better still, to provide revenue for Japan, but realized that in the short term they would have to spend money to restore order and gain the trust of the local population. These techniques had been easier to carry out in Manchuria, where there was little serious military resistance to occupation, in comparison to central China in 1937–1938, where the fighting had devastated the local infrastructure. Bringing order back was the best chance for the Japanese to claim legitimacy for their new regime.
