My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 523 Guess if I know?

Even if it takes more than ten years to see the results, the tourism industry will boom in twenty or thirty years and people will start making money effortlessly.

It also skipped over the ever-changing policy trends of the past decade or so.

Moreover, it aligns more closely with Wei Dong's vision of using work-for-relief programs in impoverished areas, employing small-scale projects like mountain trails to boost farmers' incomes and increase their connections with the outside world.

This is much more reliable than simply distributing subsidies directly to impoverished counties.

Even the government only officially issued the work-for-relief poverty alleviation model 20 or 30 years later, so it has taken the lead again.

With the addition of corn bioengineering-based planting models that benefit farmers, a two-pronged approach should surely yield some results.

Having made up his mind, he had Wei Dong raise his camera and take many pictures of architectural details, from the county town to the imperial palace, from the teahouse to the city gate tower, and he finished taking pictures in two or three rolls.

Finally, keep the film and give the camera to the employees so they can develop the habit of taking photos and making reports. The film and developing can be reimbursed.

At this moment, we won't explain the overall strategy to the employees; we'll just focus on doing a good job with the trail in front of us.

They were taught how to apply for a branch of a tourism development company in the county seat, how to open a company account, and how to claim project funds to keep the project on schedule.

Construction will begin immediately after the Spring Festival, and the walkway will be completed as soon as possible while ensuring safety.

The girls watched from afar without interrupting, except for Xiaodie, who was in her father's arms and had just received a clay figurine of Pigsy, and had a smile on her face.

Wei Dong happened to catch a glimpse of it and was happily preparing to seize the opportunity to talk to and guide the child when a large group of people came towards him.

Leading the group were former leaders of the scenic area, followed by a number of officials dressed as government officials.

They warmly and proactively invited Wei Dong to come to the county to discuss work.

For the two new employees, even the most inconspicuous education leader was like an unreachable master. After all, they were used to the feeling that middle school principals were high-ranking officials, and they were nothing in front of the education leader.

But look, now it's the county leaders leading the team. They received a report from the scenic area and saw that the transport boat was still docked at the pier, so they searched all over the city for it.

Anyway, the herb gatherer was practically on the verge of kneeling and kowtowing.

Wei Dong thought to himself, "Wow, is this the kind of treatment that Belt Bro and Little Target get when they travel to different places?"

With a smile on his face, he calmly introduced: "We are qualified to advertise our products on Brick TV, so we want to promote the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River as the best tourism product in Shangzhou to the whole country. But before we officially promote it, we must make all kinds of preparations, just like a product must have various functions, reliable quality, and be worth buying before we can advertise it."

He still overlooked one point.

Forty years later, Brick TV has become just another ordinary TV station among countless others.

In the era of the explosion of self-media, countless imposters under the banner of Brick and Paper have been messing around, and no one takes them seriously anymore.

Therefore, Wei Dong had already demystified TVB from the very beginning, and didn't care at all whether people would argue about whether or not they could advertise. In his mind, as long as you pay, you can get on air.

In reality, in the 1980s, and for at least the next twenty years, not to mention small county towns far from the capital, even prefecture-level and provincial-level cities looked up to Zhuan'ertai with great respect.

Brick TV mentioned that even the smallest things in a local area can have a huge impact. Two years ago, Brick TV's series of special reports on Shangzhou directly put Shangzhou at the forefront of the country's housing reform and urban construction reform.

If a place is criticized by the imperial court, it can even lead to losing one's hat. As a result, there were later capable people who were responsible for helping to resolve the issues in various places. This is the kind of "bee gate" that Shen Cuiyue mentioned, which specializes in running errands for the imperial court.

Powerful.

As soon as he uttered those words, everyone's eyes lit up, and their reaction was similar to that of the herb gatherer.

"Great! Our county will fully cooperate. What can we do?"

Let Wei Dong test the waters: "In the entire Three Gorges, at least in the Shangzhou section, I think there are mainly two scenic spots: one is the Kuimen Gorge at the entrance of the gorge, and the other is the Lesser Three Gorges in the county below. We will try to connect these two places and develop them into a common scenic spot. We will purchase high-speed airships with a speed of nearly 100 kilometers per hour from abroad for the transportation of tourists and business. We will also try to help the county open an independent dock for us to facilitate docking and the transportation of construction materials."

Sure enough, the request that Wu Shengyun casually mentioned immediately received a series of promises: "No problem, whether you choose a location in the county port or near the scenic area, it can be processed immediately."

The county town is two or three kilometers away from the scenic area.

Wei Dong had never been here before, but he had heard from short videos that many scenic spots make money by providing shuttle buses and transferring tourists.

Now, let's probe further: "Has the county government... considered the issue of water storage for the Three Gorges Dam?"

He never asked about this matter in Shangzhou, Jiangzhou, or with his former superiors, for fear of being exposed.

The reactions were varied. Some shook their heads and said it was impossible. If they really built a dam to store water, wouldn't that flood the county town? How could they do that?

Others were more relaxed: "The hydroelectric dam has already been closed, so there shouldn't be much of an impact. What other problems could there be?"

Only the county leaders frowned and shook their heads: "Last year... there was a document requiring a relocation and resettlement pilot project, which shows that the higher authorities have such considerations. Hydrological surveys and geological explorations are also being carried out. Comrade Weidong, your thinking is very far-sighted and broad."

Wei Dong nodded: "When doing things, of course we have to think long-term. So for now, we'll focus on the work at high water levels and see how well we can coordinate with other regions. Then we'll gradually increase our efforts. We also need to pay close attention to the higher authorities' plans for the Three Gorges Dam. It's a huge tourism development project, but it's just a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the Three Gorges Dam."

This is practically an explicit reminder that the most important thing for this county in the future is to focus on the progress of the hydropower station.

This was a crucial turning point in time, back to 1983, a point that Wei Dong hadn't quite grasped before. When he was on a cargo ship delivering titanium ingots to Shanghai, he passed by the locks of the dam, which had already been completed and was under construction for a hydroelectric power station.

Most of the local people along the river thought that this was the Three Gorges Dam.

Little did people know that this was only part of the Third Front project, and that it was mainly for generating electricity for the Third Front factories that had suddenly been concentrated here.

The dam built at the Three Gorges outlet is not of great significance to the water conservancy project; the downstream areas will still experience flooding.

Therefore, at the turn of the century, a second dam was built inside the Three Gorges.

The primary purpose of this dam is to store water and control floods; power generation is secondary.

Faced with the flood safety of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the development situation of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River led by Jiangzhou, abandoning the entire county was simply a matter of choosing between what was more important.

People in different positions should have different perspectives.

The other party's expression became much more serious.

Rang Weidong didn't say much: "This is just the beginning. We will definitely promote it step by step in a down-to-earth manner. At the same time, we will also carry out other agricultural planting projects. The purpose is to help increase the income of agriculture and tourism in Shangzhou and help people get rid of poverty and become rich. Please give us more guidance in the future."

With a very humble attitude, all those present could do was bid farewell to the director of the Shangzhou Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the leaders of the Beijiaochang Industrial Development Zone, and the head of the Shangzhou Municipal Tourism Development Corporation as they returned home.

Although there is no hierarchical relationship in administrative matters.

Moreover, it was a private commercial exploration and tour activity.

But from this perspective, they are simply "economic envoys" from a prefecture-level city.

So they returned to the dock in a grand procession, attracting a lot of attention.

Dong Xueqing, knowing her brother-in-law well, quickly pulled the others back to the boat to avoid being seen by this group of women.

Li Erfeng wanted to come over and show her face, but Shen Laosan dragged her away.

Wei Dong also took the opportunity to explain the principles and scale of corn bioengineering, emphasizing that it doesn't focus too much on the quality of corn output, but rather on large-scale, industrialized deep processing to ensure a plentiful supply.

The factory site will definitely be on the riverbank of Shangzhou New City. In the future, several counties along the river will be able to gather at the riverbank and purchase goods by ship, which is more convenient and has a larger volume than road transport.

This will definitely increase the average income of farmers in the counties along the river from planting.

As it turned out, that county leader had inspected the Beijiaochang New Town: "At the time, I felt that the terrain was quite unique, and the distance from the waterfront was a bit far. Did you consider the hydroelectric power station factor?"

Wei Dong was clearly building according to the final appearance of Shangzhou in his mind, so of course he could avoid the water level.

Now, he maintained a composed expression: "Urban planning is a major issue, and we must consider it comprehensively."

Finally, we arrived at the dock.

Unlike Shangzhou, which has many river beaches, this place is very steep.

Stepping out of the city gate, there's a steep stone staircase with a very steep angle. It completely lacks the atmosphere of people's lives during the Ming, Qing, and Republican eras that you can see in TV dramas about Shangzhou. It looks as difficult as climbing Mount Tai.

It offers a perfect view of the Qutang Gorge and the distant mountain peaks.

The county leader paused for half a second, considering the situation, and then asked in a low voice, "Do you know what the higher-ups have decided on regarding the water level of the hydropower station?"

Let Weidong know shit!
But he was stuck there, so he could only go along with it and say, "We dare not speculate on such a big matter. We must be prepared for the worst. If it's not that high, we can just develop and build downwards."

The county leader looked back with difficulty: "But according to your water level, our county town will be completely submerged!"

Wei Dongcai thought to himself, "Yes, that's right."

These port cities along the river are actually very sensitive to water levels.

Walking near the river, you can often find hydrological markers indicating the water level at a certain time and year, as well as elevation figures.

It is used to measure the need to consider flood factors when constructing here.

The high-water season in summer is also the time when various regions are most vigilant in preventing major natural disasters.

These altitudes must be memorized.

To a discerning person, these figures reveal a chilling truth when compared side-by-side.

Wei Dong thought for a moment and reminded this discerning person, "Some people may think that a county like this will definitely not be flooded, and some people may think that the water level has not risen much yet. But look at Jiangzhou, it has become a city with independent planning status and a pilot benchmark for national economic system reform. If Jiangzhou is to be developed vigorously, then it is necessary to raise the water level, right? Moreover, if the flood in the middle and lower reaches has not decreased, doesn't that mean that the water level is not controlled enough?"

The other party then had a sudden, profound realization!

Differences before and after
(End of this chapter)