Chapter 441
Lu Heng was holding Wang Yanqing's hand and talking, when he saw Lu Xuan, he smiled softly: "On your level, do you still want to teach others?"
With Wang Yanqing around, Lu Xuan was much more courageous, and was not afraid of Lu Heng at all. He took off his shoes and got on the couch from the other side, sat beside Wang Yanqing and asked, "Mother, what do you think my sister should learn first?"
The family was talking happily when a guard suddenly ran over and stopped at the door of the main room to clasp his fists: "The Governor."
His voice was hurried and low, as if suppressing something. Lu Heng glanced outside the door, and said to his wife and son with a face as usual, "You sit down first, I'll go to the Governor's Mansion to order and come back soon."
Wang Yanqing also heard the voice of the guard. She looked worried, but nodded calmly and said, "Okay, you can go in peace."
After Lu Heng finished speaking, he quickly got up and left. Although Lu Xuan is young, he is not sure if he is like Wang Yanqing and is also very sensitive to emotions. He snuggled up to Wang Yanqing's side, and asked with some fear, "Mother, what's wrong?"
"It's all right." Wang Yanqing stroked the top of his son's head with a gentle and firm tone, "It should be some official business, don't worry, your father will handle it."
Lu Heng said that he would be back soon, but he was nowhere to be seen until nightfall. Lu Xuan insisted on waiting for Lu Heng, but in the end he couldn't stand it anymore and fell asleep leaning on Wang Yanqing's lap.
Wang Yanqing gently patted his son's back, and when he fell asleep, he carefully placed him on the couch.
Wang Yanqing was pulling the quilt for Lu Xuan when suddenly there was a sound of walking outside. Wang Yanqing realized that Lu Heng was back, and gestured to the nurse to look at Lu Xuan with his eyes, and walked quickly to the door.
Lu Heng entered the door, just in time to bump into Wang Yanqing. Wang Yanqing hurriedly booed him and stepped forward to help him take off his cloak: "What's wrong?"
In Wang Yanqing's impression, the last time I saw Lu Heng look so serious was when the Renyin Palace changed. Lu Heng let out a long sigh and pinched his eyebrows with a headache: "The Altan tribe requested to open the horse market, but the court refused. Altan then attacked the border gate. Today, the Gubeikou has been breached and the Great Wall has been crossed."
Wang Yanqing took a deep breath and crossed Gubeikou, wouldn't it mean that the troops would soon be under the city of Beijing?
No wonder the guards were so flustered when they came to him today, no wonder Lu Heng was so busy that he didn't come back until now. Afraid of waking Lu Xuan, Wang Yanqing lowered his voice and asked, "What did the emperor say?"
"Today, the palace has been discussing this matter. There are guards and walls in the capital, and it is not a problem to resist the Mongolian cavalry. But food is a big problem."
"what?"
"This year's new grain has not yet been received, and the granary in the capital is empty. We can only rely on the surrounding area to supply grain. The nearest granary is in Tongzhou. If the capital is besieged, with the current stock of grain, we can only eat the whole capital for ten days."
Wang Yanqing's eyes widened, she thought it was the worst thing for the Mongolian cavalry to come close to the capital, but she didn't expect that reality would always be more outrageous than imagined. Lu Heng sighed. In front of Wang Yanqing, he didn't play the officialdom and said truthfully, "Ten days is an optimistic estimate. In my opinion, once the news of the war comes out, the aristocratic family will compete with the people for food. Ordinary people can last up to five days."
Wang Yanqing was speechless. There are several large granaries around the capital, and no one thought that the capital would be besieged, so they didn't care about the grain storage in the city. As a result, when the Mongol cavalry arrived, everyone was caught off guard.
Wang Yanqing frowned and said, "There are 100,000 troops stationed in the capital. No matter how many people come from the Altan tribe, it can't be more than 100,000. Wouldn't it be enough to drive them away?"
"That's another question." Lu Heng's mouth curled into a smile, but his eyes were cold and full of irony, "The three camps claim to be 100,000 people, but in fact they are full of old, weak, sick and disabled households who are in the name of empty pay. , the actual number may not even be half. Everyone in the six knows about this, so no one is willing to play."
Barracks rosters can be faked, but head counts can't be faked. Once you go out to battle, things like empty pay and desertion can't be covered up. At that time, whoever is the coach will be the scapegoat.
It is ironic that there are soldiers but no handsome. Wang Yanqing was speechless and asked, "What should we do then?"
Lu Heng snorted and said sarcastically: "Tonight the Ministry of Household urgently went to Tongzhou to transport food, how much can be returned. At the same time, the Ministry of War issued an emergency order to the surrounding area, I hope someone will arrive soon with King Qin's army."
Because no one is willing to fight, the capital can only defend the city. The emperor ordered the gates to be closed and no one was allowed to enter or leave the city, so as not to be put into the Mongolian interior. Fortunately, the Ministry of Household transferred the food back in time, enough to feed the whole city for a month. The emperor was slightly relieved, but still annoyed.
The emperor grew up so big, and he never worried about eating. Now it is not a question of whether he chooses to eat Jiangnan rice or Hetao noodles, but is worried about whether there will be next month when he eats Tongzhou beans.
Because the Mongols descended from the sky, the whole city followed the downgrade of food, and even the court and the official family were forced to eat coarse grains. Lu Xuan looked at the vegetables in the bowl that had suddenly decreased, and asked, "Mother, why don't you eat green vegetables these days."
In normal times, high-ranking officials and nobles have a lot of fish and meat, but when it comes to wartime, vegetables are the most extravagant thing. Wang Yanqing comforted his son in a low voice: "The common people are having a hard time these days. Many people can't buy food, so we should eat less."
After the news of the siege came out, everyone panicked, and every household was stockpiling grain. Although the Ministry of Household brought back a month's worth of food for the entire city, the common people would definitely not be able to rob the officials and the big family. Most of the food was intercepted by high-profile households, and some merchants took advantage of them and hoarded goods to drive up prices.