After Liu Bai finished speaking, he sighed helplessly.
It was filled with disappointment and helplessness.
Zhu Di listened to his complaints.
She was so scared that she lowered her head and looked at the biscuit in her hand.
However, she would still glance in his old man's direction from time to time.
Liu Bai's complaints didn't show any disrespect to Zhu Yuanzhang.
However, it also made Zhu Yuanzhang feel as if his face had been slapped dozens of times.
"The reason why His Majesty set such a low salary for the officials was to prevent those officials from squandering it. If they had the money to sell a big house, would they want a bigger one? If they got used to squandering and their salary was not enough, they would have to be greedy!”
"If all these officials are greedy for money, then how can the people live?”
...
Although Liu Bai's words made sense, Old Zhu also had his own point of view.
Especially after being slapped in the face by Liu Bai, Emperor Hong Wu felt that he had to stand up and clear his name.
He set the salary of the officials so low for the sake of the people!
"Hey, Old Master, you're wrong! After getting used to squandering, they would want more and better things. This was naturally possible. But you have to know! If it was an official, he wouldn't be able to support himself. What will they do?"
"Take me for example. There are still seven days left in this month. Only then will my salary be distributed, and the food in my government office can only last for another three days. What should I do? Hungry?"
"If you come to me at this time and give me three catties of rice and one catty of meat, should I take it or not?”
...
After Zhu Yuanzhang heard Liu Bai's question, he thought for a moment.
He didn't know how to answer.
However, Zhu Di, who was beside him, did not have as much research as him.
He subconsciously continued the topic.
"It's just some food. It doesn't matter if you take it! It's not a big deal. In two days, when your salary comes, just return it.”
Zhu Yuanzhang's frown deepened when he heard Zhu Di's reply.
Liu Bai smiled sadly.
"That makes sense, but my salary is the same every month. If I accept your things this month and return them to you next month, then will my salary be spent before today? If you send me more food, help me survive these few days. Should I pick it up or not?"
...
Zhu Di was also stunned.
He had never calculated such a thing before!
Liu Bai didn't care what he thought.
He just continued to talk to himself.
"If it's like this next month, what about the month after that? What about the month after? After spending my salary for this month repeatedly, in less than half a year. I just found out that my salary has to be used to pay off the money I owed last month. What about me this month?"
" When I'm so hungry that I'm about to eat dirt, if you suddenly come to me with 500 taels of silver and ask me to give you a preferential policy, the business you increase will have 50% less tax every year. No one will know if I accept it or not.”
"No, I might have to beg for a living as a county magistrate. If he accepted it, it would be corruption, and he would be caught. Next time, if you want to do something. Do I agree or disagree?"
"If I agree, I can still earn money. If you don't agree, you can directly expose my weakness and my head will fall to the ground. What do you think?"
...
After Liu Bai finished his deduction.
He helplessly drank a mouthful of the soup without any oil and finally managed to finish the biscuit.
He almost choked.
His down-and-out appearance made people feel a little sad.
If the truth wasn't right in front of him.
It was hard to imagine that the person in front of him was actually the county magistrate of Fengyang County.
"Desire is scary, but the scariest thing is despair! People like me are considered good. If you were alone, what if you were someone with a family? If the mother or child was sick and needed money to save lives. What would you do if someone came to you with money and asked you for help?”
"After taking the money, there's no way out. If he didn't accept this money, his family would get sick and die.”
...
In the originally small living room.
The three of them sat around the small dining table.
As Liu Bai grumbled, the atmosphere became unprecedentedly depressing.
Even the stubborn Zhu Yuanzhang had to admit it.
What Liu Bai said was the truth.
Or rather, these were things that he had never considered.
However, Emperor Hongwu did not want to admit that he was wrong.
And it had been wrong for many years.
Because if he admitted his mistake, wouldn't it mean that among the corrupt officials who had been executed over the years…
Was it possible that a large portion of them were forced to become corrupt officials by him?
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the biscuits in front of him and fell into deep thought.
Zhu Di, on the other hand, lowered his head and remained silent.
The only thing he could do now was to give Liu Bai a thumbs up in his heart.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]