There was a saying among the people: "A magistrate who stays clean for three years will still accumulate a hundred thousand taels of silver."
The salaries of Ming dynasty officials were set extremely low. Many low-ranking officials could barely make a living on their pay, while high-ranking officials could never maintain a lifestyle befitting their status on salary alone. "Saints" were few, after all.
Thus, most local officials skimmed a portion of local tax revenue to supplement their actual income, while officials in the capital received plenty of "filial offerings" from local officials. Jinshi of the same examination year often called themselves "students," while those who had placed them on the list were their "teachers." Giving one's teacher a small gift to express one's sentiments both observed proper etiquette and demonstrated closeness.
So-called melting loss referred to the metal lost during coin minting, usually the loss incurred when broken silver was recast into silver ingots. The ever-increasing "melting loss" provoked public opposition. Although the Shunzhi Emperor and Kangxi successively issued orders to regulate it, they had little effect. After Yongzheng took the throne, he instituted the policy of "returning melting loss to the public," stipulating that it could not exceed 20 percent and could not be privately withheld.
Because of the restrictions imposed by "ancestral law," the Ming dynasty had always lacked silver, and private silver mining was forbidden among the populace. This left the Ming dynasty short on silver but rich in goods, while Japan produced silver but lacked goods. If the two had exchanged what they had for what they lacked, it could have promoted foreign trade. But the problem of the "Wokou pirates" made that impossible. When the Ming Xuanzong, Zhu Zhanji, ascended the throne, the Ministry of Revenue petitioned to stop using paper notes and instead