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

"The second type of project financing. For example, road construction is a project, and we can raise funds through this project. Suppose we work with financial investment institutions to build a section of road, which is designated as a toll road. Once the road is completed, we hand it over to them to operate and collect tolls. After they have collected their costs and profits, the entire road is then transferred back to the government for management. Generally, the financial investment institutions will have the government sign a supplementary agreement, such as stipulating that if they are unable to collect costs and corresponding profits within ten years, the government will need to make up the difference."

Jiang Yiming suddenly understood, gave a thumbs up and said, "Our county made the right choice in electing you as the director of the finance bureau."

"Are there any assets in our county that can be used as collateral?"

“Our county has mountains, coal mines, and forest land, all of which can be used as collateral.”

Zhao Yuan hesitated for a moment, then said, "There's something I should report to you. I reckon you'll find out sooner or later."

“Our county has three townships that produce coal. Although the scale is not large, they are constantly mining and selling coal. However, for some reason, these coal mines are concentrated in the hands of a few bosses, and at that time they acquired the coal mines at very low prices.”

"Is this happening?"

Jiang Yiming frowned and said, "Isn't this just letting state-owned assets slip away for no reason?"

“County magistrate, although this matter exists, I hope you will pretend you don’t know about it and not try to tackle this tough issue.”

Zhao Yuan said, "Even Secretary Niu wouldn't dare offend the people behind them."

"Okay, I know."

Jiang Yiming nodded, not intending to take any action right now.

After all, he hadn't yet established a firm foothold in Xichuan County, so it wasn't the right time for him to take action against these interest groups.

Seeing that Jiang Yiming had heeded her advice, Zhao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "If our county government wants to raise funds, I'm afraid we'll have to hold onto the hospital's profits. We'll figure out a way to pay it back later."

“Okay, I’ll contact the financial investment company. Your Finance Bureau will take the lead in formulating a plan, and then we’ll discuss the financing with them.”

Jiang Yiming decided that it would be more appropriate to finance the road construction, which is something that many local governments are doing.

"Yes, County Chief, I'll go back and get it done right away."

After Zhao Yuan left, Jiang Yiming called over Zheng Tao, the director of the Transportation Bureau.

On his first day in office in Xichuan County, Jiang Yiming had Tang Zhichao post maps of Xichuan County and Yiyang City.

This would allow him to quickly understand the situation in Xichuan County.

After Zheng Tao arrived, Jiang Yiming pointed to the map and said, "Director Zheng, what do you think is the best way to repair the roads in Xichuan County?"

"County Chief, it's not my opinion, it's the leaders' opinion."

Zheng Tao said, "I'll fix whatever the leader tells me to fix."

Jiang Yiming glared at the other party and criticized, "You are the director of the Transportation Bureau. You should provide ideas to the county party committee and county government from a professional perspective, and then let the county party committee and county government make the final decision."

Zheng Tao realized he had misspoke and quickly said, "I mean the same thing as you, which is that our Transportation Bureau will provide several plans, and the county party committee and county government will make the final decision."

Jiang Yiming didn't scold him anymore. Pointing to the map on the wall, he said, "I've looked at the distribution of our townships. We'll build a 'well'-shaped road network centered on the county seat. The road I mentioned last time, from Daxing Subdistrict to Gaotai Township, is one stroke of that 'well' shape. It must be completed and open to traffic before May. You should start developing a plan now. If there's not enough time, find several construction companies to work on it simultaneously. Make sure it's open to traffic by early May."

"After you complete the design plan for the first road, you should start planning for the remaining three roads and strive to complete the construction of two more roads this year."

"As for the funding issue, that's not something you need to worry about. Just follow my line of thinking and design this 'well' shaped road network to cover as many towns and villages as possible."

"The most important point is to ensure quality. I don't care if you ask your friends to do it or if a leader's relative asks you for a project, I won't interfere specifically, but the core point is to ensure quality and quantity."

"This road was jointly funded and built by the provincial, municipal, and county governments. The provincial and municipal governments will definitely send people to inspect it. If there are any quality problems, I will not let you off the hook!"

"Please rest assured, County Head, I will definitely complete all the work on time, in quantity, and with high quality."

Zheng Tao quickly patted his chest and assured him.

When the county head doesn't directly interfere in projects, he has much more autonomy, and therefore he's more motivated.

The previous two county heads had very long reach; whenever there was a project, they would call him and ask him to take care of things.

This was incredibly difficult for him.

Not only do we have to consider the leader's feelings, but we also have to ensure quality.

However, these construction teams that were found through connections did not have the relevant qualifications at all, and the quality was difficult to guarantee. He demanded rectification, which offended the leaders.

If the quality isn't rectified, it will be too poor, and the people will only criticize him. When the county investigates the matter, they'll also look for him.

Most importantly, the projects were all distributed to the leaders' relatives and friends, while he didn't get any benefits, which made him even more resentful.

Now, Jiang Yiming simply states that he will not interfere, only demanding time and quality, and he is full of enthusiasm.

After Zheng Tao left, Jiang Yiming picked up his phone and called Xiao Yuxiang.

"Brother Jiang, have you settled down in Xichuan County? Du Hongyuan was clamoring to come visit you the other day."

Xiao Yuxiang's cheerful voice came through: "I thought you just arrived and have a lot of things to take care of, so you probably won't have time to spend with us. Plus, I'm busy these days, so I'm planning to come see you in a few days."

"We'll see if there's anything we can do in Xichuan County to give our brother some face."

"Welcome very much."

Jiang Yiming smiled and said, "However, I haven't thought of anything you can do yet. I'll invite you when the time is right."

His principle is that he will only invite his friends to invest if there is a profit to be made.

He wouldn't simply invite them to come and support him; that would be irresponsible and a betrayal of his friends.

Only when relationships are mutually beneficial can they last.

"Brother Jiang, our thinking is simple. It doesn't matter if we don't make money. We'll just invest some money to support you and give you some encouragement."

“I understand your intentions, but you also know my character. I will never let you into anything that is uncertain.”

Jiang Yiming smiled and said, "We can talk about other things when we meet. I have something I'd like to ask for your help with. You have a lot of contacts with financial investment companies. Could you recommend a few reliable ones for me? Our county government wants to get a loan to build roads. Let's see if we can cooperate successfully."

"No problem, I know a few financial institutions, I can introduce you to them."

Xiao Yuxiang said, "However, there are only eight or nine days left until the Spring Festival holiday, so I'm afraid there won't be enough time."

"There's no rush. We can talk about it after the holiday."

Jiang Yiming chatted with Xiao Yuxiang for a few minutes before hanging up the phone.

He then called Tang Zhichao in: "Zhichao, I plan to visit the provincial and municipal governments in the next couple of days to pay my respects to the leaders for the New Year. I'll write down a list, and you can prepare the gifts accordingly."

"Yes, County Head!"

Tang Zhichao nodded repeatedly.

In this kind of situation, leaders usually entrust the task to the person they trust most. The fact that Jiang Yiming assigned this task to him fully demonstrates that Jiang Yiming has already approved of him.