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

"Fifth Brother, what do you want with me?"

Jiang Yiming received a notification from the gatekeeper that someone was looking for him. When he came out, he found it was his fifth brother, Jiang Yongchen.

He and Jiang Yongchen are only a few months apart in age and have been playing together since they were little.

In his previous life, Jiang Yongchen partnered with his father to start a construction company. The two worked together and made the company very successful.

Therefore, even though he was very busy before, he still made time to go back and attend Jiang Yongchen's wedding.

"Sixth Brother, Fifth Brother had no other choice but to come to you."

Jiang Yongchen sighed, "I finished the job I took in Yusha Town six months ago, but I still haven't received a single penny. My other brothers are almost going crazy with worry."

"Does Yusha Town owe you money?"

"No, it's owed by Yusha Winery Company."

Jiang Yongchen said, "Wang Weifa is just being unreasonable and refuses to pay. I went to Uncle Yunhai and even offered two packs of Hongtashan cigarettes, but I still couldn't get the money. If you're having trouble, I'll think of another way."

"It's alright, I'll go with you."

Jiang Yiming naturally couldn't ignore Jiang Yongchen, so he got on his motorcycle and headed to Yusha Town together.

Instead of going directly to Wang Weifa, he went to the town government and found Ding Wende, the organization committee member of Yusha Town.

"Don't worry, Section Chief Jiang, I'll call Wang Weifa over right away."

Ding Wende was very enthusiastic when facing the leaders of his superiors.

Not long after, Wang Weifa, a thin man in his forties, walked in.

Upon seeing Jiang Yongchen, Wang Weifa understood why Ding Wende had summoned him.

"Brother Yongchen, it's not that I don't want to settle your bill, it's just that the company doesn't have a single penny left."

Wang Wei sighed and said, "The company is in a bad situation right now, and we can't even pay the workers' wages. Even if I sold myself, I still wouldn't be able to get you any money."

"Why would you hire someone to do work if you don't have money?"

Jiang Yongchen was furious at Wang Weifa's cheating, as he had several brothers who were eagerly awaiting his return!

Wang Weifa had grown accustomed to such accusations and could only sigh silently.

“Section Chief Jiang, Old Wang really didn’t lie to you. Early this morning, the employees of Yusha Winery came to the town government to petition and ask us for their wages. I haven’t been paid for three months myself, so where am I supposed to pay them?”

Ding Wende shook his head and said, "It's too difficult for every industry right now."

"How about this, I'll have Old Wang make a promise that as soon as he has money, he'll give it to your brother, how about that?"

“No problem, I will repay the money as soon as the company account has the funds.”

Wang Weifa immediately patted his chest and assured them, "Nobody wants to be a bastard who owes money, but the company is facing bankruptcy, and there's really no other way."

Seeing this, Jiang Yongchen could only leave with Jiang Yiming.

"Take this money and give some to the brothers first, so they can get through this period. Things will get better later."

Jiang Yiming took out his newly received salary from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Yongchen.

He used all his royalties to buy stocks; that was all the money he had left.

"No, no, how can I take your money?"

Jiang Yongchen quickly refused.

"If you treat me like a brother, don't stand on ceremony with me."

Jiang Yiming pulled Jiang Yongchen's hand and stuffed the money into it: "The company provides meals and accommodation, I don't need the money for now, you can take it first."

"Okay, then I'll send some living expenses to the brothers first, and I'll try to earn money to pay you back as soon as possible."

Jiang Yongchen didn't refuse again, otherwise it would seem too distant.

Speaking of making money, Jiang Yiming had an idea and asked, "Fifth Brother, you've also tried Yusha Wine, what did you think of it?"

“I think it tastes good.”

Jiang Yongchen thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't burn the throat, and it has a mellow aftertaste."

"What a pity, such a good winery is about to go out of business, and we will never be able to drink such good wine at such a reasonable price again."

Why do you think the distillery is in this situation?

Although Jiang Yiming knew that Jiang Yongchen and his father had worked together very well in his previous life, he did not have a detailed understanding of Jiang Yongchen's abilities.

"It's all because of the egalitarian system. Whether you work or not, whether you work a lot or a little, whether you do a good job or a bad job, it's all the same. If you were in that situation, you wouldn't want to put in any effort either."

Jiang Yongchen complained, "Not only that, the leaders have arranged all their relatives to work at the winery. Positions that originally only needed one person are now staffed with a hundred people. No wonder it's going to collapse."

"It is said that the county and town governments get free wine from the winery every year for their receptions, and this expense alone amounts to hundreds of thousands of yuan."

"Don't even mention a winery, even a gold mine could be eaten up."

"If you were the manager of the distillery, how would you revive it?"

Jiang Yiming laughed.

"If I were the factory manager, I would first lay off the redundant staff, then cut all those messy businesses, and then recoup the funds to focus on developing the wine business."

Jiang Yongchen answered without hesitation.

"Fifth Brother, you're born to be a businessman."

This was the first time Jiang Yiming had realized that his fifth brother, who only had a junior high school education, was so business-minded.

Although the two points mentioned above may not seem significant in later generations, they were not something that everyone could have thought of in an environment where everyone was eating from the same pot.

"Sixth Brother, stop making fun of me. I'm practically begging for food now."

Jiang Yongchen said with a wry smile, "Besides, the factory workers all have secure jobs; they can't be fired."

"The distillery can only watch helplessly as it collapses."

"Not always."

Jiang Yiming laughed and said, "You should pay more attention to current events. Policies are constantly changing. For some people, policy changes are a bad thing, but for another group of people, this is an opportunity!"

Jiang Yongchen nodded seriously.

Not long after Jiang Yiming returned to his office, Chen Wei came over and said, "Yiming, Secretary Ma wants to see you and asks you to go to his office."

Jiang Yiming was taken aback. This was the first time Ma Qiyun had contacted him since the last incident.

"Okay, thank you, Brother Wei."

Jiang Yiming stood up and walked towards the county party secretary's office on the fourth floor.

After relaying Zhao Zhenlin's message, Chen Wei went to Zhao Zhenlin's office again: "Minister, Yiming has already gone over."

Zhao Zhenlin nodded and said, "Hurry up and organize the materials for the second batch of cadres to be promoted."

"Yes, Minister."

Chen Wei jotted it down in his notebook and said with a smile, "Minister, I heard that the Party Secretary is looking for a new secretary. Could you perhaps call Yiming over for a talk?"

"Yiming can drive and is proficient in using computers. The article he wrote about his experience in organizing work was very well written; I was even ashamed of my own writing skills after reading it. In addition, he is a newcomer, so the secretary can trust him more."

"The secretary did have this plan, but unfortunately he lacked the willpower to withstand the test."

Zhao Zhenlin shook his head, somewhat regretfully.

"Did Secretary Ma test Yiming?"

Chen Wei was startled. He never expected that his leader would do something like this so quietly. Would the cigarettes he accepted be discovered?

"Last time I asked you to provide three names and also asked you to reveal that he is my cousin. Then I took him to visit several towns and villages so that these people who want to advance would understand that finding Jiang Yiming can be useful."

Zhao Zhenlin said, "As a result, Jiang Yiming recommended Liu Sicheng."

"Could there be a misunderstanding?"