Chapter 995

Actually, if we're talking about being upset, Zhang Jiangbo is the one who's truly upset—his authority as the top leader has been repeatedly trampled by others.

The key is that he always feels sure of victory, yet each time he is hit by a smooth counter‑combo from the other side, leaving him completely unable to fight back.

What's even more tragic is that, before the meeting, he even called Jia Guolong to boast, only to be struck by a heavy blow of fate right after.

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door, and Zhang Jiangbo coldly said, "Come in."

Zhao Nanxing's expression turned solemn as he wondered who he was angry with—had he suffered a dumb loss and was trying to intimidate me? That didn't make much sense.

Saying that, he pushed the door open and entered, saying, "Secretary Zhang, I'm here to report on work."

Seeing that it was Zhao Nanxing, Zhang Jiangbo realized his tone had been too harsh, and he immediately said, "Oh, it's Comrade Nanxing! I didn't know it was you who came; my tone was a bit too harsh, I'm really sorry."

Zhao Nanxing said, "It's not that serious, it's not that serious; I understand your feelings, and I feel the same way."

"In other places, you are the Secretary and I am the County Magistrate; even if one or two clueless people try to stir up trouble, they end up being subdued and obedient, or even exiled to some remote corner."

"But in our Lieshan County, it's completely changed; I'm now starting to wonder whether we two are really the top Party and government leaders."

"One after another, everything is being led by Su Yang, controlled behind the scenes by Su Yang; it feels as if the whole Lieshan County revolves around him, while you and I are just empty shells."

Zhang Jiangbo said, "Who says otherwise? After all, I am still the Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, a proper high-level posting; when I came, I thought the county's situation might be somewhat special. Previously, Su Yang had overseen some work in the county, but after I arrived, he should have understood a bit—what should be reported should be reported, what authority should be handed over should be handed over; yet to this day he still pretends not to know."

Zhao Nanxing said, "Regarding this project matter, it's been completely botched—oh, what I mean by 'botched' is that those who were suspected of wanting to cause trouble have been clearly investigated and found out by others; I have to admit, their methods are indeed clever."

"This time, not only the alleged criminal case on the project has been uncovered by them, but even the sand and river materials in Guantan Gou Zhen have been discovered by them—it's literally losing the wife and losing the troops."

"So we can't just let it continue like this—aren't there still two projects that he promised to launch this year?"

"One project is the highway project; I heard the provincial department's version involves a permit, but there are two hundred million yuan in matching funds that our county can't produce, and he promised to provide those two hundred million yuan, reportedly by going to the Ministry of Transport to pull strings."

"I'm not familiar with Jingcheng, so I don't know whether he went to the Ministry of Transport during the Spring Festival to pull strings."

"If this project doesn't get off the ground, then the promise made at the Standing Committee can't be fulfilled, and the promise to the common people would be even more baseless; consequently, his standing in the hearts of county officials and the common people would plummet."

"As for the Yingbin Dadao project, I'm not in favor of it either; setting aside other matters, we can still suppress him at the Standing Committee—first let him lose face, then we'll talk."

Zhang Jiangbo said, "I know he wants to go to the Ministry of Transport to run the project, but as of now, he doesn't even know where the Ministry's gate is."

"Moreover, I won't hide it from you: his chances of going to the Ministry of Transport to secure the so-called matching funds are not great; I won't go into those connections, but if I were to go, it would basically be a sure thing."

"But if he goes, he won't even be able to get through the door."

"And regarding the Yingbin Dadao you mentioned, not only should it be launched, but the original design should be made even more grandiose."

"I've looked at the previous blueprint: an eight-lane dual carriageway with streetlights on both sides, but that's still not enough—in my view, we should erect a massive sign at the entrance to our county seat."

"Then we should also build a gate tower, which would look even more imposing from afar, and this also meets some investors' demands."

Zhao Nanxing kept feeling something was off—this was a project Su Yang advocated launching. From Zhang Jiangbo's perspective, shouldn't he just veto it outright? Why is he still so supportive; could there be some hidden motive behind this?

He said, "Isn't this exactly what Su Yang wants? Then the whole county's common people will remember his good deeds, and our purpose…"

Zhang Jiangbo said, "I haven't finished speaking—actually, the total investment for your Yingbin Dadao project is only a few tens of millions; I plan to raise it to 150 million."

"This short few-kilometer Yingbin Dadao will be built to the highest standard throughout; even without the gate tower, it will use imitation ancient architecture, with every brick and tile made of the best materials."

"Since he wants to do it, let's do it on a grander scale to fulfill his wish."

"Anyway, the funding gap for the Yingbin Dadao project—isn't it supposed to be covered by bank loans? Weren't they saying 300 million wasn't enough, so can they still apply to other banks?"

"If that's the case, then let him fully exercise this authority."

Zhao Nanxing said, "We are, after all, a poor county; undertaking such a huge project, if we could pull it off in one go, that wouldn't be so bad—but if any mishap occurs midway, we'd become a laughingstock."

Saying this, he suddenly realized: "Oh, I now understand—we are a poor county, this year's fiscal revenue is only two hundred million, and spending nearly a year's fiscal revenue on a flashy but substance-less project."

"This is practically a grave offense against heaven, it's purely an image‑project, and not only municipal and provincial policies, but even higher‑level policies firmly prohibit such things."

Zhang Jiangbo said, "County Magistrate Zhao is indeed brilliantly perceptive—my point is exactly here: this project must be done, and we should make it even more luxurious as we just discussed."

"But as usual, we should raise objections at the Standing Committee, yet Su Yang's temperament ensures he will find some way to implement it."

"Then we'll just go along with it—you don't want to see this project finished? You don't want to build such a high‑standard Yingbin Dadao? Then let's raise the standard, and you'll be the one in charge."

"Whether it's the project bidding process or public opinion building, we must push Su Yang to the forefront."

Zhao Nanxing said, "If it really goes that way, then when responsibility is finally pursued, wouldn't it be us who are investigated first? Such matters are definitely investigated against the top Party and government leader."

Zhang Jiangbo laughed and said, "So we need to push him to the front; we can indeed say this project was single‑handedly established by him while he was in charge, and we must also heavily publicize it, putting him at the forefront."

Once the project is completed, we will then have the national‑level authoritative media step forward to heavily criticize our Yingbin Dadao project.

"By then, not only provincial leaders but even higher‑level leaders will take notice of this matter. The common people of Lieshan County might know a bit about it and think it's a good thing, but the common people nationwide won't."

"By then, with public opinion in an uproar, if this Vice County Magistrate can still hold his position, that would be strange."

Saying this, Zhang Jiangbo's eyes shifted, and suddenly he thought of something else.

Speaking up to this point, Zhang Jiangbo's eyes shifted, and suddenly he thought of something again.