Zhenniang: The Three of Us (Twenty-Four)

Jian Yu'an sat there, his imagination running wild every day, while Zhao Zhenniang, though in the midst of it all, kept things very simple.

If something really happens, they'll actually come; if nothing happens, they'll just let it slide. Sometimes, even when something does happen, and you worry about it for ages, they don't actually come.

A world has to manage so much data. An NPC doesn't need to worry about the world targeting them specifically. The world doesn't have that kind of time. NPCs are born from mud splattering, so how could it possibly set up a separate doom mechanism for mud splattering?

And since Zhao Zhenniang isn't even an NPC but the main character, there's even less to fear. The world is like a loving mother; what major event could possibly happen?

The two newly opened shops took root in this sticky, unproductive environment where one couldn't think too much about it and just kept operating as long as it was running.

Now that Zai Lai Huopu is an integrated producer and seller, other merchants following the same path naturally feel threatened and refuse to accept Zai Lai Huopu's goods.

The fact that the second shop adopts this approach shows that they are prepared to rely on this business for their livelihood, rather than constantly depending on their competitors.

The three shops are already major sales outlets in the city. By opening and selling directly from the shops, without middlemen taking a cut, the profits will definitely be higher.

In addition, Zhao Zhenniang also supplied goods to small shops in the border town and street vendors, delivering goods to their door and recycling expired goods.

Other shops are willing to learn Zhao Zhenniang's "buy one get one free" marketing strategy, but they are unwilling to learn her after-sales service methods, because Zhao Zhenniang has no labor costs, while they do.

That's not quite right either. It wasn't that Zhao Zhenniang didn't have labor costs; it was that her costs were too high. She handed over the entire business to her subordinates.

Other freight forwarding companies have high labor costs, and those labor costs are real costs; every penny is squeezed out of the boss's hands.

Apart from the peripheral members who are the cost, the rest of the Zhao family village are hardworking bosses who only earn two yuan a month, working from dawn till dusk and neglecting to eat and sleep for the company.

How could a farmhand who works for two dollars have the same attitude as a boss who works for two dollars?

They couldn't prevent their subordinates from embezzling money just by imitating the "buy one get one free" marketing strategy, let alone long-term distribution. Yet, the people of Zhao Family Village naturally had a strong sense of unity.

No matter how well outsiders treat their confidants, they are unwilling to give up their own property.

If you only learn the surface without learning the essence, you'll only end up with a hybrid that doesn't quite resemble anything else.

The people of Zhao Family Village are very cohesive, but before it became prosperous, Zhao Family Village was just a small village with a limited population, and there were not enough free and loyal laborers.

The fastest way to increase free labor is, of course, through marriage.

Since the birth of marriage, the family has been the basic unit of all collectives. Everything has a source, and the basic unit built by marriage is that source.

Feeling dissatisfied with the status quo but not addressing the root cause is certainly not acceptable.

Relying on Zhao Zhenniang to naturally realize things was too slow. The collective cause was just beginning, and there was no going back. Ye Xiqing took direct action and fixed the source.

Zhao Family Village has set a new rule: no more women's blood will be allowed to flow outside the village.

The life that comes out of a woman's womb is 100% of the bloodline of Zhao Family Village, the purest and most reliable family member, and of course it cannot be given to outsiders.

Women from outside the village can marry into Zhao Family Village. As long as they do not do anything that goes against the interests of the village, they are treated as villagers and enjoy the same benefits.

Everything in the village belongs to the public and is jointly owned by the villagers; no one is allowed to possess it privately.

All positions are elected collectively by the villagers. The village chief's child cannot become the village chief. After the village chief steps down, the candidate for the new village chief cannot be a direct blood relative of the former village chief.

The position of village chief is not permanent. If the village chief fails in her duties, the villagers can collectively remove her from office.

When major changes are involved in the management of the village, all villagers participate in the discussion collectively. There is no such thing as a minority deciding the majority. Even if one person disagrees, the matter must be resolved before it can continue.

Women from outside the village who marry into Zhao Family Village bring wealth to the village, so they should be treated as human beings.

Men in Zhao Family Village are forbidden from having multiple wives and concubines, from having extramarital affairs, from gambling, from opium, and from treason. Anyone who violates any of these rules will be removed from the family genealogy and expelled from the village.

His legitimate wife and children can stay in the village and enjoy village benefits as legitimate members of Zhao Family Village.

Childbirth, even if it doesn't kill a woman, will harm her body. You can't ruin an adult's health by having a child. Whether she's a daughter-in-law from outside the family or a daughter who stays at home, she can only have children after the age of 23, and each person can only have one child.

In ancient times, family planning was simple; if someone died, it was no big deal. But in civilized times, it's a bit more complicated. Fortunately, male contraception is quite simple; you can just use some medicine.

If a couple has a child, remember to make the man take birth control pills to avoid trouble. If he refuses, don't sleep with him.

The village only recognizes the legal rights of firstborn children. Secondborn children are released to make a living on their own once they grow up, and they receive no benefits except for being pampered a little more.

The firstborn child, whether a girl or a boy, enjoys village collective welfare benefits. When they reach the appropriate age, they go to the village school to learn culture and practice martial arts to strengthen their bodies.

Of course, it was certain that girls' feet would not be bound. Anyone who harmed a member of their own clan in the village would have their injured parts chopped off and be expelled from the village.

Once you've taken care of giving birth, the next step is raising the child.

In Zhao Family Village, the care of the elderly and children is not the responsibility of the children and parents. Instead, a separate nursing home and childcare center are set up, and a few people are hired to take care of the elderly and children.

The elderly have a steady stream of people getting older, providing a stable customer base, but newborns are not born every moment.

Once childcare centers and nursing homes open, they're like machines; stopping them would be a waste of their capacity.

So don't be so rigid. You have to give birth to your own newborn. When you have free time, go out and adopt some abandoned babies.

First, do good deeds to accumulate merit for the village.

Firstly, people are actually like piglets; the only problem is that they may not be able to afford to raise them when they are young, but they are all useful when they grow up. These children become reliable laborers when they grow up.

But adopting a child is just for raising, not to be a child bride for your lousy boy. The adopted girl is also a daughter of Zhao Family Village and also has the surname Zhao. Intermarriage within the same clan is prohibited.

As for why we don't talk about adopting baby boys, in this day and age, who would abandon a baby boy? Even if a baby boy is born with disabilities, there are families who will take care of him. If you abandon him, there are plenty of people who will buy him.

The rules set by Ye Xiqing are shocking in terms of reason and logic, but they can basically satisfy everyone in terms of benefits.

As the industry grew larger, the villagers began to worry that someone would swallow up all the fruits of their labor and become like before.

At least the point that "the village chief's child is not the village chief" is very satisfying.

Men's goal in life is usually to have multiple wives and concubines. The fact that they can't take a concubine even if they have money is indeed very distressing for them.

However, after Zhao Family Village recalled its daughter, the women and men were divided equally, and the men could no longer have a say.

Once these adopted abandoned baby girls grow up, the number of women will overwhelmingly exceed that of men.

If, with an overwhelming numerical superiority over men, one still cannot defend one's sovereignty, then Ye Xiqing must admit that Earth may indeed be a prison for the soul, and that humans are born to be tortured in this world.

Since they're here to serve their sentences, it's reasonable that the bad trend is unlikely to be reversed.

There is no redemption in prison, only punishment.

The rule by the Third Aunt forbidding men from taking concubines made everyone in Zhao Family Village happy, whether they were daughters-in-law or daughters. They now had a way to control their husbands.

Anyone who dares to have affairs outside will be kicked out!

Collective childcare and elderly care was something I never imagined before, but to be honest, it's actually quite convenient.

No matter what it is, it's all about large-scale cost savings.

Raising them together like pigs only requires a few people, which solves the biggest problems for every household. It frees up able-bodied people, and the elderly and children are always watched over and safe.

Not having to raise them personally can also help cultivate filial piety towards the elderly and love for children.

Once the animals are raised, the village will become wealthier. When the children grow up, they can be allocated a new house, and the elderly can be allocated a burial plot.

Speaking of cemeteries, Ye Xiqing couldn't help but think of tree burial in the ancient world.

If tree burial had been implemented back when forest coverage was still high, we wouldn't be in a situation where not a single tree grows on the mountains now, and it's so difficult to even burn firewood.

If tree burial is promoted, at least some ancestors can be burned. From then until now, how many ancestors have been burned?

Once the villagers have become more accustomed to the new rules, she plans to reintroduce tree burial.

...

While one shouldn't think about a predicament to its extreme, one also shouldn't do things to the extreme. Jian Yu'an was stunned by Ye Xiqing's series of actions.

"Aren't you afraid of taking too big a step and being burned at the stake as a heretic!"

While Zhao Zhenniang was praying to the gods, Ye Xiqing played with her newly bought rifle. She hit the bullseye every time, drawing cheers from the onlookers.

Hearing his second sister's words, he slowly changed his bullets: "Let's burn it. In this day and age, can you survive without being burned?"

Jian Yu'an: ...

In an era where survival is not guaranteed no matter what choices you make, people are much freer. Things that don't happen can be ignored, and you can live one day at a time.

The people of Zhao Family Village have no way to burn anyone alive right now. Seizing the fruits of their labor is something to consider only after the foundation for success has been laid. Although Zhao Family Village is changing rapidly, there will always be gaps that cannot be filled.

The desires keep increasing, but there's never enough money. If there's not enough money, you can earn more by working harder. Of course, all you think about is moving up the ladder, and you don't think about anything else.

The success of her previous business gave Zhao Zhenniang confidence. If one shop could make so much money, wouldn't ten shops make ten times that amount? She wanted to open more shops and make more money!

But when she opened one shop three years ago, she was full of joy. Now that she has opened ten shops, it is hard to see a smile on her face.

Zhang Ying walked in and skillfully handed her the account book, asking her to look at the total accounts of several shops.

In three years, Zhao Family Village, together with several nearby villages, established an integrated production and sales chain with Zailai Goods Shop as the export outlet. It has become a large-scale trading company, far beyond what it used to be, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is making a fortune every day.

But when she's doing business, she's meticulous, penny by penny. However, when it comes to extortion, she can extort money by the thousand: "How much do you want to donate this time?"

Zhang Ying shrugged: "The Zhou family donated three thousand silver dollars, so our amount probably can't be less than that."

"And Mr. Song is going to celebrate his birthday again, Mr. Zhao, you'll definitely be there, right?"

Zhao Zhenniang: ...

Although the engagement was called off, according to the customs of that era, once a daughter-in-law, always a daughter-in-law. Even if the engagement was called off, if Master Song had any major events, such as falling ill or celebrating his birthday, Zhao Zhenniang would still visit him out of affection.

Of course, she couldn't go empty-handed, and she didn't have the means to completely break ties with the Song family.

Zhao Zhenniang had received notices about various donations before, but she didn't think there was anything wrong with it. What's wrong with ordinary people paying money to the government? It's always been like this.

But over the years, every donation has been to the bone marrow. It must have really hurt her. No matter how much money you have, you can't keep donating like this.

Moreover, if it was truly donated for military purposes, she would accept it; she's not someone who lacks a sense of the bigger picture.

But she feared that the three thousand silver dollars she donated would not become military funds, but rather the golden Buddha wrapped in red silk on the Song family's desk.