"Yes, no common people don't want to have enough food and clothing. This is pressure from bottom to top."
"Now I understand why Your Majesty re-established an unannounced visit system after having three supervisory agencies: Jinyiwei, Inspectorate, and Dongchang. It was originally prepared for this.
Strict punishments and laws are used to intimidate, and high and new salaries are comforting. One hand is hard and the other is soft. It is really a good idea. "
Yuan Keli and the other four people listened to the emperor's plan and praised it one after another.
"Your Majesty, is there something wrong with this fifth stage? Officials will receive subsidies when they leave office. More and more officials are leaving office in the Ming Dynasty. When the time comes..."
"Don't think about the fifth stage for now. Let's wait until the first four stages are completed!"
Having said this, Chongzhen paused for a moment, with a thoughtful look in his eyes: "Bi Aiqing, when the Ministry of Revenue is making adjustments, the salaries of subordinate officials and servants must also be taken into account.
The minimum salary for subordinate officials should not be less than three stones, and the minimum salary for servants should be no less than one stone per month. "
"What?"
"This this……"
"Do subordinate officials and servants also have to have their salaries fixed?"
Listening to the emperor's words, not only the Minister of Revenue, Bi Ziyan, was confused, but also Yuan Keli and others' faces became serious.
The level of officials in the Ming Dynasty is nine and eighteen, the highest is the first rank, such as the three ministers, etc. These are fictitious positions and have no actual rights.
The highest actual authority is from the first-rank cabinet bachelors and the genuine six-level ministers, and the lowest is from the ninth-level officials, such as the deputy envoys of the six ministries, the wardens and clerks of the inspectorate, and the inspectors of each county. Check and wait.
Under normal circumstances, the official officials in a county are only administrative magistrates, county magistrates, chief registrars, public security and judicial officials, patrol inspectors, and cultural and educational edicts and precepts;
As few as six people, as many as ten people.
But the population of a county can range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. With just these few people, they would be exhausted and unable to handle government affairs.
So the subordinate officials appeared, and the government offices were equipped with three shifts and six rooms. They were the executors of all government orders.
In addition, townships and villages will also have management personnel, such as village chiefs, security chiefs, armor chiefs, etc. These are the servants.
"Do you have any questions, please?"
Shangshufang of the Ministry of Personnel said softly: "Your Majesty, there are more than 16,000 official officials in the Ming Dynasty, but the number of subordinate officials is about five times that of officials. If you include the servants, it is conservatively estimated that the salary from the national treasury is about 100,000. People, although most of them are at the bottom.”
"Your Majesty, what Mr. Fang said is absolutely true. Nowadays, the salary of subordinate officials is basically between six buckets and one stone, while the servants have no salary.
If we now take into account the subordinate officials and servants, a rough estimate shows that the Ming Dynasty spent at least 300,000 dan in monthly salary.
Including other benefits, I am afraid it will reach 400,000 dan, or 5 million dan a year, which will put too much financial pressure. "
Bi Ziyan also spoke up, his eyes filled with a wry smile.
Chongzhen waved his hand and asked softly: "Two beloved ministers, since the salary of subordinate officials and servants is so low, why would someone go through the back door and spend money to get a position?"
Before the two of them could say anything, Chongzhen continued: "Because, the King of Hell is easy to mess with, and the kid is difficult to deal with.
They are executing government orders on behalf of the Ming Dynasty. That means they must be supervised by the Ming Dynasty officials. Otherwise, what will happen no matter how good and honest the officials are?
Even if officials can restrain them temporarily, can they restrain them forever?
With a salary of six dollars, only one person can have enough to eat. What should I do if I have a family to support? Do they still have the heart to carry out the decree? In the long run, will anyone still be a subordinate?
If there are no subordinate staff, then more officials will have to be added, which will cost more. "
"I am stupid and only focus on the present. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
The emperor's explanation made the two of them suddenly enlightened. It wasn't that they didn't expect it, but their inertial thinking restricted them.
They also know that the reason why so many people go through the back door to get a subordinate position is because subordinate officials are the ones who have access to the lower levels and have many ways to make money.
For example, in the torture chamber, if someone commits a crime and wants to feel more comfortable in prison, you should give a gift. If your relatives visit the prison, you should give a gift. If you don't give a gift, you will be allowed to see him. If you can see him for a quarter of an hour, you will now be allowed to see him for half a quarter of an hour, or even less.
Only when officials and subordinates are supervised together can the administration of officials be clear and clear.
"In addition to official administration, I have other considerations regarding subordinate officials."
Chongzhen said something lightly, which shocked everyone. The emperor always had a purpose.
Before they could think about it, Chongzhen continued: "The payment of salaries to subordinate officials has greatly increased the pressure on the national treasury. I naturally know this.
But I think the problem is not big. I told the people in Qufu that they can have enough food and clothing by themselves. "
"living comfortably without anybody's help?"
Bi Ziyan and the other four were stunned for a moment, and a flash of light flashed in Yuan Keli's eyes. This sentence was not only said in Qufu, but also said by His Majesty in Xi'an. He seemed to understand the emperor's meaning.
Looking at the expressions of the four people, Chongzhen knew that Yuan Keli had guessed his intention, and immediately said softly: "Yuan Aiqing, please explain to them."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After Yuan Keli responded, he looked at Sun Chengzong and the others: "Three of you, the prerequisite for having enough food and clothing is that you have land in your hands. Where does the land come from? One is the land in your own hands, and the other is the land that the court returns to the people.
By cutting down vassal vassals and raiding officials, gentry and wealthy merchants, etc., the imperial court has controlled approximately 1.2 million hectares of land, occupying 1.5% since the Ming Dynasty.
With the promotion of returning land to the people, the land held by the gentry and wealthy merchants could only be sold at low prices, and could only be taken over by the imperial court.
It’s hard to say how much they have on hand. Even if they have control over it now, under the strategy of returning the land to the people, planting first and paying it back later, the court’s annual salary of 50 million taels and the annual salary expenditure of 5 million taels are nothing. .
But the problem is that the strategy of returning land to the people can only be carried out in installments of 20 years at most, and it will be gone after 20 years. So what we have to consider is what to do after 20 years?
There are three sources, taxation, commercial tax and self-sufficiency. Let’s not talk about the other two, let’s talk about self-sufficiency.
After Shaanxi rectified its military affairs, the military garrison was returned to the imperial court, but each guard post retained a portion of arable land, approximately 500 to 800 hectares, to meet the needs of the guard post and military pay.
Since the guards can do it, so can the counties. Each county has as few as thirty or fifty people and as many as one or two hundred people. Let's calculate it as an average of one hundred people. The average annual salary is thirty-six dan, which is also 3,600 dan.
To produce two stones per mu, one thousand eight hundred acres, or eighteen hectares, would be needed. Including renting to the common people, up to thirty hectares would be enough. For example, those with little land in Yunnan and Guizhou can only be deducted from taxes or subsidized by the court. "
Speaking of this, Yuan Keli looked at the three people and chuckled: "Are you curious why you don't rent it directly to the people, but invite the people to plant it?"
