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

Zhang Xiangdong also considered building a highway to connect the lower half of the county, forming a unified whole and developing the economy.

The expressway connects to Yixing County, and it takes about an hour and a half to get from Chunyang to Yixing, which will strengthen economic cooperation.

Chunyang County's geographical location makes it difficult to mobilize the county's resources to develop its economy.

From the northernmost point to the southernmost point, it is more than 150 kilometers long. What's worse, there is no expressway connection. It's all provincial roads and secondary highways with sharp curves. The speed is about 40 kilometers per hour, and it takes more than three hours.

It only takes about three hours to get from Chunyang to Yizhou.

Due to its geographical location, Chunyang's towns and villages are scattered. Most people in Huangchang Town and Laoyan Town in the lower part of the county have never been to Chunyang County. They are more accustomed to going to Yixing County for medical treatment and shopping.

It only takes 40 minutes to get from Huangchang Town to Yixing County, but more than two hours to get to Chunyang.

Laoyan Town is closer; it only takes about 20 minutes to get to Yixing County, and about three hours to get to Chunyang.

People from Shangying Town and Fushan Town are used to going to Fuping County for medical treatment and shopping, as it is closer and more convenient.

Zhang Xiangdong did not bring it up because he had thought it through carefully. Building this highway would require more than 10 billion yuan, and Chunyang County could not come up with the money. They could only ask the city and province for a portion of the money, and the county would have to solve the majority of the problem.

Seeing that Zhang Xiangdong remained silent, Chen Shi continued, "The soil in Fushan Town is suitable for growing konjac. However, without the highway, transportation is a problem, making it difficult to attract capable companies to build factories in Fushan Town to process konjac."

Companies from other areas come to Fushan Town to buy konjac, driving down the price significantly, mainly because they are concerned about increased transportation costs.

Taking the provincial highway to the county seat and then the Yihu Expressway takes three hours for large trucks. If the expressway is built, it will only take forty minutes to get on the Yihu Expressway, greatly reducing transportation costs. Farmers who grow konjac can also sell it at a good price.

More importantly, the konjac from Fushan Town is of higher quality than that from other places, attracting businesses to set up factories there, which can solve local employment problems and increase government revenue.

Chen Shi's throat was dry from talking, so he poured himself a glass of water and drank it all in one gulp. "You've said so much, but you haven't said anything yet. It's all for nothing," Chen Shi thought, feeling uneasy.

Without Zhang Xiangdong's support, building the highway would have been nothing but a pipe dream.

Zhang Xiangdong slowly said, "Chen County Magistrate, have you thought about where the money to build the highway will come from?"

Chen Shi had been thinking about this problem for a while, but hadn't figured it out yet: "I've been thinking about this problem recently, but I still don't have a solution."

"Without money, everything is just empty talk. This road is important to Chunyang County, but it is dispensable to the city and will not affect the overall situation."

At the provincial level, it can be ignored; it has no effect on the province's economic development.

Chen Shi looked at Zhang Xiangdong with a determined look in his eyes: "Secretary, I believe that anything is possible with human effort. As long as you support me, I will definitely find a way to get the money to build this highway, connect the lower half of the county, and develop the county's economy."

Zhang Xiangdong asked solemnly, "Do you really want to build this highway?"

"Thoughts"

Seeing the determination in Chen Shi's eyes, Zhang Xiangdong also wanted to build this highway. Since he couldn't find a suitable person to be in charge, Chen Shi was the best candidate. He couldn't always pass the toughest challenges to Chen Shi.

This is your own doing, so don't blame me. Building this highway is your own achievement, and if you take it a step further, you'll have opportunities.

Zhang Xiangdong picked up the county's economic development report and began to read it very carefully.

After a long pause, he put down the report and said, "The report is well written and you put a lot of effort into it. I personally support your idea of ​​building a highway as the first step in developing the economy. However, we still need to exchange opinions with other leaders of the county party committee and then have it discussed and decided by the Standing Committee."

Chen Shi was overjoyed. With Zhang Xiangdong's words, he felt relieved and could turn his idea into reality.

After leaving Zhang Xiangdong's office, Chen Shi secretly resolved to make sure the highway was repaired.

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

"Zhang County, since I became the executive deputy county head, I have been thinking about how to develop the economy, help Chunyang get rid of poverty, and enable the people to live a well-off life as soon as possible."

Zhang Kaizhi remained calm. "Enough with the nonsense. Get to the point. If you have something to say, get lost. I'm busy and don't have time for your rubbish."

Chen Shi was the second-in-command of the county government. He didn't show his dissatisfaction on his face, but patiently listened on.

Chen Shi then changed the subject: "After I took office as the executive deputy county head, I conducted research in several townships in the lower half of the county and wrote a report on the development of the economy in the lower half of the county. Please take a look."

Chen Shi handed the report to Zhang Kaizhi with both hands. Zhang Kaizhi took it, glanced at it, and didn't know what Chen Shi meant.

"Chen County, tell me your thoughts on how to develop the various towns and villages in the lower half of the county."

Chen Shi said a lot, but it all boiled down to one sentence: build a highway.

Zhang Kaizhi had no time to listen to Chen Shi's nonsense and solemnly asked, "County Magistrate Chen, do you know how much it cost to build this highway?"

"Preliminary estimates suggest it will cost approximately 13 billion."

Zhang Kaizhi said sarcastically, "Chen County, do you know what Chunyang County's GDP was in 2013, and what its fiscal revenue was?"

Chen Shi didn't even think about it. All this data was in his head. He had a good memory, and when he looked at the data, he would write down the important data.

"Chunyang County's GDP in 2013 was 113 billion yuan, and its fiscal revenue was 16.5 billion yuan."

"With only a few billion in fiscal revenue, how are you going to build highways?"

"Zhang County Magistrate, can we ask the city and province for money?"

How much do you want?

"Take as much as you can; it's all up to us. We must find a way to overcome the difficulties. We cannot be defeated by the challenges we face."

Zhang Kaizhi looked at Chen Shi with a half-smile. Could this kid be a political idiot? Building a highway is so simple, it would have been built long ago. What you can think of, the previous county governments have already thought of. If they could get the money, why would they wait for you to build the highway?

On second thought, Chen Shi wasted his energy on building the highway, so he didn't have time to compete with him for the county government's say, which might not be a bad thing.

If he gets lucky and manages to fix the road, the credit will go to him, the top official of the county government.

"Chen County, I personally support your plan to build a highway to develop the county's economy. However, we don't have the funds. We need to spend money everywhere, but we don't have enough to support your road construction."

Chen Shi had anticipated this, and to sum it up in one sentence: if you want to build roads, build them yourself; the government won't allocate a single penny.

As long as Zhang Kaizhi doesn't hinder me, I don't expect the government to allocate much money.

"Zhang County, I'll have the Transportation Bureau initiate the project and do the preliminary work first. Once the county government approves it, it will be submitted to the county party committee for a final decision."

"No rush. This is a major event for the county government. We need to hold a meeting of the government's party group to discuss it and solicit the opinions of the party group members."

Seeing that Zhang Kaizhi did not explicitly object, Chen Shi felt relieved.

"Okay, County Chief Zhang, we will convene a Party group meeting as soon as possible to study the plan for building the expressway."