Neither the sixth nor the seventh shōgun held his office long enough to accomplish much. In 1716 the shōgunate passed to Yoshimune of the Kii branch of the Tokugawa family. He was gifted with rare administrative talent, and during the thirty years of his rule sought to reform the government so as to place it again on a sound and strong basis. At this period the impecuniosity of Edo, which had been going from bad to worse under succeeding shōguns, and which resulted chiefly from extravagant and useless expenditure in the Tokugawa household, began to be a subject of serious embarrassment. Yoshimune had no sooner assumed administrative control than he set himself to restore financial order by closing or destroying several of the splendid mansions kept for the shōgun's amusement, and dismissing their female and male inmates, while he himself sought to set an example to his people by wearing rough garments and faring in the simplest manner. Finally, he issued an edict urging the necessity of economy in all affairs both public and private, and as the nation had practical evidence of this spirit in the conduct of its rulers, not alone the ministers of state, but also the feudal barons adopting and following the admonition of the shōgun by the exercise of strict frugality, economy became one of the most marked features of the era. Yoshimune not only sought to foster this spirit of frugality, but also endeavored to promote industrial and agricultural enterprise. He encouraged the cultivation of Korean ginseng as well as Batavian and sweet potatoes; he inaugurated the planting of Japanese sugar cane, and at the same time dispatched officials to various parts of the empire to promote the growth of other products. Naturally there appeared many persons in the different clans who devoted themselves to industry and agriculture. Enumerating the principal developments of the time, we find that sericulture was greatly extended and its methods were improved throughout the eastern provinces; that indigo was cultivated in Awa, and oranges were grown in Kiushū; that the raising of tobacco and the operation of drying bonito were considerably encouraged in Satsuma; that salt was manufactured in Shikoku and Chiukoku, and the hardware, lacquer, goldsmith's and furrier's trades were greatly developed. Regulations were enacted for the protection and encouragement of farmers, providing, among others, that, in the event of a farmer being prevented from carrying on the necessary operations of agriculture, his nearest neighbors must assist him. Indiscriminate transactions in real estate were prohibited. The sale and purchase of land were forbidden; measures were framed to prevent the undue growth of large estates, as well as to protect the humble classes and obviate their dispersal through poverty. Further, the shōgun encouraged the development of water-ways for the transport of goods and for the irrigation of lands.