Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1005 1000 [Officials’ Salary Increase]

The meeting in front of the emperor was attended by the top leaders of the cabinet and the government.

Although the bigwigs in the court seemed to have a positive attitude, they were actually not in a very good mood.

The investigation of this major corruption case is getting wider and wider. Although the number of officials punished is far less than that of Zhu Guoxiang, more middle and senior officials have been caught this time.

Even Zhang Guangdao and Li Bao's former subordinates, six of whom were beheaded because of the Ningxia rebellion and subsequent corruption of military funds, were also found. More than 20 mid- and low-ranking officers were stripped of their military power and exiled with their families to Shazhou and Guazhou to serve as soldiers.

Zhu Ming said: "Compared to the former Song Dynasty, the salaries of Ming officials are not low. Even the salaries of county officials and below are far higher than those of the former Song Dynasty! Of course, you are all important officials, and your life is definitely not as glorious as that of the former Song Dynasty."

"The salary is enough." Li Hanzhang said on behalf of everyone.

Did the civil servants in the Song Dynasty live a comfortable life?

Of course not. To be precise, only high-ranking officials and corrupt officials lived a comfortable life in the Song Dynasty.

For the middle and lower classes in the Song Dynasty, as prices continued to rise for a hundred years and the income from official land was converted into money, if they did not engage in corruption, they would be really poor - it would be no problem if they were alone, but it would be difficult if they had to support a family and servants.

Wang Anshi used these ten words to evaluate the living conditions of county officials: "Even the living expenses are still very limited."

Even poorer are the middle and low-level officials working in big cities.

Especially for officials in the capital, prices are frighteningly high and rent is a huge expense.

The huge burden of official salaries in the Song Dynasty came mainly from senior officials and redundant officials. A large number of redundant officials were mostly empty positions, only receiving salaries but not doing any work. There were also senior officials who received several salaries, each of which was shockingly high.

In the new Ming Dynasty, redundant officials were eliminated and were only allowed to receive one salary, and the treatment of senior officials was reduced.

At the same time, the salaries of middle and low-level officials and regular clerks were increased.

Take the county magistrate for example.

The official salary of a county magistrate in the Ming Dynasty was more than three times that of a county magistrate in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Of course, the welfare subsidies of the county magistrates in the Northern Song Dynasty were greater. If all the benefits were added up, the overall income of the county magistrates in the Ming Dynasty was two-thirds more than that of the county magistrates in the Northern Song Dynasty.

It’s a high salary for sure, but it’s hard to maintain integrity; it can only make the lives of honest officials better.

Zhu Ming knocked on the table and said, "There have been natural disasters in recent years, and grain prices have risen. We will raise salaries again. Officials of the fourth rank and above will have their monthly salaries increased by 10 guan. Officials of the fifth to seventh rank will have their monthly salaries increased by 5 guan. Officials of the eighth to ninth rank will have their monthly salaries increased by 3 guan. Officials in the Ministry of Personnel will have their monthly salaries increased by 1 guan."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

All the ministers were delighted and fired their arrows in unison and sang praises.

Although they don't care about the extra 10 strings of cash every month, who doesn't like a salary increase?

The salary increase of senior officials is much higher, while that of junior officials is less. This is not because Zhu Ming neglects the grassroots, but because there are fewer senior officials, so even if the salary increase is higher, it will not be much.

Officials below the seventh rank are the ones who pay the most in salary, and the amount is so much. Even though the monthly salary increase is only 3 guan and 1 guan, the overall increase in salary is countless times more than that for senior officials!
Zhu Ming continued, "The county fare for the food-saving fiefdom has increased from 30 coins to 50 coins."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the lords present smiled.

The Ming Dynasty continued the previous Song Dynasty. The fief was purely an honor, and the actual fief was given with a little money.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the monthly salary of a household was 25 wen. In the Ming Dynasty, it was increased to 30 wen per household, and now it has been increased to 50 wen, which is equivalent to doubling the salary in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Take Yue Fei for example. He now has 2800 households under his fiefdom, and can receive 140 coins per month, which is about 140 strings of cash. In addition, there are also the salaries of a marquis, which are given according to his rank. In addition, there are also military salaries, which are given according to his rank.

Excluding various welfare subsidies, adding up the titles, salaries, and military salaries, Yue Fei's total monthly salary was about 900 guan.

Is this less?
That’s already a lot!
Although senior civil servants were no longer allowed to receive double salary, they would receive additional salary if they were promoted.

For example, the three masters, the three juniors, the pillars of the country, the special promotion, etc., no matter how many promotions there are, only one will be given, and the salary will be paid according to the highest promotion. In addition, if a civil official also has a title, it cannot be received together with the promotion salary, and the salary will be paid according to the higher rank.

In other words, senior military officers receive official salaries and titles, and senior civil servants receive official salaries and additional titles, and they can actually receive double salaries.

There were not many civil servants and military officers who received double salaries, so the corresponding financial expenditure of the court was not large, and it allowed senior civil and military officials to live a wealthy and prestigious life.

After Qin Hui was promoted to a special rank, he was able to receive double salary, and his total income was higher than Yue Fei's!

Now, Zhu Ming is increasing the official salaries and the allowances. It is nothing more than a beating followed by a sweet reward to appease the hearts of civil and military officials all over the world.

The reason for the overall increase in salaries is that the iron money in Sichuan and Shaanxi has been basically recovered, and the court no longer needs to subsidize Sichuan's finances. Starting next year, the court will issue an order: in the next three years, if you continue to use iron money to pay taxes, the iron money can only account for half of the tax payable by the household. After three years, the iron money will be completely invalidated and the government will no longer collect iron money when collecting taxes.

After arresting dozens of gangs that privately minted iron coins, no one dared to use iron coins to fleece the government.

If you dare to do that, you will be punished with a family bucket meal. All the male members of the main offender's family will be beheaded. The female members of the main offender's family and the entire family of the accomplices will be exiled to southern Sichuan and Guizhou.

The cumulative number of people who have been implicated and exiled for privately casting iron coins has exceeded five thousand!
Zhu Ming was still speaking alone: ​​"I know that you have been complaining that the relatives of the guilty officials are implicated too heavily. Everyone is responsible for their own actions, why do you also implicate parents and brothers? Today I will tell you clearly, one is to reverse the corruption left over from the former Song Dynasty, and the other is to force those officials from big families to divide their property."

The ministers participating in the meeting didn't know how to respond.

"Generally speaking, the corruption that has plagued the Ming Dynasty for more than a decade has been curbed. Although there are still corrupt officials everywhere, at least they dare not expose themselves openly," Zhu Ming said. "This time there is an official named Li Yu, the father-in-law of Qin Hui's brother-in-law. He is an honest official. Because his eldest and second sons committed evil, in order not to affect his youngest son's career, he actually committed suicide in the prison of the Ministry of Justice!"

Li Gang sat up straight immediately; he had witnessed this incident with his own eyes.

Zhu Ming continued, "Now that the corruption has been curbed, the Ming Dynasty Code should be amended to prevent such things from happening again. When a person commits a serious crime, only his parents, wife, and children will be implicated, not his brothers. Of course, when recovering the stolen goods, the family home must be confiscated, and if the brothers do not separate, then the family home will be confiscated together."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Hu Anguo quickly flattered the emperor. He always felt that the law of collective responsibility was too severe and made many officials suspicious.

Now it’s okay, my brothers won’t be implicated.

As long as you are an honest official, you don't have to worry about being implicated for no reason because your brothers break the law.

Cancelling the rule of joint punishment for brothers is Zhu Ming's real compensation to Li Qiu. By amending the Ming Dynasty Code because of Li Qiu's suicide, officials all over the world can be grateful to Li Qiu.

Zhu Ming said, "Parents, wives, and children will still be implicated by corrupt officials in the future. You officials should keep this in mind. Also, write into the Ming Dynasty Code that if the princes, princesses, and grandchildren break the law, they will be punished the same as common people. If they commit serious crimes, their parents will not be implicated."

When these words were spoken, all the ministers were shocked.

Based on their understanding of this emperor, as long as it was written into the "Great Ming Law", the princes and princesses would really be punished!
Of course, when it comes to actual implementation, no one would dare to actually investigate.

Unless a prince or princess has caused such trouble that he or she has incurred the wrath of heaven and man, the censor will report the truth to the emperor.

It was an ordinary case. Who was crazy enough to investigate the princes and princesses?

The ministers' minds were working rapidly. This article was written into the "Great Ming Code" for three purposes: first, to show the attitude to the people of the world; second, to restrain the princes and princesses; third, to provide a legal basis for dealing with the notorious royal family at a critical moment.

The meeting ended and the ministers returned to their respective offices.

They actually want to remove the practice of punishing corrupt officials’ parents as well, but they have to do it step by step.

It was already a big step forward that the brothers were no longer implicated. Moreover, the emperor took the initiative to make concessions, so there was no need to create more trouble at a time like this.

Hu Anguo sighed, "The Qin and Wang families have become notorious this time. I heard that next month's "Da Ming Monthly Report" will detail their crimes. People all over the world will know that these two families are corrupt and law-breaking."

"It's a pity for Li Qiu," Chen Dong said, "He was an honest official, but he actually committed suicide to protect his young son's career."

Li Hanzhang said: "This man will definitely be included in the biography of famous officials of the Ming Dynasty. Because of him, the Ming Dynasty Law was revised, and finally his brothers no longer have to be implicated."

Pan Lianggui said:

"Your Majesty's harsh laws and punishments are not an impulse, but have a deep meaning. Just like the arrogant and domineering military men in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the trend must be reversed in the early Song Dynasty. Your Majesty's harsh laws and punishments for corrupt officials are also to reverse the corruption trend of the early Song Dynasty."

"Correcting a wrong must be done in an extreme way, otherwise it will be difficult to reverse. But after the trend has been reversed, it is still being corrected. The former Song Dynasty did not correct the trend, which led to the decline of military power. With your majesty's wisdom and bravery, can't he see the harm of harsh laws and punishments? The trend of corruption has been curbed, and harsh laws and punishments will gradually be withdrawn."

"Li Qiao was just an excuse. Even without Li Qiao, there would still be Zhang Qiao and Liu Qiao. This time, the punishment of brothers was cancelled. Next time, the punishment of parents will be cancelled."

Wei Liangchen said: "The punishment of implicating parents may be abolished, but the punishment of wives and children will probably continue. Otherwise, how can we deter corrupt officials?"

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Wei Liangchen's statement.

He Su didn't want to talk about this, and smacked his lips and said, "What do you think? If there are no more disasters, will the alcohol restriction be lifted? The price of rice wine has become increasingly expensive, and there is a limit, and I can't afford much with my monthly salary. Those liquors are too strong, I really can't get used to them."

"Hahaha," Qian Chen laughed, "I'm not used to drinking baijiu either. But even if the alcohol restriction is lifted, baijiu will definitely become popular, just like stir-fried tea replaced steamed tea. Baijiu is not only cheap, but also can be stored longer. Ordinary people are more willing to drink it."

As the ministers chatted, they turned the topic to wine and tea, and seemed to have completely forgotten about this year's major corruption case.

(I recommend the book "Uncle of the Poor Family" by Tianzi Dashen. Lao Wang grew up reading the books of Tianzi Dashen.)
(End of this chapter)