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

Chen Shi looked at Gu Jia: "President Gu, leave the land acquisition to me."

With a solemn expression, Gu Jia said, "I will persuade the shareholders to invest in building this highway."

The two chatted casually as they passed through Fushan Town without stopping. The road from Fushan Town to Huangchang Town had even more curves than the road from Fushan Town to Shangying Town. It was Chen Shi's first time driving it, and the road surface was full of potholes from the heavy trucks.

The road from Huangchang Town to Laoyan Town is even more difficult to travel; it's impossible to traverse without an off-road vehicle.

Gu Jia said, "Chen County, this road is so inconvenient to travel on, and your county government doesn't seem to care."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "I decided to build this highway to solve the travel problems of the villagers in the lower half of the county."

Zhao Yuancheng, the Party Secretary of Laoyan Town, received a call from Xie Shanquan and led relevant leaders of Laoyan Town to wait at the entrance of the town government.

As soon as Chen Shi's car stopped, Zhao Yuancheng stepped forward and opened the car door: "County Magistrate Chen."

Chen Shi got out of the car: "Secretary Zhao..."

Chen Shi shook hands with Zhao Yuancheng and greeted the other town leaders.

Chen Shi looked at Gu Jia: "This is Ms. Gu, the general manager of Mingzhou Jiajia Development Co., Ltd. She is here in Laoyan Town for research and is preparing to invest in Chunyang County. We warmly welcome her."

Everyone applauded, and Zhao Yuancheng said, "County Chief Chen, it's almost one o'clock. Please move to the restaurant; we have prepared lunch for you."

Chen Shi glanced at the crowd and noticed two town leaders who were starving and thirsty.

"Mr. Gu, let's go eat first."

Gu Jia nodded, and the group arrived at the restaurant. Zhao Yuancheng asked Chen Shi to sit in the main seat, and Chen Shi asked Gu Jia to sit in the main seat. This showed how much Chen Shi valued Gu Jia. The relevant leaders of Laoyan Town did not dare to neglect Gu Jia.

The director of the Party and Government Office brought over a few bottles of wine. Chen Shi said, "We just arrived in Laoyan Town and haven't gotten any real business done yet. If we drink this wine, we won't be able to do anything this afternoon."

Ms. Gu is a decisive and efficient businesswoman. She values ​​efficiency in everything she does. I can afford to waste my time, but Ms. Gu's time cannot.

Our time is calculated in minutes, while Mr. Gu's time is calculated in seconds.

Gu Jia glanced at Chen Shi and said, "Fine, I won't drink. You're the leader, what can they say? Don't use me as a shield."

Everyone laughed. The director of the Party and Government Office glanced at Zhao Yuancheng, who gestured for him to put the wine away. Chen Shi was a county leader; unlike us dealing with village cadres, he couldn't get anything done in the village without drinking.

Zhao Yuancheng smiled broadly: "County Magistrate Chen, if we don't drink alcohol, we'll have tea instead. We'll offer you two more cups of tea in lieu of alcohol."

When the food was served, everyone was starving and began to wolf it down.

Gu Jia is very refined, and she is not used to eating with a group of roughnecks.

After the meal, Zhao Yuancheng said, "County Chief Chen, please tidy up the meeting room and give us a few words of guidance on the work in Laoyan Town."

Chen Shi glanced at Gu Jia: "Secretary Zhao, let's not rush to provide guidance. Let's accompany General Manager Gu to investigate the coal mine in Laoyan Town first."

Gu Jia looked at the total coal production of Laoyan Town last year and gained some understanding of several large coal mines.

"Secretary Zhao, Laoyan Town has the highest coal production in the county. Let's visit some of the coal mines with an annual output of over 100 million tons."

Seeing how much Chen Shi valued Gu Jia, Zhao Yuancheng quickly agreed.

Chen Shi said, "Secretary Zhao, you and the deputy mayor in charge of coal will accompany us on this research trip. The other town leaders, please go back to work."

Zhao Yuancheng asked the director of the Party and Government Office to drive him, and accompanied Chen Shi and the others on a research trip, along with the deputy mayor in charge of coal.

The road from Laoyan Town to the coal mine is even worse than that from Shangying Town; even off-road vehicles struggle to travel it, so you need a pickup truck.

After inspecting two coal mines with an annual output of over 100 million tons, on their way to the last large coal mine with an annual output of over 100 million tons, the SUV drove into a pond by the roadside, slipped, and couldn't get out.

Zhao Yuancheng's decision to have the director of the Party and Government Office drive a pickup truck was prescient. The town leaders had visited the large coal mine many times and were very familiar with the roads leading to it.

Seeing that Chen Shi's car was stuck on the slippery surface, Zhao Yuancheng quickly stopped the car, got out, and told the deputy mayor to take the rope and pull the car out.

Chen Shi and the other two got out of the car. The car was pulled out, and Yang Bin inspected it: "County Chief Chen, both the front and rear tires are punctured with nails. There's only one spare tire, so we can't move."

The deputy mayor chimed in, "There's a tire repair shop about a kilometer ahead. I'll drive there and ask them to come and change the tire."

Chen Shi's face was gloomy. The road surface was full of potholes, and there wasn't a single smooth spot.

"Secretary Zhao, how far are we from the coal mine?"

"The coal mine is just ahead, less than three kilometers away." Zhao Yuancheng glanced at his watch. "It's past five o'clock. Chen County, how about we take a pickup truck to the coal mine, and if we pass a tire repair shop, we can call them to come and change the tire. That way, we won't waste any time on our research."

Chen Shi glanced at the pickup truck in front of him: "Can this pickup truck seat so many people?"

Zhao Yuancheng quickly said, "We can sit in the back carriage; there's enough room."

Chen Shi looked at Zhao Yuancheng: "Secretary Zhao, the roads to the two coal mines ahead are similar to this one, severely impacting the travel of nearby villagers. All day long, so many coal trucks are running around. Doesn't your town government allow the coal mines to spend money on repairs every year?"

Zhao Yuancheng said, "In Chen County, these roads used to be dirt roads. The coal mines would pay for the road surface to be paved, and they would usually send money to repair them every three or four years."

Chen Shi said coldly, "They'll only pay for repairs if the truck is completely stuck and can't move."

That's true. Zhao Yuancheng didn't dare to respond. It was just tough on the nearby villagers, who could only buy pickup trucks and couldn't afford off-road vehicles.

People who work away from home buy cars and drive them back, but either they break down on the way or they stop in town and have to walk home.

Chen Shi looked at Zhao Yuancheng: "Secretary Zhao, the road was damaged by the heavy trucks from the coal mine. They should pay for the repairs. Starting this year, there should be a major overhaul every year. I'm coming to inspect this. Any coal mine that refuses to pay for road repairs will be shut down and ordered to rectify its operations. The mines will be reopened once the road is repaired."

Zhao Yuancheng thought to himself, "You're talking without thinking. Shutting down a large coal mine will seriously affect the town government's revenue."

Old Salt Town has no industry whatsoever. All the public officials rely on the coal mines for their livelihood. A large coal mine employs hundreds of miners. If it is shut down, the mine itself is not in a hurry, but the miners are. If it stops for even a day, they will have no income and will have to petition the town government and the county government.

Seeing Chen Shi's firm attitude, he said in a deep voice, "County Chief Chen, large coal mines involve many aspects and cannot be shut down simply. The matter of road construction needs to be discussed with the coal mine and their opinions should be heard."

Chen Shi was furious and said sternly, "Secretary Zhao, the coal mine is so powerful and the town government is so weak. It's all because the local government has spoiled them."

You need to understand that coal is a national resource, not just one person's. They make money off national resources, only giving a small portion of the tax revenue to the local town government. They pollute the environment, and once the resources are depleted, they just walk away, leaving a mess for the local government to clean up.

Coal mines that fail to comply with relevant government policies will be shut down. Those that fail to rectify the situation within the stipulated time will be taken over by the county government. I refuse to believe that without Butcher Zhang, we'll have to eat pigs with hair on.

Chen Shi glanced at the wrecked road and said, "Give them two months. If the coal mines that haven't finished repairing the road, I'll have the audit bureau and the tax bureau come and audit their accounts. With such high annual output, and such low government tax revenue, where is all the money going?"