When the Grand Canal was blocked by floods, in 1826, as governor of Jiangsu, he took the dangerous course of shipping tribute grain by sea, using some 1,562 junks on the route from Shanghai to Tianjin.

These merchants combined official status and private function, but by the early 19th century failed to deliver the massive amounts of salt they had contracted but instead raised prices.

[2] In 1832, Tao was tasked by the Daoguang Emperor with fixing the problem, which was deemed especially acute in light of the outflow of silver in the years leading up to the First Opium War.

Acting on the advice of his classmates Wei Yuan and Bao Shichen, two other officials in the reform group,[1] Tao took immediate action to end the Ming franchise system in favor of a relatively open market.

[2] Tao's reforms opened the system up to small scale traders, depriving the hereditary merchants and the smugglers of their profits and lowering costs to the consumer.