The anti-Qing movement began with the looting of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Chapter 257 The Migrant Tide

The two-day fundraising effort raised over two million taels of silver and over six hundred thousand dan of grain. This figure not only dazzled the eyes of the court officials but also filled Nie Xiaoqian with joy.

This sum of money and supplies far exceeds the amount needed for this relief effort, and the remaining money can be used for even more charitable work later.

Who says the Qing Dynasty didn't have money? It all depends on how you used it!

However, it's also thanks to Shen Lian's victory over the Eight-Nation Alliance five years ago, and now the annihilation of Japan. This indirectly reduced the indemnity by nearly a billion taels, and the country is truly not short of silver now.

Shen Lianzhun made good use of the money in the hands of the merchants, allowing them to earn more money and pay more taxes to the country.

The newspaper, which had moved to Beijing and was renamed the China Daily, published lengthy reports on the grand donation event and named the wealthy businessmen who donated. This drew widespread praise from all over the country.

When the wealthy merchants stepped out, the way ordinary people looked at them changed. Seeing these admiring and appreciative glances, the merchants straightened their backs a bit more.

Early in the morning, Shen Lian quietly left the palace in a carriage, accompanied by Shen Xuewu. He didn't bring Lu Da, that big guy, because he would attract too much attention.

Nothing much was happening today, so he decided to go outside the city to take a look. The relief work had been underway for two days; he wondered how it was going.

Shen Lian's trip was certainly not just the two of them; there were about ten carriages secretly protecting him both in front and behind. In addition, a fully armed armored squad would follow behind, just in case.

Instead of heading directly outside the city, he first went to the Jingyuan Marquis's residence, intending to take Nie Shuping out for a look around. He hadn't seen his third brother-in-law for quite some time.

Nie Shuping was bored at home; given his personality, he couldn't possibly stay home all the time. But his father had said that the new emperor was about to ascend the throne, and his sister was about to become empress; their family was poised to become the most powerful maternal relatives.

At this crucial time, he was advised not to go out and hang out with his shady friends, lest he make a fool of himself. So he had no choice but to stay at home.

"Third Master, His Majesty is here! He wants you to leave immediately!" A servant suddenly reported, startling Nie Shuping. He quickly changed his clothes and went out.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Nie Shuping wanted to kneel down as soon as she saw Shen Lian outside the door.

"Hey, Third Brother! What are you doing!" Shen Lian quickly stepped forward and reached out to help him up.

"Are you free today? Let's go out of the city for a stroll." Without waiting for a reply, Shen Lian pulled Nie Shuping onto the carriage and led Shen Xuewu out of the city.

"How are you doing, Third Brother? How have you been lately?" Shen Lian took out a cigarette and offered one to Nie Shuping.

"Your Majesty, you're only three days away from your coronation! Why are you still running around? Let's hurry back to the palace!"

Seeing that Shen Lian was still the same as before, Nie Shuping felt much relieved. However, he still offered some advice. He feared that if his father found out that he had taken the Emperor out of the city at this time, his legs would be broken.

"It's alright, not many people in the capital know me. Let's go outside the city and see what's going on. They're doing disaster relief. We can at least see how the people are suffering! Hehe!" Shen Lian shook his head.

The two chatted along the way and soon arrived outside the city.

Outside the city gate, more than a dozen large pots were set up, steaming with porridge. Rows of refugees waited anxiously, bowls in hand.

There were yamen runners and city management officers from the Jingzhao Prefecture maintaining order at the scene, and everything seemed to be in good order.

In the distance, some simple thatched huts had already been erected on the open ground, and more huts were still under construction. Many able-bodied refugees were helping out.

Shen Lian glanced around and saw that there were several thousand refugees outside just this one city gate. As far as he knew, there were six city gates outside the outer city simultaneously providing relief; how many refugees must there be then?

"Third Brother, have there been this many refugees in the capital in previous years?" Shen Lian asked, frowning.

"Refugees! There have always been quite a few in the capital, but there are definitely more this year. It's probably because of His Majesty's large-scale relief efforts that some poor people have come to collect porridge! Hehe!" Nie Shuping said with a dry laugh.

“No! How could there be tens of thousands of refugees in the capital? If that were the case, it would have been in chaos long ago!” Shen Lian shook his head.

He had been here for five years since the late Qing Dynasty and had often seen similar things in Shandong. No ordinary person would willingly leave to escape famine unless they had absolutely no other choice.

The area around the capital is relatively peaceful and there have been no major disasters, so how could there be so many refugees?

"Third Brother, the reason I brought you along is to find out the truth. I hope you won't hide anything from me," Shen Lian said, staring at Nie Shuping.

"Well, well, sigh! The increase in so many refugees this year is indeed related to the imperial court. Didn't His Majesty expel all the Manchus from the inner city?"

Shen Lian nodded. These people had all been sent to several of their former military camps. They were still waiting to be sorted out and reassigned!

"With these Manchu nobles purged, many of those who worked for them naturally lost their livelihoods. Your Majesty, don't you see some people in the crowd who look relatively clean, yet are acting suspiciously?"

“They must be people who have lost their livelihood and have no other choice but to come here for porridge!” Nie Shuping gestured to Shen Lian.

Shen Lian took a closer look and noticed that there were indeed quite a few people in the line for porridge whose skin was relatively fair and whose complexions did not look like those of refugees.

These people were all acting furtively, some with their heads down, others looking around, as if afraid of being seen.

"Your Majesty, there are hundreds of thousands of Manchu princes and nobles in the inner city, and no one knows how many people serve them. Those at the bottom of society, once they lose their livelihood, their whole families will go hungry."

“It’s normal for there to be tens of thousands more refugees. If the court doesn’t offer them any good opportunities, I estimate there will be even more refugees after spring!” Nie Shuping shook his head and said.

"Hey! It's true that my decision was too arbitrary, and I didn't take these ordinary people into consideration!" Shen Lian clapped his hands and sighed.

Thankfully, the relief efforts were very timely; otherwise, who knows what would have happened? So many people would have frozen or starved to death!

Shen Lian finally understood the poem: "When a dynasty prospers, the people suffer; when a dynasty falls, the people suffer."

This incident also reminded him that as an emperor wielding immense power, any decision he made would affect the fate of tens of thousands of people. He had to be constantly cautious.

It's fortunate that I personally went out to investigate; otherwise, no one would have reported this matter. This is a slap in the face to Shen Lian; what official would dare to speak recklessly about it?

After a quick tour outside the city, Shen Lian returned to the palace and immediately summoned Wang Kaiyun and Uncle Fu. Now that such a significant hidden danger had been discovered, it was imperative to find a solution immediately.

"Your Majesty, it was all due to my lack of foresight that I nearly caused a disaster! I beg Your Majesty's punishment!" Upon hearing Shen Lian's account of the incident, Wang Kaiyun hurriedly knelt and begged for forgiveness. As the Prime Minister, he certainly bore responsibility for such an event. He truly hadn't anticipated the far-reaching consequences!