Ming Dynasty: The Jingnan Rebellion has just been successful, and Zhu Yuanzhang has been resurrected

Chapter 133 Officials’ salaries, people’s land and commerce!

"Your Majesty, what's the matter that you're looking for me so late at night?" Yao Guangxiao followed Ma Sanbao into the palace with full of doubts.

Tomorrow is Zhu Yunhuan's wedding day, but he was received the night before. Just think about it, it must be no simple matter.

Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Zhu Yunhuan looked calm as he sat at a square wooden table, drinking alone. There were five or six dishes on the table.

"Your Majesty, Yao Guangxiao is here." Ma Sanbao brought Yao Guangxiao into the palace and came in front of Zhu Yunhuan.

"Your Majesty, I, Yao Guangxiao, pay my respects to you!" Yao Guangxiao bowed and saluted.

Zhu Yunhuan stood up and walked forward, helping Yao Guangxiao up. He smiled and said, "Mr. Yao, I came to see you so late. I hope I didn't disturb your rest."

Yao Guangxiao bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, you are joking. It is an honor for me to be summoned by Your Majesty."

"Haha, I like listening to what Mr. Yao says. Come, sit down and have a couple of drinks with me." Zhu Yunhuan said as he pulled Yao Guangxiao to sit down at the square wooden table.

Immediately, he waved to Ma Sanbao beside him and said, "Sanbao, you go down first."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Ma Sanbao nodded, turned around and walked away.

"Swish!" Zhu Yunhuan picked up the wine jug beside him and wanted to pour wine for Yao Guangxiao.

Yao Guangxiao was startled when he saw this and quickly tried to stop him, saying, "Your Majesty, this is unacceptable. I will pour the wine for you."

As he spoke, he reached out to take the wine jug from Zhu Yunhuan's hand.

Throughout history, there have been ministers who asked their kings to pour wine for them, but most of them ended up in a bad way.

At this moment, the doubts in his heart became even stronger.

In history, those ministers who were able to make kings pour wine for them all made great contributions, but he did nothing?
"Mr. Yao, please sit down. I'll pour the wine!" Zhu Yunhuan stretched out his hand to hold Yao Guangxiao down.

"What's going on? What does Your Majesty want to do?" Yao Guangxiao was confused and didn't know what Zhu Yunhuan was going to do.

"Crash!"

Fill two glasses of wine.

Zhu Yunhuan picked up the wine glass and said, "Come on, Mr. Yao, let's drink one first!"

Yao Guangxiao was nervous. He picked up the wine glass, clinked it with Zhu Yunhuan's, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Mr. Yao has a really good alcohol tolerance." Zhu Yunhuan put down his wine glass, smiled, picked up the wine pot and filled Yao Guangxiao's glass again.

"Bang!" Yao Guangxiao couldn't bear it anymore, he stood up and knelt on the ground, his heart full of bitterness.

He thought about it over and over again, but still didn't know what he had done wrong. However, he didn't ask Zhu Yunhuan.

If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die.

"Mr. Yao, what are you doing?" Zhu Yunheng was a little surprised.

Yao Guangxiao hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong!"

"Well, what did you do wrong? Tell me." Zhu Yunhuan's face was full of curiosity.

Yao Guangxiao lowered his head and remained silent.

He didn't know what he did wrong, but judging from Zhu Yunhuan's attitude tonight, he must have done something wrong!

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Yao Guangxiao and waved his hand, saying, "Don't worry, just speak boldly!"

Yao Guangxiao bravely looked up and saw Zhu Yunhuan's curious expression. He was immediately confused: "What on earth is going on?"

"What's wrong?" Zhu Yunhuan frowned slightly when he saw Yao Guangxiao was silent.

Seeing this, Yao Guangxiao dared not remain silent any longer. With bitterness in his heart, he said, "Your Majesty, I don't know where I have done wrong."

"Hmm?" Zhu Yunhuan was startled when he heard Yao Guangxiao's words. He looked at him unkindly and said, "Mr. Yao, are you kidding me?"

"I dare not!" Yao Guangxiao felt like crying but had no tears.

He was playing a trick on Zhu Yunhuan? That was such a huge injustice!
"Tell me, what's going on?" Zhu Yunhuan waved his hand. He also felt that it was unlikely that Yao Guangxiao was playing a trick on him. After all, it was too obvious.

Yao Guangxiao is the top strategist of the current period. Even if someone wants to trick him, would he use such a straightforward method?

That's not teasing him, but playing with his own life.

Is Yao Guangxiao afraid of death?
From a historical perspective, he should have been afraid. Otherwise, Zhu Di would not have retired after he ascended the throne.

In some ways, retreat is a form of self-protection.

Yao Guangxiao hesitated for a moment, then mustered up the courage to speak: "Your Majesty, pouring wine for your subjects is a gesture that, in history, was only granted to those who had made great contributions."

Zhu Yunhuan was stunned for a moment, and after thinking for a moment, his eyes became a little strange. He said, "You don't think I want to kill you, do you?"

Yao Guangxiao remained silent.

"That's enough, get up now!" Zhu Yunheng waved his hand with a wry smile on his face.

Yao Guangxiao looked up at Zhu Yunhuan with hesitation in his eyes.

"I don't want to kill you. Forget it. Since you want to pour the wine, then come on!" Zhu Yunhuan said.

Yao Guangxiao stood up and sat down again, his heart full of doubts.

However, he didn't ask any more questions.

Zhu Yunhuan picked up the wine glass, took a sip, and said, "Before you came, Fourth Uncle just left me. He wanted to follow me and work for the court."

"Ah?" Yao Guangxiao was stunned when he heard this, his heart filled with shock. "The Prince of Yan works for the court? How is this possible?"

He understood Zhu Di's character. Zhu Di was not the kind of person who was willing to be inferior to others.

Making Zhu Di bow his head is more difficult than killing him.

"You have followed Fourth Uncle for more than ten years and know him very well. I called you here just to ask you, do you think I should accept Fourth Uncle's surrender?" Zhu Yunheng looked at Yao Guangxiao with calm eyes.

"This..." Yao Guangxiao looked shocked.

Although he knew Zhu Di's character, he didn't think he was the type to be inferior to others.

However, judging from Zhu Yunhuan's current appearance, it is obvious that this is true.

Although he was very confused, he knew that now was not the time to dwell on it. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Your Majesty, whether or not you should accept the Prince of Yan's offer of allegiance is up to you."

At this moment, a very strange feeling arose in his heart.

He knew very well what Zhu Yunhuan's question to him meant. If Zhu Yunhuan did not have an answer in his mind yet, his answer would most likely have a direct impact on Zhu Yunhuan.

In other words, Zhu Di's future is now controlled by him.

Although, this control is indirect.

"Oh, tell me in detail." Zhu Yunhuan shrugged.

Yao Guangxiao took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, as you said, I have served the Prince of Yan for many years. Therefore, I am very clear about his abilities. If Your Majesty can control him, then his allegiance will be a great help to Your Majesty. If Your Majesty cannot control him, then his allegiance will only bring harm rather than benefit to Your Majesty."

He did not say anything clearly, but just analyzed the essence of the matter for Zhu Yunhuan's reference.

Yao Guangxiao's choice seemed to be neither helping nor against the other, but in fact he was leaning towards Zhu Yunhuan, because for Zhu Yunhuan, what he needed was a clear point of view.

"You are right. I finally chose to accept Fourth Uncle. Maybe you can work together in the future." Zhu Yunheng said meaningfully.

Yao Guangxiao was startled when he heard this, then he stood up and knelt respectfully, saying, "Your Majesty, although I am a monk, I also know that I should be loyal to my emperor. Although I have been with the Prince of Yan for more than ten years, now that I have followed Your Majesty, I will naturally be loyal to Your Majesty from now on."

"Get up quickly and don't think too much. I just want to say hello to you in advance so that you can be mentally prepared. As for loyalty, I have always had only one attitude: trust people when you employ them, and don't employ people if you don't trust them." Zhu Yunhuan waved his hand.

Yao Guangxiao stood up and looked at Zhu Yunhuan's calm expression. He felt a pang of fear in his heart and thought to himself, "Fortunately, I don't plan to have any further interactions with the Prince of Yan."

The heart of a king is hard to predict. Now he has some understanding of this sentence.

He couldn't tell which of Zhu Yunhuan's words were true and which were false.

However, these don't seem to matter too much. As long as he does his job with peace of mind, an emperor like Zhu Yunhuan can give him all the support, and that's what he needs.

Perhaps, the stage that Zhu Yunhuan could give him might not be given to him even if Zhu Di really succeeded in his rebellion.

"Some people are born to be kings!" Yao Guangxiao felt emotional.

Before, he didn't believe in fortune-telling, but after seeing Zhu Yunhuan, he began to believe it a little.

The king is like a sea that embraces all rivers, controls all ministers, and rules the land of the nine provinces!

"By the way, there is one more thing. Please help me with some advice." Zhu Yunheng picked up the wine glass, took a sip, and thought about the problem of corruption and bribery among Ming Dynasty officials.

Corruption and bribery among officials are inevitable in any dynasty.

After all, officials are also human beings with emotions and desires.

Official corruption and bribery is a headache for any emperor. Zhu Yunhuan did not dare to say that he could completely eradicate the corruption problem in the Ming Dynasty by becoming emperor, because that was simply impossible.

However, whenever possible, we must address corruption and bribery among officials.

Putting aside other things, if there were fewer officials who were corrupt and accepting bribes, wouldn’t the lives of the people of the Ming Dynasty be better?

In any era, the lower-class people are the most miserable group of people, and their number is the largest.

Zhu Yunhuan never considered himself a saint.

However, as much as possible, he still intends to do something for the people of this era.

Even if we take a step back, he did it for the sake of the Ming Dynasty.

After all, only when the people live and work in peace and contentment can the country be stable.

"It is my honor." Yao Guangxiao said.

"I have decided to increase the salaries of officials," said Zhu Yunhuan.

In later history, some people have said that the salaries in the Ming Dynasty were actually not low, and the money set by Zhu Yuanzhang was enough to meet the daily needs of officials.

But this view is totally untenable and is directly blocked by two problems.

First: The salaries were not low, which begs the question: were Ming officials not afraid of death? Zhu Yuanzhang established such harsh penalties, yet they still committed crimes in defiance of the law. Were they just walking a tightrope? Were they playing with their own lives?

It is better to live a miserable life than to die. Even ordinary people feel this way, so why would an official with a bright future want to die?

2: The pen. As we all know, no matter which dynasty, the pen is basically in the hands of civil officials, and civil officials are the main body of officials. Perhaps civil officials will exaggerate, but if the salaries in the Ming Dynasty were really very high, how could there be a saying in history that the salaries in the Ming Dynasty were super low?

Could it be that all Ming Dynasty officials like to tell little lies?

"Increase the salaries of officials?" Yao Guangxiao was stunned when he heard this, and felt a little emotional.

He had noticed the court's salary issue a long time ago, but this problem was difficult to deal with.

The Central Plains was ravaged by the Yuan Dynasty.

Although the Ming Dynasty was established, what it got was a mess.

Now every part of the Ming Dynasty needs money, but the national treasury does not have much money.

In this case, how can we take out some money out of thin air to increase the salaries of officials?
Today's Ming Dynasty can function normally.

If it can operate normally, why should we spend more money to invest in it for no reason?

Something wrong?
This principle is like the crying child gets candy.

The officials haven't made a fuss, so why raise their salaries? We'll wait until they make a fuss, but for now, use the money elsewhere.

In fact, is this the truth?

Many things cannot be viewed from just one perspective.

For example, a person may eat very little every day when he goes home, but when he has a physical examination, he is found to be in good nutritional condition.

Does this mean that the person is in good health?
Most likely not.

If you can stay healthy without eating at home, it is probably because you have eaten a lot outside and only had a symbolic meal when you get home.

This is in line with the logic of the matter.

The same logic applies to the Ming Dynasty.

Is the Ming Dynasty court functioning normally?

On the surface, yes, but why was corruption so rampant? Even in the face of Zhu Yuanzhang's high-pressure punishment, it could not be stopped at all, and even became more and more serious.

To put it bluntly, the seemingly normal operation of the Ming Dynasty was actually made up for by other places.

This situation is a bit like taking down the west wall to repair the east wall.

This is also the real reason why corruption was rampant in the Ming Dynasty. Officials are also human beings. Since the court does not give them money, they can only find ways to make money on their own.

Just like the people rising up in rebellion at the end of a dynasty, the imperial court left them hungry and cold, so they tried to find a way to change the court.

Many principles are actually interconnected.

"Yeah, what do you think?" Zhu Yunxun said.

Yao Guangxiao showed a hint of hesitation and said, "Your Majesty, your idea is good, but increasing the salaries of officials would require a considerable amount of money. We in the Ming Dynasty need money everywhere right now."

He did not say that the salaries of Ming officials were low, nor did he say anything about Zhu Yunhuan's proposal, but his words expressed both meanings.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Then where do you think we should start if we want to make money in the Ming Dynasty?"

Although he had already noticed it, it did not prevent him from relying on Yao Guangxiao again.

The two are not in conflict.

"This..." Yao Guangxiao was stunned and looked up at Zhu Yunhuan.

Zhu Yunxun waved his hand and said, "It's okay, just say it!"

Yao Guangxiao pondered for a moment, took a deep breath, and said, "Your Majesty, if it comes to money, business is still the fastest!"

After saying that, he closed his mouth and waited quietly for Zhu Yunhuan to speak.

Emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce was the national policy of the Ming Dynasty.

The commercial development he proposed was undoubtedly contrary to the national policy of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhu Yunhuan showed a very broad mind.

However, who can tell the specific situation?

"Please give me more details. How do we do it?" Zhu Yunhuan asked with a smile, feeling deeply moved. "As expected of him, he is the greatest contributor to Zhu Di's success in the Jingnan Campaign. He is truly capable!"

Yao Guangxiao looked at Zhu Yunhuan.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and nodded at Yao Guangxiao.

"This..." Yao Guangxiao was startled, and a thought popped into his mind: "Could it be that His Majesty is also planning to develop the Ming Dynasty's commerce?"

Zhu Yunhuan understood Yao Guangxiao's expression, smiled and nodded, saying, "Mr. Yao, you are right. You and I are thinking the same thing."

"Your Majesty, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is the national policy set by Emperor Taizu. I know that commerce can make money, but this is not easy to do. Otherwise, everyone will go into business and no one will go to farm." Yao Guangxiao hesitated.

Although doing business was his answer to Zhu Yunhuan, he now had to speak up to persuade Zhu Yunhuan.

In any dynasty, land is the foundation.

If a dynasty only pursues money and ignores food, it will be very dangerous for it.

Food is our rice bowl.

If a person loses his job, he will have to go hungry.

If a dynasty loses its own rice bowl, it will be doomed to fail.

Who hasn’t heard of the story of “Planting mulberry trees and ruining the country”?

In any dynasty, the income from business is far greater than that from farming. Farming is not only tiring, but also low-income.

But unfortunately, the foundation of a country is the fields.

Based on this situation, many ancient dynasties adopted the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce.

Encourage people to farm by improving their social status.

If this policy is always implemented, there will be no problem. After all, although farming is hard and tiring and the income is low, it provides high social status and spiritual satisfaction.

But as I said before, the social status of the people was determined by the court. At the end of the dynasty, no one cared about the people at all.

"I have already thought about this matter, come and listen to it."

"I have decided to open up business, but I am stuck on taxation. If the business is small, then the tax will be deducted. The bigger the business, the more taxes you will need to pay. As for the issue of people farming, those who farm will be directly exempted from tax, and even given a certain amount of monetary rewards." Zhu Yunheng said.

"Huh?" Yao Guangxiao was a bit confused, stunned. "Your Majesty, did I hear correctly? Giving the people tax exemptions? Even giving them financial rewards? This... This has never happened before in all dynasties!"

Farming, paying crops and taxes is a natural thing and has been done for many years.

Now Zhu Yunhuan not only exempts the people from taxes, but even gives them money for farming. If this really happens, he can't imagine how stable the Ming Dynasty will be.

By then, the hearts of the people all over the world will definitely fall into the hands of the Zhu family, and Zhu Yunhuan's personal prestige will probably reach a terrifying height that has never been seen before and will never be surpassed.

"You heard it right. Of course, there is a prerequisite, that is, any land that receives tax exemption or even monetary rewards must be attributed to the court and cannot be bought and sold privately." Zhu Yunheng thought for a while and added.

Yao Guangxiao stared at Zhu Yunhuan in a daze, his mouth moving, not knowing what to say. What Zhu Yunhuan said was really scary!
(End of this chapter)