Riding the wind of rebirth

In addition to the industries, before Zhou Zhi went to the United States, the state's reply was that the United Township Association would set up supervisory and management departments to oversee these industries, including the land office, economic management station, water management station, family planning office, forestry station, animal husbandry and veterinary station, and agricultural technology station.

When Zhouzhi returned, the higher-ups felt that Lianhe Township should be given more responsibilities, and several townships should be merged into one town. At the same time, police stations, finance offices, national tax offices, local tax offices, industrial and commercial offices, land offices, grain management offices, post offices, supply and marketing cooperatives, traffic management stations, veterinary stations, agricultural power management stations, agricultural machinery management stations, courts, health centers, credit unions, and agricultural bank branches should be established.

This clearly shows their ambition to develop United Town into a large town.

Is it possible? Absolutely. Is it feasible? Absolutely.

Currently, during the Torch Festival and the Yi New Year, Lianhe Township has become a gathering place for people from surrounding villages and even towns. From the perspective of marriage, Lianhe Township has also become a popular marriage destination for young men and women in the surrounding area.

Not to mention that the two agricultural bases also house students from the Agricultural University for practical and teaching purposes, and the students and faculty members have also driven a lot of consumption.

In short, Lianhe Township is becoming increasingly popular.

Townships nowadays have more real power, and this power is most evident in their financial power. At this time, the county and township are two levels, and they implement a "separate kitchen" system. The township is a level of finance, and its finance is provided by the township itself. Villages and communities have their own retention. The operation is ensured through tax revenue sharing and the collection of "three levies and five unified funds". Therefore, the township's independent financial power plays a significant role.

Of course, this applies to townships with a good economic foundation and sufficient tax revenue. Such townships have no problem with funding at all, and some can even use collective income to offset the "three levies and five unified taxes". These townships are generally very powerful, and their leaders have face with the county leaders.

However, some townships with weak foundations and low tax revenue have experienced funding gaps.

Lianhe Township could be upgraded to a town. The county may also have another consideration: currently, among a large area of ​​townships, only Lianhe Township can afford to support dozens of people who are "paid by the government." To manage this large area well, the administrative agency can only be set up here, and then town officials can be assigned to "take charge" of the villages to solve part of the salary issue.

This is also a way to solve problems realistically by starting from the current situation.

"Everyone, please check if there's anything missing?" Sun Jiacai asked.

“Information technology equipment is basically not yet available in townships,” Zhou Zhi said. “I will leave a set for the town, as well as network equipment. Even the agricultural university base is still using our lines and equipment. I will also leave this satellite communication equipment, as well as the supporting UPS, in the town as a small contribution.”

“Actually, there is one industry that our town has not yet developed, and that is tourism,” Zhou Zhi said. “However, many matching conditions need to be met to attract people to our town. I estimate that it will be at least after the orchards reach a certain scale.”

"That's right, nowadays most people come to visit relatives and friends, there are really no tourists," Liu Zhigang said.

“However, there are some basic things I think we can do,” Zhou Zhi said. “When the villagers have money in the future and want to build houses, it would be best to follow the old traditions, just like Hailai Ayi and Tuzi Ri’s houses. That would be quite a sight.” “That’s a good idea. The old man will definitely like it,” Tu Liangzhi laughed. “And recently, quite a few families have been planning to build houses like Hailai’s!”

Starting in the afternoon, Zhou Zhi and Sun Jiacai began drafting the "Joint Town Industrial Research Report" to prepare for the handover. After a big drinking session that evening, they were finally settled in again.

The following days were much easier. The town's staff began to take their places one by one, and Zhou Zhi handed over his tasks one by one. Although he had two more things to do, namely Pingyao's World Heritage application and the digital currency financial settlement system, Zhou Zhi surprisingly found that managing big matters was far less busy than managing small matters in the town.

Township work is characterized by "a thousand threads above, one needle below." Township staff often perform tedious and fragmented tasks, which are very demanding and often drain public funds.

In contrast, Zhou Zhi's operation of the AXA Fund involved only ten people directly controlled by Li Laosan, yet the wealth it created could even exceed the output of a small country.

But this does not mean that work in townships is unimportant; on the contrary, their work is very important because they are responsible for stabilizing the vast majority of the population.

While others were busy and he was enjoying his leisure time, Zhou Zhi still made sure to build relationships with everyone, taking cadres to the county and township to deliver welfare to the elderly living alone and families with children. And of course, there was another important task: preparing for the Spring Festival.

The Yi New Year is the most important traditional festival for the Yi people, a time for family and friends to reunite and visit each other. However, the date of this festival, called "Kush" in the Yi language, varies even within a single county. The specific date is determined by a respected Bimo (priest) who is knowledgeable in astronomy and the calendar, and generally falls on the Horse Day or Monkey Day in mid-November. The festival lasts either three or seven days, depending on the family's wealth.

The most important ceremony of this festival, "Jue Long Ji," is held on the day before the Lunar New Year. It involves preparing generous offerings and is a ceremony held by all family members to worship the ancestral spirits and invite the ancestors home for the New Year. Therefore, it is also called "New Year Festival."

For this ritual, every household must clean their "Madu," the ancestral tablets, and prepare new clothes and other necessities. At the same time, they must prepare a large amount of food, especially meat, which is traditionally chicken, lamb, and pork.

Another thing is alcohol. The Yi people are very famous for their love of alcohol. They used to brew their own buckwheat wine, but after learning how to brew high-proof liquor, they became obsessed with it.

Moreover, the alcohol content is getting higher and higher. For example, the "original strength" produced by the grain station has reached as high as 65 and 67 degrees.

In addition, there are glutinous rice cakes, buckwheat buns, and firecrackers.

In the past, firecrackers were made by hand from bamboo, which caused quite a few accidents. This year, Zhouzhi stopped this practice and replaced them with more expensive but safer paper tube firecrackers that exploded louder, since the town is not short of money anyway.

The Yi people revere black and red. This year, many families in the town have become wealthy. Following tradition, like many other ethnic minorities, the Yi people like to wear their wealth on their bodies, so they have purchased a large quantity of red agate ornaments and silver jewelry. (End of Chapter)