Chapter 158 A useful ancestral hall is a good ancestral hall!
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Those who left Li Shiyue's house that night were all somewhat dizzy.
Li Shiyue's promise was truly tempting!
Listen to what Li Shiyue said to everyone: "I will take 80% of the papermaking workshop, provide the method, provide the land, and hire someone to build the house. Each of you will contribute some of the remaining 20%."
From now on, we'll be doing business together!
It's a family business that can be passed down to your children!
That school is the future of our village!
No matter what the future holds, literate people are destined for good fortune!
Even if things don't go well, the children can read and write, which will give them an extra way to earn money during the off-season. And when they get married, they'll be more selective, won't they?
When Zhou Lanhua heard Li Shiyue say that the women in this family could also work in the paper mill, she asked, "Shiyue, if the women in our family learn this skill, wouldn't we be at a disadvantage?"
Li Shiyue shook her head and said directly to Zhou Lanhua, "You don't have any girls in your family now, but do you think you can avoid having girls in the future?"
What loss are we going to suffer?
They're all my children. I'm a woman, have I ever made my mother suffer?"
Then Li Shiyue raised an eyebrow and said to Zhou Lanhua with a smile, "Auntie, if our village becomes powerful in the future, why should we need to marry off our girls?"
Let's find a husband for our son-in-law!
Why can't we just leave the girl at home to care for him in his old age and see him off when he passes away?
Girls should also study. Girls cannot take the imperial examinations, but studying is something they should do!
Didn't you see? Every single woman from a wealthy family in that prefectural city is studying!
Moreover, I have a lot to do in the future. I am a woman, so naturally I need to find other women to help me first. My two older sisters are my good helpers!
Without my two older sisters, how could I have accomplished all those things?
Zhou Lanhua lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) with Li Wangshui that night, but she couldn't sleep at all.
"The head of the household? The head of the household?"
After Li Wangshui responded, Zhou Lanhua immediately asked, "Why did you say all this in October?"
Li Wangshui rolled over and lay on his side, looking at Zhou Lanhua who was staring at him with her eyes open, and said, "What else could it be? Isn't it just going against Uncle Youfu and the others?"
"Yes! That's right!"
I said I've been thinking about this for a while now, and something just doesn't feel right!
Yes, when he said he wanted to build this school in October, wasn't he just saying he wanted to build an ancestral hall to Uncle Youfu?
Youfu said that we should contribute money to build the ancestral hall, but in October she said that we wouldn't have to pay for the school building, and that she would even cover the cost of hiring a teacher.
From now on, as long as we work at the paper mill, our children, Dazhuang and Xiaozhuang, can go to school for free!
“Honey, tell me, if Uncle Youfu asks us to pay for the construction of an ancestral hall, what should we do?”
Do we have enough money at home?
Building this house and investing in that paper mill both cost money. Do we have enough money?
Zhou Lanhua blinked and said to Li Wangshui, "I don't want to pay this money. After all, the ancestral hall doesn't allow women like me to enter. Even if you and Dazhuang and Xiaozhuang can enter, what's the use?"
In their eyes, you're just a worker; what benefits could our family possibly get?
Tell me, how many things have you done since we escaped from Henan Province?
Aside from the scholar thanking you, who else spoke to you?
"If we hadn't settled down here and stayed with Shiyue, and if Shiyue hadn't supported us, would our family have all this money now?"
Zhou Lanhua thought about the family's money and said, "We have enough money, but if Uncle Fu asks us to pay, you can postpone it for a while and we'll see how we manage in October."
If we continue to spend money and effort to do things for those other families, as before, what's the point of this ancestral hall?
What's the point of having an ancestral hall that's useless to us?
"If you're willing, we can build our own ancestral hall at home for our ancestors. Then our mother can rest peacefully at home, right?"
As Zhou Lanhua became more and more convinced that she was right, she made up her mind that if Li Youfu asked someone to pay for the construction of the ancestral hall, her family would not contribute any money!
Days passed by, and Li Shiyue, Li Qiutian, and Li Xiatian took Shitou to Zhao You's house and Sun Jiayao to reconfirm the brick order.
They even went to Zhao You's house to find Zhao Youtian. This time, Zhao Youcai was also home. The two brothers were very polite and invited Li Shiyue and the others into the house.
"You want me to recruit workers for you? No problem. As long as it doesn't delay spring plowing, any man in our village who has free time can come."
You mentioned finding two clean women to cook, and I've found them for you.
Our clan chief's youngest daughter-in-law's family is skilled in cooking, so she knows how to do it too. She can easily cook a big pot of food for everyone.
"Exactly," Zhao Youtian said to Li Shiyue, scratching his head slightly, "We men are good at physical labor, but building houses requires specialized skills. We do have people in our village who know how, but Uncle Cripple is getting old, and he's all alone. If you're building a lot, you'll need to find a few more skilled people."
Li Shiyue nodded and told Zhao Youtian that he didn't need to worry about this. She would go directly to the county town and invite two master craftsmen who knew about this to come back.
Before leaving, I made an appointment with Zhao Youtian so that the people from his village could go to Liujiatun together to work.
The spring breeze in April is so gentle, it makes one's heart itch with longing.
As spring returns and the soil thaws, spring plowing and house construction are put on the agenda.
Throughout March, Li Shiyue and his group were not idle. They went to the county government office of Sanshan County, used their connections, spent money, and obtained a document that allowed them to cut down trees in Daheishan.
Of course, if you cut down one tree, you have to plant at least three more to make up for it.
On this point, Li Shiyue naturally did not cut corners. As someone from the modern world, she was well aware of the harm caused by land loss.
To build houses, schools, and paper mills, Li Shiyue and Li Wangshui worked on the timber for more than half a month, going up the mountain to cut down trees at dawn and finding a way to bring them down one by one.
Besides, the wood needs to be dried in the shade before it can be used. How could Li Shiyue have the time to wait for several months?
So she spent 66 points to buy a method for "kiln drying" wood from the system.
For the next two weeks, they went to Sunjia Kiln to haul bricks for the construction of this kiln. These bricks were not new; they were leftovers from Sunjia Kiln.
After the kiln was built, Li Shiyue specifically entrusted the task of drying the wood to Ma Zi's family.
Their family is large, so this job is perfect for them. The wages are calculated at fifteen copper coins per day per laborer, excluding meals.
During this incident, Li Shiyue and his group almost got into a fight with Eighth Uncle's son!
All they had were a few thick logs deep in the Daheishan Mountains. They almost came to blows. If Li Shiyue hadn't restrained himself, Li Wangshui and Ma Zi would have been really envious and wanted to go up there with their machetes.
The two sisters, Li Shiyue and Li Qiutian, stepped forward with knives and blocked the two men. Li Shiyue said to the two men, "Everything is about first come, first served. We found this wood first, and we made the first cut. So it's ours!"
"If you insist on robbing me, then let's draw a line. I, Li Shiyue, am not afraid!"
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