Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

"The eldest prince thinks that low salaries for officials lead to corruption among lower-level officials. I think this is only one aspect."

Old Man Zhang had a serious expression.

"Appreciate further details."

Zhu Gaochi sat opposite Old Man Zhang, with pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the table, ready to write down the key points at any time.

Old Man Zhang did not hold back and continued with what he had left unsaid yesterday.

The Zhang family had been local officials for generations. After the previous emperor established his dynasty, almost all of these low-level former Yuan officials took over the positions locally.

During the Hongwu period, officials' annual salaries were very low, and the clerks under them were even more pitiful.

It was fine at the beginning, but it was just a continuation of the old system from the previous Yuan Dynasty, and everyone could barely make enough money to spend.

But this annual salary later became a monthly salary, and it continued to decrease year by year.

In the 14th year of Hongwu, the late emperor stipulated that clerks in government offices below the second rank in Beijing would receive one dan of rice per month, and clerks below the sixth rank would receive six dou of rice per month.

In the 31st year of the Hongwu reign, officials in Beijing who had families could have their ration reduced by two dou for every dan, while those without families could have their ration reduced by five dou for every dan.

The previous one was in office for two years and he implemented a lot of new policies, so he had no time to manage the officials.

Now Zhu Gaochi's father is not stingy, so this number is the official income of the officials now.

All local government offices were below the sixth rank, so except for those in Beijing, local officials received a monthly salary of less than six dou.

To put it bluntly, with this little bit of food, if there are many people in the family, it will be difficult to even feed them.

Among the four necessities of life, only one item is barely up to standard.

Most of the officials had to go to the countryside to collect taxes in local counties and towns and deliver various recruitment messages for the imperial court. There were many accidents on the road, and some suffered from poor physical fitness and illness due to fatigue.

The imperial court didn't care about any of these.

It's all up to everyone.

At the end of the Hongwu period, even the few buckets of grain needed for survival could not be guaranteed, and it was often distributed in the form of banknotes.

The price of Baochao: in the early years of Hongwu, one dan of rice was worth one string of Baochao; now, one dan of rice is worth fifty strings of Baochao.

"If it was just a matter of making a living, it would be fine. For those who have no land or cannot afford to buy land, there are still people who are really working hard to make a living. But later, the late emperor issued an edict - because the officials' "intentions are bad", they are not allowed to take the imperial examination. Students in the Imperial Academy who are recommended by officials are not allowed to use this as a qualification to enter the government. They can only study in the academy and pass the imperial examination."

When Old Man Zhang said this, he sighed.

"Just this one sentence destroyed all the hopes of the clerk to continue studying and making progress."

Zhu Gaochi knew what his royal grandfather was thinking, and this was indeed a dishonest thing to do.

Little money, a lot of work, and I have to take the blame.

Typically, there is no money or future.

"Yes, what else can we hope for? We can only hope for something else. As the saying goes, where there are policies from above, there are countermeasures from below. Policies are not formulated overnight, and countermeasures are not something that everyone can just do against the grain."

Old Man Zhang nodded.

"Whatever they are after, it will always be there. My royal grandfather hates officials even more. Father-in-law, can you tell me in detail what they can be greedy for?"

Zhu Gaochi understood.

This is still a game in which everyone plays back and forth.

Why are there so many people trying so hard to become a local official when this job has such an insecure status?

Over the years, everyone has studied and understood the loopholes in the policies, and the job of an official has become very popular.

Officials are also willing to use this old official with many years of experience. His entire family, several generations, have been thinking about the affairs of this small piece of land. Only they can ensure that government orders are implemented smoothly.

"Let's start with the first item."

Old Man Zhang nodded and continued speaking.

Although the monthly salary of clerks is almost nothing, they have various additional incomes.

The first additional income is called "dingshou yin", also known as "dingtou yin", which means that when an official is promoted, transferred or retired, he will recommend someone to take over.

People want to give him some money as a reward.

As the old and new dynasties replaced each other, the salary of local officials could reach thousands of gold coins.

The high-ranking officials in the capital city sometimes received salaries dozens of times higher than the amount they received in their local areas.

No matter which dynasty, there are no hereditary officials, but there are hereditary clerks.

Clerks have been immersed in official documents for generation after generation and are well versed in the rules and regulations of past lawsuits. Therefore, when their superiors ask for references to previous cases, they can easily come up with similar cases.

The judgments in these cases are often favorable to the officials' personal interests.

They are also familiar with the procedures of each department and bureau, and can always reject any unfavorable factors on the grounds of procedural irregularities.

This is the second source of extra income for officials.

Both plaintiffs and defendants in local lawsuits could escape punishment or win the case by giving bribes to officials.

Officials assigned to local areas basically have no chance of carrying out local affairs without the cooperation of senior officials. In order to gain the cooperation of senior officials, they can only allow the senior officials to accept these benefits.

Those officials from the six ministries and local officials who were said to have mastered the great classics and laws and had a formal imperial examination background were easily controlled by the clerks.

The saying "It is easy to see the King of Hell but difficult to deal with little ghosts" is exactly this truth.

As for other additional income, there are too many to list, including conscription, tax collection, land surveying, issuance of travel permits, issuance of certificates for students to go to Beijing for examinations, etc.

As long as the officials are willing, they can make money in any of these areas.

Even if a person is innocent at the beginning, as long as he is in this circle.

You have to take it even if you don’t want to.

There are also some who really don't take it, and they consider themselves to be clean. Most of these people do jobs in the government that don't pay any money, and their families are very poor.

Just like the officials in the court, the rich die rich, and the poor die poor.

Senior clerks in the capital with many years of service could even take charge of ministry affairs on behalf of their superiors. They could personally draft approval documents and submit them directly to their superiors. In most cases, the superiors would have no choice but to approve them as they were drafted, because official documents from senior clerks were rarely rejected by the officials in charge who were confused about the "established precedents."

Their homes were always crowded with visitors and they were even as wealthy as kings and nobles.

He has everything except the fact that he does not hold an official position.

"So what father-in-law means is that clerks are also the cause of official corruption?"

Zhu Gaochi knew about the relationship between the two before, but no one had ever told him in such detail all the tricks involved.

The official documents of Beijing officials are all written by senior clerks. So, what is the use of all those years of studying for the imperial examinations? Are they just a stepping stone?

"Yes. The late emperor was right. The government is corrupt."

"What if everyone's salary is increased?"

"I can't say anything about this. People are always unsatisfied. When they are hungry, they want to eat more. When they are full, they want to eat well. After eating well, they want to have fun. There is no end to it. However, some of the first measures taken by the late emperor were quite good. My father said so. I hadn't entered the government office at that time."

Old Man Zhang stood up and bowed, with admiration obvious on his face.

Although the late emperor was somewhat extreme, he did a very good job under the circumstances at that time.

Since the early Hongwu period, the late emperor had begun to support education and cultivate the children of poor families to study. The upper-middle-class students were sent directly to the Imperial College in the capital, and the lower-class students were sent to the Imperial College in Zhongdu.

The Imperial College at that time obeyed the emperor directly, and the officials trained there were the direct descendants of the previous emperor. They were not influenced by others and were extremely loyal to the previous emperor.

When the previous emperor implemented the Lijia system, the people who were sent to liaise with the grain chiefs in the counties and townships were students from the Imperial Academy.

The position of Chief of Grain, which was neither an official nor a clerk, was first created by the previous emperor.