Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Eunuchs in the inner court, regardless of their rank, received no salary.

According to Taizu's regulations, only one stone of rice could be withdrawn from the government every month.

So strictly speaking, any eunuch who has private property can be said to be guilty of corruption.

Otherwise, they would not be able to accumulate much wealth, nor would they be able to buy property outside the palace.

This is also the reason why Zhu Youjian did not punish Wang Chengen much after he pleaded guilty.

If he punished even a loyal eunuch like Wang Chengen, the other eunuchs would be insecure and no one would be willing to serve him.

However, this situation obviously cannot be left unchecked. Zhu Youjian was worried that they might ruin state affairs for their own selfish reasons due to corruption and bribery, so he planned to impose strict restrictions and take control of this area.

But first the eunuchs must be paid a salary so that they have no reason to engage in corruption or bribery.

Zhu Youjian asked Wang Chengen:
"How much money is left in the inner treasury now?"

"Can we pay the eunuchs in the palace according to their ranks?"

Wang Chengen replied:

"This year, the internal treasury is roughly balanced, with a surplus of more than 2 million, just like last year."

"After cleaning up the remnants of the traitors, there were about 600 eunuchs and female officials of high rank in the two capitals, and a total of 8,000 to 9,000 palace maids."

"If everyone is paid according to their rank, it would cost about 150,000 to 160,000 shi per year."

"Among them, the salary of the rank-bearing personnel is about 60,000 dan, and the salary of the non-rank-bearing personnel is only one dan of rice per month, which requires about 100,000 dan."

Fifteen thousand shi is not a small number, but Zhu Youjian felt he could afford it.

The donation price for hereditary knighthood was 150,000 koku. If the salary was not enough, one could find a wealthy person with leverage to force him to donate the knighthood.

So Zhu Youjian said:
"Let the Internal Affairs Bureau compile a list of names. From now on, the Internal Affairs Bureau will pay salaries to all palace staff."

"In addition to the monthly stipend of one dan of rice, the eunuchs were also paid in silver taels according to their rank."

"Just open an account at Shuntian Bank and transfer the annual salary to their account at the end of the year."

This is equivalent to paying out the original amount in full, and also increasing the salary, because the price of one stone of grain is less than one tael now.

However, this method of salary payment also requires less work. The Imperial Household Supervisor only needs to transfer the salary to the internal officials' accounts at the end of the year.

The highest rank of an eunuch was the fourth rank, with an annual salary of two hundred and eighty-eight taels.

Although this income is not high, it is definitely enough to support life.

If they still engaged in corruption after receiving their salaries, Zhu Youjian would have the confidence to punish them.

Wang Chengen hadn't figured out the hidden meaning yet, but Zhu Youjian would make him understand. And he would use him to tell everyone in the palace -

From now on, they will no longer be people without salaries. The emperor’s requirements will be stricter and they will be treated as officials.

In addition to the eunuchs and female officials, there were about three thousand palace maids and more than five thousand eunuchs. These people had no rank, and because their number was too large, even if they were paid one stone of salary per month, at least 100,000 stones of grain would be needed.

If the monthly salary is increased by half a tael for each level, more would be needed, probably about three or four hundred thousand taels of silver.

Zhu Youjian was unwilling to spend so much money on them, and after thinking about it, he said:

"The palace staff needs to be reduced. Each prison and palace should report the number of people they need. Those who are not needed will be placed outside the palace in the future."

"The Imperial Household Department will establish a service group with various service companies under it to be responsible for hosting banquets, renovating gardens, washing clothes, etc."

"These people can only enter the palace when needed. Usually they work outside the palace and can serve others."

"Service companies are responsible for their own profits and losses, and must pay out at least half of their profits as dividends."

He planned to release the eunuchs who were not often used and let them support themselves.

If a company is not doing well, just replace the management.

Zhu Youjian believed that as long as conditions permitted, the nobles and ministers in the capital would be willing to work for the service company of the Imperial Household Department.

Apart from other things, when female family members go out, if there are service personnel from the Imperial Household Department accompanying them, not only will the family members feel more at ease, but it will also avoid a lot of trouble.

The only thing to be wary of is that this will allow outsiders to get to know more eunuchs and servants, increasing the risk of collusion between internal and external forces.

In the future, we need to strengthen the scrutiny of people in the palace to reduce this risk.

Wang Chengen understood what the emperor meant, but he was still very happy.

Because of this, the number of eunuchs under the Imperial Household Department will increase greatly, making it the largest department in the inner court.

So he agreed without hesitation and planned to promote this matter.

Zhu Youjian asked him again:

"According to your estimate, after the personnel are divided up like this, how many people without ranks will need to be left behind in the palace?"

Wang Chengen made a rough calculation and said:

"If you want to be more demanding, just leave a thousand people in the palace."

"But if everyone shares the burden, it will be too heavy and mistakes will be easy to occur. I think it is better to leave 3,000 people behind."

"During the reigns of Zhengde, Jiajing and Wanli, there were often 12,000 to 13,000 people in the palaces of the two capitals."

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, agreeing with his statement.

There are eight or nine thousand rooms in the palace. If too few people are left, not only will everyone have too much work to do, but it will also seem unpopular.

In addition, Zhu Youjian needed to completely separate some of the palace personnel from the outside world, so he ordered:
"The number of unranked palace personnel will be set at 3,000 from now on, and it must not exceed this number." "All eunuchs over fifty years old who have not been ranked will be sent out to serve outside the palace."

"For those who really need to be kept, they can be given additional official titles."

"Maidens over the age of 25 who have no rank should also be released."

"Those who are willing to go home can go home, and those who are unwilling to go home will be arranged to work by the Imperial Household Supervisor."

"I will arrange for the unmarried soldiers in the various garrisons to have blind dates with these palace maids."

The civil officials have always regarded the policy of keeping palace maids of marriageable age in the palace and not allowing them to marry as a bad policy.

In all dynasties, the act of releasing palace ladies was regarded as a good deed.

Zhu Youjian needed to win people's hearts, and he didn't want to see resentful old palace maids in the palace often, so he established a system to release all palace maids over the age of 25.

While they are still young, they go on blind dates with unmarried soldiers.

This would also strengthen the connection between the emperor and the soldiers of the garrison and increase personal relationships.

However, Wang Chengen was not optimistic and said with some embarrassment:

"What if these palace maids are released and reveal the palace's secrets?"

"And some of the palace maids were once favored by the previous emperor."

Zhu Youjian was somewhat surprised and said:
"Don't the palace maids favored by the late emperor have any rank?"

"Check the relevant records and treat them accordingly."

"The other palace maids will be trained before being sent out, and warned not to disclose palace affairs."

"Those who truly know the secrets can be made ladies-in-waiting and continue to stay in the palace."

Let someone tell Empress Zhang to determine the rank of the palace maids once favored by the late emperor and place them together with the late emperor's concubines.

The Palace Administration Office was also asked to determine the levels of secrecy of the affairs that various palace maids were responsible for, and those who truly knew the secrets or were indispensable to the palace would be given ranks and allowed to stay.

When assigning jobs to palace maids in the future, we should ask them about their intentions, and let those palace maids who are willing to stay in the palace and have the potential to become female officials be responsible for confidential matters.

Ordinary palace maids were released when they reached the age of twenty-five.

This would add some higher-ranking personnel to the palace, but after the drastic reduction in the number of palace personnel, Zhu Youjian would be able to afford their salaries.

According to estimates, if the number of personnel with certain ranks increases to one thousand, about twelve thousand dan of granary rice and one hundred thousand taels of silver will be needed each year.

If the three thousand eunuchs and palace maids were given one dan of rice per month, they would need 36,000 dan per year. If they were given only monthly rice from the lowest level, and each level up increased their monthly salary by half a tael of silver, they would also need about 100,000 taels per year.

According to this estimate, the annual salary for all the staff in the palace would require about 50,000 shi of grain and 200,000 taels of silver.

The actual number may be lower because there are not many high-ranking people in the palace now.

However, welfare such as clothing also had to be taken into consideration. Zhu Youjian asked Wang Chengen to make a budget based on this figure. If there was an overspending, he would ask the Internal Affairs Bureau to cut staff and save expenses in the palace.

Zhu Youjian also asked Wang Chengen to report the expenses of the various government offices and palaces in the inner court. In the future, the expenses of the palace must be budgeted and settled.

When Wang Chengen heard that the emperor only mentioned the palace, he asked:
"What about the personnel sent outside the palace?"

"Do you want to pay salaries according to rank?"

Zhu Youjian shook his head slightly and said:
"One bushel of rice is paid every month, and the rest depends on the company's revenue and personal ability."

"When they are sent out, they have to make a living on their own. Just provide them with basic security, and they have to fight for the rest on their own."

Thinking of the dividends he gave to senior executives at Dongning Company, Zhu Youjian continued:

"The outstanding eunuchs working in the Imperial Household Department can be promoted to serve as managers in subordinate enterprises."

"They are treated as senior executives and participate in the 2 percent executive bonus."

"At the same time, the Imperial Household Department must calculate the profits of all subordinate industries every year. In addition to the 2% dividends for senior executives, it must also give 3% to the fourth and fifth rank eunuchs in the inner court."

"In addition to participating in the dividends for senior executives, the eunuchs serving in the Imperial Household Department also participate in the dividends for the inner court eunuchs together with the eunuchs who hold seals in each department and the eunuchs who hold pens in the Imperial Household Department, and they take the highest tier, while the rest of the eunuchs get a reduction based on their rank."

"Go back and calculate carefully how much profit the Imperial Household Department has made this year and how much dividends it can give out."

"The senior eunuchs in the inner court should have a legitimate income so that they can maintain a decent appearance."

Zhu Youjian had this idea because he knew that even if he paid the eunuchs in the inner court a salary, they would feel it was too low and might continue to be corrupt.

In order to curb their greed and allow them to make money through formal channels, he decided to treat these people as part of the royal consortium and share in the profits.

In this way, if there are still people who are not satisfied, don't blame him for being ruthless. Clean up these people later.

Moreover, the eunuchs from various prisons can participate in the dividend distribution of the Imperial Household Department, which can make them more cooperative with the Imperial Household Department's work and make the Imperial Household Department the core in making money.

It can also make these senior eunuchs take the initiative to strengthen the supervision of the inner palace industry to prevent the dividends they should get from being embezzled by low-ranking eunuchs.

If the profits of the industries under the Imperial Household Supervision are not good in a certain year, these people will take the initiative to find ways to request personnel replacement.

Wang Chengen didn't know what the emperor was thinking. After hearing this, he was already in tears of gratitude.

In his opinion, the emperor gave dividends to the eunuchs in order to keep them respectable.

The source was that he had accepted gifts before, which the emperor believed was that he needed money to maintain his dignity.

This made him extremely grateful to the emperor and he felt that the emperor was being considerate of him.

Thinking of the emperor's promise to make him the prime minister, he made up his mind to follow the emperor's rules and not accept gifts carelessly. (End of this chapter)