Zhou Bei nodded, went around to the side wing, entered the small courtyard through the back door, and walked along the covered verandah on the left side of the pond to the second small courtyard on the west side.

In front of the main courtyard of the Zhou family are five main houses, the main house has two floors, the first floor is a meeting place, a place to eat, and the second floor is the residence of Zhou Duo and a wife and a concubine.

Zhou Shan, Zhou He is still young, and now lives in a wing room on the second floor.

There is a courtyard behind the main house that diverts water, which is built in the style of a Jiangnan garden.

The capital of the Ming Dynasty is Yingtianfu, located in the south of the Yangtze River, and the courtyard in the style of the Jiangnan garden has become the choice of most people.

Even in Dongzhou, most of the officials and ordinary people live in the Jiangnan garden courtyard, and only when it is too cold in the north will they live in a courtyard house that is convenient for burning kang.

With the garden as the center, there are two small courtyards on the east side, the first is the eldest son Zhou Dong, and the second is the second son Zhou Nan.

There are three small courtyards on the west side, which are slightly smaller and belong to Zhou Xi and Zhou Bei, and the last small courtyard originally belonged to Zhou Bei's sister Zhou Qianfang.

Zhou Qianfang has been married for more than three years, and now she is empty.

However, there is also a sister in the family who is ten years old this year, and the eldest niece is also six years old, and now they live together.

After entering his own small courtyard, Zhou Bei observed all around, and there was no trace of invasion.

The farm has more than a dozen dogs, and it is close to the county lord's mansion, which is patrolled, and it is difficult to sneak in.

The gifts between him and Yu Youwei, some sensitive letters and tokens, were all hidden in his own space, and only some ordinary gifts were left outside.

However, since his father reminded him, he also accepted some gifts with unclear boundaries into the space.

After being busy for a while, he heard movement outside, went out, and saw his nephew Zhou Cheng who was still walking steadily, Zhou Qian trotted all the way, and saw that he was a little scared, and the two smirked and turned around and shouted: "Grandma......"

Zhou Cheng is the son of the eldest brother, and Zhou Qian is the son of the second brother, the two are the same age and play together every day.

The figure of the mother appeared at the gate of the small courtyard, took the hands of the two nephews, and said with a smile: "You don't like the fourth father the most, the fourth father bought you a small train last time, you forgot." ”

"Fourth Daddy, good morning." The two little guys said hello, turned around and ran to the corner, picked up the bamboo pole and wanted to go to the dates.

Zhou Bei ignored them and saluted his mother. "Good morning, Mother."

Liu Xianglan nodded and asked, "What did your father and son discuss yesterday?" Is there anything I can't let me know? ”

Zhou Bei didn't want her to worry, and said vaguely: "Today, the people from the Tang Palace's mansion will come, maybe they will put forward conditions, and we will discuss how to deal with it." ”

Liu Xianglan nodded and sighed again. "I don't have to move a chair, I'm going to have breakfast soon. My mother just wants to talk to you. Xiao Cheng, don't run around......"

Zhou Bei had already packed up the sensitive things, moved two chairs to the door, and stared at the two children who liked to play in the water by the way.

"Mother don't worry, I'll do my best to let Youwei marry in."

Liu Xianglan sat down on the chair and took Zhou Bei's hand. "Si'er, Youwei's little lady can be regarded as growing up since she was a child, and she likes it very much. But after all, she is the daughter of the county lord, and our Zhou family is a small family, which is really high.

If she can marry in smoothly, her mother will treat her well, but if Tang Wangfu refuses to withdraw from the marriage, don't force it. ”

Hearing his mother's words, Zhou Bei became more and more uncomfortable.

Because of his own affairs, he implicated the Zhou family, and his mother was worried, which was really unfilial. "Mother......

Liu Xianglan patted his hand and said with a smile: "Although my mother only studied in junior high school and didn't read much, she has followed your father over the years and has seen a lot." Yesterday, I heard that there was a change in your marriage with Youwei, and the other party was the Prince's Mansion, so I naturally knew that the matter was not small.

We have a thin background, even if we have some money, we can't fight with the palace, and sometimes, we have to accept our fate.

You are arrogant, you must find a noble girl who is as beautiful as a flower, and your mother will not take the dead branches and rotten grass perfunctory. Study for one year with peace of mind, go to Yingtianfu to study in college next year, and go to Yingtianfu, there are countless beautiful ladies in this world.

I heard that many noble ladies of the palace are worried about marrying, and my son is better than Pan An, and his talent is outstanding, so he will definitely be able to attract them. When the time comes, my mother will hold a lively wedding for you. ”

Although his mother's comfort could not solve the practical problem, Zhou Bei could feel her tolerance and love for him.

She was afraid that the Zhou family would suffer, but she also cared about the bits and pieces of her son, and accommodated herself without a bottom line.

Zhou Bei grabbed his mother's rough and thin hand and comforted: "Mother, don't worry, the child will definitely marry a noble girl to come to the house and bring tea and water to you." ”

…………

A large family divided into two tables and sat in the dining room.

Breakfast was brought by Hanxiang to help her sister-in-law, porridge, noodles, side dishes, rich and varied, and everyone took it by themselves.

The second sister-in-law is pregnant in May, and she has been weak recently, so it is a luxury to have an extra Dongzhou ginseng chicken soup.

Oriental ginseng is called American ginseng in another world, American ginseng, which is very similar to ginseng, but its function is slightly inferior.

In the mountains and forests north of the Great Five Lakes, there are many of these kinds of Dongzhou ginseng, and in the past 20 years, they have been artificially cultivated, and the output has increased greatly.

There are also a lot of wild ones here in Trois-Rivière, and many people have cultivated them in recent years.

Although it is slightly inferior to the function of ginseng, it is also a mid-range tonic that ordinary people can afford.

Everyone finished breakfast quietly, Zhou Duo and Zhou Dong drove to work, and the others were busy with whatever they wanted.

Zhou Bei returned to his cabin, cleaned up, and changed into a dress.

Take out a copper crown in front of the mirror, put the combed hair in a bun, and hold it in place with a hairpin.

In the past, it was important to wear a square scarf, but now the customs have changed, except in winter or to attend important occasions, few people wear a square scarf.

The weather is too hot, even if it is a simple dress, there are at least two layers, although loose, it is not as comfortable and convenient as the regular dress.

However, to meet the distinguished guests today, it is etiquette to wear a formal dress.

Looking in the mirror, he tied his purse around his waist, and with a thought, the key and the purse appeared, and he stuffed it into his purse, and then tucked it into his belt.

On his chest, he also filled two packs of cigarettes, but he had no addiction to cigarettes and was prepared for socializing.

I looked around, opened the cabinet door and brought a rifle, and as soon as I thought about it, the gun disappeared.

The theft of the house in the city yesterday must have been a surprise to the snake, and he wanted to hide things about Yu Youwei.

As long as you take action, it is easy to be caught.

But they wouldn't have thought that they had a space that no one could find, and they didn't need to return things to Yu Youwei at all, let alone find a place to hide.

Came to the warehouse, by the river, Heshan's eldest son was driving a tractor, ploughing the field under the scorching sun, others were picking peanuts, the older children were working, and the younger children were playing happily.

There are two rows of warehouses, and there are eight rooms in one building. In the front row, cattle and horses were raised, and the grain and forage harvested from the farm, in addition to those sold, were also stored here.

The second row of warehouses was Zhou Duo's workshop at the beginning, where harvesters and tractors were also stored.

Now it has become the workshop of Zhou Duo and Zhou Bei, and in order to support Zhou Bei's invention, a small casting workshop was built here, with a small blast furnace and several lathes.

The technology that Zhou Bei researched from space is to draw drawings first, and then make molds, cast, and process.

Limited by processing capacity, there are also some accessories with relatively high material requirements, which are purchased from outside.

The door of the warehouse was opened, and the entrance was two closed huts, which were Zhoubei's workshops.

The warehouse is very large, and it is also dirty inside, and if you don't close the two huts, there is no place to draw.

The warehouse is full of all kinds of materials, there are several semi-finished machines, the clay mold workshop past, and the casting department, there is a huge coal pile.

At the entrance, a pickup truck was parked, which was the fist product of the Fifth Tractor Plant.

Like the Americas of another world, the East Continent of this world, due to its vast and sparsely populated area, is also the most popular pickup truck.

Zhou Bei's patent application this time, it is the most popular four-wheel drive, at present, more than 30 licensing agreements have been signed, and he has made a profit of more than 400,000 licenses, and this alone has made a profit of nearly 400,000.

The Fifth Tractor Factory was authorized to innovate in technology and prepare to launch the first generation of high-horsepower four-wheel drive pickup trucks as quickly as possible.

Moreover, the four-wheel drive system is not only suitable for pickup trucks, but also for off-road vehicles, heavy transport vehicles, and some construction machinery.

took out the key from his waist and opened the car door, Zhou Bei sat in the car, lowered the glass on both sides with his hand, and reversed the car.

When he came out and saw his mother coming, he opened the door and got out of the car.

As the mother of a family, Zhou's mother is also old, she doesn't have to go to the ground, but there are a lot of trivial things at home, and she is busy all day long.

This Ming Dynasty doesn't even need eunuchs for the emperor, only female officials are in charge of court affairs, and there are no slaves among the people.

Everyone can only hire servants, sign work contracts, and buy insurance for servants.

So even if it is an official's house, there will not be many servants in the house.

is like another world, in the Dream of Red Mansions, there are so many servants in a national mansion, and there are domestic slaves, and the prince can't afford to support them.

"Mother, it's hot to death, and you're still running around."

"I forgot to explain just now, you go into the city to buy a few catties of pork ribs, and then buy two pig's feet."

The weather is too hot, there is no air conditioning in this world, and there are refrigerators, but they are the kind of large ice machines, and small household refrigerators are said to be still under development.

Without a refrigerator, the meat at home can only be stored on saltpeter ice, otherwise it has to be bought every day.

Zhou Bei pushed the heavy door shut hard. "Do you want to buy anything else?"

"No, I don't. Recently, there have been floods, and it is said that many bandits from the north are coming south, so be careful on the road, bring a gun, and don't stop casually. ”

"I know. Mother rest assured. ”

Dongzhou is a vast and sparsely populated land, and in the past twenty or thirty years, I would often buy some slaves from Europe and come back to work.

However, there are always some unruly managers who exploit white slaves for the sake of profit.

In recent years, the rebellion of white slaves has occurred from time to time, they snatched guns, and after killing people, they wandered everywhere and became a chronic law and order disease in Dongzhou.

There are also some Ming people who are lazy and hardworking, colluding with these bandits and forming a considerable force.

Especially in some areas where the power of the imperial court is weak, the situation of banditry is quite serious.

This year, the Tongtian River (Mississippi River) was flooded, and many white slaves on the farm ran out of the farm with their families, and recently, the county army everywhere has been searching for the white slaves everywhere.