he couldn't force it: "What kind of painting is he going to paint for His Majesty?"

Min Xi said, "His Majesty wants to send someone to give wedding gifts to his uncle Philip II, and asked Yun to help him draw a few Chinese paintings. He has been busy with this for the past month."

Lord Melo remembered that he did not run into Yun Ji every time he came to eat during this period. It turned out that he was busy with this matter: "When will he finish the painting? Can I take a look?"

"The task is due the day after tomorrow. You should be able to see it when you come over," said Min Xi.

"Okay, I will come the day after tomorrow." Lord Mello was also very curious about what Yun Ji was painting that took him so long.

Lord Melo brought Min Xi and others back, brought Min Xi directly to his father, and introduced Min Xi to his father, saying that Min Xi was his Chinese friend.

Marquis Melo was over sixty years old and did not look much like Lord Melo. He looked like a very serious man. When he saw Min Xi, he nodded at him and said, "I ate the dishes you cooked at the Duke's birthday party last time. The taste was extraordinary and very delicious. I hope to eat such delicious food again."

Min Xi bowed and said, "Thank you for your appreciation, Your Excellency the Marquis. I will definitely fulfill my mission and make a dish that will satisfy you."

The dishes this time were basically ordered by Lord Mello, which he had eaten in the restaurant and thought were delicious. Min Xi added a few new dishes, three sets of duck, gold and silver venison, stir-fried beef, and beef brisket stewed with tomatoes. He also made a cold dish, which was a platter of braised goose meat, venison, beef, ox tongue, etc.

This was the first time Min Xi had seen beef in Fulangji. Cattle were also an important labor force for Europeans at that time, so Europeans rarely ate beef. However, the Marquis's family was well-off and he could definitely afford it.

The Duke's family could actually afford it, but there were too many people, and His Majesty the King was also there, so it was not appropriate to kill the cattle in public.

The Marquis was very satisfied with Min Xi's cooking. After dinner, he called Min Xi over and said, "Old Ximang said that you cook delicious dishes and that you can cook a variety of dishes. Today I have seen it. It is really good. We all like it very much."

Min Xi bowed and thanked him: "It is our honor to serve the Marquis!"

"Simon, go to my wine cellar and get a bottle of 20-year-old wine for your friend the chef," the Marquis said. "I specially saved this for the year Simon was born. Now there is no place to buy it even if you want to."

"Thank you, Your Excellency the Marquis, for the reward!" Min Xi thought to herself, the Marquis is quite generous. How much is a twenty-year-old wine worth? I'll sell it to someone who knows the value of it.

Lord Merlot quickly brought the wine, which was actually in a glass bottle. No wonder it could be preserved for so many years.

Min Xi carefully took the bottle of wine, put it in his arms and took it back to the hotel.

This time the Marquis only gave wine as a reward, without any additional rewards, so the hired workers naturally did not receive any rewards either.

Gail and Jasper were a little disappointed, but the others were fine, because going to the Marquis's house was already an honor. Jasper was disappointed because Gail told him that he got a reward of 2 reais from the Duke's house, and he thought that there should be at least 1 reais from the Marquis's house, but the Marquis didn't give him a penny. But he was still mature and didn't show it.

After Min Xi came back, he showed Yun Ji the wine given by the Marquis: "Do you want to try it?"

Yun Ji shook his head: "I won't try it anymore."

Min Xi smiled and said, "Okay, keep it for now. I'll ask the baron how much the wine is worth later. If someone knows the value of it, I can sell it for cash."

"Okay!" Yun Ji also laughed. This guy is obsessed with money.

Min Xi asked, "How's the screen?"

Yun Ji said, "It's almost done."

"Let me see."