My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 961 This half-step is quite ingenious

Because Wei Dong was brought to the site, he exchanged a few pleasantries with various parties in the city and listened to the district head introduce the current performance of the "Convention and Exhibition Center".

They proposed blowing up the mountain in front of the convention center!
This turned the initial embarrassment on everyone's faces into surprise.

They were probably secretly praising him, saying that his reputation was well-deserved and that Wei Dong's ability to resolve the situation was truly remarkable.

To avoid making everyone too embarrassed, they actually came up with such a shocking idea.

Look at the "secretaries" around him, young and old, they are all so shocked they can't close their mouths.

This was clearly an idea that they had never even mentioned internally.

The topic was so awkward that everyone was probably digging their toes into the ground.

The convention center, which cost a huge sum of money, was completed in the second half of the year before last. It made a name for itself at the National Auto Expo held at the end of the year, achieving a total of 3.7 billion yuan in signed contracts.

Then, Wei Dong was instructed to quickly evacuate Jiangzhou after New Year's Day, and he was no longer involved in matters outside the factory area.

Someone will surely see this as a golden opportunity and take over all the work at the entire exhibition center.

As a result, the district head reluctantly reported that from last year's Spring Festival to this year's Spring Festival, a total of six trade fairs were held, with a total order amount of about seven million.

The key issue is that it didn't attract crowds or generate local consumption, thus failing to make any economic contribution to the Gangnam district.

On the contrary, we still have to invest manpower and resources to maintain such a large number of buildings.

Even Gangnam District can't withstand this situation.

Only the auto show marked his debut and his peak.

This has brought unprecedented economic benefits to many surrounding units, including Gangnam District.

Then it was gone.

The district and various departments didn't care why Wei Dong had given up this part of the work; the person who took over hadn't done a good job at all, so everyone was busy complaining and criticizing.

Even after three different teams took over the management of the convention center, it still failed to turn a profit.

This directly resulted in a significant drop in economic data in 1987 compared to 1986, when the economy had been performing exceptionally well.

Jiangzhou, which undertook the task of exploring economic system reform nationwide, has many people watching various data changes, wondering where the problem lies, whether the reform steps are wrong or the direction is wrong.

This will definitely lead to a lot of conflicting opinions.

Even Xu Rao knew that the growth rate of Jiangzhou's industrial output value was declining rapidly, which could be interpreted in other ways.

Everyone is now eager to see what tricks Wei Dong will come up with.

As a result, he stood by the roadside, looking at the convention center with all the lights turned on in the night, and gazing into the distance at the mountain that looked like a giant beast lying in front of this road.

He slowly suggested, "Why don't we just blow up this mountain... Ah, of course, it doesn't necessarily have to be blown up, but rather we can flatten this mountain with the spirit of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains, so that the entire Jiangnan District can be completely exposed to the city center."

The Yangtze River Bridge, built in 1981, is now the only highway bridge connecting the Jiangnan District to the city center.

Previously, Jiangzhou also solved the transportation problem between the two sides of the river by ferry and car ferry.

When Wei Dong and Gou Dan were sent to Jiangzhou, they were sent directly from the dock to the factory area in Jiangnan to sell cured meat by ferry.

It wasn't until they got that Dongfeng truck sorted out that they took a huge, zigzag route across the bridge to get into the city.

Then there's a mountain blocking the bridgehead on the south side, so whether you're going in or out of the bridge, you have to go through a narrow tunnel.

It's about 400 meters long, not too long.

However, the two-way four-lane road, like a duck's neck, tightly restricts the traffic flow.

There aren't many cars on the road right now, so there's not much traffic congestion on a daily basis.

When the auto show was held, the roads were so congested that everyone complained.

Of course, people forget about it after the exhibition, but it's a happy kind of trouble.

Now everyone is eager to do it again, or they want it to happen all the time.

But to everyone's surprise, Wei Dong suggested blowing it up and leveling it.

If we had known this would happen, we wouldn't have gone to such lengths to dig the tunnel seven or eight years ago.

What made Wei Dong certain was that he remembered Jiangzhou didn't have this tunnel later.

Even a municipality with such a grand scale cannot tolerate such a cramped tunnel. Building it now is far better than investing in numerous buildings around the mountain and then leveling it later.

The consumption cost is definitely much lower.

Moreover, the economy needs infrastructure projects to drive growth, but building highways is too costly, and developing real estate is not what he wants.

Then let's just do what the Foolish Old Man did and move the mountain.

But we can't say it like this on the surface: "Jiangzhou's economic system reform benchmark is in the Economic Development Zone, and the biggest showcase is in the Convention and Exhibition Center. People from all over the country come to Jiangnan District for inspection and study, and leaders at all levels come to visit. This mountain is a roadblock. Many Hong Kong businessmen who come to inspect feel that this mountain separates the city center from Jiangnan District, which is not conducive to future development."

It's pointless to talk about how traffic jams will make daily travel difficult in ten or twenty years, or that these bridges will have tolls in the future.

The most effective approach was to directly pin the blame on the Hong Kong investors. Sure enough, the expressions on everyone's faces changed from disbelief to thoughtful consideration.

In fact, if we look at it from the perspective of the people 30 or 40 years from now, they will think, "Oh, it's just a small hill. The infrastructure powerhouse can just push it over and flatten it. It's not worth mentioning at all."

Even a prefecture-level city like Shangzhou was able to easily level a mountain in the suburbs to build an airport.

However, in 1988, when the capabilities of various engineering machinery were still relatively weak, we would still weigh whether it was necessary.

The most crucial question is who will pay for this?

Wei Dong said it casually: "Look, everyone, where there are mountains, there are valleys. This empty valley is perfect for filling in the leveled earth and rocks. Facing the city center, there will be a large open area. Whether it's a city garden, a financial and business district, or a riverside scenic area and amusement park, it's much better than this wild hill. It can also bring huge economic benefits to the city."

He is also gradually learning. At least from the experience in Hong Kong, the land plots on both sides of the exit of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel connecting Hong Kong Island and Yau Tsim Mong are currently the most expensive and sought-after.

The area around Central, near the exit of Hong Kong Island, is home to Hong Kong's most prosperous financial industry and buildings.

The Lujiazui Tunnel in Shanghai is also under construction. Building No. 5 is located next to the exit on the Bund side, while the "Tilan" basketball court is next to the exit on the other side.

Within the foreseeable ten to twenty years, Jiangzhou should see the development of high-quality high-rise districts at both ends of the Yangtze River Bridge.

It shouldn't be overgrown with weeds like this under any circumstances.

This allows Wei Dong, who is not actually familiar with the future development trends of Jiangzhou, to make assumptions without any restrictions.

The city officials immediately probed: "How about... you take charge of this work?"

Let Wei Dongchun offer some advice: "The convention center is quite simple. The most important word in convention and exhibition is 'broad,' meaning extensive reading and abundant resources. There must be a large enough scale to hold this exhibition. If there aren't enough exhibitors or visitors, the convention is just a city-level sales event. For example, the Auto Expo is called the Auto Expo. Cars are the category, and the convention is the overall picture. The key is still the word 'broad' in the middle. So I think someone can definitely do this well."

Even in the darkness of night, you can see some people's eyes light up, and they are eager to write this article.

So, with a wry smile in his heart, he calmed Wei Dong down: "Moving mountains and filling valleys is a relatively simple engineering task. The problem lies in defining the nature of the task, why we are doing it, and what responsibilities and risks we will bear."

Just as everyone in the city was feeling a bit bitter and embarrassed, thinking that Wei Dong was taking the opportunity to vent his anger with sarcasm.

It's hard not to feel that I'm too young and impetuous, and that I'm too immature in my thinking.

But then he gestured to his "old secretary" beside him: "Old Wang, shouldn't you be the one to do this?"

Old Wang had been listening intently, imagining a grand and sweeping construction plan, but when he was suddenly called upon, he was quite relaxed: "Oh, this investment... does it have a clear and definite return?"

It wasn't a question, just a supporting role.

Wei Dong pointed to the outline of the "giant" ahead of the road: "This road is only one and a half kilometers past the bridge to the Jiangnan District Central Roundabout. The middle section is completely blank, with the only building being the Convention and Exhibition Center. What do you think it would look like if the opposite side were filled in and developed?"

He's an expert who's been pioneering in Shenzhen for almost ten years and has been to Hong Kong many times.

Old Wang immediately realized: "Central? The development prospects of this area are very promising. Let's invest. I'll write the report and get it approved when I get back."

No one present could have imagined that "writing a report and getting approval" meant "I wrote it, and you approve it."

They were all a little confused: "Who is this...?"

Old Wang definitely speaks with a slight Beijing accent.

Let Wei Dong explain: "The leader of the Investment Promotion Bureau is also the president of China Merchants Investment Bank, the first private commercial bank in China. It is a state-owned enterprise, and China Merchants Investment Bank will invest in the entire project. The entire project is state-owned and operated, so there is no controversy. Is that acceptable?"

It's mainly because it's almost 10 o'clock, and the kids at home need to go to sleep. It's rare for me to come home, so I have to spend time with them and comfort them every day.

Who wants to work overtime?

As a result, many people present were unfamiliar with the Investment Promotion Bureau: "This... which ministry is this? How come it's both state-owned and privately owned? And why is there a private commercial bank? I've never heard of it."

Let alone the 1980s, even ten years later there will be no information explosion like the internet, especially mobile internet.

There are only so many channels through which we can obtain information.

Even if city leaders know a little, it won't be of much concern to them.

Moreover, many of these explorations are conducted quietly, without being publicized or announced until they are repeatedly verified and confirmed.

Previously, the work was mainly focused on Hong Kong. The Bidding and Tendering Bureau has been established in Hong Kong for over a century and is considered a well-established brand, so it receives a lot of respect from all sectors of Hong Kong society.

But I'm really not familiar with it in mainland China. I even went to Hong Kong for a visit but didn't notice that the building where I went to register and make contact was owned by the investment bureau.

Because internally, the recognized entities were the Foreign Trade Bureau and the Xinghua Society of Xuankou.

Even in Hong Kong, they could only publicly acknowledge that the Xinghua Society was a semi-official organization, since it was someone else's territory.

Old Wang sighed helplessly: "The China Merchants Investment Corporation was established during the Self-Strengthening Movement, breaking the imperialist monopoly on shipping and industry, and opening a new chapter in the development of modern Chinese national industry and commerce. Over the past century, it has accumulated more than 10 billion yuan in fixed assets in Hong Kong and the mainland. It is a key state-owned enterprise directly under the Ministry of Transport, headquartered in Hong Kong. It is one of the earliest Chinese-funded enterprises established and operating in Hong Kong. It is a century-old central enterprise, a comprehensive central enterprise, and a central enterprise based in Hong Kong..."

I've already memorized this set of words very well.

Everyone suddenly realized and applauded enthusiastically. "Oh, oh, oh, it's great that a central state-owned enterprise is investing! That's great!"
Let Wei Dong exchange a satisfied glance with the city officials. Okay, that's it, time to go home.
As a result, when Lao Wang saw everyone applauding and shaking hands with him, it immediately triggered the instincts of the seasoned veterans in the company. How could he possibly steal the spotlight and arouse the suspicion of the leaders?

He quickly took half a step back and solemnly introduced, "Our previous executive chairman was Mr. Fang, and Mr. Rang just took over as the 33rd executive chairman last month. All units and institutions of our Investment Promotion Bureau believe that under Mr. Rang's leadership, the Bureau will surely lead the national industry to shine brightly in the cause of reform!"

The whole audience was shocked.

(End of this chapter)