My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 164: Too much money?

When Zhu Di heard Xu Qin's words, he looked at him in surprise. He had thought that even five hundred taels would be difficult to convince those ministers. But now, the year-end dividend of a lowest-level official might exceed three thousand taels. This made Zhu Di a little hard to believe.

Zhu Gaochi pulled Xu Qin aside and said, "This, this won't do. This won't do. You're taking too much money. The whole court will be dissatisfied. It will cause chaos."

"Why not? Don't you think about it? They are in charge of purchasing those goods. Some of them have hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels. If you give them high salaries, who among them can resist not to pocket the money? If it were me, I wouldn't be able to resist either. For example, when buying porcelain, it doesn't matter who buys it. If this company's quality is a little worse and they give kickbacks, then I will definitely use theirs, so that I can get the money!
But if the bonus is so high, they will think about it. Their bonus is already so high, and if they are caught, they will lose a lot. What's more, they feel at ease using the bonus. Who will still engage in corruption in this way? This is called high salaries to maintain integrity.

And you see, I have a reporting mechanism here. Once they report someone for corruption, embezzlement, or taking benefits, they can report it. Once verified, the reporter will get half of the amount of corruption. And the merit will be recorded as first-class, and the next time you are promoted, you will be ranked first. "Xu Qin explained to Zhu Di and others.

"That's true!" Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi looked at it and felt that what Xu Qin said made sense, but the money was still too much.

"Your Majesty, this group of people are going to sea. It is so dangerous to go to sea. I have also written about the mechanism for going to sea and the mechanism for dying in battle! You see, those who don't have two sons are not allowed to go to sea with the fleet. Moreover, once they die at sea, the Weaving Bureau will be responsible for giving their families ten taels of silver every month to ensure that their families have money to live on. In addition, when they die, they will be compensated with a one-time basic salary of ten years! Your Majesty, going to sea is dangerous!" Xu Qin stood there, looking at them seriously and said.

"This, this is not bad, but what about the bonus?" Zhu Di still felt that it was a bit too much. For example, the person in charge, Xu Qin, received an annual reward of 10,000 taels. 10,000 taels was equivalent to ten times the income of a first-rank official in the court. Such a high bonus was very attractive to the ministers in the court.

"Your Majesty, let's make this decision. You don't want the Trade Bureau to be full of corrupt officials, do you? Money can attract people's hearts. If you don't use high salaries, you can't eliminate corruption at all. Just like now, Taizu killed so many corrupt officials that there were no more officials left, but those civil officials were still corrupt. Do you know that if a county magistrate is not corrupt, he can't even afford to buy an official uniform.

In my Ming Dynasty, you can treat officials above the county level as corrupt officials who have two or more concubines at home, and you don't need to investigate them!" Xu Qin stopped there and smiled.

"Impossible, wouldn't all the officials in my Ming Dynasty be corrupt?" Zhu Di stood up in shock when he heard Xu Qin say this.

"You should investigate secretly and take a look at the situation of those county magistrates. If any of them has two or more concubines and they are wearing new official uniforms, either their family is rich or they are corrupt, because their income cannot support more than two concubines." Xu Qin said to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di just stared at Zhu Gaochi, who was wiping the sweat from his forehead, thinking to himself, if you are talking about the Trade Bureau, just talk about the Trade Bureau, why are you talking about those officials in the court?

"Boss, is it true?" Seeing that Zhu Gaochi did not look up at him, Zhu Di had no choice but to ask.

Zhu Gaochi knew he couldn't hide, so he could only bow to Zhu Di and say, "Dad, it is true. In the past few years, I have also sponsored some officials. Their families are poor and it is really difficult for them to support their families."

"It's hard to support a family. It's impossible. Their salary should be higher than that of ordinary people, right?" Zhu Di said dissatisfiedly.

"Yes, but they also need to entertain. For example, when officials from above come, they also need to be entertained. Some officials can only be entertained with the county government's money, and some officials are timid and have to pay for it themselves. Also, the county government is short of staff, so the money has to be paid by the county magistrate himself to entertain people." Zhu Gaochi bowed and answered honestly.

After hearing this, Zhu Di remained silent.

Xu Qin didn't want to discuss the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty with them. As long as Zhu Di agreed to his proposal, it would be fine. So he bowed to Zhu Di and said, "Your Majesty, I think there is no problem with this bonus. This will motivate those people to find ways to make money for the Trade Bureau."

Zhu Di sat there and thought for a moment, then said to Xu Qin: "But it's too much, Sakyabao, all the civil officials are against the establishment of a trade bureau, and now you are offering high salaries and bonuses, which will make the civil officials even more opposed. Can you lower them a little? Otherwise, they will be jealous and think it's unfair."

"You can't say the same as those civil officials, right? If so, the Trade Bureau will be full of corrupt officials. Don't blame me. I don't have the energy to investigate such things." Xu Qin looked at Zhu Di and asked back.

After hearing Xu Qin's words, Zhu Di started walking in the imperial study with his hands behind his back.

Zhu Gaochi looked at Zhu Di, then at Xu Qin, thought for a while, and said: "Dad, and Sakya Bao, what do you think about reducing everything by half? Also, you can spread the word that the bonuses of the Trade Bureau are a trial of high salaries to maintain integrity. Once successful, it will be promoted nationwide." "Huh?" Zhu Di turned his head and looked at Zhu Gaochi.

"Dad, the officials in the court really have too little salary, that's why they are corrupt and collude with those businessmen. They have no choice but to take risks. If we give them high salaries to keep them honest, and they are still corrupt, we can add a heavier crime and punish them severely." Zhu Gaochi bowed to Zhu Di and said.

Xu Qin looked at Zhu Gaochi and had to say that Zhu Gaochi was still very smart.

"But if this is the case, the expenses of our Ming Dynasty will have to increase a lot. Boss, you know how much the Ming Dynasty's treasury earns every year." Zhu Di frowned and stared at Zhu Gaochi.

"But the money those officials embezzled is also from the treasury of our Ming Dynasty. A county magistrate must have embezzled more than five hundred taels a year, and the money he cheated the people must be more than five hundred taels as well. From a long-term perspective and for the sake of the people, I think we can introduce high salaries to maintain integrity." Zhu Gaochi said while bowing to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di was very dissatisfied. He did not have a good impression of those civil officials. He also knew that Zhu Gaochi had a good relationship with those civil officials.

"Your Majesty, I agree with my eldest cousin. We should set up a salary for maintaining integrity. For example, the average annual salary for a county magistrate is 300 taels, and the upper and lower grades are 100 taels. According to the assessment of the upper, middle and lower grades, 400 taels, 300 taels, and 200 taels will be issued each year respectively. The ratio of upper, middle and lower grades can be set at 2:6:2. The same applies to other officials at all levels. Of course, if it is a county magistrate who fails to perform his duties or a nominal official of the seventh rank, the difference can be between 50 taels and 100 taels. For example, for a nominal official of the seventh rank, the basic salary for maintaining integrity is 200 taels to 250 taels." Xu Qin said to Zhu Di and others.

"Savings money, good, good!" Zhu Gaochi nodded after hearing this.

Zhu Di was still hesitant, and after a while he said, "Boss, Sakyabao, I know you also hope that civil officials will be treated better, but Sakyabao doesn't understand the current situation of our Ming Dynasty. Don't you know it, Boss?"

"Tsk, if you don't have money, you should increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Besides, the taxes in the Ming Dynasty were almost fixed before, and they were not reasonable. Of course, we won't talk about it now, but we have increased revenue. Now that our Trade Bureau has been established, one is to make money overseas, and the other is for those workshop owners. Since they sell more goods, they can also receive a lot of commercial taxes, right? The commercial taxes collected are enough to pay for the silver for maintaining integrity.

In this way, those officials who are less corrupt will earn money for the court, and those officials who do not harm the people will be safe. If the people are safe, won't our Ming Dynasty be safe? "Xu Qin said with disdain at this moment, looking at Zhu Di.

When Zhu Gaochi heard this, he agreed very much.

Zhu Di stared at Xu Qin and said, "You just had a problem with the tax. What is the problem? Tell me."

"I'm busy. I haven't thought about it yet. There's also the issue of the bonus. That's it. Don't give less. If you give less, the Trade Bureau will be in chaos, and those workshops below will be controlled by the sons of nobles. This way they can make money. The Trade Bureau will earn less and less every year." Xu Qin looked at Zhu Di impatiently and said.

"Well, boss, what do you think?" Zhu Di walked to the dragon throne and sat down, looking at Zhu Gaochi and said.

"I agree. When I had no money, I couldn't help but wonder whether I should embezzle some of it when I saw that the Ministry of Revenue had money. This is a test of human nature, and it is difficult for most people to pass this test. They had no money in the first place, and now they have so much money in their hands, they can't help but have evil thoughts in their hearts. Now, I have some money in my hands, and when I see the money in the Ministry of Revenue, I have no thoughts at all." Zhu Gaochi bowed to Zhu Di and spoke his true thoughts.

After hearing this, Zhu Di stroked his beard and nodded, thinking that if even his own boss couldn't stand it, it would indeed be a test for the officials below.

"Okay, I agree. However, aren't the ranks of officials in the Trade Bureau too high? You are of the third rank, there are four of the third rank, sixteen of the fourth rank, and thirty-two of the fourth rank. There will be more later. I say, Shakyabao, does a Trade Bureau need to support so many officials? Your salary here is not small." Zhu Di said as he looked at the memorial and then at Xu Qin.

Xu Qin was so helpless. The Trade Bureau was not just for business, it also had to fight foreign wars.

(End of this chapter)