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

Chen Shi glanced at the town government leaders: "Secretary Qian, you can come with us. The other town leaders, go back to work as usual."

Qian Dajiang instructed the director of the Party and Government Office and the deputy mayor in charge of the coal mine to accompany him, while the other town leaders were to return to work.

Yang Bin followed behind in his car. This wasn't a provincial highway, and they kept encountering large coal trucks. The road conditions were even worse, with huge potholes. It was impossible to drive on without an off-road vehicle.

It took more than 20 minutes to travel a 10-kilometer distance.

Upon arriving at Gou'ao Coal Mine, Mine Manager Su Sijian received a call from the deputy mayor in charge and waited at the mine gate.

Two SUVs drove directly into the coal mine and stopped. Several people got out of the vehicles, and the mine manager, Su Sijian, jogged over.

"Good morning, leaders. I am Su Sijian, the mine manager of Gou'ao Coal Mine."

Su Sijian was familiar with the town's leaders but did not recognize Chen Shi and the others. He guessed that these unfamiliar faces were county leaders who had come to conduct research.

Qian Dajiang said, "Director Su, when County Chief Chen came to Shangying Town for research, his first stop was your coal mine. Go to the conference room and report on the coal mine's situation to County Chief Chen."

Gu Jia continued, "County Chief Chen, I think you can skip the report. Just bring me the financial statements for their coal mine from the last two years."

Su Sijian spends all his time in the coal mine, where he sees mostly men. The only women he sees are a few in the logistics department, and they are all rural women. Gu Jia, with her delicate skin and fair complexion, stands out from the crowd.

Su Sijian had never seen such a beautiful woman before. He almost had a nosebleed. He thought to himself, "Next time I go to the county town, I'll definitely hire a masseuse who looks exactly like this woman for a massage."

If it's not available in the county seat, go to Mingzhou; if it's not available in Mingzhou, go directly to Yizhou. This desire must be satisfied.

You can be casual about anything, but you can't be casual about massage therapists. You must find one who meets this standard, and money is no object.

Su Sijian regained his senses and looked at Qian Dajiang. Financial statements are not something to be shown to just anyone.

Chen Shi looked at Su Sijian: "Mine Manager Su, this is the general manager of Mingzhou Jiajia Development Co., Ltd. She came to Chunyang to investigate investment. What she said is my opinion. Do as she says."

Qian Dajiang then said, "Mine Manager Su, bring the coal mine's financial statements for the past two years for General Manager Gu to see."

When the leader gives the order, Su Sijian has no choice but to comply.

The group sat down in the conference room. Su Sijian brought out the financial statements for the past two years from the finance office. Gu Jia looked through them carefully and could see many problems from the statements.

In the past two years, Gou'ao Coal Mine has made less than one million yuan in profit. Given the poor coal market, it's already quite good that it hasn't suffered any losses.

Gu Jia looked at Su Sijian: "Mine Manager Su, how many tons of coal does Gou'ao Coal Mine produce in a year?"

Su Sijian said, "The average annual coal production is 120 million tons."

Gu Jia then asked, "How many coal mines of this size are there in Shangying Town?"

The deputy mayor added, "Gou'ao Coal Mine is the largest coal mine in Shangying Town. The other coal mines don't produce as much coal; there are five mines that produce between 50 and 100 tons of coal per year."

Gu Jia's main purpose in coming here was to investigate whether Chunyang could build a thermal power plant and whether its coal resources could be self-sufficient.

Gu Jia looked at the deputy mayor: "How much coal can all the coal mines in Shangying Town produce in a year?"

The deputy mayor took out his mobile phone and checked the data: "In 2014, Shangying Town produced 510 million tons of coal."

Gu Jia calculated in her mind that if she invested 20 billion yuan to build a thermal power plant, it could generate about 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per day and consume about 12 million tons of coal per year.

Shangying Town can produce 5.1 million tons of coal a year. Huangchang Town and Laoyan Town can also reach this standard. The three towns together produce 15 million tons of coal a year, which is enough.

Gu Jia put down the financial statements: "Manager Su, take us outside to see the scale of the coal mine."

It took Su Sijian and his team more than forty minutes to inspect the layout of the coal mine.

Gu Jia needs to find out if the data reported by this coal mine is falsified. She can tell by checking the scale of the operation.

Su Sijian checked the time; it was lunchtime.

"Distinguished leaders, lunch is ready at the coal mine canteen. Please move over and have your meal."

Qian Dajiang looked at Chen Shi: "County Magistrate Chen, shall we go eat first?"

Chen Shi looked at Gu Jia: "President Gu, shall we go to the cafeteria for lunch first?"

Gu Jia nodded, and the group followed Su Sijian to the private room in the canteen. Outside were the coal miners' dining area, while inside was the coal mine management's dining area.

Su Sijian brought over four bottles of good wine, and just as he was about to open them, Chen Shi said, "Mine Manager Su, let's not drink at noon. We still need to continue our research this afternoon."

Chen Shi gave the order, and no one dared to drink. Su Sijian put the wine in the cabinet and went to have dinner with the leaders.

After dinner, Gu Jia asked Qian Dajiang to take her to investigate several other large coal mines.

After a long day of running around, Qian Dajiang returned to Shangying Town at 7 p.m. He asked the director of the Party and Government Office to arrange food and drinks at a restaurant.

Qian Dajiang got out of the car: "County Chief Chen, we have arranged food and drinks at a restaurant in town. Please come over there."

Gu Jia didn't want to have dinner with these town leaders, as they were all cadres at the division level or above.

Chen Shi whispered to Gu Jia, "President Gu, Secretary Qian has been busy all day. If we don't have a meal with them, they'll have some complaints. We'll be dealing with town leaders a lot more often when we build the highway."

Gu Jia thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll have dinner with them, but I won't drink alcohol."

"When having dinner with town leaders, you can't not drink. You should give them a little something, and I'll drink with them."

Gu Jia nodded, and Chen Shi said to Qian Dajiang, "Secretary Qian, you lead the way."

The group followed Qian Dajiang to the restaurant. Qian Dajiang did not invite any other town leaders; it was just him, the deputy mayor in charge of coal, and the director of the Party and Government Office.

Chen Shi was also with two others, while Yang Bin had a separate table outside. The driver did not drink alcohol.

Qian Dajiang asked Chen Shi to sit in the main seat, and Chen Shi asked Gu Jia to sit in the main seat. Gu Jia was the main character, and he stayed by her side.

When the food and wine were served, no one dared to touch their chopsticks until Chen Shi gave the word.

Chen Shi solemnly said, "Before we eat, I have something to say."

Xie Shanquan took out his notebook, ready to take notes.

Chen Shi looked at Qian Dajiang: "Secretary Qian, I didn't know this until I came down to investigate. Basically, all the roads leading to the coal mine are impassable. They're full of potholes, and when it rains, the pits and ponds fill with water, enough to raise fish. This seriously affects the travel of the surrounding villagers."

The road conditions are so bad, and everyone knows who's responsible for it.

In coal mines, dozens of large trucks are overloaded with coal every day. Under such circumstances, no matter how well the road is repaired, it will break down in less than two years.

The money went to the coal mines, while the nearby villagers had to bear the severe environmental consequences of coal mining; the crops growing in the soil were all blackened. There was nothing they could do about it, since Chunyang County had no industry and could only rely on mineral resources for survival.

I won't go into detail about the environmental issues here, but the main problem is the road condition, which must be addressed immediately. The road leading to the coal mine must be repaired at least once a year, and the coal mine should be responsible for the repair costs.

At the very least, it should make travel convenient for villagers living near the coal mine.

Qian Dajiang said in a deep voice, "Chen County, these roads were all built with money from the coal mines; the government didn't contribute a single penny..."

Chen Shi interrupted Qian Dajiang: "Secretary Qian, coal resources belong to the country. Whether it's a state-owned or private coal mine, it's normal to mine the coal and build roads. If they don't build roads, are they going to carry it out by hand?"

The road to the coal mine is under repair once a year, with no room for negotiation. If they don't repair the road, the mine will be shut down, and we'll talk about it when the road is fixed.