Chinese cuisine is one of the three major cuisines in the world, Chinese cuisine with such a reputation has a very embarrassing position in the world today, a feeling of being despised by Western food to the ground, a feeling that eating nothing is high and high Western food, which is very directly related to Chinese food is gradually known by the world after 1840, the country's weakness and backwardness, not only make Chinese discriminated against, even Chinese cuisine in the world has suffered, white has a name of one of the world's three major cuisines, But there is no corresponding status.

But if at this moment, in the era of the Ming Dynasty, Chinese food began to spread in Europe, would the development of Chinese food be different from history?

Xiao Ruxun didn't dare to speculate, but Chen Longzheng told him that Chinese food has become something sought after by the upper class in many European countries.

After the governor of Genoa ate his first Chinese meal, he could not forget the combination of fire and knife food, the representative of Western food is French cuisine and Italian cuisine, as for England, it is the land of dark cuisine, the world-famous food quarantine area, it seems to be born without food, and athletes have to bring their own chefs for competition......

French cuisine is famous for its small amount, exquisiteness, and rich dishes, and French cuisine is the representative meal of Western cuisine, but at this moment French cuisine has not yet been famous in the future, and France at this moment is implicated in the war between Spain and Britain, and its own life is not easy, not to mention the development of French cuisine that can be called a work of art in the future, but at this moment in Europe, it is the time when Italian cuisine shines, it should be said that the success of French cuisine is inseparable from the integration of Italian classic dishes.

Italian cuisine is inherited from Roman cuisine, which is known as the ancestor of Western cuisine, which also has a long history, and has developed to this moment, because of the prosperity of Venice, Florence and other cities and matured, and the French cuisine that struggled on the edge of dark cuisine, Italian cuisine at this moment is very distinctive, such as pizza, the food of the civilized world.

After eating the delicious Chinese food, the Doge of Genoa and Chen Longzheng had a warm conversation about Chinese cuisine, and he was deeply depressed when he learned that he was eating only one of the simplest and easiest dishes in Chinese cuisine - the color and flavor of Chinese food were really excellent, surpassing most Western cuisine at that time.

Thinking that he was the governor of a country, but was sunk by a few simple Chinese dishes, this is really a very faceless thing, his impression of the food is the use of spices to cook meat, this is the most precious food, in addition to a few Italian dishes, and when Matteo Ricci explained to him that the Chinese eating habits are mainly cooked food, rarely eat raw food, he thought of an important way to save face.

He recommended pizza to Chen Longzheng.

"This ...... Is it called pizza? ”

Chen Long was looking at the round pastry-like food on the round plate on the table with many strange fillings on it, and asked Matteo Ricci.

Matteo Ricci, of course, had eaten pizza, looked at the Governor of Genoa, who looked at the Governor of Genoa, and explained: "This is a kind of food in my hometown, it is called pizza, to be precise, it is a bit similar to the scallion pancake I have eaten in China, so there is also a legend that this pizza was when Marco Polo traveled to China, he ate Chinese scallion pancake, and after returning to his hometown, he wanted to eat it, and found a chef to make it, I don't know how, it was made into the current shape, but it is also quite delicious, you can taste it, it is completely cooked." ”

Chen Long was looking at the steaming and fragrant pizza, nodded and said, "It smells very good, I've been tossed by your half-baked things these days, wait for me to taste it first." ”

So Chen Longzheng followed Matteo Ricci's teachings, held a piece of pizza in his hand and brought it to his mouth, hesitated for a moment, opened his mouth to bite a piece and chewed it, and then his eyes lit up.

"Mr. Li, don't say it, it's really delicious, it's good, it's very different from my Daming's pies and scallion pancakes, this taste is quite strong, delicious! Delicious! It's better than all your meat! Well! ”

Seeing that Chen Long was eating happily, the governor of Genoa was very happy, and hurriedly asked Matteo Ricci if Chen Long thought this thing was delicious, Matteo Ricci replied yes, and the governor was very happy to feel that he had regained face, but it just so happened that at this time, the two chefs came in from outside and brought a few dishes.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Li, why did you eat it? Our brothers have fried a few side dishes for you, you can try them! ”

Chen Longzheng and Matteo Ricci were very surprised to see the "side dishes" with all the colors and aromas on the plate.

"Where did it come from?"

Chen Long asked.

The cook replied with a smile: "Although there are no seasonings here, but the ingredients are still there, let's dry red case, there are pots, spoons and kitchen knives to make dishes, there is also oil here, there is also salt, it is still possible to get some ingredients to make simple dishes, but there is no soy sauce, the taste may be a little worse, it is difficult to braise or something, but their sauces can also be used, but I don't understand why they can't stir-fry, they know that they stew indiscriminately." ”

Chen Longzheng smiled.

"There are many things they don't know, come on, come on, put them down, treat me often, Mr. Li, you call this governor to taste it together, this pizza tastes good, you ask me if I can bring a few cooks who make this cake back, or let them go to learn and bring it back to Xiao Hou to taste, can't we just eat, Xiao Hou doesn't have to eat it!" You say, don't you? ”

Chen Longzheng is quite conscientious, and he knows that he is worried about Xiao Ruxun.

Matteo Ricci smiled bitterly, and then invited the Governor to enjoy these side dishes together, the Governor smelled the fragrant smell, was swallowing saliva, and listened to Matteo Ricci's words, and immediately became happy, as for the fact that the chef who could make pizza took back to make pizza for the Chinese general to enjoy, the Governor waved his hand - what a big thing, this is our honor, give you ten, take it back!

Then the Governor took the chopsticks he had just learned to use and joined this small luncheon, and when he returned, he kept showing off that he had eaten the special food of the Chinese, which aroused the yearning of more people, so under the pressure of the nobles, the Governor had to come to Chen Longzheng with a cheeky face and ask him to hold a Chinese banquet to entertain the nobles, otherwise he would not be able to deal with it.

Of course, Chen Longzheng didn't care, let the governor teach those nobles to use chopsticks, and he himself instructed the cooks to fry some exquisite stir-fries, and conquered the stomachs of those nobles by dividing them by two, and after that, using chopsticks to eat Chinese food became a trend of European aristocrats, centered on Genoa, and spread to the whole of Europe.

At the beginning of the Chinese gastronomic boom, the first papacy to receive the news arrived in Genoa and asked to meet with Chen Longzheng and Matteo Ricci.

The Holy See has a very special historical position in the entire history of Europe, Chinese it is not well understood, it is more general, but it is much easier to explain it in another way, such as using Chinese history to set it, and it can also be applied to it, and the comparison is Confucianism.

Confucianism became the official political ideology of China during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed Confucianism and laid the foundation for Confucianism to dominate the Chinese ideological circle for nearly 2,000 years.

At that time, the Holy See was still an institution under the jurisdiction of the Roman Emperor, which could preach, but the object of service was the imperial emperor, in order to unify the minds of the subjects and facilitate the rule, as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty thought, the emperors thought that what they gave could be taken back in the future, but just as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not expect Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty to be brainwashed by Confucianism and untied the shackles around their necks, Theodosius I did not expect the division of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires and the demise of the Western Roman Empire.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed the original intention of the hundred schools of thought in order to unify the mind and establish his own position, so as to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the Xiongnu, he could not allow different ideas from him to spread in his country, Confucianism perfectly met his needs, so he chose Confucianism as his governing tool, Theodosius I was also in this consideration, and the Christian church was chosen as his ruling tool.

But none of them could have imagined that the tools they had chosen to rule would eventually develop into an extremely terrifying behemoth.

The Western Roman Empire was destroyed by the barbarian invasion, and the Holy See was the only remaining light of hope for civilization that stood on a wasteland after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

During this period, the Holy See was still subservient to the Byzantine Empire, but the Byzantine Empire was too far away from Rome to effectively control this instrument of rule, which prompted the Holy See to rapidly develop into a large independent political power.

Religion can develop rapidly in the land of war, and in the era of peace, the demagogy of religion has greatly declined, the Holy See has seized this opportunity accurately, and in the next few hundred years, its power will be enveloped throughout Europe, when it reaches its peak, the imperial power of European monarchs is located under its ecclesiastical authority, the emperor needs the recognition of the pope, and it even launched eight "crusades".

Almost at the same time, Confucianism in China also reached its peak, and in the Song Dynasty it bloomed with a strange brilliance, pushing the culture and economy to the peak, but also pulling the military into the trough, Europe had the dark Middle Ages and arrogant and lascivious priests, and China also had the dark Song Ming theory and morally corrupt Taoists.

History is always strikingly similar.

The only difference is that Christianity still retains its status and substantial influence in modern society, and has expanded to the whole world, while Confucianism, which once influenced the entire East Asian cultural circle, has almost completely disappeared and degenerated back to its original state, which is just a doctrine, and the root cause is that there is a stranger in China who has not appeared for thousands of years.

He not only single-handedly brought China from a right-wing government to an ultra-left-wing government, but even destroyed the Confucian gentry class inherited for hundreds of years in China's Ming and Qing dynasties with complete violence, and lowered the power of the government to the most basic rural units, achieving the most straightforward and complete rule in Chinese history, thus fundamentally removing the influence of Confucianism, uprooting it, and never recovering.

It was the only government in China since the Han Dynasty that had not been influenced by the Confucian gentry, and it was the most hard-line government in the world, even tougher than the Qin.

It does not need to share power with any other strata in the country except itself, the landlords and scholars no longer exist, and the only class that can resist the imperial power or even overthrow the imperial power maintained by the Confucian culture that was born independently in China has completely disappeared, and it will not be born in the future, because the example of the Ming Dynasty is right in front of us.

There is only one example in the whole world, such an example of success but extremely heavy cost, of the destruction and taming of all forces in a country except the government, of the most simple and complete domination, and of a very strong hidden danger that other countries do not have, but whether it is desirable or not, it is at least one way.

Xiao Ruxun found Chen Longzheng alone before Chen Longzheng and Matteo Ricci left, and told him in detail about the Holy See, so when Chen Longzheng knew that the Holy See was coming, he was not ignorant of the Holy See's purpose, he knew that among the things that Xiao Ruxun instructed, only this one thing could not allow Matteo Ricci to participate in decision-making.

The Holy See came to be a cardinal, and he was not known how many levels higher than Matteo Ricci, but in view of the difference in Ricci's status at this moment, and the Holy See's desire to spread Christianity in China, the cardinal treated Matteo Ricci quite politely, let alone Chen Longzheng, because Chen Longzheng was not a Christian, and was even more polite.

His purpose was simple, to inquire about Matteo Ricci's current missionary situation, and to ask Chen Longzheng if the Chinese general behind him could allow Christians to officially preach in his precinct.

Matteo Ricci had already informed the bishop of Xiao Ruxun's basic situation, and the bishop knew that Xiao Ruxun was actually a noble lord, with a population of more than one million under his jurisdiction, and his influence spread over dozens of small countries in Southeast Asia, with a population of nearly 10 million, that is, if the Chinese general supported him, at least, Christians could formally and unfettered missions in these countries, unlike in the Chinese mainland, where even entering China was not a simple matter.

The Holy See's declining prestige was eager to restore its pre-Crusades, to regain its pre-Crusades, to regain its power over the entire European continent, to suppress the monarchs who had put secular power on the papal power, and for this it urgently needed China's support.