Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 122 If You Don’t Do It, There Are Plenty of People Who Will Do It

"As for the second matter, let the prince tell you about it."

Old Zhu put his hand on Zhu Biao's shoulder, nodded, and pushed him forward.

The vassal king's appointment as a prince was a foregone conclusion and no one could change it. Zhu Di was naturally very happy that his dream had come true.

Only the other princes began to worry about their own fate.

Who would have thought that Zhu Di's brother would take the initiative to stand up and express his position.

Once this is accomplished, none of them will be able to lie comfortably in their own fiefdom for the rest of their lives.

Zhu Biao stood in the front row, and he was still in high spirits today.

"Everyone! Today I will announce the changes in Ming Dynasty's national policy. If you were in the capital a month ago and attended the morning court, you should know that some time ago, my father and I had a dispute over the salaries of officials. Not only that, there is also the issue of the vassal kings.

Today, the issue of vassal kings has been solved by the external titles of vassal kings proposed by Yang Chen, so the next issue is the salary of officials.

The elders who followed my father since the beginning of the uprising all knew that my father had been oppressed by bureaucrats in the late Yuan Dynasty when he was a child, which led to my father's hatred of bureaucrats.

In his opinion, the reason why corrupt officials are insatiable is because they enjoy too much.

Since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the problem that has always been criticized is that the salary is too low. It can be said that there are nearly 10,000 officials in the Ming Dynasty, and they are all in a situation where they can only have enough food and clothing if they are lucky.

I know how hard they work, so starting today, the Ming Dynasty will change its salary system and will no longer discourage officials who work hard for the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Biao's words moved most people.

They were all officials who had not received any rewards during the founding of the country, and they did not have large amounts of land in their hometowns or any real money.

The whole family relies on their own salaries to survive. If they are luckier, they will receive more salaries this year, so their lives are pretty good.

Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty was plagued by disasters throughout the entire year. There was no good harvest, and wars had to be fought. In addition, the local gentry monopolized grain, causing prices to rise.

The meager salary is not enough to support the family.

His whole family starved because of him, and they even had to sell their daughter.

There were cases in the Ming Dynasty where officials were reduced to selling their daughters for a living. This was not uncommon, and Zhu Biao himself sent people to investigate and learn the truth.

Except for officials with higher positions, most grassroots officials in the Ming Dynasty actually had no say.

Those wealthy landlords prefer to use large sums of money to win over high-ranking officials. As for the remaining small officials, unless they can help them, it is not their turn to bribe these people.

This is why a large number of officials in the Ming Dynasty were actively corrupt rather than passively corrupt. It would be quite strange for such a thing to happen in any dynasty.

"Next, I will talk about three new policies that are closely related to you. No one brought paper and pen today, so you must listen carefully!

First is the first strategy!
All official salaries will be changed to be based mainly on full attendance rewards, supplemented by a last-place elimination system. "

When this statement was made, Yang Chen's mouth corners slightly raised and he muttered to himself.

"Has it finally begun? Then let me see what kind of changes these things will bring to the Ming Dynasty."

At the same time, people around began to talk.

"Perfect attendance reward? Last-place elimination system? What does this mean? Prime Minister Hu, as a minister close to the Emperor and the Crown Prince, do you know anything about this?"

“I don’t know. Since a few months ago, Your Majesty has rarely discussed things with me. Many of your important matters have been handed over to me, and then I only need to hand over to Your Majesty.

Some time ago, His Majesty didn't tell me anything and left almost everything to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince could handle it all by himself and didn't need my help at all.

I have no idea what these things are about.”

Hu Weiyong's face had never been so gloomy. After serving as an official for so many years, it was the first time that he felt that his position as prime minister was just a mere decoration.

It is not an exaggeration to call it a mascot, but today's grand court meeting seems like a play.

A show for all of them.

"I will go and discuss with my mentor later. What happened here? And this Yang Chen, his origin is mysterious and his purpose is unknown. If I let him go, everything I have will be used by others!"

Everything that happened today made Hu Weiyong feel very uncomfortable, which made him more determined to investigate Yang Chen.

"Prince! What is the perfect attendance reward? What does the elimination system mean? Please enlighten us, Prince!"

Many ministers had no idea of ​​the importance of the matter to themselves, so naturally some began to ask bold questions.

Zhu Biao was not surprised at all.

Instead, explain patiently.

“The so-called full attendance is an assessment that takes place every month and every year.

Let’s take August as an example. August has 31st day. No matter how high or low the official position is, there will be a dedicated person to register every month.

In addition to the daily morning court, officials in the capital city also need to return to the place where they handle government affairs to register. Only if the account book is recorded twice, it is considered a sign-in. If an official is absent on August 31st, his full attendance bonus will be cancelled.

This full attendance will be rewarded with different amounts of salary depending on the size of the official position.

For example, for a ninth-rank official, in addition to the fixed monthly salary, if you have perfect attendance every month, you will receive a considerable reward. For now, I have temporarily set it at three taels of silver.

For every promotion in rank, one tael of silver will be added. If you are promoted from the ninth rank to the ninth rank, then full attendance will become three taels of silver and five hundred copper coins.

In addition to the monthly attendance bonus, there will also be an additional age salary. For every year of service in the court, the salary will be increased by 2%.

For example, for a ninth-rank official, the original annual salary was about 60 shi of rice. After each year, the salary would increase from 60 shi to 61.2 shi of rice.

And so on and so forth.

The above are the monthly attendance and age salary, followed by the third type of year-end bonus.

As long as you have served in the Ming Dynasty for one year, you will receive a substantial reward at the end of each year. This year-end bonus is equivalent to three months of basic salary for that year.

The monthly salary of a ninth-rank official is five shi, so the year-end bonus is fifteen shi."

"The prince is wise! The prince is wise!"

"The Ming Dynasty will surely prosper! The Ming Dynasty will surely last for thousands of years!"

"Your Highness is mighty and powerful! You know the injustice in the world! We, your subjects, will devote ourselves to the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Biao proposed various clauses for increasing income, which suddenly made those honest officials feel sad.

They originally thought that the Ming Dynasty could not see their efforts, but now they found that the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty had been paying attention to their lives.

Today, honest officials who have not fallen into corruption and bribery have a sense of hope. For the first time, they feel what it is like to see the suffering people in the court getting help.

As for those lazy officials, they never expected that the imperial court would actually find ways to give them money.

Whether it is an attendance bonus, a year-end bonus, or an age salary, these things are an additional legitimate source of income for them.

However, before they could be happy for a short while, Zhu Biao explained the rules of the last-in-first-out system.

When they learned that, if someone found out that they had missed out on signing in or punching in, or pretended to have full attendance, they would be demoted immediately.

In addition, Zhu Biao would also use special means to investigate whether local officials were doing their best to do practical work.

If it is verified that someone used means to intimidate local people and prevent them from filing complaints, they will be tortured.

In order to give honest officials a way out, Zhu Biao also encouraged officials at all levels to report on each other. If they encountered a major corrupt official, a portion of the confiscated financial resources would be used to reward the reporting official.

This move can be said to have instantly calmed down those officials who had dirty thoughts in their hearts.

They already had traces, and now everyone is in danger. If they knew that many people in the Ming Dynasty used other means to make profits for themselves, the more complicated the process, the more things will be left behind, and the more evidence there will be, and no one can guarantee that they are absolutely clean.

"Everyone, the last-in-first-out system gives some officials the opportunity to move up. As the regent, I know very well that grassroots officials have a hard time. Once all this is implemented, your hard work will not go unnoticed.

Remember one thing, as long as you dare to report and expose, I, Zhu Biao, will always stand behind you and support you! "

In an instant, everyone present cheered.

Even those who are unhappy with this measure in their hearts can only pretend to be happy, because once they are unhappy, their attitude will be exposed.

Seeing that many people around him were genuinely happy, Yang Chen felt a sense of satisfaction. It was the first time that he could feel the tangible changes that he had brought to Daming.

This sense of accomplishment cannot be brought about by the explosion of dynamite, but can only be experienced through feedback from a large number of people.

However, Yang Shiqi's stepfather Luo Xing, who was standing next to him, looked worried.

While the others were cheering, he complained to Yang Chen and sighed:

"Oh my god, what on earth is the prince trying to do? Why did he come up with this perfect attendance system and last-place elimination system? Isn't this just putting our officials on the fire?"

Yang Chen glanced at this 'senior official's secretary' and couldn't help feeling a little confused.

Logically speaking, as a relative who could raise such a talented person as Yang Shiqi, Luo Xing should not be the jester who opposed this strategy.

"Is Luo Xing not a good official at all? Did Yang Shiqi rely on himself to become successful? Is it true that as the legend goes, this guy is the god of literature?"

And so on doubts emerged in his mind, but he quickly shook his head to deny them.

"Don't you think that the prince's strategy is not feasible?"

He didn't waste any more time and asked directly.

Luo Xing glanced at Yang Chen, not knowing what he was looking at, and then he slowly said:
"Ah! How can you young people understand the pain of us older people!

I see that you are handsome and suave, and you are at the right age to visit brothels. But what about me? I am already in my forties, with one foot halfway into the age of knowing the destiny.

According to the rules that Your Majesty has stated, I need to sign in and clock in with you young people all day long, and I also need to manage more government affairs, and I need to take care of every aspect of everything. Otherwise, if I am not careful, I will be found guilty and reported for not doing a good enough job.

If His Majesty or the Regent knew about this, wouldn't I be out of job?

Another thing is, I am too old to compete with you young people who are full of energy!"

It sounded like Luo Xing was about to cry when he spoke.

As the deputy prefect of Jiangxi Provincial Administration, he had to deal with many people's livelihood issues every day, every month, and every year, whether it was food, business, or public security issues, all fell on his shoulders.

A person in his forties, no matter how capable he is, cannot do everything well.

It's not just Luo Xing, many older officials have the same idea in their hearts.

According to the last-in-first-out system, their advantages are completely vulnerable in the face of age.

If you are careless for a moment, you might lose your job.

"So, Senior, do you think this system is good or bad for most officials of the Ming Dynasty? And is it good or bad for the people of the Ming Dynasty?"

Yang Chen patted the sides of his robe to make it neat and smooth. He looked at the civil servants around him and asked the same question.

"I believe you have all heard what Senior Luo said just now. Do you think this policy is good or bad for the people of Ming Dynasty?"

Everyone stared at each other, and finally a brave man spoke to Yang Chen in the manner of a senior:
"Boy, if what you said is true, the last-in-first-out system can improve the initiative of many officials. It is naturally a good thing for the common people, but for us old people, it is really beyond our ability!"

"That's right. No matter what, we can't beat those young people, right? They are as strong as cows. We old guys can't beat them no matter how hard we try."

Yang Chen's ears were callused from hearing similar words so often.

How could he not know what these guys were thinking?

It's simply that the last-in-first-out system means that things that originally only required 30% of their time and energy to complete now require 60% or even 80% of their time and energy.

It is like the working hours are increased from three hours to four or even five hours to complete the work.

The easy and pleasant official duties became cumbersome instead, which naturally led to complaints in their hearts.

Yang Chen glanced at everyone around him and said with disdain:
"If all of you have such thoughts, then I advise you to resign from His Majesty now. You don't want to work hard for the people of Ming Dynasty but want to get rich. Where in the world can such a good thing come from?
Getting something for nothing is a truth that even the cowherd boys in the countryside understand. But you all think you are well-educated, well-read, and can recite the Four Books, Five Classics, and Spring and Autumn Annals at will, but you are not even willing to do your duty as an official.

His Majesty trusts you and is willing to share the burden of these officials with you, but you are actually discussing right and wrong again.

The burden of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty all falls on Your Majesty alone. Now the Crown Prince understands that we officials are short of money, so he has come up with this strategy to reform the system. Instead of thinking carefully about how you should do things in the future, you are actually complaining here!

Speak loudly if you have the guts! Like me! Do you dare? "

Yang Chen was like a happy boy, his voice became louder and louder, even Zhu Biao on the stage noticed his actions.

"Brother Yang is just like before, not giving anyone face at all. We agreed to keep the noise down, but how come even my voice was covered?"

This was also a scene that the two decided after discussing privately.

If only Zhu Biao spoke, the people below would definitely have different opinions, and then Yang Chen would be the one to highlight the matter.

Then it was handed over to Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao looked at the crowd below and asked in a lukewarm tone:
"It seems that all the ministers are very confused about the first strategy I mentioned. They are discussing it so heatedly that their voices are almost drowning out mine."

As soon as he finished speaking, many of the ministers below began to lower their heads and dared not speak.

When Mr. Zhu saw this scene, he felt very pleased and admired his son even more.

"Biao'er is now full of momentum, and these ministers dare not even look at him. At this point, he truly has the potential to become an emperor!"

In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, the emperor was a silent person whom his ministers dared not even peek at.

These ministers must use strong deterrent force to suppress them to avoid any trouble.

Zhu Biao's tone made it hard to tell who was the crown prince, he just said in a calm voice:

“You have to understand that the full attendance system and the last-place elimination system may be a little cruel, but you should know that sitting in this position today, wearing an official robe, means that some things are weighing on you!

As the saying goes, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. As the people's parents, if you don't have the desire to get practical things done, then you don't deserve to sit in this position.

In the past, some people used the lack of money as an excuse for not having motivation, but now, I have given you a chance!
Not only money, even the path to promotion has been clearly marked by me. The two things are right in front of you. As long as you do it, the things will belong to you. You will never have to worry about food and drink. Compared to those common people who can only eat tree roots, tree barks and Guanyin soil, what qualifications do you have to be unsatisfied!

From now on, I do not want to hear any objections to this policy, otherwise, I will personally remove your official robes and demote you to civilian status!"

Zhu Biao's words were very fierce, and at the end they directly implied that there was no resistance.

Seeing that the prince's dominance was inevitable, no one dared to say anything against it, and everyone could only accept it with a correct attitude.

"Yang Chen just pointed out the key point. This regent is very satisfied. I will give him a title and reward. I will make a decision later."

He added this sentence at the end, and everyone gnashed their teeth in envy.

Who would have thought that Yang Chen would steal the show at today's grand court meeting, not only gaining the appreciation of His Majesty, but also receiving commendation from the Crown Prince himself.

If this happened to them, they couldn't even imagine how happy they would be.

In contrast, Yang Chen himself seemed to take it very lightly.

He was the only one who knew that this was all acting.

(End of this chapter)