The skilled widow is busy farming

Chapter 87 Preparing to Build a House
"It's not bad to build a second floor. Hey, Xiu'er, why are you building a small second floor next to the ancestral hall?"

Grandpa discovered that there was an independent second floor next to the ancestral hall, with windows on all sides. It was very cold.

"Grandpa, our village is not considered a poor village now. It has become too prominent in the past two years. I am afraid that someone will cause trouble. This building is used to observe the enemy's situation. I have other plans for the follow-up. It is still early for the winter to freeze. Don't do it this winter. When you are free, dig out the canals, and at the same time set up a few traps and cabins around our village for ground defense. The elderly and children can wander around during the day and afternoon. What if a bandit comes in in the middle of the night?"

"Hey, Xiu'er, don't scare me."

Uncle Li was shocked.

When I think about this possibility, a group of thieves come to the village in the middle of the night, it is simply terrible.

Xiu Niang's face was solemn, "Second uncle, I didn't mean to say unlucky and depressing words. There are things to do first. What if someone sees that our village is rich and wants to rob it? What should the poor be afraid of? Just one life and they can afford the compensation. .”

"Don't say it, what Xiu'er said is somewhat true. Our village has indeed become prosperous in the past two years. There have been more relatives and more people fawning over us. If we don't handle it carefully, we might really offend people. Last time Your wife’s natal relatives wanted to send someone to learn how to make wine, but I didn’t agree, so I must be unhappy.”

Grandpa also spoke.

"Dad, don't pay attention to my sister-in-law. She wants to send her relatives over, and my nephew can't come. Why can she stretch her hands so long?"

Second Aunt Xu is already a grandmother, so she doesn't care about her family's troubles. Her nephew has children, so she can take care of that much.

"I'm telling you this. Look at it, my second son."

"Xiu'er's reminder was too timely. Please tell me carefully what you want to do. I'll go talk to the clan elders."

Uncle Li immediately cheered up and finally lived a good life, but he could not capsize in the gutter.

"Master Wu will teach everyone how to practice martial arts. From now on, we will take turns running around the village in the morning and evening every day, so as to practice patrolling. We will send people to take turns guarding at night. These positions are more important. I am thinking about building a small house to watch the ground. If we don’t delay our defense, even if the bandits don’t come, we still have to prevent wild beasts from going down the mountain to collect food from the fields.”

"Yes, that's right. It's just a thatched house. It's simple. I'll have someone build it in a month."

Uncle Li made a lot of sense when he heard it. There are some things that cannot be omitted and must be prepared in advance.

"Put a gong in every house. If something goes wrong, beat the gong and drum to alert the villagers. Keep in touch with Master Wu."

"I understand that Master Wu plans to settle in our village. My ex-err told him to let his son learn winemaking."

Uncle Li is very smart in terms of human relations and sophistication. He hardly needs any reminding from you and has already taken the lead.

"I asked Master Wu's wife to learn brocade weaving from me. She can also earn more money. I asked her two sons to come to the tribe to study, but they have to wait until they settle down. Let the blacksmith shop make more sickles. We can't have any weapons. Sickles You can always use a wood chopping knife, why don’t you think about it differently?”

Xiuniang winked at her second uncle.

Uncle Li slapped his thigh, "You are still smart, why didn't I think of it? Okay, leave it to me."

"This is a picture for you. I studied it. We surrounded our village. These wastelands belong to our village. They form a perfect encirclement. We set traps and traps at strategic locations around to prevent wild boars."

Xiu Er Niang made a pun.

Uncle Li immediately understood, "I made a note of it. I can do this. Leave it to me. Just these few points."

Xiu Niang drew a defense map for the entire village, using the simplest tools and methods to protect the village. Weapons were not allowed to be owned by the villagers. They could be replaced with wood knives and sickles, use gongs as alarm bells, and use people to defend, forming a daily necessity. By doing this, you can protect yourself from many dangers.

If there is no food in winter, wild boars and wolves will also go down the mountain, so the traps are mainly to prevent wild animals. If thieves come, you step on the trap and your leg will be broken. That is your bad luck. I am guarding against wild boars. Who told you He came to our village in the middle of the night. "I'll do it with you later. You don't know how to set traps and traps, and you still have to dig a few holes."

My father-in-law understood it after looking at the picture.

"Come on, brother, the wine shop will also lay a few traps and traps later on."

"Well, I take people to check the well every day. It's time to exercise. It's not wrong."

My father-in-law put a lot of thought into the winery and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the winery. The first thing he did when he went to the winery every morning was to check the wells one by one and taste the water from the wells. If there was no problem, he would start the fire.

"Okay, this is what we will do this winter."

Uncle Li asked Xiu Niang to remind him, and he felt more and more time was pressing. If someone really targeted their village, it would be the best time to do so during the slack farming season. The cat house was warm in the cold weather, so no one could go out and wander around every day.

"Also, don't you raise cattle and sheep? You can ride horses to graze them. The time gap between morning and evening will be widened. You can also wander around the village, which will just block the opening of the wasteland."

"I got it."

Uncle Li took the things and left in a hurry to arrange the matter quickly. He would make arrangements after discussing with the clan elders.

There is still a lot of work to be done this winter. We need to dig ditches. We have to buy a lot of wasteland and forest land. The ditches are not long enough and we need to dig them out. We also need to choose a good location and dig two ponds. We need to store water to support aquatic plants, fish and shrimps. These are all Can be sold.

The clan also kept more than 100 taels of silver as a bottom line last year. The money from the sales of these farm products was basically untouched.

"They've finished dividing it, so we'll share it. The tavern also made money last year. I've already given it to the Lin family and your fourth grandfather's family, and your second uncle and the others have already read the account books."

Grandpa began to explain the affairs of the tavern. Winter was coming, and it was time to settle the bill, so that everyone could have a good New Year and prepare for the New Year.

"This tavern did a good job last year. Not only did it completely repay the capital, but it also made a lot of money. Everyone worked together to build the shop. Our family can share more than 200 taels of silver, and the rest belongs to the Lin family and the fourth grandfather's family. This The principal must be returned to your aunt, no problem, right?"

"Of course it's no problem, grandpa, my aunt gets the dividends."

Brother Jing quickly spoke.

The shop is already under Li Jing's name and is considered his tavern. However, Li Mao said that not only the capital must be returned to Xiu Niang, but the tavern must also receive your aunt's dividends. You must not be unconscionable. Your aunt gave away the tavern without making any money. Here you go, I’ll give you the dividends, your brother needs money to study and marry a wife.

"Of course I'm going to pay dividends. I haven't finished speaking yet, you naughty kid."

Grandpa glared at him, and everyone in the room laughed.

"I've told your aunt about this money before. Your aunt said we can't decide. She wants to build a yard. She wants to build a two-story building with an attic. She can put books upstairs. She is weaving tapestry upstairs. , I also want a small garden.”

Grandpa said with a smile, trying his best to meet the requirements of his grandson-in-law.

In addition to no dividends, there is still 200 taels of capital that belongs to Xiuniang. The remaining 200 taels were divided last year and she was asked to buy a yard in the capital for Brother Qun.

I still have more than 300 taels of silver in my hand, which is enough for anything. I try not to use Xiu Niang's money, but I'm afraid it won't be enough.

(End of this chapter)