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

"Old boss, there's something I'd like to ask you."

"Tell me."

“Secretary Xuan Gui recently led a group to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and after returning, he insisted on launching the Cultural Plaza project.”

Jiang Yiming said, "This project has an investment of about 31.8 million yuan, and the design fee alone is nearly 2 million yuan. Although the economy of Xinping County has improved, it was tax-free in the early stages and even received some subsidies."

"The county's fiscal funds are already stretched thin for livelihood projects. If more than 30 million yuan is spent on the cultural square project, Xinping County's finances simply cannot afford it, and it will probably seriously affect other livelihood projects."

"Moreover, according to Wang Xianming, the project location has been decided, at the southernmost end of Kaiyuan Street, which is on the very edge of the city, while the core urban area is to the north. Even if it is built, it will not be convenient for the people to exercise and relax."

Two days ago, Wang Xianming approached Chen Xujian and asked the county discipline inspection commission to let Fei Feng off the hook. In return, Chen told him about Jiang Xuangui's involvement in pushing Fei Feng into the cultural square.

Chen Xujian agreed to the other party's conditions.

According to Wang Xianming's account, Jiang Xuangui secretly convened a small meeting with Zhang Yuntao and himself, the executive deputy county head, to discuss and advance the cultural square project. They not only finalized the construction site but also found a design company to conduct on-site surveys and designs.

After the Spring Festival, once everything is ready, the meeting will officially begin at the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee.

With the support of Zhang Yuntao, Wang Xianming, and the newly arrived Standing Committee member and Organization Department Minister Hua Wentao, as well as Standing Committee member and County Party Committee Office Director Wang Hao, the project's success would be a foregone conclusion.

This news was indeed very important to Jiang Yiming, so he felt that exchanging Fei Feng for this news was worthwhile, at least it gave him time to deal with it.

If he only finds out about the news when the first Standing Committee meeting is held during the Spring Festival, he will have no chance to deal with it.

"Is this happening?"

Ma Qiyun frowned, then shook his head and said, “I’m not surprised that he could do such a thing. His view of political achievements is somewhat distorted. In order to demonstrate his ‘governance ability’ and satisfy his inner ‘political achievement impulse,’ he is keen on ‘building artificial mountains’ and ‘creating bonsai’, ‘building venues instead of buildings and creating landscapes regardless of reality.’”

“When I was the Party Secretary and he was the County Head, he was willing to blindly borrow money, expand his business, and launch projects, engaging in wasteful ‘image projects’ and ‘political achievement projects,’ but I rejected them.”

"Now that he has great power, he is putting his ideas back into practice. Even if you try to persuade him, he probably won't listen."

"Well, even if you go to Secretary Wei for justice, he might not necessarily be on your side. Jiang Xuangui's argument that he aims to promote cultural values, provide leisure, entertainment, and cultural venues, and improve people's spiritual lives is something Secretary Wei cannot refute."

"Therefore, I can't offer much advice on this matter. You can only try to stop it from other angles. If you can't stop it, then try your best to get involved and guide the project to be compliant, reasonable, and justifiable. Only in this way can we avoid the waste and loss of state assets."

"Okay, I'll go back and think about it, and see if I can stop it from other angles."

Jiang Yiming also knew that there were countless places across the country that carried out vanity projects and image projects. The reason they were able to be implemented was mainly because they were all done under the pretext of benefiting the people. Without strong reasons for opposition, it would be difficult to stop such projects.

But he still tried his best. After all, Xinping County had too many livelihood issues to solve, and its fiscal funds were already insufficient. Spending more than 30 million yuan to build a cultural square that was not very meaningful would be a pure waste.

If it had been a decade or two later, and Jiang Xuangui had wanted to build the cultural square project, Jiang Yiming would not only not have objected, but would have been very supportive.

The main reason is that more than a decade later, with abundant material life, people are pursuing spiritual life, making the construction of cultural squares a practical matter.

After chatting with Ma Qiyun for a while and agreeing to get together that evening, Jiang Yiming went to Long Shaolin's office.

Tang Guangyong, deputy director of the Mingyang District Public Security Bureau, was also present at the time.

"Secretary Yiming."

Tang Guangyong stood up and greeted him.

"Brother Tang is here too. I just happened to bring some turtle eggs to make wine. I'll have Brother Li put them in your trunk later."

Jiang Yiming laughed.

Although he had done Tang Guangyong a favor, his father's supermarket was mainly located in his district. He often asked Tang Guangyong to handle many matters, so his act of sending some wine over wasn't really a favor; it was more a matter of attitude.

"You're too kind. We don't need that."

Tang Guangyong smiled.

"This wine is special; it's mainly for tonifying the kidneys and enhancing male virility. Get some for Brother Tang; it'll be good for his physical and mental health."

"This stuff is great, then I won't be polite."

Tang Guangyong smiled and said, "You guys chat first, I'll wait for you outside. I have something to discuss with you."

"Okay, I'll come downstairs to find you later."

After finishing his conversation with Tang Guangyong, Jiang Yiming sat on the sofa and asked, "How did the talks with President Du and the others go?"

"Didn't they tell you?"

"No, it's not like we're investing in Xinping County. It wouldn't be good for me to interfere too much."

Jiang Yiming smiled and said, "Judging from the smile on your face, it seems the deal has been reached."

"I thought they had already told you. If I had known you didn't know, I would have called you and shared it with you!"

Long Shaolin smiled and said, "We've almost finished discussing it; the initial plan is fifty million!"

"Fifty million, wow, that's quite a big project. I'm starting to regret letting you have it."

"Brother Jiang, you mustn't regret this."

Long Shaolin said, "To soothe your wounded heart, I'll treat you to a meal and a foot massage another day!"

"Where are you spending the Spring Festival this year? I'd like to visit Secretary Long."

"I guess it's in Nanhe Province. My dad has a lot of things to do, so he can't leave."

"Okay, then I'll go in the second year of junior high."

Jiang Yiming smiled and said, "You can make the arrangements then."

"no problem."

Long Shaolin laughed and said, "I won't go anywhere then, I'll just stay home and wait for you."

"I've invited Minister Ma, Mayor Zhu, and Secretary-General Gao to have a get-together tonight. Do you have time?"

"There were already plans, but since you asked, I'll definitely participate in your group."

"Okay, see you tonight."

After leaving the office, Jiang Yiming went downstairs.

"We'll talk about it in the car."

Tang Guangyong opened the car door and invited Jiang Yiming to get in.

"I heard that Xinping County is going to make major personnel changes to the Public Security Bureau after the holiday?"

"Currently, two members of the Party Committee and three police station chiefs, along with several other police officers, have been investigated and punished. They will definitely be replaced after the holiday, otherwise it will affect our work."

Jiang Yiming laughed and said, "What, you have an idea?"

"I recommend someone to you. If we can arrange it, great. If not, we'll talk about it later."

Tang Guangyong said, "Xiao Ling, the deputy director of Liji Township Police Station, is my former subordinate. He is quite capable. With this reshuffle, let's see if we can arrange for him to be the director."