On Friday, December 29, 1645, the last government working day of the year, dandelion-like snow fluttered in the wind.

On the streets of the capital, Manchester, wet black umbrellas are everywhere under the billboards of the huge commercial square. In the shopping street of the southern part of Manchester City, female citizens with their children or strollers wander in pairs in front of a new mall with self-painted promotional posters.

This is a large department store jointly founded by Carnation Group and Yang Wenwen Living Art Group, which opened in the capital Manchester City only yesterday, named "Lily Mall", and the biggest feature of its operation is that only women are allowed to enter.

In the traditional Chinese business culture, women are very unpopular with businessmen, especially if the first customer of the daily opening is a woman, which is considered a bad omen. In the most discriminatory areas, after women leave the store after shopping, the shopkeeper and his companions must also perform superstitious rituals such as scattering incense ashes and sweeping the floor.

And among the lower classes of Europeans, the traditional discrimination against women is even more than that. Public derogatory discrimination against women in Christian doctrine was not uncommon, and even until the end of the 19th century, the sale of wives in the public like the disposal of old goods was tacitly tolerated by the lower classes of Europe.

As the precarious days pass away, more and more immigrant families have become a new force in the business circles of the beautiful cities with a strong commercial atmosphere, and some bad old habits have quietly returned.

For example, in many shops in remote towns, some people have imposed restrictions on the time when women can enter the store. After thinking about it in a similar way, this kind of social discrimination that hinders the daily lives of ordinary women has begun to spread to big cities. And the population increases, after the labor force is abundant. In addition to specific jobs, the number of female employees in many stores has also declined in recent years.

Although the law prohibits any overt discrimination on the basis of sex. In addition, in national education, we have been strengthening the ideological cultivation of the new generation. It should be said that the social status of gorgeous women is much higher than that of other countries of the same era, but this does not prevent some stores from tactfully arranging a guy or putting up a small sign in front of the store, and making up a random reason to repeatedly remind "women stop in the morning" and other information.

It has to be said that the localization of Chinese and American society continues to evolve strongly, while the influence of the Crossing People, which once led the social landscape, which accounts for an absolute minority of the population, has degraded.

Although ordinary national-run shops did not dare to use these outdated ideas to target women from the upper echelons of the wealthy class, the covert conflict of forcibly spreading new cultures and perpetuating traditional ideas still aroused the contempt and even anger of many women.

The promotion of a new civilized life cannot be forcibly enforced by law in a short period of time. Changing old ideas also requires longer education, transition guidance, or shifting interpretations.

As a "revenge" for certain backward ideas, or to exalt and defend the status of women in formalism, as early as 1630. Manchester City's public transport has introduced women-only carriages to facilitate the transportation of female passengers who feel their status is low.

Then, in 1632, in order to increase the enrollment rate of girls and pursue the social image of a new generation of gorgeous women. An Ivy League private college with Yang Wenwen Living Art Group as the largest sponsor behind the scenes. The Ivy League Girls' Middle School and Primary School were founded, which opened the prelude to a public demonstration against outdated patriarchal ideas through the rich women's groups.

Then, the Carnation Group, which has a chain of maternity and infant service centers in many major cities in the country, upgraded its business in Manchester City in 1634 and established the first "Carnation Women's Hospital" on the basis of the Carnation Maternity and Infant Chain Service Center in Manchester City, which only allows women or infants under the age of ten to be admitted to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment, which also appropriately solves the psychological barriers of a large number of female patients when entering general hospitals.

After years of practical operation experience and talent training, Carnation Group is now preparing for the establishment of women's hospitals in Union City, Yacheng City and Qingcheng City.

Opening of the Lily Mall in Manchester. It immediately aroused great interest among the female citizens of Manchester City, coupled with the explosion of the natural shopaholic traits of women under the opening discount promotion. The bustle surpasses all the big malls in the south of Manchester. Its external store staff recruitment advertisements indicate that women must be included, and it has also attracted the attention of many housewives who want to earn an income outside the home.

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……

In the Manchester Magistrates' Court, just a few hundred metres from the city's lily mall, a civil trial is underway, the last civil judgment of the year, isolated from the outside world. Presiding over the court is the new Acting Civil Judge of the Manchester District Court, Yan Xianfeng.

Employing a large number of new generation talents into core business positions in various industries is the most direct way for Huamei leaders to strengthen the cultivation of successors in recent years. As a young man who has grown up from primary school to university, Yan Xianfeng has begun to take over heavy judicial cases that could only be controlled by crossing groups.

“…… Both the prosecution and the defense accepted the dispute mediation agreement on the 'patent for industrial refrigeration technology', and in accordance with the relevant contents of the Civil Procedure Law and the Patent Law of the Republic, the verdict of the trial is now read out as follows......"

Yan Xianfeng, who is about to turn 30, dressed in an oriental-style black and red-edged judge's robe, stood up and read out the verdict of this civil trial, and the representatives of both sides of the dispute in the audience were secretly relieved.

The previous tension finally eased at this time, and the legal representatives of NORINCO Group and General Industries Group all stood up and shook hands with each other, whether they were willing or unwilling, they all barely squeezed out a smile.

When the results of the trial mediation came out, an ocean-going refrigerated transport ship was doing the final equipment commissioning work at the special wharf of the state-owned Qingcheng Shipping Company in Haizhou, and the first sea trial would be carried out in half a month at most.

The merchant ship named "Cold Transport No. 1" belongs to the state-owned ocean-going shipping company and is one of the most advanced ocean-going large merchant ships in China and the United States. The full load displacement is more than 5000 tons, and the economic speed is more than 10 knots. It has several independent large ship freezers, capable of carrying up to 2,000 tons of fresh and frozen cargo to Europe thousands of nautical miles away.

When the original saltpeter ice bucket is still popular in Huamei ordinary restaurants or families, the ship freezer successfully developed by NORINCO Group is the most advanced large-scale industrial refrigeration equipment in Huamei.

Steam pressure pump and multi-stage circulating refrigeration technology are adopted. Although the design prototype still refers to the modern industrial refrigerator that appeared in the mid-19th century, the overall technical level is much higher than that of the same period in history.

The practical application of large-scale industrial refrigeration equipment has finally solved the core problem in the field of Huamei's cryogenic industry in a milestone. Whether it is a military or civilian ship, it can greatly improve the freshness and storage of fresh products loaded on the ship, and can greatly improve the self-sustaining power at sea.

For Huamei's large-scale deep-sea fishery and some high-end cryogenic industries, large-scale industrial refrigeration equipment has an industrial value that is difficult to measure. It can be said that if the middle of the road does not kill a Cheng bite gold. NORINCO will monopolize a blockbuster market segment.

Interestingly, this set of large-scale industrial refrigeration equipment manufactured by NORINCO Group was shortly after receiving the user's order. He received a lawyer's letter from General Industries, which sued him for infringing on the technology patent.

Although the leaders of NORINCO and General Industries are both neutral in China, there have been many conflicts of interest between them arising from industrial patented technologies.

In the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Huamei promulgated the "National Patent Law" to encourage the participation of all people as much as possible. Any one of the patented technologies that has been put into practical use. Regardless of the size and importance of the application field, the legal protection of patent monopoly is recognized. However, according to the provisions of the Patent Law, the ownership of a patent reviewed by an enterprise or individual is only valid for 25 years, after which it will be automatically nationalized, while the ownership of a state-owned patent is 50 years.

Driven by monopoly interests, from the founding of the People's Republic of China to the present, at least half of the people who have crossed have tried to participate. Even many people with a low level of education have distilled some patent registrations from their previous life experiences. However, the vast majority of patented technologies with practical industrial application value in this era are still monopolized by a small number of people. It has led to the emergence of several private industrial giants today. Among them, the three most representative are Lin Youde's North Industries Group, Jiang Zhaolong's General Industry Group, and Zhou Junting's Xinhua Chemical Group.

From all kinds of steam machine tools to steam tractors, from train braking equipment to steel rifled guns, even though Lin Youde and Jiang Zhaolong have never appeared on the stage in person, the legal teams of the two groups have been stumbling again and again. This time is no exception, as both parties claim to have a full range of patented technologies for the production of industrial refrigeration equipment.

NORINCO Group successfully launched large-scale industrial refrigeration equipment first, which can be regarded as narrowing the gap with General Industry Group in the manufacture of civil industrial equipment. However, General Industries Group has also been researching miniaturized refrigeration technology in the past few years, targeting households, small businesses and the pharmaceutical industry, and has registered a series of patents earlier than NORINCO Group, but unfortunately it has not finally launched mature products.

From the beginning of the project, NORINCO Group has directly aimed at the large-scale industrial refrigeration equipment market, although the launch of the ship freezer is exactly the same as the general industry group in terms of technical principles, and also uses some parts from the general industry group, but the overall design and manufacturing process is very different.

The court ruled that the "industrial refrigeration technology patent infringement case" initiated by General Industries Group against NORINCO finally ended with a mediation agreement. According to the mediation agreement, the two industrial groups will share the industrial refrigeration technology patent for 15 years, after which the patent ownership will be re-owned by NORINCO until the end of the patent period.

The result of another handshake and peace naturally made Lin Youde and Jiang Zhaolong, who did not appear in court behind the scenes, have a better face, but both of them know that the conflict of interest between them is far from over, and no one knows when the next-for-tat confrontation in court will be.

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……

January 1, 1646, New Year's Day.

Robert City, with a population of more than 20,000, is separated from the capital Manchester Outer Island District and Jersey City only by a bay waterway several hundred meters wide, and the water transportation is very convenient.

Founded in honor of a cavalry corporal, the city of Robert originally existed only as a supply of iron ore to the industrial base of the capital's outer islands, and iron ore mining, a few kilometers north of the city, was the city's main source of income. Once upon a time, a large number of miners and their families were the most important part of the population of Robert. Most of the jobs are related to the mining and transportation of iron ore.

The mining industry demanded a large number of low-demand workers, so the city of Robert became one of the towns with the largest number of naturalized Delaware settlements.

At the beginning of last year, after the Luoxin Railway was officially opened to traffic. Robert City has become a www.biquge.info of strategic land transportation from Songzhou to Binzhou towns in the south, thus ushering in a period of rapid development opportunities. Industrial raw materials such as cotton, coal, and tobacco came from Binzhou along the railway, and industrial manufactured goods from the north flowed south from here, and the warehousing and logistics industry expanded rapidly.

Under the policy guidance of the national industrial layout strategic adjustment plan, in just a few years, relying on convenient transportation, more and more small enterprises in the island area outside Manchester have moved here. The city of Robert has also become a center for the primary processing of industrial and agricultural raw materials.

The rise of logistics and a large number of small processing and manufacturing industries has allowed the City of Robert to successfully "induce" the transfer of labor from nearby towns, and has also eased the pressure of urban population expansion in the capitals Manchester City and Jersey City.

Two years have passed. The officials of Robert City were able to get rid of the bustle and chaos that was detonated in an instant, and finally planned and adjusted the industrial zone belonging to the city.

Due to the size of the enterprise and the cost of relocation, it will take years or even more than a decade for large industrial groups to move from the outer islands of Manchester to the city of Robert, in full accordance with the national plan. So the main force that is currently entering the industrial area of the city of Robert. The vast majority are also small businesses, even small self-employed in private workshops.

These small businesses or private workshops have been a peripheral force in the industrial area of the outer islands of Manchester, spending large sums of money or bank loans to buy all kinds of small machine tools of great value, and specialize in the outsourcing of raw materials or spare parts for large industrial groups.

Under the authorization of various patents or production guidance, many small enterprises or private workshops can get a good living space, and also enable large and medium-sized industrial groups to concentrate on higher-value end-of-line production.

As trade between Europe and the Far East deteriorated due to the war environment, the ability to absorb overseas markets declined, and the export of industrial products from Huamei began to shrink. It is inevitable that these small business owners, who are completely dependent on the outsourcing orders of large industrial conglomerates, will be implicated. However, due to the fact that Yunzhou in the north and Binzhou and Jiangzhou in the south are entering the fast lane of development, the domestic demand for various industrial products is very strong. So on the surface, the small processing enterprises or private workshops in Robert City still feel good.

The industrial area of Roberts was established inland to the west of the city as a settlement of Delaware villages and iron ore deposits, and has now taken shape with the completion of several roads extending from the city and the improvement of infrastructure.

Aside from the salute at night overlooking Manchester Bay to share the festive atmosphere, the most social activities here are the men, women and children of all ages in small workshops.

Most of them are old immigrant families with a skill, but with the leapfrog development of Huamei industry and the new generation of industrial workers continue to take up their posts, more than 20 years later, except for some top talents, large employment enterprises no longer rely too much on those who rely on old skills to eat but have a low level of education of the first generation of ordinary old technicians.

Through some national policies to encourage private entrepreneurship, many old workers who are no longer qualified for high-level technical jobs in large industrial groups have come out one after another. Cottage industrial workshops emerged about five years ago, quietly and rapidly developing, and also filling the grassroots forces necessary for the industrial industry chain in China and the United States.

It was already dusk, a light snow was falling again, and many of the small family workshops in the industrial area of Robert City were closed. The black smoke of the small chimneys cleared, and people returned to their simple but comfortable homes early, enjoying the comfort after labor, and the scattered sound of firecrackers was sparse. Only in a remote corner was a small factory shed with kerosene lamps lit and the rumbling sound of small steam engines.

In the dimly lit shed, a small steam engine is running, a middle-aged European woman in a low-grade linen coat is slowly adding coal to the boiler, another middle-aged Chinese man in a sleeveless sweatshirt in the middle of winter is limping in front of several small machine tools, and in the corner, three young children are carefully packing up a large pile of metal parts and semi-finished products.

Li Chun came to Huamei alone in 1629, when he was only 16 years old. When he first came, he was almost illiterate Li Chun. Having worked as a porter, road builder and construction worker, and after a brief literacy education, he also worked as a hotel security guard for a while, living quietly in Jersey City as a typical example of the older generation of immigrants.

In order to change fate. At the age of 21, Li Chun volunteered to join the Chinese and American Army, and then joined the African Dispatch Brigade as a recruit to suppress the black riots in South Africa, and was then transported non-stop by sea to Recife, Brazil, to participate in the Brazilian War against the Dutch West India Company.

In the offensive and defensive battle of Recife, Li Chun was unfortunately hit by a solid bullet fired by the Dutch cannon, and although his life was saved, he lost a lower leg. He was recognized as severely disabled, thus ending his military career early.

According to the Law on the Livelihood Security of Disabled Soldiers, Li Chun, who was wearing a wooden prosthetic leg, entered the General Industry Group to work. is considered to have settled for the rest of his life, and with a net worth of nearly 1,000 US dollars in combat allowance and disability retirement solace, he married an ugly girl who can't be married by an old European technician.

Even if the other party immigrated to Huamei many years earlier than himself, he can still speak a half-baked and strange Chinese Chinese. But Li Chun and his ugly European wife really have nothing to communicate with. It was only in the spirit of passing on the family that such a small family was formed for other Chinese neighbors to point fingers at.

After that, Li Chun devoted himself to learning culture and craftsmanship. Probably because of his experience in the army, Li Chun is very hard-working, and he is not strong and studious, and just a few years later, he became an intermediate technician, specializing in the assembly of parts for the 32A rotary tube machine gun production line in the military workshop.

Li Chun was very interested in this expensive weapon, which had shocked him and his comrades-in-arms. In the course of work, the technical characteristics of this type of machine gun were constantly deepened.

Last year, I was instigated by my father-in-law. Coupled with the social preferential policy brought by the disabled military certificate, Li Chun was fortunate to get a low-interest business loan, so he mustered up the courage to resign and start a business, and the family moved to Robert City and opened a small workshop for self-employed metalworkers.

The most important job that Li Chun received after starting his own business was to do the primary processing of blanks for the gear workshop under the General Industry Group. But in Li Chun's mind, there has always been a very strong desire, that is, to use his own hands to design and manufacture a rapid-fire weapon that is far better than the 32A heavy rotary tube machine gun.

At this moment, Li Chun was holding a bolt part that had just been made from the machine tool in his hand, and was carefully looking at the dim kerosene lamp, and from time to time he had to compare it on the drawings on the desktop.

"My dear, don't you take your father's opinion into account anymore? Maybe what you're doing right now is really going to get paid a lot of money from the big guys, and I think that's the best outcome. ”

Seeing that her husband was still obsessively studying his own things, the ugly European wife muttered carefully in front of the boiler while dusting her face for her three dirty children.

Not long ago, her father, who was a small foreman in a department at the General Industries Group, came to see her at home and stumbled upon the gadgets and drawings that her husband was tinkering with.

The skilled, observant old European craftsman only looked at a few parts and quickly judged that the Oriental son-in-law was making a murder weapon that might cause a sensation.

In addition to the production of consumable spare parts, the 32A heavy rotary tube machine gun has long been discontinued, but these achievements are remarkable if they only provide a further improvement.

Is a small private workshop and a disabled mechanic with little background really capable of keeping such a future? A European-American veteran mechanic who has been working in GE Industries for at least 20 years naturally knows very well that this dream is a bit unreliable, so Jianyì's son-in-law sold all his achievements to GM Industries.

You must know that these large industrial groups in China are very generous with the technological innovation of their technicians, and there have been hundreds of dollars in rewards for a new processing technology that saves metal blanks, and it has made newspaper headlines, not to mention some examples of talented young people who have sold their research results to large groups and become rich overnight.

After Li Chun's father-in-law's threading and preliminary introduction, General Industries Group was also generous, planning to buy Li Chun's current research results for $500, and even rewarded Li Chun's father-in-law for "reporting meritorious" more than a dozen yuan in advance.

Although Li Chun's life is not bad now, $500 is more than a year's net income for Li Chun's family. Although the research progress is far from the mature stage, for Li Chun, who has already invested a lot of effort. is reluctant in every way, and has rejected the lobbying of his father-in-law several times.

During the current New Year's Day, I was unhappy because of the confrontation with my father-in-law in this matter. Li Chun did not take his family to visit his father-in-law in Manchester City, which made the atmosphere at home very tense.

The husband seemed to ignore his muttering, the housewife had to honestly return to her place, while the three children looked pathetically forward to when they would be back in the workshop backyard for a snack.

"Is there anyone at home?"

Just when the atmosphere was depressed, suddenly a figure appeared at the door of the workshop, and it was a young man from the voice.

Under the dim kerosene lamp, more than ten seconds passed. Li Chun and his family could only see who was coming, and sure enough, it was a well-dressed Chinese-European mixed-race young man.

Yang Wenying is the eldest son of Yang Xiaohua, president of Yang Wenwen Life Art Troupe. He is also the son-in-law of Lin Youde, the boss of North Industries Group. According to the tacit rule of getting along with factions within the public, Yang Wenying only interned for one year in Yang Wenwen's company after graduating from university, and then entered General Industries Group as the director of the marketing department after marriage, which can be regarded as an example of the strategic cooperative relationship between the two companies.

Today, Yang Wenying was instructed by the group's senior management. Come to the city of Robert in person. Preparing to complete the acquisition of a technological achievement.

"Dear Sir, you are ......"

Seeing that the other party was a nobleman of no low status, the housewife was so frightened that she quickly got up and drove the children through a small door, and then resigned herself to shrinking behind her husband.

"Hehe, contemptible Yang Wenying, this is the business card of Zaixia, I came to visit Mr. Li today, hoping to get an open and honest exchange opportunity." The young man took out a business card from his pocket in a dashing manner. Then he smiled and handed it to the couple.

"It's getting late, is there anything wrong with Mr. Yang?"

I guessed the signs from the business card. The bolt parts in Li Chun's hand were secretly stuffed into his pocket, and he quietly rolled up the drawings on the desktop.

"Don't delay Mr. Li's time, I'll just say it. The Group appreciates Mr. Li's research achievements and hopes to acquire a full set of technical drawings. To this end, the Group will pay ......"

Instead of taking a seat in this squalid workshop, the young man walked slowly around the dimly lit and narrow processing area with great interest, picking up a metal blank from time to time to play with.

"Thank you, Mr. Yang, for your kindness, but I have no plans to sell it at the moment."

Li Chun's expression did not change, and he directly interrupted the other party's offer, but the ugly European wife behind him looked very excited. Now even the North Industries Group has come to buy her husband's things, which shows that her family is really going to be developed!

"800 pieces." Yang Wenying didn't mind the other party's cold attitude, but spit out a number lightly.

"God, there are so many more than Father! That's a lot of money, my dear! You can pay off all the loans in your family! The housewife's eyes widened with delight.

"How do you know about me...... In fact, it is not perfect, it is only a prototype......"

Li Chun was also stunned, but after half a minute, he still struggled to find the reason. Because if the research results are sold to the North Industries Group at this time, it is tantamount to offending the father-in-law in the General Industry Group.

The housewife is in a hurry now, if it weren't for the fact that her husband usually says everything at home, it is estimated that she would be eager to snatch the drawings in her husband's hand now.

“1000！ It doesn't matter how we know that, but I advise you and Madame not to say no more. As for the maturity of the technology, we don't have to worry, we will concentrate the best engineers to complete the subsequent design work. ”

Yang Wenying didn't give the other party more room to think, so she directly increased the weight, and then took out a checkbook from her pocket.

Unlike the old man, who still spoke softly and persuaded all kinds of persuasion, the young man on the opposite side was completely strong and forced to buy, and even revealed a threatening meaning.

Li Chun's body began to tremble slightly, and his fists gradually clenched, but he was not afraid.

"Hehe, let's put it this way, does Mr. Li really think that he can keep these? Even if I don't come today, maybe GM Industries will steal your heart and soul in an even more rude way than I do. It is said that you owe a loan from the bank for several years, right? Once they lose their outsourcing business, I'm afraid it will ......"

"Moreover, in order for this weapon design to truly generate market value, it also needs to solve problems such as material technology, large-scale production process, and production line configuration, not to mention the complex and long product testing cycle. Mr. Li, do you think you can do it alone? Selling at a price is a good business rule, but it's not necessarily the wisest option. ”

Yang Wenying filled in a string of numbers on the checkbook, then pulled it down with a smile and put it on the table: "Here is 1,500 yuan...... Trust in the business credibility and strength of the Group, and we can guarantee that you will be safe from the situation, and you will also be able to get the friendship and long-term business support of the Group. When you start your own business, don't you expect this to be the way you live? I'll stay at the Oriental Hotel in the city tonight, and I'll leave tomorrow at noon, so think about it. ”

After saying that, Yang Wenying left, leaving only a check and the uneasiness of Li Chun and his wife looking at each other. Under the dim light, the faces of both of them were unusually white.

……

The next day, in front of a large hotel in the eastern side of Robert City, Li Chun's ugly European wife walked to the side of the gate wrapped in a thick felt shawl, and a luxury carriage was ready to leave.

The housewife pulled out a few rolls of drawings from her body, shuddered and handed them into the window, and then bowed deeply. Yang Wenying, who got the drawings, just smiled lightly and pulled the curtains.

The carriage headed away in the direction of the port, but the housewife in the wind and snow did not dare to straighten her upper body in the slightest. (To be continued......)