The six-dimensional pictures of emperors of all dynasties were exposed, and the ancestors panicked

Chapter 705: Returning the Expenses to the Public and Maintaining Integrity with High Salaries
On the canopy.

Yongzheng, who was wearing a casual uniform and a Liuhe hat, looked at the memorial in his hand and said to the man standing in front of him:
"There are people out there who fabricate rumors and make irresponsible comments."

"It is said that I love the Sixteenth Prince so much that I want him to inherit the title of Prince Zhuang and his property. Have you heard about this?"

The man tilted his head, and the gold pendant at the end of his braid sparkled.

"It's obvious, everyone knows it."

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng put down the memorial in his hand.

A pair of eyes stared at the person opposite through the lenses.

"Then, send one person and tell him that I am here to avenge an old grudge."

"I promoted someone and said I was showing favor to him. It was out of personal feelings. Do you know that?"

The man turned his head away again.

"That's not what I said."

Bang!
Yongzheng was so angry that he slammed the table and pointed his sword at the man.

"Dare to do it but not to admit it!"

"Yunlu! Are you still going to go to the streets to promote it yourself?"

Seeing that he was still as fearless as a dead pig, Yongzheng was even more furious:

"I told you to go to Xining. Isn't this honor? But you keep delaying!"

"I dealt with you two evildoers, and you said I was bullying my brothers! You spread it wantonly! Without any scruples! Isn't this nonsense?"

"Since I ascended the throne, I have made Yunsi a prince and Yunzhi's son Hongchun a Beizi! I have forgiven all the mistakes of my brothers and ministers, but do you know how to be grateful?"

Yunli understood what he said, but he just turned his head and muttered:
"You are just pretending. Who cares about your reward?"

Yongzheng had been talking so much that he was almost choked to death by his words.

Glancing at Yunluo, he saw him rolling his eyes in annoyance, and could no longer hold back, so he scolded:

"Within a hundred days, there have been a hundred ways to confuse my mind."

"Do they think that I am kind and merciful and do not like to kill people, so they insult me ​​at will?"

"This is the beginning of my killing!"

……

The period of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty
"What a brotherly friendship."

Young Liu Che was choked to death by Liu Qi's words.

He pounded his chest with his chubby little fists, swallowed the food hard, and looked at Liu Qi in astonishment.

"Father, are you crazy?"

Liu Qi leaned on the soft pillow at hand and said with a smile:

"If you can tolerate such an insubordination, isn't that brotherly love and respect?"

Little Liu Che looked at him and rolled his eyes silently.

I don't know where the bad taste comes from.

Duke Zheng defeated Duan Yuyan, and he defeated Duan Yuyan, and he still talked about brotherly love and respect...

But as soon as his upper and lower lips touched the barbecue, little Liu Che was stunned.

Hey... don't tell me...

How come Duke Zheng's defeat of Duan at Yan was not considered a brotherly act?
As for whether I am respectful or not... that is my problem...

Little Liu Che looked at the smiling Liu Qi again and curled his lips.

Black, so black!
but……

Little Liu Che raised the corner of his mouth, then bit hard into the delicious piece of meat.

I am a genius who can figure things out in an instant!
……

[Yongzheng ascended the throne. The Eighth Prince Yunsi, the Ninth Prince Yunlu, and the Fourteenth Prince, who had failed in their bid for the throne, were unwilling to admit defeat, and finally saw a turning point.]

[The evil rumor of "Emperor Yongzheng who confiscated his property" suddenly spread through the streets of Beijing. ]

[The officials whose homes were confiscated complained and shared their grievances.]

[The corrupt officials directed and acted out their own sad dramas, saying that they were wronged.]

【Yun Si and others listened to their difficulties in time, exaggerated them, and expressed sympathy.】

……

Period of Emperor Guangwu of Yanhan Dynasty

Liu Xiu found the fights on the sky boring.

“It’s just jealousy of the successful and resentment of the powerful, and we need to exploit and let this emotion ferment.”

"But he said nothing about the powerful things his actions did for the country and the people."

Yin Lihua also sighed and said:
"During the Northern Song Dynasty, even if they fought each other, it was still above the wealth of the people and the country... Now... I am the only one left."

Liu Zhuang thought of the words of the Great Dao that abandoned benevolence and righteousness and became emotional:
"It's true, each generation is worse than the previous one."

……

[Dissatisfied speeches were rampant, but Yongzheng was unmoved. He specifically stated: I want to discipline these corrupt officials and not allow them to embezzle state funds and enrich their own descendants. If this is the case, where is the national law and what is the fear of the people! ]

【Government obstruction cannot reverse the direction of reform.】

[However, Yongzheng was a little too hasty in changing the government, eliminating old abuses, and establishing new trends.]

【After a strong crackdown on corruption, the court was short of officials. There were no officials to be appointed, and few served for more than three years.】

[Whether to continue to rule the country with an iron fist or choose to compromise is a difficult question. ]

……

Ming dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded subconsciously.

That's right.

We are not afraid of killing people, it is just a matter of a moment's effort.

But how to make them willingly serve as officials again after killing people is indeed a problem.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the sky, and the dough in his hand was deformed.

The mother and son who were whispering nearby also stopped whispering and looked up at the sky.

……

【Kangxi accommodated officials and allowed some corruption because he felt that their salaries were too low and they could not live a normal life.】

【Yongzheng wanted to revitalize the country, but he did not take these into consideration at the beginning.】

【After understanding the situation, Yongzheng began to reform this malpractice to avoid dissension between the emperor and his subjects.】

【Huguang Governor Yang Zongren proposed to return the surplus to the public. 】

[The original embezzlement was privately collected by local officials. Yang Zongren proposed the idea of ​​giving it to the provincial government for unified management and using it exclusively as official expenses, and distributing it to whoever needs it.]

[In the public expenditure of local governments, rather than letting officials secretly impose taxes on the people, it is better to let the county officials save 20% of the original consumption silver and hand it over to the treasury of the provincial government to be used exclusively for official expenses. In addition, no more donations are allowed.]

【Shanxi Governor Nuo Min required that all the silver collected by the prefectures and counties of Shanxi throughout the year be turned over to the treasury of the Provincial Administration Office because of the serious fire consumption problem in the province. Part of it was used to offset the past deficits that had not been paid for, and part of it was used to increase the salaries of officials and to maintain their integrity.】

【Yongzheng happily agreed to Nuomin's request and approved the full launch in Shanxi. 】

[With the support of Emperor Yongzheng, the pilot reform of returning the surplus to the public and the silver for maintaining integrity was first implemented in Shanxi and Henan.]

[It seemed that the corruption problem that had plagued the Qing Dynasty for many years was about to be solved, but unexpectedly, this reform was opposed by most officials. ]

[A big debate of "the husband says the husband is right, the wife says the wife is right" has begun. 】

……

Zhu Yuanzhang grinned subconsciously.

Maintain integrity?

Aren’t you talking nonsense!

The Song Dynasty was not richer than you? Were they less greedy?

"I thought you had some good ideas..."

Old Zhu lowered his head and muttered while chewing on a piece of bread.

Empress Ma and Zhu Biao looked at each other.

Zhu Biao shook his head at Queen Ma.

Empress Ma calmed down. Zhu Biao looked at Yongzheng, who was convening ministers for a debate in the skylight, with admiration and regret in his eyes.

Giving away the embezzled money to the public is a great merit!

Those officials can no longer deplete the common people's funds for food and clothing to support their official slaves.

But it is not appropriate at this time... because...

He glanced at Old Zhu, who was eating without saying a word.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty's tax system had not been changed.

……

【Yongzheng ordered his ministers to hold a meeting to discuss the matter.】

[After discussion, the cabinet came up with the opinion: Opposition. ]

【There are three reasons.】

[First, the fire consumption silver is the benefit that the prefecture and county should have, and the superiors should not have taken it away.]

【Second, if the fire consumption system is established, the superiors take it and set the fire consumption standard, which is equivalent to publicly increasing taxes in addition to the tax silver, which will make the people feel that the tax burden has increased.】

【Third, if the governor-general openly allowed the county officials to collect the fire consumption silver, making the originally private behavior public, wouldn’t this encourage the county officials to commit crimes? Public collection is tantamount to encouraging corruption.】

……

Datang.

Li Shimin sneered.

"If we just discuss this, there will be no result in our lifetime."

"What these people say is all based on their own interests."

"If the policy of returning the surplus to the public is vigorously implemented, the prefectures and counties will stop giving gifts to the governors and governors-general, and the governors and governors-general will naturally reduce their gifts to the officials in Beijing, which will be disadvantageous to them."

"But these old hands don't talk about their own selfish motives. Instead, they imply that the existing system will not increase taxes on the people and will satisfy the county officials."

"It's just a pretense to maintain the existing system."

Li Chengqian said doubtfully:

“But it is true that their salaries are low, right?”

Li Shimin said patiently:
"That's why we have to return the embezzlement to the public."

"The fire consumption silver is absolutely unavoidable. Rather than letting them set the amount of fire consumption silver at will, it is better to set the fire consumption silver as part of the regular tax."

"The amount doesn't need to be too large, so as not to increase the burden on the people and to solve the problem of fire silver consumption in an open and transparent way."

"The remaining part will be confiscated by the government, and the rest will be used to maintain the integrity of officials."

"In this way, superiors don't have to accept bribes from their subordinates because they have money to maintain their integrity. It is also aboveboard and can preserve their reputation as officials, so they won't be held hostage by their subordinates. All their food and use are gifts from the emperor, which is very beneficial to the country."

Li Chengqian nodded, and then asked doubtfully:
"After all, it's just taking food from someone's mouth. Will they agree?"

Li Shimin twisted his beard and laughed loudly:
"Then it depends on Yongzheng's courage!"

……

【Yongzheng saw that many officials were analyzing from their own standpoints and it was difficult to reach a conclusion. He knew that no matter how long the discussion lasted, there would be no result.】

[On the sixth day of the seventh month in the second year of Yongzheng's reign, Yongzheng issued an order to promote the practices of Shanxi and Henan throughout the country.]

【Moreover, the few sentences in the edict are very insightful. 】

【“The fire consumption of prefectures and counties is not a necessary item. Because of the general public expenses and the maintenance of officials, some have to be paid from this, but it is not something that can be discussed publicly.”

"It is not that I wish that all prefectures and counties in the country would not take anything from the people, but it is impossible for me to do so, and historically, the fire consumption has been collected by the prefectures and counties."

"And the additional levies and taxes eroded the national treasury, causing a deficit of no less than several million."

"The reason for this is that the prefectures and counties collected fire consumption and distributed it to their superiors. The daily expenses of each superior were all given by the prefectures and counties, so in addition to the consumption, there were many kinds of gifts. Therefore, the prefectures and counties had an excuse to indulge in greed, and the superiors had a favor and concealed it."

"This is a long-standing problem that should be eliminated."

"Rather than the prefectures and counties saving the fire consumption to support their superiors, why not the superiors use the fire consumption to support the prefectures and counties!"

……

Song Dynasty: Zhezong Period
Zhao Xu couldn't help but yelled "Okay!"

"Rather than the prefectures and counties saving the fire consumption to support their superiors, why not the superiors use the fire consumption to support the prefectures and counties?"

This Yongzheng really grasped the Achilles' heel of reform, making the snake of greed bow its head and obey!
This sentence is the crux of the problem!
If the prefectures and counties use fire consumption to support their superiors, the superiors will cover up for them, and the administration of officials will become chaotic.

If the administration of officials is not clear, government policies will not be implemented, the people will suffer, and the country will suffer.

"Officials only see the prefectures and counties, but the emperor sees the whole world!"

Zhao Xu's face turned red with excitement, as if the person who initiated the reform was just like him!
He muttered excitedly:

"The world belongs to me. What I want is peace in the world, not keeping officials satisfied!"

"Yongzheng... has great courage!"

"pity……"

Zhao Xu was excited for a while, then calmed down.

The roots of the Qing Dynasty were wrong from the beginning.

"Yongzheng..."

Stir the soup to stop it from boiling.

……

[At this time, some self-righteous officials began to implement a "delaying tactic", suggesting that since Shanxi was already implementing it, let them implement it for a few years to see the effect before promoting it nationwide.]

[Yongzheng gave a clear answer: "This is absolutely wrong. There are only two ends in the world: feasible and infeasible. If you think it is feasible, then you can spread it to the world. If you think it is not feasible, then you should not try it in Shanxi."]

[This rebuttal once again demonstrated Yongzheng's determination to reform, so that everyone no longer has to harbor illusions.]

[The civil service reforms that Yongzheng implemented when he ascended the throne, starting with clearing up deficits, returning surpluses to the public, and implementing the maintenance of integrity silver, gradually blocked the original source of corruption and soon achieved obvious results.]

……

Qing Dynasty Yongzheng Period
Yongzheng suppressed the smile.

Finally, I said something that went well.

"Of course, I cannot guarantee that this system will not have any drawbacks in the future."

Yongzheng said to Hongli leisurely:

"During the implementation process, provinces that can do it are allowed to do so, and those that cannot do it do not need to force it."

Hongli:?
Who asked you? !
Besides, if the emperor wants to implement it nationwide, which province would dare not carry it out?
Hongli was confused for a while, and suddenly said:
“What if there are problems in the future?”

Yongzheng was so happy that he didn't think about it and just said confidently:
"If there are problems in the future? There will naturally be solutions then."

Hongli nodded subconsciously.

Yes, things will work out when we get to the bridge.

……

【The return of surpluses to the public sector has made local economic funds clear and budgetary, which is a major step forward in the implementation of local administration.】

【However, the execution of all state policies cannot be separated from officials at all levels. 】

[The system of returning the surplus to the public blocked the additional source of income for county officials. As the superior officials lacked the gifts from county officials, their daily receptions and visits were restricted.]

[At that time, a trend of "If the country is clean, it is better not to be an official" was prevalent, and officials were no longer willing to be officials. ]

【So Yongzheng allocated a portion of the silver collected from various provinces to provide subsidies to officials at all levels with high salaries and honesty.】

[The amount of silver for officials at all levels ranged from several hundred taels to thirty thousand taels.]

[For example, the original salary of a first-rank civil and military official was 180 taels of silver, but the salary in Zhili increased to 15,000 taels, and the wealthy Governor-General of Liangjiang received 30,000 taels.]

[The annual salary of a seventh-rank county magistrate was originally 45 taels of silver, and the subsidy for maintaining integrity in each province was between 600 and 1,200 taels.]

[The highest amount in Jiangxi and Zhejiang reached 1,900 taels. ]

【After the reforms, the treasury of the Yongzheng Dynasty was quickly filled. 】

[When Kangxi died (1722), the national treasury had only 1727 million taels of silver. In the first year of Yongzheng's reign, the situation improved and increased to million taels. In the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign (), it reached million taels.]

……

{Then he got carried away and went to fight Galdan No. 2.}
……

Yongzheng, who was laughing, suddenly stopped laughing.

He had a hunch... no, he was sure!
He will be talked about this for the rest of his life!

……

{But it must be said that Yongzheng did take everything into consideration.}
{The purpose of carrying out reforms is to make the country stronger and richer and to plug corruption loopholes, not to expose the officials and make them unable to move forward because of lack of money.}
{So he gave instructions that officials in prefectures and counties, considering that their salaries were small and they could not maintain integrity and were prone to extorting the people, could set aside a certain amount of silver from the embezzlement funds to be used exclusively for daily expenses.}
{As for the provincial governors, Yongzheng also took their circumstances into consideration and appointed those who should be appointed and those who would not harm the integrity of the government were appointed.}
｛If it is necessary to use it on a daily basis, it is not considered abuse and can be used.｝
{Don't pretend to be honest and seek reputation, only to end up extorting the people.}
{If it is necessary to reward subordinates, and they are stretched to the limit, it will be disgraceful for the provincial governors. This is not the purpose of my reform.}
{…At this time, I want to say, the emperor of the Zhu family, ah.}
{In order to reduce the burden on officials at all levels, Yongzheng repeatedly emphasized: When you come to the capital, you don’t have to present gifts, and this is forbidden forever.}
{Yongzheng: "Official Administration is a good article!"}
(End of this chapter)