"Your Majesty, after the morning court meeting the day after tomorrow, all officials will seal it, and your Majesty can have a good rest for a month!"
Chongzhen, who was half lying down, suddenly sat up.
The so-called seal is to lock the government's seal, customs, etc. with a seal, which means that the office will be closed from now on. In layman's terms, it is an annual holiday.
During the more than three months since he traveled back in time, he had to get up before nine o'clock (five o'clock) every day, wash up, eat, exercise, go to court in the morning and compete with the ministers.
After going to court, he had to deal with the cabinet and the six ministries and nine ministers from time to time, and he also had to worry about the rectification of the Forbidden Army.
After finishing it, there were still dozens of batches to be approved, and I was so busy that even the harem was not even touched by rain or dew.
Now that the situation has stabilized and everything is going in the planned direction, he can finally take advantage of the New Year to take a few days off.
What I want most now is to sleep well for a day or two.
"My dear companion, during this month of sealing by the officials, is there anything else important to do in the palace?"
"Your Majesty, it is basically the same as the folk, but the palace must make it more grand and grand, especially the 30th of the twelfth lunar month and the first or two days of the first lunar month are extremely important."
As he spoke, Wang Chengen brought the snacks on the table far away and placed them in front of Chongzhen, and poured a cup of hot tea: "Your Majesty, please have some snacks to cushion your meal first, and I will continue to tell you."
"Your Majesty, on the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, in addition to planting peach charm boards, general charcoal, and door gods, etc. in the palace, you will also order your relatives to go to various imperial tombs to offer sacrifices.
Your Majesty, you will need to hold a grand "Zi Sacrifice" ceremony at the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Shimiao Temple.
On the first day of the first lunar month, you have to get up, burn incense, set off fireworks, etc., then worship in Fengxian Hall and Fengci Hall, and then hold a large court meeting in Fengtian Hall.
After the outer court is over, the queen leads the concubines in the inner court to salute, and the prince and grandson salute.
Then a banquet was given to all civil and military officials. At this point, it was basically completed. "
Hearing this, Chongzhen frowned: "Is this banquet very troublesome?"
"It's not too troublesome. There will be a total of nine drinking sessions during the banquet. There will also be music and dancing to entertain... The banquet is divided into four levels: upper table, upper middle table, middle table, and lower table..."
Wang Chengen stopped talking as he was talking, because he found that Chongzhen had wandered into the sky.
He also smiled bitterly in his heart. The emperor didn't seem to like complicated etiquette. He was probably thinking about how to change the rules at this moment.
He guessed right. At this moment, Chongzhen was really thinking about how to change the morning court, rest, year-end bonus, and Spring Festival banquet.
After a while, Chongzhen came to his senses and said, "Dad companion, does the court have a year-end bonus?"
"Year-end awards?"
Wang Chengen was stunned for a moment, and then he realized: "The emperor is talking about Laci, right?"
"Yes, yes, that's what I'm talking about. The courtiers have been busy for a year, so the court must give some rewards. How were they distributed in previous years?"
Chongzhen really didn't have this in his memory. First, the memory he got was incomplete. Second, he was a prince before he ascended the throne. He really didn't know about such things in the court.
Wang Chengen looked hesitant: "Your Majesty, this..."
Seeing Wang Chengen's face full of embarrassment, Chongzhen frowned and had a bad premonition in his heart.
"If you have something to say, say it directly. Why are you hesitating?"
"Your Majesty, because every winter, local officials donate money to the Six Ministries as a gift for them in the name of purchasing charcoal for heating."
"As for the local dedication..."
Wang Chengen whispered again about the source of the local donation money.
After hearing this, Chongzhen's face became silent, and he complained secretly in his heart.
For year-end bonuses, local governments at all levels have their own channels, and some yamen make money by misappropriating the yamen's bank deposits and lending money at usury.
Or they may use their authority to raise funds to do business, open restaurants, sell salt, wine, etc., and keep the profits to themselves, and use public funds to offset losses.
Anyway, the more you earn, the more year-end bonuses you get, the more you pay to your superiors, and you get promoted much faster.
Doesn’t this encourage local officials to engage in corruption, embezzle public funds, and accept bribes?
The salary was too low and harsh, alienating the ministers from the royal family.
The fact that the Ming Dynasty has reached such a state is definitely not an accident, but the various systems established at the founding of the country have already dug holes.
The clan system placed a heavy burden on the treasury, the tax system failed to collect money, resulting in an empty treasury, the general selection system made it difficult for ordinary people to get ahead, and for military officers to withdraw, and the salary was a system that was always customized.
The salary of officials in the Ming Dynasty is considered to be the lowest among all dynasties. The monthly salary of the first grade is eighty-seven dan, equivalent to eighty-seven taels of silver.
Compared with ordinary people, that is an astronomical figure, but it is not much for a first-rank official.
There must be about ten servants, bearers, horsemen, etc. in the house of a first-grade official. Each person is worth one tael of silver a month. There are probably not many family members, including twenty or thirty people. Adding the rice, flour, grain, oil, etc. for the servants, there is not much left.
If there are more banquets between officials, this will be stretched.
If this is the case for first-grade officials, let alone low-grade officials.
Starting from the ninth grade, only five stones, which is equivalent to 750 kilograms of rice, can solve the problem of food and clothing for a family of four or five, but it is definitely not rich.
Therefore, sometimes it is not that officials want to be corrupt, but the reality is that they have to be corrupt.
"Your Majesty, because the salaries of courtiers are relatively low, and the treasury has been empty over the years, courtiers are often in arrears with their salaries. Emperors of all dynasties have turned a blind eye to this kind of behavior."
"Um!"
Chongzhen hummed softly and continued: "If you go by what you said, how much can officials from various ministries get every year?"
"This slave doesn't know!"
"Let Li Ruolian come for a visit!"
A moment later, Li Ruolian entered the Dongnuan Pavilion. After Chongzhen asked, Li Ruolian gave the answer without any hesitation.
"Your Majesty, each ministry is different. Among the six most numerous ministries, the Ministry of Household Affairs is the most numerous, followed by the Ministry of War, third by the Ministry of Works, third by the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Officials, the largest by the Ministry of Rites, about the same by the Inspectorate, and the least by Dali Temple.
I once read a file that showed that the second-grade officer could get around a thousand taels, and the worst boss could get thirty or forty taels. Most of them were intercepted by local officials.
As for whether it was sent privately, it's not clear and it's hard to check. "
"Okay, go and do your work."
After Li Ruolian left, Chongzhen fell into deep thought.
Forget it if he doesn't know, but now that he knows, this situation must never happen again.
But how to reduce the dissatisfaction of hundreds of officials still needs to be thought about slowly.
After pondering for a while, Chongzhen started writing and drawing on the rice paper. After nearly a quarter of an hour, he put down the pen and handed the drawing to Wang Chengen.
"Daban, send this picture to the Bank of China and ask them to make it according to the size. Just use ordinary wood. As for the quantity, it should be made according to the number of officials at the banquet on the first day of the new year."
Although Wang Chengen was curious, he didn't ask any more questions. He thought it must have something to do with the banquet and gift on the first day of the new year.
