"After seeing you for a long journey, we must say goodbye eventually. Brother Tao, we will only send you here. We are going to Nanjing, take care!"
Tao Hongfang clasped his fists and responded: "Hongfang is very grateful to you for going out of the city to see me off today. Although we are separated by mountains and rivers, I hope our friendship will last forever. I hope that when we meet again in the future, you will all be successful and famous!"
After Tao Hongfang said goodbye to a group of friends who came to see him off at the pier, he boarded a passenger ship docked on the shore and set off for Nanjing to take up his post.
Although the straight-line distance from Hangzhou to Nanjing is only four to five hundred miles, if you take the land route, the actual journey is much longer than that. If the weather is bad, it is not surprising that it can take half a month on the road.
So Tao Hongfang chose to take the waterway by boat, starting from Hangzhou and taking the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, passing through Suzhou, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, entering the Yangtze River, and then walking a hundred miles upstream to Nanjing.
Although the journey of the waterway is longer than that of the land route, it is more advantageous in that it is unobstructed and will not be affected by unexpected factors such as road conditions and weather. It can reach Nanjing faster day and night, and the comfort of inland waterway shipping is far better than that of cars and horses.
The ship Tao Hongfang took was not an ordinary passenger ship, but Shi Diwen's ship, which was specially transferred back to Hangzhou from Nanjing to pick him up.
However, Tao Hongfang also understood that this face was not earned by himself, but was given to his father Tao Dong. Otherwise, how could he, a young junior, be qualified to receive such special treatment from Shi Diwen.
This ship is about thirteen feet long, with five floors above and below the deck. It has a crew of seventeen sailors and can carry twenty passengers. It is definitely a big ship on the canal. However, on this trip to Nanjing, there were less than ten guests on the ship.
In addition to Tao Hongfang and several entourage, several other passengers were Shi Diwen's subordinates. They were naturally very grateful to Tao Hongfang for being able to take advantage of this smooth sailing.
However, the destination of these people is not Nanjing, but they will disembark one after another in Changzhou and Zhenjiang during the trip.
Tao Hongfang inquired and learned that, like him, they were all officials who had just been appointed and rushed to take up their duties locally.
These people are all new Confucian scholars who were admitted to the government through the Haihan Imperial Examination last year. At first glance, it seems that Shi Diwen promoted talents in an eclectic way and boldly appointed newcomers. However, upon closer inspection, it turns out that there is a shortage of bureaucrats in the Donghai Region. a manifestation of.
But there is nothing that can be done. Haihan has recently occupied so many prefectures and counties, and it is necessary to appoint manpower to repopulate the local administrative agencies.
Moreover, the local government in Haihan had many responsibilities. The number of management personnel required for a county was at least two or three times that of the Ming Dynasty. If there was not enough manpower, the employment standards could only be lowered and new people who had just entered the official position could take over.
And these people seem to know less about their destination than Tao Hongfang. Two of the new Confucian students were going to Wujin County in Changzhou and Danyang County in Zhenjiang to serve as county magistrates, and their knowledge of the local area seemed to be limited to a few pages of written information provided by the official.
Of course, newcomers may not be useless. For example, Zhu Zian, who was promoted through the imperial examination, did an impressive job in the Special Liaison Office in Hangzhou and was highly regarded.
After Tao Hongfang finished talking with them, he couldn't help but reflect on himself, could his understanding of Nanjing be considered qualified?
However, compared to these officials, Tao Hongfang had access to a much larger range of information. There were several reports on Nanjing in his luggage, and they were in different fields such as politics and business, geography, and history. Very detailed.
Moreover, some of the specific data involved in these reports were collected through multiple channels and may not be available to local officials in Nanjing.
These reports were prepared for him in advance by his father Tao Donglai. As long as he could read them through several times, Tao Hongfang could have a relatively comprehensive understanding of the local situation even if he had never been to Nanjing. However, Tao Hongfang did not think that the content of these reports was enough for him to understand the local area and catch up with Shi Chengwu, who had been in Nanjing for some time.
What's more, Shi Chengwu's brother Shi Chengxin is currently the person in charge of the Land and Resources Department of the Donghai Region. Some of the information in these reports must have been provided by the Land and Resources Department. Shi Chengwu may even have received the reports earlier than he did. .
Although Tao Hongfang had no intention of competing with Shi Chengwu, he did not want to be looked down upon by the other party, so he decided to take advantage of the time on the road to make up for his mistakes, and at the same time plan in advance his work goals after taking office. .
The main cabin where Tao Hongfang lived was quite large, fully equipped, and had a separate study room, so he jumped in and even had three meals a day in the cabin.
Others on the boat knew that Tao Hongfang had a distinguished status and did not dare to disturb him easily. Only when someone disembarks halfway, Tao Hongfang will step out of the cabin to say goodbye.
A few days later, Yanziji Pier in the north of Nanjing.
Since the last time he introduced Haihan officials for Qu Deren, Qin Jian has not met his brother-in-law again.
However, Qin Jian also knew that Qu Deren was very busy after he was reinstated. Almost half of the government notices posted recently were related to the Xinyamen Police Station where Qu Deren was working, which shows that he was indeed not idle.
But today Qin Jian actually saw Qu Deren on the dock, and he came with a large group of policemen, which made him a little surprised.
Yanziji Pier is a place under the jurisdiction of the Haihan Army. Qu Deren went to Yanziji to handle the case, fearing that he would not have a chance encounter with the Haihan Army first.
Of course, Qin Jian would not wait to see his family's jokes, so he quickly stepped forward to stop Qu Deren and his party: "Brother, are you here to handle a case?"
Qu Deren smiled and said: "I just happened to be in Yanziji on business, so I stopped by to see you. Old Qin, how are you doing recently?"
Qin Jian responded vaguely, pulled Qu Deren aside, and said in a low voice: "Brother, when you come here to handle the case, have you ever said hello to the Haihan Army? These soldiers don't like people interfering with Yanziji. ”
Qu Deren asked: "Old Qin, what are you afraid of? Our police station also runs errands for the government, how is it different from the Haihan Army?"
Qin Jian said anxiously: "That's not what you said. Many of the things the army transports in and out here do not want outsiders to know. Do you understand what I mean?"
Qu Deren patted Qin Jian's shoulder and comforted him: "Don't worry, Old Qin, I'm not here to investigate the Haihan Army, and I'm not qualified. Whatever the army has hidden here, that has nothing to do with me. I'm here today I have another mission, and a big shot will be coming here later.”
The materials transported by the Haihan Army through Yanziji Pier include military materials with a high level of confidentiality, as well as some special goods unknown to outsiders.
After the Haihan Army captured the city of Nanjing, there were countless properties and documents confiscated from the city. Many of them were handled by Qin Jian and shipped out through Yanziji Wharf. He did not want his brother-in-law to get into trouble because of the investigation. cause unnecessary trouble.