Anyone who has received benefits from the company knows that they feel that they don’t have much, and it only costs one or two hundred yuan per day. But when you take the things back and sign for confirmation in the future, you suddenly find that those things are actually Worth six to seven hundred.
Officials' salaries are not much, and if they are exploited through such various channels, it can really make people cry. That was really tearful. After the salary was distributed, there were more than one or two officials who resigned and carried pepper and other useless things to sell on the streets in exchange for food.
That is to say, this phenomenon began to end only after Han Du reprinted the treasure banknotes and issued all the treasure banknotes to the officials in the capital.
However, due to the ingenuity of the new treasure notes and their extremely strong credibility, a large number of people were willing to purchase the treasure notes at high prices in the beginning in order to make profits. That period of time can be said to be the most comfortable period that officials in the capital have lived in the past few years. And even now, treasure money is still the hardest currency in the Ming Dynasty. Many vendors prefer collecting treasure notes to money.
So even though Han Du offended almost all the six departments, many officials still have a good impression of Han Du.
Zhu Biao saw that his father had nothing to say, so he immediately stood up and added fuel to the fire: "My son, I beg your father to increase the salary of all officials. Only when all officials can be fed and clothed can they serve the Ming Dynasty better. With the current situation, The price of food is such that five guan of money can’t even afford three stones of rice, and hundreds of officials cannot make ends meet, how can they serve the court?”
At this time, Zhu Biao also understood Han Du's purpose. It is obviously not a very difficult thing to persuade the emperor to give up pursuing the officials. But Han Du took a different approach and talked about the issue of low official salaries, and he produced solid evidence.
Since the salary given to officials by the imperial court is indeed too low, then the guilt of Guo Huan and others will not be so heavy. You know, when Guo Huan was in the court and his father asked him why he stole and sold official grain, the reason he gave was that "the salary is too low and there is no hope of buying land in his lifetime."
If Zhu Biao can understand things, how can Lao Zhu not understand? "So, those corrupt officials are justified, but I treated them harshly?" Lao Zhu suddenly said
He shouted loudly, and Zhu Biao's face trembled in fright.
Han Du, on the other hand, still looked at Lao Zhu without changing his expression. Not only that, he also asked Lao Zhu: "Your Majesty, do you think there have been more corrupt officials or more honest officials since ancient times?"
"Do you need to say this? In this world, honest officials are as rare as a feather, and corrupt officials in the world are like the sand of the Yellow River." Lao Zhu roared loudly, "It is precisely because of this that I have to severely punish corrupt officials, in order to warn the officials in the world, so that They dare not reach out easily.”
Han Du did not argue with Lao Zhu about the usefulness of his warning to officials, but directly shook his head and said: "No! In the eyes of the minister, there are as many honest officials as corrupt officials. Honest officials are rare, and corrupt officials are also rare. The remaining officials In fact, they are no different from ordinary people. They also have parents, wives and children to support, and brothers and sisters to take care of."
"Your Majesty, money is a hero's courage. If an official cannot earn enough money to support his family, even if his family won't say anything about him, they themselves will regret that they have no ability. Your Majesty has seen with his own eyes that the people have no food. At that time, anything can be done, but what I want to say is that the same is true for officials. People die for money and birds die for food. When the time comes, let alone peeling daylilies, no matter how cruel the punishment is , can’t stop them from craving for a bite of food.”
In a few years, when officials could no longer rely on their salaries to support themselves, they began to embezzle public money. Even if Lao Zhu frantically raised the butcher knife, he could not stop the officials from embezzling money. Because too many officials were killed, there was no one to handle government affairs. There have even been cases where officials were put in chains after being questioned and had to interrogate the prisoners in the hall before being taken away to be questioned.
Although Lao Zhu's intention to kill all corrupt officials in the world has not changed at all, it is actually a farce, a farce caused by Lao Zhu himself.
Although Lao Zhu was dissatisfied, he had to admit that what Han Du said made sense. Officials are human beings too. What will happen if a person goes crazy from hunger? It really means that you can do anything and eat anything in one bite.
"I..." Lao Zhu retorted deliberately. He was not too harsh on the officials.
As for what would happen. But then I thought about what the prince said just now, that with a salary of five dollars a month, I am afraid that I can't even buy three stones of rice now. In other words, the current monthly salary of officials cannot even guarantee food for the whole family.
"So, do you also think that Guo Huan and others are not guilty, and I am the only one who is guilty?" Lao Zhu bared his teeth and looked at Han Du with a sneer.
Han Du shook his head and retorted, "No, I think Guo Huan and others deserve their punishment."
Lao Zhu glanced at Han Du in surprise, suddenly laughed, and asked: "How come they deserve it? Tell me."
"I just said that officials can do anything for food, but Guo Huan and others are no longer just about eating. More than 7 million stones of official grain were stolen and sold. Even if they eat it for a lifetime, they will still have to eat it." Not that much." Han Du said with a normal expression.
After hearing this, Lao Zhu nodded with satisfaction, turned to Zhu Biao and said, "Have you heard that Guo Huan and others are motivated by greed? Do you still want to intercede for them?"
Although Zhu Biao was kind, he was not weak. He faced his father and said, "I dare not intercede for Guo Huan and others. I can also ask my father to pardon those officials who are just doing business, or to reduce their guilt."
Lao Zhu sighed after hearing this, stood up and walked between Zhu Biao and Han Du, saying: "Biao'er, do you know how terrible this corruption is? It's like a dog raised at home. If a dog doesn't see human blood, When he was young, he was a good dog. But as long as this dog licked human blood once, it would never forget the taste of human blood. Today, since those officials have stretched out their hands and become corrupt, it is no different than seeing Like dogs soaked in human blood, they will never be able to control their hands."
Zhu Biao was immediately speechless by what his father said, and had no choice but to turn to Han Du for help.
Unexpectedly, Han Du actually nodded in agreement with Lao Zhu and said: "Your Majesty, this is a wise saying. It is true. With a corrupt heart, it is too difficult to go back to a simple life. After all, it is easy to change from frugality to luxury. It is difficult to live in luxury and frugality.”
Then, Han Du changed the topic and said: "But officials are officials after all. They cannot live the same life as farmers. It is understandable that they can live a better life."
