There was another noteworthy event in the fifth year of Longwu, which was the opening of the Daqin's first overseas shop and first overseas restaurant in the State of Genoa's capital, Genoa City.
The shop and the restaurant were managed and operated by the people in the Imperial Plantation controlled by Xiao Ruxun. The shop mainly sold China's porcelain, silk, tea, iron pots and ladles, as well as a series of works of art and other things that were not available in Europe.
The restaurant was for people to eat and drink, and it also sold alcohol, which was brewed in China.
The successful opening of these two shops caused an uproar in the entire continent of Europe. Although there had been discussions since the 25th year of Wanli about opening shops that the Daqin could directly manage overseas, there had been no time to do so. Xiao Ruxun became busier after becoming Emperor and lacked energy.
It was not until the third year of Longwu that Xiao Ruxun put this matter on his agenda. After discussing it with the governor of Genoa, the governor of Genoa granted the Daqin a piece of land in the most prosperous area of Genoa City, allowing the Daqin to build shops and restaurants there.
He gave his full support, gave the green light, and even personally sent workers to help with the construction.
Subsequently, in the second half of the fourth year of Longwu, 1602, a shop filled with China's classical style and a China -style restaurant were built, both taking the route of high-end nobles.
The things sold inside were not things that ordinary people could afford. Those who came to shop and eat were all people of status.
Of course, the Spaniards refused to enter.
The first shop to be operated and sold by China was opened in Genoa, and the governor of Genoa fought for it with more favorable terms than the French.
Originally, King Henri IV of France was looking forward to the opening of the first China shop and restaurant in France's capital, Paris, but this achievement was snatched away by the governor of Genoa.
The city of Genoa immediately became the most discussed city in the entire continent of Europe, for no other reason than that a group of Chinese people had opened a shop selling Chinese goods and a restaurant selling Chinese food there.
In the past, ever since China's official representative came to Europe for the first time to interact with the Genoans seven years ago, the China craze had never stopped.
With the encouragement of the governor of Genoa, the craze had only gotten stronger.
Originally, under the pleas of Governor Renaya, Chen Longzheng had asked the two chefs to stay before he left. He said that they would stay for three years and that he would give them a salary of five hundred taels of silver each. Such a huge sum of money instantly broke through the two chefs' psychological defenses, and they decided to stay.
Then, they became the governor's personal chef.
The governor of Genoa immediately became the most respected person in all of Europe, because he had two Chinese chefs serving him personally.
Even though there were nobles who were envious of such fame and treatment and wanted to have relations with the Chinese government, the governor of Genoa strictly guarded against this. Unless they were hosting important banquets or entertaining important guests, no one would be able to eat Chinese food.
Within a few years, Genoa's viceroy had completely learned to eat with chopsticks and had even become addicted to eating rice.
This was all rice grown in Myanmar, not wheat produced in Europe. It was very expensive, and the governor of Genoa ate this as his staple food. Later on, he even sent his own people to grow it. His eating habits were completely Chinese.
This was the same for his family. When they held grand banquets and entertained important guests, other than some traditional European food, they would mostly eat Chinese dishes.
The two chefs were refugees from the Central Plains. They had worked in big restaurants in China, and they had been carefully selected to be the ship's chefs. They were outstanding chefs that Xiao Ruxun had chosen because he didn't want the crew to suffer.
They had excellent skills, and the governor of Genoa had spared no expense in getting them authentic condiments and some ingredients from China. They had also displayed their skills and led the trend of Chinese food in Genoa.
Not only that, the vanity of the governor of Genoa was greatly satisfied, but it wasn't enough. He wanted more, and so he hired a scholar from China to teach him the customs and etiquette of China.
This scholar's name was Chen Zurong. He was actually one of the poor scholars that Xiao Ruxun had recruited from all over the Central Plains. He was sent to Myanmar to teach the children how to read and write.
Later on, because of his good looks, honesty, and willingness to work, he was called into the army to do some work. After Governor Renaya's request came, Xiao Ruxun recruited scholars who were willing to travel across the ocean. Because Chen Zurong didn't have any relatives to worry about, he answered the call.
Then, he traveled across the ocean and came to the side of the governor of Genoa. He taught the governor some traditional customs of China and explained some of the etiquette of China. At the same time, he learned the foreign language with the help of a missionary to understand the local customs of Genoa.
From then on, the governor of Genoa fell in love with China's culture and customs. He even spent a lot of money to build a "China House" in his mansion. It was a duplex room that had both a study and a bedroom.
All the furniture and decorations were China style. They were made in Nanjing after the establishment of the Daqin and then shipped back to Genoa. The decorations were completed under Chen Zurong's personal instructions.
He would stay there for at least a week every month, and only the noblest and most intimate guests would be brought into the China House for a tour, or even stay overnight.
Those who had stayed there were all amazed, and when they came out, they would brag about how beautiful and quiet it was, and how elegant and noble the life of the Chinese was, so that more than half of the upper class in Europe knew that the governor of Genoa had an authentic Chinese house, and they all yearned for it.
Other than that, in order to show off and satisfy his vanity, he also learned China's way of eating and etiquette under Chen Zurong's guidance. Therefore, he asked Chen Zurong to build a banquet hall in the style of China's banquets, and it would be in charge of hosting banquets for his friends.
When this news came out, all the rich people in Genoa flocked to the banquet.
At the beginning, the nobles and rich people who attended the banquet hosted by the governor of Genoa were very depressed.
Because in order to show that he was on good terms with the Chinese, understood Chinese culture, and was a civilized person, the governor of Genoa changed all the cutlery to China style chopsticks, spoons, and bowls. The tables and chairs were all China style.
The host sat on the platform directly above and looked down at the two rows of tables and chairs arranged according to their social status. Then, his servants changed into China style servants' clothes.
They used the China style to serve the guests food on bright red wooden trays. They squatted beside the table and served plate after plate of cold and hot dishes. Their footsteps were light, and they had a smile on their faces.
The entire China style of service was dazzling and too much for the eyes to take in.
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