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

Xie Shanquan left Chen Shi's office. He had never written an economic development report. After thinking about it for a while, he went to Lu Nan's office.

"Director Lu, are you busy?"

Lu Nan looked at Xie Shanquan: "Shanquan, is something wrong?"

"Chen County asked me to write a report on the economic development of half of the county. I don't know where to start. Please give me some guidance, Director Lu."

Lu Nan said, "When a leader asks you to write a report, you must understand the purpose of the report. This is the most important thing. Otherwise, you'll be going in the wrong direction, putting in a lot of effort for no reward, and doing useless work."

Xie Shanquan thought for a moment and realized that Chen Shi had asked him to write an economic development report, which must mean that he wanted to develop the economy of the lower half of the county.

"Director Lu, Chen County asked us to write an economic development report, which must be related to the economic development of the lower half of the county."

Lu Nan shook his head: "Not necessarily. Developing the economy is just a superficial phenomenon. We need to understand the true purpose of the leadership through developing the economy."

This is Chen County testing you, seeing your comprehension ability. A qualified report needs to connect the leader's true purpose with economic development.

Xie Shanquan was completely confused. What was Chen Shi's real purpose?

Lu Nan continued, "To be a leader's secretary, you need to be observant and say what the leader can't say. If you don't even know Chen Xian's true purpose, it means you're not a qualified secretary. You haven't gotten into Chen Xian's heart. You're dispensable, and anyone can replace you."

You can't just stay on the surface when doing your job. You need to observe the leader's inner thoughts through some details. Only when you can grasp the leader's inner thoughts will the leader be unable to do without you.

A secretary who anticipates the leader's needs and anticipates their needs, is the kind of secretary the leader will like.

"Thank you for your guidance, Director Lu. I haven't done my job well enough, and I need to work harder."

"Shanquan, you've offended Zhao Gang and Xu Wen. You have no way out. If you can't gain Chen County's trust, they might replace you at any time."

The government office remains unchanged, but county leaders come and go. While County Magistrate Chen was in charge, they were somewhat restrained; but once he was transferred, it was inevitable that you would be reassigned to a remote township.

Xie Shanquan understood that clinging to Chen Shi was his only chance to turn his life around, and he had to gain Chen Shi's trust.

After leaving Lu Nan's office, Xie Shanquan called his father.

"Dad, are you free this afternoon?"

"I only have one class this afternoon."

"After class, come to the county town and give Director Lu two packs of good cigarettes and two bottles of good wine. I will transfer two thousand yuan to you. Just like last time, say that you are passing by and come to my house for a visit. Director Lu is not home. Just leave the things and leave."

"I have money on me, and you have many other uses for it, so you don't need to transfer any to me."

Xie Shanquan gave his father a few instructions and then went to Chen Shi's office to receive the department leader who came to report.

In the afternoon, Chen Shi went to a meeting, while Xie Shanquan was tidying up in his office. He saw some documents on the table, picked them up, and saw that they were about the construction of the expressway in the lower half of the county.

Xie Shanquan held the documents and looked at them carefully. Suddenly, he understood why Chen Shi had asked him to write a report on the economic development of the county.

After tidying up his office, Xie Shanquan went to Lu Nan's office.

"Director Lu, I saw on County Chen's desk that the Transportation Bureau sent over information about the construction of the expressway in the lower half of the county. Could you please take a look? County Chen asked me to write a report on the economic development of the lower half of the county. I wonder if its real purpose is related to the construction of the expressway."

Lu Nan thought for a moment: "Chen Xian is from Fushan Town. His family is from the lower half of the county. It takes about two hours to get to the county seat, which is very inconvenient."

When Liu Feng was in the Public Security Bureau, he followed Chen County and was transferred to the Transportation Bureau as its director, which was probably arranged by Chen County.

The construction of this expressway in the lower half of the county had been proposed by county leaders before, but it did not receive the support of the county's main leaders and was eventually abandoned.

To build a highway in the lower half of the county, the first step is to obtain the support of the county's main leaders.

Chen County asked you to write an economic development report covering half of the county, all to fund the construction of the highway; that's Chen County's real intention.

Xie Shanquan said, "Thank you for your guidance, Director Lu. I now know how to write this report."

I'll go down to conduct research tomorrow.

Lu Nan saw this as an opportunity: "Shan Quan, I'll go down with you tomorrow. Tell County Chief Chen that you're not familiar with the towns and villages below and ask me to come along."

Xie Shanquan repeatedly agreed.

After Chen Shi finished the meeting, Xie Shanquan waited outside the conference room.

Chen Shi came out: "Let's go inspect the greenhouse vegetable base in Heyuan Town."

Xie Shanquan checked the time; it was almost five o'clock. He told Yang Bin to drive the car to the office building and wait.

Chen Shi only brought his secretary and driver; he didn't bring anyone else.

Heyuan Town is close to the county seat, less than ten kilometers away. From Heyuan Town, it is another ten kilometers to the greenhouse vegetable base.

Xie Shanquan notified the relevant leaders of Heyuan Town in advance. Shi Fu, the mayor of Heyuan Town, and the deputy mayor in charge arrived at the greenhouse vegetable base early to wait.

Chen Shi arrived at the greenhouse vegetable base in a special car. The cement road led to a nearby village, but the road into the greenhouse vegetable base was a dirt road, about two kilometers long, with large trucks frequently passing by, and the road surface was full of potholes.

As soon as the car stopped, Shi Fu and his entourage rushed over to greet them.

Xie Shanquan got out of the car and opened the car door for Chen Shi.

Chen Shi stepped down, and Shi Fu jogged over, extending his hands and smiling broadly: "Welcome, County Chief Chen, to inspect the greenhouse vegetable base."

Chen Shi looked at the bumpy dirt road and asked, "Mayor Shi, why isn't this road paved to make it easier for vehicles to travel?"

"In Chen County, this road project was submitted to the Transportation Bureau for approval two years ago, but it was rejected by the Transportation Bureau, which said it was not a village road and that our town should raise the funds to build it ourselves."

The road is 2.2 kilometers long and the budget is two million. The town has too many other expenses and simply cannot afford to pave the road.

The town government tried many ways to get the contractors of the greenhouse vegetable base to cover the cost, but they refused. If they were forced to pay this amount, they would stop contracting greenhouse vegetable cultivation.

Shi Fu looked at the dirt road: "It took the town government 500,000 yuan to repair this dirt road. The money was a loan from the rural credit cooperative, and it's not finished yet."

When Chen Shi inspected the work in the townships, he knew the nature of these township officials. Regardless of whether they had money or not, they would always cry poverty and try every means to ask the county government for money.

Chen Shi looked at Shi Fu: "Mayor Shi, don't complain to me about being poor. The greenhouse vegetable base is doing well, helping villagers increase their income. The vegetables can be sold to Mingzhou and even Yizhou. With the sales channels opened up, don't let this dirt road hold you back."

Have you ever thought about this? This dirt road is frequently used by large trucks, and it's full of potholes. It takes about 20 minutes to travel two kilometers. If the road surface were paved, it would take less than five minutes, saving more than ten minutes of time.

Don't underestimate these ten minutes. Vegetable transportation is a race against time, and every step and every bit of transportation time must be minimized.

"Submit the information to the Transportation Bureau tomorrow and get the project approved. The Transportation Bureau will allocate 500,000 yuan to you. The remaining amount will be covered by your town government. The road must be repaired by the end of the year. I will come to inspect it again."

Getting 500,000 is better than getting nothing. Even if the Transportation Bureau doesn't allocate any funds, this road still has to be paved.

Shi Fu looked troubled and said, "I'll do my best."

"It's not just about trying our best, it's about fixing it."

Xie Shanquan jotted down the key points of Chen Shi's speech in his notebook. The leader was quite busy and sometimes forgot, so he had to remind him.