Chapter 3578
Chapter 3578
Chapter 3578
It was summer, and although the weather was not too hot, the area near Yingtian Prefecture, including the city of Nanjing, was in a strange drought. There had been no rain for nearly two months, and the water levels of the Qinhuai River and the Yangtze River had dropped significantly. The Xuanwu Lake in the north of the city had also begun to dry up.
The dry weather not only brought many inconveniences to people's lives, but also caused a large number of farmlands to suffer from water shortage.
Tao Hongfang has been visiting water-scarce areas almost every day recently, deploying measures to combat drought and ensure harvests. He applied to the Executive Committee to transfer dozens of steam pumps used to pump seawater to make salt from coastal salt fields in Ningbo and other places, to irrigate farmland in water-scarce areas.
Tao Hongfang is well aware of the crisis that the current drought may cause. Once a large area of farmland around Nanjing suffers a crop failure, the food supply on the market will immediately return to the state when Nanjing was just occupied last year.
Recalling last year's war and floods in Nanjing resulted in as many as 100,000 refugees. In order to provide relief to the people, the newly established Management Committee was busy day and night raising and transporting grain. While organizing the distribution, it also had to crack down on those who embezzled the relief funds. It was with great difficulty that the situation was stabilized and no major chaos occurred.
Even now, Tao Hongfang still feels a little scared when he thinks of that period, so even though he has to invest a lot of resources in drought relief, he must also try his best to save the farmland in the area under his jurisdiction to avoid repeating the same mistake.
At this busiest time, his partner Shi Chengwu went back to Hangzhou. Although Tao Hongfang knew that Shi Chengwu had urgent official business to deal with, he still felt that his move was holding him back.
At this time, there were many agricultural water conservancy facilities outside Nanjing that needed to be repaired and expanded. Now that Shi Chengwu was not in Nanjing, Tao Hongfang wanted to mobilize the local garrison troops to assist, but there would inevitably be many inconveniences in the procedures.
Tao Hongfang arrived at the yamen early in the morning, briefly dealt with a few official duties that had piled up yesterday, and then prepared to go out to the Da Baoen Temple in the south of the city.
During the disaster relief last year, Da Baoen Temple made great efforts in sheltering refugees, and the abbot Hongjin was specially commended by the Nanjing Management Committee afterwards. This year, the local area has been dry for a long time, so Master Hongjin decided to host a rain-praying ceremony in the temple and invited Tao Hongfang to represent the government and attend the event together with other invited local gentry, elders and the general public.
Although Tao Hongfang was not very interested in religion and did not quite believe that he could make it rain by performing rituals, after last year's cooperation, he knew that Master Hongjin was a kind-hearted monk and had a very good reputation among the people in Yingtian Prefecture. Having him host such an event could indeed play a role in calming the people.
Moreover, Master Hongjin had clearly informed him that there would be a fundraising session for believers in this event, and all the proceeds would be handed over to the government for the recent drought relief project. As the official of Yingtian Prefecture, it would be unreasonable for Tao Hongfang not to attend in person.
Just as Tao Hongfang was about to ask someone to prepare the carriage and horses, his secretary brought a telegram saying it was sent from Hangzhou.
Tao Hongfang took it and opened it. It was Shi Chengwu who asked him to arrange for a berth to be freed up at Yanziji Wharf and to arrange a camp in the north of the city in preparation for the arrival of the East China Sea Fleet.
Shi Chengwu also pointed out in the telegram that the naval force to be transferred to Nanjing would have a strength of about 2,000 people, and hoped that Tao Hongfang could make corresponding arrangements in advance.
However, Shi Chengwu did not elaborate in the telegram about the specific purpose of transferring this troop to Nanjing, whether it was for garrison or rotation, or to carry out some special mission. Tao Hongfang was also confused after reading the telegram.
In Tao Hongfang's opinion, Yingtian Prefecture is not facing obvious military pressure now. Almost all the Ming troops on the other side of the Yangtze River and in the upper reaches were crippled in the battle last year, and the Ming army probably won't be able to recover and counterattack Nanjing so quickly. Moreover, if there is a large-scale military mobilization in the nearby areas under Ming control, it is unlikely to be hidden from Hai Han's eyes and ears. If there is any news in this regard, the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Security Department should report it immediately.
Besides, the size of the garrison in Yingtian Prefecture is not small, with a total strength of about 3,000 people, which is enough to cope with medium-scale wars.
There was an armed fleet stationed at Yanziji Wharf in the north of Nanjing, a fully staffed independent army regiment stationed in the city, an artillery battalion stationed at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain in the east, and a cavalry battalion stationed at the foot of Jiangjun Mountain in the south. Several other infantry companies were stationed in surrounding counties such as Gaochun, Jurong, Moling, Liyang, Lishui, and Jiangning.
In addition to the police, militia and other paramilitary organizations, Nanjing could easily organize an armed force of 4,000 to 5,000 people in wartime, and could also obtain nearby reinforcements from nearby Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, etc. Even if the Ming Dynasty really launched a large-scale attack, it would most likely not end well.
Under such circumstances, why would the East China Sea Fleet be transferred to Nanjing? This really confused Tao Hongfang.
Could it be that the higher-ups feel that a one-year truce is enough and are planning to launch a new round of offensive against the Ming Dynasty?
But he thought about it and felt that something was not right. The local garrison troops had not entered a state of war preparedness before this, especially the collection of war materials, which had to be arranged at least three to five months in advance. However, they had not received any instructions in this regard from the Executive Committee.
However, Tao Hongfang was still certain of one thing - this transfer should not be arranged by the Executive Committee, otherwise his father Tao Donglai would definitely inform him.
Thinking it was nothing serious, Tao Hongfang thought for a moment and ordered someone to bring his subordinate Qin Jian.
Soon Qin Jian came to report in. Tao Hongfang said, "Qin Jian, you are from Yanziji Wharf and are familiar with the situation there. I have a job for you."
Qin Jian can be regarded as one of the direct beneficiaries of the power transition in Ming and Hai Han. During the Ming Dynasty, he was just a small foreman at Yanziji Wharf, and it would have been difficult for him to climb to a higher level without any accidents.
After Hai Han took over Yingtian Prefecture, his luck suddenly changed. In just a few months, he rose rapidly in the ranks and was promoted to work in the Nanjing Management Committee.
Nowadays, Qin Jian is in charge of shipping affairs within the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture, which can be considered as a professional match. When he walks out of the Management Committee office, everyone has to call him "Sir Qin" when they see him.
After Qin Jian heard Tao Hongfang's instructions, his first reaction was exactly the same as Tao Hongfang's: "Sir, this... is this going to be another war?"
Tao Hongfang said noncommittally: "Don't speculate. Even if there really is a war, that's not something you should ask about!"
Qin Jian realized that he had said something wrong and quickly apologized.
Tao Hongfang said, "You should finish this task as soon as possible, and when Lord Shi returns from Hangzhou, you can report to him yourself."