His predecessor, Yongzheng, had battled corruption and tax evasion, but Qianlong reversed his prudent fiscal policies, and with tax levels frozen since Kangxi’s days, from the 1780s the state’s finances became precarious while it experienced a rapid population rise. Civil servants and magistrates were underpaid, bribery and extortion were habitual, and rebellions in the outer provinces now began to occur with growing frequency.
