Korean TV series: King of Peninsula 1997

Chapter 555 Determining the Direction
The dinner did not end quickly, but Li You did not have much interest in socializing with them. After briefly greeting the high-ranking officials, he found a seat and sat down, acting as if he was keeping people at a distance.

The arrogant attitude does exist, but no one dares to say anything.

If someone goesssips, his life will be over if someone finds out about it.

Li You took out his cell phone that vibrated twice and took a look. It was a photo and thank you message from Jun Ji-hyun.

Tonight also happens to be the Grand Bell Awards ceremony, and Jun Ji-hyun won her second Grand Bell Award for Best Actress.

Li You put a lot of effort into it, but who should have won the award?
He didn't really care. These women all had their own careers, and since they followed him, he would help them if he could.

After typing the reply message, Li You did not forget that there was someone in Jeju Island who needed attention.

The little witch Gu Ziyun is probably living the life of an ordinary little girl now, without using any abilities at all. It is precisely because of that that she can continue to live longer.

Li You did not send anyone to monitor their family. The family lived in a rural town and had their own farm. Except for water and electricity, most of the other daily necessities they needed were self-sufficient.

Neighbors in these towns are so familiar with each other that outsiders will be looked at twice.

But this did not prevent him from investigating Gu Ziyun through other channels.

The girl is now enrolled in a local primary school. Her family is well off. She was a little withdrawn at first, but now she has made good friends.

My father has some hidden diseases in his legs, so it is a little inconvenient for him to move around on rainy days. In addition to feeding cattle and farming, he also raises various poultry and livestock on the farm.

My mother is a very gentle woman in the area. She is a college student who came from Seoul 20 years ago and is very well-educated.

Quan Jae-jun reported all the information he had obtained to Li You in detail.

"It seems like she's doing well," Li You shrugged. "Don't bother her. Tell the people below and the Jeju City Police Department to strengthen security in that town. Don't let anyone disturb her peace."

Since Gu Ziyun is living a stable life as before, there is no need for Li You to disturb her.

Li You is just a seven-year-old girl and doesn't need her to do any work for him now.

"Yes," Jeon Jae-joon bowed and left.

As soon as he finished his report, someone wanted to come over.

The visitor had just exchanged greetings with Li You. It was obvious that he had come here for business. However, he just smiled and said, "I didn't expect to meet President Li again so soon. There were too many people who wanted to communicate with President Li just now, so I didn't have time to toast President Li."

Jeju City Mayor Jiang Changyuan is also the God of Wealth in the hearts of many country people on Jeju Island.

After all, he has served as the mayor of Jeju City for three terms. There are more and more opportunities to make money in Jeju City, and various seafood restaurants and B&Bs are making a lot of money.

Of course, the Kinmen Group and Li You are equally famous, but most of the people in the city who know the news know about them. These fishermen and female divers are more concerned about the government's propaganda.

As soon as Li You saw him, he knew what he wanted to ask.

"Mayor Jiang," Li Youye smiled and touched the cup he extended to him.

Li You took a sip of wine and smiled heartily, "Mayor Jiang, you don't have to be so polite. After so many exchanges, we are already familiar friends."

Jiang Changyuan's face was filled with joy, and he happily drank a sip of wine. "It's all thanks to Chairman Li and the Kinmen Group for taking care of me in Jeju Island, otherwise I wouldn't have so many opportunities."

Li You did not leave his seat, but looked up at him and smiled, "Mayor Jiang is still diligent. I have heard that the citizens love you very much."

Jiang Changyuan turned his head and looked at the people around him, mainly to see if Jeon Jaejun was still there. "I came to communicate with the chairman this time. I wonder if I disturbed the work communication between Chairman Li and Representative Jeon just now?"

"No," Li You shook his head, "I just told him some trivial matters."

Jiang Changyuan then smiled and sat down opposite Li You.

Li You personally poured wine into his almost empty cup, and Jiang Changyuan breathed a sigh of relief, which meant that Li You still remembered the previous agreement.

He had received enough dividends from Jeju Island over the years, but he had not given up on climbing up.

Regardless of his own perspective or his connections, if he wants to move up, the best person he can currently contact is Li You.

So he didn't chat with those officials anymore, but came here alone when he saw the opportunity.

Jiang Changyuan is a veteran in the officialdom, so he naturally wouldn't be like a young and inexperienced person who speaks his mind directly.

But he would not dwell on it. After asking a few vague questions, Jiang Changyuan found that Li You avoided the purpose of his trip to Jeju Island and quickly avoided the topic.

However, as a result, the purpose of his trip was not made known to the public yet, which made him a little anxious.

Jiang Changyuan hinted cheerfully, but Li You's response was evasive.

Seeing that Li You didn't take his hint at all, Jiang Changyuan could only sigh and take the initiative to steer the topic upwards.

"President Li," Jiang Changyuan said after hearing the news, "I haven't congratulated you on completely taking down Shunyang yet."

In many people's minds, Zhengxinzhai, which was built under the supervision of Chen Yangzhe and stood in Seoul for decades, is the symbol of Sunyang. Now that Zhengxinzhai has been demolished, a new era is about to come.

"I just don't know," Jiang Changyuan looked at Li You earnestly, "if I can be lucky enough to catch up with this era."

Seeing that he had become honest and no longer had the last bit of official pride in his heart, Li You continued, "As long as we can follow the direction of the wind, we will naturally be able to adapt to the trend of the new era."

Jiang Changyuan smiled and said, "Isn't President Li the wind direction and the times?"

Jiang Changyuan said such blatant flattering words without any psychological burden. After all, their statuses were no longer equal. He had a slight reluctance to bow his head too deeply before, but it was only because of the education he had received in the hierarchy of the elders and the younger ones on the Korean Peninsula for decades.

Putting age aside, Li You is undoubtedly the one standing head and shoulders above him.

"How can I alone represent the trend and the times?" Li You also laughed and stopped trying to stop him. "I think that only when politics and business are combined can it be called the trend and the times."

"The nuclear test by the North caused the tourism industry in Jeju Island and even the Korean Peninsula to shrink for a while. Isn't this a political factor?"

Jiang Changyuan laughed, "Then Chairman Li is the one who is at the top of the tide of the times."

Li You started to bring up their previous agreement, "Mayor Jiang has done such an outstanding job in Jeju City. You are such an excellent official, you should really go further. Although Jeju Island still has potential for development, its political significance is too small to match Mayor Jiang's ability."

When Li You didn't respond before, Jiang Changyuan knew that Li You had seen through his intention. Now, after hearing Li You's suggestion, Jiang Changyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had passed the test.

The presidential election will begin next year and will be settled by the end of next year. The year after that will be another round of political competition, because that is when the mayor of Seoul and Busan will run for mayor. Kang Chang-won, who has made remarkable achievements in recent years, actually has some ideas about the mayor of Seoul.

But in their agreement, Li You still wanted him to go to Busan.

Especially at this time, Daying Group and Daying Ocean are about to take action.

Once they succeed, Busan will face a competition between Kinmen and Daying in the next few years, so the mayor of Busan must be one of their own.

Jiang Changyuan now comes to Li You, requiring Li You to invest money and political connections in him to help him run for mayor.

In the future, Jiang Changyuan, who will be invested by Li You, will need to work hard to give back to Li You.

This is commonplace in the political circles of the Korean Peninsula. Whether it is a presidential election or a mayoral election, there are always some dirty political donations.

For other chaebols, it is actually risky to take sides with a politician. Many chaebols who claim to be angel investors will be suppressed if they invest in the wrong politician.

But Li You will not face such risk.

Although there are many lawmakers and opposition politicians who dislike Lee You, they really want to be supported.

Although this is contradictory, it is the naked reality.

"If Mayor Jiang wants to go any further, he will have to go to Seoul and Busan."

For Kang Chang-won, being promoted to a senior official in the Blue House by the new president is obviously not as exciting as running for mayor of these two places. As for other places, it is better to stay in Jeju Island.

After hearing what Li You said, Jiang Changyuan's face became more and more happy. Just as he was about to express his intention to run for mayor of Seoul, he heard Li You set the direction for him, "The mayor of Seoul has already been selected."

Jiang Changyuan was stunned, feeling a little robbed, "Yes"

Li You lit a cigarette and exhaled the smoke before slowly saying, "Li Mingxuehui was re-elected as the mayor of Seoul."

Jiang Changyuan frowned, "Didn't Mayor Li announce that he would run in this presidential election?"

"Isn't the Grand National Party's internal election coming up soon?"

Moreover, Li Mingxue's momentum is still strong. Once he succeeds in the party election, he may very likely use this momentum to make a bid for the presidency.

Poor Kang Chang-won, as a veteran politician, he was originally exiled to Jeju Island. If Lee Woo had not developed Jeju Island in advance, he might have retired with no political achievements for several years.

Even though Jeju Island has been developed ahead of schedule and a large amount of political achievements have been accumulated and are waiting to be used, they want to return to the Korean Peninsula, but they are still not well-informed and naturally do not know the internal arrangements of Li You and others.

After asking the two questions, he thought about it carefully, looked at Li You's silent smile, and sighed, "It seems that Chairman Lee and the Grand National Party have decided to push Congressman Choi to participate in the election this time. Is Mayor Lee just trying to build momentum for Congressman Choi?"

It is not uncommon for a party to call on its voters to vote for its own party's candidates after losing an internal election.

On the contrary, in the election that Li Lianchang participated in, he was backstabbed by members of his own party and lost a large number of votes. In the end, he was elected in the presidential election just because of those votes. This is really a rare thing.

Since then, whenever there is an intra-party election, an agreement must be made in advance.

Seeing that Jiang Changyuan understood, Li Youcai smiled and nodded, "Mayor Jiang still has a keen sense of smell."

"What do you mean by sharp?" Jiang Changyuan laughed bitterly. "I should have guessed this from the beginning. I've been away from the political center for too long, and my nose has become less sensitive."

Jiang Changyuan was indeed a little slow to react. After thinking for a while, he suddenly realized, "So, wouldn't the members of the Grand National Party have successively served as president and mayor of Seoul?"

Li You nodded lightly, indicating that it was no big deal.

But Kang Chang-won is different. The mayor of Seoul and the president are undoubtedly the two most important positions on the Korean Peninsula, and they have been won by one party for two consecutive years.
As expected, you are President Li.

"The other two opponents in this presidential election are Roh Moo-hyun and Joo Mong-joon," Lee You said calmly, picking up the cigarette between his fingers. "The position of Seoul mayor is also turbulent. Although Lee Myung-hak will not succeed after participating in the party election, he can purify his voters and ensure that he will not fail in the Seoul mayoral election."

“Purifying the electorate”

Jiang Changyuan repeated these four words in his mind, feeling that Li You was treating the voters as some kind of objects.

"That's nothing." Li You glanced at him. "The idol stars and actors in the entertainment industry started to form fan clubs a few years ago just to take advantage of this fan economy. It's just the same model."

"Purified fans and voters will undoubtedly be more loyal."

"I understand," Jiang Changyuan learned humbly.

Li You pressed the cigarette he had taken two puffs of into the ashtray and asked, "Mayor Jiang, would you like to stay in Jeju Island until you grow old, or go to Busan as I arranged?"

Jiang Changyuan was silent for a while. No matter how Jeju Island is developed, it is just a tourist island. It is fast to make money, but when it comes to accumulating political influence, it is definitely far inferior to Busan.

He let out a long sigh, "How strong will the election campaign be in Busan next year?"

"Chairman Li," Jiang Changyuan looked at Li You, "I don't have much influence or connections in Busan, so it's not easy to compete for this position."

"What are you afraid of with me here?" Li You waved his hand.

Jiang Changyuan looked at the confident Li You and couldn't help feeling a little worried.

It stands to reason that if a party takes over the presidency, it will give up the position of mayor of Seoul and then take over the position of mayor of Busan.

Otherwise, take down the president and the mayor of Seoul, and let the mayor of Busan go.

But Li You is undoubtedly fighting a three-front war. The president, the mayors of Seoul and Busan are unwilling to give up to other parties.

"You are not a member of the Grand National Party," Li You glanced at him again, "Don't worry about it."

"."

Although Li You's words were very impolite, Jiang Changyuan still breathed a sigh of relief.

Li You looked at Jeon Jae-jun who was hurrying up behind him, and patted him on the shoulder, "Don't worry, Mayor Jiang. You still have a year to prepare for the Busan mayoral election next year. You can relax."

Jiang Changyuan nodded solemnly. No matter how much Li You helped him, he had to make his own plans. He had to run the election himself. A complete puppet would never succeed.

After Jiang Changyuan left, Li Youcai waved for Quan Zaijun to come over, "What happened?"

(End of this chapter)