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

Shi Fu, the mayor of Heyuan Town, received a phone call from the village head of Yumi Village, reporting that Chen Shi had gone to Yumi Village to inspect the land acquisition situation for the highway project.

Shi Fu sensed Chen Shi's dissatisfaction with Xiao Ning from between the lines, and after thinking it over, he realized his opportunity had arrived.

The town mayor and the party secretary may seem to be on the same level, but many people have waited for more than a decade to advance from town mayor to party secretary.

The next morning, Shi Fu arrived at Xie Shanquan's office in the county government.

With a broad smile, he said, "Secretary Xie, does County Magistrate Chen have a moment? I'm here to report on my work."

Xie Shanquan knew that Chen Shi was dissatisfied with Xiao Ning, and that when he went to report to Secretary Zhang in the afternoon, he must have mentioned this matter.

Now is the perfect time for Shi Fu to report on his work.

Xie Shanquan poured Shi Fu a cup of tea: "Mayor Shi, please have a seat. I'll go see if County Chief Chen is busy."

Shi Fu quickly said, "Thank you."

Xie Shanquan arrived at Chen Shi's office, where Chen Shi was reading documents.

"Chen County, Mayor Shi Fu of Heyuan Town is here to report to you. He's waiting in my office."

Chen Shi put down the documents: "Have him come to my office."

Xie Shanquan returned to his office: "Township Chief Shi, County Chief Chen wants you to go to his office."

Shi Fu arrived at Chen Shi's office, and Chen Shi stood up to greet him: "President Shi, please have a seat."

Shi Fu sat down: "County Chief Chen, I've come to report on the situation of the greenhouse vegetable base."

After Shi Fu finished reporting on his work, he didn't mention a word about the land acquisition for the expressway. This was something the top leader was in charge of, and he knew the specifics. If Chen Shi didn't ask, he couldn't say anything; doing so would backfire.

Chen Shi looked at Shi Fu: "Township Mayor Shi, the main task of Heyuan Town now is the land acquisition for the expressway. What are your thoughts?"

Shi Fu was just waiting for Chen Shi to ask about the highway expropriation; he had already come up with a solution.

"In Chen County, land expropriation has always been a difficult problem, but it is not without solutions. Every village has a few troublemakers. To expropriate land, we must target the troublemakers in the village and deal with them. Once the others are dealt with, the land expropriation will proceed smoothly."

Chen Shi nodded: "Yesterday I went to your Yumi Village in Heyuan Town to inspect the work. A week has passed, and not a single mu of land in Heyuan Town has been requisitioned. The villagers are busy sowing on the land requisitioned for the highway."

I've decided to make an example of someone and transfer Secretary Xiao Ning. Can you complete the land acquisition work within two months?

Seeing that Chen Shi had given him a chance, Shi Fu decided to seize it and said after a moment's thought, "County Magistrate Chen, I can do it."

Chen Shi looked at Shi Fu: "What the superiors do, the subordinates follow. No matter what kind of work it is, when you get to the grassroots level, everyone is watching the attitude of the top leader. If the top leader's attitude is not firm, it is difficult to carry out the work."

"Xiao Ning has been transferred. I recommend you to Secretary Zhang to take over as both Party Secretary and Mayor, so you can manage both Party and government affairs effectively. I want to see results."

Shi Fu was overjoyed and quickly said, "Thank you for your guidance, County Chief Chen. You can see from my performance that I will get the land acquisition work under control."

"You didn't attend the last meeting. I instructed the police to cooperate with the land expropriation. Anyone who dares to cause trouble should be arrested, and anyone who violates laws and regulations should be sent to the procuratorate for prosecution."

The construction of the expressway is crucial to the development of Chunyang County and the improvement of people's living standards. Those who obstruct it must be dealt with decisively and without leniency.

Shi Fu quickly stated, "We will keep in mind County Chen's instructions and all cadres in Heyuan Town will strictly implement the county government's land expropriation policy."

After chatting for a while, Shi Fu left happily.

In the afternoon, Xie Shanquan went to Chen Shi's office: "County Chief Chen, there will be a Standing Committee meeting tomorrow at 3 PM."

Chen Shi was surprised that Zhang Xiangdong acted so quickly and effectively.

Chen Shi, who ranked eighth among the eleven Standing Committee members, arrived at the meeting room early and found his seat.

One by one, members of the Standing Committee entered the meeting room and greeted Chen Shi.

Qin Xiaoming and Huang Xin entered the conference room. Huang Xin glanced at Chen Shi and sat down next to Qin Xiaoming.

Chen Shi smiled and nodded at Qin Xiaoming. Qin Xiaoming was Huang Ao's man and took good care of Huang Xin.

Huang Kun was the first to arrive at the conference room. He looked at Huang Xin and thought, "This woman is so beautiful. She's someone I could never have in my entire life."

"Take a second look, feast your eyes," Huang Kun consoled himself.

Zhang Kaizhi and Zhang Xiangdong were the last to enter, and all eleven members of the Standing Committee were present. The meeting began.

Zhang Xiangdong outlined several agenda items, all of which were successfully passed. He solemnly announced, "The expressway project has been approved by the Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Provincial Department of Transportation, and has been officially named the Chunyi Expressway."

The significance of this highway construction for Chunyang County is self-evident; the entire county must concentrate all its financial and material resources to ensure its successful completion.

With the highway project approved, preliminary work must now begin, the first of which is the issue of land acquisition and expropriation for the highway.

The county allocated 500 million yuan for land acquisition for the highway project; if that's not enough, we'll request additional funding from the city.

Zhang Kaizhi looked at Zhang Xiangdong: "Secretary Zhang, where in the county is there 500 million yuan allocated for the expressway project?"

The highway project involves an investment of over 10 billion yuan, and the source of funding remains unresolved. I don't think we should start expropriating land. Expropriating land from villagers along the route without funding for road construction would result in vast tracts of land being left uncultivated, which is a waste of land resources.

Zhang Xiangdong said in a deep voice: "This year, the county finance will squeeze out 300 million yuan to allocate to the expressway project. All party and government organs in the county must tighten their belts and live frugally. No new office equipment that is still usable is allowed to be purchased."

We must tighten our belts and support the construction of the highway.

The expressway project has a total investment of 145 billion yuan. The province is not allocating funds, but Secretary Xiao of the province has made a promise that as long as we start construction on the expressway, the city will secure 30 billion yuan in special support funds for impoverished counties from the province and invest it in Chunyang County.

We find companies to invest in the construction of the expressway and use the operating rights of the expressway to repay the companies. This is the price that impoverished counties have to pay for development.

The county will bear the bulk of the funding for the initial land acquisition for the highway construction, a total of 500 million yuan, to be completed over two years: 300 million yuan this year and 200 million yuan next year.

Zhang Kaizhi glanced at Zhang Xiangdong. There was no point in objecting; he only had three votes in the Standing Committee, including his own. The other eight votes all supported Zhang Xiangdong.

Zhang Xiangdong can carry out his work according to his own ideas, and no one can stop him. He could easily be like Liu Youguang and run a one-man show, but he chooses not to and pretends to practice democratic centralism.

Zhang Kaizhi cursed inwardly, thinking that Liu Youguang was a true villain and Zhang Xiangdong was a hypocrite.

The proposal to allocate 500 million yuan in government funds for land acquisition in the early stages of highway construction has been approved.

Now, let's move on to the last topic, which is also the one everyone is most concerned about: personnel changes.

Zhang Xiangdong asked Huang Xin, the organization minister, to speak, and he proposed several personnel appointments and removals, all of which were successfully approved.

Huang Xin glanced at Chen Shi: "Xiao Ning, the Party Secretary of Heyuan Town, has been recommended by the Organization Department to be transferred to the Science and Technology Bureau as Deputy Director, while retaining his full-time section-level benefits."

Chen Shi hadn't expected Zhang Xiangdong to be so capable, not even giving him the position of bureau chief, but directly appointing him as deputy bureau chief, only retaining the benefits of a section chief. He had to give Zhang Xiangdong a thumbs up; with the land acquisition for the highway, let's see who dares to be negligent.

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