thereby putting most of the tax burden on the peasants. When the oppressed peasants broke into rebellions, the dynasty had to spend more money to deal with the disorder, thus making the financial conditions even worse. From the mid-19th century on, the problem of political decentralization made collection of the whole country's taxes more and more difficult (sometimes impossible). Administrative inefficiency led to confusing financial management. To solve its money problem, the poor government increased taxes and sold more of its offices -- thus more social suffering, more corruption, and more rebellions.