A Half-Step Winner: Qi Tongwei's Journey to the League

Sun Liancheng is indeed capable. Under his control, Jinghai City was able to successfully get through this special period.

Qi Tongwei was also not idle. He visited and investigated various counties and districts in Jinghai City.

Qi Tongwei's visit and investigation this time were all randomly planned because he didn't want the local government to arrange it. He wanted to see the most real situation.

To this end, he traveled through the streets and fields, had cordial exchanges with local people, and listened to their voices;

At the same time, we also held discussions with some grassroots civil servants to learn in detail about the implementation of various policies and the practical difficulties they face.

After this in-depth investigation, Qi Tongwei gained a deeper understanding of many of the current problems and developed deep doubts.

What particularly worries him is ordinary people's distrust of officials and government debt.

Take Liuhe County as an example. People’s trust in the government is extremely low, which makes Qi Tongwei very worried, but what worries him even more is the falsification of data.

He talked to a cadre from the Finance Office, who told him that the Finance Office had 87 yuan worth of projects under construction in its account, which was originally a government debt. However, when the superiors required statistics on the government debt last year, the county party committee and county government refused to allow it.

According to him, this situation is extremely common, and the cadres in charge of this work simply notified the WeChat group and asked all units to directly report that they have no debt.

Not only that, the county party committee and county government have borrowed billions from banks. He estimates that the actual debt of the county is nearly 10 billion.

The debt of a county government is over 10 billion yuan. This figure shocked Qi Tongwei. If this is the case in all counties in the province, it will be troublesome.

He then conducted a serious investigation on this issue and found the problem to be very grim. Although the situation in other counties and districts was not as serious as Liuhe, it should not be underestimated.

The smallest county has a government debt of more than 5 billion.

This made him realize that the debt situation of governments at all levels in Handong Province was already very serious. If effective measures were not taken in time to deal with it, the consequences would be disastrous.

Therefore, Qi Tongwei secretly made up his mind to strictly control government spending, and the first things that needed to be rectified were those building projects that were launched arbitrarily and built blindly.

After finishing his local research trip, Qi Tongwei returned to the city without stopping, preparing to meet with Sun Liancheng again to explain some problems in Jinghai to him, and then return to Jingzhou.

Unfortunately, Sun Liancheng also went down, so Qi Tongwei had to temporarily put his plan to meet with Sun Liancheng on hold and decided to stay in Jingzhou City for another day.

While waiting for Sun Liancheng to return, Qi Tongwei decided to go to the central street of Jinghai City in person to investigate the business atmosphere and market environment there.

As he was strolling along the busy central street, his eyes were caught by a couple behaving intimately.

Looking closely, it turned out that Gao Qiqiang was leisurely shopping with Chen Shuting. The two of them were arm in arm, talking and laughing, looking particularly close.

"Secretary Qi?" Gao Qiqiang seemed to notice someone was staring at him. He looked up and found that it was Qi Tongwei standing not far away.

Hearing the voices, Qi Tongwei smiled: "So it's you two! It's great, let's find a place to sit down and have a good chat."

As the saying goes, those involved are often confused, while those who are not involved can see things more clearly. He felt that as an outsider, Gao Qiqiang might be able to come up with some solution.

Due to Qi Tongwei's special status, several people went directly to a private restaurant.

"Lao Gao, how have you been these years?" Qi Tongwei asked curiously.

Gao Qiqiang said gratefully: "I am very good, and the three of us are also very good. All of this is thanks to you. If it weren't for your help, we wouldn't be where we are today."

"Old Gao, it's over. This is the result of your own hard work. What does it have to do with me?" Qi Tongwei waved his hand to refuse Gao Qiqiang's thanks.

"Really? Xiao Sheng entered politics under your suggestion and is now the township party committee secretary..."

Before he finished speaking, Chen Shuting interrupted him: "What about the township party committee secretary? Didn't Xiaosheng say he changed his unit?"

"Look at my brain, I forgot all this in the excitement. Xiaosheng went to the Provincial Procuratorate and is helping to investigate a case recently!" Gao Qiqiang's face was full of pride when talking about his younger brother.

Perhaps for him, his brother's achievements make him happier than making more money.

"That's good, Xiao Sheng is indeed a talented person!

Forget it, let's not talk about him for now. Lao Gao, you are an entrepreneur, do our governments at all levels owe you money? "Qi Tongwei changed the subject and directly led the topic to government debt.

"Of course there is. The government owes me nearly 3 million yuan in project fees, and the authorities do not allow the withholding of wages for migrant workers. Now I have to pay all the money in advance. If I go to the government, either I can't find the people or I don't have the money." Gao Qiqiang said with a wry smile.

"Is the government really in trouble or does it just not want to pay you?" Qi Tongwei continued to ask.

"Who knows, but everyone says the government has no money and there is a lot of debt owed outside," Gao Qiqiang responded.

Then he continued: "If you work for the government now and can pay off your debts within three to five years, you will be considered to have met a conscientious leader!

Because of the delay in settling accounts, many government projects nowadays cannot find anyone willing to take over, unless they have connections and their accounts can be settled on time. "

"Is the government's credibility so low nowadays?" Qi Tongwei whispered.

Chen Shuting took over the conversation and responded, "Well, the key is that there is no money. The little money we have has been taken away by corrupt officials. If these corrupt officials are arrested, the government's finances will definitely improve. Maybe there will be a lot of surplus after paying off the debts."

"Shuting..." Gao Qiqiang glanced at Chen Shuting and thought it was inappropriate for her to say that.

"I think what she said may have a point. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng entered the capital and seized 7000 million taels of silver from officials and gentry. In the early years of Chongzhen, when he asked them for donations, they all said that they couldn't even support their families.

If Chongzhen had been ruthless enough to raid the homes of these officials and gentry, perhaps history would have been changed.

What Shuting said makes sense. If we can use the corrupt officials' money to make up for the fiscal deficit, it will be good for everyone. "Qi Tongwei felt that what Chen Shuting said made sense, but he was not sure whether the corrupt officials had so much money.

Afterwards, the three chatted for a while.

Gao Qiqiang learned that his sister Gao Qilan had signed up to go to Africa for aid the day before yesterday. Qi Tongwei praised Gao Qilan's behavior. He didn't know that Gao Qilan left because of him.

Fortunately, Gao Qilan found her love this time, and he was a soldier.

Putting aside the digression for now, after finishing the conversation with Gao Qiqiang, Qi Tongwei became even more worried about the debts of local governments. With this feeling, Qi Tongwei and Gao Qiqiang parted ways.

The next morning, Sun Liancheng went to Qi Tongwei's residence in person to report on his work.

He first elaborated on his governing ideas and rectification plans, which were generally very good.

Qi Tongwei first affirmed Sun Liancheng's approach, then told him about his research results and asked him to find a way to resolve the government debt of Jinghai City.

"Secretary Qi, we will solve the government debt of Jinghai City ourselves without saving a single cent from the treasury, but you have to promise me one thing?" Sun Liancheng asked.

Qi Tongwei asked doubtfully, "What's the matter?"

"The stolen money confiscated in this anti-corruption campaign will remain in our Jinghai City." Sun Liancheng replied.

Looking at Sun Liancheng's expression and thinking of Chen Shuting's words, Qi Tongwei couldn't help but ask, "Did you receive any news?"

Sun Liancheng smiled and nodded, then talked about the news he had received.

Brothers and sisters, Happy New Year!