Chapter 349.

When he came out of Xiao Ya’s house, Wang Duan’s mood was quite heavy.

He didn’t realize that there were such difficult families in Dada Village.

Xiao Ya’s grandfather was already very old.

Although the old hunter was said to be experienced, the demonic beasts in the mountains were not vegetarians.

With his old age and failing body, both his fighting strength and reflexes could not be compared to when he was young.

This time, he had gotten unlucky going into the mountains and almost buried an old life.

But even if it was dangerous, Grandpa Xiao Ya couldn’t lie down at home and rest.

Without enough food, the family can’t survive this cold winter.

Wang Duan asked Xiao He, “Are there many families like this in the village?”

Xiao He hesitated and answered, “There are some.”

There were nearly four hundred families in Dada Village, so there were bound to be some who were blessed and some who were poor, and some who could not make ends meet without worrying about food and clothing.

There were also some that were originally living a good life, but because the family’s breadwinner had an accident or disappeared, the family’s situation immediately dropped, and the days became difficult.

This was the case with Xiao Ya.

When her parents were alive, having enough to eat and wear wasn’t a problem.

Now that the two siblings relied on their grandfather’s hunting to make ends meet, it would be duh to live well!

Xiao He also revealed a situation to Wang Duan.

That was that most of the poor households in the village were of foreign surnames.

The villagers of the three major surnames of Huang, Xu, and Chen, if there was a situation where they had no food or clothing, then the clan would more or less support them with some rice and grain, so that they would not starve to death.

But the outer surnames let them fend for themselves.

Xiao Ya’s family precisely belonged to the foreign surname!

Understanding these circumstances, Wang Dust took Xiao He back to the village’s main house first, and then sent a crane letter to a few village elders.

The three elders quickly rushed over.

Wang Chuan didn’t talk nonsense and told them what had just happened.

The three looked at each other after hearing this, and one of them, Elder Chen, immediately said, “Lord Village Chief, we Chen are willing to help Old Lu’s family and make sure that all three of them are well-fed and clothed this winter.”

The other Old Man Huang and Old Man Xu quickly responded, “We are also willing!”

An old man, two youngsters and three people, how much food could they eat in one winter?

Not to mention Chen, even if he were to pay out of his own pocket, it would be perfectly fine.

Being able to use this expenditure to please Wang Duan was simply not too cost-effective!

They could all be shrewd!

“It’s not just his family.”

Wang Dust waved his hand and said, “As far as I know, there are quite a few other households like this in our village.”

The three Elders shut their mouths at once.

Helping one household was one thing, helping dozens of households was another.

Wang Dust didn’t expect them to carry on the spirit of high-mindedness, in fact he already had a decision, “My idea is to list these difficult households separately, and have the village unify to help them, with the related expenses coming out of the public treasury.”

“Guaranteed food, clothing, medical care, shelter and burial, let’s just call them the five guaranteed households.”

“As for the standard of the five guaranteed households, it will be set by you, and all will follow this standard in the future.”

“What do you guys think?”

The three Elders looked at each other in dismay, then lowered their heads, “All at your Lordship’s command.”

Wang Chen’s was not a tone of discussion.

Rather, it was decisive.

If Huang Deqi, Xu Miaozhu, and the others were still around, they would definitely dare to argue with Wang Duan, or go against the grain and make false accusations.

But now that the heads of the three major surnames had been wiped out, the several Jains had neither the courage nor the strength to confront Wang Dust, so they could only swallow their bitterness in their stomachs.

Wang Dust was well aware of their thoughts and smiled, “I know that most of these difficult households are foreign castes, so you must be reluctant to let your three castes subsidize them.”

The three Elders immediately changed their faces and denied that they were willing.

Wang Dust didn’t bother to watch them perform, “This is settled, the first batch of five-guaranteed households’ help this winter will all be paid for by me.”

He seized a large amount of supplies from the Gray Wolf Pirates, rice, grain, animal meat, clothing, pills, talismans, and weapons were countless.

Taking out just a little bit, it would be enough for these difficult households to survive the winter.

But relying on Wang Chen to pay out of his own pocket was not a long-term solution, after all, he could not stay here all the time.

Therefore it was necessary to set up a rule that everyone could accept.

“I’m going to set up a guard force that will be responsible for defending the village during the week, and then go into the mountains to round up hunters on a regular basis.”

“The hunted goods will be collected in the public treasury, and will later be used as expenses for helping the five guaranteed households.”

“Of course, the members of the guard force won’t work for nothing, and can be credited with points depending on their contribution.”

“Let’s call it labor points.”

“In the future, villagers who serve in labor will also be able to get work points.”

“Work points are used to exchange for materials in the public treasury, and it’s fair and reasonable to get more for more.”

“As for the criteria for counting points and exchanging them, it is also up to you to discuss and decide.”

“What do you think?”

The three Elders were dumbfounded.

Five Guaranteed Households, Escorts, and Work Points ……

Their already aged brains suddenly received such a large amount of information, and it was inevitable that their reactions would be slow.

However, after carefully pondering over the opinions put forward by Wang Dust, they really did have a rather high degree of feasibility.

Although it was said that absolute fairness did not exist, and that the rules were no longer well established, there was definitely some bias in the implementation process.

But as long as the most basic things were guaranteed, I believe the villagers would be happy to accept it!

“In addition ……”

Wang Dust’s words were not yet finished: “I intend to build a Monk School in the village, enrolling all the children of tender age and having them taught by learned old men.”

Mengxue is the school of initiation, in the past, if the children in Daitian Village wanted to go to school, they had to go to Wancheng City, which was fifty miles away.

Not to mention the long round trip, the tuition fees in the city were also very high.

So most of the villagers taught their children themselves.

But this level of education was uneven, with a huge difference between the upper and lower limits.

It had to be changed.

“Let’s call this school Dada Elementary School, and the students who come in will be able to eat a free lunch.”

“I’ll raise the initial costs as well, with future expenditures going to the public coffers.”

“What do you think?”

As an official, one should benefit all sides!

Previously, Wang Chen had only used Dada Village as a springboard to enter the West Sea Sect, and hadn’t thought to do anything while hanging on to the name of village head.

Now that so many things had happened, his thoughts had changed.

Wang Chen felt that he needed to do something before he left, something that could bring about a good change to Dada Village, then he would be able to look back on this past with a clear conscience!

The three Elders were confused again.

Their scalps tingled as they listened, and all of their previously held beliefs were greatly impacted.

Elder Chen suddenly straightened his face and respectfully bowed to Wang Chen, “Your Excellency has a heart for the villagers, and is kind and generous, I am willing to do my small part to live up to Your Excellency’s expectations!”

He suddenly jumped into the water, where the other two could still stand firmly on the shore.

One after another, they expressed that they could do the same.

They were close to patting their chests to show their loyalty.

Wang Chen smiled, “Good!”