Forged in the fires of war: The Qi family's generals rewrite the fate of eastern Hebei.

However, for the workers of Xujiayao Coal Mine, there has always been one thing they don't understand: why is the coal mine losing money?

This shouldn't be!

These matters were no longer a secret in Xujia Kiln, so Qi Tongwei found out about them without much effort.

The workers were unaware, but Qi Tongwei, a top student from the Department of Political Science and Law at Handong University, sensed something different about it.

A large coal mine was thus contracted out.

Who exactly is the owner of Tianhua Coal Mine? Why was he able to contract this large coal mine? There are too many puzzling things involved.

And most importantly, why were there still dozens of workers working in the mine so late at night? And what was the cause of the collapse of the Xujiayao Coal Mine?

With these questions in mind, Qi Tongwei ventured deeper into the countryside beneath Xujia Kiln.

In a place called Bianzhuang, Qi Tongwei came to a farmer's house under the pretense of asking for water.

There was only an old man in the farmer's house, and Qi Tongwei greeted him warmly.

"Sir, I'd like to ask you for a drink of water."

The old man was very polite and readily agreed. He poured Qi Tongwei a glass of water, then sat down and asked with a smile.

"Young man, what are you doing here? What brings you here?"

"Grandpa, I'm a college student. My professor asked me to come to Xujia Kiln to do research during the summer vacation, specifically on coal mines."

The old man took a puff of his cigarette and nodded.

"You have such delicate skin, you do look like a college student, but what's so interesting about studying this damn coal mine?"

The old man chuckled, but Qi Tongwei sensed a cold sneer in his smile.

"Grandpa, Xujia Kiln Coal Mine is a well-known large coal mine in our province, and it is worth studying."

"A large coal mine? Ha! It could have been called a large coal mine ten or twenty years ago, but now! It's been eaten up by a bunch of parasites."

Upon hearing this, Qi Tongwei immediately perked up. Wasn't this the very reason he had come here to investigate, both openly and covertly, for these very matters?

So he pretended not to know and, with the kind of foolishness typical of a graduate, looked at the old man and asked.

"Grandpa, why do you say that the Xujia Kiln Coal Mine was eaten up by termites? Where did these termites come from?"

The old man seemed to want to say something, but hesitated and finally could only sigh deeply and shake his head.

"Forget it, why bother talking about these things with a child like you? It's unnecessary."

As he spoke, the old man stood up from his chair and walked toward the kitchen.

"Child, would you like to have lunch at your uncle's house?"

Qi Tongwei was eager to find out the inside story. The old man in front of him clearly knew something, but for some reason, he was reluctant to speak.

Therefore, Qi Tongwei naturally wouldn't let these opportunities slip by, and he quickly said...

"Grandpa, then you should have a good taste of my cooking today."

"Can you still cook?"

"Grandpa, my family is just an ordinary family. When I was little, my parents went out to work, and I always cooked for myself."

Qi Tongwei's ordinary past experiences brought the old man closer to him, making him feel very down-to-earth.

Qi Tongwei picked some vegetables from the garden behind the house, and his skillful cooking made the old man nod in approval.

"Son, you're really good at cooking!"

Qi Tongwei turned his head and smiled.

Around noon, the father and son sat around the table. Qi Tongwei served the old man rice and also put some vegetables on his plate.

"Grandpa, please try my cooking."

The old man took two bites and then nodded.

"Not bad, but your cooking style doesn't seem to be the way it's done in Lincheng, does it? You're not from Lincheng?"

"I am from Iwata."

"Yantai? That's quite a distance from our Lincheng!"

While the father and son ate their meal, Qi Tongwei thought for a moment and decided that he still had to ask the question.

"Sir, you mentioned before that the coal mine was eaten up by termites. What was the reason for that? I'm a little curious."

Qi Tongwei's repeated questioning aroused the old man's suspicion.

He put down his chopsticks, carefully examined Qi Tongwei, and then asked.

"Kid, tell me the truth, what's the purpose of asking these questions? And are you really a college student?"

Faced with the old man's question, Qi Tongwei put down his chopsticks and walked to the door.

He looked around and, seeing that no one was around, turned to the table and whispered to the old man.

"Sir, I am indeed not a college student. I am actually the secretary of the Party Secretary of Handong Province."

“Secretary Gong of the Provincial Party Committee also came to Xujia Kiln. He wants to thoroughly investigate the cause of this collapse accident, so he sent me out to conduct a covert investigation.”

"Secretary Gong believes that there must be some people among the common people who know the inside story of the Xujiayao Coal Mine."

"Sir, if you know anything about the inside story, please tell me. Secretary Gong will definitely stand up for everyone."

The old man never expected that he, a college student, would suddenly become the secretary of the provincial party secretary.

Moreover, this secretary assured him that the provincial party secretary would stand up for everyone.

This put the old man in a dilemma.

It was clear that he didn't want to say it, but rather that he couldn't bring himself to say it for some reason.

"Sir, it's not for anything else, it's just for the dozens of workers buried underground in the coal mine. Don't you want to get justice for them?"

"How can we not want to? But we poor folks have no choice! You can't fight against those officials, so you'll naturally be suppressed."

"Uncle, don't worry! This time, a higher-ranking leader is here to help everyone. If you have any grievances or complaints, you can speak them out, and I will definitely convey them to Secretary Gong of the Provincial Party Committee."

It is said that one cannot rely on the heavens to make the decisions.

But the reality is that we need a just and upright official to help the people stand up for themselves, because the people are the vulnerable group.

Chapter 153 Power Under the Black Gold

Qi Tongwei's last words made the old man think deeply, and at the same time, they made him relent.

Through him, Qi Tongwei learned the background and consequences of the Xujia Kiln Coal Mine.

According to the old man, he used to be a worker at the Xujia Kiln Coal Mine, and even a production foreman.

He later retired, and his son took over his job, continuing to work in the coal mine.

However, starting in 90, news of losses began to emerge from the coal mines, and the situation became more severe year by year.

By 92, the coal mines had started laying off miners. The reason, of course, was that the coal mines were suffering heavy losses and could not make ends meet, so they needed to reduce costs.

Then, in early 93, Xujiayao Coal Mine suddenly announced that it was going to go bankrupt.

The Lincheng Municipal Party Committee, the Lincheng Municipal Government, and the Lincheng Mining Bureau decided to contract out the coal mine.

It was a big deal at the time, and in the end, Tianhua Coal Mine won the contract to operate the coal mine.

At this point, the old man sighed.

“Starting last year, all miners were converted to contract workers and no longer retained their status as state-owned enterprise workers. Those who wanted to stay in the coal mine had to work overtime.”

“My son couldn’t work anymore, so he simply quit his job at the mine and went to Jingzhou to work with his wife.”

"And it was from then on that miners started working even in the middle of the night, without taking a break all day."

"How could this coal mine possibly be losing money? Our coal mine is number one in the whole province. It's making money hand over fist. The reason we say it's losing money is because the owner of Tianhua Coal Mine is surnamed Yuan, and his brother-in-law is Qiao Ning, the secretary of the Lincheng Municipal Party Committee."

"Xiao Qi! Let me tell you, Qiao Ning was already the mayor of Lincheng back in 90. You should understand what I'm saying now, right?"

The old man's words shocked Qi Tongwei.

If all of this is true, then beneath this black gold lies the misuse of power.

The old man was absolutely right when he said that the economy is currently on a fast track of development, and all parts of Handong need coal, and there is a huge shortage of coal.

You might think it's possible to lose money in other businesses, but in this era, it's very difficult to lose money in the coal industry.

Not to mention, the idea of ​​a coal mine like Xujiayao Coal Mine going bankrupt is simply unthinkable.

Because Xujiayao Coal Mine is a state-owned asset, even if it incurs some losses, the local government will bail it out. Bankruptcy? That's very difficult.

"Sir, is the chairman of Tianhua Coal Mine really the brother-in-law of Qiao Ning, the secretary of the Lincheng Municipal Party Committee?"

"I can't guarantee whether it's true or not, but that's what's been passed down in Xujia Kiln. If you want to find out the truth, you can investigate it yourself!"

Qi Tongwei nodded, and then said.

“Sir, I understand what you’ve said. Don’t tell anyone about my visit today. I’ll go back immediately and report this to Secretary Gong.”

"Please rest assured, Secretary Gong is a leader who cares about the people, and he will definitely stand up for everyone."

The old man took two puffs of his cigarette and then said something that Qi Tongwei would remember for the rest of his life.

"We ordinary people don't dare to ask the big leaders to stand up for us. We just hope that they can do their job properly and that as long as they are not corrupt, they can make our lives better. That's enough."

We've been waiting and waiting! Isn't it all for a better day?

For thousands of years, isn't this all that ordinary people at the bottom of society have been hoping for?

Qi Tongwei left his uncle's house and then quietly returned to Xujia Kiln Coal Mine.

When he arrived at the site of the coal mine collapse, he saw one miner after another being carried out. Some were not even whole, and some were covered in blood. The slight undulations on the white sheet indicated that they were still breathing.

In addition to the miners, there were also firefighters who had been buried earlier.

Clearly, the comrades from the Handong Armed Police Fire Brigade had also arrived.

Qi Tongwei was no less shocked by what he saw than he was by what the old man had said earlier.

These are all lives. They all had parents, wives, and children, but some of their lives were buried by this accident.

Was it a natural disaster or a man-made one?

Qi Tongwei knew very well what was going on.

At the site of the Xujiayao coal mine collapse, tents have been erected one after another.

The headquarters for the collapse accident was set up here.

Qi Tongwei arrived at the headquarters and met Secretary Gong.

At this time, in the general headquarters, besides Secretary Gong, there were other leaders.

All of them were present, including Zhou Kaihua, the executive vice governor of Handong Province, and the heads of several departments of Handong Province.

After seeing Qi Tongwei, Secretary Gong slightly raised his head and asked.

"Tongwei is here?"

As soon as Secretary Gong said this, all the leaders present turned their attention to Qi Tongwei.

Is this the top secretary of Handong?

You're so young!

That's true, he just graduated with a master's degree, how could he not be young?

To become the secretary of the provincial party secretary right after graduating with a master's degree—such good fortune must have made countless people in the officialdom of Handong envious.

Some people are beasts of burden their entire lives, while others are born in Rome.

In his past life, Qi Tongwei didn't want to be a beast of burden, but he could only be a beast of burden.

But in this life, his uncle used a direct road to Rome to send him straight there.

It's all fate!

"Secretary Gong."

"Tongwei! Come with me for a walk and let's conduct an on-site inspection of the accident scene. This will be beneficial for you in the future."

Secretary Gong's actions made the leaders present so envious they felt a pang of jealousy; it was clear he was treating Qi Dongwei like a younger relative.