"If the water is clear, there will be no fish. I know that many officials, including all of you, have stretched out their hands. However, I will not pursue the past. Let bygones be bygones. But now, after I began to reorganize the government, if anyone still dares to recklessly stretch out their hands and take bribes, that would be a provocation to me and asking for death. At that time, don't blame me for being ruthless. I'll give you a heads up in advance. You have to convey this news to your friends, family, and students. If you want to get rich, then don't be an official! The so-called official wealth will never appear again in the Ming Empire!”
The emperor of Guang Dong was very firm in this regard.
The cabinet ministers also felt this.
The Emperor of Guang Zhou had announced that he would not pursue the past, which made everyone heave a sigh of relief. It also let them know that at least they had a chance to repent. If he wanted to develop his career, he naturally had to restrain his desire. Otherwise, he would be courting death.
The cabinet ministers had also made up their minds to remind their friends, family, and subordinates to watch their hands. Otherwise, if he were to meet the Emperor of Guang Dong's blade, he would die in vain.
"Next, the empire will vigorously develop its industry and commerce. If he didn't want to continue being an official, he would go into business and open a factory. I believe that with their ability, as long as their luck is not too bad, they can earn a lot of money! If he chose to continue being an official, but still took bribes and perverted the law, that would be courting death! At that time, you can't blame me for killing people until their heads roll and blood flows like a river!”The emperor of Guang Dong didn't hide his killing intent.
The ministers couldn't help but feel their hearts tighten.
They knew very well that the Emperor of Guang Dong might look young, but his killing intent was very strong!
If they really did not take his orders seriously, they would be dead meat!
"We obey your orders!" The officials all answered.
"Zhen knows that officials are also people and have a large family to support. If the salary was too low, it would be impossible to support a large family. Therefore, many officials had no choice but to think of other ways to make money everywhere. Thus, I am not unreasonable. Therefore, I have decided to increase the salary of the officials. The monthly salary of a First Rank official was 1,500 silver taels. From the first grade to 1,200 taels of silver. The second grade was 1,100 silver, and the second grade was 800 silver. The third grade was 600 taels of silver, and the third grade was 400 taels of silver. Fourth-grade was two hundred taels of silver, and fourth-grade was one hundred taels of silver. The fifth grade was eighty taels of silver, and the fifth grade was fifty taels. Officials, on the other hand, were based on their qualifications and abilities, ranging from ten to forty taels of silver!”
The emperor then announced the salaries of the officials.
Such a salary was already considered very generous. For example, if he were to earn 1,500 taels of silver a month, he would earn 18,000 taels of silver a year.
In this era, this was considered an absolute high salary.
Even officials of the fifth rank would receive fifty taels of silver a month and six hundred taels of silver a year. If converted to the purchasing power of the future, it was equivalent to more than 100,000 yuan.
Even the officials had a much higher income than ordinary people. Moreover, it was much more dignified.
Of course, compared to the treatment of the officials before, the income was much less.
Previously, even though the salary of a First Rank Official of the Ming Empire was only 180 taels of silver, the amount of money he spent on maintaining his integrity was as high as 16,000 taels of silver. In total, he would receive more than a first-grade official after the reform of the official system.
Moreover, the officials at that time were not clean. They could even fill their own pockets and be a little greedy.
It was not that there were no officials with assets worth hundreds of millions.
But even so, it was still not bad.
The Emperor of Guang Dong had increased the salaries of the officials by a large margin so that they could live comfortably and not engage in any crooked practices.
However, he had to admit that human greed was endless.
Even though Emperor Guangchang had raised the salaries of the officials by a large margin so that everyone could live a decent life.
However, there would definitely be people reaching out everywhere.
The Emperor of Guang Dong would not show mercy to such a person. Didn't he set up the Ministry of Supervision for this reason?
The reform of the Ming Empire's official system and the expected treatment of officials were directly conveyed to all parts of the Ming Empire by the Emperor of Guang Chen.
This caused a great uproar in the entire Ming Empire.
On one hand, the change in the ranks of the officials made many people dissatisfied. On the other hand, the officials could no longer take bribes as they pleased. They would naturally be very dissatisfied.
However, if they were asked to stop being officials and engage in other industries, they might not be willing.
As the saying goes, all things are inferior except for reading, and isn't reading for the sake of being an official?
This also caused many officials to continue to be greedy without any scruples. Then, the Ministry of Supervision reported it to them and directly raided their homes.
They had been greedy for their entire lives, and the family property that they had accumulated with great difficulty had all fallen into the Ming Empire's national treasury. It could be said that it was all for nothing!
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