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

Tian Guangming walked out of the town government office building, where Tian Xiaojun was waiting in the car.

Tian Guangming got into the car, feeling much better. He went to report to Li Yuezhong and suddenly realized he had a solution.

Resigning is out of the question. I've spent half my life working my way up to become the village party secretary and gained prestige in the village.

Li Yuezhong wants to set an example for himself and become the best village party secretary in Fushan Town.

If I resign as village party secretary, I am nothing. I can lose anything, but I cannot lose the position of village party secretary.

For someone who has been a leader, asking them to go back to being an ordinary citizen is worse than killing them.

Seeing the smile on Tian Guangming's face, Tian Xiaojun asked, "Dad, what did the Party Secretary say?"

"Let's go to a restaurant and have a couple of drinks."

Tian Xiaojun glanced at his watch: "It's not even ten o'clock yet, so early in the morning, going out to a restaurant for drinks..."

You must be sick, I thought to myself, but I swallowed the words back down.

"Who said we can't go out for drinks in the morning? Let's go now."

At home, Tian Guangming has absolute authority. Tian Xiaojun drove to the restaurant.

Tian Guangming ordered a few snacks to go with the drinks and a bottle of wine. He and his son, Tian Xiaojun, ate and chatted.

Tian Guangming had a good appetite and ate heartily, while Tian Xiaojun had only eaten breakfast a short time ago and now had no appetite.

Tian Guangming glanced at his son: "Eat quickly, and when we get back, we'll notify the villagers whose land was taken by the highway to come to the village committee for a meeting. We need to get them to sign the land expropriation agreement in the next few days."

Tian Xiaojun looked surprised. What kind of spell had Li Yuezhong cast on his father to make him so enthusiastic?

"Dad, I don't mean to discourage you, but what's the point of signing the land expropriation agreement? What about the Tian family's ancestral graves on the hill? And what about the Chen family's ancestral graves? Who dares to move them?"

"I've already come up with a solution for the Tian family's ancestral graves on the burial mound. As for the Chen family's ancestral graves, he's a leading cadre, and he's in charge of the highway project, so he's aware of that."

The Party Secretary went to report to him today, explained the situation, and told me not to get involved.

Tian Xiaojun asked, "What if Chen Shi doesn't have this awareness?"

"He doesn't even have this much awareness; he won't be a deputy division-level leader for long."

Tian Xiaojun took a sip of his drink and thought for a moment: "Dad, is it possible that the Party Secretary reported to Chen Shi that the highway is encroaching on his family's ancestral graves, and Chen Shi simply changed the highway's route so it doesn't pass through Qinghe Village? Wouldn't we be wasting our time?"

Tian Guangming glanced at Tian Xiaojun: "Do you think highway planning is child's play, something you can change at will? It's a delicate matter; even the slightest change will require approval from the provincial authorities."

Besides, Chen Shi is very shrewd. If he were to waste money and resources modifying the highway plan just because it encroaches on his family's ancestral graves, that would be an abuse of power and give his political enemies a handle to use against him.

He doesn't want to be the executive deputy county head anymore.

Tian Xiaojun nodded, thinking that his father made sense. He knew his father's style of doing things very well. He wouldn't do anything without a reason. Why was he so proactive? Could it be that Li Yuezhong had promised his father something?

"Dad, did Li Yuezhong promise you something?"

"They didn't promise me anything, but next Monday, the town will hold a meeting to make me a role model for the land acquisition for the highway. I'll definitely be rated as an outstanding village party secretary at the end of the year."

Tian Xiaojun looked puzzled: "There are only a few days left until next Monday, will the villagers be able to sign?"

Tian Guangming took a sip of wine: "In Qinghe Village, what I say goes. I make them sign, whether they want to or not. Whoever doesn't sign, I'll deal with them."

It's only Thursday today, and there are still four or five days until next Monday, which is plenty of time.

After finishing their meal, the father and son hurried back home.

At 2:30 p.m., Li Yuezhong arrived at Xie Shanquan's office in the county government and gently knocked on the door.

Xie Shanquan stood up, opened the door, and greeted Li Yuezhong with a smile: "Secretary Li, please come in."

"Secretary Xie, I'm here to report to County Chief Chen. Are you free now?"

Li Yuezhong was promoted to secretary by Zhang Xiangdong. Before that, he was the mayor of Fushan Town. He and Chen Shi were both Zhang Xiangdong's men. Xie Shanquan did not dare to neglect him: "Secretary Li, please sit down. I will go and take a look."

Xie Shanquan poured Li Yuezhong a cup of tea and went to Chen Shi's office: "County Chief Chen, Secretary Li Yuezhong of Fushan Town is in my office and wants to report to you."

Of the five towns along the highway, four had reported their work to him, but Li Yuezhong from Fushan Town had not yet done so.

"Have him come to my office."

Xie Shanquan returned to his office: "Secretary Li, County Chief Chen wants you to come over; he's waiting for you in his office."

"Okay, thank you."

Li Yuezhong arrived at Chen Shi's office: "County Magistrate Chen..."

Chen Shi stood up to greet him: "Secretary Yuezhong, please have a seat."

The two sat down in the reception room. Xie Shanquan poured Li Yuezhong a cup of tea, then left the office and closed the door behind him.

Li Yuezhong said, "In Chen County, the highway project occupied 1800 mu of land in Fushan Town. Now, 1000 mu have been requisitioned. The people are quite supportive. After the last meeting, I immediately held a mobilization meeting. All town cadres were sent to the villages to cooperate with the village cadres in publicity. The results were remarkable."

Chen Shi nodded in satisfaction: "Secretary Yuezhong, in just half a month, Fushan Town has completed more than half of the land acquisition. So far, you have achieved the highest land acquisition completion rate. Keep up the good work. I plan to make you a role model for the land acquisition of the expressway, and set a benchmark for the other four towns to learn from."

Li Yuezhong said with a troubled expression, "County Chief Chen, I'm afraid I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. We've encountered some trouble with the land requisition."

Li Yuezhong knew when to stop; she stopped there and lowered her head.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!

Chen Shi asked, "Secretary Yuezhong, what trouble have you encountered?"

He had been waiting for Chen Shi to say this. He raised his head and looked at Chen Shi: "County Chief Chen, the highway passes through the outskirts of Qinghe Village, occupying more than 20 mu of land. Land acquisition is easy to resolve, and the villagers responded positively. But it also encroaches on your family's ancestral graves..."

At this point, Li Yuezhong stopped talking.

Chen Shi never expected that the highway would encroach on his family's ancestral graves. After a three-second silence, he calmly said, "Secretary Yuezhong, why didn't you report this to me sooner? We are Party members and cadres, and we should take the lead. No matter whose ancestral graves are encroached on, we should provide compensation and relocate the graves within the appropriate time frame."

"They've encroached on my family's ancestral graves. I'll go back in a few days and move them. I don't want any compensation."

Li Yuezhong quickly said, "County Chief Chen, I could never catch up with your vision even if I studied for a lifetime. You said that the compensation that should be given must not be less than a penny. You cannot withhold compensation just because you are a party member and cadre. You must give it according to the standard."

Chen Shi waved his hand: "I said, we don't want compensation. We are Party members and cadres, and we must take the lead."

Li Yuezhong smiled broadly: "County Chief Chen, I have to go down there and spread the word properly so that other cadres in the town, as well as those working outside, can learn from you. Some cadres have low ideological awareness. When their land is occupied, they not only refuse to cooperate, but also incite the villagers to petition in the city."

"This kind of cadre must be thoroughly investigated. Once we find out who it is, we must report it to the county and deal with it seriously."

For those who do not work in Chunyang County, the investigation results should be sent to the county government, which will then forward them to their respective work units for serious handling.

Don't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch.

Chen Shi said angrily.

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