Daming Super Dimension Company, President Zhu Yuanzhang!

Chapter 108 The extreme corruption of Ming Dynasty!
It is a cliché that corruption destroys a country, and this conclusion is correct.

People hate corruption, even the corrupt themselves hate it - it's okay for me to be corrupt, how can the rest of you be corrupt?

But this thing exists objectively.

I don’t know if there was corruption in primitive society. Anyway, it has been there since the slave society. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, it had reached an extremely serious level.

Therefore, the conclusion that "corruption will destroy a country" is actually a progressive tense.

Xiao Ran now used one sentence to express this matter directly and tactfully.

"Uncle, old man, in fact, corruption must exist in any country, and the country is in ruins. Of course, the country is not in ruins yet, I mean it is in ruins."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. He felt that Xiao Ran's words were a bit arrogant.

"What do you mean by this? Why are we getting more and more confused the more we listen to it? Xiao Ran, why is your speaking style so similar to the civil servants in our court?"

Xiao Ran laughed: "It does sound confusing, but if I explain it slowly, you will understand."

"Since the country is only being subjugated and not really subjugated, then the cliché saying that 'corruption will subjugate the country' is not convincing at all and has no real sense of oppression."

At this point, it was Zhu Youjian who understood what Xiao Ran meant first.

He said somewhat sadly: "So those ministers, they kept shouting 'Corruption will destroy the country', but no one took it seriously. Corrupt elements continued to be corrupt even though they should be corrupt, and even gradually, they became corrupt with confidence. Just As Mr. Xiao said, when the country is subjugated one day, they will at most become slaves of the subjugated country, or simply become traitors, sell themselves to another court, and then continue to be corrupt."

Xiao Ran nodded: "So, 'corruption will destroy the country' should be made more clear. When corruption reaches a certain level, the country will inevitably be destroyed. However, to what extent will corruption lead to the destruction of the country? There is actually no way to quantify this, or there is a clear standard."

In fact, it can be said in other words that the results of Chinese liberal arts and science subjects are usually not very good.

It is really difficult for them to classify the degree of corruption based on mathematical model thinking.

Therefore, most of their measures of corruption depend on their feelings, that is, the scale in their hearts.

But what is the weight in the heart, that is, the reference? That is naturally due to the level of corruption of the people around you.

If he has been corrupted so much and still has nothing to do with it, then I can be more corrupt than him. One by one, it will naturally come out gradually.

But Xiao Ran can also do the analysis by changing his thinking.

"Actually, if we really want to classify corruption into levels for reference and measurement, I personally think it can be divided into eight levels from light to severe. This basis can be used not only in the Chongzhen period, but also in any dynasty. This method can be used as a reference to measure corruption."

"As for the corruption during the Chongzhen or Jiajing period, there is actually not much to say. I have already said it before. But with this set of reference arguments, I think it can be retained. It is suitable for any dynasty. useful."

"Zhu Youjian, write it down." When Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di heard this, they knew that what Xiao Ran was going to say was something very important from now on. The father and son ordered Zhu Youjian with a tacit understanding.

Zhu Youjian:......

I don’t know what the two ancestors meant by these words, whether they were criticizing themselves or simply wanting to record them.

Seeing that Chongzhen was ready, Xiao Ran continued: "I will call the first level and the lightest level the typical corruption level. That is to say, the Ming Dynasty has just been established, and the uncle has an extremely serious and uncompromising attitude. However, there are always loopholes in the system and corruption problems always exist."

"Maybe this seems to be my uncle's anti-corruption failure, but in fact, anti-corruption itself is not a one-time goal, but a long-term and continuous behavior. So I think we cannot say that my uncle's anti-corruption Failure can only be said that in the course of history, the day my uncle passed away, the Ming Dynasty’s iteration had come to an end.”

But Zhu Yuanzhang was a little puzzled.

"Did that kid Zhu Yunwen not fight against corruption after we died?" Zhu Yuanzhang thought in his heart, this shouldn't be the case. Even if this grandson had to choose the successor in the end, he had suffered a period of corruption by his side. The awareness of anti-corruption and anti-corruption should still be very strong.

Xiao Ran looked at Zhu Yuanzhang silently and rolled his eyes.

"Uncle, even if the people were allowed to arrest officials and send them to the capital, wouldn't it still lead to the empty seal case? Judging from the empty seal case, corruption has formed a nest of crimes and bureaucrats colluded with each other. But at that time, military resources had not been used yet. Carve it up, and monitor the bureaucracy before it is penetrated by the officials. These are the levels I will talk about later.”

Hearing the three words "empty printing case", Zhu Yuanzhang also fell silent.

Based on his understanding of Zhu Yunwen, this child was not decisive enough to kill so many people.

If similar things happen in the future, he may really not be able to stop it.

Even if the fourth son, Zhu Di, succeeds to the throne, it will be after Zhu Yunwen has been emperor for a period of time. This period of time is enough for those officials to do a lot of things.

"The second level I want to talk about is the level of military resources being lost. Bureaucratic corruption cases have existed since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. During the Zhengde period, Liu Jin's reform, and the 'emperor' Liu Jin wanted to rectify the loss of military resources. After all, whether it is the carving up of military fields or other things, this kind of thing has seriously threatened the imperial power."

"As a result, Liu Jin was not only attacked wildly by the civil officials, but also the eunuchs did not support him, let alone the army. So Liu Jin's reform failed and he was executed."

"Then the more serious third level is the corruption level of officials. This is the current situation during the Chongzhen period. The organizational departments that control officials' hats have been infiltrated into sieves, and the rules on the road have become clear rules. There are also almost all positions in the bureaucracy. They can all be bought and sold, and the price is clearly stated.”

"But the degree of corruption during the Chongzhen period was far more than that. This reached the fourth level, where the supervisory system was infiltrated. As a landmark thing, the eunuch and royal guards system of the emperor's supervisory department was infiltrated, and the eunuch Wang An Collusion with the Donglin Party. But this matter has already happened during the Jiajing period. "Corruption has reached this level, and there is nothing to say. Not to mention that the army is rotten, and even the emperor's spy system is no longer reliable. These people are not clean, and their supervision of the bureaucracy has been almost abolished. They have become tools in political struggle, and they are all using the banner of anti-corruption to eliminate dissidents.”

"However, Guo Jia's system of civil servants, generals, eunuchs, spies, etc. is almost rotten. It can only be considered seriously corrupt, but it has not yet reached the level of decay."

As soon as Xiao Ran said this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but asked: "This is not considered decadent, so what else counts?"

"There is a person named Guo Jia, let's take it as a sign that his fundamental policies are misguided. This is considered the fifth level in my mind, the level of decadence."

"In fact, many of Guo Jia's policies were misguided in the early Ming Dynasty. For example, after Zheng He's voyages to the West, the maritime trade organized by the imperial court was completely stopped. At the same time, maritime trade was controlled by bureaucratic interest groups."

"While operating maritime trade, these forces set high thresholds and proposed a sea ban. In this case, the general merchants' maritime trade is smuggling, and the imperial power's maritime trade is a waste of people and money, but they can do maritime trade, one by one He monopolized this route and made a lot of money."

"Also, since the Wanli era, some reactionary bureaucrats, gentry and businessmen have used money and connections to train scholars to become spokespersons for their own interests, so as to make a fuss about taxation."

"Even the generals have learned how to recruit sailors among civil servants, bribe some people with the money obtained from empty wages and embezzlement, and do something to mislead the national policy for their own selfish interests."

Speaking of this, even Xiao Ran himself felt a little scary. Once the policy was made, it could be interpreted at will by others, and if it was said in a way that was beneficial to oneself, then this would be the result.

Not only do they use part of their power to engage in corruption or seek personal gain, but they openly use national policies as an excuse and reason for personal gain. As a result, the power of private gain and corruption becomes extremely large.

With this example given by Xiao Ran, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di naturally realized the seriousness.

"Once the public weapon of the state becomes a private weapon that these people can use and become their convenience, the matter becomes serious. No matter how powerful an official's own power is, what he can do with the help of his authority is It can’t be overturned, but once you rely on the court’s public policy, it is equivalent to borrowing power.”

Zhu Di's complexion also became extremely ugly. Even though he fully understood why Xiao Ran said that this was considered decadent, he still felt that his words were somewhat weak.

This level of decay is shocking.

He couldn't help but look at Xiao Ran: "Is there more?"

In fact, the thoughts in the hearts of these three emperors are very contradictory.

They hoped that this would be considered the top level. After all, every level Xiao Ran mentioned was a cancer that had already grown on Da Ming. But at the same time, I hope that Xiao Ran can say more, so that they can pass this set of rules to every emperor of the Ming Dynasty in more detail, so that they can take strict precautions and not make the same mistakes again.

"It actually became more serious in the future. It can be said to have reached the level of corruption. The iconic thing is the emergence of powerful vested interest groups arising from corruption."

"For example, civil servants, generals, and eunuchs collude with each other to realize one-stop corruption. From tax collection to distribution, each performs his or her duties, cooperates tacitly, and unspoken rules completely overwhelm the regime. The emperor's will can no longer represent his own will, and the emperor's decision-making has been Civil servants, generals and eunuchs tamper with it as they see fit."

Zhu Youjian was extremely silent when he listened to what Xiao Ran said. It was like every word was stabbed into his heart like knives.

The current Emperor Chongzhen already has this feeling of powerlessness.

"When it comes to destruction, it is a vicious circle that feeds the bandits and enriches itself."

"In fact, what is Kou? They are the end of a dynasty. Feeding Kou to enrich himself means that Kou has an immortal body. Just like Li Zicheng, he can keep tossing because everyone says that he feeds Kou to enrich himself. Li Zicheng We can continue to collect loot and support, develop healthily, and grow stronger day by day. The only people who will suffer are the Ming Dynasty officials and troops. "

"As for why I say this is a mess. The rebels can rely on attacking the powerful to obtain enough military expenses and food, so they no longer need to collect taxes from the people. Therefore, no matter where they fight, they will be warmly welcomed by the local people and regard them as for the liberator.”

"On the contrary, the situation of the officers and soldiers responsible for exterminating the rebel army was very bad. Due to the extremely difficult financial revenue of the imperial court, they could get very little salary. The local government was also under great pressure to collect taxes, which could not meet the food, salary and material needs of the passing army. In this case, if the Ming army wanted to fight, there was only one way, which was to plunder."

Xiao Ran directly pulled out a practical example: "Just like before the Wuqiao Mutiny, Kong Youde's soldiers went out to steal chickens. What is the difference between this and this approach? The army's discipline was broken, harming the people everywhere, and the military generals had no choice. No. The people’s support is not supported, and their fighting ability is not good.”

But Zhu Yuanzhang's face looked a little ugly: "Does the military law of family and country mean nothing in their hearts?"

Xiao Ran chuckled: "The imperial court did not pay enough and asked the soldiers to go out to fight. This is tying their heads to their belts, so it is impossible for anyone to really sacrifice their life. Faith or feelings of family and country have nothing to do with these people. It doesn’t work when you benefit from the imperial court.”

"No one can give without asking for anything in return. The imperial court did not distribute enough food and salary, so they naturally went out to find food and money by themselves, otherwise their own people would riot first. Therefore, the generals did not dare to seriously control the army. Allowing them to find food on their own is actually just looting everywhere.”

"The difference between them and the peasant rebels is that they don't dare to touch local officials and powerful people, because these people have backgrounds and backers. If they complain to the top, the generals may be punished, just like Kong Youde is an example of someone who grabbed the wrong target. ”

"Once this happens, in order to avoid responsibility, the general will usually have to use a few soldiers to explain. The problem is that the soldiers are not stupid!"

"So the soldiers could only rob ordinary people's homes. Like Zuo Liangyu's army, whenever they went to a place, they would live in civilian houses. For a while, every household was filled with soldiers."

"These soldiers were in other people's homes and had to eat and drink. They robbed them of food and money. They even committed rape and murder and other things happened from time to time."

"Such a comparison makes it clear that the rebels make a living by fighting against corrupt officials and tyrants. It is certainly in the interest of the people at the bottom to exempt them from taxes on their money and food."

"But the officers and soldiers of the imperial court rob ordinary people of their food and money, and bully their wives and daughters. Who do the people like more? Who do they hate?"

(End of this chapter)