Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

Chapter 79 I Have No Interest in Money

Don't even think about eating breakfast. If you insist on eating, then you must ensure that you don't go to the toilet because of breakfast during the morning.

The morning check-in system in the Ming Dynasty was much stricter than the work attendance system in later generations.

It’s not just wages that are deducted, and it’s not just time that’s checked.

The Supervisory Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is responsible for supervising and recording the people who have not arrived for the morning meeting of the officials. They have to call the names one by one. This process is also called dianmao.

If you are absent from work without a valid reason or are late, even the easiest person will be punished.At the same time, there are strict requirements for everything such as appearance and posture.

Yang Xian looked at Zhu Biao, smiled and said: "I heard that at the beginning of the year, a minister wrote a poem specifically for attending the morning court. Your Majesty was so angry that he dismissed him directly."

An awkward smile appeared on Zhu Biao's face, he nodded, and replied: "It's Qian Zai, Mr. Qian."

The four drums are beating and the clothes are on. It's still too late to meet at the Meridian Gate.When will I be able to enjoy the pastoral pleasures and sleep in the human world while I cook my poems?

Mr. Qian, despite his age, lost his official title just because of this complaint poem.

According to what we, Lao Zhu, said.

As the emperor, he even rises four times a day.Administering government affairs under the stars, holding candles late at night to review memorials, having no time to eat during the day and no sleep at night.

You ministers still want to hug your mother-in-law and sleep until the fifth hour?
Since you, Qian Zai, want to sleep late and miss the rural life, come on, go back to your hometown and farm.

In ancient times, not every dynasty had a morning dynasty.

Even if there is, it is absolutely impossible to go to court every day.

The emperor was the first to be overwhelmed.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, only during the Hongwu period, oh, there was also Emperor Chongzhen, who was obsessed with happiness, and he never stopped going to court every day.

It starts with a bowl and ends with a rope.

It actually echoes the beginning and the end.

"Your Highness, do you know how much salary the imperial officials receive?"

This kind of pediatric problem naturally cannot trouble the prince who is in charge of politics.

Officials in the Ming Dynasty were divided into nine grades and eighteen grades. In addition to the ninth grade, there were also minor officials who had not entered the mainstream. These people formed a huge team of officials in the Ming Empire.

The highest salary is 750 shi for the first-grade official, and [-] shi for the first-grade official, to the lowest [-] shi for the ninth-grade official, and [-] shi for the ninth-grade official.

Yang Xian's official position is the magistrate of Yangzhou, with the fourth rank.

The annual salary is 270 shi.

"Do you see the problem?" Yang Xian asked.

"The salary of officials in the Ming Dynasty was the result of discussions between the emperor and the Ministry of Education and the people of the six countries at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Even the lowest ninth-grade official can support a family of five with a salary of one year," Zhu Biao said. .

Seeing Zhu Biao still confused, Yang Xian sighed softly and could only point out the problem directly.

"What His Highness the Crown Prince means by feeding a family of five is simply not starving to death. Take the ninth-rank official, who has the most in the Ming Dynasty, for example. It costs sixty shi a year, which is only 5 shi rice a month, which is just enough for a family of five. Let’s not talk about whether all officials have only five people in their families, husband and wife, husband and wife, and children. If you calculate it casually, the number is more than this. Calculating just five people, the salary paid by the court is only enough to eat."

"Does it cost money to live in a place, even if it is your own house? Does it need to be repaired on a daily basis? In addition to food and rice, does it need to eat meat? Does the family need to buy new clothes all year round? Does it cost money to use coal for the fire in winter? For the elderly? Does the doctor need money to take medicine when a child has a cold? Do colleagues need money to occasionally socialize, have dinner and drink together?" Yang Xian asked Zhu Biao with several questions in a row, which confused Zhu Biao.

Only then did Zhu Biao realize that he had never thought about these issues.

Since ancient times, the official salary system has been thin, and there has never been anything like this.

This is the evaluation of official salaries in "History of the Ming Dynasty".

Compared with the Tang and Song Dynasties, the salary standards of the Ming Dynasty were ridiculously low.

You must know that in the Tang Dynasty, a first-grade official had a monthly salary of 200, food and supplies of [-], and miscellaneous expenses of [-].There are also professional fields, one grade is sixty hectares.In addition, there is also the salary money, which is [-] million (two thousand guan) for one grade.

Counting only the monthly salary, when the Tang Dynasty was strong and prosperous in the early Tang Dynasty, it was four or five cents per dou of rice.

Ten buckets are equivalent to one stone.

This is equivalent to 220 shi per month and 620 shi per year.

This only counts monthly salary. The salary of officials in the Ming Dynasty was equivalent to a fraction of that of officials of the same level in the Tang Dynasty.

Official salaries in the Song Dynasty were higher than those in the Tang Dynasty.

From this we can see how outrageous Lao Zhu is, but for a man who, even after becoming an emperor, still misses the sesame seed cakes and mutton soup he ate when he was young, and can live happily all day long after just one bite, it seems that everything is gone. Became understandable.

This is the same as morning.

When he was the emperor, he reviewed the memorials until late at night every night, and got up at the fourth watch of the next day. He didn't feel it was hard, so why do you ministers have the right to call it hard?

It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang's mistake was that he regarded everyone as himself.

Just like there are people's servants in the world who sincerely serve the people and are willing to sacrifice their own interests, but if you forcefully expect everyone to be such a person, it is completely unrealistic.

"Officials work so hard, but the salary of officials in this dynasty is so pitifully small compared with previous dynasties. This kind of injustice, accumulated in the heart for a long time, can easily lead to dissatisfaction with the court and is also one of the incentives for corruption. One." Yang Xian looked at Zhu Biao and then said. "Therefore, although His Majesty's treatment of corruption is severe and punishable, the effect is not obvious. On the contrary, the trend of corruption seems to be getting worse. Coupled with various other reasons, it finally led to the current ecological environment of the Ming Dynasty's officialdom."

".Yang Qing is saying that the imperial court is too harsh on these officials?"

Although Zhu Biao used a questioning tone, he already had the answer in his heart.

Because what Yang Xian said was an indisputable fact, after the riot in Fengyang, Lao Zhu was so angry that he even resorted to the torture of peeling daylilies, but he still failed to stop this evil trend.

"Three years to clear the magistrate's office, one hundred thousand snowflakes and silver. After all, those scholars, who have lived in poverty for ten years and been worn out by iron inkstones, how can they be willing to live in poverty all their lives. Being an official is not charity." Yang Xian said.

"Does this also include Yang Qing?" Zhu Biao asked subconsciously.

As soon as I asked the question, I felt something was wrong, but fortunately Yang Xian didn't care at all.

"Me?" Yang Xian raised the corners of his mouth slightly and smiled. "I'm different. I'm not interested in money."

Zhu Biao thought for a moment, and it seemed like that was true.

Whether it's a new method of making salt or wool processing, if Yang Xian wants to make money, he really does it casually.None of Yang Xian's inventions could make him a lot of money, but he selflessly dedicated them all to the court.When he thought of this, Zhu Biao felt moved in his heart.

"In Yang Qing's opinion, how can we thoroughly rectify the administration of officials?" Zhu Biao looked at Yang Xian and said solemnly.

(End of this chapter)