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

"..."

Everyone was speechless.

According to Jiang Yiming, if you ask the people, they will definitely support it.

After all, it doesn't involve their interests.

"As Party members and cadres, we should not be afraid of difficulties. We should handle things from the perspective of the people."

Jiang Yiming said, "Why did the Party and the people put us in this position? It was to help them seek their own interests, not to seek benefits for a small number of people."

"To put it another way, once we concentrate all state-owned assets, we can solve part of the operating expenses and the cost of public infrastructure construction."

“Many of you here are from Xichuan County. Don’t you feel ashamed to see that Xichuan County is ranked last? Don’t you feel ashamed to see your brothers and sisters working so hard to make ends meet, only able to satisfy their basic needs for food and clothing?”

"I sincerely hope that everyone here will support me, face the difficulties together, work together to develop Xichuan County, and lead everyone out of poverty and towards a moderately prosperous society!"

clap clap clap!

Liang Yongguang led the applause, and the others followed suit.

Ultimately, both proposals were passed, and although some people objected, Jiang Yiming didn't care.

He had only been in Xichuan County for a short time, so it was impossible for him to convince everyone.

After returning to his office, Zhao Yuan, the director of the Finance Bureau, followed him in.

"County Chief Yiming, you're too bold! You actually dared to touch everyone's slush fund. Aren't you worried that all the party members and cadres in the county will oppose you?"

"Do you support me?"

Jiang Yiming took a sip of water and asked casually.

"Me? Of course I support you."

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Among everyone, I'm probably the one most willing to support you."

"I also think you are the one who should support me the most."

Jiang Yiming nodded, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Oh, why do you think that?"

Zhao Yuan asked curiously.

"Xichuan County's finances are so tight, and there are expenses in various places. Apart from national transfer payments, there are basically no other sources of funding. And the national transfer payments are only enough to guarantee salaries and the basic operation of various departments, and cannot be used for construction. But in reality, we have no choice but to spend money on construction. Now I propose to unify the 'private plots' of various departments and bring them under national control. This can alleviate the pressure on your finance department. If you don't support it, who will?"

Jiang Yiming laughed.

"Okay, that's a very good reason."

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Aside from that, I support you from a personal perspective."

"Then I really appreciate it. How about this, next month, when we go to the city together to ask Senior Sister Jiang for funds, I'll treat you to a big meal."

"Okay, I'll remember that."

Zhao Yuan said, "You said you'd treat Wenjing and me to dinner, but it's been so long and you haven't done anything. You can't expect me, a girl, to keep pestering you every day, can you?"

"It was my fault. This time I will absolutely keep my promise."

Jiang Yiming laughed and said, "However, since you support me, I'll put some pressure on you."

"what?"

"In this campaign to clean up slush funds, your finance department has taken the lead and set an example."

"County Chief, you're killing me! I don't even know how to explain this to them yet, and now you're asking me to lead the charge? They'll curse me to death!"

Zhao Yuan pouted and said, "How can you bear to let a woman like me be at the forefront?"

"Don't worry, you still have me behind you. I will be your strong support."

Jiang Yiming smiled and said, "I believe you can do it well."

"Once you finish this task, I'll treat you to a big meal."

"Sigh, this big meal came at a high price. I'm afraid my colleagues will scold me to death."

Zhao Yuan sighed and said, "I promise you I'll go first. We'll eat this meal alone, and I'll choose the place. I'm going to rip you off."

"no problem."

Jiang Yiming smiled and agreed.

While they were chatting, Jiang Yiming's phone rang.

"County Chief, you go ahead with your work, I'll head back now."

"Prepare well and welcome our guests who have come from afar tomorrow."

Jiang Yiming answered the phone after Zhao Yuan left.

"County Chief Yiming, I heard that you proposed to take out a series of loans of 30 million yuan and to clean up the slush funds of various departments?"

"Yes, the county government's executive meeting has approved these two items. I'm going to report to the secretary later and try to get his support."

“County Chief Yiming, what you’re doing is a bit too radical. Many cadres in Xichuan County are waiting to see you make a fool of yourself, or even suffer misfortune. It’s one thing if you don’t try to improve your relationship with them, but you keep giving them targets. Take my advice: postpone both the loan issue and the cleanup of the slush fund. Wait until you’ve removed the ‘temporary’ title and established a firm foothold in Xichuan County before making these attempts. Now is not the time.”

"Thank you for your concern. I had considered waiting for the general assembly to formally appoint him before taking any action. But by then, many things would be too late. Various towns and villages are vigorously planting vegetables. If the roads aren't repaired, how will we transport the ripe vegetables and fruits out?"

Jiang Yiming said, "Now we can only seize the time and actively promote the road construction work so that we can open the road in May."

"I have made up my mind about this, and I hope you will support me."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, followed by a sigh: "Okay, I know what to do."

County Clerk's Office.

Zhang Yufeng was reporting to Niu Baogen when she saw Huang Yonglin arrive. She smiled and said, "Secretary Huang is here. You two chat first, I'll come over later."

Huang Yonglin nodded to Zhang Yufeng, went into the office, and handed her a cigarette.

Niu Baogen took it and said with a smile, "Secretary Yonglin, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Secretary, I heard that the government held an executive meeting this afternoon to discuss two very important topics. I don't know if you've heard about them."

Huang Yonglin inquired.

“I’ve been handling things in the office and haven’t heard about it yet.”

Niu Baogen asked, "What exactly happened?"

"County Chief Yiming wants to borrow 30 million yuan from an investment company for two consecutive years."

"is it?"

Niu Baogen took a drag of his cigarette and looked at Huang Yonglin, asking, "Secretary Yonglin, what do you think?"

Huang Yonglin could tell from Niu Baogen's reaction that he already knew the content of the meeting.

That's normal, though. As the top Party Secretary, Niu Baogen had many of the deputy county heads under his control, so he was basically the first to know what meetings the government was holding.

I said I didn't know just to gain the upper hand.

"If these two things are to be implemented, they definitely need to go through the Standing Committee. Without your approval, Secretary, it would be impossible for Jiang Yiming to push them forward."

Huang Yonglin said, “From the perspective of our county’s actual situation, I do not agree with taking out large loans to build roads, nor do I agree with cleaning up slush funds. Our county is poor to begin with, and it is already not easy to maintain this state. If Jiang Yiming stirs up trouble and makes people’s hearts unstable, then when party members and cadres unite to petition, we will be in a very passive position.”

What you described is indeed a possibility.

Niu Baogen laughed and said, "Don't you think this is also an opportunity?"