July 17, West Lake, Hangzhou.
There is a quiet manor on the west side of the West Lake called Quyuan. This place was once a palace winery during the Southern Song Dynasty. It was later converted into a place for the rich and powerful, but the winery still continued to operate.
However, the wine brewed by Quyuan will no longer be sold to the outside world. Instead, it will be produced and sold by itself, and will only be tasted by guests who are visiting and having banquets in Quyuan.
On the north side of Quyuan is Yuefei Temple, and on the east side is adjacent to Yuehu Lake, which is named after Yuefei Temple. This water area is separated from the West Lake by Sudi. There are only two waterways connected to the West Lake through Sudi, making Yue Lake the exclusive lake view of Quyuan.
There are many kinds of lotuses planted on the lake, such as red lotus, white lotus, chongtai lotus, and golden lotus. In the summer breeze, tourists walk across the small bridge set up in the lotus pond. The air is filled with the fragrance of flowers and wine, which makes people unable to stop. Drinking makes you drunk.
The pavilions, pavilions, and hundred-acre lotus ponds here are all top-notch scenery, so "Quyuan Fenghe" got its name from this, and it has become one of the ten scenic spots in the West Lake.
However, all tourists who wanted to come to Quyuan to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the lotus pond today were turned away because a wealthy guest had reserved this place for a private banquet, and no casual visitors were allowed in.
A middle-aged scribe was stopped at the gate and said angrily: "Who can book such a huge music courtyard with such a grand show? Shopkeeper Wen, please tell me, why can't we go in?"< br>
This person is obviously a frequent visitor to Quyuan, so the shopkeeper Wen here can come forward to receive him.
Shopkeeper Wen smiled bitterly and said: "Master Pan, of course Wen would welcome you to Quyuan as a guest on normal days, but something is different today. The guests of honor are all official figures, so Wen can only obey the orders and refuse visitors."< br>
The scribe surnamed Pan was still unconvinced and said: "An official figure? What's so big about that? My in-law Zhou Shaoyuan often comes here to play. Shopkeeper Wen doesn't know him, right?"
Shopkeeper Wen responded with a complicated expression: "Master Zhou has been here before, but he only accompanied the guests here and did not go inside."
The scholar surnamed Pan was stunned, and immediately understood that today's situation was not simple. The occasion inside was probably not one that his level could participate in.
Zhou Shaoyuan is also a well-known figure in the local area. He used to work in Qiantang County Government. After Haihan occupied Hangzhou, Zhou Shaoyuan took the initiative to join the army and was assigned to work in the Special Liaison Office. His position was not high but his authority was not small. As long as he was in contact with the Ming Dynasty He can intervene in various related matters and has a wide range of contacts in all aspects.
But with Zhou Shaoyuan's status, he can only act as an attaché on this occasion today, and he is not even qualified to enter. It can be seen that the people here are definitely not at the level that he can usually come into contact with. This seems to explain why, as an in-law, Zhou Shaoyuan did not inform him in advance.
The scholar surnamed Pan wanted to show off his status as an in-law, but he didn't expect it to be like this. He retreated and said, "The weather is nice today. It would be nice to go for a walk on Su Di. Shopkeeper Wen, What a nuisance! ”
The Quyuan is quite large, with several courtyards inside. The small disturbance outside the gate will not affect the private banquet going on inside.
Shopkeeper Wen is indeed not lying. Not everyone can enter today's banquet. With Zhou Shaoyuan's status, he is indeed only qualified to be an attaché, because only one person from the Special Liaison Office where he works is invited, and that is Deputy Director Zhu Zian.
Of course, in terms of official rank, Director Li Qingyang is definitely qualified to be invited, but there is another special feature of today's private banquet, that is, the invited guests are all young people. And Li Qingyang has already reached the age of retirement, so naturally he is not invited. Apart from Zhu Zian, who was born in the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, most of the guests at today's banquet are young talents from Hangzhou, including many young senior officials with profound backgrounds.
The son of Qu Yutong, the former prefect of Ningbo, is now the head of the Hangzhou region of the Ministry of Security, Qu Shengfeng.
Ning Qi's protégé, Wei Jianyuan, the magistrate of Yuhang County.
Dai Chengrong, who was born in a Yangzhou salt merchant family and is currently the leader of the Second Regiment of the Seventh Lu Division.
There are also some young officials who went to Hangzhou to participate in the military parade in April and have been staying in Hangzhou ever since the war broke out. This is the case for Feng Xingbang, Feng Annan's son, Xiao Zhengyang, Xiao Liang's son, and Wang Anbang, who returned from North America and raised resources to recruit immigrants from the Luzon region.
The most eye-catching among them are the initiators of today's banquet, Tao Hongfang, Ha Jianyi, Ning Zijing, Bai Letong, and Shi Chengxin, the second son of Shi Diwen, who was present as a landlord. Among these people, except for Ha Jianyi, their fathers are all members of the executive committee that controls the country.
The reason why they held this banquet was to see off Tao Hongfang when he left Hangzhou to take up his post.
Although the official appointment has not yet been announced publicly, within their circle, the information is much better than the outside world. It has been confirmed that Tao Hongfang will be transferred to Nanjing to serve as the head of the Nanjing Management Committee.
Tao Hongfang and others came to Donghai Region from Sanya two years ago for inspection and later stayed here to serve. For their backgrounds, after serving in the same position for two or three years, it is indeed time for transfer.
Tao Hongfang's positions in Sanya and Hangzhou are both under the Ministry of Commerce, and his main job content is commercial affairs. However, Tao Donglai obviously does not intend for his son to continue working in this industry. When the time comes, he will slowly turn to the field of government affairs and become a regional administrative official.
Nanjing is a strategic hub in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the executive committee is also cautious in appointing local officials.
This place cannot be managed by a former Ming official who defected to Haihan. Even naturalized officials are not considered by the executive committee. It must be a member of the family who came from Chuanzhong to take charge.
Most of the first-generation time-travelers are now over sixty years old, and most of those who have not yet retired are already high-ranking officials or chief officials of a certain national department. A city.
When the executive committee's selection scope is narrowed down to the second-generation group, there are actually not many suitable candidates for Nanjing's administrative chief.
Tao Hongfang's background and qualifications are basically impeccable, and the executive committee has successfully passed the resolution to appoint him, preparing to transfer him to Nanjing to partner with Shi Diwen's eldest son, Shi Chengwu.
Shi Chengwu has now taken over the local garrison and public security affairs in Nanjing. After Tao Hongfang takes over the administration, Shi Diwen can return to Hangzhou and let these two young people practice their governance skills in Nanjing.
Ha Jianyi, Bai Letong, Ning Zijing and others all grew up with Tao Hongfang, and they came from the Donghai District together. Now that Tao Hongfang has been promoted, they are very happy for him, so they specially held this event. A banquet was held to celebrate Tao Hongfang's appointment and to carry it out for him.