Chapter 743: How to Live

Zhu Lan explained, "Xue Han has been the housekeeper for many years, and she is about to get married. She will be getting married in the next two years and will not be the housekeeper anymore."

He paused and continued, "In the future, the four of you will take turns to manage the household expenses, one month each. I am not worried about the third and fourth daughters-in-law, but you and the second daughter-in-law should learn more. What you learn is yours. Sooner or later, you will have to manage the household yourself."

Li reacted quickly and asked cautiously, "Mom, do you want to divide the family?"

Zhu Lan smiled and said, "It's too early to split up the family. We have to wait until your father and I can no longer manage it."

Li was disappointed, so the family still had to be divided. "Mother, my daughter-in-law doesn't want to divide the family."

Zhulan smiled and didn't say anything. It didn't matter whether she and Zhou Shuren divided the family property or not, but after she and Zhou Shuren passed away, the family property would still have to be divided. It was just a matter of time.

Xue Han held the account book in front of her sister-in-law and said, "Sister-in-law, this is the account book for the family expenses. Take it home and have a look."

Zhu Lan continued, "It will be next month in a few days. Starting from next month, you, the eldest daughter-in-law, will be the first housekeeper. Try to get familiar with it today. If there is anything you don't understand, ask Xue Han. Yes, let Yu Lu help you with the housekeeping as well. It's time for her to learn."

Li's eyes widened. Where are the six account books? "So many account books?"

Xue Han introduced, "The first is the monthly account book for the masters and servants, the second is for the kitchen purchases, the third is for the sewing room, the fourth is for the carriage expenses, the fifth is for the monthly repair expenses, and the sixth is for the monthly expenses of the masters. There are also some detailed accounts, which I will send to my sister-in-law later."

Li had only been in charge of the kitchen before. At that time, there were only a few people in the kitchen and it was easy to manage. Now there are three cooks in the kitchen alone, as well as several maids and servants helping in the kitchen, a maid who washes vegetables, and a maid who does shopping, so there are quite a few servants in the kitchen.

Li's head hurt a little when she calculated the monthly expenses of the servants in the Zhou Mansion. However, she met her mother-in-law's indifferent gaze and gritted her teeth, "Mother, your daughter-in-law will definitely not let you down!"

Zhulan nodded with satisfaction, "This is what a sister-in-law should be like."

Li suddenly felt the pressure from these light words, and silently said to herself that she was the eldest daughter-in-law and had to be a role model!

The Zhao family members also hurriedly expressed their gratitude, and then Zhulan let the daughters-in-law go back.

Li returned to the yard with the account book and took her daughter to look at the account book. Fortunately, she had a well-educated daughter.

Zhao returned to the courtyard, and Yushuang was teaching Xiaomo to read. "Mother, what did grandma tell you to do so early in the morning?"

Zhao smiled and took the little girl in her arms, "Good. From now on, your aunt and the aunts will take turns to be the housekeepers, and you will also be the housekeeper."

She didn't care about the housekeeper's power. Happy mother-in-law treated everyone equally and didn't favor anyone in the housekeeping position.

Although the backyard of the Zhou Mansion is stable, there are many servants, and where there are many people, there are still people with thoughts. The servants of the Zhou Mansion dare not talk about their masters, but sometimes their attitudes are more or less different.

The kitchen is an example. In the past, the first wife was respected because she was the eldest son and grandson. The servants were not stupid, and the servants in the entire Zhou Mansion were particularly respectful to the first wife.

The fourth wife has always been tried to please her. She has a county lord, money and rank, and her younger brother-in-law is also going to take the imperial examination, so the servants also flatter her.

Later, the third branch, Chang Lian, became more powerful and the third branch also rose to prominence.

The second branch has always been in a weak position. Because of the Zhou family's rules, the servants dare not discuss it or neglect it, but their attitude can be felt.

Now the four daughters-in-law take turns to be the housekeeper. In the future, the servants will have to live under her for a month, and they dare not show their attitude too much. She is really happy.

In the third room, Mrs. Dong returned to the courtyard and said, "This is an opportunity given by my mother-in-law."

The old woman has always had some thoughts, "The mistress values ​​you."

Dong looked at the maid, but in her heart she thought that the maid who was sent later as a dowry had too many thoughts. This was a favor, but she couldn't let her hold back. "Mother-in-law gave me the opportunity to be the housekeeper, which was an opportunity for us daughters-in-law to learn and train. Now the Zhou family is the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and the guests they receive are all knowledgeable. Mother-in-law is cultivating our ability to be independent."

The old woman knew that she had misunderstood and did not dare to look the young lady in the eye. When the young lady first joined the Zhou family, she did not follow. Later, when the Zhou family became officials, she was sent here by the old man. At that time, the young lady had a old woman by her side, and when she came, the old woman was transferred away.

This time, the young lady was the sole head of the family in Beijing, and she had grown a lot. She became increasingly dissatisfied with her husband, and with sweat on her forehead, she dared not say a word.

Dong withdrew her gaze. She couldn't send the person back. That would be a slap in the face of her mother's family and it would also be embarrassing for her.

In the fourth room, Su Xuan is the most comfortable. She can also be the housekeeper. She is the most comfortable in charge of the household and has the most confidence and ability.

Su Xuan looked at her sleeping children and missed her husband. "It's been a while since he left. I don't know where he is now."

The old woman said, "The weather has been good recently, very suitable for traveling quickly. If we don't delay and hurry up, we should be able to walk one third of the way."

Su Xuan felt that it was too slow. They had never been apart since they got married. It would take a long time for him to come back. She missed Changzhi.

The old woman looked at the time and said, "County Master, it's time for you to practice calligraphy."

Su Xuan, "......."

She doesn't want to think about it anymore, not at all. She really regrets agreeing to practice calligraphy with her husband. She will check on him when he comes back!

Ministry of Revenue, Lord Xiao did not assign any official duties to Zhou Shuren, which really gave Zhou Shuren time to familiarize himself with the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhou Shuren went to the Ministry of Pollution and Penalties and asked, "I want all the financial data of the Ministry of Pollution and Penalties for the first half of this year."

Although the ambassador was puzzled, he still respectfully found three thick account books. "The one on the left is the account book for the first half of the year. The thickest one on the right records the items disposed of in the first half of this year. The middle one is the bank account. Your Excellency, everything you want is here."

Zhou Shuren looked at the thickest book and said, "We processed a lot of the inventory of the Ministry of Dirty Penalties in the first half of this year."

The ambassador sounded a little tired. "Money is needed everywhere. The Minister has basically dealt with all the items worth money in the past six months. Some of them have been accumulated for several years. That's why the account is so thick."

He and the deputy envoy were particularly busy for a while. The superiors were anxious, and they were anxious too.

Zhou Shuren had expected that the items worth money would be disposed of. It would be strange if they were still in the warehouse. The Shangshu was not blind and he would not be able to see such a large amount of items.

Zhou Shuren said, "Take me to the warehouse."

The ambassador was very confused, but he still took the key and said hesitantly, "Sir, there are a lot of things in the warehouse, but there are really not many worth silver. You know, the Ministry of Revenue, well, the National Treasury also had to live a tight life in the past few years."

So the emperor did confiscate a lot of property, but basically everything that could be dealt with was dealt with. Who made him always short of money?

The corners of Zhou Shuren's mouth twitched, and his tone sounded so pitiful.

The ambassador said with some nostalgia: "I have been working in the Ministry of Revenue for several years. Last year was the best year for the Ministry of Revenue."

Unfortunately, the war broke out. Just when I felt that I had some money, I was now broke again and had to spend it all.

As they were talking, they arrived at the warehouse, which was quite different from what Zhou Shuren had remembered. "I thought the warehouse would take up a lot of space."

The ambassador laughed dryly. "If you can't store anything, there's no chance of expansion."

Zhou Shuren looked at the ambassador of the Ministry of Dirty Punishment. This man's words were very interesting. "Open the door."

The lock of the warehouse was new, and it was obvious that it was often opened. There was no old smell in the warehouse, and it was very clean. There were a total of ten rooms used as warehouses, and there were not many things left in each room, not a single ornament, let alone antiques. All the valuable furniture was gone.

It really feels a bit empty!

Zhou Shuren looked at the unsealed boxes. The items in the alley were sorted into categories, and the remaining items were indeed worthless. A lot of them were packed by the female family members, some of which were several years old, old in style, and had not been well maintained, so they were old and worthless.

(End of this chapter)