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

After a moment of silence, Duan Lei said, "Secretary, Yongchang District will never hold the city back! We will do our best to attract investment and strive for an annual growth rate of over 12%, ensuring that we exceed the city's 10% growth target!"

"If I fail to complete this task, I, Duan Lei, will resign without hesitation!"

He knew that Lei Liang was deliberately guiding him to make definitive statements and take full responsibility, so he had no choice but to face the challenge head-on. Besides, he was confident in doing so, as many of the projects introduced in the first quarter would be located in their Yongchang District, and with Jiang Yiming's help, more projects would be established there in the future.

"Okay, it's a deal!"

Lei Liang's eyes were sharp as he said earnestly, "Everyone here can attest to what Secretary Duan said today. If the target is not met by the end of the year, I will personally supervise and hold him accountable."

"Of course, I also hope that Yongchang District can achieve its goals, which would be a win-win situation for everyone. Therefore, Yongchang District should make great efforts to attract investment, stabilize existing enterprises, revitalize idle factory buildings, connect with projects under negotiation, and promote the early commencement, production, and effectiveness of signed projects. I believe you will definitely be able to achieve your goals!"

"However, attracting investment is not an easy task. Although we achieved significant results in attracting investment in the first quarter, there are special circumstances. Therefore, we cannot rely entirely on investment attraction to drive economic growth. After all, the process from signing an agreement to implementation is full of uncertainties and takes a long time, making it difficult to generate a real contribution in the same year. Therefore, you should focus some of your efforts on expanding the scale and increasing the production of existing enterprises, tapping into the potential for technological upgrading, and releasing production capacity. I heard that some enterprises are preparing to expand their scale. Has your Yongchang District understood the situation and provided adequate support services?"

Duan Lei said, "Secretary, are you referring to those 20 companies that are illegally discharging pollutants? Some of these companies did want to expand their operations, but we rejected that plan. We are currently under tremendous pressure in our environmental remediation efforts. We are still trying to find ways to rectify and shut down companies that are violating regulations. If we allow them to continue production and expand, it will only exacerbate the pollution rebound and trigger public dissatisfaction and complaints."

Lei Liang's face immediately darkened: "Duan Lei, you're pitting environmental protection against industrial development! We can develop while simultaneously cleaning up, we can't just shut everything down! And we certainly can't throw the baby out with the bathwater and just close everything down!"

"District Chief Zhang Xian, your Yongchang District must provide excellent support and services, expedite the approval process for the expansion of relevant enterprises, and strive to start construction in June and put them into production in September. This is the task I have assigned to you, and you must complete it."

"Okay, Secretary."

Zhang Xian dared not refute and had no choice but to agree.

"You must remember that development is the top priority, a hard task, a political responsibility, and a touchstone for testing the commitment of cadres—the 10% GDP growth target is not an option, but a mandatory question; it is not a soft constraint, but a hard target; it is not a year-end accounting, but a monthly review and a quarterly report!"

Lei Liang slammed his fist on the table, his sharp gaze sweeping over Duan Lei and Zhang Xian: “I’ll emphasize it again, the GDP growth rate for the first half of the year must reach 7%, and the annual growth rate must be 10%. These are hard targets. If you fail to meet them, I will personally meet with you two.”

"Of course, everyone here must keep this in mind, shoulder the responsibility, take it seriously, and put it into action. Don't think that everything is fine just because you've dealt with two key cadres. If the task is not completed, everyone here will bear the corresponding responsibility!"

Lei Liang spoke for another half hour before leaving Yongchang District.

After seeing Lei Liang off, Duan Lei told the members of the CPPCC and NPC to go back first, while the others stayed to continue the meeting.

"Everyone has kept Secretary Lei's speech in mind. This year's economic targets are a pledge. Everyone must keep this in mind and make economic development the top priority. We must make great efforts to attract new projects and serve existing enterprises. The District Party Committee Office and the Investment Promotion Bureau have formulated a responsibility list. Every district leader and every district-level unit must be clear about their investment promotion quota. Failure to meet the quota will be considered as unqualified."

Duan Lei said, "However, we must not slacken our efforts, lower our standards, or make any compromises in our environmental remediation work. The successful closure of six heavily polluting enterprises is the first tough nut to crack, but it is by no means the end. We must simultaneously increase our efforts in attracting investment and do a good job in environmental remediation."

"Secretary, Secretary Lei just made it very clear that he asked us to focus on developing the economy and to ensure that existing enterprises can maintain and expand production. Now, if we continue to push for the closure of polluting enterprises, wouldn't that go against the spirit of Secretary Lei's speech?"

Gao Hongbo, deputy secretary of the district party committee, said: "Besides, if we don't shut down those heavily polluting enterprises, we may not be able to meet our economic targets, let alone shut down these major taxpayers. I personally suggest that we focus our energy on developing the economy. As for the environmental pollution control work, we can complete the task by doing a good job in other aspects. As for the task of treating polluting enterprises, we can wait until the appropriate time to promote it."

"Secretary Gao, what do you mean by 'appropriate time'? Isn't now an appropriate time?"

Duan Lei looked at Gao Hongbo and questioned him.

“Naturally, we should wait until Yongchang District has fully developed and no longer relies on these heavy industrial enterprises before promoting environmental remediation. This is the real solution to the problem.”

Gao Hongbo said, "Besides, why must we shut down these companies? The previous leadership didn't touch this issue, and things are still going well without any major problems. Why insist on taking this hot potato into our hands?"

“Secretary Gao, if everything goes according to your idea, environmental remediation will forever remain just talk and on paper. You say that not shutting down these polluting enterprises hasn't had any impact, but didn't you read the research report from Jiangcheng University? The incidence of diseases among surrounding residents has increased significantly, and the incidence of childhood leukemia has quadrupled in three years. Aren't these impacts, costs, and warning signs?”

Duan Lei said, "If we are all afraid to take responsibility and only care about our own political achievements, then who will take responsibility for the health of the people and the ecological debt to our descendants?"

"Putting aside everything else, if your family members got cancer from drinking polluted water, breathing polluted air, and eating contaminated food, I'd like to see if you could still sit here shamelessly and say that the impact would be minimal!"

"You might think it's unimportant just because it hasn't happened to you, but for many ordinary families, an illness can bankrupt them!"

Gao Hongbo ignored him completely, insisting, "Secretary Duan, we already have a heavy task of attracting investment, and we really don't have the energy to spare for environmental remediation. I plan to go out to attract investment tomorrow, so we can only push forward the environmental remediation task when I get back."

"Yes, Secretary, our workload is already very heavy, so let's postpone the environmental protection work."

"Environmental protection is indeed very important, but development is more important right now. We must do a good job in development first before we can promote environmental protection."

Many district leaders agreed with Gao Hongbo's statement.

The meeting ultimately ended abruptly.

Duan Lei knew that the reason they dared to oppose him to his face was because Lei Liang had come to support them in person today. This gave them confidence and made them feel more assertive.

In addition, he knew that these cadres who had worked in Yongchang District for a long time had formed intricate ties of interest with many enterprises—some had children working in enterprises, some had family members receiving pensions in factories, and some rented their own factory buildings to enterprises. They were all beneficiaries, so how could they agree to shut down those enterprises that could generate profits for them?

Duan Lei called Jiang Yiming to report that Lei Liang had come to the scene to exert pressure, as well as the feedback from Yongchang District officials.

"Lei Liang has gone too far! The municipal party secretary is directly interfering in specific district-level affairs!"

After listening to Duan Lei's account, Jiang Yiming was very dissatisfied with Lei Liang's actions.

"Yes, now many cadres in the district treat Lei Liang's words as gospel and completely ignore my decision-making opinions. I am in a very passive position now. I guess it will be difficult to promote the work in the future."

Duan Lei sighed, “I never expected that Secretary Lei would disregard his personal image and political bottom line, and come directly to our Yongchang District to publicly exert pressure and criticize and question my actions. This has seriously affected my authority and decision-making credibility in the district party committee and government.”

"You stabilize the situation first, I'll handle the rest."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yiming personally called Wan Qiuqiu, the secretary of the municipal discipline inspection commission.

"Secretary Wan, do you have time tonight to find a private place to sit?"

"Okay, you've arranged the place. I'll drive there myself."

Wan Qiuqiu knew that Jiang Yiming had important matters to discuss, so she agreed.

In the evening, Wan Qiuqiu arrived alone as promised.

The two talked for over an hour, and only they know what they talked about.

Early the next morning.

The allegations of corruption and bribery against Gao Hongbo, deputy secretary of the Yongchang District Committee, reached several city leaders, who all received the letters of complaint.