Chapter 485 Fan Qian passes away
Wang Guifen suddenly realized!
Shuiqing was right. Her father-in-law did so well. He worked hard for the village, but there were still people who said bad things behind his back.
No matter how well she did, could she be better than her father-in-law?
Besides, she was still a woman. Someone would definitely use her female identity to make trouble!
She hurriedly asked, "Shuiqing, my mind is a mess now. Do you have a suitable candidate?"
Shuiqing smiled and analyzed, "You are the head of the village. The helpers you choose should not be too old. Young people have no family burdens and run errands diligently.
They must be smart. You will have to deal with government officials and merchants in the future. Smart people can save a lot of trouble.
I think Fan Xiaoliu, Wu Gousheng, and Zhang Xiaogou are all good."
Mainly, Guifen's sister-in-law is not too old. If the helpers are about the same age, they may not be under her control. Young guys are much easier to manage.
Fan Xiaoliu is smart and steady, suitable for dealing with external affairs; Wu Gousheng and Zhang Xiaogou are suitable for running errands in the village.
Wang Guifen thought about these three candidates and found that Shuiqing had chosen them well.
Especially Zhang Xiaogou. Although Zhang Baldy is not a good person, Xiaogou is really hardworking. Who in the village doesn't know that? Besides, with Xiaogou around, no one would say that the candidates for managing the village are all from wealthy families.
"Okay, then these three, Shuiqing, I have something else I want to ask for your opinion. I'm stupid and I've been thinking about it for so long but I still don't know how to solve it."
"You say."
Wang Guifen sorted out her messy thoughts and tried to be concise: "At the beginning, the public deposit in our village was more than ten taels of silver. At that time, I was told to manage the village banquet and keep the silver. Later, when County Magistrate Wu came, it suddenly increased several times to hundreds of taels. A lot of expenses were paid from the village banquet, adding pens and ink to the book house, paying for repairs, building walls, etc.;
But later, when the medicinal materials were harvested, every household in the village added silver according to the population as public expenses. Do you know how much it is?"
Shuiqing raised his eyebrows slightly, knowing that the number must be very large.
The old village chief's family has the most forests and fields, and the people are the most diligent. They are also the first batch of people who planted medicinal herbs. It can be said that except for his own family, the Ding family, and the Hu family, the old village chief is the richest.
Wang Guifen is in charge of the family's economic power. She has seen a large amount of silver. If it is less, she will not be so worried.
Wang Guifen did not let Shuiqing answer, but said directly: "Now there are a full 1,700 taels! I am panicking every day with so much silver in my hands. Besides, you also know that I am illiterate and can't keep accounts. If someone questions it later, I can't prove my innocence."
She was terrified, afraid that any note was wrong. If she accidentally embezzled the public silver, how could she face people?
Shuiqing wanted to sigh. Others love to manage silver, and it is best to put it in their own pockets, but Sister Guifen manages silver and puts pressure on herself!
However, she can realize the risks of managing silver, which is really good.
And asking her is asking the right person. Managing the village's public silver is equivalent to company finances. She has a lot of experience.
"Xiaoliu, Gousheng and Xiaogou are all literate and can do arithmetic. You pick two of them. One will be responsible for recording the details of the silver received and the other will be responsible for recording the silver spent. The silver will still be kept by you. All the silver spent will come from you.
You three will check the accounts once at the end of the month, once every quarter, and once at the end of the year. Basically, there will be no mistakes. If someone questions it in the future, the account book will be clear.
Also, too much silver in the account is not a good thing. It should be used more. For example, more village banquets can be held to increase the cohesion of the villagers.
The main road connecting the village to the outside world can also be repaired, widened and smoothed to facilitate the travel of horse-drawn and donkey-drawn carts.
You can also purchase weapons, hold activities and competitions, etc. It will be enough to ensure that there are five to seven or eight hundred taels of silver in the public treasury every year. Any extra can be used for village affairs."
Wang Guifen was stunned and it took a long time for her to come back to her senses.
Oh my God, she was worried about this for so long, and she couldn't figure out how to deal with it. I didn't expect Shuiqing to be able to tell her everything on the spot!
Even the problem of too much money was solved at the same time.
Yes, it is useless to keep too much money. Improving life is the main thing.
She looked at Shuiqing and sighed sincerely: "Shuiqing, I finally understand why my father-in-law and my biological father all want you to be the village chief. There is a big gap between you and me."
Shuiqing also replied sincerely: "I can't do it. I am too utilitarian and have no self-sacrifice. I can't do this. You are the most suitable."
She has a clear understanding of herself. She will not get up early without profit. She can work hard for her family and people she cares about, but not for others.
Wang Guifen was about to refute when she heard crying and shouting from the front of the village.
The sound was sharp and piercing, sometimes high and sometimes low, intermittent, mixed with unclear wails.
"Is this mourning? Who is gone?" Wang Guifen suddenly stood up and asked nervously.
Shuiqing also stood up and carefully distinguished the source of the sound. There was a vague guess in her heart.
The two of them didn't care about anything else and ran towards the place where the sound came from.
After a while, the guard struck the gong, and the sound spread throughout the village. People from every household ran out of their houses in panic and gathered at the entrance of the village.
·
The old house was full of dirt.
Even Wang Guifen couldn't help but cover her nose.
In the house, Fan Qian, who was lying on the black bedding, was stiff, and Sun Jinhua was screaming in the corner. Outside the house, Fan Dazhu, Erzhu and Sanzhu cried sadly, and Zhang Chunhua was howling.
Wang Guifen and Shuiqing took a look and understood the situation, and retreated to the yard.
People from the village have come over in waves to see if they need help with Fan Qian's funeral.
Shuiqing was mentally prepared for Fan Qian's death. Four years ago, Fan Qian should have had a mild stroke. With a lack of medical care and medicine and no careful care, it was unexpected that he could still live for four years.
But the quality of life during these four years was not good.
As the saying goes, there is no filial son in front of a long-term sick bed. Fan Qian didn't need to be sick for a long time. At the beginning, his three good sons gave up the stall very quickly!
He relied on Sizhu to support him. He married Zhang Chunhua, but she was not a kind and honest person. He still relied on Sizhu. Until a year ago, Sizhu saw that his three brothers would rather sell the land than work honestly to earn money, so he made up his mind to split up and move to the new village.
Fan Qian survived for more than a year, hungry and full. It must be said that he has a strong vitality, and now his heart-wrenching cry is also a bit hypocritical to everyone.
Wang Guifen glanced at the few people in the room who were just crying but never mentioned how to handle the funeral, and whispered to Shuiqing: "I'm afraid the eldest couple can't be relied on;
Er Sanzhu is not married yet, even if there is money, it is estimated that they will not use it to handle their father's funeral. We still have to wait for Sizhu to come and ask his opinion."
When Sizhu divided the family, it was the same as Fan Jin and Shuiqing. His parents were counted as one share. Fan Dazhu and Zhang Chunhua insisted on providing for the old couple in order to get the share of their parents-in-law.
If Fan Qiansun Jinhua followed Sizhu, her life would definitely be much better, but she lived with her eldest son's family, even worse than animals. I don't know if they regretted it when they thought of the past...