Qi Tongwei at the start: Not relying on Liang Lu, but winning by a single move against Heaven.

When we got back to Leishan, it was not yet five o'clock.

Seeing that it was still early, Qi Tongwei called Li Sulin, the director of the Transportation Bureau, directly to his office.

He didn't beat around the bush and directly told everyone about the 200 million yuan the city had allocated for road repairs.

Upon hearing this, Li Sulin was overjoyed.

But once she calmed down a little, Li Sulin started to have trouble again.

He took a document out of his bag, placed it in front of Qi Tongwei, and said with a bitter face.

"County Chief Qi, I wasn't idle while you were in the meeting."

"I've calculated the cost of road repairs... two million is barely enough for material costs..."

"There's still a hole of at least two million. What are we going to do with the rest of the money?"

Qi Tongwei picked up the document, looked at it carefully, and said nothing.

Li Sulin kept his accounts very meticulous; in his calculations, the total cost was 4.8 million.

But he overlooked one point.

His calculations were based on the engineering company's quote, which contained some discrepancies.

Qi Tongwei put down the documents, lit a cigarette, and smiled as he uttered two words: "Loan."

Li Sulin was taken aback, opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.

He understands loans, but he's never heard of a loan for road construction.

Seeing his blank expression, Qi Tongwei smiled and explained to him:

"I've studied the policies, and the government supports loans for road construction."

Li Sulin blinked, still not quite understanding:

"The Agricultural Bank does have policies, but those are all small loans for livestock farmers and other farmers."

"Besides, loans require collateral. We're borrowing such a large sum; what are we going to use as collateral?"

Qi Tongwei frowned slightly, secretly cursing in his heart.

How could Li Sulin, as the director of the county transportation bureau, not even understand how to get a loan to repair roads?

But after a moment's thought, he understood.

In later generations, it became common practice to take out loans to build roads and then repay those loans by collecting tolls.

Even the 3P model of government-business co-construction is so common that it's no longer surprising.

But it was 1991, and the first loan-financed highway in Bianxi had not yet been built.

This model is the first of its kind in Bianxi.

With this in mind, Qi Tongwei became more patient.

He explained to Li Sulin the operational model of using county finances as collateral and collecting toll fees to repay loans.

After hearing this, Li Sulin's eyes widened and she exclaimed in surprise.

"Charge tolls? No way! We'd look like mountain bandits!"

Qi Tongwei was amused by his reaction:

"Return to being a mountain king? Dream on. The tolls collected belong to the state."

"Have you heard of the Gaobu Bridge? This is called the Gaobu Bridge Model, and the government supports it."

Seeing that Li Sulin was still hesitant, he sighed and added another sentence.

"Don't worry, I've reported it to Secretary Wang, and he supports it."

Qi Tongwei didn't tell the truth, and Wang Quanyou didn't actually express his opinion.

But in order for the work to proceed smoothly, he had no choice but to use someone else's name to justify his actions.

Seeing that Qi Tongwei had already said that, Li Sulin didn't say anything more.

He nodded and replied.

"Okay. I'll go to the Rural Commercial Bank tomorrow and ask about loans..."

Qi Tongwei was taken aback, sighed, and said with a wry smile.

"Go to the China Construction Bank. For road construction loans, go to the China Construction Bank; for farmer loans, go to the Agricultural and Commercial Bank of China."

......

Running for loans was just Qi Tongwei's first step; his operations had only just begun.

The next morning, Qi Tongwei pulled Zhao Haiyan from the Finance Bureau into Qin Xuefeng's office.

The city had just awarded Leishan County a collective second-class merit and a Santana as a prize. Qin Xuefeng was in a great mood, his face glowing with happiness.

When he saw the two of them come in, he smiled and invited them to sit down.

"You have such a keen nose, you could smell the freshly brewed tea I just made... Please, have a seat."

After sitting down, Qi Tongwei didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"Secretary, I have something to report to you."

"I want to establish an engineering company in the name of the county."

Qin Xuefeng was taken aback, but immediately understood Qi Tongwei's thoughts.

He tossed a cigarette to Qi Tongwei and said with a smile.

"Is this really necessary? Bianxi Road and Bridge, and Bianxi City Highway Engineering Company can both use it."

"If you want to eat eggs, you don't necessarily need to raise your own chickens."

After hearing what he said, Qi Tongwei pondered for a moment and then explained.

"This is what I think: the road construction project should be contracted out to the county's engineering company."

"The main construction work was primarily handled through labor coordination, while the road paving was outsourced to other companies..."

After listening to Qi Tongwei's explanation, Qin Xuefeng remained silent for a long time.

He didn't realize what Qi Tongwei was trying to do after going through all this trouble.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Qi Tongwei added:

"Oh, right. This time, the labor coordination will ensure that ordinary people don't work for free."

"Each worker is paid five yuan, which is paid by the engineering company."

Qin Xuefeng remained silent, smoking in silence, but Zhao Haiyan, standing beside him, had already figured it out.

Having worked in finance for half her life, she knows all too well the intricacies of the business.

She frowned slightly, quickly doing some mental calculations:

"Five yuan per worker, and if there are a thousand workers, that's 150,000 yuan a month..."

She suddenly raised her head, looked at Qi Tongwei, and her voice trembled slightly:

"County Chief Qi, how much do the materials cost approximately?"

Seeing that Zhao Haiyan understood, Qi Tongwei nodded to her and replied.

"At 20,000 per kilometer, 1 million is enough."

Zhao Haiyan nodded, grinned, and said nothing more.

Qin Xuefeng looked at Qi Tongwei, then at Zhao Haiyan, becoming more and more confused as he listened.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, frowned, and asked:

"You set up an engineering company just to save on labor costs?"

Before Qi Tongwei could even reply, Zhao Haiyan couldn't hold back any longer.

Ever since she figured out Qi Tongwei's actions, she'd felt like she had a fishbone stuck in her throat, and she had to speak out.

"Secretary, that's not how the accounts are calculated. The materials cost one million, and the labor cost one and a half million."

"This money was allocated from the government to the engineering company, and the engineering company used the money to repair the road."

"Once the road is repaired, the remaining money will flow back to the county..."

She didn't elaborate on the second half of her sentence; she only touched on it briefly and didn't need to spell it out.

Qin Xuefeng wasn't stupid; he instantly understood Qi Tongwei's actions.

"Is this...compliant with the rules?"

Zhao Haiyan glanced at Qi Tongwei, then slowly nodded, his expression somewhat strange.

"Completely legal and compliant."

Qin Xuefeng was stunned and remained silent for a long time until the cigarette butt burned his hand, at which point he suddenly snapped out of his daze.

He gave Qi Tongwei a deep look, his gaze complex.

"Well... I'll take care of the Party and government work. As for the specific affairs of the county, we'll have to listen to you."

He paused, then added.

"Pay attention! Everything must be legal and compliant!"

Qi Tongwei smiled and nodded without saying anything.

The two of them came out of Qin Xuefeng's office.

Zhao Haiyan followed behind Qi Tongwei, hesitated for a long time, and finally asked in a low voice.

"County Chief Qi... how many do you estimate the county can retain?"

Qi Tongwei didn't hide anything, thought for a moment, and replied.

"A conservative estimate is that 200 can be retained."

Zhao Haiyan was stunned for a moment. Two million yuan of his own funds?

She had worked in Leishan County for nearly twenty years and had never fought such a lucrative battle before!

She quickly caught up with him, her voice filled with barely suppressed excitement:

"County Chief Qi, do you really have two million?"

Qi Tongwei didn't turn around, he just nodded:

"The prerequisite is that the loan can be approved."

He actually had two plans in mind.

If the loan comes through, he plans to let Leishan have a prosperous New Year, clear up historical debts, and support a few promising large-scale agricultural households.

If the loan doesn't come through, he'll reduce the amount of mandatory labor and use the money from the city wisely to ensure the smooth completion of the main highway project.

Back in his office, Qi Tongwei sat on the sofa and silently smoked.

The tax-sharing system was not officially implemented until 1994, and currently, it is still considered a compliant practice for companies to retain their profits.

Qi Tongwei took advantage of this policy to engage in a scheme of transferring money from one hand to the other.

He knew that he was essentially dancing on a knife's edge.

But he had no other choice; Leishan was simply too poor.

As he was thinking, there was a knock on the office door.

Gao Changjiang stood at the door and asked with a smile:

"County Chief Qi, the poverty alleviation supplies from the city have arrived."

"Should I have someone deliver the couplet to you, or will you deliver it yourself?"