Regardless of whether it was known in advance or not known in advance, my heart was filled with shock at this moment.
They all knew the difference between the combat effectiveness of Qin State Shang Yang's soldiers before the reform and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers after the reform. Before the reform, even if Qin Xiangong worked hard and adopted a series of reform measures, the combat effectiveness of the Qin army could only be regarded as second-rate.
After Shang Yang's reform, the Qin army's combat effectiveness directly surpassed the three Jin Dynasties and became the strongest in the world.
Why? Isn’t it just to get rewards?
Zhao Kuo's army was extremely powerful in combat, and no one in the world could defeat him except Qin's army. The soldiers were extremely supportive of Zhao Kuo.
All Zhao ministers knew what kind of uproar would be caused among the Zhao army after the announcement of this matter.
Fighting to the death without retreating is no longer an exaggeration. Zhao Jun is really willing to fight for Zhao Kuo to the last man.
They knew before that Zhao Kuo treated his soldiers very well and even provided meat for their meals. But now it seemed that this was not good at all, it was simply too good.
Some officials even considered joining the army.
They have worked hard all their lives, and if nothing unexpected happens, they will end up with a low-level title, not as good as a middle-level soldier.
"I know that everyone is already a little unbalanced, haha." Zhao Kuo looked at everyone and said with a smile, "Officials also have benefits."
"Article 6. Adjustment of official salaries. Starting from January 1 next year, the salaries of all officials will increase by 30%. The salary of the lowest-level clerk will increase from thirty-six dan to fifty dan, and will be paid in coins. Officials are fifty-five years old.
Officials who can apply for retirement and who have not had any corruption during their official career can receive a probity pension from the government at a rate of 60% of their salary until their death."
Retirement is basically useless for those who work in the court. Under the official position, unless the political struggle fails, you will basically work until death. There is no such thing as retirement.
But it is of great significance to the middle- and lower-level officials. Most of them are just minor officials. They feel that they have been like this for the rest of their lives. They have long given up hope of becoming a prince or a public official and gaining power over the world.
Except for the occasional show of official authority in front of the head of Guizhou, they had to bow and bow before everyone, so they did not set their goal on promotion, but chose to do everything they could to plunder money.
Due to status restrictions, each person may not have much money to earn, but when all of them are put together, even the biggest corrupt official in Zhao cannot compare.
The salary in the State of Zhao is not high, and the lowest-level officials are just fighting for food. With such a meager salary, it is impossible to support oneself at most, and it is completely impossible to support an entire family.
Increasing their salary can allow them to live a better life on the original basis. Officials are also human beings and have to live. Zhao Kuo never expected officials to serve the people wholeheartedly.
Moreover, even if there are a very small number of officials who serve the people wholeheartedly and do not want anything in return, if they can live a better life, they can help more people.
In fact, in Zhao Kuo's view, there is no difference whether you are dedicated to serving the people or trying to please your superiors. In the end, political performance will speak for itself. As for what you are thinking in your heart, who knows?
The Lianlian Fund can provide them with a guarantee and a stable income after their official career ends, eliminating worries.
"Among the officials who were punished for corruption in the past, there were always people who said that the salary was too low. They had no choice, which I can understand. So this time I directly raised the salary and raised the minimum annual salary to fifty dan. No country in the world has
The salary can exceed that of our Zhao country.”….
"So, from now on, I don't want any officials to say this again when they are caught for corruption. Similarly, from now on, any officials caught for corruption will be severely punished. In addition to beheading, all members of the three clans will be punished severely."
"Three generations of descendants are not allowed to go to school or be an official!" Zhao Kuo's cold eyes swept over everyone's face.
Strict punishment alone is useless when it comes to corruption. Zhu Yuanzhang could not stop officials from being corrupted even if they took advantage of others. There was no way, the salary in the Ming Dynasty was too low. If you were not corrupt, someone in the whole family would definitely starve to death. If you were corrupt, you might just be caught.
.
It is also useless to raise salaries. The salary in the Song Dynasty was the highest in ancient times, and it still could not stop official corruption.
Only by combining the two to provide officials with a relatively generous salary to protect their lives so that they will not be forced into desperation by life, then
Only by increasing the intensity of penalties can it be possible to control corruption to a small scale.
As for a complete ban, Zhao Kuo never expected it.
The benefits are enough, let alone beheading, even killing the Nine Tribes cannot stop some people from taking risks.
Any official family must pay attention to inheritance and hope that the family will have a long history. Beheading, coupled with the fact that three generations of the three clans are not allowed to go to school or serve as officials, is enough to cut off the future of the entire family.
Let them suppress the greed in their hearts most of the time and think about whether it is worth it. As for those who cannot control it, they can only ask the butcher's knife for help.
When everyone heard this, their backs suddenly felt cold, and they felt a cold wind passing by their necks. Even those who had not done any bad things felt guilty and lowered their heads at this moment, not daring to look up at Zhao Kuo.
This is to be polite first and then attack. I will give you a bite of candy first. If you don't obey, the butcher's knife is waiting for you.
"Article 7: Abolish human burials and encourage festival burials. From January 1st next year, anyone who uses human beings for burials will have their homes raided and their owners beheaded," Zhao Kuo said.
Needless to say, the abolition of human burial is completely anti-human.
After Duke Xian of the Qin State came to the throne, he immediately abolished human sacrifice in the Qin State. After that, the Qin State did not use human sacrifice until Hu Hai came to the throne and buried all the concubines of Qin Shihuang who had no heirs, and then introduced the human sacrifice system.
.
Turning hundreds of years of efforts of eight generations of ancestors into powder...
The six eastern countries also understand the importance of population, so the system of human sacrifice has long ceased to be popular, but it has not been completely abolished. Now this regulation is to completely abolish human sacrifice.
In this era where filial piety is emphasized, generous burials are also popular. It seems that it is unfilial to not allow parents to be buried in a glorious manner. Even if it is beyond one's ability, one must sell themselves as slaves to do it.
The nobles buried a large amount of copper, iron, ceramics, silk and other objects underground. If only one or two people did this, it would not have much impact. However, when a trend is formed in society and everyone does this, the impact will be huge.
Big.
The countries in the Central Plains had insufficient copper, iron and other metals and had to bury them underground. The loss of a large amount of wealth made the countries that were not already wealthy even worse, and the money shortage intensified.
Later, when many people like Cao Cao were short of money, they sent people to rob tombs and borrow money from the dead.
The problem is that the government has no way to stop such things as lavish burials. After all, how to bury someone is a private matter. You can abolish human sacrifice from a humanitarian perspective, but you cannot prohibit others from spending their own money to bury their fathers in lavish burials.
Therefore, we can only encourage festival burials and change the social atmosphere through subtle influence.
This process may take one, two, or even three generations to complete...