Chapter 2537
The total time Shi Diwen spent with them was less than ten minutes, and it didn't seem to be anything special. However, when seeing off the guests at the end, Shi Diwen said that he would host a banquet for them, which showed that they were treated by Shi Diwen as one of his own. Sure enough, when they came out of Shi Diwen's office, the officer leading the way told them that Shi Diwen would entertain them in his mansion tonight and informed them of the address.
According to Tao Hongfang's understanding, this meant that topics that had not been discussed in the office before, such as the plan to move the capital, should still have the opportunity to chat at the dinner table in the evening. When they walked out of the Yamen, they saw that the queue outside was longer than when they came in, and these people may not be able to enjoy the special treatment of jumping in line like them.
It was only the morning at this time, and there was still a long time before dinner time. Tao Hongfang and others did not want to return to the station outside the city, so they decided to find a place to have lunch together first, and then split up to do their own errands, and then meet again in the afternoon. Find a place to gather and go to Shi Diwen's mansion together.
The group first found a nearby restaurant with a decent environment for lunch. During the dinner, they asked Wang Anguo where he was staying. Wang Anguo said that he had just arrived in Hangzhou yesterday and entered the city before the city gate closed in the evening. Stayed at an inn for the night.
"Then why don't Brother Anguo move in with us?" Ning Zijing immediately persuaded him: "We all live in a place in the east of the city, and the environment is much better than an ordinary inn."
"Isn't this... inconvenient for everyone?" Wang Anguo was also a little moved when he heard this invitation. He has been working hard overseas in the past few years and rarely has the opportunity to meet partners with similar age and family background. Of course, he also wants to meet Tao Hongfang and others communicated more.
"It's convenient, what's the inconvenience! We all come from other places, live together, and we can take care of each other. And the place is spacious and can be fully accommodated." Tao Hongfang immediately helped and persuaded: "My son Respect, please go back and say hello to the steward over there, and prepare a room for An Guo and his entourage.”
Wang Anguo is also a cheerful person, so he no longer refuses when he sees this.
After everyone had a brief lunch, they planned to go their separate ways. Wang Anguo's mission has been arranged by Shi Diwen for him. Now that he has plenty of time, he doesn't need to be as anxious as Tao Hongfang and others.
Ha Jianyi invited Wang Anguo to go to the local garrison in the afternoon to inspect the training situation. This was also one of Ha Jianyi's main tasks in Hangzhou. Although Wang Anguo is in the navy, he has the special status of being a second-generation wearer and has Shi Diwen taking care of him, so there will be no obstacles in entering and exiting the army.
Tao Hongfang's apparent task was to verify the operation status of the commercial and trade agencies under the Ministry of Commerce in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. By the way, he also carried out the secret task assigned to him by Tao Donglai to understand the arrangements for various large-scale infrastructure projects related to the relocation of the capital. The former task is simple. He just needs to go to the relevant institution with a letter of introduction to review various accounting materials. However, how to complete the latter task is a test for him.
However, Tao Hongfang was not in a hurry to make progress. He had already decided to start with simple tasks first.
Haihan's commerce and finance departments were both founded by Schneider, and he has been in charge of these two departments that are closely related to the country's economic lifeline for many years. Therefore, in addition to being in charge of domestic and foreign commercial activities, the Ministry of Commerce also It is also responsible for part of the financial circulation and regulatory functions.
For example, Haihan Bank, which is famous all over the world, although administratively it is a special institution directly supervised by the Executive Committee, because its current function is mainly to serve commercial activities, it has always relied on the management system of the Ministry of Commerce. operation. Basically, wherever there is a branch of Haihan Bank, there will also be an office of the Ministry of Commerce. The data held by the Ministry of Commerce and Haihan Bank is the best reference that can reflect the regional economic situation.
Tao Hongfang had already asked the steward Yang Ji at the Qiong Lianfa Inn yesterday where the local office of the Ministry of Commerce was. When he entered the city, he also noticed that there was a store of Haihan Bank in the city. Both of these places were owned by him. Who to visit next. As the department with the most abundant funds in Haihan, the location of the Ministry of Commerce office was naturally chosen in the core location of Hangzhou city. It is not far from the Yamen of the Chief Envoy requisitioned by Shi Diwen. It is said that the Ming Dynasty was stationed in Hangzhou in the past. The official residence of the Admiral Weaving Eunuch was responsible for supervising the production of various silk fabrics used by the royal family.
Once the Ming Dynasty fell, these eunuchs sent from the capital naturally had no room for survival. After the Haihan Army took over Hangzhou, they drove them away and took the official residence into their own. Later, the Ministry of Commerce took over it as a service used everywhere.
Although the door of this official residence is not as grand as the Chief Envoy's Yamen, there are also two stone lions as high as one person on the left and right of the door, indicating the nature of the official government here.
Tao Hongfang ordered Apeng to go to the concierge to present a letter of introduction. Soon someone came out to welcome Tao Hongfang and brought him in.
"Wan Yan, director of the humble Hangzhou office, has met Mr. Tao!" Not long after, a middle-aged man came in a hurry, and immediately bowed and saluted upon seeing Tao Hongfang.
Tao Hongfang quickly returned the courtesy and said: "Director Wan, you are so polite! I am going to Hangzhou for business, and I will rely on Director Wan for help!"
In terms of positions, Tao Hongfang is actually on the same level as Wan Yan. However, the concept of three levels of officials in the capital has been around for a long time, and it has not changed even if Haihan is in power. Since Tao Hongfang is sent from Sanya Official, even if his official position is the same as that of Wan Yan, his status is still higher. Wan Yan knew what was going on and took the initiative to meet Tao Hongfang as a subordinate.
Wan Yan welcomed Tao Hongfang into his office and took a seat, then ordered his servants to serve hot tea, and took the initiative to ask Tao Hongfang whether his journey to Hangzhou went well and whether he had found a suitable place to live after arriving here. His attitude was very warm.
Tao Hongfang was not in a hurry to talk business as soon as they met, so he started chatting with Wan Yan.
After some small talk, Tao Hongfang learned that Wan Yan was already the second generation naturalized official working for Haihan. His father Wan Fa had already worked for Haihan in Hangzhou twenty years ago. . In 1634, Gong Shiqi of the Ministry of Security and Gao Qiaonan of the Special Operations Forces jointly carried out a beheading operation in Hangzhou, assassinating several officials who were leading the anti-Haihan activities at that time. Wanfa was the internal agent who supported Gong Shiqi and others in the city. Played an extremely crucial role in the operation.
Later, Wanfa was appointed as the head of the Ministry of Security in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in 1637. Now he has retired and returned to his hometown. Wan Yan is Wan Fa's eldest son. Although he did not inherit his father's career in intelligence work, he also chose to enter the public sector and became an official.
(End of chapter)