Crossing the famine, I am a poor fish, and my descendants have to work hard

It's November 1st in the blink of an eye.

In the Daliang Dynasty, there was no such thing as lunar calendar or solar calendar, there was only the lunar calendar.

Zhao Yuanzhen saw that it was number one and started to call everyone to a meeting. Today was a day off for the school, and the school worked six days a week and rested one day.

Zhao Yuanzhen first convened a family meeting.

When everyone is present, let Qian Xiaohui report the accounts first, and then show the account book she made to everyone.

"At the beginning of this month, my mother gave me 1000 taels of silver to buy furniture and find a carpenter to make furniture. The carpenter spent a total of 304 taels of silver on the furniture, and there was still 694 taels of silver left.

I went to the capital twice to buy coal, 200 catties each time, which cost me 2400 coins. I spent 38 taels of silver on vegetables, meat, and the few seasonings at home. My mother bought all the rice and noodles at home, so I didn't spend any money. The monthly salary for the servants this month was one coin of silver each. That's 29X100 coins = 2900 coins.

There is no expenditure left.

The village later gave out 20 taels of silver, and my mother let me take it.

Now there are still 670 taels and 7 cents of silver. "

After Qian Xiaohui reported the accounts, everyone looked at the account books one by one, and Zhao Yuanzhen asked them to check to see if there were any mistakes or incorrect accounts.

Several people felt that it was unnecessary, the new sister-in-law.

"I asked you to check the accounts more often because I want you to gain more experience. This is not targeting your sister-in-law personally. No matter who does the accounts in the future, this process must be followed. It's not just about checking the accounts, but also about checking for any omissions. In case your sister-in-law made a mistake or missed something, you should also check carefully.

You know, without rules, there is no order. The current cash flow in the family is just for daily expenses. When the family has more businesses and more accounts in the future, will there be no checking?"

After listening to her mother's words, everyone began to carefully check the account book.

Qian Xiaohui made two account books, one was a regular five-note format, and the other was in the Arabic numerals and table format that her mother taught her.

We checked carefully and found no problems.

Zhao Yuanzhen also took a look and found that there was indeed nothing wrong.

"Xiaohui's accounts are very good, clear and concise, and the calculations are also simple and clear. Just continue to record according to this.

From now on, I will no longer manage all the expenses of the family. Xiaohui and Zhijuan, you two can take care of it. All the expenses of the family, including food, clothing, housing, transportation, rice, flour, grain, oil, servants' wages, etc., as well as the money for Zijin and Xinshu's future salary and writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstone, etc., need to be put into the public account and paid by the public.

Of course, the family income, including all the money you earn, such as the money Xin Shu earns as a teacher in the school, must also be turned over to the public.

Of course, the public school also needs to give each person some pocket money every month. You can discuss the specific amount, but you must write it clearly next time you report the expenses.

Do you have any opinions on these?"

"No problem, mother."

Everyone felt that this was much better than before. In the past, not only did they not have enough to eat and wear, but they also worked every day without any pocket money and had to hand in everything they earned.

Now my mother has given me more than 1000 taels for expenses. I will think about some way to make money. Now that there are many people in my family and I have learned many skills, it is not difficult.

"If you have no objection, then tell me, servant, do you find any problem?"

"There is a problem, but it's winter now, and there's not much work to do. These people are basically idle most of the time, and we don't need that many people to do the chores at home."

"Well, there are two solutions to this problem. The first is to ask them to learn some skills when they are not busy, such as literacy, calculation, martial arts, or other skills.

The second is to let them go to work, or we can research something that needs manpower and can make money."

"Mom, can you make charcoal? I want to teach someone how to make charcoal. The coal in the capital is too expensive. Every time I go to buy charcoal, I feel so bad."

Zhang Xinnian feels that the carbon is almost as much as food.

"Yes, I'll write you a recipe later. You can all go and learn it. We can make charcoal ourselves in the future."

"Okay, mom, you're amazing. You can do everything."

"Any other questions? From the servant's side?"

"There are no problems for now, except that some servants are a little bit reluctant to obey discipline. They don't take it seriously, but what Xin Bai said is very effective."

Qian Xiaohui sometimes gave orders, but they always procrastinated or were a little lazy, but this was not the case under Zhang Xinbai's management.

She was a little distressed, wondering if she was not good enough to discipline herself.

"I'll find a training nanny to teach you how to manage your subordinates. But we can have a meeting and give them a warning later. If you do this again, you can be punished by having your monthly salary deducted, etc."

They all came from the village, so it was normal that they had not yet learned how to command subordinates. They probably had never even acted like a master.

Sometimes they even wash their own clothes.

However, Zhao Yuanzhen's own clothes were washed by Zhang Qingyan, and the water in the bathroom was also provided by Qian Xiaohui and Li Zhijuan.

Zhao Yuanzhen didn't want servants to enter her bathroom.

They are both very strong, so carrying water is no problem for them.

Then everyone raised some questions about their findings.

After summarizing the problems, we started to call people for a meeting.

Qian Xiaohui was in the meeting, and Li Zhijuan made the supplement. Then Zhao Yuanzhen sat next to her.

Qian Xiaohui felt confident when she saw her mother-in-law was there. She told her mother-in-law all the problems she had found and also reprimanded the servants.

The meeting then adjourned.

Zhao Yuanzhen went back to find a recipe for making charcoal.

In fact, the method of burning charcoal is very simple. The only difficulty is to isolate it from oxygen. It needs to be sealed well, otherwise the wood will burn out.

First, use bricks or clay to build a cave. You can set a hole for placing wood on the top or on the bottom. After placing the wood, you need to seal the hole with bricks and clay.

Set up several ventilation holes at a certain height in the earthen kiln, and observe the degree of burning of the wood. As soon as the wood burns to the ventilation holes, quickly block the holes with stones or bricks, and then seal them with clay.

Finally, when the wood burns to the bottom, the entire earth kiln is sealed, and no oxygen can enter at all.

In this way, the fire will automatically go out and the earthen kiln will remain still for more than 2 days.

Once the kiln is opened, the carbon is fired successfully.

The wood used for charcoal burning should preferably be hard wood, so that the charcoal burned out will be more durable.

Zhao Yuanzhen wrote down the prescription, gave it to Zhang Xinnian, and instructed him on some key points. Zhang Xinnian and his men ran away happily.

He chose a relatively large open space at the foot of the mountain east of his home, found some earth bricks, and built a kiln fort. It was relatively small, as he wanted to test it out first.

Then I cut some wood and put it in. I started to cook according to my mother's steps.

Because he put less wood, the burning was finished in about 2 hours. Then he sealed the kiln and waited for two days to open it.

I was worried, so I even posted someone here to watch over us.

Zhao Yuanzhen is reading in her room. It's cold now and she doesn't want to go out.

After a while, Zhang Qingyan said her mother was here.

Zhao Yuanzhen hurried to the main room. The old lady usually didn't come unless there was something important.

"Mom, you're here! It's so cold, why don't you wear more clothes!"

Zhao Yuanzhen looked at the old lady who was only wearing a cotton-padded jacket. Isn't she cold? She wore a cotton-padded jacket and a fur coat when she went out, but she still felt cold.

"It's not cold, it's okay."

"Mom, you have tea."

Zhang Qingyan brewed the tea and brought it out, then sat next to her mother.

When she has nothing to do, she will go to visit her mother.

"Well, okay. I came here this time because I can't come up with an idea for something. I want to ask the second brother's family to help me come up with an idea."

"What's the matter, mother, tell me."

"There is a school in the village. Zihu also went to school. I saw Zimei was envious. I asked her and she said she wanted to go too. I know that this girl can't take the imperial examination even if she studies.

But I thought that the village had its own school and it didn’t charge any tuition.

I just want Zixue to go to school, learn to read, and do some simple arithmetic. She doesn’t need to be able to write, just know. But I don’t know if the village will agree to this, so I came to you for advice.”

Zhao Yuanzhen didn't expect that the old lady came to her for this matter. The old lady was quite far-sighted. What she didn't know was that the old lady was a complete fan of her. She thought that if this girl could recognize more words, although she would not be as good as Zhao Yuanzhen, she would not be so easy to fool.

Grandchildren are all my own flesh and blood, and I love them all the same. But everyone has always favored boys over girls, so I'm afraid they won't agree.

"I think your idea is very good. You don't favor boys over girls. You love your granddaughter. It's just that the villagers are deeply rooted and may not support girls to go to school.

But our school is free, so I think it’s just a matter of adding a few more tables and chairs. Now the school has only been open for a few days, so there are not many missed classes.

The village chief also has a little granddaughter. Go and tell Dad, I think Second Grandfather will agree. The open-minded people in the village will also agree. Even if there are those who disagree, it won’t harm anyone’s interests, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. This thing is 80% likely to work.”

"I thought so too. Hearing you say that, I feel more at ease. I don't ask Zimei to become a great scholar, but just to learn a few words so that she won't be cheated in the future."

"Yes, mother, you are right. This is a good thing. Does my sister-in-law agree?"

"She agreed. You don't know her temper. She thinks that if one more person goes to study, she's taking advantage. If Zixue wasn't too young, she would have let her go as well. It's a double advantage."

It really sounds like Wu Erping's train of thought.

Don't take advantage of the bastard.

Then I chatted with the old lady about some family matters.

The old lady went back.

After seeing the old lady off, Zhao Yuanzhen spoke jokingly to Zhang Qingyan.

"The old lady is quite open-minded!"

"Yes, mother has always loved children. She doesn't favor boys over girls. She likes and loves all sons, daughters, and grandchildren. When I was young, mother would prepare half of the things that my older brothers had for me. She never showed favoritism just because I was a girl."

Zhao Yuanzhen concluded.

"She's a nice little old lady."