Henry Nino was a Jew, Germanic and Jewish, to be exact. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

His father was from Germany, ran several wineries and married a Jewish woman. According to Jewish doctrine, all those who convert to Judaism, and those born of Jewish mothers, belong to the Jews.

When Henry was a child, his family was very wealthy, and he attended aristocratic schools in high school.

From World War I to the economic crisis of 1929, the United States developed in a roaring manner. All walks of life are advancing by leaps and bounds, and you can make money by doing any business, with the exception of the brewing industry.

Just when the family's wine business was booming, Henry's father planned to expand production. He mortgaged his two wine estates, purchased new winemaking equipment and production lines, and hired top winemaking engineers from France.

And then, there is no then......

The federal government suddenly enacted one of the stupidest laws in the history of the United States - Prohibition.

Henry's family was in debt, from a millionaire to a poor man, and his father committed suicide by swallowing a gun.

Henry, who had already been admitted to a prestigious school, had to give up his studies to make a living, and he was responsible for taking care of his mother, two younger brothers, and three younger sisters.

"Ding-dong, ding-dong!"

Henry rang the doorbell of a house in a wealthy district, and soon a housewife opened the door.

Henry smiled and said, "Hello Mrs., I'm ......"

"Salesman?" The housewife looked at the large box he was carrying and interrupted unceremoniously, "Sorry, I don't need to buy anything. ”

Henry still smiled, and said confidently, "I think your husband must need it, and I am selling grape bricks." ”

Before the housewife could squeak, a bald middle-aged man rushed out of it, and he asked in surprise: "Is it really a grape brick?" ”

"Of course, this grape brick uses the most traditional technique, and it is homemade by my mother and sister at home, and the taste is very pure," said Henry, whose expression suddenly became serious, "Sir, the law is sacred. As a law-abiding citizen, you must not add sugar and yeast, otherwise the grape bricks will ferment into wine. ”

The bald middle-aged man smiled: "Of course, how can a famous lawyer like me violate the law?" You must tell me in detail about the fermentation process so that I can effectively prevent this from happening. ”

Henry said politely, "We can come into the house and talk, what do you think?" ”

"Of course, please come in." The bald middle-aged man said happily.

Henry dragged the big box in, took out a grape brick and said, "You shouldn't mix 0.5 gallons of water with a grape brick like this, and you should never add 50 grams of sugar." As for yeast, I am categorically opposed to the use of Valente's yeast, which is too easy to ferment and make wine. ”

The bald middle-aged man took out a notebook and a pen, and said righteously: "Please tell me about the process, how I can accurately avoid making it into wine." ”

"Okay, I'll write it down for you." Henry said.

"Are you literate? Oh, that's great. The bald middle-aged man said happily.

Henry writes about the circumvention of the winemaking process, and at the same time denounces the harm of alcohol with his balding middle-aged man. In the end, the two made a deal, and the balding middle-aged man bought all the grape bricks he brought, shook hands warmly and said, "Young man, I appreciate your attitude of upholding the law. If you have materials and methods to circumvent the brewing of spirits, I would like to be able to continue the conversation with you. After all, spirits are more harmful than wine, and we must resolutely prevent them from appearing! ”

"It's a great honor for me to come back another day." Henry laughed.

As soon as the two finished speaking, there was a sudden knock on the door outside, followed by several gun-armed plainclothes rushing in.

The bald middle-aged man scolded: "This is my private residence, sacred and inviolable, please go out immediately!" ”

"We are FBI Prohibition agents, please accept the search!"

The person who came showed his identification.

The bald middle-aged man's face changed slightly, and he cursed in a low voice: "These damn pups! ”

When the FBI was first established, it was a small role under the Department of Justice. But because of Prohibition, the group was spawned into behemoths that could ignore the constitution and break into private territory in the name of Prohibition.

Eventually, the FBI grew into a tiger that even the president of the United States talked about.

"What is this?" The FBI Prohibition agent asked, pointing to the grape bricks.

Henry helped: "It's a grape brick, a very nutritious dried fruit food. ”

The bald middle-aged man chimed in: "Yes, I like to eat dried fruits, especially grapes, and the taste is so wonderful." ”

The FBI agents naturally know that there is something wrong with it, but there are loopholes in the law that everyone can exploit, and there is nothing they can do about it. Ignoring the grape bricks, he began to search the family's basement and garage, and finally found a few bottles of cider in the closet.

The FBI agents immediately issued a $1,000 fine, and the balding middle-aged man argued with the agents to discuss the prohibition of alcohol, citing scriptures to prove that he did not break the law.

Well, in the end, it was a $100 bribe to the agent, and both sides were happy - $100 was enough for the average American worker to work for two and a half months.

Henry, who was in business, rushed to the stock exchange, exchanging most of the money he made today for stocks, leaving only a small amount of living expenses for emergencies.

In the United States in 1927, the manufacturing industry continued to decline, and the number of unemployed people reached new highs, but the stock market was in full swing. By the beginning of 1928, the stock market had gone crazy, and even illiterate peasant women in rural towns talked about stocks all day long.

In the past few years, Henry has made thousands of dollars by selling alcohol-related products, and has invested in the stock market one after another. If the money is cashed out, it will be more than $5,000, which is more than five times more.

Henry plans to use the money as start-up capital for another year, to build a small factory dedicated to the production of grape bricks, and to rebuild the family brewing business.

After buying some bread for his mother and younger siblings, Henry turned around and walked into a bookstore and asked the clerk, "Are there any new books?" ”

The clerk politely introduced: "There are more than ten new books published on New Year's Day, please follow me!" ”

Henry loved to read, and his original dream was to be a scholar, especially geography, history, and literature, but unfortunately in order to support his family, he had to work as a salesman, selling homemade grape bricks to a large number of law-abiding customers.

"Hey, wasn't James Carbeka's Silver Horse published more than a year ago?" Henry asked, pointing to a new book.

The clerk explained: "This is a hardcover revised edition, and a few new short stories have been added. ”

"Really? Then I'll have to read it. Henry said with a smile.

The period from 1919 to 1939 was the golden age of American literature. In the past 20 years, the United States has won a total of seven Nobel Prizes in literature, including five novelists, one poet and one playwright.

American citizens also like to buy books and read, especially in the 20s, because of the vigorous development of society, the large increase of the middle class, and the increasing literacy rate and savings of the people at the bottom, the American publishing industry showed a prosperous scene.

The thriving publishing market has even improved the ethical thinking of publishers.

In particular, those large publishing houses believe that books are a special item with public value, and good books should be respected for intellectual value, aesthetic value and social value. They regard the publication of books as "the industry of ideas" and "the business of gentlemen", and the leading nature of ideas is the soul of books.

Sometimes when they find a good book, large publishing houses even prefer not to make money, but also to promote it like crazy, believing that the mission of publishing is to expose readers to really good books. Because of this, the annual profit margin of the American book publishing industry in this era is only 3 to 4 percent, which is even lower than the interest on bank deposits, but publishers still enjoy it.

This didn't change until the '80s, when book publishing became a secondary entertainment industry and publishing graphics evolved into a purely commercial activity.

Of course, even in the American publishing industry in the 20s, making money was still the first priority, and trying to promote good books that did not make money was only a means to increase the influence of the publishing house - do not trust the conscience of the capitalists.

Henry took the Silver Horse from the shelf, walked over to the two volumes, and asked, "Which famous scholar is this The Rise of a Great Power?" ”

The clerk said: "This is written by a Chinese scholar, and I heard that the historical community has a very high evaluation, and Mr. Marcas also wrote a preface for this book. ”

"Is it Mr. Marcus of Harvard?" Henry asked.

"Yes." The clerk laughed.

Henry politely asked, "Can I flip through it first?" ”

The clerk said, "Of course, please." ”

Henry opened the first volume of "The Rise of Great Powers" and first read the preface of Marcas, only to see that it read: "The book "The Rise of Great Powers", I have read parts of it one after another, were sent by my friends in Europe. I am very pleased that it has been officially released in the United States, and that it is a book that is clear, incisive, and elegant, and can be enjoyed by both professional scholars and ordinary citizens. If you're a history major, or a history buff, don't miss the ......"

What Mr. Marcas recommends, it must be a good book!

Thinking so, Henry began to flip through the text. He started reading the Portuguese Chapter, and before he knew it, he was so caught up in it that he completely forgot that he was still in the bookstore.

After about half an hour, the clerk finally couldn't help but remind: "Sir, have you decided to buy it?" ”

"Huh? Oh, of course," said Henry, "I had to buy it, it was a marvelous work, and I had never seen such a great work of world history." ”

The U.S. pricing for "Rise of the Great Powers" is $1 and 80 cents for the full set. It's not cheap, but it's not expensive, the average worker is paid less than a day, and today's American salaryman earns about $12 to $14 a week.

Henry went home with "The Rise of a Great Power" and "The Silver Horse", he didn't even bother to eat, and he read while holding the bread, completely ignoring the loss of time.