So much for the idea that global outsourcing is a new problem. You'd think that all this silver would make the Chinese incredibly rich, just like the Spanish, right? Yes, just like the Spanish, in that they got rich, but they didn't stay rich. The Ming government also failed to peg taxes to inflation and spent too much on defense, notably the Great Wall. And by the 17th century, the Ming were overthrown by the Fu Manchus. Oh, it's just the Manchus? Gah!