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Chapter 114 Official Salaries

() Zhong Jinwei thought for a while, sorted out his thoughts, then grabbed a brush and prepared to write it down on paper.

But after writing a few words, Zhong Jinwei still gave up. Not only did he write traditional Chinese characters, but he also couldn't write simplified Chinese characters with brush calligraphy. It was not easy to write the words smaller. As a result, his hand shook and a drop of ink fell down.

A piece of paper is useless.

Zhong Jinwei put down his brush and asked Li Simin, who was standing aside polishing ink, "Can you write?"

Li Simin was startled. She didn't expect that the young master would ask her if she could write. Her face was a little red, but with the light, she couldn't see the change in her face. She replied in a low voice: "I haven't read books at home, no."

Can write."

Without Archie, nothing goes smoothly. I have decided that everyone in the house must learn to write. Zhong Jinwei secretly decided in his heart.

Li Simin can't write, and Zhong Jinwei can't write well. Let's forget about it for tonight and talk about it tomorrow.

On the morning of December 30, the second year of Chongzhen, the people in the Earl of Zhongxing's Mansion began to get busy early.

Zhong Jinwei felt a little uncomfortable with his bed and woke up early. Remembering that today was New Year's Eve, he stopped sleeping in.

After washing up, when they came to the courtyard in front of the hall, Yu Haining, as the housekeeper, was the first to come over to greet her.

Zhong Jinwei saw Yu Haining, remembered what happened last night, and asked him: "Uncle Yu, are you able to read and write?"

"Yes, sir." Yu Haining didn't know why Zhong Jinwei asked this, but he answered truthfully.

"Okay, call everyone in the house, I have something to say." Zhong Jinwei ordered.

So, after a while, everyone stood in the courtyard. Looking at the six majestic Dongchang servants standing under the eaves in front of the hall, guarding Uncle Zhongxing in front of them, they didn't know what he was going to say.

After Haining reported that everyone was here, Zhong Jinwei cleared his throat and asked: "Those of you who have read books and are good at writing, raise your hands."

Yu Haining raised his hand, and Yu Changjian also slowly raised his hand. Yu Changjian's son also wanted to raise his hand, but his mother knocked him down. Then, there was nothing more, just two people raised their hands.

Zhong Jinwei looked at the large group of people below, only two of them could read and write, and shook his head, but that was as expected.

"Do you want to study and become literate?" Zhong Jinwei asked loudly.

The people below looked at each other in confusion, "Master, what is going on? Do you want us all to study and become literate? I have never heard of any master in the family doing this."

There were several voices in twos and threes below, wanting to learn, among which the voices of children were the loudest.

"You guys are not as motivated as a few children. If you want to learn, please tell me loudly." Zhong Jinwei shouted at the end of the sentence.

Reading and writing are essential abilities for becoming a superior person, and no one would be unwilling to do so.

"Yes." The voice rang out this time. But after shouting, there were several grown men below who looked at each other sheepishly.

"Okay, Uncle Yu." Zhong Jinwei asked Yu Haining.

"Here, sir." Yu Haining was standing in the front row. When the bell came to the guard to look for him, he stepped out of the row and replied.

"You teach everyone how to read. Teach a few every day and try to teach them all how to read and write."

"This..." Yu Haining did not expect that Zhong Jinwei did not ask his husband to teach, but asked him to teach. He turned to look at the men, women, and children in the yard, and couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity in his heart.

"What's wrong? Is there any difficulty?" Zhong Jinwei asked puzzledly. It shouldn't take much energy to squeeze in a few hours a day to teach.

"Young Master, with so many people, pens, inks, paper, inkstones, tables, stools, and books all cost a lot of money. Moreover, the old man has limited energy. He may not be able to teach so many students." Yu Haining complained.

"Oh, we don't need the kind of teaching you used to do. It's as simple as that. Just teach them how to read and write. Those who want to take the No. 1 exam should come and apply with me individually."

The group of people below heard what the young master said, and they all burst into laughter. They took the exam and found that there was no such green smoke on the ancestral graves.

"Sir, how should we teach him?" Yu Haining was still confused.

Zhong Jinwei didn't answer his question. He looked down and found that the man he had taken in before, Mr. Li, was laughing very cheaply, so he directly shouted: "Li Laosi, come out."

Thanks to the fact that the guards who carried out the execution were relatively gentle for the sake of supervising the army, Li Laosi's buttocks were almost healed.

He was startled when he saw Zhong Jinwei calling him. Could it be that his smile was too charming and attracted the young master's firepower?

Zhong Jinwei saw Li Laosi walking past the crowd and walking in front of him and said: "Go and buy some big wooden boards. Well, they are the same as door boards. It doesn't need to be thick, just a thin layer. One side should be smooth, and then use

Apply the ink evenly and blacken it. Find some small wooden boards, just this big, and treat them in the same way, do you understand?"

Zhong Jinwei said and gestured, telling Li Laosi how to do the blackboard.

Unexpectedly, Li Laosi said with a sad face: "Sir, I don't know how to do carpentry."

"You don't want to just find someone to do it. You are responsible for this and find a few people to help you carry the planks." Zhong Jinwei directly gave him the labor.

Then he explained the method of making chalk to Haining. After explaining it, he said: "After you have finished all these things, I will show you how to teach it. It is very simple. Uncle Yu, you save time and effort, and it will be easy for them to learn."

"

Yu Haining expressed that he didn't understand, but Zhong Jinwei ignored him. After the demonstration, he naturally understood. He turned around and said to a group of people below: "As the saying goes, live until you are old and learn until you are old. Regardless of men, women, old or young, everyone should study seriously.

, whoever wants to learn quickly, I will promote him to work. It is up to you whether you want to make progress or not." Then Zhong Jinwei dismissed everyone.

Li Laosi ordered a few people to work on the wooden boards. It was New Year's Eve and it was not easy to find wooden boards.

Zhong Jinwei kept Yu Haining and asked him how many red envelopes he would give him. When Yu Haining heard this, he said to Zhong Jinwei seriously: "Sir, if you can save red envelopes, you can save them. Spending money has been like water these days. If this continues, the master's money will be lost."

I’m afraid I won’t have enough money.”

"Oh, how much did it cost?" Zhong Jinwei asked.

"Right now, prices in the capital are skyrocketing. The mansion has purchased more items, and the costs are several times more expensive than usual. The young master is kind and has hired more followers with young families. Now there are so many people in the mansion.

The cost of food and clothing is several times greater. There is not much silver left from the young master. The old man’s account book can be verified by the young master at any time."

He really didn't know how expensive food, rice, oil and salt were. He tried his best to help Emperor Chongzhen solve his financial crisis, but ignored his family's financial situation.

But it doesn’t seem right. Emperor Chongzhen said before that officials’ salaries are sufficient as long as they are not competitive or extravagant. I am also considered frugal, so this salary crisis has arisen. It seems that what Emperor Chongzhen said is wrong. Zhong Jinwei thought in his mind

.

In fact, Zhong Jinwei wanted to get a wife, so the money he gave to the Aqi family was half of his annual salary.

"It seems that the salary alone is not enough to support the family." Zhong Jinwei said to himself.

"Only the young master knows that, if our officials in the Ming Dynasty really have to live on their salaries, unless there are only a few people, then they can live a comfortable life." As soon as Yu Haining heard Zhong Jinwei's comments, he introduced what he had learned.

"But this situation only occurred at the beginning of this dynasty."

"Why?"

"Because of the price, things are getting more and more expensive." When Yu Haining said this, he subconsciously looked around, but he classified the people in the East Factory behind Zhong Jinwei as a family and did not put them under caution.

Then he gossiped with Zhong Jinwei: "Another reason is that when the imperial court used to pay officials' salaries, they used the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes. These things are worthless, and they are the same as those that were not issued."

Zhong Jinwei understood after hearing Yu Haining's gossip. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the official salary set by Zhu Yuanzhang should be enough for the Ming officials to live.

But as time went by, prices began to rise, Ming Dynasty treasure notes began to depreciate, and the number of officials' families increased, which led to the so-called situation that the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were too low to survive.

Zhong Jinwei thought about it. In the Chongzhen Dynasty, prices are higher, officials' actual salaries are lower, family members will be larger, and economic pressure will be greater. It seems that raising their salaries to a certain level will do. Only in this way will the follow-up

Only with many reforms will there be less resistance.


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