The Song Dynasty was very friendly to **, especially the wages were far higher than those of other dynasties, and this was also done to reduce **corruption, which did play a certain role. In addition to increasing the wages of the Song Dynasty, there were other systems to increase the benefits of the government, that is, the minister's money system. Minister's money, also known as public money, is the daily office expenses and entertainment expenses of officials at all levels in the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty set up a minister's treasury to raise ministers' money to ensure the normal expenses of the government and prevent them from exploiting the people. The idea is good, but the implementation will change the taste, after Song Zhenzong, the minister's money has gradually become an important place to eat and drink, and fill private pockets. Moreover, part of the minister's money is raised by the magistrates themselves, which opens the door to corruption.
The minister's money system in the Song Dynasty began with Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, which changed the money allocated by the Tang Dynasty to the government to do business as the main public money, and implemented the policy of combining grading quotas, court rewards and state and county self-raising. In the ninth year of Song Renzong's Tiansheng, the minister's money began to be fixed, from 200 to 3,000. In the fourth year of Shenzong Xining, he formulated a quota of money for ministers in local states and counties, and lived within his means, depending on the size of the state and county, and the age ranged from 200 to 5,000.
The minister's money is widely used, which can be used as office expenses, and can also be used to reward soldiers, usher in send-offs and local dinners, which is an important measure for the imperial court to mobilize the enthusiasm of soldiers at all levels and pacify the border areas.
The minister's money is first raised by the local government, and if it is not enough, it is rewarded by the imperial court, and there are many ways to raise it, such as local taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the benefits of the Fangyuan ancestral temple, and the income from the government's pawnshops and pharmacies.
In the Song Dynasty, all levels of government had a special organization for managing ministers' money, and the use of ministers' money was restricted. For example, in the seventh year of Qingli, the imperial court ordered that no other regions except the border areas could use the minister's money to do business and make money, and in the third year of Jiayou, the border areas could no longer use the minister's money to do business. Moreover, it is not possible to use the minister's money at will, and it is illegal to steal, embezzle, borrow, and use the minister's money excessively, and later it is forbidden to use the minister's money as a gift.
Although the Song Dynasty made various regulations on the use of ministers' money, these regulations were not strictly enforced, so that the phenomenon of abuse, private use, and illegal misappropriation of ministers' money was extremely common.