Wang Guifen suddenly realized!

Shuiqing is right. Her father-in-law has done a great job, working hard for the village, yet some people still say bad things about him behind his back.

No matter how well she does, can she be better than her father-in-law?

Besides, she is still a woman, and people will inevitably bring up her identity as a woman when the time comes!

She hurriedly asked, "Shuiqing, my mind is a complete mess right now. Do you have any suitable candidates?"

Shui Qing smiled and analyzed: "Now that you've become the village head, the assistants you choose shouldn't be too old. Young people don't have family burdens and are more diligent in running errands."

You also need to be clever, because you'll inevitably have to deal with government officials and merchants later on, and being clever can save you a lot of trouble.

I think Fan Xiaoliu, Wu Gousheng, and Zhang Xiaogou are all pretty good.

The main reason is that Sister Guifen is not too old. If the helpers are around the same age, they may not be under her control, but the young men are much easier to manage.

Fan Xiaoliu is clever and steady, suitable for dealing with outsiders; Wu Gousheng and Zhang Xiaogou are suitable for running errands in the village.

Upon hearing the three candidates, Wang Guifen thought about it carefully and realized that Shui Qing's choice was truly excellent.

Especially Zhang Xiaogou. Although Zhang the Bald is a bad person, Xiaogou is really hardworking. Who in the village doesn't know that? Besides, with Xiaogou around, no one will say that the people chosen to manage the village are all from wealthy or powerful families.

"Okay, then it'll be the three of them. Shuiqing, I have something else I'd like to ask for your opinion on. I've been thinking about this for so long and I still don't know how to solve it."

"you say."

Wang Guifen sorted out her messy thoughts and tried to be concise: "Our village's public bank initially had a dozen or so taels of silver. At that time, I was responsible for managing the village banquet and keeping the silver safe. Later, during Magistrate Wu's visit, the amount increased several times to over a hundred taels. A lot of the expenses for the village banquet, adding ink and brushes to the study, tuition fees, building walls, and so on were paid out of it."

But after the medicinal herbs were harvested, each household in the village contributed silver based on the number of people in their household, as public expenses. Do you know how much that amounted to?

Shui Qing raised an eyebrow slightly, knowing that the number must be very large.

The old village chief's family owned the most mountains, forests, and fields, and they were the most diligent people. They were also among the first to grow medicinal herbs. It could be said that, apart from his own family, the Ding family, and the Hu family, the old village chief was the richest.

Wang Guifen was in charge of the family's finances and had seen large sums of money. If it were small, she wouldn't be so worried.

Wang Guifen didn't let Shui Qing answer, but said directly, "There are now a full 1,700 taels! I'm panicking when I have so much silver in my hands every day. Besides, you know I'm illiterate and can't keep accounts. If someone raises questions later, I won't be able to prove my innocence."

She was terrified, afraid that she might make a mistake in her notes. If she accidentally embezzled public funds, how could she face anyone?

Shuiqing wanted to sigh. Others loved managing money, and it was best if it went into their own pockets. But for Sister-in-law Guifen, managing money only made her feel stressed!

However, it's good that she's aware of the risks involved in managing money.

Asking her was the right question; managing the village's public funds is like being a company accountant, and she's very experienced.

"Xiao Liu, Gou Sheng, and Xiao Gou are all literate and can do arithmetic. Pick two of them: one to keep a record of the silver received and the other to keep a record of the silver spent. The silver will still be kept by you, and every expenditure will go through you."

The three of you reconcile the accounts at the end of each month, once every quarter, and once at the end of the year. There will be virtually no mistakes. If anyone questions it in the future, the accounts will be clear and accurate.

Having too much money in the account is also not a good thing; it should be used more effectively. For example, village banquets can be held more often to increase the cohesion of the villagers.

The main road connecting the village to the outside world can also be repaired, widened, and leveled to facilitate the travel of horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts.

Other uses include purchasing weapons, organizing events and competitions, etc. The annual public coffers should be kept at around five to seven or eight hundred taels of silver; any surplus can be used for village affairs.