It is sad that Kyushu is angry because of wind and thunder, and thousands of horses are silent. ——Gong Zizhen's "Miscellaneous Poems of Jihai·Two Hundred and Twenty"
We only raised one cable and more than ten people, but we calculated that a thousand boats could cross the river. I have also eaten Taicang millet, and I burst into tears at night when I heard evil things.
At that time, Gong Zizhen returned to Huaipu from the south. The intersection of the canal and the Yellow River was the final destination for grain ships heading north. There were many locks in the area, and the ships had to rely on manual pulling to pass through the locks. He heard the shrill whistles of the trackers, and counted and searched the canals that were transporting food for the imperial court. Thousands of them passed through here overnight.
He thought that the waste of imperial officials was based on the hard work of millions of people, and he felt guilty in his heart, showing his deep sympathy for the working people.