The Official Ladder: I ascend to the pinnacle of power, wielding the power of life and death.

Peach growers from several villages, including Gaoqiao Village, went directly to the orchard to petition.

They originally promised to buy peaches in three days, but five days have passed.

"We need to see Secretary Jiang. We were promised three days, and today is the fifth day. If he doesn't buy our peaches soon, they will rot in the orchard."

"Where is Secretary Jiang? We want to see Secretary Jiang. He's a good official, and we believe he will resolve our issues. Please take us to see Secretary Jiang quickly."

"If Secretary Jiang doesn't give us a clear answer today, we're not leaving."

As time went on, more and more villagers gathered at the entrance of the park.

Du Weizhong and other park staff members tried to persuade the villagers to leave, even getting blisters on their lips, but to no avail.

This made Du Weizhong and the others sweat profusely with anxiety.

"Secretary Du, we can't persuade him to leave no matter what we do, and Secretary Jiang isn't here. What should we do now?"

Liu Yuanjie's eyes reddened with anxiety; she was in charge of public security and petition work.

If such a serious incident is not resolved in time, she, as the leader in charge, will be the first to be punished when the county investigates.

“Of course, we should consult Secretary Jiang about this matter and ask him to call Director Zhu of the Finance Bureau and have him allocate the funds to us immediately. That would solve the problem.”

Du Weizhong thought for a moment and then said.

"Yes, yes, call Secretary Jiang."

Liu Yuanjie immediately called Jiang Yiming.

Jiang Yiming was fast asleep in his hotel bed.

Lately, he has been working at a high intensity, both day and night.

Having finally managed to attract investment, they should naturally take the opportunity to rest well.

After the call was connected, I heard Liu Yuanjie's anxious voice coming through the receiver.

"The villagers have petitioned the authorities. What happened?"

Jiang Yiming was wide awake and immediately sat up.

"What? The Finance Bureau hasn't allocated the funds yet? How come no one reported such a big thing to me?"

Jiang Yiming said angrily.

Today is the third day since he came out, and I never expected such a big thing to happen.

“Secretary Jiang, this is my fault. I went to the Finance Bureau to urge them several times, and each time they said they would allocate the funds tomorrow. I thought that since the funds would be allocated the next day, I didn’t call you so as not to affect your work. Who knew they would drag it out for three days.”

Du Weizhong snatched the phone from Liu Yuanjie and began to explain.

Jiang Yiming didn't know whether Du Weizhong genuinely didn't want to disturb his work or was deliberately dragging things out until things escalated.

Of course, this was not the time to consider these issues. He said sternly, "We must maintain order in the park, calm everyone down, and absolutely prevent any other problems from occurring!"

"Secretary Jiang, rest assured, all the staff in the park are working hard to persuade them to return to their villages."

Du Weizhong said cautiously, "Please trouble Secretary Jiang to call Director Zhu and ask him to release the loan as soon as possible. That way, the problem will be resolved."

"Okay, I'll make the call."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yiming dialed Zhu Xinglei.

On the other side, in the office of the director of the county finance bureau.

Xu Changming, the former director of the Economic and Trade Bureau, was sitting in Zhu Xinglei's office drinking tea.

"Hehe, Lao Zhu, I've received the news that the industrial park is in complete chaos. If it's not quelled soon, it could lead to even bigger problems. Even if Ma Qiyun is biased towards his favorite general, he'll have no choice but to execute Ma Su with tears in his eyes, otherwise, he, as the top leader of the county committee, will be in trouble."

Xu Changming sipped his tea, leaned back on the leather sofa, and wore a long-lost smile on his face.

"Yes, Jiang Yiming's career is almost over this time."

Zhu Xinglei laughed and said, "This is not my fault. He can only blame himself. After all, the taller the tree, the more the wind will blow. Right now, Jiang Yiming is the most conspicuous person around Ma Qiyun, so we can only make an example of him."

"Is this what County Magistrate Jiang intended?"

Xu Changming inquired.

Zhu Xinglei smiled noncommittally and said, "Regardless of whose intention it was, Jiang Yiming has only himself to blame for being too naive and having a simplistic political mindset. He has only gotten himself into this situation because he is too inexperienced."

"That's true. In any case, I'll feel better if Jiang Yiming is dismissed."

Xu Changming said indignantly, "I just can't understand why I, a perfectly good director of the Economic and Trade Bureau, only fifty years old, would be arranged to retire in the CPPCC for no reason?"

Zhu Xinglei didn't know how to respond, so he changed the subject and said, "Have someone inquire about the situation in the industrial park. I reckon Jiang Yiming will call me soon, begging me to release the loan."

"Haha, that's inevitable."

As the two were talking, the cell phone on the table rang.

"If I'm not mistaken, this call is from Jiang Yiming."

Zhu Xinglei walked over unhurriedly, saw that the caller ID was indeed Jiang Yiming's, put the phone on the table, and laughed, "Am I right? He must be eager to call me and beg me to lend him money. I'll just ignore him and leave him hanging for a while."

"Yes, let him wait a while and let him get anxious."

Xu Changming and the other man sat down and continued drinking tea.

The phone rang again and again, and it wasn't until the fourth time that Zhu Xinglei slowly picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hello, who is it?"

"I am Jiang Yiming!"

Jiang Yiming's cold voice came through the microphone.

"Oh, Secretary Yiming, what's the matter?"

Zhu Xinglei said slowly and deliberately.

"Zhu Xinglei, you have ten minutes to get the relevant department in your bureau to release the loan immediately, or you'll bear the consequences!"

Jiang Yiming said in a deep voice.

Zhu Xinglei was stunned, almost unable to react.

Who are you?

The director of the county finance bureau is the god of wealth in Xinping County!

Let alone a deputy secretary of an industrial park, even the top leader of a township, or even the deputy county head, he sometimes doesn't give the other party a second glance!

But what about Jiang Yiming?

A deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee actually spoke to him in a commanding tone.

How presumptuous!

"Jiang Yiming, if I remember correctly, you are the deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee of the Industrial Park, not the secretary of the County Party Committee of Xinping County, right?"

Zhu Xinglei sneered, "Even Secretary Ma couldn't match your tone, could he?"

"I don't know what Secretary Ma's tone is like, but you'll regret it if you act recklessly like this!"

Jiang Yiming said with a stern face.

"Fine, then I'll see what I have to regret."

Zhu Xinglei sneered, "Don't think that just because you have Secretary Ma backing you up, you can boss me around. You're not worthy!"

"I'm telling you this today: unless you beg me, you won't get the money, and all other funding payments will be delayed!"

"Alright, let's see who begs whom!"

Jiang Yiming hung up the phone first, and then called Wang Jiajia.

It took quite a while before the call was answered.

"Secretary Jiang, I'm sorry, I was just trying to persuade the petitioners. What are your instructions?"

"Notify Li Quanyou and Sun Yuxiu to bring all the villagers and company employees to petition the government."

"what?"

Wang Jiajia was stunned for a moment, thinking she had misheard, and asked uncertainly, "You mean, you want me to notify them to bring the villagers and staff to petition?"

"Yes, you heard that right."

Jiang Yiming said, "By the way, make several copies of the document with Zhu Xinglei's signature on it from the Finance Bureau, and have someone send it out quietly."

"I'll teach him what it means to shift the blame eastward!"