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

Chapter 552: The End of Li Dakang

My name is Li Dakang. I have served as secretary of Zhao Lichun (vice governor), county magistrate of Jinshan County, secretary of the Jinshan County Party Committee, deputy mayor of Luzhou City, deputy secretary of Luzhou Municipal Party Committee and mayor, secretary of Lincheng Municipal Party Committee, member of the Standing Committee of Handong Provincial Party Committee, and secretary of Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee.

He is currently serving as Deputy Secretary of the Handong Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Handong Province.

I don’t have any hobbies. I can’t even play poker. My only hobby is work, or you could say being an official.

My career path has been smooth. Although there have been twists and turns along the way, it has been very smooth overall. All of this is inseparable from one person, that is Zhao Lichun.

Soon after I started working, I was transferred to Zhao Lichun and served as his secretary.

Because of my abilities, I was highly valued by Zhao Lichun. After serving as his secretary for five years, he promoted me to the position of county magistrate of Jinshan County.

When I first took office as county magistrate, I had high aspirations and vowed to achieve something and become one of the famous officials in history.

But reality soon taught me a lesson.

Although Jinshan County is a large county with a population of 120 million, the county is extremely poor. The roads are blocked, and goods cannot come in or go out. The county is almost caught in a vicious circle of development.

There is only one way to change all this, and that is to build roads.

But the problem was that Jinshan County’s finances could not afford a penny at the time, so building the road was almost impossible.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to build this road, even in the face of enormous difficulties.

The first difficulty I encountered came from within. No one in the entire Jinshan County Committee supported me in building the road. The reason was very simple: there was no money.

I know what these people are thinking very well. They are all trying to find ways to transfer away. As for what the development of Jinshan County has to do with them, I don't know.

I did not give up. I went to the office of Yi Xuexue, the county party secretary, almost every day to tell him the benefits of building the road, which was also the only hope for Jinshan County.

To be honest, although Yi Xuexi's work ability is average, he is very responsible and has the idea of ​​being a good official. Therefore, with his support, the road construction was approved by the county party committee standing committee.

Due to the county's financial difficulties, I proposed to build the road through collective funds, with each person with a job contributing 10 yuan and each farmer contributing 3 yuan.

To be honest, I didn’t fully understand the difficulties faced by farmers at that time. I thought everyone could come up with 3 yuan, so I insisted on raising funds for road construction in this way.

I didn't expect that something unexpected would happen because of my negligence.

In order to promote fundraising for road construction, I ordered Wang Dalu to hold three consecutive days of fundraising mobilization meetings, which eventually led to the death of a citizen at the fundraising meeting.

This person is from a local family, and they want Wang Dalu to pay with his life.

After the incident, I was very anxious and thought my career was over. Unexpectedly, Yi Xuexi and Wang Dalu stood up at this time and took the blame for me.

In the end, Yi Xuexi was removed from his post as county party secretary, and Wang Dalu was fired. However, it was a blessing in disguise for me. Not only was I not punished, I also became the acting county party secretary.

I am indeed very grateful to them, but because of this, I don't want to see them. I always feel as if I owe them something.

Wang Dalu took the money that Yi Xuexi and I raised for him to start a business, and I found Zhao Lichun, with his help I raised enough money for road construction.

After the road was completed, I specially found Zhao Lichun and asked him to cut the ribbon.

I know it was wrong for me to do so. The people I should have invited the most were Yi Xuexi and Wang Dalu, but I didn’t. As I said, I don’t want to see them.

After the completion of the road, Jinshan County entered a period of rapid development and soon got rid of the label of a poor county. As a result, I was promoted to deputy mayor of Luzhou City.

After arriving in Luzhou, I became the executive vice mayor in just one year.

Soon, Zhao Lichun was appointed as the Secretary of the Handong Provincial Party Committee. As his former secretary, my career path naturally also got a boost and I was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the Luzhou Municipal Party Committee and Mayor.

My partner at that time was Qian Huimin, a man of average ability, but good at sophistry and eloquence.

He and I often quarreled over the development plan of Luzhou City, and I won every time. First, my development ideas were indeed better than his, and second, the presence of Secretary Zhao Lichun made him feel hesitant.

Because of this, I have gained a bad reputation: when I am the top leader, the top leader has the final say; when I am the second in command, the second in command has the final say.

I don’t know which grandson spread this message, but it had a huge impact on me.

I thought that because of our quarrel, Luzhou would usher in a bright future, but it turned out not to be the case. Zhao Ruilong, the son of Secretary Zhao Lichun, appeared.

Seeing Zhao Ruilong gave me a headache.

Because he took the blame for his father Zhao Lichun, Zhao Ruilong completely lost his chance for a career in politics. Secretary Lichun felt guilty towards his son, so he tried his best to make things easier for him.

As soon as Zhao Ruilong came to me, I knew it was up to no good, but I still had to meet him for the sake of Secretary Zhao Lichun's face.

Zhao Ruilong’s goal is very simple, which is to build a food city on the Crescent Lake in Luzhou. I may not be as good as others in other aspects, but I have my own understanding of development, and I also attach great importance to environmental protection.

I could foresee that if I approved this project for him, my career would be smooth sailing for the time being, but I would definitely run into trouble in the future, so I rejected Zhao Ruilong's project application.

As you can imagine, Zhao Ruilong must be very angry. If he was angry, Secretary Zhao Lichun would not be happy either. Not long after, I was transferred to Lincheng City to serve as the secretary of the municipal party committee.

In this respect, I still admire Secretary Zhao Lichun. He did not transfer me away from the front line just because I rejected Zhao Ruilong. Instead, he made me the secretary of the Lincheng Municipal Party Committee.

I did a very good job in Lincheng. I used environmental management to transform the coal subsidence area into a scenic area and a high-tech development zone. Under my management, the GDP of Lincheng City caught up with that of Luteng, Jingzhou and Luzhou.

I was about to be included in the Standing Committee of the Handong Provincial Party Committee with this achievement, but I encountered an anti-corruption campaign. Most of the developers ran away overnight, and the development of Lincheng stagnated. My first dream of becoming a member of the Standing Committee was shattered.

Later, in order to support my competition with Qian Huimin, Zhao Lichun transferred me to Jingzhou City to serve as the secretary of the municipal party committee.

After arriving in Jingzhou City, I focused my main attention on GDP. Of course, in order to please Zhao Lichun, my relationship with Qian Huimin became very strained.

Later everyone knew that Secretary Qi Tongwei had come. He is a person I admire very much.

It was not because of his official position but because of his ability. Under his leadership, Luteng climbed from the bottom of the province to the top three, which was a miracle. I went there specifically to learn about it.

Of course, I have also flattered others, and I have no excuse for this. Which official doesn't flatter others?

After Qi Tongwei arrived, he happened to encounter the Dafeng Factory occupation incident. He used this incident to take down Qian Huimin and Hou Liangping, who relied on women to get to the top.

To be honest, I was also very anxious at that time.

Although I was not corrupt, my wife Ouyang Jing was. In fact, I was also aware of his corruption, but I just turned a blind eye to it.

I am very grateful to Secretary Qi. With his help, my wife did not end up going to jail. Our marriage was worth it, and I was able to divorce smoothly.

After the divorce, I put all my focus on work and did whatever Secretary Qi asked me to do.

Many people may not help but ask why my attitude towards Secretary Qi and Secretary Zhao Lichun is different. Secretary Zhao Lichun is still my mentor.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand. First, some of the things Zhao Lichun asked me to do violated the party's discipline and the country's laws. Once something happened, I would not be able to escape. Second, Secretary Zhao Lichun's future is obvious at a glance, but Secretary Qi is different.

Qi Tongwei is indeed very capable. Under his leadership, we have achieved many world-renowned achievements.

The proportion of real estate economy has been declining again and again, while the proportion of high-tech economy has been increasing year by year. Handong's economy has also become a T0 level existence, far ahead of other places.

My efforts finally won the trust of Secretary Qi, and he recommended me as the deputy secretary of the Handong Provincial Party Committee and governor.

Although it is impossible for me to get promoted because of my wife Ouyang Jing, I am still quite satisfied. As a child from an ordinary family, it is beyond my expectation that I can get to where I am today.

My story is coming to an end. From now on I will be a retired old man. Maybe I should learn to play poker. I wonder if Yi Xuexi and the others will hate me?

Forget it, the past is like smoke, it’s time for me to go to work and stand guard for the last time!