The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 773 An Unreasonable Way
This is Ding Yi's assurance to them that Zhang Xianzhong will be wiped out next year at the latest.

Considering the speed at which Ding Yi wiped out Li Zicheng, no one at the scene doubted Ding Yi's ability.

Several people expressed their opinions one after another, but Lu Daqi thought it over and gritted his teeth: "There is no money in the treasury, and it is extremely difficult to restore people's livelihood."

After finishing speaking, he glanced at Ding Yi.

As the Minister of the Household Department, he can only cry poor now, and he is really poor.

Ding Yi now has a total of more than 9000 million taels of silver in his hands, and he spends them like water every day, but in the household department, there is only less than 100 million taels of silver, which Ding Yi transported in.

Lu Daqi knew that Ding Yi had money, otherwise how could he raise so many soldiers and horses.

The commander-in-chief of the towns and towns that Ding Yi has sealed, now counting, there are 60 to [-] soldiers in the whole country.

Of course, many soldiers and horses are still training and recruiting, which will cost a lot of money in the future.

"This year, my king will personally contribute money. Persevere. By this time next year, we will be able to collect taxes from all over the country, enough to cover it. At this time in the year after next, this king promises that our national tax will be at least 3000 million silver."

"What?" Lu Daqi was so frightened that he almost fell down, but suddenly got up.

The rest of the people couldn't believe it.

"You are not joking, the lord means what he says?" In desperation, Lu Daqi finally called out to you.

Ding Yi laughed loudly: "The king is in Shandong, and the tax is five or six million taels a year. The whole Daming is given to the king. How much do you think is the least?"

When Ding Yi said 3000 million people in the whole country, he said as little as possible to prevent being slapped in the face.

Hiss, everyone gasped in unison, completely stunned.

When Chongzhen was alive, the whole country of Ming Dynasty was not as good as Shandong Province in one year?

But the next moment, they suddenly thought of what Ding Yi would do?
This is the same as Zhang Juzheng, to shake the interests of the country gentry, officials and gentry.

It doesn't matter to Lu Daqi, his family has only a few acres of land.

"Will the prince do this against the scholars of the world?" He said in a deep voice with an extremely serious expression.

"So what?" Ding Yi sneered: "For the stability of the people in the world and the country, someone has to sacrifice."

"This king's iron cavalry and sword are about to test those who dare to resist this king."

"If the prince really dares to do it, Lu Daqi swears to follow him to the death." Lu Daqi withdrew from the seat, fell to his knees, and kowtowed heavily.

The rest of the people also hurriedly withdrew from the table and knelt down.

Ding Yi was impatient and told them to return to their seats and sit down again.

"Lu Butang doesn't have to wait too long, he will be able to see it next year or the year after. Therefore, I want all my ministers to support me, and you have to set an example."

The faces of several people suddenly became ugly.

"The king's standard." Ding Yi continued: "An official's family, regardless of rank, cannot exceed a thousand acres of land."

"And you have to pay heavy taxes."

"The specific number is led by the household department and carefully ordered. We have templates in Shandong, and we can learn to use them."

"Sell all your surplus fields, or hand them over to the court unconditionally, as an example. To be honest, there will be more fields and more taxes in the future. It is better for you to sell them as soon as possible."

Some people looked even worse. Li Zicheng went to the city and robbed them of their silver, but not their fields, but now, no one dared to speak out.

"Of course, the king has also considered the fact that the salaries of officials are too low."

"So the second thing is to raise salaries and increase salaries for officials, officials and soldiers across the country. This king has already established a standard. All the ministers will wait a moment. You can look at it and discuss it later."

The second thing Ding Yi does is to collect heavy taxes, collect land, and raise wages.

As important cabinet ministers and members of the Six Ministries, Ding Yi asked them to set an example.

A few people are of course very concerned about the salary.

Lu Daqi even said bluntly, "How much more?"

It seems that he is used to being frugal, and he also wants to know how much money he has.

Ding Yi originally wanted to share the meal with them, but seeing how anxious they were, he immediately ordered Zeng Rou to bring out some forms.

Official salaries in the Ming Dynasty are said to be the lowest in all dynasties in history, especially compared with the Tang and Song Dynasties, it is ridiculously low.

In the Tang Dynasty, the monthly salary of the first rank was 200, and there was another job field, and the first rank was [-] hectares.There is also a world salary, the first grade is [-] million (two thousand guan).

The salary in the Song Dynasty was higher than that in the Tang Dynasty. Taking the famous Bao Qingtian and Bao Zheng as an example, when he was the governor of Kaifeng, he was probably in the third grade, and his annual salary was between 800 and 2000 guan. It is equivalent to about [-] million RMB, which is close to [-] million.

包拯当年还有每年180担大米，180担麦。240捆柴火和480捆干草、另有凌十匹，绢34、罗两匹和绵一百匹。

The imperial court also allocated 2000 mu of land, and all kinds of land were added up, and the proper year was over [-] million.

However, the monthly salary of Zhengyipin in the Ming Dynasty was only 87 shi, which was not even a fraction compared with the Tang and Song dynasties.Therefore, "History of the Ming Dynasty" said: "Since ancient times, the official salary system has been thin, and there has never been anyone like this."

In addition to the low salary, the Ming Dynasty also had a wonderful official salary discount system, which reduced the income and treatment of officials to a certain extent.

The distribution of official salaries in the Ming Dynasty, when to pay the real salary, and when to pay the discounted salary, were all decided by the court, and the actual situation of officials at all levels was never considered.Moreover, the ratio of folded colors is also a matter of the imperial court, and the specific items to be released are also released according to the actual needs of the imperial court.

For example, at that time, 60% of the wages of officials of the first and second ranks had to be converted into silver, and it was a fixed price in the early Ming Dynasty, while only 20% of the wages of officials of the eighth rank were converted into silver.Generally speaking, the higher the grade of an official, the higher the ratio of silver conversion.

But the problem is that in the early Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy one stone of grain, but later on, the price of grain became higher and higher. For example, at the end of Ming Dynasty, one stone of grain cost 4 to 5 taels of silver. Compared with the Ming Dynasty In the early days, the price of grain increased by 4 or 5 times, but the salaries of officials did not change. The court exchanged rice for silver, and it was still exchanged for one stone and one tael, so the officials were all crying for poverty. There was not enough rice and money. What if the money was not enough? manage?Of course you have to find a way to make money.

Lao Zhu was also a big deal with corrupt officials, killing them at every turn, and even skinning them, but it was useless to kill them like this. There were still countless corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty.

There's no way, I really can't survive.

For example, Lu Daqi in front of him was a first-rank official at any rate. When he died in history, he didn't leave a tael of silver behind. Wang Xiang sponsored him to bury him.

Honest officials are so poor, of course there are few good officials.

Ding Yi combined the situation of the Tang and Song dynasties, and considering the future national taxes, decided to vigorously increase the salaries of officials and officials, as well as the army.

Originally, the annual salary of first-rank officials was 1044 shi, but now first-rank officials are promoted to 2000 shi, and there is no discount, and there is no other cloth and silk, and the officials choose by themselves. You want food or silver.

This leaves room for choice.

For example, when the price of a stone of rice is three taels of silver, the official family can ask for all the rice, even if they want all the silver, it is calculated at the current price of one stone of rice and three taels, and they can get 6000 taels of silver.

In the previous Ming Dynasty, the imperial court still discounted silver at the rate of one tael of silver for one stone of rice in the early Ming Dynasty, or even one tael of silver for two stones of rice.

This step of reform alone made all the officials cheer and cheer for Zhenbei Wang Yingming.

The annual salary of first-rank officials has been increased from 888 shi to 1700 shi.

The second grade is upgraded from 732 stones to 1500 stones.

The ninth rank is upgraded from 66 stones to 130 stones.

Upgraded from 60 stones to 120 stones from the ninth grade.

Officials are 50 shi.

Basically, they have doubled, and Ding Yi's original officials have been promoted the most.

And in order to reduce the expenses of grassroots officials, in addition to the capital, officials from all provinces and counties have lunch and breakfast together in the local yamen.

Of course, there is a uniform standard for meals in different places. Breakfast is white porridge, eggs, white steamed buns and side dishes, and the standard is about [-] yuan per person.

At noon, the standard is about [-] Wen per person, regardless of the size of the officials, it is the same.

Not discounted, even if you don’t eat.

All expenses are self-retained from local taxes.

In order to prevent daring officials from enriching their own pockets and deducting food and other forms, the imperial court will post the decree everywhere at the gate of each county government, post it for at least one year, and notify all county officials to know.

The official dared to do this, and the whole family ransacked their homes and confiscated all their wealth.

Where the report is verified, it shall be replaced.

What does this mean?

For example, if you have a county magistrate, there are [-] officials in the county. They were supposed to provide breakfast.

If it is verified by officials, the whole family of the county magistrate will be executed and their wealth will be confiscated. The officials who reported will be promoted to county magistrates.

Lu Daqi and the others looked at Ding Yi's salary increase table over and over again, and they were both surprised and delighted, because such reforms can indeed increase everyone's income very well, and it can even be said to be the morale of the current officials.

But when they saw the back, they were startled.

"Five hundred officials in each prefecture? Three hundred in the county?"

Lu Daqi, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, turned green: "My lord, how many officials are there in the whole country? Is there more officials in one county than counting counties before?"

In the past, there were only about 100 officials in a county, including the police, who were responsible for the financial affairs.

Now there are three hundred in the county, and five hundred in the prefecture and prefecture. How many officials are needed in the whole country?
"It has to be more, I don't think three hundred is enough." Ding Yi said in a deep voice, "The Ming Dynasty has fallen to this point, and you all have to think about it."

"The imperial court has almost zero control over the village level."

"With enough officials, the court's will can be conveyed to the countryside at any time, and it can even be said to deter the gentry."

Ma Shiying immediately said: "If the government is still out of control, how can it be sure that the government's policies can be carried down to the local villages?"

"Regardless of the officials, they are not for life. Officials who fail the annual assessment will be dismissed, and those who are outstanding can be promoted."

"How to be qualified? How to be excellent?"

"Implementation of the imperial court's will is strict, the corresponding taxes are received, and no common people go to the higher-level prefectures to complain, etc. - there will be detailed rules for the assessment this year and next year, and now I can't say a word."

Of course, Ding Yi has many ways. You don’t have to work hard. I use the elimination system and the inspection system. The capital sends a large number of inspection teams every year, or the local garrison will be the inspection team, and they will go there to check problems. If no problems are found, they will be the inspection team No mistake, the inspection team will of course have to investigate desperately.

This method is a bit unreasonable, but it is definitely useful now. If the people below do not work hard, they will definitely be investigated.

(End of this chapter)