Giving officials a salary increase is actually a means of investment. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In the past, the income of officials was very low, so low that some officials had to set up stalls to write letters and inscriptions for others while serving in the imperial court to earn basic living expenses.

Take a person from the Jiupin Tongshi as an example, in the past, a person from the Jiupin Tongshi She, the monthly salary was five stone of rice, and then the implementation of the currency reform, according to the exchange ratio of one stone of rice and one tael of silver, this Tongshi Sheren's salary was five taels of silver per month.

In the period of low grain prices, this kind of money may still allow his family to ensure food and clothing, but now the production capacity of the north has just been restored, and in the capital, a land where prices remain high, five taels of silver can only buy three stones of rice at most.

Under such circumstances, it is barely enough for a family of three to live, but most of the officials' families are not only three people, the old and the young, and there may be more than one child, and it is normal for a family of seven or eight people.

Three stones (270 catties) of rice a month, if there are a few more mouths at home, it is estimated that you can only drink porridge.

And from the nine grades is not the least, those officials who have not entered the stream (no grade) are only three taels of silver a month, and they are not even as good as the migrant workers in those factories, at least most of the factories not only have basic wages, but also overtime wages, and even some generous bosses can manage a meal.

These unentered court officials, the monthly income is really only enough to feed a family of three.........

Later, Li Hongfei implemented the national reform, and the income of officials also increased, but because Li Hongfei paid more attention to the army, the income of the soldiers increased more (mainly pensions and wartime allowances), and although the civil officials also increased a little, it was very limited.

The civil officials who have not entered the stream have risen from the original three taels of silver per month to five taels, and from the nine grades of Tongshi Sheren, there are only seven taels of silver, which is equivalent to each grade, and has risen by two taels of silver (because the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Scientific Research have no real power, they are counted separately).

Therefore, Shi Kefa's proposal to increase the salaries of court officials is actually a bit similar to the high salaries and pensions of later generations.

Only when the price rises can the imperial court explicitly prohibit the "part-time" behavior of these officials.

First, officials were forced to "work part-time" for their livelihoods, and the imperial court was disgraced.

Second, it is inevitable that there will be some money and power transactions.

Some officials' calligraphy and paintings are indeed before, and some officials, perhaps because of the status he is in, is more valuable.

For such blatant bribery, only if the livelihood of the officials is solved first, the imperial court is qualified to order a ban.

"It's going to rise soon, and we're still discussing it in the past few days, planning to directly raise it from the Jiupin official to 1,000 dragon coins (ten taels of silver), and it will be submitted to the National Assembly for discussion soon." In five years, the income has doubled, and now that prices have fallen, it is impossible to go up again. Wu Hao said.

Now the monthly salary of ordinary workers is about 350 dragon coins, and an official without grade has reached 600 dragon coins, which is already the limit.

In addition, the handicraft industry is becoming more and more developed, potatoes, sweet potatoes and other high-yield crops have begun to enter the market, and prices in various places have fallen.

With such a high salary, those officials who still plan to sell calligraphy and paintings as a sideline, the imperial court will definitely let these people become the main business of selling calligraphy and paintings.

"How much spare money is there in the treasury?" Li Hongfei suddenly asked.

Hearing now, Li Hongfei understands that after Wu Hao counts all the places that can be spent, there is still a large amount of money left that cannot be spent, otherwise Wu Hao would not be so worried.

"With the issuance of dragon coins, the treasury received a total of 150 million taels of silver, excluding the debt to Huaxia Bank (the original loan of 30 million taels of silver), as well as the reserves reserved by the treasury, there are still 100 million taels of silver."

"This 100 million taels of silver, including the military expenses of the National Defense Army, the funds of the Weapons Research Institute, the education funds, and the salaries of court officials, in the end, there are nearly 60 million taels of silver that cannot be spent." Wu Hao sighed.

The reserve reserve of the treasury is enough for 20 million taels of silver, which in the past, it was equivalent to half a year's tax revenue of the treasury, and with this money, the imperial court can easily deal with any kind of accident.

In order to ensure the smooth reform of the national defense forces, the Ministry of Finance gritted its teeth and paid nearly half of the military expenditures of the national defense forces when they were in financial difficulties.

The remaining half, about 10 million taels of silver, is now also paid together.

The Ministry of Education is the majority, and Wu Hao allocated a full 35 million taels of silver as an education fund.

After decades of war, the total population of the Ming Dynasty is only about 80 million (including the ethnic minorities that have just exceeded 100 million), and the number of school-age children between the ages of six and ten is only about 8 million.

Even if half of the boarding students are boarded, the amount of free money from the Ministry of Education every year will not exceed seven million taels of silver, and Wu Hao is equivalent to setting aside five years of education funds.

The income of the court officials can only be regarded as a small profit, and the local government's income has always been the responsibility of the local finance, and the court only needs to issue an edict.

Wu Hao took out five million taels of silver, and it was enough to distribute the money to the officials in the capital.

So in the end, after all the calculations, there were still 60 million taels of silver in the treasury that could not be spent.

"That's not all, the tax revenue for the first half of the year has been counted, totaling about 50 million taels of silver, and it is estimated that it will arrive in the capital next month." Shi Kefa added again.

The Ming Dynasty's current taxes are all semi-annual, but subject to the huge land area, it will take two or three months to count alone, and when all the tax silver in the first half of the year arrives in the capital, the tax silver in the second half of the year has begun to be collected.

However, the complicated procedure is not the key, the point is that it will not be long before the treasury will be replenished with 50 million taels of silver.

"Oh my God! Two more times, and the treasury will have to be expanded! Wu Hao said with emotion.

There is so much money that the treasury can't fit it, which can be regarded as a big trouble.

"Pass the order down, so that the tax silver from Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangzhou and other places does not need to be transported to the capital for the time being." Li Hongfei said suddenly.

"Is it not lucky, or is it tax-free for them?" Wu Hao didn't understand.

Even if the imperial court is rich, there is no need to be capricious to the extent of tax exemption!

"Li Xiang definitely doesn't mean that, even if it's tax-free, it can't be just these provinces." Shi Kefa saw it more clearly.

"Look at the map for yourself." Li Hongfei did not explain.

"These provinces are all connected, and they directly run through the entire Ming Dynasty from south to north." Shi Kefa seemed to understand something.

"That's right, if you build a railway that runs through the north and south, won't you be worried about spending the money?" Li Hongfei asked with a smile.

The railway from Beijing to Tianjin has long been in successful operation, and many court officials have also seen the convenience of the railway and its economic benefits.

Just some time ago, there was a petition from representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, hoping to build an inter-provincial railway line with the situation of private fund-raising.

However, this petition was eventually rejected for no other reason, the railway could not only be used as a civilian use in peacetime, earning a lot of money, but also as an indispensable military facility in wartime, how could the imperial court hand over the management of the railway to the Chamber of Commerce?

Now Li Hongfei has re-mentioned the construction of the railway, or the inter-provincial railway, but the timing is just right, the imperial court now has money, and the construction of a railway completely operated by the government will naturally not be too resistant.

"Lao Li, you're playing a little big now. Not to mention anything else, the construction of inter-provincial railways alone, bridge technology is a major problem, from north to south, a Yellow River and a Yangtze River, no matter what, can not be bypassed, everyone has discussed before, even if it is to be built, it can only be built separately! Wu Hao said.

Now it is not a question of whether it costs money, but with the current bridge-building technology of the Ming Dynasty, it is really impossible to build a bridge that can carry the operation of trains on the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.

"We don't need to build bridges, we use ferries, and when the train crosses the Yellow River or the Yangtze River, we divide it into several sections and take steamships to cross the river in turn, and then assemble it after we reach the opposite bank." Li Hongfei said.

This idea is still the method used by trains to cross the sea before the emergence of cross-sea bridges in later generations.

A steamship that can carry the weight of a steam train of hundreds of tons is really not good for ordinary wooden ships, and only steel ships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons can complete such a task.

And it just so happens that there are now several shipyards in Daming, which are already capable of producing such ships.

As long as the design scheme is revised, even if the bridge across the river is not built, the steam train can be guaranteed to run through the north and south.

"This project is comparable to the construction of the Great Wall, once completed, it will definitely be able to leave a name for eternity!" Shi Kefa sighed.

Not to mention that the engineering volume of this railway is not much worse than the Great Wall, and its economic benefits and strategic significance alone are also no worse than the Great Wall.

There is a Great Wall in the north, which blocks the invasion of foreign enemies and greatly protects the lives and property of the people in the north.

The railway traversing the north and south can not only accelerate the economic circulation of the north and the south, but also mobilize the troops of the provinces in the fastest time in the wartime, which virtually strengthens the military power of the Ming Dynasty.

"It's done! I will go to count the tax situation of these provinces in the first half of the year, and ask professionals to make project quotations, refund more and make up for less, and start construction in all provinces at the same time. Don't procrastinate, Master Shi, urge the National Assembly to pass the bill as soon as possible to ensure that construction starts in the shortest possible time! Wu Hao was attracted by this meritorious achievement through the ages, and was ready to give it a go.

"In fact, I have already asked people to make preliminary statistics on the project quotation, and the Ministry of Finance should prepare 25 million taels of silver, and I will give you the quotation information later." Li Hongfei said to Wu Hao.

Building a railway across the north and south has always been Li Hongfei's wish, and how can he not prepare in advance.

The original railway from Beijing to Tianjin was 125 kilometers long and cost 1.6 million taels of silver.

Of course, the demolition money and labor costs have led to a somewhat outrageous cost, who makes these two places belong to densely populated large cities, and are the political center of the entire Ming Dynasty, land prices and labor costs are much higher than other cities.

If the railway is built according to the route proposed by Li Hongfei, the cost should be controlled at the level of 10,000 taels of silver per kilometer.

From Beijing to Shenzhen, Guangdong, the total length is about 2,300 kilometers, and the imperial court should be able to complete the construction of this railway line with 25 million taels of silver.

"That's the money? The treasury has 60,000,000 taels of silver! Wrong........ Coupled with the tax revenue that is about to be put into storage, even if this railway is built, there are nearly 85 million taels of silver left to be spent! Wu Hao came back to his senses at this time.

He was worried about how to spend money, and now even if he built a railway across the north and south, only one-fifth of it would be used.

In fact, Wu Hao still has an account that has not been calculated, that is, building a railway is not an overnight thing, and it is normal to repair it for three or five years.

In this way, the annual cost is only five or six million taels of silver.

"If you can't do it, build two more railways, build the railway to Liaodong, and by the way, build another railway connecting the east and west." Scofa suggested.

"Stop! You think I don't want to? It takes a lot of labor to build a railway, have you counted the entire Northeast region, how many people there are today? As for the railway connecting the east and the west, the western part of the country is on the high side, and the difficulty of its construction is by no means something you and I can imagine. Li Hongfei interrupted mercilessly.

It's not that he doesn't want to repair, but he is constrained by demographic and technological constraints.

Based on the current situation in eastern Liaodong, it is actually the most suitable section for the construction of railways.

However, today's three eastern provinces can be described as vast and sparsely populated, where is the labor force to build railways?

Not to mention the railway line connecting the east and the west, the western region has many lofty mountains, digging culverts, and erecting viaducts, even in the early 20th century, it is a great technical difficulty, and it is almost impossible to complete it in the Ming Dynasty today.

"If you really don't think there is a place to spend money, you can build bridges and pave roads, drain canals, and control river embankments in various provinces, although these projects are not big, but they are implemented nationwide, and even if the treasury has more reserves, it will not be able to withstand consumption." Li Hongfei pointed out a path.

Although these small projects do not seem to bring much benefit to Daming (what the Ministry of Finance wants to do is investment, not public welfare), but it is a great act of kindness to unite the people.

Moreover, building bridges and paving roads does not require too much labor, and local people can earn living subsidies by doing odd jobs in their spare time.

In the long run, it not only benefits the people, but also makes the quality of life of the people better.

With surplus money in the hands of the people, the consumption level will naturally improve, and the economy of the entire Ming Dynasty will also enter a healthy growth.

The most important thing is that with the current traffic situation in Daming, these trivial projects must really be carried out, and they will have to be done for forty or fifty years, and Wu Hao will not be embarrassed by then, complaining that there is no place to spend money.

"I didn't expect that there would be such a bottomless pit of spending money, I was too optimistic and a little carried away." After listening to Li Hongfei's story, Wu Hao finally realized his problem.

A country's treasury is never full, but sometimes the decision-makers in charge of the country selectively ignore one aspect in order to take care of others.

For example, in order to develop the military, so as to ignore public welfare.

In order to develop the economy, thereby ignoring the deterioration of the environment.

..........

"Taking from the people and using it for the people is the foundation of governing the country!" Shi Kefa also sighed.

No matter how much money the treasury has, if it only knows how to invest and make profits, but does not understand how to benefit the people and benefit the people, what is the difference between this and those corrupt officials?