Chapter 239: Zhu Yuanzhang treated Ming officials like cattle and horses, while those officials treated their subordinates like cattle and horses

Zhu Yuanzhang sat upright on the dragon throne, his face as gloomy as water.

He stared expressionlessly at the kneeling Wei Si below, thinking secretly in his heart.

Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally well aware of Zhang Yi's actions.

However, at this moment, he was more concerned about who the talented person recommended by Qiesi was.

Zhu Yuanzhang then slowly asked, "Do you have a suitable candidate in mind, my dear?"

Upon hearing this, Qie Si bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, I think that Su Shu, the Imperial Academy's Attendant Scholar, is well-read, talented, and sharp-minded, and is qualified for this position.

In addition, Wang Daoheng, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, is also proficient in military tactics and good at commanding troops. He is truly a rare talent. "

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly to show his approval.

He knew in his heart that these two people did have certain talents, so it was worth a try.

"In this case, we will appoint Su Shu to serve as the Minister of Revenue on a trial basis, and Wang Daoheng will assist him to handle related matters together."

Zhu Yuanzhang then called Su Shu and Wang Daoheng and told them earnestly, "I hope you two can live up to everyone's expectations and don't repeat Zhang Yi's mistakes!"

Qie Si hurriedly led Su Shu and Wang Daoheng to bow and express his gratitude, and the heavy weight in his heart finally fell to the ground.

He knew very well that although he had escaped this time, he had to be more cautious in the future and must not anger Zhu Yuanzhang again.

After everyone left the Imperial Study, Zhu Gang asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Father, why did you finally choose the official recommended by Qie Si, but ignored those clerks of the Ministry of Revenue?"

Zhu Gang remembered that Zhu Yuanzhang had previously made a special law: clerks such as jailers, horse drivers, foot drivers, and police officers were listed as untouchables along with other professions such as entertainers.

It was clearly stipulated that clerks and their descendants were not allowed to take part in the imperial examinations. If they violated the regulations, they would be punished with 100 strokes of the cane.

In ancient times, the imperial examination was a very important stepping stone for advancement. As a result, clerks completely lost the possibility of turning the tables and becoming masters of their own affairs.

Later, under Zhu Gang's persuasion, all clerks were given relative care.

It is stipulated that a promotion examination can be held every five years, but the highest position obtained cannot exceed the ninth rank.

For the clerks in the Ming Dynasty, this was already the ceiling.

“Once the clerks enter the government office, no one is a good person.

Not only are these clerks not good people themselves, they also tempt officials to become bad. Zhang Yi is the most typical example. "

As he spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang took out a memorial and said, "This is sent by the new Minister of Rites Li Yun. In addition to the previous Mingjing and Celun, it also adds content on medicine, astronomy, and rhythm and mathematics.

We have already issued instructions: all those whose writing is fluent and logical can be included in the preliminary selection, to show the court's desire to encourage learning.

Only the clerks have bad intentions and will never be allowed to take the exam! "

Seeing his father so stubborn, Zhu Gang could only persuade him earnestly: "These clerks are directly responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining public order and other local administrative work. Although their positions are not high, they have great power.

Without the hope of advancement, these clerks will only become more aggressive in exploiting the people.

No matter what, it is the people of Ming Dynasty who suffer in the end!"

The ancients said: A gentleman fears virtue but not power, while a villain fears power but not virtue.

If officials are "gentlemen", then the people will naturally be "villains" in the eyes of corrupt officials.

Influenced by the traditional idea that "national power does not extend below the county level", the county magistrate has become the highest-ranking official in the Ming Dynasty that the common people can come into contact with.

Some county magistrates even held the view that "if the people are afraid of me, they will not come to me for help.

If you don't come to cause trouble, I won't know that all kinds of bad things are happening under my jurisdiction, and I can whitewash the peace with peace of mind!" The county magistrate is devoted to reading the books of sages, so he must be disdainful of managing finances.

Tasks like tax collection and levy naturally require clerks who are proficient in finance to complete.

Another example is the exchange of official documents. The formats of documents for different purposes are complicated and vary, and they also require specialized clerks to handle.

Using public office to extort money and bully the people can only be done by clerks, and has nothing to do with a "honest official" like the county magistrate.

Zhu Gang now finally understood why the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue knew nothing about anything.

It turns out that the real source of the problem lies with Zhu Yuanzhang himself.

My father treated Ming officials like beasts of burden, so those officials treated their clerks like beasts of burden.

Following the principle of "big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps", the clerks vented all their anger on the lower-class people.

Zhu Gang tried to explain this principle to Zhu Yuanzhang, but the final result was disappointing.

Especially when it came to the issue of "national power not extending below the county level", serious disagreements broke out between the two.

Zhu Yuanzhang held his forehead with his hand and said, “In fact, the affairs of the court are relatively simple, mainly taxation, rule of law, disaster relief, and public works.

The public works included mainly the management of large rivers or the construction of large-scale water conservancy facilities.

Our Ming Dynasty is a mountainous country, and public works almost only involve plain areas.

After all, disaster relief is not something that happens every year, and agricultural production mainly relies on the independent accounting and management model of each household.

In addition, have you ever thought about how the government collects taxes and enforces the law in a mountain village?
It would be easy to collect the taxes all at once if you have to walk dozens or even hundreds of miles of mountain roads.

Otherwise, the cost of the coming and going will be unbearable for the national treasury.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty could only leave taxation and public security to the gentry and village elders.

Of course, in plain areas, especially in towns, the government still needs to be omnipresent.”

Zhu Gang reminded meaningfully: "Father, the affairs of the court now are not limited to taxation, rule of law, disaster relief and water conservancy projects.

There are also what I mentioned before, namely family planning, traffic management, cultural education, market supervision and social security services.

These policies cannot be implemented only in plains and urban areas. We cannot ignore rural areas with inconvenient transportation, right? "

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang said helplessly: "With the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, the salary that can be provided to officials is at most the harvest of thirty or forty acres of land.

Therefore, we have always advocated that all officials should live within their means and pursue a "thrifty" lifestyle.

If I do as you say, I will have to temporarily cancel the newly added performance and bonuses.

Otherwise, the court would not have the money to support the extra clerks!"

According to the provisions of the "Ming Hui Dian", the monthly salary of clerks in various government offices in Beijing was as high as 2.5 dan of rice per month.

The least they could get was only six dou, or 75 kilograms, of rice per month.

The monthly salary of a clerk in the government offices outside the capital was one stone, which was barely enough to provide for the basic needs of his family.

During the investigation of the "Yixing Case", Zhu Gang discovered that the main culprit Pan Fu's followers were basically county officials.

In this "national escape operation", more than 200 accomplices have been implicated.

If Zhu Gang had not left 2500 soldiers from the Shenjiying behind in advance to assist the Jinyiwei and Yinlongwei in handling the case.

With only the local detectives, I'm afraid the main culprit Pan Fu is still at large!
(End of this chapter)