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

Qian Dajiang and several other town leaders exchanged glances. Qian Dajiang asked, "Chen County, how much funding did the province and city allocate for the highway construction?"

Chen Shi looked at Qian Dajiang: "Secretary Qian, is this something you should be considering? Your problem now is how to acquire land and how to carry out demolitions."

Funding for highway construction is my responsibility, not yours. Don't overstep your bounds and focus on your own jobs.

Xiao Ning, the Party Secretary of Heyuan Town, was very dissatisfied with Chen Shi's domineering style: "In Chen County, land acquisition and house demolition all involve money. Without money, it is impossible to move an inch. We know how much funding the province and city have allocated for the construction of the expressway, and we have a good understanding of it."

The town party secretaries exchanged glances. This was their concern: without money, how could they collect land? If the villagers didn't receive their compensation and started petitioning everywhere, and something went wrong, they, as the town's top leaders, would be held primarily responsible and would be in deep trouble.

Chen Shi was aware of their concerns and solemnly said, "The county finance department will allocate 500 million yuan to several towns for land acquisition compensation. If that's not enough, the city will provide funding."

Upon hearing this, the group understood and fell silent.

Chen Shi glanced at everyone and said, "If there are no more questions, the meeting is adjourned. Time is of the essence. The land acquisition work must be completed within two months. This is a political task, and there is no room for discussion."

After the meeting, Chen Shi called Xu Pingan to his office.

"Ping An, sit down."

Xu Pingan sat down: "County Chief Chen, it's inevitable that land expropriation will cause conflicts with the villagers. I think the best solution is to resolve them. We can't just arrest people directly, because that will only escalate the conflict and push the villagers to the opposite side."

Xu Ping'an did not mention it at the meeting. He was Chen Shi's confidant. If even his confidants raised objections, the others would be even more emboldened, making it difficult for Chen Shi to carry out his work.

Chen Shi poured Xu Pingan a cup of tea: "I saw you had something to say at the meeting, so I called you to my office after the meeting."

Your idea is good. This is how we should handle things normally, and we shouldn't escalate conflicts. However, this is a special period. Secretary Xiao gave me a strict order: if our highway construction can officially start in June, the special support funds for poverty-stricken counties in Mingzhou will go to Chunyang.

Chunyang is too poor and must receive special support funds for impoverished counties.

Time is of the essence, and interests are at stake. Reasoning won't work; we must strike down the first bird so that others won't dare to cause trouble.

Special times call for special measures. Without strong measures, land acquisition and house demolition could take more than two months, or even two years, to complete.

"Make an example of one to warn a hundred. Arrest those who cause trouble, provided it's done according to the law. If anything goes wrong, I'll cover for you; you're just following my orders."

Xu Pingan was somewhat moved. Chen Shi's boldness was something most leaders didn't have; he dared to act. Subordinates were most afraid of being asked to do things by their superiors, because if something went wrong, they would be made to take the blame.

Nobody wants to be taken advantage of. When doing something, you have to consider the consequences and whether you can bear them.

Xu Ping'an admitted that he did not have Chen Shi's boldness. With the support of his superiors, he could act boldly and without hesitation.

"Chen County, rest assured, the Public Security Bureau will strictly carry out your orders."

Meanwhile, Xiao Ning was in Zhang Kaizhi's office, reporting on his work.

"Zhang County and Chen County asked us to complete the land acquisition in two months. How is that possible? It involves thousands of acres of land and tens of thousands of people. Land acquisition is no easy task."

Demolition and relocation are even more difficult; a slight mishap could trigger a mass incident. If something goes wrong, I, as the Party Secretary, will be primarily responsible.

Zhang Kaizhi asked, "What did Chen Shi say?"

He said that if anything happened, he would take the blame and that the police would cooperate in the operation. Anyone who caused trouble would be arrested and detained, and anyone who broke the law would be sent to the procuratorate for prosecution.

Zhang Kaizhi sneered inwardly. This Chen Shi was still too young and didn't understand politics at all. If there were any mass incidents, even if the highway could be repaired, Zhang Kaizhi's position as executive deputy county head would be over.

When you're a leader, the first priority is to ensure stability in the area you're in charge of and prevent any mass incidents. Only then should you consider your political achievements.

No matter how good one's political achievements are, if there is a mass incident, everything is wiped out and one will be punished.

"Secretary Xiao, with County Chief Chen backing you up, just enforce the rules strictly. If anything goes wrong, he'll step in. What are you afraid of?"

"If something really goes wrong, we, as the top leaders of the town, won't be able to escape either." Xiao Ning looked at Zhang Kaizhi: "County Chief Zhang, County Chief Chen said that the county finance will allocate 500 million yuan as land acquisition compensation. If that's not enough, the city will provide funding. Does the county finance really have 500 million yuan to allocate?"

Zhang Kaizhi snorted coldly: "County Chief Chen can perform magic tricks, turning paper into money. Where would the county treasury get 500 million? If we allocated 500 million, all the county's staff wouldn't need to eat."

This matter wasn't discussed at the Standing Committee meeting, nor at the county government's Party Group meeting. Even if it were mentioned, I wouldn't agree. Whether the highway can be built is a minor issue; for all county staff, making a living is the most important thing.

Xiao Ning was now certain that Chen Shi was spouting nonsense and talking a load of rubbish; young people were just unreliable when it came to getting things done.

Land expropriation is just a formality; anyone who takes it seriously is a fool.

A week later, Chen Shi went to work in the office. The land expropriation arrangements had been made, but he didn't know if they were being strictly implemented. Heyuan Town was the closest to the county seat, and Chen Shi was going to inspect the work there.

He summoned Xie Shanquan to the office: "Xiao Xie, have Yang Bin drive to the door and wait for us. We're going to Heyuan Town to inspect the land expropriation situation."

Xie Shanquan asked, "County Chief Chen, should we call the relevant leaders in Heyuan Town in advance and ask them to accompany us on the inspection?"

"No, I want to see the real situation, not their performance."

Xie Shanquan called Yang Bin and asked him to wait at the entrance of the office building.

After finishing his urgent business, Chen Shi took Xie Shanquan to inspect the work.

It only takes about twenty minutes to get from the county seat to Heyuan Town. Along the way, Chen Shi held the blueprints but did not see any land expropriation.

Upon arriving in Heyuan Town, Yang Bin asked, "County Chief Chen, are we going to the town government?"

"Let's not go yet." Chen Shi took out the blueprints and looked at them. There was a village called Corn near the town. The highway ran right through Corn Village. It covered a large area and was less than two kilometers away from the town. The land expropriation in Heyuan Town should start from this village.

Yang Bin parked the car on the side of the road, and Chen Shi handed him the blueprints: "Take a look at the blueprints and go to Yumi Village to see what the situation is."

Yang Bin took the blueprints, looked at the route, and realized that he needed to be familiar with the route before driving.

He returned the blueprints to Chen Shi and drove to Yumi Village.

The rural road leading into Yumi Village is well-maintained, with a paved surface and a width of over five meters, just like a provincial highway.

Upon arriving at the section of the highway, Chen Shi said, "Stop the car up ahead."

Yang Bin stopped the car, and Chen Shi got out. It was too quiet; there wasn't a sound. It was planting season, and the villagers were busy in the fields planting tobacco.

Chen Shi was looking at a piece of land on the blueprint, land that was occupied by the highway, but the villagers were planting tobacco there.

I like the game of power, starting with the police officers at the local police station.