During the early Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Liu Bang implemented various policies to revive the economy, leading to a rapid advancement in agricultural production. The subsequent emperors, Wen and Jing, continued this established national policy.

As a result, the national treasury became so full that coins piled up like mountains, and the strings used to thread them together eventually rotted away. Countless amounts of grain accumulated in the granaries, so much so that the warehouses could not contain it all. The surplus had to be stored outdoors, leading to much of the grain spoiling and becoming inedible.