Before Xilin Gioro E'bao became Governor of Fujian, Funihan had served as Governor-General of Fujian.
He was later transferred to Shandong, where he enthusiastically took part in the investigation and trial of the Soulstealers case.
Because of the climate, northern China generally grew crops such as wheat, which required less water and heat, while the south grew crops such as rice, which demanded more of both. Guangdong in particular could grow two rice crops a year. Yet its enormous population accelerated rice consumption. During the Shunzhi Emperor's reign, Guangdong produced an average of more than four million shi of rice annually, but had a population of over 3.2 million. At an average annual consumption of 3.3 shi of grain per person, those four million-plus shi of rice could only meet the province's needs for half a year. Unable even to provide for itself, Guangdong could not support Fujian, which had less arable land and could not produce two rice crops a year.
Although Zhejiang and Jiangxi produced abundant rice, grain prices there were even higher than in rice-deficient Fujian and Guangdong. This was mainly because rice smuggling to Luzon and Batavia was rampant. Combined with population pressure and the use of some land to grow hemp, cotton, and mulberry trees, supply and consumption remained in only a delicate balance.
Even Fujian itself grew cash crops such as tobacco and sugarcane for shipment to the Yangtze River Delta, then purchased silk textiles from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to send to Taiwan, which in turn shipped rice to Fujian.
But this source of grain was little more than a drop in the bucket for Fujian. It was necessary to develop more distant sources of rice, so during the Qianlong era, Fujian Governor Chen Hongmou proposed importing Siamese rice to solve Fujian's rice shortage.