Daming: My grandfather is Emperor Hongwu!

Chapter 160 On Greed

"Father, my son knows your heart. It's not against your harsh punishments and the killing of guilty people. What my son opposes is abuse and indiscriminate killing!"

Zhu Biao also said sincerely, "Father, think about it, after any major case in these years, people in the court were not panicked."

"People are panicking? Ha!" The old man interrupted the other party with a smile, "We killed people who didn't do anything, but those who did things are still there. Without those moths, our Ming Dynasty didn't delay the military and state affairs!"

"But in these years, there are indeed many people who have suffered innocent disasters!" Zhu Biao continued with a smile, "The country has its own laws, and the rule of the country is not like you led the army back then!"

Hearing this, the old man's expression turned a little bit bad, and he muttered, "Look, I'm starting to teach you, old man, you've only been eating for a few days!"

"Father!" Zhu Biao persuaded, "Severe punishment and strict law will rule the symptoms but not the root cause!"

"Then tell me, where is the root of government?" the old man asked.

"I wonder if the salaries of officials are too low!" Zhu Biao murmured and said, "I read history books. My salary in the Ming Dynasty has been too meager throughout the ages. An official's annual salary is only It’s just that they can support their families. But when an official is an official, he has aides and servants around him, and there are many places to spend money, so those salaries are really unsustainable!”

"Corruption because of the salary?" The old man sneered, "This argument doesn't make sense, it can't be justified! Then let me ask you, how do you explain so many high-ranking but clean officials throughout the ages!"

"We're asking you, throughout the ages, which corrupt officials stopped when they were corrupt enough?"

After hearing this, Zhu Xiongying thought to himself, the old man's words really made some sense.People are greedy, and no official will selectively withdraw his hands after reaching out for benefits.It's all about small corruption leading to big corruption, and big corruption turning into huge corruption.

"Big grandson, tell me, is this the reason?" The old man suddenly asked Zhu Xiongying.

"Grandson thinks what Grandpa Huang said is true!" Zhu Xiongying said, "Salary is not the reason for corruption, nor is it the reason for not doing things, nor is it the reason for abusing power!" Then he paused, "Just Taking these cases as an example, when Zhang Kangnian participated in the selection of officials by the Ministry of Officials, the people from the Hanlin Academy who helped him speak for Xiang Xiang were all from wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River, and they purely used their power for personal gain."

"There is also the case of the small official of the Ministry of Criminal Justice who is involved in the case of the small official of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. If it is purely for the sake of the other people who have lived and received some benefits in private, they would have stopped a long time ago, and Jin Yiwei would not have tried many cases. Old things come!"

"Besides, people's greed is boundless. The rich just want to be richer, and the right also wants to be more powerful. It doesn't make sense for my grandson to say that the salary is an excuse for officials to break the law!"

"Look!" The old man grinned, "Biao'er, a child, can see better than you!"

As he said that, the old man sighed, "Let's not talk about far away, let's talk about Dayuan. Officials also have little salary, so they desperately searched for the common people. But wherever we led the army, there was no official, because the salary given by the imperial court was too small. Just the family has no money. Instead, if you find a family at random, it will be a mountain of gold and silver!"

"Let's talk about the former Song Dynasty. The old son of the Zhao family emperor was very kind to the civil servants, and he gave the high-ranking officials a lot of money. But what about them, aren't they just as greedy? Not only greedy, but also fighting with each other, making troubles Miasma!"

"Officials are all the same. No matter how high salaries we give them, they still use power for personal gain and are greedy. So why give them so much money when we are full?"

"Let's put it bluntly. Don't come to be an official because you think the salary we give you is too low! They don't rush to come, they are officials, they have power, they are high above them, and they are in charge of the life and death of the people. I don't think so. Satisfied, but also wants to be ostentatious, well-clothed and well-fed, and rich.”

"If you don't want to say that our salary is low?" The old man rubbed his big hands, "How much money is enough for the kind of living they want? How much is the annual tax of the Ming Dynasty? To put it this way, we collect money from the common people. Those who come here are not enough to fill them!"

"Let's not talk about this first, let's talk about those bad officials. Just like this time, the officials involved in the case of the Zhou family in Changshu. The death row prisoners are locked up in prison, and the family can send women in to conceive children. It's our fault. Is the salary given low?"

"This means having power and no bottom line in doing things. Losing the prestige of the country and enriching yourself with power!"

"There are still so many officials who pretend not to know. They took our salary and pretended not to see it, or it was convenient for them all the way. Can you blame us for the low salary?"

"In the final analysis, it's just two words, people's hearts!"

As he said that, the old man sighed, "We didn't kill people, we killed people's hearts! We wanted to kill all the greed of the world's officials and leave a clean country."

"These people, if you don't want to criticize them. It's useless for them to reprimand and punish them with a file!"

"But you also know!" Zhu Biao said, "This kind of thing can never be killed!"

"Killing is definitely not a reason not to kill!" The old man said seriously, "Not killing is to condone and raise traitors! And the more you raise them, the bigger they are. If you don't kill them here, they will come to you in the future." Then he pointed to Zhu Xiongying, "If you don't kill him, then there will be no officials in the world who will not be corrupt, no officials will not be faint, and no officials will not be tyrannical!"

"At that time, even if you want to cure it, you won't be able to cure it!"

"We can't control how other people become emperors. When we become emperors, we just say that if you can't do it, you can't do it! If you do something that can't be done, you will lose your head!"

"Instead of being a sage and wise king in the mouth of those corrupt officials, we would rather be a villain in their mouth. In this way, the country can last long, the country can be stable, and the people can suffer less grievances!"

"Father!" Zhu Biao persuaded again, "But there is no such thing as you. The prison of the Zhenfu Division is overcrowded. The cruel officials you use are still trying to arrest people for crimes!"

Saying this, he sighed, "It's always bad to kill too many people!"

Zhu Biao is the crown prince educated by literati and bureaucrats, he has a soft heart, and considering the overall situation, it is indeed not advisable to kill blindly.

But the old man was born at the bottom, and what he hates the most in his life is corrupt officials, and what he hates the most are officials who are superior and enjoy power.

Zhu Biao is out of the ruler's consideration.

The old man, on the other hand, is pure and somewhat extreme on the side of the common people.

"Stop talking about that!" Empress Ma said, "Boss hasn't recovered yet, you two are just talking about these things! Talking and talking, you're going to choke again!"

"The emperor's grandpa and grandson have an idea!" Zhu Xiongying pondered for a moment, "Let my father preside over these cases. From tomorrow onwards, we will send all the testimonials and statements to my father. He will be the judge. How will the sentence be judged?"

Zhu Biao's eyes lit up, "This is a good idea, my ministers will come to judge, and I will handle it according to the court's law!"

But the old man thought for a while, shook his head and said, "No, you are too soft-hearted. If the officials think you are easy to bully, this will become the norm in the future!" He said with a smile, "This time, we will judge , infamy, or anything else, we all carry it on our own!"

(End of this chapter)