The sun never sets in America

Chapter 298 Anxi: Villager Zhou Daming

A strong wind blew by, causing ripples in the lake's light. A small boat passed by, and there were a few more "waves of light".

The middle-aged man wearing a bamboo hat cast down the fishing net, and then dragged the fishing net downstream.

The boat went up and passed by a dam mouth. The middle-aged man inserted the bamboo pole in his hand into the water on the opposite side, then picked up a long rope that was soaked in water and had yellow hair, and tied it to a stone pillar.

Then he started to drag the fishing net in his hand. At first there was no movement. Later, as the movement became louder and louder, more and more "white belly" was exposed.

Finally, dozens of freshwater fish of different sizes were poured out. These fish were all species native to America, including silver carp and bass.

Among them, several bass are the most eye-catching, with black bodies and red eyes. This fish is also called red-eyed bass, and it is a fish that Americans prefer to fish in later generations.

Others are some American silver carp. The taste of this fish is very different from that of China. It may be due to the different water and soil.

Among these fish, what attracts middle-aged men the most are a few red trout. This kind of trout was first found in Alaska, and later distributed in the three provinces of Oregon. It is also distributed in small quantities in the Anxi region.

Because the current insurance technology is not as good as it was later, and even if it does exist, it is still very expensive. Therefore, most aquatic products, especially those that are not available locally, can often be sold at very high prices.

Like the ones in front of me, if sold to restaurants, they would be worth at least one dollar.

It’s normal to sell it to you for three or four yuan after processing.

It can be said that a few trout are more valuable than dozens of local fish.

The middle-aged man's surname is Zhou Daming. His name is very rustic and has almost no characteristics. He first specialized in fishing in his hometown in Shandong Province.

Later, he lost money in gambling in his hometown and mortgaged the house. His wife couldn't bear it and ran away with the village leader Zhang, leaving him alone.

In addition, it was popular to travel to Guandong in the past few years. Once you grit your teeth and stamp your feet, you will be moisturized.

But who would have known that if he really entered the officialdom, he would be driven to the seaside by a government officer named Wang, and finally boarded a pirate ship bound for America.

Now that I think about it, this "thief ship" is indeed on the right track.

If he had not come to Han, with his virtue, he would still be able to marry a wife and get such a good land? ?

Don't think that he doesn't know what it's like outside the customs. It's a place that "eats people."

The yamen from the same town secretly told them that there was land in that place, but deep in the mountains and old forests, tigers and leopards were everywhere. Not only did they say that they had been "squeezed" by the local flag soldiers and flag generals for a long time.

Not to mention, this batch of them is going to be sent to the foreign customs. That place is said to be bordering the Russian foreign devils. If there is a fight, they will be cannon fodder.

Although in reality the Russians were gone and replaced by Han, Zhou Daming still felt that immigrating to Han was the best way out, not even one of them.

After all, who treats him as a human being and who doesn't? Even though Zhou Daming has never read anything, he still knows this.

In fact, not only Zhou Daming, but also those who immigrated to Han in the early days all said that Han was good and said "long live" the Emperor of Han.

Of course, the second generation did not have this idea, although they were also happy about the power of the empire and respected the "Great Emperor Longwu".

But I always feel that there is a layer of film. What is this film? It must be the era! !

…………

When Zhou Daming returned home, the whole village was still cooking, and the "rolling" smoke was like white waves, washing people's hearts.

Even Zhou Daming, who had just returned home, couldn't help but feel "comfortable".

The so-called fireworks in the world are the most soothing to ordinary people's hearts. This is probably the case.

"Why are you back so early??"

"how are you today??"

Zhou Daming's wife is a local Indian woman. She is a bit "dark" due to the dry fire, but her strong figure gives people a wild beauty.

This is also the reason why Zhou Daming fell in love with her in the first place. After all, at his age, he has passed the "beauty-loving" age at the beginning. Only living a normal life is real, and everything else is fake! !

And Bana, who was able to work, became his final choice.

(Indians in Han China basically use Chinese names, and the Ba surname has the strongest tone among the local tribes)

Zhou Daming made a few "nonsense" sentences, which were mixed with the words "very good", "not bad" and "the fish is very big".

Bana, on the other hand, brought out a pot of mutton while listening, with yellow and fragrant steamed buns piled on top.

"Come on, eat, let's see how it tastes today??"

Bana's Chinese is a bit "stiff". Although she can speak it well, she still has many unskilled words. Even when speaking, she is used to saying words like eat, drink, and good.

It is because the language system of her original tribe is still very primitive, and many of them are expressed in words.

This situation is so common in many Indian tribes that when I first taught them to read, they were "sorrowful" to death.

In the end, a set of teaching materials specifically adapted to them was compiled to solve the "cultural" problem.

Zhou Daming picked up a piece of "smoking" mutton with his chopsticks, stuffed it into his mouth, and immediately started to eat it, not to eat it, but to boil it.

After finally eating, he uttered:

"It's so hot!!"

Finally, he added:

“Better than last time!!”

After hearing this, Bana happily talked about today's events.

"You know, that, that factory, they want me!!"

"They said they could give me one of these in a month!!"

Looking at the ten fingers extended by Bana, Zhou Daming wanted to laugh, but finally stopped and just asked in a joking tone:

“I’ve made money, so I can buy new clothes!!”

Upon hearing this, Bana immediately blushed, because she once stole money and went to town to buy two "fashionable" items from Beimen.

Zhou Daming did not "wander" about this matter, but asked:

“Is there any letter from home today??”

Bana shook her head in confusion.

After hearing this, Zhou Daming "sighed" and finally began to invite Bana to eat together.

During the meal, Bana asked casually about the price of mutton, and Bana said happily:

"The price of mutton was reduced today. I bought some more and put them in the cold cellar."

While Zhou Daming was chewing on the mutton chops, he muttered:

"Is it a river sheep or a shepherd??"

"River Sheep!!"

Bana gnawed even more happily than Zhou Daming. Even when she spoke, she was "unclear", giving people a "gulu" feeling.

Zhou Daming gave instructions:

"The price of river sheep has dropped recently. I will take this opportunity to bring back some lambs and raise them next year. Maybe the price will go up." (Because there are many lakes, the local area raises a lot of sheep on both sides of the lakes. This kind of sheep is because It is resistant to mud corrosion, so it is also called Hu sheep. As for shepherd, it is actually the sheep in the pasture)

"kindness!!"

"Head of the family, you, eat!!"

Bana was fairly "skilled", but she put a piece of mutton in Zhou Daming's bowl with a poor grasping technique, and her words were all in single words.

Maybe it’s because you’re used to it and it’s hard to change it for a while.

After eating, Zhou Daming looked at Bana, whose appetite had obviously increased. He felt a little confused, so he asked tentatively:

“I’ve eaten so much lately, is it bad??”

"what??"

Bana didn't understand what Zhou Daming meant. She just thought that the other person felt that she had eaten too much, so she put down the bowl and chopsticks in embarrassment.

Zhou Daming looked at the "confused" Bana and could only say "eat".

Then he left home.

After walking in circles for a few times, I stopped in front of a low house.

This is the local health clinic, the rural hospital.

It's said to be a hospital, but it's actually just a Chinese medicine doctor in his fifties and a young man who graduated from medical school and was assigned to work there for five years.

Young people know how to take injections even if they don't know how to do it. Because their surname is Chen, they are called "Chen Zhen" by the village name.

An old Chinese doctor named Mu used to work as a traveling doctor in Mobei. Later, thanks to the medical reform, people like him, who drove without a license, were "invited" to the local health center.

Usually everyone calls him Mr. Mu. Although some people call him because of his identity, more importantly, it is because of his medical skills. Mr. Mu's medical skills are ranked among the best in Yanzhou.

(Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)

Even people from other villages came to Xixi Village for medical treatment.

When Zhou Daming explained the purpose of his visit, Mr. Mu took off his reading glasses, shouted "caregiver" to Dr. Chen beside him, then followed Zhou Daming out the door with a medical box on his back.

Along the way, in order to show his respect for Mr. Mu, Zhou Daming kept saying words such as "wonderful rejuvenation", "miraculous medicine" and "life-saving".

There are just a few words and a few paragraphs going back and forth. The reason for this is because Zhou Daming only knows these, these few words, and they were learned in the literacy class! !

Mr. Mu is not surprised by this kind of thing. After all, he has been "traveling around the world" for thirty years. He has never seen anyone or treated any disease. Zhou Daming's little thoughts can be seen at a glance.

Of course, seeing it and opposing it are two different things. After all, there is a saying:

"I can not accept it, but you, I can't not give it away!!"

When he came to the "wooden fence" at the door of his house, Zhou Daming "sticked" his hand in and touched it. The door was opened from the inside.

Then he "pleased" and invited Mr. Mu in.

"The boss??"

Bana looked at the old man who came in, and looked at Zhou Daming a little nervously. After all, this old man was not a good person. He heard from the "ladies" at the entrance of the village that he liked to give people needles, and even talked about people when he was in a mood. Her body was covered with needles, which frightened Bana, who had never seen the world, into a panic, fearing that this "pervert" would come to her door.

Well now, the pervert is here! !

Even though Zhou Daming explained it several times, he still couldn't dispel Bana's wariness.

Mr. Mu felt his pulse and looked at the nervous native girl. He just thought that it was the first time that she was like this, and it was normal for her to be a little scared.

After a few minutes, Mr. Mu stood up and congratulated Zhou Daming with a smile:

"Zhou Sheng, congratulations, you are going to be a father!!"

Mr. Mu's accent is Cantonese, so some words are not very clear to Zhou Daming.

But he heard the words "Dad" so clearly that he almost "jumped" with excitement.

Bana next to him was still a little "ignorant". Because of her accent, she could hardly understand what the "pervert" was saying.

After saying just one sentence, my husband jumped up with joy.

Finally, when Zhou Daming hugged Bana and told her the news of pregnancy, she was still a little "confused."

Even when Zhou Daming sent Mr. Mu out, he was still a little confused. It wasn't until he remembered his original experience in the tribe that he understood.

Bana stroked her belly and said happily and regretfully:

"When you come out, I won't be able to eat enough!!"

(Because the local Indians are relatively short of supplies, one more person will have to share more food)

Outside the door, Mr. Mu was playing "Tai Chi Game" with Zhou Daming. Finally, a "red envelope" worth two Chinese yuan was delivered to Mr. Mu's medical box with great difficulty.

After receiving the red envelope, before leaving, Mr. Mu even offered to match the pair he had given to the Mobei rich man's family, and sold ten yuan worth of anti-fetal medicine to Zhou Daming's wife.

Zhou Daming, who had just returned to the house, saw Bana who was still working. He was so frightened that he put down the mop, pulled her to the chair, and told her:

"You don't need to do anything now, I have everything in my care!!"

Bana looked at Zhou Daming who was "working hard" and suddenly came up with the idea of ​​"having more lives".

.............................................

Yanzhou in April is like a mirror washed by rain, showing "smoothness" everywhere.

Yanzhou has many mountains and lakes. The largest lake in the territory is the so-called Salt Lake.

The salt lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere.

It is rich in high-quality minerals, and even the locally produced salt is the first grade in Han Dynasty.

The largest local company is Yanzhou Salt Industry, which mainly engages in salt trading.

Almost half of the table salt in the entire Great Northern Region is provided by this company.

With annual sales of more than 20 million, it is one of the few high-quality enterprises in Yanzhou.

This time of year, at the end of spring and the beginning of summer, is the most "pleasant", with people swimming in the lake all the time.

There are people boating on the lake, and the small boats are hung with short sails. There are a few tables and chairs in the boats, and they can chat with close friends. It is also a great pleasure for the locals.

Not far from the shore, there is a huge factory building. This is the second of the four factories of Yanzhou Salt Company.

The company has made a lot of money by relying on the resources in the nearby salt lake and the licensed salt mining rights.

The owner of the company is Jiang Lin, a typical Zhejiang businessman. After immigrating to Han, he relied on his natural "business" acumen to buy low and sell high, and accumulated his first pot of gold.

Finally, at the end of the fourth year of Longwu, he saw the opportunity and took the four million yuan he earned to invest heavily in Anxi, which was still wild at that time.

Relying on the first-mover advantage and "connections", it quickly established a foothold in the local area.

In the end, after accidentally discovering the business opportunity in Salt Lake, he leased the lake for 20 years at a price of three million per year.

The reason why we were able to obtain such high-quality assets at such a favorable price is inseparable from Anxi's financial difficulties.

In fact, it's not just Anxi. In the past few years, if it weren't for the cabinet's allocation, many places that couldn't supply blood by themselves would have been unable to even pay official salaries.

The reason is "excessive".

It’s more accurate to say overbuilding, or debt! !

Of course, the water here is "too deep", and it is also "taboo" within the Han Dynasty.

Outsiders don't know much about it, but the Imperial Bank later took out several hundred million loans in batches to deal with local debts in batches.

Although it has been dealt with, it does not mean that there is no cost. The biggest cost is strict financial supervision.

I'm afraid it will be difficult to imagine "soaring" like before.

Among them, the ones who benefited the most were Jiang Lin and his Yanzhou Salt Company.

After successfully obtaining the development rights for twenty years, Jiang Lin's life has also embarked on the "fast lane" and he has become a frequent visitor to today's rich list.

The entire Yanzhou is actually a mountainous area composed of mountains, forests, lakes, and small plains.

It’s just that this mountainous area is relatively large.

Yanzhou's unique geographical environment has unique scenery and no shortage of water, so it is green everywhere. Coupled with the local surrounding mountains and lakes, boating on the lake does have the feeling of "small bridges and flowing water".

Because of this, Yanzhou is also the place with the most high-end real estate in Han Dynasty. Along some river banks, you can often see some "simple" and "poetic" wooden houses.

These wooden houses are basically only visited in late spring and summer, when there are the most people.

Because the climate at this time is just right, warm, but not too warm.

Coupled with the local scenery, in the words of some wealthy households who bought houses locally:

“Mountains, flat lakes, grasslands, sheep, and blue skies, this is indeed a good place to retire!!”

A certain poet even wrote a poem praising the beauty of Yanzhou:

"The spring breeze passes through the green ridges, the mountains embrace the jade pot, the goldfish leaps into the sky, and Dai Li rides on the waves!!"

…………

Yanzhou City is a city dominated by Han-style architecture.

As for what Han-style architecture is, in fact, even the Han people themselves don’t know clearly. They only know that it is similar to Chinese-style or Western-style architecture.

(In fact, it is a Western-style building method modified into a Chinese-style house and a square building)

When Zhou Daming was walking in the city with Bana, whose belly was not visible, the annual spring festival was being held in Yanzhou City.

Strictly speaking, this kind of spring festival is not a Chinese culture, but a local Indian tribe. When spring is coming to an end and summer is coming, like the god of spring, they pray for a good harvest.

Spray! !

In broad daylight, dense fireworks rang out in the blue sky. In the square, people wearing sacrificial animal skins, feathers on their heads, and colorful sacrificial faces were dancing sacrificial dances.

Everyone around him burst into applause.

It doesn't look like a sacrifice, but more like entertainment.

Since the arrival of the Han people, this kind of ritual with Indian characteristics has become more and more "culture" in the words of adults.

As for the real Indian culture, in the words of Culture Minister Tao Shunmin:

"Indian culture is a part of the Han Dynasty and cannot be separated!!"

Yes, they are "inseparable".

In other words, "melted"! !

In the crowd, Zhou Daming carefully protected the "happy" Bana, and around them, there were celebrating crowds everywhere.

There are Chinese, naturalized Chinese with Indian looks, pure Indians, and even white Americans left over from those days.

Everyone is like a family, gathering together to celebrate a festival that belongs to them and to the "Han country"! !

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(End of this chapter)