"Your Highness, tell me, why can't I earn this five dollars a month?" Han Du's eyes couldn't help but reveal a trace of contempt for his salary.
"Just for such a small amount of money, I need to get up earlier than a chicken and go to bed late enough. Throughout the year, I don't even have a few days to sleep. Your Highness, why do I need to make myself uncomfortable for such a small amount of money? "
Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao followed one another and walked into Han Du's house.
Now Zhu Biao and Han Du were sitting together eating and talking, but Lao Zhu waved his hand to stop the others from making any noise, and quietly came behind them.
"I have thought about this issue these days, and even sent people to see the lives of lower-level officials in various ministries in the capital." Zhu Biao sighed and said.
Han Du raised his eyes, smiled, and asked, "What was the result?"
Zhu Biao paused and then said: "It is indeed as you said, life is a bit difficult. Some people rush to buy rice and grain as soon as they get their salary. The five-guan treasure note and the After haggling for a long time, the shopkeeper of the rice shop was able to barely buy three stones of rice. This was all because the merchants liked treasure banknotes more than copper coins and silver. If it were exchanged for copper coins, I'm afraid they wouldn't even be able to buy three stones of rice. Arrive. Even if we buy three stones of rice, after moving back, the family will only have tears in their eyes to hold on to this small amount of food."
"I heard that they were struggling with the shopkeeper for a long time for one and a half liters of rice. It really makes me feel uncomfortable."
Han Du nodded and agreed: "It's good that Your Highness has this intention, but if this is the case, the problem of low official salaries needs to be solved urgently. They stand and bargain with others, and they lose more than just His people are the face of the court. If even the officials are embarrassed in front of the people, then where is the majesty of the court? If things go on like this, who will be afraid of the court in the future?"
Zhu Biao also felt that what Han Du said was reasonable, but he sighed, "But after something like Guo Huan happened, it is probably not easy to increase the salaries of hundreds of officials in a short time. In order to deter corrupt officials You are a dirty official, my father will not agree to increase your salary."
Korea
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Du sneered and said: "If we don't seize the time to increase the salary of hundreds of officials, I'm afraid there will be more and more corrupt officials. In my opinion, such a low salary will not only force more and more people to be corrupt, but also There will be no benefit. I have said that honest and corrupt officials in this world are very rare, and the rest are ordinary people. If we really want to punish corrupt officials, then we need to win over these ordinary people and make them rich. As long as they are not greedy, those rare corrupt officials will not be able to make trouble. After all, having so many non-corrupt officials watching is more effective than any punishment."
"On the contrary, if these people are forced to become corrupt officials because of low salaries, it will be a disaster for the Ming Dynasty. Even if they are skinned and stuffed with grass, I am afraid they will not be able to stop them."
"I understand," Zhu Biao nodded in agreement, "But it's difficult to increase your salary now."
Han Du smiled slightly and said: "It is difficult to increase salary, but it is not impossible."
"Oh? If you have any idea, tell me quickly." Zhu Biao's eyes suddenly lit up after hearing Han Du's words. Han Du is famous for his many evil ideas, so maybe there is a way to solve this problem.
Han Du stretched out a finger, gestured towards Zhu Biao, and said: "You can keep the current salary of the officials unchanged and create another name, such as money for raising integrity."
"Yanglian silver?" Zhu Biao thought for a moment, "Yanglian, Yanglian, this is a good name. The money distributed to make officials honest has a good meaning."
Han Du smiled and did not explain too much. He wanted to remove the dross and save the essence. Since there are good things, it is natural to use them. "I believe that with the current prices, the salaries of officials must be increased at least three times to enable them to maintain a decent life. Since the original salaries cannot be increased, then the needed increase in salaries should be used in the name of raising honest money. Distribution. Moreover, each evaluation of the officials can be combined. Those with excellent evaluations will naturally be able to get three times the full amount, but if the evaluation is poor, the amount of money to support integrity will naturally be reduced. For example, you can only Get 80% or 70%. However, it cannot be reduced too much. I think it is more appropriate to let officials get at least 70% of the total.
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"
Zhu Biao nodded frequently after hearing this. Han Du's method was indeed good. It not only substantially increases the income of officials, but also avoids the problem of fixed salaries. Moreover, this money can also be used to encourage and guide officials. The evaluation grade directly determines their income, so they dare not neglect their duties and do things half-heartedly.
"This is a good idea, is there anything else?"
Han Du nodded with a smile and continued: "The other issue is residence. Except for officials in the capital of fourth rank or above, the court does not provide official residences. And there are many of these officials, many of whom are not from the capital. But they are officials in another place. They have no place to live in the capital, so they can only solve the housing problem by renting."
"Is there any problem with this?" Zhu Biao couldn't help but ask.
Han Duman glanced at Zhu Biao with deep meaning. He didn't know the pain of renting a house. Han Du now recalled the experience of renting a house in his previous life, and it was really a tearful experience. Twenty to three percent of the monthly salary was thrown into the hands of the landlord, and people were even kicked out by the landlord for various weird reasons.
"Your Highness, renting a house in the capital has not been cheap since ancient times. Even the famous Bai Letian lamented that 'the capital is so big that it is not easy to live in', let alone those low-level officials? These officials who rent houses, I'm afraid half of the monthly salary goes into the pockets of the heads of households, so it will naturally be more difficult to maintain their lives."
Zhu Biao nodded in agreement with Han Du's words. After Han Du finished speaking, he quickly asked: "Then what do you think we should do to change this situation?"
Han Du smiled and was about to get the oysters, but suddenly found that the last oyster was being eaten by Zhu Biao. He looked up at the cook and saw that she was standing there motionless with uneasy limbs. The oysters were no longer grilled. She was trembling all over and looking behind her in fear.
Han Du noticed something was wrong, turned around suddenly, and met Lao Zhu's eyes.
"Your Majesty, when did you come?" Han Du broke into a cold sweat on his back. He didn't even know when Lao Zhu came. Fortunately, he was cautious and didn't say anything bad about Lao Zhu behind his back.
(End of chapter)
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