"What?"
Everyone in the courtyard focused their attention on Steward Wang.
Manager Wang just came back from the City Affairs Office, so the news should be correct.
Gao frowned and glanced towards Wei Yunlan.
I can't be prepared for the plan my daughter just mentioned, it will come in handy soon...
Steward Wang had always been with Wei Maolin. Wei Maolin sent Steward Wang back to inform him, and most likely he had the same plan in mind.
"Yue'e, take Jiayan and Jiarong to clean up first. Guixiang, Ningshuang, go and help."
Wei Yunlan did not stop her mother and sister-in-law. Instead, she looked at the flustered Steward Wang and asked, "What is the situation outside now? Does the City Affairs Office have any accurate information?"
"The Northern Barbarians dispatched 30,000 cavalrymen, led by the second prince of the Huyan tribe. Although the Northern Barbarians' cavalrymen are powerful, the border walls we have built along the route over the years are not made of paper. General Shi personally led his troops to fight, but the Northern Barbarians' army did not get any advantage from General Shi. The two sides are still in a stalemate. Then, news of this incident came from the Western Suburbs Camp..."
Just as Wei Yunlan thought.
The troops stationed in the north are no longer as vulnerable as they were ten years ago.
With General Shi in charge, the front line will not be in chaos for the time being.
It’s not so easy for the Northern Barbarian Army to break through the North Gate!
However, the food and grass were burned...
"How could the food and grass in the Western Suburbs Camp be burned?" Wei Yunlan frowned. As the base camp of the Northern Army, the Western Suburbs Camp was always heavily guarded, especially such an important place as the granary. How could it be so easily approached by the barbarians?
"It seems that a spy has infiltrated the army stationed in the north. The City Affairs Office is still unaware of the specific details." Manager Wang was sent back by Wei Maolin as soon as the trouble broke out. It is still unknown whether there will be any new developments afterwards.
"Miss, the master wants you to take your wife and the eldest young master's wife and pack up the things at home. When the time comes... leave the border quickly to save your life."
All the people in my family thought the same thing.
It's just "when it's necessary", not now.
Whether it is the Wei family or other families in Beiguan City, they all have confidence in the border wall that has been under construction since the time of the previous emperor, in the army stationed in the north, and in General Shi.
Unless it is absolutely necessary, they would never be willing to be the first to escape.
"Manager Wang, please go back to your father first. As for the matter of grain and fodder, if there is any new information from the City Affairs Office, please come back and inform me." Wei Yunlan said.
"No way, young lady, you are really embarrassing me." After receiving the order, Steward Wang was about to walk out of the yard.
Wei Yunlan hurriedly stopped the man and handed over the food box that the maid had hastily packed. "Father may not be able to return home for a while, so take these foods to the City Affairs Office first, so that father and Manager Wang can fill their stomachs. I specially packed more so that father can share them with other colleagues."
Steward Wang took the food box and left in a hurry.
Wei Yunlan called Tingxue over and said, "Send a letter to Lihe Manor and ask Miss Liu to count the grain reserves of several manors as soon as possible."
After instructing Tingxue, Wei Yunlan was about to take inventory of the food stored in his space when he saw Guixiang, who had just been packing things in the backyard, trotting over again.
After getting closer, he whispered, "Miss, Miss Zou is here."
It’s Zou Yun!
Wei Yunlan's eyes lit up.
Zou Yun must have brought the latest information from the front line and the Western Suburbs Camp.
"Come on, take me to see Miss Zou."
Zou Yun had not shown up for most of the day. When he came over this time, he was wearing a black suit, the same attire as the man in black that Lord Lu brought with him during the previous turmoil in the Liang Mansion.
When he saw Wei Yunlan, he clasped his fists and bowed, then said, "The granary in the western suburbs camp has burned down."
Seeing that Wei Yunlan was not surprised, he realized that it must be Lord Wei from the City Affairs Office who had already informed his family.
"How could a granary, such an important place, be burned down so easily?" Wei Yunlan asked the question in his mind.
Zou Yun sighed and said, "There is a traitor in the Northern Garrison Army. He is a veteran soldier under General Shi who has been in the Northern Garrison Army for more than ten years. He is responsible for patrolling the granary during the day. Our people did not find anything unusual about him before."
It's people like this who make it hard to guard against when they do something wrong.
Wei Yunlan took a deep breath and asked, "Is the loss serious?"
"The fire was very big. Fortunately, it was discovered in time and everyone tried their best to put out the fire and rescued some of the food, but half of the food was still burned." Zou Yun's face was heavy.
This year, natural disasters have caused a shortage of food, and the food and grass of the army stationed in the north are not abundant. They are just enough to survive, just enough to avoid starvation. Now that half of it has been burned, it is easy to imagine what they will face next...
Rations for nearly 100,000 troops.
Every day is not a small amount!
"General Shi is still at the front line. Lord Qiu used the secret line left by the emperor to report the situation here back to the capital and request grain transfer from the capital. However, the capital is far away from the North Gate, and many states in the north have been affected by the disaster and have no surplus grain. It will probably take at least seven or eight days to mobilize grain and grass."
That's putting it in a positive light.
It takes a long time to send the news back as fast as possible.
In addition to the court meetings, the mobilization and transportation of food and fodder...
Emperor Xiao Ming was not a man who acted decisively or quickly, so those guarding the border had to prepare for the worst.
"How many days can the remaining food and grass of the Northern Army last?" Wei Yunlan asked Zou Yun.
"Five days. If you save some food, seven or eight days will be enough."
You can save money in other places, but you must never lack food and fodder for the army.
As long as the troops stationed in the north can hold on, Beiguan City can be safe and the people of Beiguan can be safe.
General Shi is still at the front line, so I'm afraid he won't be able to deal with these matters...
After thinking for a while, Wei Yunlan said, "Most families in Beiguan City have stored food. I will discuss with the young ladies in the city and mobilize them to donate some food. I should be able to collect some."
"In addition, Princess Daning, Commander Xue, I have been trying to grow potatoes in Desolate Province, and the results are quite fruitful. In addition to distributing them to refugees, we also have some left over. Desolate Province is close to the North Gate, so it won't take long for these potatoes to be transported here."
Of course, Wei Yunlan alone had no say over the potatoes planted by the refugees from Huangzhou.
But if there is not enough food on the front line, as long as the army stationed in the north asks for food, neither Commander Xue nor Princess Daning will refuse.
What Wei Yunlan didn't say was that if things really came to a last resort, she could still take out a batch of stored grain.
That was the unexpected food she obtained, in addition to the food she had stockpiled for her family in the past two years.
These are the things I found in the basement of the mountain stronghold when I first entered Yandu Gorge...
To this day she still doesn't know who hid the large amount of grain there.
But hiding the things in that place is most likely related to the Northern Barbarians.
It is only appropriate to use the food "taken" from the Northern Barbarians to fight back against them.
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