The amount of materials required for relief is huge. Each link of collection, transportation, and distribution requires repeated coordination between different departments in different regions. This cannot be solved by Tao Hongfang with a single order.
Although he holds a high position in Nanjing, he can only control the area under the jurisdiction of Yuanying Tianfu. Outside this area, his influence is not that great.
Because of this, Tao Hongfang could only convene a meeting with his civil affairs officials to understand the specific situation before formulating corresponding measures.
But what surprised him was that there were clearly more than a dozen civil affairs officials in the management committee's staff, but there were only two or three people who rushed to the meeting after receiving the notice.
After asking, Tao Hongfang learned that most of these lower-level officials were organizing relief work outside the city and could not be notified of the meeting at any time. The few people who could come to the meeting were all staying at the Yamen. This kind of scheduling rotates every day, which means that if Tao Hongfang wants to gather people together at one time, he may have to arrange it a few days in advance.
Tao Hongfang heard the key and asked: "Are there many refugees outside the city? Do we need so many people to organize relief?"
Several officials looked at me and I looked at you, but they still did not dare to hide anything and honestly reported to him the current situation outside the city.
Compared with the written information Tao Hongfang had seen before, the actual situation outside Nanjing may be more serious, and paper statistics can no longer keep up with the daily additions. As a result, these officials of the Management Committee had to go out of the city in batches to take command in order to deal with the increasing number of refugees gathering in Nanjing.
Tao Hongfang asked again: "I took a bus from Yanziji Pier into the city yesterday. Why didn't I see any refugees?"
An official responded: "Sir, Yanziji Pier faces the river on both sides in the northwest, and there are Baohua Mountain, Tangshan, Qixia Mountain, and Zhongshan in the southeast, which lie between Nanjing and Zhenjiang, so there are relatively few people fleeing to Nanjing from that direction. The terrain in the south of the city is flat, so most refugees coming to Nanjing choose this direction. ”
Tao Hongfang thought about it, and there was some truth to this. It was said that most of the more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians who had been evacuated from Nanjing also walked from the south of the city. It can be seen that the terrain and traffic conditions in the south are indeed better.
But what is the situation outside the city? It is difficult for Tao Hongfang to have an accurate understanding based only on the oral accounts of these officials. Since the meeting could not be held at the moment, Tao Hongfang decided to go outside the city to have a look in person so that he could have a thorough understanding of the current situation.
Tao Hongfang immediately asked people to prepare carriages and horses and set off to the south of the city.
His officials suggested that he bring some troops with him, just in case. After all, there was a mixed crowd of refugees outside the city, and it was unclear how many of them were spies sent by the Ming Dynasty.
If Tao Hongfang goes there, people will inevitably gather to watch. Although the few personal followers he brought from Hangzhou are all very skilled guards, if they arrive in a complex environment with people in all directions, they may inevitably make some mistakes. At this time, of course, it is most reliable to dispatch the army to maintain order.
Tao Hongfang felt that what he said made sense, so he wrote a troop deployment document and sent it to the garrison headquarters. Not long after, a reply came from the other side, and an infantry company and twenty cavalry were dispatched to escort Tao Hongfang out of the city to inspect the refugee camp in the south of the city.
Although Shi Chengwu did not personally go out, he still asked his subordinates to bring a message to Tao Hongfang, asking him to go around Yuhuatai in the south of the city. It seemed that Shi Chengwu was relatively familiar with the refugee situation outside the city.
So Tao Hong followed his suggestion and crossed the Zhenhuai Bridge from the direction of Confucius Temple, exited the Jubao Gate in the south of the city, then crossed the Changgan Bridge on the moat, and then entered the area between Nanjing City and Waiguo City.
It is worth mentioning that there are large-scale barricades built at both ends of the Changgan Bridge. Tao Hongfang looked out of the car window and saw that at least one company of troops was stationed here. It was obvious that Shi Diwen and his son were not at ease with these refugees outside the city.
The Juma lying across the bridge was quite heavy, and it took about ten people to move forward together, so it took Tao Hongfang's team some time to cross the bridge. But here at Qiaotou, you can actually see the Yuhuatai not far away. This Yuhuatai was originally a hill in the south of Nanjing. It is said that during the period of Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, the eminent monk Yunguang Master preached here, which moved the heavens and caused the flowers to fall like rain, hence the name Yuhuatai.
Probably because of such allusions, there are many Buddhist temples near Yuhuatai, including Xitian Temple, Nengren Temple, Dabaoen Temple, etc., which are all well-known local temples.
However, at this time, Yuhuatai has long since disappeared from the devout pilgrims who used to crowded around each other. Instead, there are various tents and shacks built in a staggered manner, spread along both sides of the official road, and spread to the temple in the distance.
Tao Hongfang looked out of the car window and saw many refugees standing by the official road, staring blankly at the team passing through the camps.
They didn't seem to be afraid of the Haihan soldiers who were armed with live ammunition. Some children even carried branches on their shoulders and followed the team in imitation of the Haihan soldiers carrying guns.
Obviously these refugees knew that the presence of the Haihan Army would not threaten their safety, but would instead allow basic order to be maintained here.
The carriage had not gone far when the road leading to the temple was blocked by refugee shacks, and Tao Hongfang could only get out of the car and walk.
The accompanying civil affairs official named Fan Chengchao, who was probably a few years older than Tao Hongfang, followed him and introduced the situation here in a low voice.
"Sir, seven out of ten refugees who are currently coming to Nanjing from nearby states and counties are living here temporarily. However, because we have limited manpower and cannot count them every day, we can only estimate the approximate number of refugees at present, which is about four Fifty thousand people.”
"In addition, there are about two to three thousand refugees coming in every day through Ande Gate, Fengtai Gate, Shuangqiao Gate, and Jiaogang Gate in Waiguo City in the south."
Tao Hongfang asked: "What should I do if someone comes to Nanjing to seek refuge with relatives and friends?"
Fan Chengchao responded: "With so many refugees gathering outside the city, we don't dare to open the gates in the south of the city. We can only stop everyone outside the city first."
"If you have the exact address information of your relatives and friends in the city, you can also apply to us to deliver the letter on your behalf, so that your relatives and friends in the city can go to Changqian Bridge to pick you up. However, our manpower is limited, and the number of places we can apply for every day can only be limited to a few dozen people."
Tao Hongfang nodded silently. This situation did not allow Nanjing to open its doors to release people. Once tens of thousands of hungry refugees poured into the city, there would probably be chaos. Moreover, after the news spreads, refugees from surrounding areas will gather in Nanjing, and the situation will be even more difficult to deal with.
Fan Chengchao continued: "We have set up porridge relief points in several temples here, and we put two thousand kilograms of grain into these relief points every day."
Tao Hongfang said: "Two thousand kilograms of grain and 40,000 to 50,000 refugees. Is this enough to eat?"
Fan Chengchao said: "Sir, in fact we have more than enough food, but we must not overuse it. Firstly, to prevent someone from taking advantage of it, and secondly, we must not let these refugees eat too much, otherwise it will easily cause trouble. Also, if there is no limit to food, When news of the food shortage spreads, more and more refugees will gather here.”