Chapter 1740: Bolamula

In the conference room of the county's three-story luxury office building.

Secretary Chen, Lin Peisheng, and others sat on one side, smoking cigarettes; amidst the swirling smoke, they watched Duo Jie, who was also smoking, and Wang Yan seated at the very end of the row.

"What's this, Duo Jie? Did you bring a college student here to argue logic for you?" Secretary Chen rested his elbow on the table, casually puffing on his cigarette.

At this moment, Lin Peisheng naturally did not claim he didn't smoke or couldn't stand the smell; enduring a room full of heavy smokers, he leaned back in his chair with equal ease, fiddling with a pen on the table, looking as if he were waiting to see what tricks they could pull off.

Without waiting for Duo Jie to speak, Wang Yan opened his mouth: "Leaders, regarding Feng Keqing's desire to open a mine in Bolamula, I have basically persuaded Vice County Head Duo Jie."

"Oh ho, is that so? Duo Jie?" Secretary Chen laughed.

Seeing Duo Jie nod, Lin Peisheng said: "Well then, this stubborn stone has finally been softened. Wang Yan, college student, how did you persuade old Duo?"

"I said an arm cannot twist a thigh; opening the mine will drive the development of the entire county, and the people's lives will also become better."

Lin Peisheng agreed deeply: "That is the reasoning; old Duo is just single-minded, insisting that opening a mine would destroy Bolamula's environment. The nation takes economic construction as its center; everything must make way for development. Moreover, this is only on the periphery of Bolamula."

"County Head, what Duo Jie said is also correct; the ecological environment must still be protected. Once mining starts here, it can be said to be completely destroyed, with absolutely no possibility of restoration. These are all precious treasures left to us by nature and cannot be destroyed at will."

Lin Peisheng frowned: "How exactly did you persuade old Duo? I feel as though you were the one persuaded by him."

"I did persuade him, yet I did not fully persuade him, which is why I said 'basically' persuaded."

Secretary Chen took an interest, asking what this 'basically' entailed, so Wang Yan explained the company's plan to increase staffing quotas and the matter of the Environmental Protection Fund.

Lin Peisheng laughed in anger: "Why does it sound to me as if this was your idea?"

"It is my idea," Wang Yan replied with complete frankness. "County Head, since the environment of Bolamula is being destroyed, providing corresponding compensation to Bolamula is only right and proper. Look, I have even brought the Environmental Protection Law. Strictly speaking, whether our mining in Bolamula is compliant or not still hangs in the balance."

"Secretary, County Head, if Boss Feng is unwilling to pay this sum, then his heart is not sincere. After all, our leadership team is bearing responsibility and shouldering risks; he claims repeatedly that he wants to bring prosperity to Mazhi County, so why is he unwilling to actually bring prosperity when the time comes?"

"As for providing jobs, the notion that if one person has work, the whole family will live well is nonsense. Workers labor and receive pay; this is a matter of natural justice. Coal mining is dirty and exhausting; these are hard-earned wages, so why should they have to cry out to their fathers and mothers and thank someone?"

"Our coal mine is quite good; just the exposed coal seams are abundant. As long as we allow mining, there will be no shortage of people willing to work. In fact, isn't it precisely because Boss Feng employed multiple tactics that we have reached today's situation? If he won't pay, we'll simply replace him with someone willing to pay. If all else fails, our county can develop it ourselves."

"Develop it ourselves? You make it sound so easy. Do we have that much capital?" Lin Peisheng was already unhappy; he had not expected Wang Yan to side with Duo Jie and become an obstacle.

Wang Yan smiled without speaking, while Duo Jie took up the thread: "This is also my opinion; good goods never lack buyers. No matter how deep Boss Feng's connections are, he cannot harm the interests of our county or the interests of the entire county's people. If he won't pay, then we'll find someone who will! That Boss Ouyang I brought in earlier was very willing."

With words reaching this point, Lin Peisheng and the others were blocked, but in truth, they also agreed. In the final analysis, they were not the ones doing the offending, nor was it their money being spent.

After all, being able to demand an extra sum of money was no bad thing, even if that money ended up in Duo Jie's Economic Development Company; these could all be coordinated as operating funds in the future.

Since Duo Jie was willing to hold the line stubbornly, the matter could not be pushed forward. Feng Keqing had expended tremendous effort for this mine; how could he possibly give up? He could only grit his teeth and agree to pay. The only question was how much he was willing to pay.

Instead, the major divergence in this meeting concerned whether to grant staffing quotas to the Mountain Patrol Team again, and if so, how many.

Secretary Chen even slammed the table, calling Duo Jie a bandit who raises prices while sitting on the ground.

Yet Duo Jie yielded not an inch; he insisted on additional quotas, demanding ten in one breath, and refused to budge life or death, because the initiative now lay in Duo Jie's hands.

Previously, when he disagreed with opening the mine, it was difficult to handle, leaving everyone helpless. Now that he has agreed, it is even more difficult to handle, leaving everyone even more helpless. After all, it is not that Duo Jie disagrees, but that others are uncooperative; this excuse sounds far better than simply holding the line stubbornly.

Over this matter, the county argued all day. Wang Yan argued with Chen Cheng, Lin Peisheng, and the others, while Duo Jie was responsible for holding the line stubbornly. Wang Yan spoke of various practical difficulties and many other issues, turning the session into virtually a conference of complaining and playing the victim.

Duo Jie was responsible for holding firm and not yielding, watching from the side as Wang Yan and Lin Peisheng and the others engaged in meaningless haggling. Then, listening as Wang Yan appropriately found opportunities to take a step back, they argued all day, finally succeeding in securing five quotas, which counted as a great achievement.

Because ten was absolutely impossible; originally, Wang Yan and Duo Jie had only planned for five quotas, and the county was only willing to give that many, after all, they had already granted ten quotas just this year.

Conversely, the Environmental Protection Fund, for which Wang Yan had cleverly invented a justification, was not difficult to negotiate.

While arguing over the quota issue, Lin Peisheng had someone notify Feng Keqing, asking Feng to propose a suitable figure and come to the meeting the next day; it did not take long to resolve the problem.

At the beginning, Feng Keqing wanted to give one-thousandth of the annual revenue, while Wang Yan wanted five percent, a difference of fully fifty times. After several rounds of consultation, plus the fact that the initiative lay with the Economic Development Company, they finally settled on one percent. That is, one percent of the annual revenue would be given to the Economic Development Company for use in environmental protection.

Feng Keqing smiled with apparent warmth and a sense of gratitude: "A few days ago, you said you would need Manager Wang's support in the future; I didn't expect that in just a few days, Manager Wang would already be such a great help."

"I've made you spend quite a bit more money, Boss Feng; you're not speaking in irony, are you?" Wang Yan shook hands with Feng Keqing.

"How could that be? I am sincerely grateful to you, Manager Wang," Feng Keqing laughed. "Although it is true that quite a bit more money was spent, in the end, this good deed has been accomplished. Moreover, this Environmental Protection Fund will ultimately benefit the people of our Mazhi County; I too can be said to have brought prosperity to the people. Thank you, leaders, for giving me this opportunity."

Feng Keqing's posture was very low and extremely polite; he smiled beamingly, and while there was indeed a hint of bitterness, there was not a trace of reluctance.

It is still that same saying: if Duo Jie does not agree, they cannot open a mine here. Otherwise, in the original story, why would they need to kill Duo Jie?

Of course, at that time, Duo Jie's stubborn refusal was also backed by confidence, since the establishment of the protected area had already been confirmed, money was imminent, and the coal mine was an unnecessary matter.

The current agreement exists because the protected area has not yet been brought up, and the county truly needs to develop. Furthermore, after Wang Yan's series of maneuvers, the situation has become what it is today, and the matter of the coal mine must be confirmed ahead of schedule.

Wang Yan returned a warm smile: "It is still you, Boss Feng, who possesses high awareness and is willing to make sacrifices and contributions. I cannot represent all the people of the county, but I must still thank you properly."

"You are too polite; it is all what should be done. In that case, since everything is settled and the procedures are completed, I will treat everyone to a meal. I will risk my life to accompany gentlemen; today, I will definitely drink with the leaders until they are happy and thoroughly satisfied."

Handling affairs requires eating and drinking; it seems it has always been this way. One must drink before handling matters, drink even more after succeeding, and continue drinking frequently when there are no matters at hand in the future.

Wang Yan naturally would not refuse, so he followed the group of big shots to Feng Keqing's restaurant, where he and Feng Keqing, the two of them, toasted to the leaders...

The implementation of the quotas was very fast; the very next day, Duo Jie gathered the members of the Mountain Patrol Team for a talk.

Previously, Duo Jie had also gone through such a procedure, after all, some people had received quotas while others had not. Those who failed to receive quotas had to be placated; otherwise, everyone would harbor resentment, and the team would be difficult to lead.

Wang Yan also comforted everyone: "It doesn't matter, comrades. Just think, quotas are limited; it is impossible for so many people to all have quotas.

Everyone need not be discouraged; after all, we are the Economic Development Company. Where did these ten quotas come from? They were developed. Although we cannot have that many quotas, we can still have contracts.

Right now, you have all come directly to work without name or status. If they say they don't need you someday, you have no recourse. In the future, as long as we continue to develop, those of you without quotas, if you perform well, will sign contracts with the company, and your treatment will be the same as those with quotas."

"Will that really work?" someone asked, harboring hope.

"Why would I lie to you?" Wang Yan said. "To speak without false modesty, I exerted tremendous effort to secure these ten quotas we obtained now; didn't I also exert effort so that many of you could join the company and earn money?

As long as everyone works steadfastly with the company, there will always be a rice bowl. If the company develops well, then we can all live well; everyone should understand this reasoning."

Dong Zhiba said: "Brother Yan never lies; everything he has said, he has accomplished."

With Dong Zhiba providing the backup, the disappointment of the others subsided somewhat.

After letting everyone chatter randomly for a while longer, Wang Yan raised his hand and pressed down: "Now is the time for our development; with so many tourists outside, that is our opportunity. As you have all seen, the company has purchased a batch of saplings and has also invited experts to come and inspect..."

Following Wang Yan's mobilization, several people were selected to go out and sell trees to tourists, while others were chosen to be responsible for planting, and still others for subsequent maintenance.

Planting trees on the plateau is difficult, so Wang Yan also prepared many other plateau plants; in short, the goal was to add more greenery to the county.

After brief training, Wang Yan arranged for the people to go out and sell green plants.

Undoubtedly, this was a very meaningful and valuable activity. The tree in Dean Zhang's courtyard itself possessed immense symbolic significance, which Wang Yan's article highlighted with heavy ink. Furthermore, this place was so desolate and poor.

Tourists were generally willing to spend money to plant some greenery, leaving their address and contact information, hoping that one day in the future they might receive a letter from the plateau telling them that the green plants they had planted earlier had survived. A rich breath of life surged forth between the lines.

Besides planting trees, Wang Yan was also actively considering other paths.

He had recently conducted some market research to understand what tourists preferred, and now had some new ideas.

The grasslands had turned green; yaks wandered leisurely across the lawn, while little lambs bleated and hopped on their four hooves.

Duo Jie sat with Wang Yan on a high ridge, enjoying the wind atop the hill that made their hair fly. They smoked too—half the smoke they inhaled, half the wind carried away.

"You want to build a brand?" Duo Jie frowned.

"Yes." Wang Yan nodded with a smile.

"What is a brand?"

After hearing Wang Yan's general explanation, Duo Jie remained unconvinced: "We're just selling things; whatever the visiting tourists like, they buy. What difference does making a brand make?"

"No difference at all; we're still selling these same things."

"Then isn't this just an unnecessary extra step?"

Wang Yan explained the function of a brand, then said: "We must make the name of Mazhi County famous and embed it deeply in people's minds. Otherwise, the plateau is so vast; it's not only here that has ethnic characteristics, nor only here that has Living Buddhas. Once everyone else develops some momentum later, who will still recognize our products?

The role of a brand is to let us seize the initiative. When everyone sells cheese, yak meat, and Tibetan cloth, we must make people know that the most expensive, the best, and the most trustworthy are the products from our Mazhi County..."

"If we sell as explosively as you say, we won't have enough goods to sell." Duo Jie shook his head with a laugh, also laughing at Wang Yan for being wishful.

"We may not have enough, but do other places lack them? The plateau is so vast; how could it possibly lack these things? If they want to sell at high prices, they will definitely be pirating our brand and trading on our reputation. In that case, we might as well buy up their goods and sell them under our name."

"You really dare to dream big."

"I previously thought about writing articles to let more people know about Bolamula and come to our Mazhi County, and I also thought about expanding our mountain patrol team—didn't both of those succeed?"

This struck right at Duo Jie's heart; the point where he felt uncertain lay exactly here. Everything Wang Yan had spoken of before had succeeded. Including the previous establishment of official positions and the environmental protection fund, all had been secured under pressing circumstances to achieve the best outcome for the patrol team. It proved that university graduates were indeed talented and truly not useless.

Now Wang Yan still spoke with the same joking demeanor as before; although Duo Jie was also smiling, he did not truly dismiss it as trivial.

After pondering for a while and finding no counterargument, he said: "You are our company's Assistant Regional Commander Manager; you can arrange these matters as you see fit. I don't understand them as well as you do."

"That is exactly why I'm telling you. Even Secretary Chen and County Head Lin may not necessarily understand what a brand is; mainly, our location is too remote, our connection with the outside world is not close, and our information is backward. But now that you know, you are ahead of everyone else. Once we build this brand up, others won't be able to react in time.

By then, they can only produce counterfeit and inferior goods that ruin our brand; afterward, we take the lawsuits to the provincial level, the province coordinates, and then the entire plateau will be working for us. It will be just like those who deal in bulk goods coming to purchase caterpillar fungus—imagine how wealthy we would become?"

Duo Jie couldn't help but indulge in the vision, then quickly shook his head, refusing to give himself too much hope.

He asked: "You mentioned so many brand names just now; what do you plan to call our brand?"

"Bolamula."

Wang Yan smiled...

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