Traveled through Daming, but was punished by the old Zhu Shizu

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes. His eyes made Xu Da and the two of them bury their heads.

However, it's really no wonder that Xu Da and the others couldn't say a thing or two,

Not counting the outlier Liu Xiu,

Regarding the issue of official salaries,

If Lao Zhu took the school test at will, the two of them would be able to answer each other fluently and come up with a complete plan, there is no doubt that

These two people must be talking nonsense!

No other, because the issue of officials' salaries is too complicated,

Pull the hair and move the whole body!

Just the change of a copper plate requires a lot of muscle and bone.

You must know that the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory,

There are not only court officials in the capital, but also local magistrates, as well as officials under the vassal kings, and even chieftains in remote areas have to be counted.

What's more, the official system of the Ming Dynasty is extremely complicated, with different officials, positions, and powers.

Some officials carry both official titles and titles,

In the case of salary adjustments, these circumstances need to be taken into consideration.

It's not that Zhu Yuanzhang has never tried to adjust his salary, but the more he adjusts, the less he adjusts.

But no matter what time it was, it was a mess and hurt.

It is one thing to make decisions at the central level, but it is another thing to implement them at the local level.

Often after it is implemented at the local level, the decision-making of the central government has long been out of shape!

What's more, it still involves the issue of officials' jobs,

How can it be so easy? !

Chapter 289 Corrupt Officials Are Too Embarrassed to Be Corrupt

Seeing that the atmosphere is a bit awkward,

Song Zan bit the bullet and said,

"Your Majesty, this is really difficult.

Today, Ming officials can be roughly divided into three categories,

The first category is the royal ministers, including the Clan Mansion, Zhan Shi Mansion, Imperial Hospital, San Gong, San Gu...

The salaries of these assistant ministers do not go through the national treasury, but go through the royal treasury.

If the salaries of other officials whose salaries are paid by the treasury are adjusted, will those who go to the royal treasury also have their salaries adjusted? "

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the words, a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes,

Indeed, as Song Zan said, if it is actually operated,

It's not a matter of upper lip and lower lip at all, but extremely complicated,

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, after the establishment of the family, the royal family has been the largest landlord in the country.

The officials who serve the royal family and the officials who serve the country have always been two systems.

Walk is not a financial!

Officials who serve the royal family are naturally paid by the royal family, while officials who serve the state are paid by the state.

As Song Zan said, the national government officials have adjusted their salaries, so should royal officials be adjusted?

If the salaries of royal officials are adjusted, will the royal treasury be able to support it?

Note that this is not a one-month or one-year salary increase, at least ten or eight years,

How big a blow will this be to Zhu Yuanzhang's own small treasury?

I'm afraid, from Zhu Yuanzhang's livid face now, one can already guess a thing or two!

Song Zan paused and continued,

"The officials of the central government are those court officials in the capital,

Six ministries, three prisons, five temples, one mansion, one hospital...

Among them, there are at least a thousand officials, big and small,

What's more, officials above the third rank all carry the titles of Duke, Marquis, and Bo.

How much should this cost? "

Thinking of this, Song Zan couldn't help but secretly rejoice,

Your Majesty cut off the Viscount and Baron from the original five-tier system of titles of princes and uncles.

Otherwise, officials above the fifth rank all carry titles,

How much will this cost?

How many privileged classes will this create? !

Song Zan didn't give Zhu Yuanzhang a chance to breathe, obviously his words were getting better, and he continued,

"The inspection departments of the prefectures and counties of the local governments are countless bureaucrats.

Moreover, the salaries of local officials are completely different from those of Beijing officials.

Coupled with the toast in the northwest of Yunnan and Gansu,

It's so trivial, so what should I do? "

Song Zan was very knowledgeable and knew the official position of Ming Dynasty very well.

Although he couldn't think of a reform plan for officials to pay their salaries for a while,

However, he can think of a lot of problems he will face casually.

Also, what he didn't say is that when the salary reform is really implemented,

How many opportunities should we give these corrupt officials?

Zhu Yuanzhang has reformed officials' salaries twice in more than ten years, and now he is going to change again, and it is still a big change.

Compared with frequent policy changes, it is really not as stable as the Han Dynasty's rule by doing nothing.

It's okay to say that it's changed.

But if the change is not good, there will be complaints!

In short, in Song Zan's view, officials' salaries,

It's safest not to move!

But speaking of it, Song Zan is a full man who doesn't know that a hungry man is hungry,

After all, his father is Hongwu's number one civil servant, so can the family be short of money?

Therefore, Song Zan has never experienced the feeling of having no money.

To put it bluntly, people never rely on being an official, and they live with just three melons and two dates.

But those low-level sesame officials, or government officials, are different.

Their salaries are not enough to live on, so they can only rely on the little power in their hands to search for the common people.

Zhu Yuanzhang started from the bottom of the society, so he naturally understood the truth that Yan Wang is easy, but the little devil is hard to deal with.

And these small officials and officials are the focus of the reform of official salaries!

It is also a pain point!

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Liu Xiu and couldn't help asking,

"We can't figure it out either, so just say it."

Liu Xiu hummed, and said directly,

"In the past, the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were paid, but now the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty are paid with food and money.

Moreover, the ratio of money to food is not fixed, sometimes the money is seven and the food is three, and sometimes the money is five and the food is five.

When Daming Tongbao was first released, you could buy ten steamed buns for ten cents, but now you can buy ten steamed buns for 100 million yuan.

The rate of inflation has increased tenfold in just over ten years.

Inferred at this speed, that is to say, in a short time,

The value of Daming Tongbao is basically the same as that of waste paper.

At that time, if His Majesty's salary is mixed with money and food, the part of the money will be equivalent to no salary. "

Hearing this, no matter how thick-skinned Zhu Yuanzhang is, his black face can't help turning red at this moment.

The main reason is that Zhu Yuanzhang's move is really not a thing!

There is no quota at any time, and the ratio of money and food depends entirely on Zhu Yuanzhang.

The officials naturally saw this too, and as time went on,

The Daming Tongbao in their hands will become less and less valuable, so they will rush to search for the people as if they are dying,

In this way, corrupt officials will kill more and more.

Liu Xiu's words were profound and simple, and the three people present suddenly realized,

Yes,

You haven't found the core problem yet. Blindly killing people will naturally not solve the problem of corrupt officials.

Think about it differently, if it is a high official with a title of rank three or above, it is okay,

For those petty officials, being an official in Daming is really hard work,

If you don't get a little sideways, you will definitely starve to death.

And the upright official Hai Rui, who has gone through the four dynasties of Zhengde, Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli,