"Brother Zhu, do you know how much rice one tael of silver can buy in Taizu's time, and how much rice one tael of silver can buy now?"

Seeing the "painful" expression on the little fat man's face, Wang Bing couldn't help but be speechless.

Speaking of which, if we look at the figures purely, although the salary standards for officials set by Emperor Taizu were not high, it was still no problem to support their families and maintain a more decent life.

After all, even the lowest ninth-grade official has a salary of sixty dan this year, which can be converted into thirty-three taels of silver.

But don’t forget, that was during the Hongwu period. For example, during the Yongle period in the early Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy seven or eight shi of rice in Nanjing. But two hundred years later, one tael of silver now can only buy two shi of rice.

Therefore, in the face of prices that have increased three to four times, salaries are still the same as when the country was founded. Doesn’t this force people to engage in corruption?

In fact, although Wang Bing admires and respects an upright official like Hai Rui very much, Wang Bing's requirements for officials' integrity are not that high.

In his opinion, as long as they are officials who are really doing practical things for the court and the people, it is really not a big deal if they are a little greedy, as long as they are not excessive.

After all, the official income of the Ming Dynasty officials was too low in terms of legal income. Not only compared with the Song Dynasty, which had high-paying officials, but also compared with the later pig-tail dynasty in original history.

But the problem is that the determination of this ‘degree’ is completely based on the conscience of the official. But for the official, conscience is nothing!

Therefore, Wang Bing thought of returning to the imperial court through a 'salary increase', which completely depended on the officials' 'conscience'.

"Third brother, I also know that prices are definitely much higher now than during Taizu's time. But do you know how many officials there are in Ming Dynasty now? Almost 90,000 people! If this increases the salary, not to mention too much, each person only has only

If you add ten taels of silver, how much additional expenses will you have to spend this year?"

Finally, seeing the speechless expression on Wang Bing's face, the little fat man could only endure the pain in his body and reluctantly offered a "sky-high" price of ten taels of silver.

"Brother Zhu, after all, you are also the emperor of our Ming Dynasty, and you can handle it even if you lose ten taels of silver. And you still want people to be grateful to you for only ten taels of silver? Dream on!"

Seeing the little fat man's painful expression, Wang Bing couldn't help but look over with a mocking expression.

"Then how much more do you want? Besides, what's the point of asking them to be grateful? They can't eat or drink!"

For the sake of money, the little fat man didn't care at all about Wang Bing's ridicule.

"Brother Zhu, if I say there is a way to increase officials' salaries, the revenue of the treasury will not only not decrease, but will increase, will you do it?"

…

"Dear ministers, I have 'several' memorials here. You should take a look at them and come up with a solution... This can be regarded as the last major event in the twenty-sixth year of Wanli!"

On the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, the last court meeting in the twenty-sixth year of Wanli, the little fat man took out the more than one hundred copies of the "Petitions" of Jiangnan officials and gentry that Wang Bing had brought back, and distributed them to all the courtiers.

It was different from the past where such major issues were discussed with the cabinet in advance and then discussed at the court meeting. This time, the little fat man did not communicate with several cabinet ministers in advance.

Needless to say, the reason for this is to weaken the power of the cabinet.

"Your Majesty, this, this is..."

After looking at the hundreds of petitions imploring the imperial court to implement the idea of ​​"officials and gentry all paying their bills together", the expressions on the faces of all the civil servants in the court, including Shen Shixing, the cabinet minister who had just assumed the position of chief minister, were wonderful.

.

There was no way. Previously, all the civil servants had finally withstood the pressure and temporarily pressed the issue of "officials and gentry all paying the rations and serving as errands". However, they did not expect that now someone would come under the cauldron and directly give away the 'crystal'

Okay, can this not be shocking?

"This is the loyalty and patriotism of the Jiangnan gentry. Our Ming Dynasty still has loyal ministers who understand justice!"

Looking at the shocked civil servants, the little fat man felt as if he had eaten an iced watermelon in the dog days of summer. He was so happy!

'Nima, you are still loyal to the emperor and patriotic. It would be strange if they were loyal to the emperor and patriotic. I don't know how they got it!'

Upon hearing the little fat man's overtly complimentary and covertly derogatory behavior, all the civil servants couldn't help but complain in their hearts.

"Your Majesty is absolutely right!"

It's just that although everyone is complaining secretly in their hearts, it is just a slander, but no one dares to stand up and sing the opposite at this time.

"Do you think the time has come for this matter of 'officials and gentry working together to pay for their duties'?"

Finally, looking at these civil servants who could only slander in their hearts but did not dare to refute at all on their faces, the little fat man also struck while the iron was hot and started asking questions without delay.

"Your Majesty, since this matter of 'officials and gentry working together to pay rations and serve as errands' is what everyone expects, then... then the imperial court can fully implement it as a supplement to the new policy..."

Yes, how can we not be ‘mature’? This fortress has been breached, so the immature must become mature, right?

Therefore, it is no surprise that the matter of "officials and gentry paying the rations and serving as errands" was unanimously approved at the last court meeting in the 26th year of Wanli.

"In that case, the matter is settled. In the coming year, this method will be fully implemented in the two capitals, thirteen provinces, and Liaodong. As for the three provinces in Nanyang, the status quo will be maintained for the time being, and it will be implemented again when the time is right!"

In the end, the little fat man made the final decision and made the decision to implement "officials and gentry will pay grain and serve as errands" in all the Ming Dynasty except for the three provinces in Nanyang that have not yet been "formed".

"In addition, I observe that the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty are still the standards of Taizu's era, but today's prices are no longer what they were two hundred years ago... However, the salary standards of officials are the ancestral system set by Taizu, and I cannot violate them.

Therefore, I have decided to add nine grades and a total of eighteen levels of silver to support integrity in addition to the salary. What do you think?"

Just when all the officials were still secretly complaining about the matter of "officials and gentlemen all paying for themselves and serving as errands", the little fat man unexpectedly gave everyone a big surprise, an increase in salary!

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Suddenly I heard that the salary that had not been increased in two hundred years was going to be increased. Even if the officials in the court did not rely on that salary to support their families, who would be unhappy about the salary increase?

Therefore, when faced with the little fat man's inquiry, this time, regardless of whether they were civil or military, they all shouted in unison, "Your Majesty is wise."

"Haha, it seems that all of you have no objections to this matter of raising honest silver, so this matter is settled!"

Looking at the smiling civil and military officials in the court, the little fat man couldn't help but smile with pride, and settled on the matter of raising Lian Yin.

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