The king asked the minister to raise money. Why did the minister say it was better to be more corrupt?

This is a joke that Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty had no money to let his ministers pay. Emperor Chongzhen's treasury had no money, so he asked the ministers to make efforts to donate some money. As a result, the minister said cunningly that if I had known this, I might as well be more corrupt, so that I could give you more money. Although Chongzhen was angry, he was helpless. The appearance of this farce is the result of the interaction of the economic policy of the Ming Dynasty, the corruption of bureaucrats and Chongzhen's personal character.

1. The economic policy of the Ming Dynasty was unreasonable for a long time, emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce, and the development of government-run industry and commerce was slow.

Speaking of the economy of the Ming Dynasty, people usually think of the germination of capitalism and the vigorous development of industry and commerce in the south. In fact, the Ming Dynasty was very poor. This poverty is not the poverty of the people, but the poverty of the court.

Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a rough background and suffered a lot. After he acceded to the throne, he cut taxes vigorously. He can collect less money, which reduces the income of the state treasury from the source. Moreover, Daming pays attention to "the law of ancestors", and it is not good to increase taxes too much in the later period, and the revenue of the state treasury has been very low.

In addition, the imperial court has always adhered to the policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business, and the focus of taxation is also on agriculture. The richest private industry and commerce, small workshops bear lower taxes. How can the income of agriculture be comparable to that of commerce? Agricultural taxes are often replaced by food. The state does not develop government-run industry and commerce to make money, and there is no place to sell grain and pay back the money, which reduces the income of the state treasury from the source.

The bureaucratic system of Ming Dynasty was very corrupt. Bureaucrats embezzle money and monopolize business by virtue of their power.

The Ming Dynasty was a "civilian politics", and the relationship between officials was intertwined, so it was normal for officials to protect each other. Because the government has little money, the salaries of officials are naturally low. It is mentioned in Ming Shi Shi that the salary of officials can't support a better living condition, and even when the household department collects grain, it shakes off some rice and takes away the fallen rice as "gray income". In this case, it is normal for officials to take bribes.

In addition, the Manchu ministers in Chongzhen were mainly Lindong party member, who were best at officialdom politics, and they were behind the scenes. Most of their hometown is the south where capitalism is budding. These people abuse their power to seize fertile land, monopolize the silk industry and put all their money into their own pockets. At this time, the emperor asked them for money, and they naturally didn't want to take it out, so there was such a farce as "I know how greedy I am" and "selling a house to help the holy family"

3. Chongzhen's personality is too straightforward and not good at moderation.

As an emperor, Chongzhen naturally knew that his officials were corrupt, but he didn't know how to detour and simply asked them to pay. But for corrupt officials, if they really take out hundreds of thousands of taels at once, will Chongzhen let them go? The answer is no, Chongzhen will definitely go to the end and take all the money. Therefore, these officials can only turn a blind eye and tell lies. The reform shows that they are honest and clean. ?