The shocking thing that Wang Chengen revealed was the current situation of selling officials during the Chongzhen period.
Starting from the early years of Chongzhen, due to the vacancies of imperial officials or local chief officials, in addition to being selected from new Jinshi as usual, they were also selected from prefecture and county officials who had served for a certain period of time. As a result, selling official positions also emerged.
Lu Mai, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, just because he was related to Zhou Zhengyi, the younger brother of the great scholar Zhou Tingru, relied on this relationship to formulate "Seven Thousand Qiu Ci Lin (Hanlin Official), Five Thousand Qiu Ke (Gi Shizhong), and Three Thousand Qiu Dao" (Supervisory Censor)" price, openly accepting bribes, and seeking official positions on behalf of others.
Just imagine, if this kind of thing is made public, what does that mean? The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty had reached an extreme level of collusion and favoritism.
In the Ming Dynasty, logically speaking, such a situation should not happen because there were factory guards.
In fact, at the beginning, the factory guards did impeach such fraud. But their purpose is not really to correct the atmosphere and severely punish the criminals, but they just want to get a share of the pie.
Therefore, every year during the assessment and selection, the Ministry of Personnel would send Dongchang 20,000 taels, and then Dongchang would no longer be in charge of the assessment and selection of the Ministry of Personnel. Of course, Jin Yiwei is also indispensable.
The Ministry of Personnel had no supervision and openly raised prices. Officials under the Ministry of Ceremonies had two thousand taels, while the Ministry of War did not have much money to make, only eight hundred. It is also very market-oriented, with bidding often taking place, and the one with the highest price wins. Someone paid a lot of money to buy an official position, but before he took office, it was snatched away by others at a higher price!
Buying an official position was quite common in the late Ming Dynasty. Even the brother of Song Yingxing, who was famous in later generations, was born in the same family as him, but because he had money to buy an official position, he was able to become a county magistrate. And Song Yingxing had no money to buy it, so he could only become the most unwanted county magistrate.
The saying that money can make the world go round was very well confirmed in the Chongzhen Dynasty. No matter what, as long as you have money, there is nothing you can't do. But if you don’t have money, then sorry, no matter how talented you are, you won’t be able to accomplish anything! Anyway, at this time, everything is about money!
In this context, if we don’t talk about anything else, let’s talk about those people who buy official positions. After they take office, will they serve the people wholeheartedly? Most officials don't want to get their money back, but you can only imagine who suffers in the end!
All the yamen are thinking of ways to make money, regardless of what the money will be used for! To put it bluntly, this is much more fierce than the stock market in later generations! After all, the stock market rises and falls, and in this Ming Dynasty, when money flows out, before it reaches its final destination, fat people will definitely become thin, and thin people will become skeletons!
Although Emperor Chongzhen had a psychological expectation for the official administration in the late Ming Dynasty, he did not expect that it would reach such an extent. Can this Ming Dynasty be saved?
At this moment, he couldn't help but fall into deep thought!
But soon, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. Regardless of whether he is saved or not, since he has become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he must save him!
If you have difficulties, overcome them, prescribe the right medicine, and solve the problem step by step!
Thinking this way, Emperor Chongzhen slowly regained his fighting spirit. And this is actually his character. Even in later generations, he will still have this character that refuses to admit defeat!
Live another life, fight again!
As a person from later generations, I naturally have examples to refer to in this situation. For example, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the rectification of officials before and after its establishment, has a very good reference value.
Emperor Chongzhen thought about this matter so deeply that he even missed hearing some of what Wang Chengen said.
At this time, he was still thinking about how to rectify the administration of officials. At some point, he suddenly realized that Wang Chengen had finished speaking and was waiting for his will.
So, he put aside the things in his mind and decided to continue to follow the previous plan, first to solve Cao Huachun's matter, and at the same time to rectify the East Factory, so as to hang this on the heads of all officials. The rusty knife is re-sharpened!
Emperor Chongzhen stood still, turned to look at Wang Chengen, and said with a trace of relief on his face: "You did not disappoint me after all, very good!"
In fact, he only heard about selling his official position.
In fact, Wang Chengen did not tell everything. He was a little worried. Hearing the emperor's affirmation, he couldn't help but feel relieved. He quickly apologized and said: "I was blinded by lard before. I deserve to die!"
"It's good to have this understanding. Get up and talk!" Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and said calmly.
But when Wang Chengen stood up as he was told, he suddenly said: "Now the imperial court is extremely short of money, military pay, disaster relief, etc. all need money. Since you have not disappointed me, I will not care about it anymore. However, your illegal gains Whatever money you have left, you still have to give it to me. I am in urgent need of money, do you understand?"
Without waiting for Wang Chengen to speak, Emperor Chongzhen added: "Actually, if Ming Dynasty is not really short of money, forget about the past and start everything from scratch. I have no choice. I can take out as much as I can from illegal gains. What I want is As long as I show this attitude, I will never pursue any previous matters!"
In fact, there was a concern here. If all the illegal gains were taken out and the amount was large, wouldn't it mean that the illegal things in the past were very serious? If the number is too small, what should I do if the emperor finds out later and pursues the case again?
Even Wang Chengen also has such concerns. However, he heard Emperor Chongzhen repeatedly emphasize the lack of money. As someone close to the emperor, he did know that the court was very short of money. However, although the emperor said that he would no longer pursue the case, should he believe this?
Emperor Chongzhen seemed to know what he was thinking, so he added: "I actually understand that my salary in the Ming Dynasty has been very low after more than two hundred years. It is also my fault to work for the court but not be able to support my family. I'm sorry to everyone. What I said is forgetting the blame. It is also for this reason that the previous ones, which have been used, can be regarded as compensation for everyone. I will not look into it again! After I reform the government, the court will have money. , everyone’s salary will increase! When you work for me, I will never treat you badly!"
It is very unfair to say this to a small number of upright officials. If I had known this earlier, wouldn't I be an upright official?
However, in the late Ming Dynasty, there were too few honest officials. As long as you are an official, you will definitely be able to obtain benefits directly, indirectly, actively and passively through the power of being an official. And this is precisely the biggest reason why everyone wants to be an official.
However, what Emperor Chongzhen said now was aimed at people with corruption. To them, it was reasonable and reasonable, and it was somewhat of a reassurance.
Only then did Wang Chengen have the opportunity to reply: "This slave deserves to die, so you must take out all your money!"
Emperor Chongzhen didn't believe this, and only a devil would take out all the money. But no matter what, as long as you have money, you can take it out.
With this in mind, he said to Wang Chengen: "Cao Daban was my old man when I was in the dormitory, and he was my confidant. Although he is sorry for me, I still want to give him a chance. You send someone to tell him He, just let him follow your example, and I will forget about it!"
