"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions!"
Sun Chengzong left work after listening to Chongzhen's words.
The ministers also reacted at this moment, looking at the emperor with surprise in their eyes.
What the emperor means by this is that the vacation time they set is too short?
"Well, let's take a three-day break for each of the six festivals. During the Spring Festival, the official seals will start on the first day of the first lunar month and will be closed until the opening of the seal on the 19th day of the first lunar month."
"In addition, starting from the first year of Chongzhen, courtiers will have one extra day of leave for every year they serve in Beijing. I call it annual leave. Whether this leave can be combined with the Spring Festival holiday depends on the situation."
The ministers couldn't believe their ears.
There are thirty-six days of ten-day holiday, eighteen days of six solar terms, and eighteen days of Spring Festival, a total of sixty-two days, twelve days more than the original.
There is also annual leave, no wonder they are said to be petty.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Sun Chengzong took the lead in shouting, and then the officials also followed suit.
Everyone had a smile on their face, even Liu Zongzhou, the Minister of Rites, and other ministers who had just objected to changing the time of the court meeting were no exception.
The court meeting will be held every other day, and the holiday will be extended to twelve days. This is the best news this year.
Originally, Chongzhen wanted to make the founding of the Ming Dynasty a National Day, but the founding of the Ming Dynasty was on the fourth day of the first lunar month, which overlapped with the Zhengdan and Shangyuan festivals, so he simply forgot it to avoid overlapping trouble.
Seeing that all the ministers agreed, Chongzhen's voice turned cold.
"But let me tell you the ugly story earlier. Since the rest time has been increased, the work efficiency must be high. You must perform your duties in the six subjects, otherwise don't blame me for re-opening the exam."
"The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel will prepare the vacation system and precautions afterwards and submit them to the cabinet. After I read them, I will issue an edict. We must act quickly."
All the ministers trembled when they heard the test method, and they all said they didn't dare.
The adjustment of the vacation system went much smoother than expected, thanks to the British public Zhang Weixian's support, otherwise it would have been a lot of trouble.
He has already experienced the nobleness of literati.
"Okay, let's talk about the second thing."
After Chongzhen finished speaking, he stood up, walked to the edge of the platform and stared at the officials.
"I heard that every winter, local officials donate money to the Six Ministries as a gift to you in the name of purchasing charcoal for heating. Is it true?"
All the ministers were shocked, wondering what the emperor meant by suddenly mentioning this behavior that the court also turned a blind eye to?
Do you want to settle accounts later?
"No one answered?"
Chongzhen snorted coldly, and then looked at Zhang Tingdeng, the censor of Zuodu of the Inspectorate.
"Zhang Tingdeng, you went from being a local magistrate to the six ministries, then to the governor of Zhejiang, and then to the censor of Zuodu, the Inspectorate. You should be very clear about this. Can you tell me if it is true?"
"Reply to Your Majesty, it's true!"
Zhang Tingdeng came out of class to respond, with a serious face, and then told everything he had heard. After hearing this, the officials looked a little ugly, but they did not blame Zhang Tingdeng.
Even if Zhang Tingdeng didn't say anything, this matter couldn't be hidden.
Besides, since the emperor asked, this matter must have been investigated by Jinyiwei and Dongchang.
Although the court turned a blind eye to this matter, in the end it was against the rules. If the emperor really brought this matter to trouble them, they would have no choice but to consider themselves unlucky.
"You are so brave!"
Chongzhen suddenly slapped the railing beside the platform with a stern look on his face, and all the officials knelt down instantly.
Hearing the voices of the ministers calling him guilty and asking for punishment, Chongzhen became furious.
"Fang Guiwei, let me ask you, if you take the donation money from below, if there is a vacancy in the future, and it happens to be the local official who gave you the money, will you recommend it or not?"
"Guo Yunhou, let me ask you, if two places need to repair cities, and one place gives you money and the other doesn't, which city will you approve first?"
"Liu Zongzhou, I ask you, every county will push outstanding candidates to enter the Imperial College. Among them, some counties have given you money. Will you give priority to the county that has given you money?"
…
The bosses of the six departments and nine ministers were all questioned.
Everyone who was asked looked confused.
Officialdom is about favors, investments, and to put it more ugly, they are interest groups.
Officials come and go, forming a chain of interests invisibly. You give me a convenience, and I return a favor to you.
They asked themselves, if they encountered this situation, would they really abandon this favor?
The answer is no, you may give up once or twice, but can you give up three times?
The number of times has increased. Do you still have contact?
"Forget it before this year. Starting from next year, if the local government dares to give money to Beijing officials in this name again, they will be dismissed from their posts and handed over to the Jinyi Guards for investigation.
If any official in the capital accepts this kind of offer of money or in other names, he will be killed as soon as he is discovered. "
Chongzhen directly enlarged his moves.
You can't do it without being ruthless, as this can easily lead to phenomena such as nepotism, nepotism, active bribery, and food and drink.
If things go on like this, Ming's officialdom will be completely rotten. No matter how much he has an idea, it will be useless if the following people do not implement it thoroughly.
Looking at some of the ministers with grim faces, Chongzhen sighed in his heart. He naturally knew what these people were thinking.
"I also know that the salary in Ming Dynasty is a bit low. You all have to support your family. I am not unreasonable.
In this case, I will give you an additional three months of salary as a gift. "
Without waiting for the ministers to be happy, Chongzhen continued: "Don't be too happy too early. How much you can get in terms of three months' salary depends on your usual work performance.
Some people may get three months, some may get 80%, and some may get 50%.
It is also possible that you will not get a penny, but will be pulled out and cut off. The Ministry of Officials will come up with a specific assessment standard. "
"I obey the decree!"
Fang Guiwei responded quickly.
It is possible to increase the salary of the silver stored in the Ether Warehouse, but it will not last long. It is easy to raise the salary, but it is difficult to lower it again.
Raising salaries can only be done after commercial taxes and maritime bans are levied, and money flows in continuously.
At this stage, it can only be relieved by issuing year-end bonuses.
Chongzhen calculated an account and found that the Ming Dynasty spent 1.4 million taels every year as salaries and other benefits for bureaucrats at all levels.
Three months' salary as a year-end bonus, which is converted to about 350,000 taels, and the actual payment may be 300,000 taels.
It is cost-effective to spend an extra three hundred thousand taels of silver to reduce corruption, misappropriation of public funds, and bribery.
As for the extra 300,000 taels, it is easy to handle. The Ming Dynasty had to spend 2 million taels every year as expenses for the vassal king. After the New Year, several clans were established. If the clan salary was less, more property would be inspected.
The ministers all had different expressions, some were happy, some were disappointed, and some had plain expressions.
The good news is that some ministries are Qingshui Yamen, and the local government pays little. Now it is great to be able to receive three months' salary openly.
What was disappointing was that I felt that the three months' salary was not worth what the local government had to pay.
The reason for the dull look is because the family doesn't value that little money at all, and it doesn't matter if they have it or not.
