Of course, Zhenwu also knows very well in his heart that under the autocratic system, even if the supervision system is perfect, it is impossible to eliminate corrupt officials, and he has no intention of adding supervision institutions, the increase in officials, the bloated institutions, in the end can only increase the burden of the court, and eventually it will be passed on to the people, besides, increasing the number of supervision officials may not be able to curb official corruption, who can guarantee that these supervision officials will be honest?

In order to exercise effective supervision over officials, he can only find supervision from outside the system, and he has been thinking about this for a long time, and the major bribery case in Shaanxi and Jin has come out, forcing him to put the rectification of officials on the agenda, of course, this is also an excellent opportunity, today he specially summoned several ministers in the study, he just wanted to throw out his own ideas, to see their reactions.

After a slight groan, he said slowly: "It is all reasonable, greed is the nature of human beings, greed, everyone has it, I also have greed, I am not satisfied with the existing territory of the Qing Dynasty, I am eager to include all the surrounding vassal countries into the territory of the Qing Dynasty, I am not satisfied with the existing living conditions of the people of the Qing Dynasty, I hope that everyone can be healthy and prosperous, respect etiquette and abide by the law, I hope that all the court officials can be honest as water, diligent and diligent in public service, I hope that the army of the Qing Dynasty can be invincible, these are all greed, this is the greed of the king."

I often say that everything has advantages and disadvantages, greed is the same, the king's greed, is not only the foundation of the country, but also the root of the country, regardless of the national conditions, reckless military force, will inevitably bring disaster to the country, blindly do nothing to rule, will lose the enterprising heart, Wen Tian Wu is also the way to harm the country.

The greed of a courtier lies in making meritorious contributions, in being prosperous for generations, in sealing his wife and son, in honoring his ancestors, in being promoted to become rich, and in being poor and extravagant. Officials are greedy for money, and they are extremely poor and extravagant, which is really a disaster for the country and the people. ”

When Ma Qi and the three of them heard these words, they couldn't help but be stunned, the king's greed is not only the foundation of the country, but also the root of the country, which is really refreshing, this is a complete denial of inaction. What is particularly rare is that Zhenwu is so outspoken about his greed, this is the first time he explicitly proposed to include all surrounding vassal states in the territory of the Qing Dynasty.

After taking a sip of tea, Zhenwu continued: "The Emperor Taishang once said that to govern the country, the officials must first govern the officials, the people are safe and the officials are called their posts, and the officials are called their posts and the world is governed. Throughout the dynasties, it is also the case, governing the country is the first priority of the officials, the quality of the officials, the first is whether the officials are honest and honest, and then how to rectify the rule of officials. How to fight corruption and eliminate corruption, and how to fundamentally eradicate corrupt officials?

The anti-corruption and anti-corruption efforts of all dynasties and dynasties can be described as exhaustive. In addition to the strict punishment and strict law, there are also good guidance, strengthening supervision and other measures, but they can only have a temporary effect, why?

Mazi is right when he says that officials have too much power, not only power. Moreover, there is a lack of effective supervision, and it is all up to the nature of officials to be honest or corrupt. And greed is human nature, which is why there are many corrupt officials and few clean officials, more than 30,000 officials in the Qing Dynasty, how many people can be honest and self-disciplined? I can't see it.

In view of this, I believe that in order to completely eradicate official corruption, we must start from three aspects, one is to continue the Emperor Taishang's policy of seeking honesty, maintaining honesty, protecting honesty, and admonishing honesty to clarify the source, and to encourage and advocate officials to self-denial and revenge, desire without greed, and be cautious and independent.

In addition, I have already considered this point by increasing the income of officials, so that it is enough to ensure that the family has no worries about food and clothing, and to ensure the dignity and entertainment that officials should have.

These two points alone are not enough to stop the trend of corruption and bribery among officials, and the third point is the most important thing, supervision, and it is necessary to exercise effective supervision over officials, so that officials can be under supervision at all times and dare not be corrupt. ”

Zhang Pengxi, Ma Qi, and Xiao Yongzao were all full of disdain when they heard it, and supervision is not a new thing, isn't the Metropolitan Procuratorate just supervising hundreds of officials, correcting hundreds of officials for treachery and corruption, is it possible that Zhenwu wants to expand the Metropolitan Procuratorate to the other party? That's a lot more than that.

After the two of them sat down, Zhenwu glanced at the five people, and then said in a deep voice: "I have been thinking for a long time, the supervision of officials, can not rely on officials, it has always been officials and officials to each other, referring to relying on officials to supervise themselves, with little effect, once the officials are embarrassed, deceived even more than before, I want to use local squires to supervise local officials, you consider the feasibility of this method." ”

Supervise local officials with local squires? Zhang Pengxi, Ma Qi, and Xiao Yongzao were all taken aback by Zhenwu's whimsical idea.

The squire is a local gentry, is a unique social class since the Ming Dynasty, the squire as a group appeared in the Ming Dynasty, especially after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, this is because after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the number of scholars increased greatly, such as the difficulty, a large number of people who hold fame are stuck in the countryside, in addition, there are a large number of officials who have been dismissed or retired and returned home, naturally also become the squire.

The Qing Dynasty followed the Ming system, and in terms of the written system, the lowest level of administrative power of the imperial court was the county level, and below the county level was the implementation of the Lijia system and the Baojia system, of which the Lijia system was used for tax collection and the Baojia system was used for the maintenance of public security.

The grassroots society is generally composed of three parts, namely, the officials, the gentry, and the people, from which the official power, the gentry power, and the clan power are derived, and the three powers govern the countryside together and influence each other.

Clan power mainly establishes its power and authority in rural society by blood relations, gentry power mainly establishes its power and authority in the countryside by its monopoly on culture and its relationship with the government, and official power relies on imperial power, mainly with the armor protection system as its extension in the countryside, and the feudal education originating from the imperial power guides the activities of clan power and gentry power in the countryside, and becomes the main spiritual means for the state to control the countryside.

This is the so-called "national power is not under the county, the county is only the clan, the clan is autonomous, the autonomy creates ethics, and ethics creates the squire." "For a long time, the politics of rural autonomy has been based on clans and communities, with the squire as the link, as the intermediary between the officials and the villagers, and the gentry power is also between the official power and the clan power.

When the Qing Dynasty entered the customs and settled the Central Plains, many squires were involved in the anti-Qing movement, especially in the Jiangnan area, the anti-shaving and easy-to-wear movement in Jiangnan was dominated by the squire, which was naturally vigorously suppressed, and the early Qing Dynasty Kechang case, the weeping temple case, the sale case, etc., all greatly reduced the privileges of the gentry and weakened the power of the gentry.

Not only that, in order to prevent the expansion of the gentry's power, the imperial court also strictly controlled the gentry's participation in politics, incorporated the gentry's family into the list of the baojia, listened to the inspection of the baojia chief, and stipulated that the squire was not allowed to serve as the baojia, which was to ensure that the baojia organization did not fall into the hands of the local gentry, and the county officials could maintain their own independent ruling body by appointing the baojia chief.

Jeongmu proposed to use the squires to supervise the local officials. This will undoubtedly greatly enhance the political status of the gentry, expand the power of the gentry, and then destroy the balance of the official, gentry, and clan power in the village, and even the situation that the gentry power overwhelms the official power.

After being silent for a long time, Zhang Pengxi said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, using the local squire to supervise the local officials will undoubtedly boost the power of the squire, and Weichen is worried about the expansion of the squire's power. It will repeat the mistakes of the past. The gentry of the former Ming Dynasty were extremely powerful, and there were squires in various places who controlled the government, took over lawsuits, annexed land, ran rampant in the township, and oppressed the people, which was not the blessing of the imperial court. ”

Ma Qi also followed closely and said: "Your Majesty, the leaders of the local squires are all lords of wealth and power, and they are known for their prestige in the local area, and they are all the hope of a city and the head of the four people. If the power of supervising local officials is added, it is feared that it will become a big trend in the long run. The husband lives in Lu, and responds to every call, which is really not the blessing of the court. ”

Xiao Yongzao groaned: "In order to complete the errand of collecting taxes, the officials of the other party often collude with the squires of the other party, and use the squires to supervise the local officials, and the servants are worried that it will promote the two to become embarrassed and harm the people, so I implore the emperor to be careful." ”

Hearing this, all three of them were strongly opposed. Zhenwu couldn't help frowning slightly, and at this moment, Song Zhu and Wang Zhu also hurried over. After coming in and kowtowing, Zhenwu didn't say much, just pointed to the small pestle and signaled to give a seat.

After a slight sigh, he said: "I have been in the place for a long time and have heard about the collusion between the squire and the other party's officials, and I will not give this benefit in vain if I give the squire the right to supervise."

Now the south is vigorously promoting the 'apportionment into the mu', and the northern provinces will soon also vigorously implement it, and I also intend to promote the gentry to pay grain in one piece, one errand and errand, and there is also the consumption of envy, which is to add money to the officials, and this consumption must be subsumed into the imperial court, or all of them are consumed.

In addition, the gentry were basically deprived of their privileges, and they were given the right to supervise the magistrates, which was a compensation, and furthermore, it was strictly forbidden for the squires to collect money and grain, and to pay the grain in arrears, so that they would not be worried about their embarrassment and harm to the people. ”

Zhenwu, who listened to it, said in one breath that the gentry paid for food and worked as an errand as one, and it was strictly forbidden for the squire to take money and grain, and to be in arrears of money and food.

No wonder he proposed that the squires should supervise the local officials, the phenomenon of land annexation in the Qing Dynasty was serious, and most of the land was concentrated in the hands of the squires.

Zhenwu glanced at a few people, and continued: "Taking a county as an example, I mean that the squires in the county openly elect one person as the main, and four people as auxiliaries, on behalf of the squires to supervise the county, and the squire's representatives are elected every three years. ”

At this point, he stood up and said, "You will discuss here first." When he walked to the door, he commanded again, "Enjoy tea." When he went out, he said to Bao Fuquan who was following behind: "Pass the meal, don't be so troublesome, just serve a few delicate and delicious, slightly light dishes." In addition, give each of them a plate of soft dumplings. ”

"Wow." Bao Fuquan hurriedly bowed and answered.

In the hall, as soon as Zhenwu left, Xiao Yongzao roughly told the previous situation to the later Songzhu and Wang Zhu, and after he finished speaking, Ma Qi said: "The gentry pay grain in one body, and work as an errand in one, and it is strictly forbidden for the squire to take money and grain, arrears of money and grain, and envy to be collected by the court or canceled, what do you think about this?" ”

Song Zhu took the lead and said: "How much can the emperor increase the number of officials? Doubled? Or three, five? This consumption is returned to the imperial court, isn't this money not increasing but decreasing? Won't the local officials make a fuss? ”

Listening to this, the other four people were also speechless for a while, Qing Chengming old system, low and low, taking Qipin Zhixian as an example, the annual salary is only forty-five taels of silver, which is only enough to support the family, but in addition to supporting his own family, the county also has to spend silver to hire a master, hire a doorman, a long follower, a man, a sedan umbrella fan, etc., these people's wages, the court will not pay, you must know the county for its own ideas.

Where does this money come from? The imperial court also understands this, although it does not pay wages, but to the policy, that is, to acquiesce to the county officials to levy envy, the so-called "envy" refers to the part of the levy in addition to the positive amount on the grounds of making up for the loss when collecting silver grain. Under normal circumstances, the levy of silver taels, every tael of four to five cents to one penny as fire consumption, grain one stone plus two liters to a bucket of several liters.

This is not a small amount, the consumption of a county is as little as hundreds of taels, and as much as thousands of taels. Could it be that it can be increased by thirty or forty times? As soon as this news is announced, the officials will inevitably resolutely resist, not only the local officials will boycott, but the officials of the Beijing Division will also vigorously boycott it.

After being silent for a long time, Zhang Pengxi said: "There is no need to worry about this matter, the emperor is familiar with local conditions and disadvantages, and he is also good at economic methods, how can such an obvious gap not be seen through?" Moreover, the emperor is not sure that whether the envy will be returned to the court or cancelled has not yet been decided, so it can be seen that it should be a temporary idea. ”

Hearing this, Ma Qi couldn't help frowning, and said, "Temporary? The gentry pay grain in one body, work as an errand in one, strictly prohibit the squires from taking money and grain, and arrears of money and grain will not be all temporary initiatives, right? ”

As soon as these words fell, several people couldn't help but glance at each other, Zhenwu has always acted carefully, such a big move, he must think carefully before throwing it out to the study to discuss, but looking at today's situation, he obviously did not think about it clearly, slightly hasty, what is the reason? Several people are human spirits, and when they thought about it, they realized that it must be Zhao Shenqiao who has returned to Beijing, and the case of Shaanxi and Gansu has been released, so Zhenwu will hurriedly throw out these immature ideas, what does it mean that Zhenwu is in a hurry to throw out these ideas at this time? Do you want to use the land of Shaanxi and Gansu as a pilot to try to implement the new policy?

A few days ago, the Manchu and Chinese officials deliberately provoked the dispute between the Manchus and the Han in order to create confusion, confuse the public, and try to cover up the case. Although Zhang Pengxi and Wang Luo did not know the specific situation, they also faintly guessed and heard a hint of rumors.