Many people are studying this problem.
There is a so-called "north-south dispute" in the study of redology. Due to the great influence of A Dream of Red Mansions, during the 200-odd years from Qianlong to now, everyone has been speculating about the novel and asking: Is it in Beijing or Nanjing that A Dream of Red Mansions is so magnificent, and all kinds of cultural phenomena and natural features are reflected in it? There has been an argument here, and there are two factions. One is the Beijing School in Beijing, and the other is the Ning School in Nanjing. Mr. Wu believes that the social life, natural scenery and cultural characteristics reflected in A Dream of Red Mansions actually reflect the southern culture. We can give a few examples. Take Lin Daiyu as an example. The image of Lin Daiyu mainly represents the southern culture. Sister Lin's temperament and elegant cultural background all represent southern culture. Her Xiaoxiang Pavilion is set off by bamboo and surrounded by a bamboo forest, which is vividly described in A Dream of Red Mansions: "Fengming is the end, and the dragons are fine." Bamboo represents southern culture. During the Six Dynasties, a famous book Shi Shuo Xin Yu was devoted to bamboo. Wang Xizhi has two sons, the eldest is Wang Xianzhi, a great calligrapher, and the second is Wang Huizhi. Wang Huizhi likes bamboo best. He said other things could be left out. Appreciating bamboo is indispensable for a day. Therefore, Sister Lin was cultivated by southern culture. Bamboo also represents a person's temperament and integrity, which is very elegant. Bamboo is one of the symbols of traditional culture in China. Known as "three friends in cold years", it represents the noble quality of people. Bamboo can only form bamboo forests in the south. Of course, there is bamboo in the north, but it doesn't grow well. A few years ago, in order to shoot TV, Beijing built the Grand View Garden and Xiaoxiang Pavilion. Bamboo was also planted around Xiaoxiang Pavilion, but it didn't grow well for several years, and it was yellow and thin. The bamboo in Sister Lin's Xiaoxiang Pavilion is of course Nanzhu, which is a characteristic of Nanjing.
Here's another example. In the 49th chapter of A Dream of Red Mansions, Bai Xuehongmei was written, saying that Baoyu got up early that day and had a heavy snow, which was more than a foot thick. Baoyu walked past the jade temple of Miaoyu. A dozen red plums have just come out of Cui Rui Temple, and the plum blossoms are in full bloom. Jia Baoyu asked Miaoyu for a red plum. Snow and red berries are also typical Nanjing scenery. Plum blossoms are plums in spring. After the Spring Festival, the plum blossoms in Nanjing are in full bloom, but the cold air from the north came and suddenly it snowed heavily. This is the unique weather in Nanjing. The temperature in Beijing is very low and it is still snowing. Plum blossoms won't bloom at all in the first month. Therefore, white snow and red plum are also typical natural scenery in Nanjing. In addition, on the seventeenth trip, I went to the Grand View Garden to visit my mother during the Lantern Festival in January and spring. There are mountains, water and boats in the Grand View Garden. Yuan Chun also plays on the water by boat, which can only sail on the water during the Lantern Festival in the south. The Lantern Festival in Beijing is still very cold. The ice in Kunming Lake and Beihai is several feet thick, so it is impossible to take a boat trip. I'm just giving an example here to show that the natural features reflected in A Dream of Red Mansions are basically from the south of the Yangtze River. There are many places in the Dream of Red Mansions to visit Nanjing. But Cao Xueqin is very powerful. His writing is true and false, and he uses "fake village words". As we all know, the literary inquisition in Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods was very strict, or it would be caught by the feudal ruling class. Therefore, Cao Xueqin deliberately does not write specifically, but writes specifically, which is easy to commit literary inquisition. Sister Lin went to Beijing, but he didn't say it was Beijing. He only said Beijing and Shenjing, but never wrote about Beijing. However, some people say that the hometown of Ning Guofu and Guo Rongfu is in Nanjing. On the second trip, Jia Yucun and Leng Zixing said, "Last year, I went to Jinling. Because I wanted to visit the ruins, I went into Stone Town that day and passed by the door of his old house. There is Ningguo House in the east and Guo Rongfu in the west. " This is actually written by Nanjing.
A typical example, A Dream of Red Mansions was not originally called A Dream of Red Mansions, but called The Story of the Stone. There is also a name called twelve women in Jinling, which is irrefutable. Cao Xueqin grew up in Nanjing. Based on his life in Nanjing, he was later taken to Beijing. The novel is written in Beijing, but the life base is in Nanjing. There is no need to argue about this.
More importantly, the life prototype of Grand View Garden is in Nanjing. This is the hot spot of the dispute between North and South. Now all the experts who study a dream of red mansions are in Beijing. Zhou is a native of Tianjin and now lives in Beijing. Represented by him, he must say that the Grand View Garden is in Beijing. He said the Grand View Garden is in Gongwangfu. King Gong is Prince Gong. He verified that the Grand View Garden was in Gongwangfu. Looking at his data, it turns out that Mr. Zhou has reversed the causal relationship. The Palace Wang Fu was built according to the Grand View Garden of A Dream of Red Mansions, because one of the concubines of the Palace King likes to watch A Dream of Red Mansions. Cao Xueqin was in Kanggan period and Gongwangfu was built in Tongzhi period, so the causal relationship was reversed. Where is the Grand View Garden? Practically speaking, it is certainly needless to say about literary and artistic creation. This is the writer's artistic creation. To put it another way, if the life foundation of the Grand View Garden is there, it can be discussed and verified. There is a famous writer, Yuan Mei. Yuan Mei, a talented person, once served as Jiangning county magistrate and resigned at the age of forty. He likes writing poems and Nanjing, so he took a fancy to the garden from Guangzhou Road to Wulongtan and bought it. This place originally belonged to Cao Xueqin's family. After Cao Cao's property was seized, it was transferred to Sui Hede. Later, Sui Hede was robbed again, and the garden was bought by Yuan Mei and named Sui Garden. The main entrance of Suiyuan Garden was at the North Gate Bridge of Zhujiang Road, and Ximen all the way to Wulongtan, which was the largest garden in Jiangnan at that time. Guangzhou Road was then a big pond along the garden, and the mountains on both sides were called Xiaocang Mountain. In Yuan Mei's Poems with the Garden, there are several places about A Dream of Red Mansions and Cao Xueqin's family. Some places are unclear, but one place makes it clear: "The so-called Grand View Garden is the garden in it." (In addition, "The History of Ming Yi: The Former Site of Suiyuan is the Red Mansion", he said that the Grand View Garden in a Dream of Red Mansions is actually his garden.
Generally speaking, what is written in the novel should be set in Nanjing. I wonder if this answer has any reference value for you.