The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji killed the bandit and came over to bandage the wound of the driver who had fallen beside the carriage to stop the bleeding: "Can you get up?"

The driver was covered in blood and sweat, and he couldn't stop shaking. He cried, "Am I going to die?"

Yun Ji said, "No, you are not hurt anywhere vital. I have already stopped the bleeding. Can you get up?"

The driver's trembling subsided a little: "Yes! Thank you!"

Yun Ji helped him lean against the carriage and said to the woman hiding under the carriage, "Madam, are you okay? The robbers have left. It's safe for now. You have to get out and leave here quickly."

Hearing this, the woman climbed out from under the car. She was very young, and looked to be in her twenties. Her light-colored skirt was covered in dust. Her brown eyes were filled with tears. She looked up at Yun Ji's face and was startled. She brushed the dust off her skirt, lifted her skirt, and saluted to Yun Ji like a lady: "Thank you for saving my life!"

Yun Ji said to her, "I hope you won't tell others that it was an Oriental who saved you. My appearance is too special in Fulangji, and I'm afraid the escaped robbers will take revenge on us if they know about it."

The woman nodded with tears in her eyes: "I'll remember that. Thank you, sir. I will definitely not tell you your appearance."

"Tell your servants not to say anything. Where are you going?" Yun Ji asked.

"Let's go back to Coimbra. Where are you going, sir? Can you escort us to Coimbra? I will pay you a high fee," said the woman.

Yun Ji thought for a moment and said, "We are going to Coimbra too. You can come with me, but don't tell anyone, especially the police, that I saved you."

"I will never tell, thank you, sir!" The woman bowed again.

Yun Ji helped the injured coachman onto the carriage. There were two young children in the carriage. They were frightened when their mother was dragged away by the bad guys. The older boy had been covering his sister's mouth, but when he saw his mother, he burst into tears.

The woman cried and frantically tried to comfort him: "Don't cry, don't cry, Mom is fine, don't be afraid, the bad guys are gone, let's go home."

Yun Ji said outside the carriage: "If you keep crying, you will attract robbers again."

As soon as these words were spoken, the two children were so frightened that they dared not cry anymore.

Yunji said to the woman, "Ma'am, can you drive the car?"

The woman was obviously used to a life of luxury, but she still wiped away her tears and said through gritted teeth: "I can!"

Yun Ji said, "You'd better change your clothes so that you are not so conspicuous. Drive behind my car."

He took the guns and ammunition from the two robbers and put them in his car. Min Xi, who didn't know what was going on, didn't dare to get out of the car until Yun Ji brought the guns and ammunition back. Then he asked, "What's going on?"

Yun Ji said briefly: "Put away these two guns. I'll go deal with the body."

Min Xi said, "I'll help you."

Yun Ji quickly stopped him: "No, I'll handle it, you don't have to go and see." He would just take care of this matter himself and didn't want Min Xi to be involved in it.

Yun Ji turned around and dragged the two bodies to the side of the road. He didn't dare to take the robbers' horse. An old horse knows the road well, and a bad guy's horse cannot be taken casually. He originally wanted to give the two horses a bullet, but thinking about how innocent the animals were, he finally let them fend for themselves.

While he was doing these things, the lady had already changed into the driver's clothes, wrapped her hair with a black cloth, and smeared a lot of dust on her face to make her gender less obvious. After this incident, she had learned how to protect herself.

In fact, they were almost in Coimbra at this time. After walking for another two or three hours, they finally arrived in Coimbra. They were worried that the robbers would come back, but fortunately, the robbers were frightened and did not dare to come back.

Neither Min Xi nor Yun Ji had expected that they would encounter such a thing during a long journey. This world is not peaceful anywhere.

After arriving in Coimbra, Yun Ji said to the carriage behind him: "Madam, please take your driver to see a doctor immediately, and we will say goodbye. Remember what I told you, don't mention my Oriental identity to anyone."

The lady said, "Sir, thank you for saving my life. I haven't paid you yet. Where can I find you?"

Yun Ji said: "No need to look for me, I came to Coimbra to visit a friend and will leave soon." After that, he drove away quickly in the carriage.

The lady originally wanted to chase after him, but thinking that the driver in the carriage was still waiting for medical treatment, she did not dare to delay and quickly took the patient to see a doctor.

After asking for directions, I found the University of Coimbra easily.

When they asked around at the university, some enthusiastic students took them to see Professor Greeley and Professor Boyle.

Students are really the ones who are most interested in new things. When they saw Yun Ji and Min Xi's oriental faces, they stopped to watch curiously, and the brave ones would even come up to chat. When they learned that the two were from China, their interest became even stronger. In this era, the more culturally advanced people are, the more they know about the world, and naturally they also know about China.

Min Xi and Yun Ji went to find the professor accompanied by them, and along the way answered many questions about the Eastern world for these studious college students.

Today is Saturday, and Professor Greeley and Professor Boyle are both still working at the school.

However, it was not easy to find them. Professor Greeley was not in his classroom or office, but was doing experiments in the botanical garden, while Professor Boyle was teaching students in the classroom.

The student who led the way was also very enthusiastic. He accompanied them until they found Professor Greeley and was reluctant to leave. This guy was really too curious and wanted to talk to them more about the religion of the Ming Dynasty. This guy was from a seminary. When he learned that the Ming Dynasty had a population of more than 100 million and no one believed in Catholicism, he was full of confidence and wanted to go to the Ming Dynasty to preach.

Finally, Min Xi had to discourage this guy: "In our Ming Dynasty, if you want to preach, you must obtain the consent of His Majesty the Emperor. Otherwise, it is illegal preaching and violates the laws of the Ming Dynasty. All religions in the Ming Dynasty must be loyal to the imperial power and obey the imperial power."

The theology student then gave up. After all, the king's power was granted by God, and theocracy was above royal power. The clergy had a high status, and he didn't want to suffer humiliation in China.

Professor Greeley was very surprised to see them: "I thought you wouldn't come. Welcome!"

Min Xi smiled and said, "I've wanted to come here for a long time, but I didn't expect Coimbra to be so far away from Lisbon. I've been busy all the time, and I only found time after I was done with my work."

"It's not very close, but it's not easy to go there. Did you encounter any trouble on the way?" said Professor Greeley.

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other and said, "Fortunately, we didn't encounter any major troubles."

"That's good. I heard that there has been some unrest on that road recently. Several armed robbers often rob people and kill people. The Sheriff's Department sent patrol teams to catch them several times but failed. Those robbers are too cunning. They run away very fast at the slightest sign of trouble." said Professor Greeley.

"So that's how it is. It seems we are so lucky!" Min Xi said with emotion.

Today we are really grateful to Yunji. If he hadn't been there, there would have been a loss of life in the car ahead. A young lady, a child under two years old, and an injured driver. It's scary to think about it. The lady was really brave to actually take the child on the road like that.

Professor Greeley said, "By the way, did you bring me the seeds?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "Of course I brought it. Professor, look, these are the seeds I collected from the largest fruits." He took out two packets of seeds wrapped in paper and handed them to the professor.

"Okay, I'll keep it. If I grow new seeds next year, I'll give you a copy as well," said Professor Greeley.

"Thank you, professor. When you have seeds next year, please write to me and send them. The road is not safe, so we'd better avoid taking risks." Min Xi said.

"Okay. Come on, I'll take you to visit our school's botanical garden."

This was the main reason why Min Xi had gone through so much trouble to come here, so he happily followed along. Yun Ji didn't say much, but followed Min Xi silently, listening to him talking to the professor.

The botanical garden is very large and has a wide variety of plant species, most of which are native European plants. Part of the purpose is to collect samples for classification, and part of the purpose is agricultural research to cultivate crops suitable for local cultivation, such as grapes, grains, fruits, and vegetables.

There is an area dedicated to growing plants from Asia, Africa and America, which are what Min Xi is most concerned about.

Most of the plants in Asia, Africa and America come from the tropics, so they are all grown in glass greenhouses.

However, the glass greenhouse here is very small, only a quarter of the size of the Baron’s greenhouse, and only the ceiling and the south wall are made of glass, while the rest of the walls are brick. Therefore, the growth of the plants in the greenhouse is not as good as that in the Baron’s greenhouse. The light is not sufficient, and the plants grow a little weak.

Min Xi looked carefully in the greenhouse and finally found a crop that he was familiar with - peanuts. At this moment, the peanuts had just grown a few leaves. If Min Xi had not picked peanuts when he was a child, he would almost not have recognized it.

Min Xixin thought, we have peanuts, but what about potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn?

He looked through the entire greenhouse carefully again, but still could not find any of the crops.

Min Xi couldn't help but ask: "Professor, are these all the overseas plants? Are there any seeds that have been collected?"

Professor Greeley said: "Almost all of them are here, and some of them have been harvested but not yet planted."

Min Xi suppressed his excitement and asked, "What is it? Can you show it to me?"

Professor Greeley said: "There is a grain crop, but the yield is very low, and we are still trying to make its ears fuller."

Min Xi's heart moved. Could it be corn?