Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 83: Civil officials give money, military generals are awarded medals

"This is a big deal. Now that we have decided on the direction, we can discuss the strategy in detail. We don't need to see full success in one year. It is more important to show me that there is hope. The border pay is three million taels a year, and the capital's various expenses are nearly one million. The court's annual revenue has never increased, and financial planning will always be difficult."

"…Your Majesty is wise."

Zhu Changluo, who had just made a polite remark, suddenly said something that surprised everyone.

"I also know that due to the ancestral system, the number of officials is small and the official salaries are low."

Zhu Changluo sighed, "I heard that officials who are sent to other places to take up posts cannot even afford the travel expenses just based on their official salary. Those who are loyal to the emperor and serve the country should at least have enough food and clothing. I have already made this warning in front of the tablet of the old man Taizu. The present is different from the past. We should still follow the doctrine of the mean in everything. Even if the salary does not have to be as high as that of the Song Dynasty, it should at least be much better than it is now."

Shen Yikuan and others couldn't figure out the emperor's pulse for a while.

Are you serious?
"I know that high salaries cannot support integrity. But low salaries will inevitably force new officials who originally intended to be honest to gradually become greedy. However, given the current financial situation, even if I want to increase the salaries of all officials, where will the money come from? Therefore, I want to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, first and foremost for the sake of my officials!"

Are Ming Dynasty officials' salaries low? That depends on what you compare them with.

For example, the seventh rank was paid 90 shi of grain per year. The actual grain payment was 12 shi, which was converted into 35 shi of silver, 7 shi of silk, 18 shi of cloth, and 18 shi of paper money.

The treasure notes were no longer valuable, so in addition to the twelve shi of grain, there was a total of about twenty-six taels of silver.

This is one year's salary.

The biggest impact was naturally the subsequent depreciation: it was impossible to provide so much real hard currency and food, so various other materials or silver, or even treasure notes were used instead.

Compared with ordinary people, it is certainly more.

But compared with the Song Dynasty, the legal salaries of officials as a whole were much lower.

Most officials also have other expenses such as servants and staff, which naturally adds a lot of regular silver, annual tribute, festival tribute...

Although there were also discounts in the late Song Dynasty, this kind of "respect" was basically legal, unlike today when it is just an unspoken rule.

Taking the regular silver as an example, the regular silver of a county magistrate included summer silk silver, autumn grain silver, silk, village and land silver, salt grain silver, equal labor service silver, yellow book silver, salt permit silver, urgent military service silver, firewood silver... adding all the above together, the regular silver given to the county magistrate by a county was roughly two thousand taels per year, which was nearly a hundred times the county magistrate's salary.

Now the emperor says he wants to increase the salaries of all officials. Can it be increased to this level?
Or by adding these, the potential income from regular silver will disappear?
Zhu Changluo said under everyone's gaze: "There were many vacancies before, and all officials worked hard. From the first rank to the ninth rank, they are counted and divided into grades according to their merits. I will allocate from the treasury to meet the needs and issue a year-end salary for diligence and service."

How many official civil officials were there in the Ming Dynasty?

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the two capitals each had 940 people, and the local areas had a total of 8,782 people. Among them, there were only 2,995 people above the seventh rank.

This is when it is fully occupied.

Of course, times have changed. The territory of the Ming Dynasty and the number of prefectures and counties have been adjusted, and naturally a lot of official positions have been added, but many of them have two or three positions.

Generally speaking, among the officials of the Ming Dynasty, the total number of civil servants was no more than 10,000.

Therefore, it is not without reason that civil officials always criticize the eunuchs and the Beijing garrison for having too large numbers: they all eat the country's food, so aren't you a little too big?
Now Zhu Changluo gave a general direction, and all the ministers in the Yangxin Palace were stunned.

Instead of only giving annual salary to the civil servants currently in office, this benefit can certainly be given to officials inside and outside the capital, but how much should they give?
The annual salary of a county magistrate is about 2,000 taels of silver. If you give less, it won't work. If you give more, would you be willing? Can you afford the money?
Fortunately, Shen Yi Guan reacted immediately: "Your Majesty's generosity will surely be appreciated by all the ministers. I think that it is not necessary for those above the fourth rank. This is what the ministers should do."

He suddenly became so active because he discovered that the emperor was not reckless.

It is more or less an attitude, and the emperor still values ​​the loyalty of his ministers.

If the emperor did not exempt them, the local gentry would be the most hurt. But as long as the local officials knew that the emperor cared about them, the situation would be different.

As both an official and a manager, the emperor has expressed his attitude. If any problems still arise at the local level, don't blame him for using courtesy before force.

In addition, as the emperor's will states, "wherever there is trouble, no share of gold and silver will be given", local officials will naturally reconcile the upper and lower levels and prevent the Ming Dynasty from immediately causing any problems because of the disappointment of local gentry by the ascension edict.

As for those above the fourth rank, they don’t have to enjoy the diligence silver...it’s really not necessary. Do you need that little bit of money?

"That's not necessary. We are all doing errands for the state. The salaries of the fourth rank and above are higher, so you can get less, but you can't get nothing." Zhu Changluo just grinned, "Why don't we discuss it now and decide how much each rank can get. Calculate the amount, and I'll approve it. I'll issue an edict to the whole country at the court tomorrow. Spend it out first, and next year the local governments will report the amount, and the remaining amount will be offset. I'll transfer it directly from the treasury to the Taicang warehouse."

According to the current official legal salary regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the first rank receives 1,044 shi of grain per year, the ninth rank receives 60 shi per year, and those who are not in the official ranks but hold official positions receive 36 shi per year.

How many people are there in total at different ranks? Now that we have excluded the vacancies, the Ministry of Personnel can compile a rough list of the actual number of people at each rank.

Zhu Changluo also knew that there were only so many officials in the Ming Dynasty.

Just like what Shen Yiguan said, those above the fourth rank, at least from prefecture level, can receive less. Although the number of people below the fourth rank is far greater than those above the fourth rank, even if the average amount per person is 100 taels, it is only 1 million taels.

Zhu Changluo was willing to use the first sum of money to recover more than two million taels from the provincial mining supervisors and tax collectors in one go. The main purpose was not to win people's hearts, but to shut them up.

The emperor wanted to increase revenue ultimately in order to improve the treatment of officials.

Under this premise, should we first do the job of "making the merchants suffer"?

Compared with the interests of officials in other systems across the country, conflicts with officials related to the Chaoguan, Sibu Si, and commercial taxes in various cities are only secondary.

The officials in these systems are either a small part or a small part of the interests of certain local officials.

If it is available this year but not next year, then this matter has not been handled well.

Eunuchs can receive so much silver, so why can't you?

After discussion, it was basically agreed that the salary for the sixth rank and below was one year, and the salary for the fifth to third rank was half a year. The salary for the officials above the second rank and the two among the nine ministers was 100 taels.

Taking into account the performance evaluation for the purpose of promoting department members, the total cost is estimated to be less than 700,000 taels.

"Then follow this order."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

This time everyone praised the emperor for his wise decision, which was much more consistent and straightforward than the emperor's previous statement that opening up new sources of revenue was for the sake of his ministers.

However, Zhu Changluo nodded again: "It's just that the civil officials have received such a special favor, and the military officials must be upset."

Tian Le immediately stood up and said, "It is rare for a general to have food and money without any difference. To make achievements is to seek your majesty's grace and reward. I think that if someone can be awarded honors for his merits during this commendation, the generals will be motivated; if everyone is rewarded for his merits, the generals and soldiers will have no complaints."

What he meant was: Look, those who are used to being bullied on a daily basis will be satisfied if you give them a little sweetness.

There is no need to give as much as you give to civil officials.

Civil officials usually earn a lot of money through unspoken rules, so giving so much silver can probably only express the emperor's attitude.

But if you give it to the big guys, the effect will be completely different.

But everyone else heard two very important words from Tian Le: awarding honors.

They were thinking about how to refute for a moment.

The emperor thought for a moment, then said, "I also know that the Ministry of Revenue is worried about the reward money. Well, the mine supervisor and tax collector were set up for the war and the construction of the two palaces and three halls. Now that they have been withdrawn, I have presided over the family law and finally got some money. The soldiers fought bravely for the country and should not be discouraged. The rewards they deserve should not be reduced. It is also reasonable to confer titles for meritorious service."

"His Majesty……"

Shen Shixing opened his mouth, but couldn't find a suitable reason to refute.

After all, the emperor had just generously approved the issuance of year-end salary to all civil servants in the world.

It can't be too ugly to favor one over the other.

"…Although the merit of suppressing the rebellion cannot be underestimated, the proposal to confer a title…"

Shen Shixing could only make this one turn.

The key is to confer titles. Since the Zhengde Dynasty, only Wang Shouren and Li Chengliang have been conferred titles for military merit, and Wang Shouren was a civil official.

Now that Tian Le had spoken out "first", the emperor actually had the idea of ​​granting him a title, which meant that the emperor wanted to use the title to win the hearts of the troops.

This means that he is not prepared to play dumb all the time.

Civil officials all over the country received regular silver and tributes, while taking the year-end diligence silver. If they still cannot change their "corrupt" nature in the future and have no reputation as an honest official, the next step will be passive.

However, Zhu Changluo waved his hand and said, "Even if there are a few more marquises, it will only add a few thousand shi of grain salary a year? I think this is a benefit without any cost."

Shen Yikuan and Shen Shixing were stunned: Not only do they want to confer titles, but they also want to confer several titles at once?

"We need to give the people a break for now, but the rewards for the previous expeditions were not enough." Zhu Changluo said, "In the Ningxia Campaign, the Korean Campaign, the Songshan Campaign, and the Bozhou Campaign, the Ming army's prestige spread far and wide. The generals and soldiers who have fought in hundreds of battles need encouragement. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)