In the hall, Zhu Yuanzhang was unwilling to give in and said, "I have killed many corrupt officials over the years, but why do I kill more and more?"

Xiang Yu said: "Do you want to listen to lies or the truth?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "How to say lies."

Xiang Yu said: "The lies are because the salary of officials and employees in the Ming Dynasty is too low, so it is best to have a high salary to support the cheapest one."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Rice comes from rice, and processing 1044 stone of rice requires 2620 stone of rice. To produce 2620 stone of rice, 873 mu of fields are required to earn a year. Farming requires oxen, and 17 cows are required to be calculated based on 50 mu of oxen land. Manpower costs in field work are calculated based on 15 mu of farming, and 57 people need to cultivate. After harvesting, the farmer can only produce 4 buckets of rice that have not been threshed, so 1044 stone of rice is required to carry 6550 stone of rice. If it is one mile to carry the rice from the field to the threshing farm, it will take one mile to carry it back, and it will take two miles back and forth. In this way, it will take 13,100 miles to carry the load."

"The monthly salary of Zhengyi rank is 87 shi, which seems not much, but the people don't know how much hard it will cost for him."

"As for the seventh-rank county magistrate, the monthly salary is 7.5 stones, and the annual salary is only 90 stone meters, which is much worse than that of first-rank officials. However, it also requires 70 acres of land. Five people produce it. They have to travel a thousand miles by just carrying rice and their salary is no less."

"Only by working hard can you get a lot of food and rice." Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "As an official receives heavy salaries from the court, he is still insatiable and refuses to benefit the people. Shouldn't he be killed?"

Xiang Yu was silent.

The salary of officials and employees in the Ming Dynasty seemed to be very low, but in fact it was not low.

The seventh-rank county magistrate of the Ming Dynasty, converting rice into wages was only a monthly income of more than 1,000 yuan.

Later generations were mechanized and had fertilizers, and the price of rice was very low; but in the Ming Dynasty, purely artificial and the price of rice was very expensive.

The monthly salary is 1,000, which is not the monthly salary in 2020, nor is it the monthly salary in 2000. It is better to be like 1,000 in 1990.

Zhu Yuanzhang said disdainfully: "In the Song Dynasty, it was a high salary to support integrity, but officials still embezzled them. I have calculated that the salary given to officials can actually lead a wealthy life."

Some people say that Hai Rui originally had a daughter who died of malnutrition, but to put it bluntly, she starved to death.

The county magistrate had a low salary and starved his daughter to death, and only the Ming Dynasty.

In the Hongwu period, an official Zeng Bingzheng returned home without any money, so he actually sold his four-year-old daughter to raise travel expenses.

It seems to be saying that the Ming Dynasty officials and employees have low salaries.

But is this really the case?

There are two reasons for this.

The first type of family business is too big. The salary of a third-rank official can satisfy the daily life of a family of several people. However, if Zeng Bingzheng's family is big, he buys a house and takes concubines, and he has a large group of maids and servants, he will support more than a family of several people.

The Qing official Hai Rui during the Jiajing period took too many concubines and could not support so many people with his salary, which made his family poor.

Hai Rui has money to raise a concubine and has no money to give her daughter a full meal. It’s really awesome.

There is another reason: it is fake if there is no travel fee, it is fake if there is no money to eat for my daughter, and it is real to prefer boys over girls.

Zeng Bingzheng was from Nanchang. The journey from Nanjing to Nanchang was not very long. He could only go south along the Yangtze River by boat. In ancient times, taking a boat was the fastest and the least expensive way of transportation. Therefore, Zeng Bingzheng might not lack travel expenses at all, but rather the idea of ​​favoring boys over girls. The Ming Dynasty praised Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism, and favoring boys over girls was very serious. Zeng Bingzheng might not want to take his daughter, whom he regarded as a burden, so he sold his four-year-old daughter before returning home, saying that it was to raise travel expenses.

Similarly, Hai Rui starved his daughter to death, probably not because she had no food to eat, but because she favored boys over girls.

Hai Rui will only starve her daughter to death, not her son to death.

Later Chinese civil servants were not as good as those of Ming dynasties’ salaries, but they did not starve to death. Many people lived a very comfortable life, and countless people rushed to become civil servants.

In fact, the salary of officials and employees in the Ming Dynasty was not high, but there were many potential benefits.

Later civil servants' monthly salary was only 3,000 to 5,000, and the salary was not high, but there were many potential benefits.

When Zhu Yuanzhang established the salary level of officials and employees, he had already planned it. The salary paid first was enough to allow officials to live a decent and comfortable life and be relatively rich, but it was impossible to live a luxurious life.

However, officials are not good at financial management and are extravagant and wasteful. They go to drink wine every month, or take several concubines, as well as a large number of teachers and maids, and have to engage in various social events and enjoy various luxurious enjoyments. According to these calculations, the money is definitely not enough to spend.

It is said that 95% of the corrupt officials found were all possessed mistresses and third-children. The reason why they still had to embezzle was obviously not because their salary was too low, but because the large amount of money for those who had mistresses seemed to be insufficient.

This is true and so is history.

Most officials live in luxury, and the country has no reason to pay for it.

Officials cannot live like ordinary people, that is their business. As for the lack of wages due to excessive living standards, if this can also become a "reason for being a corrupt official", then "reason" will always exist.

In other words, even if the Song Dynasty had high salaries to support integrity, many officials would still not have enough money and would still cry for poverty.

Xiang Yu said: "So, this is a false reason."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "What is the real reason?"

Xiang Yu said: "I understand that a crab is worse than a crab."

"A crab is not as good as a crab."

Zhu Yuanzhang was puzzled.

Xiang Yu said: "There was a farmer who caught crabs in the river, but the crabs he caught were smaller than the other. Similarly, it was not difficult to kill a corrupt official, but can you guarantee that after killing this corrupt official, the officials behind can remain honest and handle government affairs better? The result is that after killing a corrupt official, the new officials will be more corrupt, the ability to govern is worse, and the social problems will be caused!"

"It's like during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, Cai Jing was not a thing, and there were constant corruption and problems; but after killing Cai Jing, the people behind him were not as good as Cai Jing!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent and said after a moment: "I am so iron-fisted and so bloody, I think they should be self-aware..."

But I couldn't continue to say it quickly, and it turns out that one crab is worse than another.

Xiang Yu continued: "The ancients called the Yangtze River a river and the Yellow River a river. The Yangtze River is clear, the Yellow River is turbid, the Yangtze River is flowing, and the Yellow River is also flowing. An ancient proverb says: The sage comes out, the Yellow River is clear. But when will the Yellow River pass? The water of the Yangtze River irrigates the fields of several provinces on both sides of the river, and the water of the Yellow River irrigates the fields of several provinces on both sides of the river. It can only be used instead of being used because of the clear water, and it can only be abandoned because of the turbid water. It has been the case since ancient times."

"You don't understand this principle, you just blindly use the Yangtze River and abolish the Yellow River. Don't you know that existence is reasonable."

"The honest officials are not reliable. They will use righteousness to force the emperor, threaten the emperor, and tell the emperor not to compete for profit with the people, and to collect less taxes. However, the so-called people are never the people at the bottom, but the rich businessmen, the big landlords, and the so-called capitalism is in its infancy. Under the lies when they do not compete for profit with the people, the people at the bottom are becoming more and more difficult and rise up; the court is getting poorer, and only they are getting richer."

"When the country is destroyed, you will be greedy and die in danger and repay the king. Or, the water is too cold and you will directly surrender to the thief."

"As for corrupt officials, they are not good, but at least they are obedient and have a handle in the hands of the emperor. The emperor can usually use corrupt officials to suppress honest officials and maintain the balance of the government. When the public is angry, they can directly kill corrupt officials, so as to calm the public anger, and confiscate the house and make a fortune. Why not do it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "You are governing the country with power and skills. Qin State governing the country with law and becoming the top seven heroes; South Korea governing the country with technique and becoming the top seven heroes. It emphasizes skills and neglects laws and destruction, and the way to destroy the country."

"The founding kings govern the country with law; the ruler who guards the city governs the country with power; the last emperor governs the country with art. Emperor Shun of Yuan governs the country with art, and the country was destroyed."

...
Chapter completed!