Chapter 234 Fan Family
They were going to choose the cows, and the first important thing was to choose the village chief. After asking Chen Lie, Chen Dashan and Shi Dalang also came back, Sang Luo stopped writing and went out with Shen Lie and Chen An.
It was still the same open space as before, and many people were there now. The Zhou family and the Shi family lived in that area, and they had moved out many stools. Some were sitting and some were standing, and even the Lin family were watching the excitement from afar.
The Daxingzhuang Village is quite interesting. It's like a group of old men and women, young and old men and children are basking in the sun and chatting. They are so relaxed and comfortable, just short of one of them holding a handful of melon seeds in his hand.
"Let's choose A Lie. Actually, if you ask me, there is no woman to be the village chief. If there is a female village chief, A Luo should be our village chief."
This was said by Gan.
In the mountains, they had to rely on force. Now that they were out there, which family didn't live a good life by following Sang Luo? Sang Luo was their backbone.
This sentence made everyone laugh. The old ladies and women all responded. The men such as Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, and Zhou Cunzheng also laughed. Shi Erlang continued: "My sister-in-law is right. Alie, you can be the village chief. It's just a title. After that, you can go to school. The village work will be left to your wife, and the errands to the government office will be yours."
The children were laughing so much that even Wei Qinghe and Wang Yunzheng, who came out to join in the fun while reading, couldn't help laughing.
If this had happened two days ago, Shen Lie would have dared to agree. He had always felt that women had too few opportunities, and that regret was particularly evident in Sang Luo.
Speaking of which, before entering the mountains, apart from the Zhou family, which family didn't have business dealings with Sang Luo? When he first returned to the village, he discovered that every family in the village, including Zhou Cunzheng, actually secretly regarded Sang Luo as their backbone.
But now Sang Luo is pregnant, how dare he ask her to work hard? He subconsciously turned his head to see what Sang Luo meant.
Sang Luo smiled, but replied to Shi Erlang and the others: "What errands can he run in school every day? Don't let him interfere with everyone's work."
He pushed it away without saying anything.
"Then the mountain."
This is Zhou Erlang. In the past few years in the mountains, apart from Chen Lie, the person this group of people listen to the most is Chen Dashan.
Chen Dashan didn't expect that he would be chosen as the Muramasa: "Don't be ridiculous, my wife knows more words than me."
"If you ask me, don't worry about the students. I don't have time. Shopkeeper Xu doesn't need to worry about it either. You can't always farm in our farm, right?"
Shopkeeper Xu said, "Dashan, you are right. There are more people in Shezhou City now, and life will slowly get better. I went to pay New Year's greetings to my boss a few days ago. Dongfulou in Shezhou City is almost ready to open. I will stick to my old job and be the shopkeeper."
Chen Dashan said, "Right? Manager Xu is also not available. Those who can't read or those who don't know many words like me can be eliminated. I think it's not a big deal. It's better for Zhou Cunzheng to come. They are all familiar with the work."
Old man Chen supported: "I think it will work. Jiuzhang is a steady person."
Sang Luo: "I will vote for Uncle Zhou as well. Uncle Zhou was originally the village chief. He is familiar with all the affairs and is the perfect person to be the village chief."
Sang Luo is worthy of being the head of the Shen family, and Shen Lie also agrees that Zhou Cun is the right person.
Both the Shen family and the Chen family have expressed their opinions, and the matter is basically settled. After so many years of sharing hardships, they have a deep friendship and know each other well. Since Chen Lie and Chen Dashan both refuse to be the village chief, the only choice in everyone's mind is Zhou Cunzheng.
The consensus on choosing Muramasa was unanimous after just a few words. Zhou Cunzheng stood up with a smile and said, "Since everyone thinks highly of me, I will take the position. However, what Shi Er said is right. In the future, we can ask A-Luo for important matters. I will just run errands for everyone."
This caused another round of laughter. The village chief of Daxing Village was chosen with just a few lively words.
Needless to say, we went into the city immediately and went to the government office to see the cows.
As soon as Zhou Cunzheng became the village chief, he immediately got into the state and reminded: "Have you brought the money and household registration?"
"I have it."
There are quite a few people from each family who want to go, and they all go to join in the fun.
From the Shen family, Shen Lie and Shen Ning went, and Shen Jin followed. Gan asked curiously, "A Luo, why don't you go and take a look?"
Sang Luo shook her head: "No need for me to go, our Aning is good at selecting chickens, ducks, geese and other things."
She said Shen Ning was nervous. In fact, the old doctor said that the fetus was unstable in the first three months. She was also nervous and walked carefully. She didn't dare to squeeze into a crowded place.
Shen Ning also said: "Yes, I will choose it."
As everyone was leaving, Sang Luo suddenly remembered something and said to Shen Lie, "I heard from the official that there are grain seeds for sale. See if you can find any wheat seeds. If you can, buy as many as you can and we can plant some wheat this year."
He also told Shen Jin: "Grow some too, Xiao Jin."
"Hey." Shen Jin responded quickly.
It’s always right to listen to your sister-in-law when she tells you to do something.
In fact, Shen Jin was not listening. Those who had heard it nearby had already turned their heads. Gan asked Sang Luo, "A Luo, are you planning to make a living in the city?"
Sang Luo is very good at making pasta, and everyone knows something about it.
Sang Luo shook her head. "It's not certain now, but the wheat seeds we can buy in the first year are limited, so we will naturally buy as much as the government is willing to sell. Regardless of whether we do business or not, it's cheap to use it at home, and if we can't use it all, the grain shop will buy it at a good price."
That makes sense.
Gan said, "Then our family will take a look too. If we can buy grain seeds, we will plant them too."
…
Chen Lie and his companions returned home late, which delayed them for some time. A large group of officials went to various villages to preach, and by the end of the Si hour, many people had gathered outside the warehouse of the provincial government office. Without exception, they all came to see the cattle and poultry.
This is a major matter concerning livelihood. Many people, like the villagers of Daxingzhuang, did not just come with their household registration alone, but with the entire family.
Moreover, although the propaganda was carried out in the village, it was not only the villagers from outside the city who came, but also the residents in the city who came. They did not need cows, but they wanted to raise chickens and ducks.
What kind of life are many people in the city living now? They look more like refugees than the mountain dwellers who have just left the mountains. Not to mention chicken and duck meat, I haven’t tasted eggs for years and I’ve almost forgotten what they taste like.
It was very lively outside the provincial government office.
When Old Man Chen saw this, he became anxious: "Have all the good cows been picked?"
When I hurriedly went to the cowshed to take a look, I realized that I was being too nervous. The chickens and ducks were still doing well, but the cows had not been sold yet.
Because the cows were only sold to the villagers who actually farmed in the villages outside the city, and there was only one cow in each village, the cows distributed to the counties had been sent away long ago. Now there were 25 cows locked up in the cowshed, corresponding to the 25 villages, large and small, outside Shezhou City, which should also include those that have not yet settled down.
Is a cow weighing fifteen taels expensive?
That’s not true.
But they had experienced the sharp rise in grain prices before the chaos. The former farmers of the Dagan Dynasty who had settled in various villages now were not like the villagers of Daxingzhuang who had found ways to make money as soon as they came out. Each of them had a clean pocket.
The governor really cares about people's livelihood, and the cow is a good cow. Except for being tired from the long journey, it will be fine if it is fed. But even if a village is only allowed to buy one cow, most villages cannot afford the money.
Not all villages are like Daxing Village and the neighboring villages that Shen Lie and his team showed us. Every village and village is full of familiar families who can trust each other and stick together. The farmers outside Shezhou City are mostly refugees who first migrated from the city. They don't know each other. Even if there are one or two who can afford to spend a few taels of money, will they help the people in the same village to collect money?
So it was far less smooth than in Daxingzhuang.
What to do now?
I can only come and take a look.
Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu and Uncle Xu, the three relatively experienced ones, carefully selected the cows one by one. Those who came earlier were admiring the cows and were greedy for them. After looking for a long time, they were just looking.
…
Across the wall was the warehouse compound of the prefectural government office. There was a small door leading to the garden at the back of the government office. Fan sat at a stone table in a pavilion in the corner of the garden, watching the maidservant hurrying in through the small door. She straightened her back slightly and asked, "How is it? Has anyone bought it?"
The maid was a little frustrated. She looked at her master and then shook her head. "I have been standing outside for more than half an hour. There are many people looking at it. The area outside the warehouse is packed with people. However, some people are registering with the officials to buy the poultry, but no village has come to buy the cattle yet."
The maids accompanying this trip were all trusted by Mrs. Fan, and they all knew that what their wives were most concerned about right now were the cows, because they were related to spring ploughing.
A strong man has thirty acres of farmland and ten acres of mountain land. A family with a small population and no oxen may not be able to cultivate the land.
Whether the land is abandoned or the crops are poor, it is not something that the lady and the master would like to see.
Sure enough, Fan's shoulders drooped slightly.
She supported her chin with her left hand and tapped the stone table with her right index finger. After a while, she didn't sit down anymore, but got up and walked out.
"I'll go and take a look."
The two maids who were serving beside her were anxious and hurried to catch up, advising: "Madam, there are too many people outside, be careful not to bump into them."
"Don't worry, I won't go outside."
The two of them went out of the small door and turned into the warehouse yard.
The blue brick wall of the warehouse of the provincial government office was built very high. At this time, the gate was closed. There were two gatekeepers at the gate. When they saw Fan, they all greeted her.
Fan nodded, but did not go towards the gate of the courtyard. Instead, she walked towards an octagonal carved lattice window on the courtyard wall. These were the only two lattice windows in the entire courtyard. She stood next to one of them and looked out through the hollow window pane.
On the way from Taiyuan to Huainan, Fan had seen too many plights of the people along the way. When he saw the skinny hungry people again, he was no longer as shocked as he was at the beginning. Moreover, the people's plight now was much better than it was one or two years ago.
However, from where she was standing, the cowshed was crowded with people, some young and strong, but more were old farmers in their forties. There were three layers of people inside and three layers outside, at least a hundred of them. They looked at the twenty or so cows in the cowshed with curiosity, but the cowherd and the registrar next to the cowshed could not see a single person in sight.
She took great pains to get more than 200 cows and sent them all the way to Huainan. Before this, she had never imagined that the scene would be like this.
She murmured in a low voice: "I thought it was simple."
She asked the chief historian and learned that there were ten to twenty households in a village. She thought that if a whole village jointly bought a cow, and each household contributed about one or two taels of silver, the people should be able to afford it.
She thought she had a clear enough understanding of the common people outside the noble families.
As it turns out, it is still not enough, far from enough.
"Go and tell the officer outside that you can buy cattle on credit."
The maid exclaimed, "Madam!"
"Go ahead. You won't have to pay interest for a year, and you can pay it back with grain during the autumn harvest. If you still haven't paid it back after a year, interest will be charged again. The monthly interest will be calculated at 20 wen per ounce of silver."
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