In name only: The land of Handong, I shall rule its fate.

Boom!Boom!

There was a knock on the office door.

"Enter!"

Lin Zhiyuan frowned slightly, but still got up from the sofa. His whole body ached terribly, and there were several bloodshot veins in his eyes.

Last night, after the provincial party committee standing committee meeting concluded.

To make things easier, Lin Zhiyuan simply slept in his office to avoid wasting time.

Zhou Han pushed open the door and entered.

"Governor Lin, it's eight o'clock in the morning now. The heads of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the Archives Bureau will arrive in about fifteen minutes."

Zhou Han still had a breakfast in her hand.

"Okay, thank you for your help, Secretary-General Zhou."

Lin Zhiyuan nodded.

"Governor Lin, please take care of your health!"

Zhou Han advised.

Governor Lin is really pushing himself too hard. He's in meetings until 4 a.m., and then he has to meet with relevant officials at 8:30 p.m.

"Yeah, I can handle it."

Lin Zhiyuan went into the bathroom and quickly washed himself.

At 8:30, Zhou Han knocked on the office door precisely on time.

The two men who entered were middle-aged men in their fifties. They were both capable-looking, but their temperaments were completely different. Li Ming, the director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, was full of energy, while Zhu Qingbai, the director of the Archives Bureau, was listless and had clearly lost much of his ambition.

The two of them standing together looked like they were not the same age.

"Governor Lin!"

The two greeted each other at the same time.

"Please sit down."

Lin Zhiyuan was very straightforward and got straight to the point: "Have you sorted out the Dafeng Factory data that I asked you to review yesterday afternoon?"

"Governor Lin, it's all better now."

Zhu Ziqing straightened his slightly hunched back and pushed over a file from the reform of Dafeng Factory.

"Dafeng Factory was established in 1952, restructured in 1995, and then underwent a change in shareholding in 2008..."

Lin Zhiyuan opened the first file and his gaze fell on the section on land use.

"State-owned land allocated by the state."

Lin Zhiyuan uttered these words softly, a meaningful smile appearing on his lips.

State-allocated land means that the land is essentially owned by the state, and enterprises only have the right to use it, not the right to own it.

"Director Zhu, who oversaw the restructuring in 1995?"

"this…"

Director Zhu didn't even need to look it up; "It was Chen Yanshi, the then deputy mayor of Jingzhou City."

Lin Zhiyuan nodded and closed the file.

Chen Yanshi!

Former Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Handong Provincial Procuratorate, retired cadre, and spiritual leader of the workers at Dafeng Factory.

This old revolutionary, known for his integrity and concern for the people in the officialdom of Handong, was the root cause of the Dafeng Factory problem.

"Governor Lin, in the mid-to-late 90s, the shareholding cooperative system and employee stock ownership reform were the mainstream of state-owned enterprise reform. However, in order to avoid the loss of a huge amount of state-owned land assets, more than 90% of the reformed state-owned enterprises separated the factory and land, taking only the factory buildings, equipment and operating rights, while the land was retained by the state and allocated, and not transferred with the enterprise reform."

"Back then, only three types of enterprises were granted land through reform: first, key large-scale enterprises in the province and city; second, enterprises that were liquidated and auctioned off as a whole; and third, enterprises that were attracted to the development zone. Dafeng Factory did not belong to any of these three categories."

Li Ming added.

"But it seems that very few people in the Hantong government at all levels, including the business community, know this."

Lin Zhiyuan's eyes suddenly sharpened. "So I'd like to ask Director Li if it's become a common practice for state-owned enterprises like Dafeng Factory to sell shares and be included in urban planning, along with the sale of land?"

This problem has arisen.

A thin layer of sweat suddenly broke out on Li Ming's back, but he still nodded and said, "Yes, Governor Lin."

"But there are historical reasons for this, especially since some companies have only changed shareholders, and the factories are still operating, so... so..."

"Send a detailed list of land use fee bills from previous years to the relevant enterprises. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the Archives Bureau will reconfirm the nature of the land ownership. State assets must not be lost."

Lin Zhiyuan did not bring up past grievances, but his attitude left no room for refusal.

"Yes, Governor Lin."

The two responded.

"I'm giving you three days to confirm the records of any changes to the relevant information. Can you do that?"

Lin Zhiyuan asked again.

"Yes! Yes!"

Li Ming and Zhu Qingbai wiped the sweat from their foreheads. The leader had said that even if it didn't work, it had to.

"Then you should go back first!"

As soon as the two left, Zhou Han walked back into the office. "Governor Lin, this is the itinerary for today's visits to retired cadres. Please take a look."

"good!"

Lin Zhiyuan nodded. "Secretary-General Zhou, could you please check a few more pieces of information about Dafeng Factory for me?"

After half an hour.

A black Audi with license plate number Han O·00012 smoothly drove into the old cadre compound of the Handong government.

Most of the retired provincial and ministerial-level leaders live here, and the first person Lin Zhiyuan wanted to visit was Old Li.

A true veteran of Handong.

Li Weiguo was the governor of Handong Province when Zhao Lichun served as the secretary of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee.

An elderly man with a distinguished career who remains remarkably low-key.

When Lin Zhiyuan knocked on the door, Li Weiguo was watering flowers in the yard.

Wearing a Zhongshan suit, with a full head of white hair, he was still energetic and had bright eyes, but his face also had the unique kindness of an old man.

"Old Li."

Lin Zhiyuan placed the gift aside and bowed slightly.

Li Weiguo looked up, sized him up, as if recognizing him, and suddenly laughed: "You're that planning maniac from Donghai Province?"

"It is indeed I, the junior."

Lin Zhiyuan's attitude was respectful yet measured.

"How did they arrive so quickly?"

Li Weiguo warmly led Lin Zhiyuan into the room.

The room was simply furnished, within the standard range, with nothing special. A few old photos hung on the wall.

In the photo, Li Weiguo, dressed in military uniform, looks dashing and bears a striking resemblance to the old man in front of us.

"This morning, while playing chess with some old friends, I heard about the big commotion you guys made last night. I thought you'd be busy for a few days."

Li Weiguo said with a smile:

"As expected of his son-in-law, he has guts. He dared to take on tough challenges as soon as he arrived in Handong, and he resolved them decisively."

"I am at ease handing over the Hantong Provincial Government to you."

"Mr. Li is too kind."

"To you, I am still a newcomer and need to be taught by senior colleagues from time to time. That's why I've come to listen to your ideological and political lectures."

Lin Zhiyuan answered with a smile.

"Slippery!"

Old Li glared at him.

"Tell me, are you in trouble at Dafeng Factory? Do you need this old man to step in?"

Old Li had a keen eye and saw through Lin Zhiyuan's purpose the moment he met him.

"Yes."

Lin Zhiyuan didn't mince words and said directly:

"Old Li, the violent resistance incident at Dafeng Factory involved a senior member of the organization, Chen Yanshi, the former deputy chief prosecutor of the Handong Provincial Procuratorate."

"He is a veteran of the organization who made outstanding contributions to the liberation of the country during the war years. Yet he is also involved in this incident. As the younger generation, we really don't know how to deal with this."

"If the punishment is too lenient, it would be disregarding national laws and regulations and letting down the people of Jingzhou; if it is too severe, we are afraid of being accused of disrespecting our seniors."

"snort!"

Old Li scoffed disdainfully when he heard Chen Yanshi's name. "What kind of old revolutionary or senior is that stubborn stone? He just relies on Gao Yuliang calling him 'old leader' to set up a second procuratorate in his nursing home. He's always running around interfering with judicial administration. How many old guys would respect his style?"

"He boasted that he had dedicated his life to the organization and the country, but in the end, all he could boast about were three things: the Dafeng Factory, the explosives, and the fact that he reported Zhao Lichun for using air conditioning."

"Back then, Chen Yanshi initially filed a huge number of reports, but after Zhao Lichun transferred him, a police chief and deputy mayor from the political and legal system, to reform Dafeng Factory, Chen Yanshi immediately dropped all the other reports, leaving only the issue of air conditioning. He even went to the municipal party committee to force Zhao Lichun to make a public apology."

"From then on, everyone in Handong and even the capital knew that Secretary Zhao Lichun was honest and upright. Chen Yanshi also went from being the deputy mayor of Jingzhou to the deputy chief prosecutor of the provincial procuratorate, and left behind a reputation for not being afraid of powerful people."

"Hey! Kobayashi, isn't this funny?"

"This Chen Yanshi, despite his name meaning 'stone,' is quite the shrewd strategist!"

"That means most of the old guys and even the younger generation have passed away."

"When the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king."