Once hundreds of thousands of refugees rise up in rebellion, all the blame will be placed on him because he failed to do his job well.

He was not afraid of these, but he was worried that if there was a riot in the mainland, the court would definitely send people to suppress it.

Although he had defeated Xiliang before, he knew in his heart that as long as there was a chance, Xiliang would definitely gather troops and target the border.

At that time, he would have no choice but to lead his troops to repel the enemy again. As for Mobei, although there had not been a large-scale war between Da Zhou and Mobei over the years, there had been constant small-scale conflicts.

Otherwise, Xie Qichen, the prince of Prince An's Mansion, would not have been guarding Beiling City all the time. He has never left the capital for more than ten years. This shows how serious the situation is.

Another point is that he was very clear about the character of his emperor. He blocked the refugees from going north, so that the refugees from the two prefectures did not dare to continue going north and had to stop when they reached Qingshan Prefecture.

But the consequence of doing so is that all the pressure brought by the refugees will be placed on Qingshan Prefecture.

What kind of place is Qingshan? It connects the north and south of Da Zhou. As a transportation hub, it should be very prosperous.

But the result is just the opposite. Qingshan is relatively poor, and Wuning County is the worst.

It was because he was a refugee that an imperial decree trapped him in this place.

Even if the situation in the north became dire, he could not leave without permission unless all the refugees had been resettled.

It is not easy to handle tens of millions of refugees. Even he is having a headache now.

But he couldn't tell Mengyue these things. Even though he knew that Mengyue had a secret and could get a lot of food, he didn't want Mengyue to worry about these things.

Mengyue is now just an ordinary peasant girl. She has no responsibility or obligation to help rescue refugees.

Besides, he also had his own selfish motives. Mengyue was pregnant, and the most important thing right now was to take good care of the baby and not think about anything else.

Although Xie Ruiyuan was thinking about Mengyue wholeheartedly, what he didn't know was what Mengyue was carrying on her shoulders.

Facing Xie Ruiyuan's comforting words, Mengyue nodded. As for what she was thinking, Xie Ruiyuan had no idea.

"Ayue, you came to see me, is there something wrong?"

After hearing what Xie Ruiyuan mentioned, Mengyue stopped thinking about the things in Beiling City for the time being. Instead, she straightened her mind, stood up, and picked up the bag she brought with her.

When the bundle was opened, there was coal mine detection equipment, a honeycomb coal machine and a piece of wet honeycomb coal inside.

Xie Ruiyuan didn't know what these were, but looking at the black honeycomb coal, he could guess that they were made from coal blocks carried down from the mountain.

Xie Ruiyuan pointed at the honeycomb coal and said to Mengyue, "This is what you cook with coal blocks. It can replace firewood for heating and cooking."

"Yes, coal is used for much more than just heating and cooking, but it's what the north needs right now."

Xie Ruiyuan knew Mengyue was not lying. The northernmost part of the Great Zhou entered winter earlier than in previous years, and the heavy snow came early and heavy. It would be too late in a short time, but if the winter was prolonged, who knows how many people would not be able to survive.

However, judging from the current situation, the winter in the north is unusual, so we still need to make preparations as early as possible.

"What is this?"

Mengyue looked in the direction Xie Ruiyuan pointed, picked up the coal detection device, and explained to Xie Ruiyuan, "This is called a coal mine detection device. You can also think of it as a device that can help find helpers in coal mines. It's very simple to use. Just press this button and you'll know if there are any coal mines within a hundred miles."