In fact, it was not that no one opposed Yan Chenhao. Just like the landowners opposed the clearing of land, there were also many officials who were unhappy with the rectification order issued by Yan Chenhao.
After all, it prevents them from making money.
So some people, overtly or covertly, spoke ill of him, and some officials even directly impeached him.
As for the reason, although I can’t find it, anyone can catch someone’s fault and criticize it! The chief minister himself often accepted bribes, and his misconduct was all added to the list.
However, Yan Chenhao now is just like Zhang Juzheng back then.
He had enough supporters in the court, and a series of his policies were beneficial to the country, and he even gained the support of the emperor.
Powerful, capable, and behind him stands the emperor who rules the empire.
Then he is invincible.
Regarding the impeachment of those officials, Yan Chenhao only explained it to Shangshu and did not use his own men to do anything.
It didn't take long for the palace's reaction to arrive.
The emperor angrily accused several people of not distinguishing between right and wrong, slandering the courtiers, and then demoted them all.
Suddenly, the officials who had originally planned to follow Feng Yingcong in impeaching him could not help but stand up and did not dare to provoke him again.
After all, there are these "precious stones", but no one is willing to lose their official position just like that.
However, Yan Chenhao also realized that by doing this, he had offended many civil servants and would cause backlash.
There were many chief assistants in the Ming Dynasty, but few of them actually carried out large-scale rectification and cleanup like his own. Why? It’s not because this thing offends people too much.
And corruption will never be eradicated.
Yan Chenhao also understands this, but he believes that some measures can also be taken to reduce it to a certain extent.
For example, raise salaries.
Although people's greed is boundless, theoretically speaking, the salary offered by Lao Zhu's family is too low, which is an important reason why many officials accept "filial piety".
Of course, accepting bribes is wrong, there is no way to defend this, but it is indeed an objective factor, so even Yan Chenhao turned a blind eye to those officials who accepted small amounts of money during the previous rectification.
After all, this cannot last long. He plans to directly increase the salaries of Ming officials to help reduce the spread of corruption.
As the saying goes, "high salary fosters integrity", this is exactly what it is.
Moreover, this can be regarded as wooing the ministers and giving them some sweetness. Although Yan Chenhao only wanted to govern the country, he had been in the court for so many years and he also had political skills.
However, this still requires Zhu Changxun’s consent.
"Increase salary?" When Emperor Wuxing saw Yan Chenhao's memorial, he was actually very surprised:
"Why?"
"Your Majesty, I believe that the low salary of imperial officials is also an important factor in the rampant corruption and repeated prohibition of corruption." Yan Chenhao said:
"Moreover, 40% of it is distributed in kind... Although officials are greedy, some are forced to make a living."
Salaries in the Ming Dynasty were already low, and 40% of them were given in kind such as cloth, which would really cost you your life.
A ninth-grade official should nominally receive sixty kilograms of grain a year, but excluding the 40% in kind, he would actually receive the equivalent of five thousand five hundred kilograms of rice in later generations.
Whether based on the price of rice at that time or in later generations, this is undoubtedly a relatively low figure, especially since it is an annual salary.
Even if they spend nothing else, just chewing a pound of rice a day is enough for fifteen people.
Officials of the eighth rank are entitled to seventy-eight shi of grain per year.
A fifth-grade official is entitled to a nominal one hundred and ninety-two shi of grain per year.
This was still in ancient times. Officials basically had their own mansions, and there were also a large family to support in the mansion...
If there are more people in the family, they will go hungry.
Life is sad, really sad. Some officials already have money in their families, so they don't care about it. If they really rely on their salary alone, unless they live like Hai Rui, they really won't be able to survive.
"This is the ancestral system set by Emperor Taizu. Although what you said makes sense, my master, I cannot change it." Zhu Changxun's face was expressionless, although he said that Yan Chenhao's words were reasonable. But it was obvious that he was actually very reluctant.
After all, he would certainly not be happy if he was asked to take out the money.
As we all know, the ancestral system is in a wonderful quantum state - when a certain reform policy is to everyone's taste, then it does not exist. Even if it was strictly implemented during the Hongwu period, everyone would be gorgeous. Li ignored it.
But when a certain policy is not to your liking, someone will suddenly remember a certain rule from the Hongwu period, and then come to you with a serious face and point it out to you: This is the order of Emperor Taizu, and it is the order of the ancestors. system.
Then he made a reluctant look and said, It's not that I don't want to, but Emperor Taizu doesn't allow it, and there's nothing I can do about it.
Even though Zhu Yuanzhang himself changed it many times, he rarely said "it will last forever".
Yan Chenhao understood Zhu Changxun's thoughts very well, and he was not involved in starting a debate on whether to abide by the ancestral system - because if this thing was brought to the surface, he would hardly be able to win. He went straight to describing the advantages of this policy.
Anyway, as long as the emperor agrees, they can just pretend that the ancestral system does not exist, and what they just said will be instantly cleared.
"Your Majesty, high salaries support integrity! Although the court's expenditures may have to increase, many ministers have the possibility of doing good. They will no longer plunder the people to support their superiors, nor will they embezzle the court's funds. They are more interested in court style. What a benefit!”
He said:
"When the time comes, the world will be peaceful, the people will be prosperous, and the officials will be honest. Your Majesty will still be worried about the lack of money in the treasury?"
The other party rejected your trick, saw through your mind, and began to analyze the pros and cons for you in an attempt to persuade you.
Yan Chenhao is indeed Zhu Changxun's teacher, and he can tell what he is thinking at a glance.
Although there will still be corruption, at least there will be a certain reduction. And this kind of thing has happened countless times for the first time. Many people may not have such thoughts and have their own bottom line, but when they see that they can’t survive, they just want to take a little bit and then shoot it. out of hand.
But what if we could live a good life without being greedy from the beginning?
Then surely, at least some people who still have good intentions will not fall into the abyss of sin!
Zhu Changxun fell into a long silence.
However, during these days, he basically agreed to some of the policies Yan Chenhao proposed to him, and basically never rejected them.
Even though he didn't actually agree with some policies, he still let him do it out of trust and respect for his teacher.
This time, too.
"Accurate!"
Even though he really didn't want to spend the money.
With such a small salary, wouldn’t they have lived more than two hundred years?
As for the common people...did the Ming Dynasty fail due to this for more than two hundred years?
(End of chapter)
