"How much can the salary increase be? Raising it from fifty taels to one hundred taels is only fifty taels more per year. I'm afraid it's wishful thinking to think that this little money can silence court officials."
Zhou Shi'an shook his head repeatedly, thinking that Sanyuan Gong's information was unreliable.
Raising salaries will not be attractive unless they are increased tenfold at once.
Why?
Because the salaries of officials in the Great Zhou were extremely low.
For example, the salary and rice of a seventh-rank official in Beijing would definitely not be more than one hundred taels a year.
Living in the capital is not easy.
If you earn 100 taels a year as an official in Beijing, you will probably become a beggar.
what to do?
One is corruption.
The second is to rely on support from family.
When you become an official, you start as a Jinshi.
The family is exempt from taxes and labor service and can accept donations.
As long as you are brave enough and accept everyone who comes, your family will be able to get rid of poverty and become rich in one or two years.
The family pays money to support the officials in Beijing, and the officials in Beijing protect the family as much as possible.
That's how it is.
How can a small increase in salary make officials shut up?
"There must be some other compensation to silence all the officials in the court."
Zhou Shian was very confident.
He was a serious official, and a Beijing official at that.
Among the three, he had been out of officialdom for the shortest time and in office for the longest time, which meant that he had a better understanding of the nature of court officials.
Without sufficient benefits, it is impossible for officials to keep their mouths shut and say nothing.
Sanyuan Gong stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly, "Brother Zhou, what you said makes sense. Let's guess what compensation the Empress gave the officials to make them shut up."
"Could it be the shares of Sihai Huanyu?"
"Probably not."
"It can't be the shares of the Shaofu."
"It definitely can't be the Shaofu."
"After much thought, I think the root of the problem still lies in the land."
"What do you mean, Brother Yang?"
San Yuan Gong held the chess piece in his hand, closed his eyes and thought deeply, then shook his head, "I'm just imagining nonsense, it's all nonsense."
"Brother Yang, if you have anything to say, why not speak it out? Even if it's just random thoughts, it won't hurt to speak them out."
Sanyuan Gong waved his hand, "No, no. You have acquaintances in the court, why don't you ask the officials there?"
"No one is willing to tell the truth." Sun Zhuangyuan smacked his lips in disgust.
Zhou Shian laughed heartily. "The price of the second batch of shares of the Shaofu Grain Store has increased sharply by one hundred acres. Of course, the officials are unwilling to disclose such good news in advance."
Sun Zhuangyuan stroked his beard, "They are all a bunch of greedy villains. If the court is ruled by people like them, who knows what the future will be like. If the Emperor and Empress continue to behave like this, the worst thing they will fear is the end of their government."
Duke Sanyuan laughed heartily. "Brother Sun, rest assured that the government will cease to exist when the ruler dies. His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi has made a great contribution to the promulgation of this land law. It is clear that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi personally supports this law."
"According to Brother Yang, the status of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi has been determined?" Zhou Shi'an asked curiously.
Lord Sanyuan nodded slightly, "If nothing unexpected happens, it's His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi."
Sun Zhuangyuan's frown relaxed, "In that case, I feel relieved."
Lord Sanyuan laughed heartily, then said, "Your Highness the Prince of Qi was personally taught by the Empress. He is exceptionally knowledgeable and skilled in both civil and military matters. Brother Sun, you should take a long-term view. We are now in an era of great change, a transformation unseen in a thousand years. In just ten or twenty years, society will be transformed. Aren't you two excited? I'm so excited I couldn't sleep all night."
Sun Zhuangyuan laughed and pointed at Sanyuan Gong, "Brother Yang, do you have a new book to publish?"
San Yuan Gong didn't hide it. "I already have some ideas. I'll sort out the information and then I can start writing. Brother Sun, do you want to separate the households? If not, the land under the name of your Xinmin Sun family clearly exceeds the upper limit and will be taxed by the Ministry of Finance."
Sun Zhuangyuan said, "To be honest, I have already exchanged eighty shares of the Shaofu Grain Store for my family. After I pass away, these shares will be divided. I have already started the process of dividing the households. After the division, the family's land will meet the requirements of the tenth tax rate."
Zhou Shian clicked his tongue twice.
"Brother Sun's family is indeed a wealthy family of the time. One hundred and one hundred acres per share, eighty shares, that's nearly one hundred thousand acres of land, it's really astonishing. What's even more astonishing is that there is still enough land to divide among the households. A rough calculation shows that your Xinmin Sun family still holds hundreds of thousands of acres of land."
Sanyuan Gong smiled and said, "It's probably more than a few hundred thousand acres. The Xinmin Sun family has hundreds of people, and there are probably about 20 to 30 people with honors. If we divide it up, we can probably get a million acres."
Sun Zhuangyuan denied it repeatedly, "It's not that much, you're all talking nonsense. Also, the shares exchanged for the Shaofu Grain Store are one thousand mu per share, not one thousand and one hundred mu per share."
Bang!
Zhou Shi'an slapped his head fiercely. "I actually forgot that Brother Sun's nephews and nephews are all officials in the court. They must have received the news first. That's why they successfully subscribed to the first batch of shares in the Shaofu Grain Store. Brother Sun was pretending to know nothing just now. What a mean person."
Sanyuan Gong also pointed at him and said, "Brother Sun is indeed a servant, playing tricks on the two of us."
Sun Zhuangyuan laughed heartily. "How could I have known that you two, though seemingly clever, also have your moments of foolishness? If I don't take advantage of this opportunity to play with you, I'd be doing myself a disservice."
"Excessive, truly excessive." Zhou Shi'an shook his head repeatedly, "People's hearts have changed!"
Sanyuan Gong asked, "Brother Sun, could you tell me what other plans the Empress has arranged to ensure that the court officials keep their mouths shut?"
Sun Zhuangyuan didn't keep the secret and said bluntly, "Your Majesty and the Empress are implementing a pension plan."
"pension?"
"Exactly! It's similar to a pension for disabled soldiers. After retirement, you can receive a pension, which can also be exchanged for land. That's roughly the situation, but the specific terms haven't been announced yet. Because the interests of all officials are involved, everyone is very cautious and wants to see the specific terms before making a decision."
Sanyuan Gong nodded secretly, "If we can really promote the pension system, it will solve the problem of retirement for many people."
Zhou Shian said bluntly, "With this retirement pension, officials will have greater security. They don't have to worry about losing their power and money after retirement."
Sanyuan Gong laughed. "The Empress is quite bold and daring. On the one hand, she's reducing taxes for the common people, giving them tangible benefits. On the other hand, she's offering tangible benefits to officials through share subscriptions, overseas property purchases, and pensions. Only us scholars get nothing. Does the Empress have a prejudice against scholars like us?"
The words are similar to sarcasm, but they also represent the voice of scholars.
Scholars are also an important part of the government. Why did the court forget about them?
Sun Zhuangyuan said hurriedly, "I heard that the academy will also implement a pension plan."
"Oh? It turns out that the Queen Mother hasn't forgotten us!" Sanyuan Gong teased.
"Of course I can't forget. The Empress invests millions of taels of silver in the academy every year. It's obvious that the Empress values scholars more than anyone else."
"That's true. The number of students at Shanhe Academy has already exceeded 6,000. Supporting 6,000 students, plus the teaching staff and administrative staff, the annual expenses are astronomical."
Sun Zhuangyuan said with a proud look on his face, "The number of students at our Zhixing Academy has exceeded 2,000 this year."
Sanyuan Gong and Zhou Shi'an both looked down on him, saying that there was no need to show off just two thousand students.
Zhou Shian retorted, "The questions on your Zhixing Academy entrance exam are so easy, and if you can't even get in, how poor must your ability be."
Sun Zhuangyuan was not happy to hear this.
"Our Zhixing Academy's entrance exams are by no means easy. Half of the applicants are eliminated every month."
Zhou Shi'an sneered, "Shanhe Academy's monthly entrance exams eliminate at least 70% of the candidates. If you ask around, candidates generally agree that Shanhe Academy's entrance exam is the most difficult, followed by the Imperial College, and the worst is your Zhixing Academy."
Brother Sun, I know you're eager to recruit students, but you can't lower the difficulty and admit a bunch of people of varying quality. This will lower the quality of your Zhixing Academy.
Last month, Brother Yang and I went to your school for classes. Your students were clearly inferior to those at Shanhe Academy. The students at Shanhe Academy understood the same content without any difficulty, but the students at Zhixing Academy struggled to understand!
Sanyuan Gong nodded, agreeing with Zhou Shi'an, "It's time to make the entrance exam more difficult. We can't sacrifice quality for the sake of quantity. If this continues, Zhixing Academy will always be seen as a second-rate academy, and will never become a first-rate one."
Zhou Shi'an added, "Brother Sun, we sincerely suggest this, and we hope you'll adopt it. If the quality of students at Zhixing Academy continues to decline, Brother Yang and I may not teach there anymore. If students don't understand, it's a waste of everyone's time."
Sun Zhuangyuan said, "You can explain some simple things. The students in our academy will definitely understand. Teaching is about gradual progress. How can we force things to happen?"
Zhou Shian waved his hand and said, "With the level of this old man and Brother Yang, we will not teach students below the level of Juren. I hope Brother Sun will know this."
Sun Zhuangyuan's mouth twitched, "The scholars in our academy are not as bad as Brother Zhou said."
Zhou Shian rolled his eyes. "In my opinion, the Juren of Zhixing Academy is only at the level of the Xiucai of Shanhe Academy. Maybe even lower than some of the Xiucai. They all have to be lucky to pass the exam and get the title of Juren."
Sun Zhuangyuan was upset.
This is a 10,000-point critical hit.
Sanyuan Gong said cheerfully, "Brother Sun, just listen to our advice and increase the difficulty of admissions. There's no harm in letting those candidates take the entrance exam a few more times. Without a few more entrance exams, those students won't know where they stand. They'll all feel good about themselves, which is not advisable."
"The students of Zhixing Academy lack self-awareness. They always compare themselves with Shanhe Academy, thinking that they are on the same level as the students of Shanhe Academy. I wanted to scold them back many times, but I held back for Brother Sun's sake." Zhou Shi'an kept muttering, full of complaints.
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