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

Jiang Yiming spent five days in total attending a meeting in the provincial capital and visiting his wife in the capital. It was five days later when he returned to Xichuan County.

A lot happened in Xichuan County in the past five days.

As soon as Jiang Yiming arrived at his office, Tang Zhichao, the deputy county head and director of the county party committee office, came in to report to him.

"Secretary, after you left Xichuan County, County Chief Huang pushed forward some things."

Tang Zhichao said with great concern: "Without convening a government executive meeting or going to the county party committee standing committee meeting, County Chief Huang directly ordered the county finance bureau to divert funds originally allocated to agriculture and education to municipal infrastructure renovation and upgrading projects."

"As far as I know, three million yuan was used for the renovation and expansion of Renmin Road and Fumin Road, as well as the paving of the sidewalks on both sides. Five hundred thousand yuan was used for the county government, the Chaoyang Lake scenic bridge, and important nodes, including the relocation and placement of 50,000 potted plants, the purchase of 160 sets of flower boxes on both sides of Renmin Road and Fumin Road, and the relocation, placement, and maintenance of the plants, with a maintenance period of six months. Three million yuan was used for the infrastructure renovation and upgrading project of Renmin Park, including the renovation of two public toilets on the east side of the archway square and the north side of the archway bridge, the painting and cleaning of the four walls of the visitor center, the interior wall decoration, and the planting of the Xichuan Hotel wall, the outer lake green belt, and scattered hedges within the park."

Jiang Yiming frowned and said, "You've gone into such detail, could it be that the bidding process has already begun?"

“They didn’t go through a bidding process; the construction bureau directly hired a company to do the construction. I found this information out of a friend at the construction bureau.”

Tang Zhichao said, "The county had previously issued a document stipulating that funds exceeding one million yuan must be approved by both the Party Secretary and the County Head before they can be disbursed. Wei Tao, the director of the Construction Bureau, took advantage of this and divided the project into more than ten smaller projects, each with a value not exceeding one million yuan."

Just then, Wang Lifeng came in to report: "Secretary, the county head wants to come and report to you. Director Zheng asked me if you have time."

"Let County Chief Huang come over."

Jiang Yiming then said to Tang Zhichao, "Go back first and see what the county magistrate has to say."

"Okay, Secretary."

Not long after Tang Zhichao left, County Magistrate Huang Shaohua knocked on the door and came in.

"Secretary, you must have gained a lot from this trip to the provincial capital. When do you plan to hold a meeting and convey the spirit of the meeting to us?"

Huang Shaohua asked with a smile.

"I asked Lifeng to organize the meeting minutes. Once they're done, we'll hold another meeting to study the spirit of this meeting."

Jiang Yiming smiled and said, "You came over as soon as I got back. Is something the matter?"

"I have something to report to the secretary."

"Then sit down and let's talk slowly."

Jiang Yiming personally brewed two cups of tea, and then sat down opposite Huang Shaohua.

"Secretary, I ran into Secretary Luo when I went to the city a few days ago, and I took the opportunity to report on my work in his office."

Huang Shaohua said, "Secretary Luo is very interested in many of the projects our county has recently undertaken and plans to visit our county for research around the end of next month. So as soon as you returned, I immediately reported to you to see how to prepare for your arrival."

"After all, this is Secretary Luo's first time visiting our county as the secretary, and we must show him the changes in Xichuan County with a brand-new look."

Jiang Yiming didn't believe that Huang Shaohua had run into Luo Zhangwen by chance; he assumed that Huang Shaohua had made a special trip to the city to find Luo Zhangwen.

"Since Secretary Luo is here for research, the county should naturally make the necessary preparations for his reception."

Jiang Yiming asked, "What are your plans, County Magistrate Shaohua?"

"The infrastructure near our county government is too outdated, which seriously affects the image of our county."

“Secretary Luo will be visiting our county next month. If he sees how poor the infrastructure is around the county government, his impression of our county will definitely be greatly diminished. So I plan to upgrade the infrastructure around the government.”

Huang Shaohua smiled and said, "After all, this area is the face of the government. After renovation and beautification, it will also enhance the overall image of our county. I hope the secretary will give it his support."

Jiang Yiming thought to himself, "Luckily, Tang Zhichao came to report the situation to me in advance, otherwise I would have really thought that the other party came to discuss it with me."

"I completely agree with your point of view. Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse. Improving the environment around the government would not only make it easier for the public to travel and enjoy leisure activities, but also enhance the overall image of the government. It would be best to renovate our government building as well."

"Okay, I'll have someone from the Construction Bureau come over later to survey the area and see how we can make the government building look more grand."

Huang Shaohua was delighted that Jiang Yiming supported him so readily.

"It needs to be more grand."

Jiang Yiming nodded and asked, "How much funding do these renovation projects require?"

“I consulted someone, and after deducting the government building repair costs, it would be about six and a half million.”

Huang Shaohua said, "I estimate that renovating the government building will cost around 500,000. A total of 7 million should be enough."

"County Chief Shaohua is very well prepared; it seems he has done a lot of work."

Jiang Yiming smiled and asked, "How much funding is the city planning to allocate to us?"

Huang Shaohua was taken aback for a moment, then asked in confusion, "What kind of funds is the city going to allocate to us?"

Jiang Yiming feigned doubt and said, "It's about funding for municipal infrastructure renovation and upgrading projects. These projects will require a total of six or seven hundred million, and the city should at least come up with three or four million. Let's grit our teeth and squeeze out another two or three million to renovate this whole area."

"Secretary, you've misunderstood. The city didn't say it would allocate funds to us."

Huang Shaohua said.

"No promised funding? Where will the nearly ten million yuan in funding for this municipal infrastructure renovation and upgrade project come from?"

Jiang Yiming's expression gradually darkened: "Don't tell me it's coming from the county."

“You’re in charge of finances, so you know better than I what our county’s finances are like. Our county is in a period of rapid development, and we urgently need funds in all aspects. Even the money for road repairs is from loans. If you ask the county to allocate nearly ten million yuan to upgrade municipal infrastructure, do you think the people will criticize us?”

"Besides, even if the county wanted to come up with the money, there's no source for it. Every penny of the county's money has a purpose; we can't just divert funds from other projects here. Not only is it against policy, but I wouldn't agree to it either. The projects currently under construction are all major livelihood projects; stopping any one of them would be bad."

“Secretary Yiming, we’re upgrading municipal infrastructure for the benefit of the entire Xichuan County, not to pocket the money. What right do the people have to complain?”

Huang Shaohua said, "Besides, ordinary people have a low perspective and their view of issues is too narrow. We can't take their thoughts into account in everything."

"If we don't consider issues from the perspective of ordinary people, from whose perspective should we consider them?"

Jiang Yiming frowned and said, "Your statement is inappropriate, and it's not something a county magistrate should say."