Chapter 20 Lao Zhu, I understand your qualifications!)
‘Salary?’
Zhu Laosi, who had just sat down, narrowed his eyes and said nothing, but silently lowered his head and listened.
"Lao Zhu, let me ask you, how do you think the court's clean government atmosphere compares to that of the Tang and Song Dynasties?"
Ji Boying changed the name of Zhu Yuanzhang from Chongba to Lao Zhu. The name Chongba always felt strange.
Facing Ji Boying's question, Lao Zhu thought for a moment, frowned, and did not answer immediately.
As the founding king, he certainly didn't want to admit that his dynasty was worse than other dynasties.
"Let me tell you the answer. During the Ming Dynasty, official corruption was the highest in all dynasties. It can be said that it has developed to the point where no official is corrupt."
As soon as these words came out, Lao Zhu, A Biao, Xiao Zhusi, and Zhu Laosi all looked shocked. They obviously did not expect that the Ming Dynasty would be the most corrupt dynasty in history.
"How could this be? Our Ming Dynasty has extremely strict laws against corrupt officials!"
Zhu Biao couldn't help but say something. He didn't believe this result.
"We must not have killed enough and the criminal law is not strict enough, so these dog officials are lucky!"
Lao Zhu's eyes showed a fierce light.
Zhu Laosi on the right shrank his eyes when he heard this. Isn’t that harsh enough?!
Among the people present, only Zhu Laosi had personally experienced the Guo Huan case. When he thought of the shocking tens of thousands of heads, even if he had nothing to do with Zhu Laosi, he still felt numb.
"In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, when the Guo Huan case started, you issued an order to punish corruption and killed a total of 20,000 to 30,000 people."
Ji Boying spoke calmly.
As soon as these words came out, Lao Zhu frowned even more.
But since we have to kill and the law has been established, why has our Ming Dynasty become the most corrupt dynasty in history?
I can’t figure it out, I really can’t figure it out!
"The reason lies in four words: Things must be reversed when they reach their extreme."
Ji Boying picked up the wine glass in front of the desk and shook it slightly. The clear wine became slightly turbid.
"Just like this wine, no matter how mellow the wine in the world is, there will still be turbidity, and no matter how bright the place is, there will be darkness."
"Secondly, there is a lack of systems that complement each other. Relying solely on criminal law to kill can only suppress the crime for a while, but cannot contain it forever."
"Today you, Zhu Yuanzhang, can kill without hesitation, and so can your son, but what about your grandsons and great-grandchildren? Where is your emperor a hundred years from now? Can you still kill all your own ministers with a wave of your hand?"
"Not to mention the distance, the Jianwen Dynasty where I took you was already full of corruption. The officials who survived the Hongwu Dynasty were like wild horses loosened, and the people's wealth and wealth are the areas you protect.
For thirty-one years, the high-quality grassland that has not been cultivated has been allowed to be gnawed by these wild horses."
"I can even tell you that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, your descendants who ascended the throne have tacitly allowed officials to use the two methods of 'Ze Se Huo Huo' and 'Linjian Kicking' to amass wealth by squandering the people's wealth and support.
, officials at all levels collect 'regular money' from each level down, and all this money is squeezed from the people."
One sentence after another fell into Zhu Yuanzhang's ears, making the old emperor, who was over fifty, speechless. A Biao, Zhu Laosi, and Xiao Zhusi also frowned when they heard it.
"What the Immortal Master said is very reasonable. During the fourth year of Jianwen, officials at all levels began to indulge in extravagance. All this money was collected from the hands of ordinary people."
Zhu Laosi interrupted.
As a person from Jianwen Time and Space, Zhu Laosi is qualified to speak. In fact, he is also thinking about this problem, that is, how to curb the rising corruption in Jianwen Dynasty. This group of officials finally survived Hongwu, and every one of them is
Try your best to make money.
Lao Zhu was silent, disappointed, and heartbroken.
He never imagined that the clean and honest dynasty he had worked so hard to create would turn out like that in the end.
"Lao Zhu, I understand your original intention."
"You hate corruption and corrupt officials, because it was them who made your parents starve to death and who caused the people's misery. You have worked hard to create a dynasty without corrupt officials."
"But if the water is clear, there will be no fish. I hope you understand."
"Secondly, you should not look at officials with a common people's heart. You are the emperor, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The first thing you have to ensure is the operation of the imperial machine."
Ji Boying's words are very direct.
Listening to the ears of Zhu Biao and the two Zhu Di, these three people were all uneasy. After all, in their impression of Lao Zhu, they were all people who cut people's heads off if they disagreed with each other.
In front of Zhu, he was also trembling with fear. If he didn't do his job well, he would kill him as soon as he asked.
In the Hongwu dynasty, there was no such thing as Wei Zheng, because they had all been cut down.
They have never seen anyone dare to speak in front of their father like this, completely acting like an elder teaching their children.
However, after listening to this, Lao Zhu stood up and saluted Ji Boying respectfully.
"Brother, please teach me."
If I remember correctly, this is the second time Lao Zhu has said this today.
The moment Lao Zhu stood up, A Biao and the other three also stood up immediately, and they all followed suit and saluted.
"Um."
"Everyone sit down and drink first."
Ji Boying was very satisfied with Lao Zhu's attitude of asking for advice humbly.
Current facts have proven that Lao Zhu is not incapable of listening to opinions, he just wants to see if your opinions are worthy of his listening.
Of course Lao Zhu would not listen to the words of mortals. After all, in this place in the human world, Lao Zhu was the biggest. If he got annoyed, he might even kill the speaker with a knife, but Ji Boying was the immortal in Lao Zhu's heart.
How can we not obey the words of immortals and the orders of God?
"Come on, do it."
Ji Boying raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.
Then he casually handed a cigar to the newly arrived Zhu Laosi, pulled it, and lit it.
This scene made Ah Biao extremely uncomfortable.
Some things are better off before you have tasted them, but once you have tasted them, your heart will feel like it is being scratched by thousands of ants.
Except for Zhu Biao, there were four cigars, filled with smoke.
Looking from the outside of Zuixian Tower, uninformed people thought there was a fire on the top floor of Zuixian Tower.
"First of all, we need to determine what our goal is in revising official salaries."
Ji Boying survives by typing keyboards in this world, but he went to a normal university, and it was the kind of normal university with a male to female ratio of 1:9. When summer comes, the screen is full of heat.
Looking back on those four years of riding horses and whipping up whips, Xiao Boying felt miserable, but he also became stronger.
"Xiao Zhusi, you answer."
Ji Boying glanced at Xiao Zhusi. Xiao Zhusi, who had just finished smoking a cigar, quickly put down the cigar in his hand, blew out the smoke in his mouth, and stood respectfully.
"this…"
Xiao Zhusi looked a little embarrassed, like a student who was watching a short movie in class and was called on to stand up to answer questions. His face turned red and he finally lowered his head.
"I, I don't know."
Zhu Laosi, who was sitting on the right, was stunned for a moment.
'It's so embarrassing!'
However, he could also understand that when he was a young man, he had just gone to learn how to fight. His father regarded him as a frontier guard. In addition, he had not read many books when he was a child, so he really had no experience in political affairs.