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

After keeping this in mind, Jiang Yiming headed to the next stop.

Unlike previous surveys where the locations of companies or cooperatives were predetermined, this time Jiang Yiming selected a township, randomly got off the bus to visit farmers, and went wherever he happened to be, using the most direct method to understand the real situation.

Therefore, even if the county or district learned that Jiang Yiming had come to the countryside, it would be difficult for them to meet him or make preparations.

Next, I visited three more townships at random.

Through the visits, Jiang Yiming and his team learned a lot about the real situation.

The main problem is the severe oversupply of agricultural products, with prices squeezed at every level by middlemen. Farmers generally report that the more they plant, the more they lose, and many fields are already showing signs of being abandoned. Some livestock farmers, in order to cash out, are forced to sell at low prices, and even those who have tried to build their own sales channels have failed due to logistical and platform barriers. Some people's expressions become cryptic when the topic of "large markets" comes up, hesitant to speak, clearly harboring apprehension. Jiang Yiming recorded these situations one by one, realizing that the problems had been accumulating for a long time, and that without measures, the goal of building a new countryside would remain empty talk.

"Director Shao, you saw what happened during our visit today. It's not that the farmers aren't working hard, but they're being exploited at every level, and their enthusiasm for production is being completely worn down. If we don't break the monopoly of the middlemen and establish direct channels to the market, the construction of beautiful villages will lose its foundation."

Jiang Yiming looked at Shao Mo, the director of the Agriculture Bureau, and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Mayor, our Agriculture Bureau has been actively researching solutions to these problems and has proposed many solutions, such as promoting joint procurement by cooperatives, building cold chain storage facilities, and connecting with e-commerce platforms. However, progress has been slow due to limited funding and execution capabilities. In particular, the city's lack of emphasis on agriculture and limited resource investment have made it difficult for many projects to be implemented..."

"Let's not talk about the past. Tell me what plans you had prepared beforehand."

Jiang Yiming interrupted Director Shao Mo's explanation.

"We have proposed a 'one village, one product' plan to create distinctive agricultural product brands and enhance added value through standardized packaging, certification, and promotion; we have also envisioned establishing a city-level direct sales platform for agricultural products to integrate high-quality agricultural product resources across the city and achieve seamless integration from farm to table; at the same time, we are promoting connections between farmers and supermarkets, and between farmers and cooperatives to reduce intermediate links..."

Director Shao Mo put forward a series of ideas, which showed that there had indeed been previous research.

Jiang Yiming nodded and said, "Your ideas are good, and the direction is right. The key is to implement them. Now we need to concentrate our resources on a few practical things, starting with the most urgent ones. First, we need to create several key brands. Let's not even talk about 'one village, one product.' It would be good if a city could create a few brands. 'One village, one product' is completely unrealistic. We need to concentrate our efforts on creating city-level regional public brands, with unified standards, unified supervision, and unified marketing. From what I understand, the products with the highest market share in our city are crayfish, rapeseed, and lotus root. We will focus on developing the brands of these three varieties, dividing them into regions, and concentrating resources to jointly create city-level regional public brands. Second, we need to establish a city-level agricultural product supply chain alliance, integrating production, warehousing, logistics, and sales channels. Led by the government, this alliance will unite leading enterprises, cooperatives, and e-commerce platforms." Joint construction and management. Prioritize the construction of origin warehouses in major crayfish, rapeseed, and lotus root producing areas to achieve integrated operations of rapid pre-cooling, sorting, and packaging after harvesting, reducing losses. Simultaneously connect with large domestic supermarkets, community group-buying platforms, and catering chains to promote order-based agriculture and production based on sales. Explore a dual-endorsement model of "public brand + enterprise sub-brand," strengthening quality traceability and entry/exit mechanisms to ensure brand reputation. Develop an implementation plan within two weeks, clearly defining responsibilities and timelines. Thirdly, strengthen policy support and resource integration, establishing special funds for brand promotion, cold chain construction, and e-commerce platform integration, prioritizing support for entities included in the public brand. Simultaneously, establish a supervision and assessment mechanism, incorporating brand building and supply chain integration into the annual performance assessments of relevant departments to ensure the effective implementation of all measures.

"Mayor Guoliang, you will take the lead, the Agriculture Bureau will be responsible for the specific implementation, and all relevant departments will cooperate to ensure that the plan is feasible and can be implemented. Tomorrow, you should convene a meeting of relevant departments to get preliminary opinions. The Agriculture Bureau will then formulate a plan based on the opinions of each unit and submit it to the Standing Committee of the Municipal Government for review."

"Yes, Mayor, I will carry out your instructions as soon as I get back."

Liu Guoliang nodded and exchanged a few words with Shao Mo.

The car then arrived in Yongchang District.

Jiang Yiming called Duan Lei, the secretary of the Yongchang District Committee.

After agreeing on a meeting place, Jiang Yiming said to the others, "Mayor Guoliang, Xianjun, and Director Ding, please stay and continue the investigation with me. The rest of you can go back to the city first. I'm going to Yongchang District to find out more about the situation."

The following research was none of anyone else's business. Jiang Yiming preferred to travel light, so he had the others take the Coaster back to the city first.

Jiang Yiming and his group then traveled to Yongchang District by car to conduct their research.

Not long after, Duan Lei arrived at the designated location in his car, got out, and quickly went to greet him.

"Mayor, why didn't you notify me in advance that you were coming here? I would have made arrangements accordingly."

Duan Lei inquired.

"I was just passing by when I saw a shipyard here, so I thought I'd come over and find out more about it."

Jiang Yiming said, "I guess you're not too familiar with this company either, so let's learn about it together."

"Yes, Mayor."

Duan Lei then accompanied Jiang Yiming into the shipyard. The company's head, who had also been notified, quickly came out to greet them. Upon seeing Jiang Yiming and his entourage, he hurried forward to shake hands and say, "Welcome, leaders, to our company. I am Song Qiang, the company's head."

After shaking hands with Song Qiang, Jiang Yiming said, "We apologize for our sudden visit. Mr. Song, could you please introduce your company's basic situation, especially regarding production and operation, technological innovation, and market expansion? What is the current overall situation in the industry? Where do you stand among similar companies? Do you have any core competitiveness?"

Jiang Yiming asked as he walked.

As Song Qiang led the way, he answered, “Distinguished leaders, our factory mainly produces small and medium-sized cargo ships, with an annual output value of approximately 18 million yuan. We have received stable orders over the past three years, and some of our products have been exported to Southeast Asia. We are currently collaborating with Jiangcheng University of Science and Technology and the Shipbuilding Research Institute to develop a new type of energy-saving ship. We have already obtained two national patents and made breakthroughs in power systems and lightweight materials, achieving an 1.8% improvement in fuel efficiency compared to traditional ship types. This puts us in a leading position in the industry.”

"The main bottlenecks to development are limited financing channels, which restrict R&D progress and capacity expansion, and the incomplete local supporting industrial chain, with key components relying on procurement from other places, which often affects the delivery cycle."

Jiang Yiming stopped and looked at the ship hull being welded in the distance of the factory area. After a moment of silence, he said, "Enterprises have technology and markets, but they are stuck in the industrial chain and capital. This is a common problem during the current transformation period. But the more this is the case, the more we need to take the initiative to break the deadlock."

He turned to Duan Lei and said, “Our city boasts the golden waterway of the Yangtze River and possesses natural resource advantages. We must strive to build a modern shipbuilding industry cluster. Yongchang District should leverage its locational advantages, accelerate the integration of upstream and downstream resources, promote the technological upgrading of local supporting enterprises, and guide capital towards key links in the industrial chain. First, we should seek the support of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to secure the title of National New Industrialization Demonstration Base for Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Equipment. At the same time, the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology should take the lead in establishing a special industrial fund in conjunction with financial institutions to prioritize support for technological upgrading and capacity expansion of enterprises with core technologies. We should use Comrade Song Qiang's company as a pilot to streamline the entire service chain from R&D to manufacturing and form replicable and scalable experiences.”

"Mayor, I've heard that there are only a handful of National New Industrialization Demonstration Bases for Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Equipment that you mentioned. There aren't any inland cities that have them yet, so it's quite a challenge."

Song Qiang whispered a reminder.

"It's all about human effort. It's precisely because we don't have it that it's all the more worthwhile to strive for it. As long as we're heading in the right direction, we have to keep going no matter how difficult the road is. This is our advantage. We must build on this advantage to develop the shipbuilding industry. If we can't even develop our advantageous industries, how can we talk about overall development?"

Jiang Yiming said, "Moreover, the creation of a national-level demonstration base is itself a process of pooling resources and forcing reform. As long as you continue to improve your technological innovation capabilities and strengthen upstream and downstream collaboration, the municipal party committee and government will definitely provide full support and accurately introduce policy, funding, talent and other elements. At the end of this month, I will go out to attract investment, and your Yongchang District will also send people to participate, focusing on promoting your energy-saving ship types and patented technologies, and connecting with leading domestic shipping companies and investment institutions."

This was not a whim, but a well-thought-out strategic plan.

In his previous life, Jiangcheng was a leader in the development of the shipbuilding industry, and he simply made his plans a little earlier.