After Shi Chengwu briefly exchanged greetings with Tao Hongfang, who had come from afar, he introduced him to a group of local officials and gentry representatives present.
Those who can stand here and be introduced by Shi Chengwu in person are basically people with a certain social status and influence in the local area. At this time, the homework done by Tao Hongfang on the way came in handy. Most of the people introduced by Shi Chengwu had appeared in the materials he read, and now he could sit down one by one.
Currently, Nanjing is still under military control, so the local bureaucracy is dominated by military attachés. The formal administrative system has yet to be established after Tao Hongfang takes office.
However, Tao Hongfang is not a mere commander. Before his arrival, several civil affairs officials had already come to Nanjing to take up their posts. They are currently responsible for sorting out local household registration, land property, business and other information. After Tao Hongfang took office, these civil affairs officials became the backbone of his administrative organization.
As Shi Chengwu's deputy at the police station, Qu Deren was naturally qualified to stand in the team being interviewed. What surprised him was that Tao Hongfang actually knew who he was.
"I heard that Deputy Director Qu solved the first major case after our country took over Nanjing when he took office. He is truly a pillar of talent!"
Hearing Tao Hongfang's praise, Qu Deren was immediately flattered and responded quickly: "It is the duty of lower officials to ensure peace in the local area. Mr. Tao is overly complimentary!"
In fact, when Qu Deren solved the "Nanjing First Case", the Nanjing Police Department had not yet been formally established, and it was because of his merits in solving the case that he was appreciated by Shi Diwen and was appointed to his current position.
However, such details are not important anymore. It is a great honor for Qu Deren that Tao Hongfang, who has just arrived in Nanjing, can remember him.
After meeting with the officials and celebrities present, Tao Hong took a carriage and followed Shi Chengwu to Nanjing. Shi Diwen had already set up a reception banquet in the city to welcome his arrival.
The first impression that Nanjing left on Tao Hongfang was the tall and solid city defense buildings here. Compared with Hangzhou, this place is more like a fortified city in the traditional sense.
But even so, the Ming army failed to prevent Haihan from seizing Nanjing, and ultimately won it without bloodshed, which shows that the gap in strength between the two armies was so large that it was difficult to make up for it with city defenses.
The convoy of cavalry guards entered the city from Shence Gate in the north of the city, then traveled southward through the entire city, and stopped near the Confucius Temple in the south of the city.
The place where Shi Diwen hosted a banquet for Tao Hongfang was in Zhanyuan, not far from Confucius Temple.
Zhan Garden is one of the most famous garden buildings in Nanjing. It is famous for the rockeries of different shapes in the garden. Together with the Lingering Garden and the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou and the Jichang Garden in Wuxi, it is also known as the four famous gardens in Jiangnan.
This garden was first built in the early Ming Dynasty. It was the palace of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang before he became emperor. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang granted it to King Xu Da of Zhongshan as a residence. After several generations of the Xu family's continuous renovation and expansion, it reached its current scale.
One of the conditions for peace between the Ming Dynasty and Haihan was for the Nanjing garrison to surrender and evacuate. As the hereditary ministers of the Ming Dynasty, the Xu family naturally could not stay in Nanjing and welcome Haihan's arrival as surrender ministers. Therefore, the owners of Zhanyuan, a family of the Xu clan and Wei Guogong, also took their belongings and evacuated Nanjing with the Ming army.
However, of course, this huge garden cannot be taken away. After Shi Diwen entered Nanjing, he chose this famous garden mansion as his temporary residence.
Zhanyuan is located in the prosperous area near the Qinhuai River and Confucius Temple. It is not far from the Jubao Gate in the south of the city. It is very convenient to enter and exit the city. If necessary, you can also take a boat directly to the Yangtze River from the Qinhuai River, which is a hundred feet away from Zhanyuan.
However, the official ship Tao Hongfang took to Nanjing was too large and it was a little difficult to sail into the river near Zhanyuan. It was more suitable to dock at Yanziji Pier in the north of the city. Within a mile or two around Zhanyuan, there are almost all mansions of dignitaries, which can be regarded as a traditional wealthy area in Nanjing city.
In addition to Haihan's own officials, the local guests who can come to Zhanyuan for the banquet today are basically those who have passed the inspection and can be given a certain degree of trust.
But even so, the treatment will definitely be different.
For example, officials like Qu Deren who have just changed camps can only sit far away from the main table. It is very difficult to make a sense of presence. They can only take advantage of the opportunity and line up to pay tribute to the senior officials at the main table. A glass of wine.
As today's protagonist, Tao Hongfang was naturally the focus of everyone present, and he almost never put down the wine glass in his hand.
Although Shi Diwen was considerate of his situation and specially arranged wine with a very low alcohol content, the long queue for toasts still made Tao Hongfang a little bit overwhelmed. Regardless of whether he was drunk or not, his stomach was already full anyway.
Tao Hongfang actually didn't like this kind of social occasion very much in his heart, but he also knew that Shi Diwen arranged this reception banquet not to drink himself, but to have a certain political significance.
It has been more than two months since Shi Diwen left Hangzhou to lead troops in combat. During this period, many important government affairs in the Donghai Region could not be handled in time and could only be put on hold until Shi Diwen returned to normal operations.
After Tao Hongfang arrives in Nanjing and takes office, Shi Diwen will soon return to Hangzhou. Before he left Nanjing, it was of course necessary to push Tao Hongfang to the front of the stage through such an occasion so that various local figures could understand the significance of this handover.
After drinking for three rounds, Shi Diwen stood up and left the venue first. When he reached his status, he no longer needed to be patient and entertain others. Seeing that Tao Hongfang had received enough attention, he didn't need to say anything more.
Tao Hongfang was not drunk at all, so he stood up quickly and sent Shi Diwen away respectfully as a descendant.
Before leaving, Shi Diwen gently patted him on the shoulder and said, "We'll be done here later. Come meet me in the study."
Tao Hongfang didn't know what he meant, but he nodded immediately.
After the banquet was over and the guests had almost left, Shi Chengwu took Tao Hongfang to a nearby hall and asked him to bring him hot water to wash his face, pour hot tea into his mouth, and rest for a while. After Tao Hongfang recovered a little, he took him to Shi Diwen's study.
When Shi Diwen saw Tao Hongfang coming in, he motioned for him to sit down and talk.
"It must be very hard for you to travel and travel all the way, and then come to my place for a banquet without stopping when you arrive in Nanjing. I will keep the story short."
"I will return to Hangzhou in two days. You should complete the handover of government affairs here as soon as possible in the next two days. If you have any questions, please ask me. I have already set up the management committee for you. What will happen next? If it works, you have to figure it out yourself.”
"If you encounter any obstacles in Nanjing, remember to communicate with Cheng Wu more. I have already told him to let him fully assist you and restore normal order in Nanjing as soon as possible."