Chapter 2550
The butler Mo Yuan obviously knew the identities of their group, but he did not treat them as ordinary officials who came to see Shi Diwen. After a few words of greeting, he respectfully led them into the private estate by the lake.
Although Shi Diwen was born in the military, his mansion is in the exquisite Jiangnan garden style. The manor has introduced water from the West Lake, and small ponds and streams can be seen everywhere. Water is used to create landscapes, supplemented by stacked stones, flowers and trees, pavilions and corridors, creating a scene at every step.
The high-end inn where everyone stayed temporarily outside the city was actually of a similar style, but compared to this large manor covering hundreds of acres, the design and layout seemed stingy. Of course, this is not difficult to understand. With Shi Diwen's status, the resources he can mobilize are definitely not comparable to those of Qiong Lianfa, and there will inevitably be a gap in the quality of the gardens.
Mo Yuan introduced to everyone that this manor was only a house for Shi Diwen to live in, not an official residence for external affairs, so this place was also called "Stone Garden" by the local people. However, the Stone Garden is not open to the general public and is a restricted area, so there are basically no tourists walking around here.
Everyone was led into a side hall by Mo Yuan, and a servant immediately served hot tea and cakes.
Mo Yuan cupped his hands and said: "The Marshal is meeting other guests. Please wait here for a moment. You might as well have some refreshments first. I have some things to deal with, so I'll take a step back."
Several young people were from official families, so they naturally understood that important people need to receive many visitors every day, so they didn't take it seriously at the moment.
After Mo Yuan left, Ning Zijing said: "Master Shi, this house is really nice! If you want to move to Hangzhou to settle in the future, you will have to find a way to find a piece of land nearby."
Ha Jianyi responded: "This is reasonable. If the capital is moved in the future, our family may have to move to Hangzhou. We have to make preparations early."
When Tao Hongfang heard these words, he remembered that before he left Sanya, his father had instructed him to see if there was any place with a suitable environment in Hangzhou and buy it for future relocation. However, I am not familiar with the place here, so if I want to buy a piece of land with an ideal location and environment, I am afraid I still have to rely on Shi Diwen for help.
Ning Zijing then asked Wang Anguo if he knew the real estate market around West Lake. Although Wang Anguo does not live here, he is the only one among them who knows a little more about the local situation.
Wang Anguo smiled bitterly and said: "It has been several years since I last visited Hangzhou. Now the old and new places here have changed, and the situation has changed drastically. With the little information I know, I am afraid I can't help you."
Tao Hongfang said: "Now that the capital relocation plan has been announced, real estate with good conditions in Hangzhou will definitely become in demand. However, the capital relocation plan proposed by Mr. Shi involves all aspects, and the relocation of officials must have been considered for a long time. We don't need to Too anxious, look back and see if Mr. Shi has made any arrangements in this regard.”
While they were talking, the housekeeper Mo Yuan brought in a young man. Judging from his appearance, he was about the same age as Tao Hongfang and others. He was wearing a military uniform and turned out to be a colonel.
Before Mo Yuan could introduce him, Wang Anguo had already stood up to greet him with a smile on his face. It seemed that he and the young colonel were old acquaintances.
Wang Anguo stepped forward to greet the man and bumped his fists at the same time. This way of greeting was quite strange. Only Tao Hongfang had vaguely guessed the identity of the visitor. When he was young, he saw Shi Diwen and Wang Tom greet each other like this when they returned to Sanya to report on their duties. It is said that this is a unique communication method among a few senior generals in the military, and it seems that this has been passed on to their descendants. . Wang Anguo introduced to everyone: "Everyone, this is Mr. Shi's son, Colonel Shi Chengwu!"
As soon as they heard the identity of the visitor, several people immediately stood up to greet him. Wang Anguo introduced Shi Chengwu one by one.
If he were an ordinary colonel officer, he probably wouldn't be able to take him so seriously, but Shi Diwen's son was obviously not among the "ordinary officers". They all understood that Shi Chengwu's identity was different. He was a person who belonged to the same circle. .
After Shi Chengwu greeted everyone, he invited everyone to sit down and explained the purpose of his visit: "My father is receiving an important guest, and I can't get away for the time being, so I would like to apologize to everyone first."
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Everyone was very polite. Ha Jianyi liked to ask questions when he saw his colleagues, and immediately asked: "I wonder which army Brother Shi leads the troops?"
Shi Chengwu responded: "I am currently the deputy commander of the Lu Qi Division, in charge of equipment and training."
Ha Jianyi had only been to the base of Lu Qi Division in the afternoon, so he naturally understood the importance of Shi Chengwu, the deputy division commander. I think that Dai Chengrong, who also had the rank of colonel and had served for more than ten years, served as the regimental commander of the Lu Qi Division, one level lower than Shi Chengwu. It seems that Shi Diwen also specially supported and allowed his son to hold some military power in the Hangzhou garrison.
This approach is actually not unusual. Due to Haihan's unique external expansion model, the ruling areas in the early years were often one in the east and one in the west, and they were far away from Hainan Island. Therefore, the officials in charge of each colonial region had great autonomy. authority to act. In addition, because there are only a limited number of senior officials willing to leave Hainan Island to serve elsewhere, the chief officials in these overseas regions often serve extremely long terms, which objectively creates a situation of local separatism.
As for the appointment of officials in various colonial regions, it is inevitable that the chief officials will practice nepotism, promoting cronies, family members and other stakeholders to control various major departments, and even firmly controlling local financial and military power. On hand.
For the sake of stable development, the Executive Committee will generally not interfere much with such practices. As long as the overseas colonial regions still obey Sanya's instructions and arrangements and will not make any moves to establish themselves, the Executive Committee will probably turn a blind eye to the governance of these regions.
Shi Diwen has been operating in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions for twenty years. During this period, he has invested a lot of resources and slowly built up elite troops such as the East China Sea Fleet and the Seventh Army Division. Although these troops are nominally official troops and not his private troops, But of course it is impossible for Shi Diwen to completely hand over the command of these troops to Sanya. He will inevitably take some measures to ensure his influence in the military - such as letting his son hold important positions in the military.
It is very common in the second generation circle for sons to inherit their father's business, especially those from military backgrounds. The probability of joining the army is even higher. Everyone was not surprised and immediately praised Shi Chengwu for being young and promising. Among the three soldiers present, Ha Jianyi had the lowest rank. He had to laugh at himself and find an opportunity to be transferred to the combat unit. Otherwise, he would stay in the Ministry of National Defense and have little chance of gaining military merit.
(End of chapter)