In future generations, what basic qualities should a qualified financial personnel possess?

In addition to basic financial knowledge and specific business abilities, in terms of character, a good financial person should have the nature of a miser - he likes to watch the assets and funds in the accounts he manages continue to grow, expenses to be controlled, and non-performing assets to continue to grow.

being stripped off.

There is no doubt that Xu Honggang has such qualities.

Therefore, after seeing that His Highness Taisun was planning to raise the salaries of officials across the country and asked the Ministry of Revenue to make preparations in advance, his mood suddenly became bad.

But in Zhu Youdong's view, the Ming Dynasty's officialdom must be rectified. But before rectifying the officialdom, officials must first increase their salaries.

Because the apparent salary of Ming officials is really too low!

When Lao Zhu founded the People's Republic of China, because the household registration was in shambles, the court collected taxes entirely based on feeling. In addition, it had to fight with the remaining forces of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and the separatist armed forces that had arisen from various places. Therefore, the entire court's finances were extremely tight. In addition, Lao Zhu was stingy.

nature. Therefore, during the Hongwu period, officials' salaries basically provided for food and clothing.

For the lowest pre-liu (from the ninth grade and below), their monthly salary was only three shi meters. According to the calculations of later Ming history experts, these three shi meters, converted into RMB, was about 383 yuan.

A seventh-grade county magistrate has a monthly salary of 7.5 shi, which is about 955 yuan when converted into RMB.

Even for a first-class imperial master, his monthly salary is only 87 shi, which is equivalent to about 11,087 yuan in RMB...

With this little income, he can really only eat, and the official eats alone.

But this is the Ming Dynasty! The current dual-career style is not popular! Not only that, this era advocates more children and more happiness. A family only has four or five people!

With so many mouths, how can it be enough for one person to have such a small income?

And what’s even more ridiculous is that not all of the Lumi issued to you by the imperial court is rice, but a considerable part is made of cloth or even wood and charcoal. If the imperial court receives too much of a certain specialty that year - such as dried salted fish. That would be

It’s really possible to send you salted fish!

And the above things can still be regarded as real objects. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the imperial court's finances collapsed, and a considerable part of the salaries paid to officials were treasure coins!

Moreover, as mentioned above, the price of salt in the Ming Dynasty was the highest in the history of the Chinese Empire!

In short, this salary is simply not enough for middle and low-level officials to support their families.

As for senior officials? On the surface, an income of tens of millions of yuan a month can support a family. However, as people's level increases, the people they make friends with will enter completely different circles, and their consumption levels will also increase rapidly. Therefore,

, for senior officials, his salary will only be even more insufficient!

What to do? The only solution is corruption and bribery.

Zhu Youdong has always believed in one thing: high salary may not be able to maintain integrity, but too low salary will definitely lead to corruption! Didn’t you see that Lao Zhu killed corrupt officials and killed many people, but the officials still continued to fight? If the salary problem is not solved, officials will not be able to support themselves on wages.

Family, no matter how fast your emperor's sword is, they will still commit corruption!

Therefore, it is necessary to rectify the official administration of the Ming Dynasty today. But before that, you have to increase the salaries of officials.

As an old bureaucrat, Xu Honggang certainly understood the key points involved. Therefore, although as the Minister of Household Affairs, he was instinctively unhappy when he heard that a large sum of money was going to be paid. But when he calmed down, he also thought deeply

Let’s be clear: officials’ salaries should be increased.

After figuring this out, he began to make calculations.

He, Lao Xu, is sixty-two years old this year. He has been in officialdom for decades and has climbed to the second rank of the imperial court. His monthly salary is 61 dan. According to the current price of rice, it is worth about 30.5 silver dollars. (equivalent to about 7773 yuan in RMB)

This amount of money is definitely not enough for an official in this position.

Among Lao Xu's four sons now, there is one Jinshi, one Jinshi and two Xiucai, and his three daughters are all married. Therefore, his expenditure on children and grandchildren has almost dropped to zero.

However, in addition to his wife, he also has three concubines. There are also maids, slaves, cooks, concierges, nurses, and other forty or fifty people at home. In addition, he also supports two teachers - they do not teach, but they are responsible for the chief disciple.

official correspondence, writing, as well as correspondence and entertainment among literati.

With all this, what kind of Lumi is enough if you can’t get 61 shi a month? It’s impossible to feed this family!

What's more, as the Minister of Household Affairs and a senior official of the imperial court, it is unavoidable to receive various greetings and send-offs. The simplest thing is weddings and funerals, etc. If you are a minister and your subordinates get married, you can't just give

Five pieces of silver or a silver dime, right?

In short, Xu Honggang made a rough estimate: At his position, he would need at least 150 silver dollars a month to be barely enough - this is because he is generally frugal and does not have too many concubines or theater troupes at home.

Something like that. If you meet an official like Li Sancai, 15,000 silver dollars a month will not be enough.

Moreover, there is another difference between Xu Honggang and many middle and low-level officials in the Ming Dynasty: his children are all adults, and he does not need to worry about eating, clothing, schooling, marriage, or buying a house. And those officials who still need to face such problems,

This expenditure alone probably exceeds all of Xu Shangshu’s daily expenditures!

"Well, it seems that this salary really has to be increased." After pondering for a while, Xu Honggang said to the clerk beside him: "Wang Cheng, how much is your monthly salary?"

"Ah? Well, to report back to the great Situ, I am an official and not a member of the public. Every month, the Ministry of Household Affairs pays me one meter per stone, two silver corners, and one foot and five inches of cloth. In addition, at the end of the year, there is also a silver corner

of silver reward."

Looking at Xu Honggang who was silent, Wang Cheng said again: "Da Situ, this is the treatment you have received in the past one or two years. In the past, there were no silver horns, but a small black piece of silver, which was worth about

One or two yuan. And some treasure notes."

"Well, is this little money enough?"

"Of course it's not enough. Da Situ, I don't hide it. Over the years, if it weren't for the rewards that local officials give when they come to do things, I wouldn't be able to persist in the Ministry of Household Affairs for so long."

"Well, I know this. As long as you don't go too far when you ask for a door package from the local magistrate who wants to see me, I will turn a blind eye."

"Thank you, Master Situ, for your understanding."

"Now." Xu Honggang shook the manuscript in his hand: "His Royal Highness is going to increase the salary for all officials in the country. What do you think is the minimum amount that an official at your level should have to use each month?

What I mean is that we should rely solely on salary and not on those side projects."

"Well... Da Situ, please excuse me and leave for now. I will give you a report later."

"Can."

After a while, Wang Cheng entered again and submitted a very detailed report to Xu Honggang.

In this report, Wang Cheng gave a very detailed enumeration of the daily expenses of a family of four.

Rice and grain: A family of four consumes nearly one stone of rice in a month, which costs 0.5 yuan.

Non-staple food (meat, vegetables, oil): 0.5 yuan.

Salt: 0.1 yuan.

Clothes: Four sets of clothes per person per year for the whole family, which is equivalent to 2 yuan in total. Divided into 12 parts, it is 0.17 yuan.

Medical expenses: 0.2 yuan.

Educational expenses for my son’s education: at least 0.5 yuan per month.

Rent: 0.5 yuan.

All kinds of weddings and funerals: based on two per month, at least 0.2 yuan, totaling 0.4 yuan.

Support for the elderly in the hometown and subsidies from poor relatives at home: on average, at least 0.1 yuan per month.

Others: including temporary travel, visiting relatives during the Chinese New Year, snacks for children, daily gatherings with friends, incense money given to temples during festivals, etc., on average within 12 months, it is about 0.5 yuan per month.

To sum up, an ordinary citizen of the Ming Dynasty, with a family of four, had to earn about 3.5 silver dollars a month to survive.

Moreover, Wang Cheng repeatedly stated in the report: This is already the minimum standard. For example, many citizens now have half-grown children in their families who are very good at eating. Just for the meal money, the whole family will far exceed the budget of one yuan.

.And children grow up quickly, so the cost of these clothes is only a lot more.

At the same time, once a family's child has a little bit of academic performance and wants to go to a higher school or visit a famous teacher, the cost will be huge. If the budget is 3.5 yuan - the whole family can't afford food or drink.

rise.
Chapter completed!