Zhang Wen's name

Office of the Governor of Handong Province.

Zhao Chaoyang arrived at Zhang Wen's office with a document in his hand.

"Chaoyang, what brings you here? We need to do the annual statistics soon, aren't you very busy?"

"Governor Zhang, I want to apologize to you. It was my fault for not handling my work well, which caused a lot of financial losses."

Zhang Wen was a little confused. "You've only been here for about a year, what do those losses have to do with you?"

"Chaoyang, why are you so agitated today? Did something happen?"

"That's right. I've looked at the work reports from the past few years and I've found that officials at lower levels are developing projects arbitrarily, many of which are unlikely to be profitable. In their pursuit of so-called political achievements, they've allowed government funds to be lost."

"Chaoyang, just tell me exactly how much loss has been incurred so I can have a sense of it. Actually, I knew about this problem before; government decisions can't always guarantee profits. If the development project can create jobs, we should support it."

Zhao Chaoyang agreed after hearing this, knowing that many government infrastructure projects are not profitable. Sometimes, projects are developed to ensure job creation and prevent losses.

"Governor Zhang, I know all that you're talking about. What I'm referring to is the kind of situation where there's absolutely no benefit, government money is invested, but the results are unsatisfactory and the land is left to languish. I've roughly estimated that our entire province lost about 200 billion last year."

Zhang Wen was shocked upon hearing this. How could this be allowed? Did the government's money just fall from the sky?

"Chaoyang, I propose setting up a task force. You will be in charge of thoroughly investigating such projects throughout the province, and all those involved in collusion between officials and businessmen should be handed over to the Discipline Inspection Commission. If the losses were caused by economic development, then let him retire early. We don't support idlers in Handong."

"Yes, Governor Zhang."

Seeing Zhao Chaoyang leave, Zhang Wen picked up the documents and started reading. Suddenly, he noticed that Jianhu County was also on the list.

Zhang Wen was a little confused. Weren't fireworks and firecrackers incredibly profitable? Besides, it seemed like all the fireworks in Handong were bought from Hunan Province. How could such a huge market not have developed? What was Li Daniu doing? Thinking this, Zhang Wen picked up the phone on the table.

"Hello, this is Zhang Wen from the Provincial Party Committee. Is this Mayor Wang?"

Wang Defa felt a little nervous when he heard it was Zhang Wen calling.

"Governor Zhang, is there any instruction you need for this call?"

"Mayor Wang, there's a question I don't quite understand."

Upon hearing this, Wang Defa's heart skipped a beat; Governor Zhang's visit was clearly not friendly.

"Governor Zhang, please ask me any questions you may have, and I will do my best to answer them."

How much do you know about the fireworks base in Jianhu County?

Upon hearing this, Wang Defa thought, "I'm in trouble. Li Daniu, you bastard, you're about to retire and you still want to screw me over."

"Governor Zhang, I apologize. This is my fault. I only found out yesterday that our Yanshi City actually has a fireworks base."

"Mayor Wang, I'm not blaming you for that. I'm asking why our only fireworks and firecrackers base in Handong is operating at a loss."

Wang Defa was practically cursing Li Daniu's ancestors for eighteen generations in his mind.

"Governor Zhang, I don't know the specifics of the problem either. I'll go down and investigate on-site later."

Zhang Wen was very satisfied with Wang Defa's attitude after hearing that you had come here.

"Write a self-criticism and post it in the group later. It should be at least 2000 words."

Wang Defa looked annoyed after hearing this, wondering why Secretary Li had gone to another province for research.

"Okay, Governor Zhang. I'll write it down right away."

"Mayor Wang, please don't be resistant. This is how we should handle anyone who makes a mistake from now on."

Wang Defa felt much better after hearing this.

One hour later.

"Loving and Caring People of Handong Working Group".

The city representatives were astonished to see the self-criticism written by Wang Defa from Yanshi. Was this some kind of recurring event in their group chat? They never expected Wang Defa to go this far, even posting his self-criticism here.

"Yanshi, with this incident, can you still deliver your fireworks on time?"

"Don't worry, Lu Zhou, we'll definitely make you satisfied. Besides, it's just a self-criticism, not some illegal information."

"Yanshi, I don't agree with that. What do you mean by 'a self-criticism'? As government officials, we should admit our mistakes and stand up straight when we're punished. Even if it's just a self-criticism, we should take it seriously."

Seeing that the group chat was buzzing again, Zhang Wen immediately recounted the issues that Zhao Chaoyang had reported that day.

"Comrades, as Party cadres, we must value every penny of government revenue. This money belongs to taxpayers; how can we waste it like this? We hope that all cities will take this as a warning."

"One more thing, from now on, if the heads of each city make a mistake, they must post their self-criticism in the group chat."

After Zhang Wen posted this message, the group fell silent.

When Lin Zhijun saw that Mayor Wang of their Yanshi City had posted a self-criticism in the group chat, he immediately notified Li Daniu.

Li Daniu suddenly saw Lin Zhijun run in with a panicked expression and immediately asked...

"Secretary Li, something terrible has happened! Mayor Wang Defa just wrote a self-criticism in the group chat."

Li Daniu was also shocked when he heard this. Wang Defa was very concerned about his reputation, how could he do such a shameful thing?

"Zhijun, do you know what happened?"

"Mayor Wang's self-criticism seems to be related to our fireworks base."

Li Daniu was stunned when he heard this. It turned out to be related to the fireworks base. It seems he had retired early this time. It's just a pity that he won't live to see the day when Chenghu Fireworks will flourish.

"Zhijun, I may have to take early retirement. You'll have to take on the responsibility of Chenghu County from now on."

Lin Zhijun was shocked when he heard this. "How come you're going to resign just because the mayor made a self-criticism?"

"Secretary Li, things aren't that serious, are they? We just had a failed development project; there was no corruption involved."

"Zhijun, this industrial park has an investment of over 10 billion yuan, but it has not met expectations. Someone must take responsibility for these losses, and I, as the county party secretary, am the most suitable."

Lin Zhijun was deeply moved upon hearing this, as the decision had been made by the entire Standing Committee in a meeting.

"Secretary Li, you don't need to do this. This matter was decided in a meeting of our county committee."

Li Daniu waved his hand and said in a gentle tone.

"Zhijun, everyone in our leadership team is good; they are all people willing to serve the people. I will take full responsibility, and you can continue to serve the people as well. Besides, this was my suggestion; it has nothing to do with you. I am the one primarily responsible for this matter."

Lin Zhijun fell silent after hearing this; he knew Li Daniu's mind was made up. No one wanted this to happen, but market rules don't prevent things from occurring just because you want them to. It seems future development projects need to be more cautious; even if you're going to do something, you should at least conduct a small-scale trial first.