Chapter 811

Hou Junlai was the first to arrive at Su Yang's office.

County Magistrate Su, you've been running around nonstop lately—you've done all the work yourself, leaving us with nothing to do. I've been stuck in the office all day, feeling a bit guilty. Why don't you assign me some work so I can stay busy too?

Su Yang laughed and said, "If you start getting busy, will all these comrades in the county still have the drive to work? Doing that wouldn't help at all—it would actually hinder me."

Just then Zhou Yanru came in and said, "Oh, Secretary Hou, you got here even earlier than I did. Everyone's working flat out, but your office might be the relatively idle one."

Hou Junlai replied, "Who says it isn't? I just talked about this with County Magistrate Su, but he said if I got busy, everyone would lose the motivation to work. I thought about it, and he's right, but saying I'm idle isn't true—I haven't been idle all the time."

Since the last meeting, the new regulations have cut down on overeating, extravagance, and drinking on the job, but some places still act as they please, assuming the county is too busy to monitor them. I think we still need to give them a firm reminder.

Chen Bo showed up and said, "Secretary Hou, who are you worrying about now? The whole county is working flat out, work discipline has been completely turned around—if you say another word, these people might be so nervous their hearts jump to their throats. Are the things you're saying just idle talk, or are you referring to the townships below?"

Hou Junlai said, "You're absolutely right—it's the townships below. The county government offices are right under our noses; nobody would dare stick their head out. But the townships are far removed, and they think we can't possibly manage everything. Especially Ma Lian Shan Township and Guantan Gou Township, which are relatively remote and have always ignored the county's directives."

Besides, this Geng Miao incident doesn't involve them at all, which makes them even more undisciplined and unorganized. The party secretaries of those two places are already in their fifties, nearing retirement, so they don't even take the county's documents seriously—just drinking and playing cards all day; frankly, they're openly acting against the county.

So even if we don't hold this meeting today, I still plan to talk to the comrades about this situation and put a damper on their attitude.

Su Yang said, "There's no need to bring this up in a meeting—this is an internal matter for you. Handle it however you see fit. Of course, if we need to deal with a section‑level cadre, we should still get together and discuss it."

To be honest, since I arrived I haven't even been to the townships below. It's not that I don't want to go; I got tangled up with Geng Miao right from the start and couldn't break free. These past few days I've been busy with county affairs, so I've had no time.

When I have time, I'll visit each of those places one by one. Anyway, let's get back to the point—please come over, there are two things. First, I personally propose setting up an industrial park.

Since our investment promotion work is about to officially begin, bringing in just one or two companies on their own wouldn't really boost the county's development much. Only by forming a sizable industrial park can we fundamentally solve the economic development problem.

Before consulting you all, I had County Magistrate Li scout suitable locations. Once a site is selected, I'll bring it up again for discussion to see if we can make it happen. I've already worked out the funding needed and the operational plan for the industrial park—please take a look.

Su Yang handed out copies of the industrial park plan to everyone, detailing the funding turnover methods and subsequent operational strategies. However, he didn't mention the land's value, which would actually be a bit unfair to Lao Xie.

After reviewing the plan, everyone expressed support for the industrial park, though they also had doubts. Zhou Yanru, wily and experienced, was just watching Cheng Bo and Hou Junlai.

Hou Junlai took out a cigarette, lit it, and began to puff: "County Magistrate Su's idea is great. Earlier, with all the corruption and malaise in the county, everyone was only thinking about how to curry favor with Geng Miao and secure their own positions—no one had even considered development on this front. Now it's suddenly thrown at us, and even someone like me finds it hard to digest. For example, acquiring such a large parcel of land outright would cost a fortune—where would the money come from?"

Are we going to use the funds they received from the liquor distributor, or the money from selling off Geng Miao's illegal gains? Because I saw the plan, the amount of money involved is not small. Before this, all the county cadres knew you wanted to improve everyone's welfare benefits, which also requires a large sum.

That's already been said, and everyone's waiting anxiously. As the government leadership, we absolutely can't go back on our word. Besides, normal salaries and other expenses are money too—our county's finances were practically empty before, so this might strain the budget.

Chen Bo nodded in agreement.

Su Yang said, "As for the funds, we don't need to touch the money that's about to be credited to the county. Besides the funds transferred from Dahua Investment Company and the proceeds from selling off Geng Miao's illegal gains, the city will also allocate us a portion. However, none of that will go to the industrial park—the park will seek investors to directly purchase the land and then operate it, though our county Party Committee and government will retain corresponding rights."

As long as everyone agrees, everything will be easy to handle. Moving on to the second matter: I went to the Transportation Bureau today for research, asking them to sort out all the county's roads, widen and pave the main arteries, and in addition, build a welcoming avenue.

All of this is purely preparation for attracting investment. Our county currently looks like a barren wasteland—no one wants to invest or do business here. I also personally suggest building a highway; realizing that idea will be difficult and likely impossible in the short term, but for the county's development I believe it's still worth putting in the effort.

"Specific issues involved I will handle; needing to go to the Transport Department or even Jingcheng to run planning, these I will also do. Do you all have any different opinions or ideas? Speak up, we can discuss together."