Shi Diwen and Yan Chujie have been in charge of the military for many years and have personally commanded and participated in many siege battles. However, Nanjing City's complex and rigorous city defense design is indeed unique in their opinion.
From their knowledge, they could tell at a glance that if they wanted to truly capture this fortified city by force, the price the Haihan Army would have to pay must be quite high. Being able to force Ming Dynasty to voluntarily abandon the city through negotiations can be said to be the most ideal result.
The east side of Nanjing City is almost completely occupied by the Imperial City and various government offices. It would take at least a whole day to visit them all. The two of them just walked around the imperial city and saw the three main halls, Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace, and several hours passed without realizing it.
Even though their understanding of traditional Chinese architecture is only at the level of a layman, they still can't help but marvel at the magnificence of these palaces.
Shi Diwen suddenly thought of something, retreated from his men, and asked Yan Chujie: "Old Yan, I remember you said you had been to Nanjing before. Didn't you take the time to take a look at the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty?"
Yan Chujie knew what he wanted to ask, and responded with a smile: "I've been here before, and I even came here specially to visit, but at that time this place was just a heritage park, the palace was long gone, and all I could see was The only thing left is the Meridian Gate.”
"After Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, the repair and maintenance of the imperial city here was lacking. Over time, it inevitably fell into disrepair. Later, it was said that the Qing Dynasty demolished it once, and then the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom demolished it again. The palace and palace walls It was demolished by then. This is the first time I have seen the original appearance of these palaces.”
Shi Diwen suddenly said: "No wonder you felt fresh when you saw this place just now. It turns out that it's the same first time as me."
Yan Chujie said: "Fortunately, the war situation did not reach the stage of a strong attack. Otherwise, it would be a pity if these palaces were destroyed by war in our era. This is the best, and it can be left for future generations to see."
Shi Diwen said: "Previously, we had the artillery troops set up artillery on Zhongshan Mountain outside the city to bombard the city. They deliberately avoided the area of the Imperial City. It seems that the execution was pretty good and no buildings in the Imperial City were harmed. ”
Although the Imperial City was fine, the Forbidden Army barracks on the north side of the Imperial City really took a lot of shells and caused some casualties. Jinwu's defenders were so frightened that they had to temporarily move their base to the south of the imperial city, where they were crowded together with Jinwu's avant-garde.
However, in their eyes, these palaces are only suitable as tourist attractions to visit, but they have no intention of living here. Many places in this palace have been idle for many years and are not popular at all. Moreover, they are also very different from the living environment they are used to. Living here will inevitably cause various inconveniences.
The most important thing is that as the rulers of the Haihan Empire, they no longer need special buildings like the palace to enhance their status.
After the short tour of the imperial city, Shi Diwen and Yan Chujie were going back to work.
Although Haihan has fully taken over Nanjing City, there is still a lot of aftermath work to be done for them.
The Ming Dynasty evacuated more than 100,000 people from Nanjing, but the number of people left here was several times that number. To maintain the normal operation of such a large city, just the various daily necessities required are extremely huge.
The affairs that were previously handled by the large and small yamen of Yingtian Mansion must now be taken over by the newly established Nanjing Management Committee.
Shi Diwen and Yan Chujie will temporarily stay in Nanjing to guide the work of the Management Committee. Like other cities that have just been occupied by the Haihan Army, Nanjing will also be under military control for a period of time in the future. Therefore, the composition of the Management Committee is basically based on the command system of the garrison as the framework, plus some additional A relatively influential local gentry elder.
The first issue that the management committee must solve is the local supply of materials.
During the nearly one-month siege of the city by the Haihan Army, although Nanjing had not yet run out of ammunition and food, the prices of various daily necessities had already risen to a level that was unacceptably high for ordinary people because the channels for importing supplies were cut off.
According to the agreement between the two armies, the Ming army had to leave behind ordnance when they evacuated, but in exchange they could take away other military supplies, so they took away a large amount of food, somewhat with the intention of causing some trouble for Haihan.
This directly led to the price of food such as rice and noodles, which in some urban areas has even increased to ten times the pre-war price. If food prices are not stabilized quickly, it will inevitably lead to chaos in the city, and the frequency of security incidents such as theft and looting will also increase.
To solve this problem, the most direct way is to transport a large amount of grain from other places and put it on the market at a reasonable price. At the same time, we can open relief points to provide food to the poor who no longer have money to buy grain.
However, in the Southern Zhili area where the war had just subsided, food shortages were far more limited than Nanjing. Various prefectures and counties newly occupied by Haihan were experiencing food shortages to varying degrees.
This was mainly because the government had to divert local grain stocks in order to raise military rations for the large-scale Ming army. Not only were the grain stocks in official grain depots requisitioned, but private grain merchants were also unable to escape, resulting in a significant reduction in grain supply on the market.
In order to maintain stability, Haihan has transported millions of kilograms of grain to these places, which will also affect Haihan's grain inventory in his own rear.
At present, through the coordination of the Executive Committee, Haihan has shipped a batch of grain from the Fuguang area in the south to the newly occupied area of Jianghuai. However, it will take some time to reach Nanjing. To solve the urgent need, he has no choice but to get the general grain first. Use some of it to set up relief points inside and outside the city, and first provide porridge to ensure that people will not starve to death in large numbers.
The second issue that the Administrative Committee urgently needs to solve is the sharp increase in security cases in and around Nanjing during the handover between the two countries.
Although the Haihan Army has begun to perform patrols and arrests in the city, its operational efficiency is not high when the place is unfamiliar. So far, the criminals caught are basically petty thieves who steal money and food, but some gangsters who gang up to rob homes have not yet been captured.
The local gentry gave Shi Yan and the two a useful idea. Several of the arrestees in Yingtianfu Yamen were from local families, so they did not follow the Ming army in withdrawing. If the management committee could appoint them, it might be helpful. Solve local security cases and arrest relevant criminals.
“Since there are experts who are familiar with the local situation, let’s invite them to come out as soon as possible!”
Shi Diwen didn't hold back, and immediately made the decision to ask the management committee to go out to find these arresters and arrange for them to return to their old business.
As for the current criminals caught after Haihan took over Nanjing, in accordance with the principle of using heavy codes in troubled times, they will all be sentenced severely, and those who hurt people's lives must be punished with death.