Dont confuse corruption and self-dealing with weakness. The British Empire conquered the world with officers that paid enormous sums for their commissions.
Purchase of commissions in the British Army
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchase_of_commissions_in_the_British_Army
Commissioned office in the English and later British Army could be purchased for either infantry or cavalry regiments from the 17th to 19th centuries. This avoided the need to wait to be promoted for merit or seniority, and was the usual way to obtain a commission in the Army. The practice began in 1683, during the reign of King Charles II, and continued until it was abolished on 1 November 1871, as part of the Cardwell Reforms. Formally, the purchase price of a commission was a cash bond for good behaviour, liable to be forfeited if found guilty of cowardice, desertion, or gross misconduct.
[Dont confuse corruption and self-dealing with weakness. The British Empire conquered the world with officers that paid enormous sums for their commissions.]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Clive
Autocracies have always provided extensive room for self-enrichment. Germany’s WW2 commanders acquired a lot of wealth in the course of the war, not all of it licit. Unfortunately for them, defeat meant coughing up their often ill-gotten gains.
One of those officers with a purchased commission was in charge of the debacle now known as The Charge of the Light Brigade.