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

"A few years ago, the area of ​​eel farming reached more than 500 mu. At that time, a skilled technician named Li Quanyou led the surrounding villagers to farm eels, which generated good benefits. Everyone followed him to farm eels."

Ding Xuede said, "Later, he left Yunhu Village. Everyone's aquaculture technology couldn't keep up, and many farmers not only didn't make money, but also lost money, so they all switched to raising the four major freshwater fish species."

Jiang Yiming wrote it down in his notebook and said, "What about the fruit planting situation?"

“Our park has a fruit canning plant. When business was good, we even had to import fruit from outside. Therefore, the park strongly encouraged villagers to grow yellow peaches to supply the processing plant. In the past two years, the processing plant has not been doing well, and the purchase price of fruit has dropped again and again.”

"This year, they simply stopped harvesting them altogether. The villagers had no choice but to sell their peaches at rock-bottom prices on the streets. But because so many peaches were planted, our county simply couldn't consume them all. Many villagers are facing losses."

"It's only early June now, and the peaches have just come to market. When the peaches are in large quantities, a lot of them will rot in the orchards. Not only will it be difficult to meet the park's grain quota this year, but there will also be a lot of villagers petitioning the park. After all, the park encouraged them to plant the peaches, but now it's ignoring them. They must be unhappy."

Ding Xuede pushed up his glasses and said seriously, "Secretary Jiang, I think we need to find a solution to this problem as soon as possible. Otherwise, if we can't complete the collection of public grain, it will be a small matter, but if it causes a mass incident, it will become a big problem."

Jiang Yiming looked at Du Weizhong and the others and said, "What do you think about this? Comrade Xinbin, you speak first."

“Secretary Jiang, I also know a little about this matter. The key to solving it lies with the processing plant. If the processing plant can resume operations, the peaches of the farmers will naturally not rot on the ground.”

Liu Xinbin said, "Our current focus is on getting the processing plant running again."

Jiang Yiming nodded and looked at Liu Yuanjie.

"I don't know much about rural work, so I won't comment."

Liu Yuanjie gave a perfunctory reply.

"Comrade Weizhong, please speak."

"Comrades Xinbin and Xuede have both spoken very well and pointed out the key issues. I would like to add one more point."

Du Weizhong said, "The reason why the processing plant is not accepting fruit is because they don't have the money. As far as I know, they still owe their employees six months' wages. If we want them to start operating again, we not only need to raise money to buy fruit, but also to pay the employees' wages. Otherwise, they definitely can't start operating. These two expenses combined are a considerable sum of money. The county's finances are in dire straits, and it's impossible for them to apply for the money. So, I think it's extremely difficult to expect the processing plant to start operating again."

"My personal suggestion is to contact fruit buyers as soon as possible and transport the fruit to other regions. Even if the price is set lower, as long as the losses are not too severe, it will be fine."

"What Comrade Weizhong said is indeed a real problem. It is probably hopeless to restart the processing plant."

Liu Xinbin nodded.

"Several comrades have expressed their views, and I think they all said very well."

Jiang Yiming said, "Regarding whether to try to restart the processing plant or to find buyers to cooperate with, I think we need to take a two-pronged approach."

"Of course, I prefer the former. After all, restarting the processing plant not only solves the urgent needs of the people, but also solves the problems of all the employees in the processing plant."

"Weizhong, how much capital do you estimate is needed to revitalize the processing plant?"

"The processing plant currently has 30 workers, and the total amount of unpaid wages for the past six months is about 90,000 yuan. It will take about 200,000 yuan to purchase fruit raw materials, so the total cost will be 300,000 yuan to resolve the issue."

Du Weizhong glanced at the documents in his hand and read out the numbers.

“I’ll figure out how to get the 300,000 yuan. Comrade Weizhong, please arrange for the person in charge of the processing plant to come to my office at 3 p.m. this afternoon.”

Jiang Yiming instructed, "Comrade Xuede is responsible for communicating with the village secretaries of the four administrative villages and having them convey the message that the picking of peaches should be reduced in the next few days, and the processing plant will purchase their fruit as soon as possible."

"Secretary Jiang, I think this matter should be handled with caution."

Du Weizhong said, "Three hundred thousand is not a small amount. I don't think the county finance department will approve this funding for us. Without the funds, the processing plant cannot restart and therefore cannot purchase peaches from farmers. If you make a promise now but can't keep it, it will cause a lot of trouble later."

"Thank you for the reminder, Comrade Weizhong. I understand. I will take care of the funding issue."

Seeing Jiang Yiming say this, Du Weizhong and Ding Xuede said nothing more.

"Comrade Xuede, could you please do another favor and have each village compile a list of currently vacant water areas? Also, find experienced farmers and ask them how much investment is required per mu (unit of land area) for eel farming."

"Okay, Secretary."

Ding Xuede wrote it down and asked, "Does the secretary mean to encourage everyone to raise eels?"

"I have this idea."

Jiang Yiming nodded and said, "Growing grain yields too little, but the livestock industry, if managed well, can quickly lead to wealth."

"As long as the industry prospers, the farmers' lives will naturally become prosperous."

Ding Xuede opened his mouth, but ultimately did not speak.

“Comrade Xuede, speak your mind. We have a democratic system, so everyone can speak freely. It doesn’t matter if you say something wrong.”

Jiang Yiming encouraged him.

“Secretary Jiang, I understand your desire to do practical things for the people, but you are probably not aware of the many practical problems that are facing the promotion of eel farming.”

Ding Xuede adjusted his glasses and said, "First, there's the technical issue. Without good farming techniques, it's difficult to achieve high yields. Second, there's the financial issue. Eel farming is expensive. I only have a rough idea, not an exact figure, but the cost per mu (unit of land area) is about 1,000 yuan, which is a considerable expense for farmers. Moreover, there's the risk of failure. So, even if you want to encourage it, I don't think many villagers will be willing to invest in farming."

"What you said makes perfect sense. I will take care of those points."

Jiang Yiming made a comment, but showed no intention of taking back his idea.

Seeing this, Ding Xuede shook his head and said nothing more.

In his view, Jiang Yiming was ambitious and always did unrealistic things, and he wouldn't listen to anyone's advice. He believed that reality would teach him a lesson.

Du Weizhong and the others did not speak about this matter.

"Now let's talk about state-owned enterprises. Comrade Weizhong, how's your investigation going?"

“Of the 26 companies, Yuanjie, Xinbin, and I each visited nearly ten and spoke with over a hundred employees to understand the situation. This is the research report.”

Du Weizhong said, "Let me give a brief report on the relevant situation. According to the survey and visits, most employees support the enterprise reform, but they are most concerned about two issues: one is whether their wages will be reduced after the reform, and the other is whether they will lose their employment status after the reform."

"They will not agree to reforms if these two issues cannot be resolved."