The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

The next morning, Chen Shi called Xu Mo as soon as he got to work.

"Director Xu, is Secretary Zhang available? I have an urgent matter to report to him."

"County Chief Chen, come here. Secretary Zhang is going to a meeting in the city this afternoon."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shi went to the county party committee office. Xu Mo was now the deputy director of the county party committee office, so Chen Shi went to Xu Mo's office.

"Director Xu"

Xu Mo stood up: "County Chief Chen, Secretary Zhang is waiting for you in his office."

Chen Shi arrived at Zhang Xiangdong's office: "Secretary..."

Zhang Xiangdong stood up: "Sit down."

The two sat down in the reception room. Xu Mo poured Chen Shi a cup of tea, then left the office and closed the door behind him.

Chen Shi said, "Secretary, the people who petitioned yesterday were residents of Xiaxin Neighborhood Committee. Their houses were classified as dangerous buildings in 09 and were all demolished. The dangerous building renovation project was undertaken by Yikun Group."

The total investment is 1 billion yuan, with the county government contributing 500 million yuan and the Chengnan Subdistrict Office contributing 500 million yuan.

The Chengnan Subdistrict Office paid 1 billion yuan to Yikun Group in a lump sum, arranged by Hu Hai, the then county party secretary. Later, Hu Hai was arrested, Yikun Group went bankrupt, and the dilapidated housing renovation project was abandoned.

For five whole years, there was no movement. The residents of Xiaxin Neighborhood Committee have been petitioning, going to the city and the province. Two days ago, they went directly to Beijing to petition, but were intercepted and brought back by the staff of the petition office.

Seeing that the dilapidated housing renovation project remained unresolved, they resorted to extreme measures yesterday, besieging the county government. Elderly Chen Youfu even prepared to self-immolate in front of the county government building, demanding that the county government resolve the dilapidated housing renovation project.

Zhang Xiangdong asked solemnly, "How will the county government resolve this matter?"

"The main problem is funding. The government has no money. Yesterday's situation was very urgent. I didn't have time to report to you. Old man Chen Youfu had cancer and was covered in gasoline. He only gave the county government one hour. If they didn't resolve the issue, he threatened to set himself on fire in front of the county government building."

The situation was urgent, so I reported it to County Chief Zhang, who put me in full charge of handling the matter.

I made a guarantee to the petitioners that the dilapidated housing renovation project would start reconstruction within a month and be completed within two years.

Only after the county government issued an official document did they believe that the evacuation of the county government building had not resulted in any casualties.

Zhang Xiangdong said with a heavy face, "For five whole years, they haven't solved the problem. They're forcing the people to take extreme measures. The relevant leaders of our county party committee and county government are incompetent."

It's fortunate that this incident didn't have serious consequences. Such petitioning incidents must not happen again; they must be nipped in the bud.

The blockade of the county government was an extremely egregious act, and it was likely instigated by someone behind it; the organizers must be severely punished.

Chen Shi took out his notebook and wrote down the essence of Zhang Xiangdong's speech.

Zhang Xiangdong looked at Chen Shi: "How do you plan to solve the problem of 1 billion yuan? The finance department doesn't have any money to allocate to the Chengnan Subdistrict Office."

"Secretary, my idea is to let the Chengnan Subdistrict Office raise 500 million yuan on its own, and the county government raise 500 million yuan."

This is a serious consequence caused by the Chengnan Subdistrict Office; they must find a way to resolve the 500 million yuan issue.

The county government has 500 million yuan. There is a lot of land in Dawangdi, Zhongshan Subdistrict, that can be developed. The Zhongshan Subdistrict can acquire land from farmers and use this land as collateral to obtain a loan of 500 million yuan from the bank to solve the funding problem.

"Once the land is auctioned off and we raise 500 million, we can pay back the bank."

Zhang Xiangdong asked, "Does County Chief Zhang agree to this solution?"

"I reported to him, and he said to wait for the government party group meeting to discuss it, form a government work report, and submit it to the county party committee for review."

Zhang Xiangdong looked at Chen Shi: "You always like to do risky things. What will you do if this plan is not approved by the government party group meeting?"

Yesterday you made a guarantee to the residents of Xiaxin Neighborhood Committee, setting a very tight timeframe. If reconstruction cannot start within a month, they will come after you.

You're carrying this time bomb on your back; it could blow you to pieces at any moment.

Chen Shi had no choice at the time. If he didn't give a guarantee, Chen Youfu would self-immolate in front of the county government and he would be the first to be punished. Zhang Kaizhi would also be punished, and Zhang Xiangdong, the top official, would also be punished, it was just a matter of degree.

"Secretary, if Zhang Kaizhi rejects this solution at the government party group meeting, I will bring together Li County and Song County officials to apply for a discussion at the Standing Committee meeting."

"Try to get County Chief Zhang to agree to this solution. If you force it to be discussed at the Standing Committee meeting, it will have a bad impact on you and leave you with a stigma of disrespecting the top leader."

This will be a stain on your record when the Organization Department is evaluating and promoting cadres.

Chen Shi replied, "I wouldn't take this step unless absolutely necessary."

Zhang Xiangdong looked at Chen Shi: "I personally support your plan. If Chunyang County wants to develop its economy, it must attract investment and businesses to settle in Chunyang."

Chengnan Subdistrict is located in the old town area and has no land available for development, while Zhongshan Subdistrict has a lot of idle land that can be developed. The county government's next step is to focus on attracting investment and developing the economy.

Chen Shi nodded repeatedly. With Zhang Xiangdong's support, they should first solve the immediate problem.

In the afternoon, Chen Shi went to Zhang Kaizhi's office.

"Zhang County, I'd like to report to you on the solution for the funding of the dilapidated housing renovation project."

After listening to Chen Shi's report, Zhang Kaizhi looked solemn and remained silent for a long time.

Chen Shi didn't know whether Zhang Kaizhi supported or opposed him, or what it meant by remaining silent.

Zhang Kaizhi was weighing the pros and cons, and Chen Shi's proposed solution was the only feasible one at the moment.

With no money in the treasury and no allocation from the city, he was on tenterhooks yesterday. If someone really did set themselves on fire in front of the county government, he, as the head of the county government, would be dismissed.

If this issue isn't resolved, the residents of Xiaxin Neighborhood Committee will resort to even more extreme measures.

Chen Shi is willing to do this. Let him do it. If he does it well, it's his job. If he does it poorly, he'll be doomed.

He had an excuse to shift the blame onto Chen Shi, which was Chen Shi's assurance to the petitioners, and it had nothing to do with him.

Thinking of this, he slowly said, "The expropriation of land in Dawandi, the mortgage to the bank for loans, and the subsequent development are all of great importance. We need to hold a government party group meeting to discuss it, form a government report, and submit it to the county party committee for review."

Chen Shi asked, "County Magistrate Zhang, this matter is urgent. When will the government party group meeting be convened?"

Zhang Kaizhi thought for a moment: "I have to go to a meeting in the city tomorrow, which will be held the day after tomorrow afternoon."

Zhang Kaizhi instructed his secretary, Hu Yang, to go and distribute the meeting notice.

Chen Shi returned to his office and went to find Li Hong and Song Yun, asking them to support his proposed funding solution for the dilapidated housing renovation project at the government party group meeting.

Li Hong and Song Yun are both Zhang Xiangdong's men. Chen Shi said he reported to Zhang Xiangdong, and Zhang Xiangdong supported the solution.

Li Hong and Song Yun readily agreed, saying that three votes at the government party group meeting would be enough.

If Zhang Kaizhi objects, he and Gao Rongcai will each have two votes, while Zhao Xuhe will abstain. Zhao Xuhe is getting old and doesn't want to get involved in these matters; he just wants to finish his term steadily and wait for retirement.

If Zhang Kaizhi were to directly reject the proposal using his authority as the top leader, Chen Shi would apply to the Party Secretary to convene a Standing Committee meeting based on the principle of majority rule in democracy, to discuss and study the matter at the Standing Committee meeting.