Song Gexing

Chapter 50: Running against the scholar-bureaucrats

These data are all true. The salaries of officials in the Song Dynasty were so high that officials in any dynasty could only cry silently after seeing them.

Taking the Manchu Qing Dynasty as an example, the seventh-level magistrate at the county level received an annual salary of 33 taels of silver, plus some other rice and grain subsidies, which amounted to no more than 40 taels of silver.

The salary of a ninth-rank official in the Song Dynasty was 100 taels, which was only five taels less than the fourth-rank official of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. This does not include various subsidies from the Song Dynasty.

The biggest gap is for the ministers. In the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, it was 180 taels, while in the Song Dynasty, it was 600 taels. The difference was twenty times.

If this is compared with the most miserable Ming Dynasty, officials in the Ming Dynasty could cry and faint in the toilet and not want to come out again.

The envoy money of the Great Song Dynasty was a strange and original invention. At the road, state, government, and military levels and above, the court gave a certain amount of money every year to welcome and send officials for expenses.

This is a disguised form of encouraging officials to use public money to eat, drink and have fun. It sounds nice to support scholars and not to let the scholar-bureaucrats lose face.

But this has led to widespread corruption. All the money that is not spent every year is divided up by local officials. It is not reserved for next year, so that the court will allocate less next year.

What's more, the money is divided up every year as soon as it comes out. When it comes time to receive guests, it is spread everywhere, causing complaints among the people.

Therefore, ministerial money is actually a breeding ground for corrupt officials, giving them the opportunity to legally appropriate public property, and the court spends a lot of money and food here every year.

The annual envoy's money for a town's Jiedushi is as much as 2 taels of silver, and there is no upper limit. If it is not enough, you can apply for replenishment.

This is not raising people, it is simply raising pigs, and they are raising the most gluttonous pigs. Each of the four hundred military states in the Song Dynasty has a minimum of 1 yuan per year.

On average, at least 500 million taels of silver are spent here every year. The extravagance is evident. The annual coins given to the Liao Kingdom are only one-tenth of this.

"Alas! What King Wei said is absolutely true. It's just that it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it's difficult to go from luxury to frugality. If this matter is announced, the opponents will be very upset!"

Fan Zhongyan let out a long sigh and spoke. He looked at the crowd and said quietly: "We always laugh at humanity, and people's hearts are not as good as snakes swallowing elephants. Now it concerns ourselves, so why not?"

The people present here are all self-proclaimed gentlemen. When they heard this, they couldn't help but blush and murmured, not daring to look at each other.

After a long while, Han Qi said: "Convene a discussion with officials above the fifth rank. Let's ask everyone what a gentleman is. In ancient times, a gentleman destroyed his family to relieve the country's calamity. Now we are not asking them to destroy their family, but only reduce their offerings. Are you willing?"

Everyone was even more embarrassed. These words were too lethal. They were just pointing at their noses and scolding them. Anyone who said they didn't want to was a hypocrite.

Zhao Fang nodded secretly. He was worthy of being his father-in-law. He still supported him at critical moments. He would love Han Xue more in the future.

Before he could finish thinking about this, Wang Yaochen spoke with the same faint sigh: "The money and food that the imperial court spends here every year is as high as 500 million. It is indeed a huge waste. Even if it is not completely cancelled, it must be reduced by most of it. Otherwise, let alone raising money." It's a shame, it's feeding greed!"

As the third envoy, he has the most say. Like him, Yan Shu also served as the third envoy. The old man sighed with a red face: "I am famous for my extravagance. I dare not tell others, but this matter I Let’s see.”

That's what happened. When the whole thing was monolithic, everyone was angry, but once a gap was opened, reason slowly gained the upper hand.

Besides, who of these people wants to be regarded as hypocrites? They are all famous figures in the world, especially the pair of masters and disciples, Yan Shu and Ouyang Xiu, who are already famous as literary giants in the world.

Ouyang Xiu became famous very early. Before he was admitted to the imperial examination, his literary reputation spread throughout the Song Dynasty. After he first entered officialdom, he lived in Luoyang, Xijing.

At that time, Qian Weiyan, the son of the former King of Wu and Yue, was left in Luoyang. Not to mention his political achievements, let's just say that he was extremely good at treating young talents.This guy is not only powerful, but also rich. He spends his own money to let the talented people have fun. It doesn't matter about official matters, just leave it to the petty officials, and you all can go and have fun.

With the support of such superiors, Ouyang Xiu, Mei Yaochen and others who were officials in Luoyang at that time simply lived a life of poetry and wine. They went to work like Internet celebrities checking in, eating, drinking and having fun everywhere.

Of course, this is related to the fact that Qian Weiyan himself is a great talent. The Qian family's collection of books is no less than the secret pavilion of the palace. Qian Weiyan himself is the backbone of Xikun style, which is the most famous poetry genre in the early Song Dynasty.

Xikun style poetry inherits Li Shangyin's gorgeous style and has a profound influence on Song Dynasty poetry.

As for Yan Shu, he was hailed as a child prodigy at the age of 12 and was more famous than Ouyang Xiu. Although Ouyang Xiu later became one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, at this time he was really not as famous as his teacher.

With brisk steps, Zhao Fang returned to his courtyard. Thinking of the awkward smiles of the ministers, he was extremely happy.

When things got to this point, he knew that his suggestion would definitely be approved. For no other reason than to be a gentleman, the scholar-bureaucrats would not dare to object.

As for them scolding themselves to death in their hearts, it doesn't matter. Anyway, they have changed history, and it will not cause a backlash. After all, the literati of the Song Dynasty want to lose face.

This also made him realize that when dealing with scholar-bureaucrats, reputation is the only way to deal with them. What Han Qi did today is worth learning from.

"Sister Xue'er, you are getting more and more beautiful. What should you do? You are responsible for mesmerizing me."

Han Xue was so happy that she was so happy that she rolled her eyes and spat at him in embarrassment. Although she was still a little girl, she was already as beautiful as a flower.

The court hall was very lively the next day, but it had nothing to do with him. He didn't have to go to court. With Bao Zheng, his position as Kaifeng Prefect was empty.

What he didn't know was that after hearing this suggestion today, Bao Zheng was the one who came up with it and sincerely praised him.

He also told his subordinates that in the future, all major matters in Kaifeng Mansion would be written to him, not to ask him to handle it, but to let him know about it.

This is a reflection of Bao Heizi's respect for him, and of course it also increases his workload, but now he has no job at all and doesn't care about it anymore.

In October of the fourth year of Qingli, time always flies by. Eight-year-old Zhao Fang has been staying in the Chen Mansion these days. His teacher Chen Yaozuo is already on his deathbed.

"King Wei..."

A deep voice woke up Zhao Fang, who was nodding his head and dozing off. When he looked up, Chen Yaozuo opened his eyes and looked at him on the bed.

Immediately exclaimed in surprise: "Master, you are awake!"

Chen Yaozuo looked at him, his eyes full of tenderness: "It's late at night, I can let His Highness watch the night, this life is worth it."

Then he looked at the attendants beside him and said, "Go and call everyone over. It's time for me to leave. I have something to say to them."

Zhao Fang was stunned for a moment. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything, and finally cried out, "Teacher...wuwu..."

"Fang'er, silly boy, everyone is bound to die. I am eighty-two years old. It's already a good death. Don't cry."

(End of this chapter)