"Whew...... Call...... Whew......"

With the sound of hurried footsteps and heavy breathing, after galloping for an hour, Shen Lian finally arrived in the capital an hour after Zhu Youzhen and the others arrived in the capital.

Holding Cao Huachun's token, he trotted all the way towards the Qingong Palace, and his physical strength was close to exhaustion.

Changing horses for an hour in a row without changing people, and running from Donghua Gate to Miaoqin Palace, these are all challenges to his physical strength.

Finally, when he was extremely tired, he saw Wang Chengen and a group of little eunuchs and palace maids standing at the gate of the Miaoqin Palace.

Wang Chengen saw Shen Lian, and when he saw his anxious appearance, he immediately realized the seriousness of the matter, and stepped forward to support him:

"What's wrong?"

"There is a big matter, and it must be said in front of His Highness." Shen Lian took a breath and paused before speaking.

"You wait." When Wang Chengen heard this, he comforted him, then turned around and walked into the Qingong Palace, interrupting Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youzhen, who were chatting:

"Your Royal Highness, the chief flag officer of the Nanzhen Fusi asked to see him, saying that he had something important."

"Immerse?" Zhu Youzhen, who was interrupted, was not angry, but frowned after hearing Shen Lian's name.

If he remembers well, Shen Lian should be the chief flag officer of the Jinyi Guard under Lu Jianxing.

"He didn't stay with Lu Jianxing, why did he come to the capital?"

Zhu Youzhen suddenly realized that something was wrong, so he said to Wang Chengen: "Call him in." ”

"Slave maid takes the order......" Hearing Zhu Youzhen's words, Wang Chengen turned around and gestured to Shen Lian, who was resting not far away.

Seeing this, Shen Lian hurriedly walked into the Qinqin Palace, bowed down and said, "Chief Flag Officer of the Nanzhen Fusi, Shen Lian, see His Royal Highness...... Banzai?! ”

Shen Lian didn't expect that Zhu Youxiao was also here, but fortunately, he was sensitive and added the title of long live.

"Tell me, why did you come to the capital?" Zhu Youzhen looked at Shen Lian and asked, but Zhu Youxiao next to him was absent-minded.

In the face of the inquiry, cold sweat oozed from Shen Lian's forehead, just because he didn't expect that the emperor was actually in the Qingong Palace.

Therefore, once he told the situation in Huaibei, then there would be no turning back, and even Zhu Youzhen would not have time to react.

Shen Lian's hesitation was seen by Zhu Youxiao.

I have to say that in this kind of matter, he is much more sensitive than Zhu Youzhen, and when he saw Shen Lian's hesitant appearance, he knew that it must be a very important matter, so he frowned and said:

"If you say anything, is there something I can't hear?"

Zhu Youxiao rarely used my self-title, indicating that there was no room for retreat in Shen Lian.

Different from previous dynasties, the royal family of the Ming Dynasty was mostly close to the ordinary people in terms of titles, whether it was daily or the regular dynasty, most of them called themselves Wu and I.

Therefore, once the emperor used me as a self-title, and it was not at the court meeting or other occasions, it was probably a little angry.

There is no way, Shen Lian can only speak:

"Lu Jianxing, the minister and the 100 households official of the Fusi Division of Nanzhen, was ordered by His Royal Highness to go to Jiangnan to do business, and when he heard that Huaibei was hungry, he thought of selling grain and going to Huaibei."

"Who would have thought that after going to Huaibei......"

As he spoke, Shen Lian told all about the process of going to Huaibei with Lu Jianxing, and he told all the scenes he saw without concealing it.

Hearing his words, Wang Chengen at the door broke out in a cold sweat, and Zhu Youzhen clenched his fists even more, not daring to imagine that under such a critical moment of internal and external troubles, there were still people who dared to use the lives of millions of people to earn silver.

Thinking of this, a trace of memory suddenly flashed in Zhu Youzhen's mind.

In the second year of the Apocalypse, Shandong White Lotus Sect Xu Hongru rebelled!

It is now the first year of Taichang, that is, less than two years before Xu Hongru's uprising.

In history, Xu Hongru, Wang Haoxian, Yu Hongzhi and other White Lotus cultists secretly lurked for more than 20 years, and in the second year of the Apocalypse, the three of them made an appointment to revolt at the same time in Jingzhou, Jizhou, Hebei, and Yuncheng, Shandong on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Due to poor cooperation, Xu Hongru led the White Lotus cultists in the Caozhou Mansion in advance, together with the peasants and ordinary people who could not bear the oppression, to revolt.

In just half a month, the uprising grew to 600,000 people.

Seeing Xu Hongru's horn blowing, the White Lotus disciples from all over the Ming Dynasty responded to Xu Hongru's uprising.

In July, Yu Hongzhi rebelled in Baijiatun on the border of Wuyi and Jingzhou.

In September, Kang Fufu of Ze County led a crowd to revolt in Gushi County, Runing Prefecture, Henan Province, in solidarity with Xu Hongru.

In October, the White Lotus cultists in Sichuan also revolted in response to Xu Hongru.

For a time, the flames of the uprising burned all over the sky, and it had the potential to sweep the whole country, shaking the rule of the Ming Dynasty......

Although the uprising of Xu Hongru and others was put down in only six months, it caused the displacement of millions of people, and turned the originally somewhat prosperous Jinan and Qingzhou prefectures into barren land.

If it weren't suppressed fast enough and Xu Hongru was not well prepared, then the Cao Yun would have been cut off, and millions of people in the capital would have faced a shortage of food.

More importantly, in history, Xu Hongru's uprising in Shandong failed because Yang Zhaoji, Zhao Yan and others commanded properly to block the rebels' troops and successfully encircled and suppressed Xu Hongru.

But if Zhu Youzhen remembers correctly, in the process of blocking the rebels of the White Lotus Sect, Wu Aheng and Sun Chuanting made a great effort, so they were promoted one after another after the war.

But right now, Wu Aheng and Sun Chuanting have been transferred to Sichuan and Guizhou, and it is still a question whether they can calm down Luxury Chongming after two years.

This famine in Huaibei must have something to do with the fact that Xu Hongru was able to raise his banner and get hundreds of thousands of people to respond.

Therefore, this famine must be contained in a short time, and the people of Huaibei must be properly allowed to live a better life, so as not to respond to Xu Hongru's rebellion two years later.

But if you follow the situation in Huaibei in Shen Lian's mouth, it is obvious that this is not a famine caused by a normal natural disaster, but a man-made disaster.

The situation of the imperial court, Zhu Youzhen, understood that the granary in Tongzhou was less than three million stone of grain, and the Taifu Temple and Taicang in the capital combined were less than two million stone.

There is a shortage of food in the capital, and if you want to transfer grain for relief, it is only from Jiangnan.

But as far as the current situation is concerned, even if it is the will of the good imperial brother, it may not be able to make the officials in Jiangnan release food.

Most of them still count on the famine in Huaibei to make money......

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen looked at the good imperial brother, but at this moment, Zhu Youxiao had a gloomy face, and his faint appearance was exciting.

After a while, when there was silence in the Qingong Palace, Zhu Youxiao suddenly spoke:

Qi Yuanfu ...... How many soldiers have been recruited......"

"About 6,000 people......" Hearing this, Zhu Youzhen could only judge and say the specific number, but then he was afraid that the good imperial brother would want to use force, so he explained:

"Qi Yuanfu has only been going south to the south of the Yangtze River for twenty-two days, and he has recruited soldiers and horses in Zhejiang for less than half a month, and he has not yet formed a combat force when he wants to come to the south of the Yangtze River."

"I know......" Zhu Youxiao's eyes were indifferent, and he took out the majesty of being an emperor, and said softly:

"Spread the decree and promote the general Qi Yuanfu to be the chief soldier of Wu Song."

"Yang Lian was promoted to the military department, and Yang Lian was given to the official department, and the Nanzhili of the Metropolitan Procuratorate supervised the imperial history, and controlled Wu Song's chief soldier Qi Yuanfu."

"Then I ordered Nanzhen Fusi to command Tongzhi Lu Wenzhao to go south, and the two of them coordinated to inspect Huaibei, and went to Nanjing to escort Caoliang to the north for disaster relief, and at the same time escorted Caoyin and sent silver north to Shuntian!"

"In addition, change the Jingcha from six years to three years, starting from the first month of the next year, Zuo Guangdou will be promoted to the Imperial History of the Zuo Du of the Imperial Palace, and assist Zhang Wenda of the Imperial History of the Left Capital to investigate the world!"

Zhu Youxiao didn't want to endure it, or rather, he couldn't bear it anymore.

The Zhejiang Party and Qi Party officials of the Jiangnan faction must have been the main driving force behind the great famine in Huaibei.

Since the merchants under the command of the Zhejiang Party and the Qi Party ignore the Ming Dynasty, then send Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou of the Donglin Party to investigate them!

"Brother......" Zhu Youzhen suddenly became anxious when he heard that the good imperial brother had disrupted all his plans, but Zhu Youxiao raised his hand to stop it:

"Okay, brother, I've made up my mind, let's send the cabinet!"

"Slave and maid ......" Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, the eunuch who was the master of ceremonies hurriedly saluted.

Everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty is about to change.

Changed Jingcha from six years to three years, this kind of intensity in the Ming Dynasty only appeared in the Hongwu period, which means that Zhu Youxiao is going to lift the table.

After all, Jingcha has long become an important means of party struggle, and this time Zhu Youxiao completely bypassed the cabinet and directly announced his will, asking Donglin to organize Jingcha.

Although the next Jingcha was originally an official organization of the Donglin faction, it was carried out two years in advance, so it can be said that other parties were not given a chance at all.

The conclusion of Jingcha in the Ming Dynasty is relatively rough, but the procedure is serious and rigorous, and it seems that it does not match the roughness of the mold lake.

The investigation was co-chaired by the Ministry of Officials, the Chief of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Thirteen Masters of the Imperial History of the Provinces.

Before the Beijing inspection, the Ministry of Officials will issue an interview sheet about the situation of each official, similar to today's questionnaire.

The visit slips for the selection of officials need to be named, but the petition sheets used for the inspection do not need to be named, which will inevitably make some of the retracted petition slips like complaint letters or even false accusation letters.

However, this kind of "filthy paper-filled" visit list is generally in the hands of the official book, and will not be presented to the emperor or disseminated, but only used as a reference for Jingcha.

But there are exceptions, such as the Jingcha in the 39th year of Wanli, Shangshu Sun Piyang submitted a visit to Ding Jilu, and the emperor was furious, so Ding Jilu was cut down and sent off.

In addition, even if an official is rated as inferior, the punishment will not be immediately concluded, but will be decided by the cabinet vote to be retained, or reviewed and discussed by the lower ministry.

Jingcha, which looks so complete procedurally, has simply become a weapon for various parties to solve political enemies because of the party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty.

This time, Zhu Youxiao asked the Donglin Party to inspect, and put Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian in Nanzhili, basically to break the arm of the Zhejiang Party!

It was impossible for Zhu Youxiao to let the Donglin Party go directly to Zhejiang to copy the hometown of the Zhejiang Party, but after checking the officials of Nanzhili, the Zhejiang Party changed from occupying one-third of the tax-paying land of the Ming Dynasty to one-fifth.

It seems that it has dealt a blow to the Zhejiang Party, but the problem is that the strength of the Donglin Party will definitely expand as a result, and there are many moths in the Donglin Party.

Maybe after Jingcha, Nanzhili will be peaceful for two years, but who can guarantee it after two years?

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen also wanted to advise the good imperial brother, but the good imperial brother seemed to guess his thoughts, and directly turned to him and said:

"My brother has worked hard during this time, so there is no need to participate in the affairs of Jingcha, and it is enough to start the dismantling of Jiliao and Beizhili Guards."

"In addition, Liaodong also needs my younger brother to pay more attention, and the Tang report of the Ministry of War will be sent to the cabinet first, then to the East Palace, and finally to the Qianqing Palace."

"As for the Zhejiang soldiers and the white pole soldiers, I will ask Zhongxian to transfer 60,000 taels of internal money as the opening silver, and the military salary of 300,000 taels of the two armies will be paid in advance."

"In addition, 120,000 stones of grain, 10,000 stones of beans, 50,000 catties of soy sauce, 6,000 stones of salt, 100 artillery pieces of Furlong machine artillery and 30 general artillery pieces were transferred from Taicang."

"Taifu Temple transferred 2,000 war horses, 10,000 horses, and 100,000 grass bundles."

"In addition, 150,000 taels of silver, 60,000 stones of grain, 1,000 horses and 5,000 beans will be allocated to Qin Liangyu to return to the stone pillar for training."

"The other younger brothers don't need to take care of it anymore, just run the Imperial Horse Supervisor well."

Zhu Youxiao promised a lot of things, 460,000 taels of silver and 180,000 stones of grain alone.

plus various other things, it is equivalent to a direct allocation of nearly 700,000 taels.

With so much silver, just to transfer the white pole soldiers and Zhejiang soldiers to Liaodong, I have to say that it is a bit generous.

If you add the 100,000 taels given to Zhu Youzhen, it will be nearly 800,000 taels, and the reason why so much silver is spent is very simple, that is, to block Zhu Youzhen.

Zhu Youzhen understood very well that the good royal brother's approach was not to think that he was in the way, but just to ask him not to get involved in this matter, and to be a dog-eat-dog for each party.

But such an approach will undoubtedly lead to an irreversible change in the order of his plan, which will eventually lead to a collapse.

Therefore, if he can't stop the good imperial brother from using Jingcha's means, then he can only minimize Jingcha's influence.

The simplest thing is to replace a group of honest officials with corrupt officials who have been investigated by Beijing.

As long as Nan Zhili doesn't have so many things to do, the finances of the imperial court will not change much.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen could only salute Zhu Youxiao:

"I understand my brother's words, but after Jingcha, I hope my brother can let me recommend a few officials to serve in Nanzhili."

"The Great Age of Genes"

"It's okay, I just hope my brother doesn't blame me." Zhu Youxiao helped Zhu Youzhen up and comforted him, feeling a little apologetic.

However, after Zhu Youzhen clarified the pros and cons, he raised his head and smiled:

"But my brother has spent a lot of money now, and it seems that I can only continue to help my brother earn some silver."

"Hehe, I'm afraid the ones you earned are not enough for the Imperial Horse Supervisor." Zhu Youxiao was amused by him, and at this time, a familiar figure also came from outside the palace.

Wei Zhongxian walked to the palace gate and said, "Long live, Your Highness......"

"Huh? Zhongxian? You've come just in time. Zhu Youxiao nodded, and said to the eunuch with him: "Tell Zhongxian what happened just now, and the will is the same, send it quickly." ”

"The slave takes the command." The eunuch saluted, and then told Wei Zhongxian everything.

However, Wei Zhongxian is actually not a strong person, and he is also a figure who was pushed to the front of the stage by the five parties of Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun and Kun in history.

After his death, the Wenchen of the five parties of Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun immediately changed their banners and continued to change back to their original camp.

The people closest to Wei Zhongxian were killed by Chongzhen and exiled, and the original Wenchen of the five parties of Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun, and Kun used Wei Zhongxian to suppress Donglin, and decisively abandoned the other party when Wei Zhongxian was targeted by Chongzhen.

As a result, Donglin was suppressed, Wei Zhongxian and other important figures of the eunuch party died, and the last power returned to the hands of their five parties.

It can be said that whether it is Tianqi, Chongzhen, Wei Zhongxian, or the Donglin Party, they have all been played by the five parties of Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun.

Therefore, when Wei Zhongxian heard everything, he did not realize the seriousness of the matter, but flattered:

"Long live what is done is what it should be, and it is not an exaggeration for those corrupt officials to be investigated."

"Good!" Hearing Wei Zhongxian's words, Zhu Youxiao was a lot happier, and Wei Zhongxian also knew how to get to the point, and after bowing slightly to Zhu Youzhen, he said to Zhu Youxiao:

"Long live, the dinner in the Qianqing Palace is ready, and the other music is also sent to the Qianqing Palace."

"Why don't you start the transfer of troops tomorrow and let the Fifth Highness check it?"

"Hmm...... It's too late today, and my younger brother is also a little tired, so let's start again tomorrow."

"My brother and I went to the Qianqing Palace for dinner?"

"No need, brother." Zhu Youzhen explained:

"The cook of the East Palace has already cooked the meal, and I will rest after eating, and I am indeed a little tired after riding a horse all day today."

"Then you have a good rest." Zhu Youxiao's face was a little heartbroken, and then he patted Zhu Youxiao and said:

"My younger brother has to learn to use people, although it is good to do it himself, it is easy to tire out the body."

"Well, I see, so is my brother." Zhu Youzhen returned the salute, and Zhu Youxiao saw this, and after a few words of condolences, he drove back to the Qianqing Palace.

A quarter of an hour after Zhu Youxiao and the others left, when the meal had just been served, footsteps sounded outside the Miaoqin Palace.

Lu Wenzhao, who went to Nanzhen Fusi to see the latest information, rushed back, and saluted after entering the hall:

"Your Highness, it's too late."

"Get up, sit down and eat together." Zhu Youzhen's expression was flat, and he was not in a hurry just now.

Seeing this, Lu Wenzhao could only sit on the chair with his head down, and then said:

"I went to Nanzhen Fusi to take a look at the recent file, and the general army of Qi Yuanfu in the south has already recruited 8,000 soldiers."

"Sun Chuanting went to the Tang Palace, but he was prevaricated by the Tang King, and he didn't see the son and grandson."

"He had no choice but to continue south, and arrived in Xiangyang early yesterday morning."

"Wu Aheng was not delayed, so he had already met Sun Chuanting at the post house when Sun Chuanting arrived in Xiangyang, and the two traveled together, and they would be able to arrive at their respective stations at the end of the month."

"As for Hong Chengchou and Yang Wenyue, they have arrived in Yingtianfu and boarded the ship for Sichuan."

Lu Wenzhao told Zhu Youzhen all kinds of things that had happened recently, and after Zhu Youzhen listened, the only thing that surprised him was that Qi Yuanfu was actually recruited.

He also thought that it would be difficult to recruit, but since it was so fast, it could only show that ordinary people in Zhejiang were indeed not living very comfortably.

However, it is not surprising that a large number of Zhejiang party officials, gentry, and squires encroached on the fields, bought and sold the fields, and forced a large number of landless people to become tenants or go to the cities to work.

Even if there is a salary of 20 taels a day, it is only seven or eight taels of silver in a year, and the military salary of 200,000 taels of silver for joining the army is really tempting.

The most important thing is the two temptations of beheading fifty taels of silver and being promoted to get rich.

For all the people except Liaodong, it seems that Jianyu is a distant term, a little worse than Yexian, Dayan Khan, and I Dahan.

The whole world attaches great importance to the construction of Houjin, and it has been two years since Chongzhen, and this plane has not been Chongzhen for two years.

"By the way, Your Highness, Yang gave the ...... in the matter"

Suddenly, Lu Wenzhao's face was a little difficult to see: "He cut off the witnesses that Shen Lian brought to Changping, and now he has arrived in Gonghua City, and he has no intention of resting." ”

"It seems that he is going to return to the capital day and night, and it is estimated that he will be able to participate in the Chang Dynasty early tomorrow morning."

"This old horseman, it seems that he is determined to get involved in this matter......" Zhu Youzhen felt a headache, but he didn't expect Yang Lian to do such a thing.

But it's okay, I just hope that Sun Ruyou and they won't think that this matter has something to do with them.

As for Yang Lian's matter, let him stand up and help him block the knife......

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen also explained:

"Don't care about Yang Lian first, if he wants to make trouble, let him make trouble, compared to this, you should also know that you are going to go south to Beijing with Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian to inspect Huaibei."

"Yes, I have a general understanding of the lowly position." Lu Wenzhao nodded with a heavy heart, and Zhu Youzhen said:

"Jingcha can't stop it, what I want you to do is to check the officials in Shandong, Nanzhili, and Zhejiang in the case of the Huaibei famine."

"As long as there is involvement, I would rather kill than let go, and I can't be sloppy in the matter of raiding the house."

"The Jinyi guards under his command all mention it, if you can rely on this time to solve the problem of the military salary and Liao Xiang of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, then I will make a great contribution to you!"

"You must do your best, please rest assured, Your Highness!" Lu Wenzhao came to the spirit.

As for him, he is not afraid of offending the civil officials, because as long as His Royal Highness does not fall, the civil officials will not be able to help him.

With Zhu Youzhen's age, he can send away most of the civil officials, and even Lu Wenzhao himself.

So he won't have any sense of crisis, if he can't solve the problem for his master, what is the use?

Therefore he could not and could not retreat.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Lu Wenzhao, and then spoke:

"Lu Jianxing's things are doing well, and so is Shen Lian."

"Find an opportunity to promote Lu Jianxing to the deputy thousand households, and Shen Lian to the hundred household officials."

"In addition, this time you can go south, you can also install some people in Jiangnan."

"Your Highness can rest assured, you know how to do it, and you will definitely not disappoint Your Highness." Lu Wenzhao responded first, and then said:

"However, I'm not with Your Highness, I'm afraid Your Highness will be a little inconvenient."

"You don't have to worry about this, you won't be able to come and go for too long, you just leave a thousand households here to deal with the affairs of the capital." Zhu Youzhen knew that Lu Wenzhao was afraid that someone would take his position.

However, for Zhu Youzhen, unless Lu Wenzhao betrayed him, or had a relationship with the civilian parties, like Luo Sigong, he would not abandon Lu Wenzhao.

Even next, he will vigorously praise Lu Wenzhao.

When Luo Sigong knew the difficulty and retreated, Lu Wenzhao could completely take over Jinyiwei and completely rectify the interior of Jinyiwei.

The number of Jinyi Guards, and the current total of the North and South Towns, is less than 90,000.

There are 120,000 military officials and more than 2 million officials, and if the Jinyi Guard can be put in order, even if there are only 50,000 people, it will not take much effort to supervise more than 2 million people.

After Zhu Youzhen, he planned to divide the North and South Zhenfu Division into two institutions, one for the military generals and the other for the civil ministers.

While grasping corruption, we also grasp empty salaries.

If the tax collection cannot be collected for the time being, then start by cleaning up the officials.

As long as it is properly cleaned up, it can completely restore the financial situation of Zhang Juzheng's last year in power, or even surpass it.

As long as the officials are cleaned up and the army is arrested, there is no need for him to open his mouth when the time comes, and the good royal brother will also flip the table.

To deal with this group of civil officials, the final way to deal with it is to flip the table and use knives.

No matter how much they suppress the other party politically, they can at most achieve the same level as Jiajing.

At present, only the way of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, and Zhu Jianshen is advisable.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen raised his head and said to Lu Wenzhao:

"Send someone back to the Yanshan camp, and say that even if the Qiwei and 1st Battalion is fully recruited, they will continue to recruit soldiers and horses, and the military salary will still be calculated at 15 taels per year."

"In addition......" Zhu Youzhen looked at Wang Chengen and said:

"After the silver from the inner treasury was shipped out, it was immediately transported to the Yanshan camp, along with the 100,000 taels that the imperial brother gave to the Miaoqin Palace."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youzhen felt a headache and said:

"Forget to talk to the royal brother about honeycomb coal, don't ......"

"Chengen, you have someone to transport honeycomb coal and honeycomb coal stoves to the Wenhua Palace, the Wuying Palace, the Governor's Mansion and the Six Divisions of the Five Armies, and the Qianqing Palace."

"In short, all the honeycomb coal and stoves brought this time will be delivered to me for free in the hands of all dignitaries and nobles in Beijing."

"Slaves obey orders......" Hearing Zhu Youzhen say this, Wang Chengen walked out of the Qinqin Palace.

As for Lu Wenzhao, after eating, he explained to Zhu Youzhen:

"Your Highness, since Banzai has agreed, then tomorrow I will take two thousand Jinyi Wei and Yang to the south."

"Don't worry, before leaving, you first send someone to help me check the identities of all the students in the Guozi Prison, I need people who are innocent and born to poor people, you understand." Zhu Youzhen signaled this matter.

"Your Highness, rest assured, one night is enough!" Lu Wenzhao had Chen Zhu in his chest, and then withdrew from the Qingong Palace.

Watching them withdraw from the palace one after another, Zhu Youzhen recalled what Shen Lian said about the famine in Huaibei, and couldn't help sighing:

"The affairs of the country are difficult, and the people are hungry......"