Expecting uncorrupted government in less than a couple of generations is like expecting a house to be built from the roof down. Where are all the people who hold corruption in check if there's no troublesome middle class that gets cross and takes action?
I think that all that can be hoped for is some time of not-terribleness during which more people can have some kind of education and can move into towns. I would imagine that in Europe this phase happened during the reign of kings and emperors after the Romans but at least the Romans built towns and roads and provided a common language (to some) so that their hand in things still mattered hundreds of years later.