Zongwu: Madam, please respect yourself.

(I have to work several jobs to pay off debts recently, so I don’t have enough time to code, so I will copy it first and wait until the code is finished in the middle of the night before replacing it. I’m sorry to all readers.)

In this way, several days passed, and as news of the Manchu invasion spread rapidly, people were suddenly panicked.

Moreover, it soon spread that the imperial court had issued orders to the feudal kings from various places to lead their respective armies into Kyoto.

There is also news that the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not go south at all. Everything is just spreading rumors to create panic. It is all a conspiracy of the Mongols. All kinds of news are flying in the sky. No one knows what is true and what is false. .

Xiangyang City did not receive the so-called troop deployment order.

In fact, Xiangyang City also has no troops to mobilize.

The original soldiers are not enough. If some more soldiers are transferred, will the Mongols still be able to defend?

Wu Gong was enjoying his leisure these two days.

After being busy on the road for such a long time, he could finally stop and rest for a while. However, he didn't always do nothing.

In fact, Huang Rong has retreated behind the scenes. Now all military and state affairs in Xiangyang City are handled by Wu Gong. As for Guo Jing, he doesn't know where he is. Huang Rong also sent people to look for him, but there are still many people inside and outside Xiangyang City. They searched everything within hundreds of miles, but no trace of Guo Jing and the others could be found. It was as if they had disappeared from the world.

However, she and Wu Gong also knew that they most likely went to the Mongolian camp.

As for what to do, maybe only they themselves know.

Looking at the various documents placed in front of him.

Wu Gong commented boredly.

Fortunately, with Wang Yuyan's help, it was handled very quickly.

It only took less than two days to successfully solve the mountain of documents.

In fact, as a prefect.

What you have to do every day is not as simple as you think.

It's not just about leading troops to fight and related military issues.

In fact, many officials at the prefecture level have no military power.

This was also a method used by civil servants in the Song Dynasty to contain their subordinates.

If it weren't for the special nature of Xiangyang City, in fact, there should be two officials in charge of the Xiangyang Defense Line, one in charge of government affairs and the other in charge of military affairs.

It is absolutely impossible for Guo Jing to be the governor of Xiangyang and also serve as the general of Zhenbei.

But in any case, Guo Jing's title is General Zhenbei and Grand Administrator.

It’s not just about government affairs.

The people's economy is also the area under the jurisdiction of the Xiangyang Prefecture.

Although, due to the special situation of Xiangyang City, and the Mongols coming to harass and plunder from time to time.

There are no ordinary people around Xiangyang City for a long time.

The cultivated fields have long been deserted.

Even the cattle could not be found.

But there are still millions of people living near Xiangyang.

They huddled in one city after another, large or small. Although each city seemed to have only hundreds of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people, the daily lives of these millions of people, including eating, drinking and sleeping, were all Deployed by local parent officials.

This was fine in the beginning.

Because during the war, everyone also understood that once the Mongols invaded, it would be a real tragedy.

As a result, everyone tightened their belts and lived a good life.

And Huang Rong wanted to solve the people's panic about the Mongols.

Relying on the Beggar Gang's safe freight channels, food is continuously transported from the south. At the same time, it suppressed local grain merchants and kept the price of grain at a level that ordinary people could afford.

Relying on the supplies from the imperial court and the grain purchased, the Xiangyang defense line was able to eat and drink for a while.

But as time goes by.

The quantity of this food is getting less and less.

Even though the food sold was paid for.

However, the Song Dynasty was besieged on all sides. Huang Rong was able to control the price of food at the Xiangyang defense line from rising, but he had no way to control other places. Money can buy less and less food.

And Xiangyang's food supply is becoming increasingly tight.

Especially with the news of the Manchus entering the customs.

People all over the world are in panic.

This food is even more difficult to buy.

In particular, many court officials were involved in this food reselling incident.

However, I don’t know where the news came from, saying that Xiangyang’s defense line was strong and the price of food was very low, so the people could survive if they came.

As a result, the number of refugees coming here to escape disasters is increasing every day.

More and more people are running to the north, just because everyone has heard that the Xiangyang defense line in the north has blocked the Mongols' 300,000 cavalry, and the troops and horses are strong, and at the same time, everyone can have enough to eat.

This also resulted in more and more people on Xiangyang's defense line, which had long exceeded the upper limit of Xiangyang's capacity.

Through the mouths of the people who fled, I learned that they had never seen the Manchu cavalry in front of them. They just spread the rumors and brought their families with them one by one. Everyone who fled was afraid of death, and Xiangyang City had no way to stop them. So many people were turned away.

But the food in the city was not enough to eat.

Plus the Mongols are right around the corner.

If there are no Mongols, it would be a good idea to organize a caravan to go to the Western Regions to buy food.

However, the Mongols blocked important trade routes.

Going out to buy food is basically nonsense.

Wu Gong took a look at the deposits left in Xiangyang City's account.

He was surprised to find that there were millions of dollars in the account.

However, the money cannot be spent at all.

Because, there are not many caravans coming to Xiangyang City now.

Even the Beggar Gang's own caravan that buys grain from the south has not received any news for a long time. It is not known whether there was an accident on the road.

In this situation.

If Xiangyang City does not find a way to quickly obtain food.

Then there will be a food crisis before long.

Wu Gong felt a little incredible for a moment.

There will be a day when I will be worried because I can't spend the money.

However, Wu Gong quickly thought of someone.

That is the Empress Dowager of Xixia—Li Qiushui.

The geographical location of Xixia is close to the Western Regions.

Buying food from there is the best option.

However, the Mongols will be another obstacle that cannot be bypassed.

The Mongolian grassland has been restored to a vast and vast area.

A caravan walking on it is like a living target and will soon be discovered by Mongolian reconnaissance rangers.

Wu Gong shook his head.

This can only be considered as an alternative.

The most important thing right now is to find a way to solve the Mongolian problem.