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

Chen Shi arrived at the county government early in the morning, where Xie Shanquan was already waiting in his office.

Chen Shi sat down to read the newspaper. After finishing, he reached for his thermos and took a sip of water.

"Xiao Xie, don't go out today. Those who report on their work will be scheduled for after 3 p.m. Those who came to report on their work in the morning, let them go back."

Bring me the documents that the county government has issued in the last few days.

Xie Shanquan made notes in his notebook and quickly went to get the documents.

Chen Shi looked at the documents for a while, then left his office and went to Zhang Kaizhi's office.

Zhang County

Zhang Kaizhi stood up to greet him: "County Magistrate Chen, please sit down. Have you been to Mingzhou these past few days? Has the city approved the highway project?"

The two sat down in the reception room. Hu Yang came in to pour tea for Chen Shi and stood to the side. The office door was open.

"The Municipal Transportation Bureau and the Development and Reform Commission have both approved it and submitted it to the Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Provincial Department of Transportation. The next step is to go to the province to follow up on the approval status of the expressway project."

This trip to Mingzhou was quite fruitful. Secretary-General Huang showed Secretary Xiao the economic development report on the lower half of the county. Secretary Xiao was very satisfied with it and supported our efforts to build the expressway.

The National Development and Reform Commission has a poverty alleviation and development support project for next year, with a special fund of 3 billion yuan. Secretary Xiao said that as long as we build the expressway, this 3 billion yuan special fund for poverty alleviation and development support will be invested in Chunyang County.

Zhang Kaizhi was quite surprised to hear Chen Shi's report. It was expected that the Municipal Transportation Bureau and the Development and Reform Commission could approve it. Liu Youguang was in charge of the Transportation Bureau and had connections with Wang Mingzhang. The Development and Reform Commission also had to give Chen Shi face.

Surprisingly, Xiao Chong was still concerned about this matter. He was the head of the county government, and the executive deputy county head was reporting to Xiao Chong. He, as the county head, seemed very incompetent.

I have to go to Mingzhou tomorrow morning to report to Xiao Chong about the highway project. It's a major achievement for me, the county magistrate.

"Chen County, thank you for your hard work. Secretary Xiao supports the construction of the expressway. How much funding has the city allocated?"

"We have to solve the road construction funding ourselves. The 3 billion yuan special fund for poverty alleviation and development projects is the allocation given to Chunyang by the city."

Zhang Kaizhi cursed inwardly, Xiao Chong said he supported him, but he only said it and didn't show it at all.

"Chen County, the total investment for building the expressway is 145 billion yuan. How do you plan to secure the funding?"

"The county government intervened and instructed Chunyang Urban Development Co., Ltd. to obtain a bank loan, using the 30-year expressway contract management right as collateral for the loan."

Zhang Kaizhi looked at Chen Shi: "County Chief Chen, have you heard that Chunyang Urban Development Co., Ltd. still owes the bank five million yuan in loans and is almost unable to pay its employees' salaries, requiring county government funding to keep it afloat?"

The company is heavily indebted; how could a bank possibly lend them money?

Chunyang Urban Development Co., Ltd. is a state-owned enterprise wholly owned by the Chunyang County Government. Chen Shi did not expect the situation to be so bad.

Zhang Kaizhi added, "Building a highway can't be solved by the county alone. We need to act within our capabilities. You should try to find a solution from the city and province."

Chen Shi chatted with Zhang Kaizhi for a while, then got up and left.

It seems that directly seeking a bank loan is not feasible; the only option is to have the company provide full financing.

In the afternoon, Wang Jianming went to Chen Shi's office.

Chen County

Chen Shi stood up to greet him: "Old Wang, please sit down."

The two sat down in the reception room. Wang Jianming said, "In Chen County, almost all the land in Dawandi has been expropriated. Only a dozen or so households disagree with the government's expropriation, feeling that the compensation per mu is too little and demanding that it be doubled."

This door cannot be opened. Once it is, the farmers whose land has been expropriated will feel they have been taken advantage of and will cause trouble, making the situation uncontrollable.

These dozen or so farmers petitioned the county government, but the county government ignored them. They then went to petition the city government, and now they want to go to the provincial government.

Chen Shi looked at Wang Jianming: "Old Wang, you did the right thing. The standards for land expropriation should be applied equally to everyone. Just because a few households are making a fuss, the standards set by the government should not be raised. This is the biggest injustice to other farmers."

It is their right to petition, and they should be allowed to do so. If they engage in any illegal or disorderly conduct, they should be arrested and severely punished without any leniency.

Dozens of farmers disagreed with the government's land expropriation, so we won't expropriate their land; we'll fence it off and let them farm it themselves.

Wang Jianming took out his notebook and wrote down Chen Shi's speech.

Chen Shi continued, "After the land in the Greater Bay Area is acquired, it will be developed by Chunyang Urban Development Co., Ltd., and the land will be converted into industrial land. The transfer price for each mu of industrial land is 15."

Wang Jianming said, "In Chen County, all the land in Dawandi has been expropriated, totaling more than 3,000 mu. The government's expropriation standard is to pay farmers 200 million yuan. Last time, the fiscal allocation was only 20 million yuan, leaving a shortfall of 180 million yuan."

"Don't worry, Chunyang Urban Development Co., Ltd. will use the land as collateral to get a bank loan of 700 million yuan. 200 million yuan will be paid to the farmers as compensation, and the remaining 500 million yuan will be transferred to the treasury and allocated as special funds for the dilapidated housing renovation project."

Wang Jianming was calculating his own losses. After all his hard work, he only received a 20 million yuan grant from the government, which was a huge waste.

Chen Shide painted a rosy picture for Wang Jianming: "I went to the city to report to Secretary Xiao. Next year, the Development and Reform Commission has a poverty alleviation and development project with a special fund of 3 billion yuan. Secretary Xiao promised to give it to Chunyang."

I reported to Secretary Zhang that the 3 billion yuan special development support fund will be invested in the Greater Bay Area for industrial zone development.

The land acquired will be repurposed, with half designated for industrial use and half for commercial use. Of the proceeds from the land auction, your Zhongshan Subdistrict Office will retain 40%.

Wang Jianming was overjoyed. The land was converted to commercial use, and the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office retained 40%, which was also a considerable source of income.

Land is expropriated from farmers for between 50,000 and 80,000 yuan per mu, then converted into commercial land. According to the third-level commercial land classification, it costs 400,000 yuan per mu, several times the original price. The Zhongshan Subdistrict Office can use the money from selling the land to develop the economy.

Wang Jianming chatted with Chen Shi for a few minutes before leaving, and Chen Shi then called Xie Shanquan to his office.

"Xiao Xie, call Duan Yanping, the general manager of Chunyang Urban Development Co., Ltd., and tell him to come to my office now."

Xie Shanquan quickly went downstairs and called Duan Yanping.

"Mr. Duan, this is Xiao Xie from the government office. County Chief Chen wants you to come to his office."

Duan Yanping was not familiar with Chen Shi. When he went to the county government, he only reported to Zhang Kaizhi and had never reported to Chen Shi.

"Secretary Xie, did County Chief Chen say what it was about?"

"I don't know, County Chief Chen is waiting for you in his office."

After hanging up the phone, Duan Yanping immediately called his driver to take him to the county government.

Duan Yanping arrived at Chen Shi's office: "County Magistrate Chen..."

Chen Shi glanced at Duan Yanping: "Mr. Duan, please have a seat."

Duan Yanping sat down, and Chen Shi poured him a cup of tea.

"Mr. Duan, how much debt does Chunyang Urban Development Co., Ltd. have?"

Duan Yanping was surprised when Chen Shi asked him so directly whether he knew the company's inside story.

"Five million"

"You owe the bank five million, but don't you owe money elsewhere?"

Duan Yanping could only tell the truth: "We still owe some foreign debts, which add up to five million. Chunyang Urban Development Co., Ltd. has foreign debts of ten million."