kvmb Chapter 444 Drawing a pie
Chapter 444 Drawing a pie
Yun Ji followed Min Xi in search of the smell with a puzzled look on his face. In a corner of the market, a dark-skinned local man was standing in front of a pile of durians. The durians were not big, but they were plump in shape. Although they were not opened, the unique smell still emanated uncontrollably.
Min Xi squatted down happily, carefully picked up a durian with both hands and sniffed it: "This is the smell, Brother Qi, smell it."
Yun Ji subconsciously dodged backwards. It was obvious that the closer this thing got, the stronger the smell became. It was almost like the smell of shit. Could this be an edible fruit?
Min Xi saw him hiding behind him, but he was not angry. He laughed and said, "Are you surprised that such a smelly thing can be eaten?"
Yun Ji still had an expression of disbelief on his face: "Can you really eat it?"
"Really!" Min Xi said to Chen Hui, "Please ask the stall owner how much these Tuliang are for me. I want all of them."
Chen Hui was surprised that Min Xi actually liked to eat Tuliang, so he asked for help and finally conveyed the stall owner's meaning: "He said one copper peso per piece. This thing grows on very tall trees. It takes a lot of risk to pick it. And it's too high, so many of them are broken. There are not many intact ones."
Min Xi had seen videos of durian picking and knew that it was indeed a technical job that required great risks, so he did not object and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll take them all. Ask him to help me deliver them to the ship. Lao Ding, you take him to the dock and deliver the things to our ship." He instructed another sailor.
Lao Ding readily agreed: "Yes, sir. I'll carry this basket of fruits back as well." The basket he was carrying contained various fruits that Min Xi had bought before.
"Okay, wait a minute, I'll buy some other things and take them back when they're full." In line with the principle of not wasting space, Min Xi bought a large bunch of green bananas from the stall next to him. When he bought fruits, he tried not to buy ripe ones, as raw ones could be stored for some time.
After buying the durian, Min Xi and Yun Ji continued to visit the market, bought some more fruits, vegetables, seafood and meat, and had breakfast at a Chinese breakfast stall before returning to the ship. Before leaving, Min Xi gave Chen Hui a copper peso, but Chen Hui didn't want it, but Min Xi insisted that he accept it.
Captain Reis and his companions were not on board, as they had gone to the market to buy lemons. After boarding the ship, Min Xi saw the durians on the deck, and he could not wait to pick a plump durian and smell it: "It smells really good, it must be ripe."
Yun Ji tried hard not to laugh out loud. It was obviously smelly, so why did his ninth brother say it smelled good?
Min Xi pulled out the dagger he carried with him, carefully inserted it into the gap of the durian shell, and pried the durian open with force, revealing two chambers of plump yellow flesh. He laughed excitedly: "Haha, it really is the durian of repaying gratitude, the flesh is so big. Seventh brother, come and try it."
Min Xi took a piece of durian flesh and handed it to Yun Ji. Yun Ji didn't dare to take it. Not only did it taste so strange, but it was also yellow in color. How could this be tolerated!
Min Xi looked at him and smiled: "Why? You don't dare to eat it? It's delicious, I won't lie to you!"
Yun Ji took it hesitantly, but was afraid to eat it. Min Xi took another piece and took a bite, his eyebrows dancing: "This is the taste! Fresh durian is delicious. Brother Qi, try it quickly, it's delicious."
Seeing him eating with big mouthfuls, Yun Ji plucked up the courage to try a bite. It turned out to be very delicious, except for the unpleasant smell, the texture was soft and the taste was unexpectedly sweet.
Min Xi saw him eating and said with a smile: "I wasn't kidding you, was I? It's really delicious, isn't it?"
Yun Ji nodded: "It's quite sweet."
At this time, many sailors on the ship stared at them. After all, the strong smell of durian could not be concealed. Everyone was curious and watched the two adults eating the yellow thing with a strange smell. It was really weird.
Min Xi finished a piece of durian and continued to break the rest. He said to the sailors who were looking over here, "Come and have a taste. This fruit is a local specialty. It smells strange, but tastes delicious. Come and have a taste."
Those who were curious came over, but some people couldn't stand the smell and stood far away.
Min Xi opened the remaining durian and shared it with the sailors: "Try it. I'm not kidding you, it's really delicious."
Yun Ji also said: "It smells bad, but tastes good. It's worth a try."
Soon, several people started eating durian. And even if people who have eaten it don't like it very much, they can't say it's unpalatable.
After eating the durian, Min Xi opened a jackfruit. Compared to the durian, everyone seemed to be more accepting of the jackfruit because its smell was not so strong.
That morning, the King of Luzon gave the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty a gift in return: two white coral trees and a box of pearls. The quality was neither very good nor very bad, and it was certainly incomparable to the red corals and gold pearls that they had previously presented to the Ming Dynasty as tribute.
But there is no way to force it. Luzon has now become a Spanish colony, and the good things are picked by the Spanish first. These things are probably also instructed by the Spanish governor.
In the afternoon, the stall owner who sold jackfruits in the morning brought them a lot of lemons, but this quantity was still far from what Min Xi wanted. After all, more than twenty ships required a lot of lemons.
In order to prepare enough supplies, they stayed in Manila for another day before setting off.
Leaving Luzon Island and heading south to the Mindoro Strait, Min Xi stood at the bow, looking ahead with a telescope, and suddenly remembered something. He walked to the cockpit and asked Captain Reis: "Does Mindoro mean gold mine in Spanish?"
Captain Reis nodded, "Yes, Mindoro is a gold mine."
Yun Ji asked, "What's wrong?"
Min Xi came out of the cockpit and said to Yun Ji in a low voice: "The strait ahead is called the Mindoro Strait because there is an island next to it called Mindoro Island. This is the name given by the Spanish, which means there is a gold mine here."
Yun Ji understood: "The Spanish discovered gold mines here?"
"Yes. But I'm not sure whether the Spaniards have discovered gold mines on the island. If not, we can go mining," said Min Xi.
"Then we must prepare for war with the Spanish."
"If you want to mine gold here, you will have to go to war. Of course, if you can find gold in Australia, there will be no need to fight the Spanish for this island."
Yun Ji shook his head: "In fact, I think that this battle with the Spanish is very necessary. Think about it, if we dig minerals from Australia and come back, we have to pass through Luzon every time. How can the Spanish, who are used to being pirates, not be jealous? They are waiting for us to tire themselves out, and we will be in a passive position."
Min Xi touched his chin and nodded: "You make sense! Then when our navy becomes stronger, we will fight the Spaniards, and it would be best if we drive them out of Luzon." He knew that the Spanish days of dominating the ocean would only last a few years. Once the Invincible Armada was destroyed, Spain would no longer be a threat.
After crossing the Mindoro Strait, the fleet went to Zheng He Island for replenishment at the suggestion of the merchant ship.
Min Xi then realized that Zheng He Island was still nominally the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the island had always been controlled and governed by the Chinese. Merchants from the Ming Dynasty who came to Luzon all transited here for supplies.
After the Spaniards killed the King of Luzon, they declared that Zheng He Island was renamed Palawan Island, nominally declaring sovereignty, but in reality it was still controlled by the Chinese because the Spaniards did not currently have the power to control Zheng He Island.
Min Xi and Yun Ji were relieved now. In the future, ships traveling to and from Australia could set up their main supply point at Zheng He Island. They no longer needed to go to Manila, which would minimize the attention of the Spanish.
After leaving Zheng He Island, you enter the Sulu Sea. Further south are the Sulawesi Sea, the Makassar Strait, and the Java Sea. You can find suitable supply points along the way, and you will always meet Chinese people.
Where there are Chinese people, supply will become easier, because no matter where the Chinese go, they will maintain their original eating habits, and they can also bring their original production and living methods to the local area. With the diligence and wisdom of the Chinese, they can always gain good wealth and influence in the local area.
In Min Sik's previous route, the cargo ship could reach Port Hedland and Port Dampier on the west coast of Australia by heading southeast after leaving the Lombok Strait. But this time he chose a safer way. After leaving the Lombok Strait, he headed east along the direction of the archipelago until he reached Timor Island, and then turned southeast.
They made their final replenishment at Timor Island and then headed southeast. As long as they were heading in the right direction, they would definitely reach the Australian continent.
The reason why Min Xi did this was very simple. Although the Australian continent is large, there are few places suitable for human survival. In particular, the west coast where Min Xi was going was a desert arid area with few people and it was not certain that they could find supplies. Therefore, they needed to get enough food on Timor Island to support them until they found the next supply point.
The Australian continent had not yet been discovered by Europeans at this time. The island was inhabited entirely by indigenous peoples, and the distribution of the indigenous population was unclear, so Min Xi did not know what situation he would encounter next.
Before setting off from Timor Island, Min Xi organized a meeting of all the captains and ship masters, telling them that the place they were going to next was a place that the Ming people had never been to, and that they were uncertain about what situation they would encounter ahead, so they had to proceed with caution, obey orders, and not act on their own.
The journey was longer than expected, and everyone was guessing where the destination would be. Some merchant ships were already a little impatient and even wanted to exchange goods for the return trip.
But Min Xi said that they had not reached their destination yet and would not return yet. If any merchant ship was willing to go back alone, they would not stop it, but they would have to bear all the risks themselves and there would be no warships to escort them back.
"Where are we going?" asked a merchant ship captain.
"Go find a place where there is a lot of gold and silver. When you get there, dig for gold and silver and then go back. You can come back to dig again in the future." Min Xi said this as if he was just making a pie in the sky.
"Is there really such a place?" Some people naturally don't believe it.
"I can't give you a 100% answer, but I believe there will be one. Just like what the Europeans gained from discovering the New World, this is an adventure, full of opportunities and challenges. You may become rich overnight, or you may not find a mountain of gold. But you can still return along the way and exchange the goods for what you need in Southeast Asia, so you won't lose too much."
"How long will it take to find it?"
Min Xi said, "I don't think it will be long."