In '43, France, Belgium and the Netherlands between Britain and Germany were already occupied by Germany. The land was inhabited by German troops, monitored by radar, and strategically extended to the west coast of Europe. Therefore, in Germany, not only was it not affected by the war, but it was a deformed prosperity.

The economic prosperity of the Ruhr region is even better than that of other regions, and in all of Europe, only the Birmingham to Manchester industrial belt in the UK can be compared.

In the history of mankind, the industrial development that began with the textile revolution, the textile revolution belongs to the most basic industrial revolution, not to mention for the time being, the current industrial revolution has gone through two relatively large stages.

The first stage was the steam age that began in Britain in the eighteenth century, and the invention and promotion of the steam engine brought the world's industry into the first stage of the industrial revolution.

In the late nineteenth century, electricity appeared, and in this century, electricity became another engine that drove the development of the Industrial Revolution, allowing the Industrial Revolution to enter its second stage.

Before the electronics industry began to develop, the coal-steel complex represented the most advanced stage of the industrial revolution.

Although there are not many iron mines in the Ruhr area, it has the largest reserves of high-quality coal mines in the whole of Europe, and with coal, it can generate electricity and make steel, so since the second half of the last century, the Ruhr area has become the fastest growing industrial region in Europe.

From Bonn, the capital of West Germany in the south, to Essen in the north, Dortmund has become a benchmark for industrial development around the world in the last 100 years.

In this regard, not to mention the United Kingdom, even the United States cannot compare. The reason why the US economy surpassed Germany and Britain after entering the 20 th century was not because of advanced technology and management, but because of its abundant resources and super-large scale.

This is a classic way to win by volume.

This is a bit like the motherland in later generations, entering the market from low-level processing, relying on price and scale, and slowly catching up. As a matter of fact, the motherland in the 21 st century is following the path taken by the United States in the early 20 th century.

The prosperous Ruhr region has become a powerful engine for Germany's economic development and has given birth to countless new types of capitalists. Like the Bayer family, which has been developing for nearly a hundred years, the Hoffmann family is still insignificant compared to them.

Relying on Felix Hoffman's support, Yannick was able to take advantage of Bayer Pharmaceutical's shortage of funds to take a stake in the pharmaceutical company, but in the pharmaceutical company, he still did not have much say in the pharmaceutical company. In fact, the Hoffmanns are just one of dozens of Bayer family collaborators, and Yannick is not involved in the Bayer family's other chemical plants, explosives factories, plastic factories, and even mines.

Yannick is also well aware of this, and the Hoffmann family is actually quite weak, so even if they have moved to Bayer Leverkusen now, they have kept a low profile. Not only did he not make much fanfare, but he also stayed in the villa on the shore of Lake Dinn with his whole family, and he had no idea of getting involved in Leverkusen's upper class society at all.

He didn't even work part-time at the pharmaceutical factory, but only entrusted his rights to Felix Hoffman, who served as the chief chemist, and he gave almost no opinion on the decisions of the pharmaceutical factory.

During this time in Germany, he took his family to work as a farmer. The villa has two hectares of land on the edge of the lake, which is a clearing in the middle of the forest, with a small hill and then a large meadow.

Yannick and Zhou Nan bought a small tractor, although it is only in the forties, but the development of the tractor is very mature, and it is not much different from later generations.

They dug out the barrier, started burning the wasteland, and then used the tractor to reclaim about 30 acres of land near the lake.

This move was ridiculed by countless people in Leverkusen, and even in the upper class, the Hoffmanns became a joke.

Gross had come running to stop their stupidity. Of course, his plan failed. Even if it becomes a joke for the upper class, Yannick and Jonas insist on carving out a farmland in their home.

Yannick's excuse was that the Hoffman family was originally a farming family, and even if they made some money by luck now, they still had to maintain their original farmer nature. He is a novice in the operation of the pharmaceutical factory, so he will not interfere at will, so it is better to farm at home.

Actually, Yannick was scared. Because Jonas told him explicit that in the first years after the war, Germany suffered a famine worse than in the early thirties. Due to food shortages, millions of German soldiers were imprisoned by the Allies in the 350-kilometer-long Rhine open-air camp and starved to death.

It was not until the sixties that the world's food famine was alleviated, which meant that in the next decade or so, food would become the most valuable commodity.

Although the Hoffman family now has no worries about food and clothing because they are prepared, they still have to be prepared in all aspects. A little more food will save more people when the time comes, even if it is used as a favor, it will be beneficial to the development of the Hoffman family.

Of course, the real reason for this is that neither Yannick nor Jonas dared to tell anyone, and now dared to say that Germany would be defeated, that there would be famine, that the only thing that awaited them was the shooting of the Gestapo, and that they would not be given any chance to defend themselves.

Yannick had considered divulging some of this information several times, but had to give up because it was too risky. Even General Falkenhausen did not dare to say too much, for fear of causing a chain reaction.

However, he is also thinking about transferring Villa from Brussels to China, with the help of General Falkenhausen, this matter is not difficult to operate, the key problem is to find a suitable job for Villa in China.

It took half a month for the Hoffman family to finally settle down at their home on the shores of Lake Dynne. Claudio and Leon were placed in a school in a small town called Darling Hasen, just three kilometers from Lake Dingne, and now in the summer, they were assigned to the town's Boy Scout training camp, where they also underwent half-day military training every day.

Audrey did not go to school with them, because when the family's farmland was cleared and Yannick settled the family, she was going to Switzerland with Jonas. So, she stayed at home every day, decorated her new home with Caroline, and also learned to cook and be a good wife.

Zhou Nan was not in a hurry, because as long as he went to Switzerland in October, before the American army began to attack Italy, it would not affect his plans. It really has to wait until the U.S. military occupies Italy, and Italy counterattacks, and the immigrants at that time will be much more troublesome.

As the clock ticked into August, Yannick finally received the letter he had been waiting for from Switzerland. During this time, he wrote to several friends in Switzerland asking about his citizenship, but most of the replies disappointed him.

Because of the current confrontation between Germany and Switzerland, the life of new German immigrants in Switzerland is not easy. The Nazis sent tens of thousands of spies to Switzerland, and now the Swiss, looking at any newcomer to Germany like a spy, can hardly make any noise.

Even, their voices will be deliberately targeted by the Swiss, and as long as they support it, the Swiss locals will oppose it. Even if they originally belonged to a nation.

However, Father Bvanrenner's reply from Engelberg gave Yannick a clear reply that he could let Zhou Nan settle in Engelberg even if he could not be registered elsewhere. Engelberg is in the sphere of influence of the Church, and the voice of the Church is quite effective there.

After receiving a reply from Father Baffrenner, Yannick began to ask Caroline to pack her bags and prepare to send Jonas and them to Switzerland.

After spending half a month with Caroline and Kelly, Audrey has really fallen in love with Caroline and Kelly.

In some ways, Caroline and Mrs. Hemstra are similar, they are both well-born, well-informed, and tolerant and kind. But Mrs. Hemstra had a very high starting point, but after reaching middle age, her condition deteriorated, and now she is forced by life and has lost her grace.

Therefore, Audrey experienced in her the feeling that originally belonged to the loving side of her mother, and the elegance of an upper-class woman. In just half a month, she felt that Caroline seemed to be better than her mother.

Caroline also particularly likes this girl who is as pure as a piece of crystal, this kind of girl who does not seem to stir up a trace of dust, although from a family point of view, will not be a very qualified wife. But for Jonas, who is a man and likes to take care of other people's feelings, the two seem to be so compatible.

Moreover, Jonas is now also cared for by Kelly. Kelly is a very capable woman, she is not only proficient in all kinds of household chores, farm work, but also poured all her love on Jonas after the loss of her child.

Therefore, it is perfect for such three people to form a family.

Without Kelly, Caroline would have worried that Jonas and Audrey would not have had a good life in Switzerland, but now, she doesn't have to worry about it at all.

During the day, Zhou Nan followed Yannick to cultivate the land, and at night, he taught Audrey Chinese in his study, and then found a little time to write.

In the era when there were no typewriters and no computers, I could write more than 1,000 words in Chinese every hour in handwriting, but I could write more than 2,000 words in German.

In addition, Zhou Nan considered publishing the book in the German-speaking region first, so his first draft was in German.

Yannick became Zhou's first reader, but since the first half of the book "General History of the World" is written about the history of mankind 1,500 years ago, this educational work did not convince Yannick too much, but he was a little worried about whether Zhounan's book would be popular with the public.

But Zhou Nan did not have the slightest worry, because he alone knew that when the book was completed, especially after the second half of the book began to comprehensively expound the modern development history of the world, there would be an overall qualitative change.