Chapter 338: Inspection Delegation

In this hundred-person inspection delegation were two of Zhang Ping'an's fine sons, Weijun and Weidong; at the same time, for every city confirmed, ten people would be left behind to be responsible for local affairs, and then more personnel would be drawn from Xiangjiang, repeating this process.

The first place the inspection delegation arrived at was Jinghai City in Linjiang Province, which was relatively close to Pengcheng.

"The public security here doesn't seem very good, does it?"

Along the way, the inspection delegation saw quite a few petty thieves, and even more gangs of hoodlums, comparable to some of the triads in Xiangjiang.

Fortunately, there were security vehicles accompanying them in front of and behind the two buses, and with this formation, no one with eyes that couldn't see dared to provoke them.

"Let's go straight to the Shizhengfu." Their time was tight and their task heavy on this trip; they could not afford to delay too long in one place.

"Mm, okay."

Seeing the posture of the motorcade, the security guards at the Shizhengfu building did not dare to block them and hurriedly called to notify their superiors.

The alarm was raised level by level, and soon the Mayor of Jinghai City led a group of officials, both high and low, downstairs to welcome Zhang Weidong and his party.

"I am the Mayor of Jinghai City, Li Weidong. May I ask who you all are?"

"Hello, Mayor Li. I am Zhang Weidong, manager of an investment company under the Oriental Group of Xiangjiang."

The Oriental Group was established last year at the request of Zhang Ping'an, and other industries were also prefixed with the word "Oriental," such as the Oriental Pharmaceutical Factory, Oriental Construction and Real Estate Company, Oriental Property Company, Oriental Fresh Supermarket, Oriental Garment Factory, and Oriental Farm.

Li Weidong was instantly excited; this posture meant they were here to invest, and judging by their style, their background was certainly not small. The Secretary beside him came over at the right moment to remind him:

"Leader, the Oriental Group is an emerging group in Xiangjiang. Its industries are diverse and its strength is formidable. In Pengcheng, they invested in two Feed Processing Plants, both paid for in US dollars."

"Mm..." Li Weidong gave the Secretary an approving look; he could promote them in a couple of years.

"Hello, General Manager Zhang. I assume you have come for investment; why not move to my office to discuss the details?"

Li Weidong did not look down on the young man before him in the slightest; he might well be the child of a high-level executive within this Oriental Group.

"That works." Zhang Weidong and his group of ten followed Li Weidong into the Shizhengfu building.

"To be honest with you, Mayor Li, we are just passing through your city on this trip. We have the intention to invest, but the scenes we saw on the road make us a bit hesitant."

"Ahem."

Li Weidong coughed awkwardly. Their Jinghai was adjacent to Xiangjiang, and there were many illegal immigrants and smugglers; the key was that they were all slippery, and it was difficult to govern effectively for the time being.

"General Manager Zhang, rest assured, the general environment in Jinghai is still very good. Of course, there are individual phenomena, and I will definitely have the relevant departments strengthen restrictions. May I ask which aspect you are here to invest in?"

"Farms, including but not limited to chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, and sheep, so we need a large area of wasteland."

"That is, of course, no problem."

Li Weidong gave his Secretary a wink, and the latter understood, hurriedly going to find someone from the Land Resources Administration Bureau to report for work.

At this time, Jinghai was in a critical period of urban construction and industrial development, and there was even a thirty-meter-tall Jinghai Building.

But precisely because of the rapid development, some problems had also emerged; the momentum was insufficient, and there was an urgent need to attract investment and inject foreign capital.

Zhang Weidong and his party of foreign businessmen had struck right at the heart of Li Weidong's needs; no matter what, he had to grasp this opportunity.

"No matter what kind of site you need, my Jinghai has almost all of it. Furthermore, since you are foreign capital, we will also provide the greatest preferential treatment and the most comprehensive guarantees."

"Mayor Li is a straightforward person, so I won't beat around the bush: six hundred mu of wasteland. We want to build the largest breeding base here."

"No problem. I have already asked my Secretary to fetch the land distribution map of Jinghai City. We will certainly be able to select a treasure land suitable for your company."

Zhang Weidong couldn't help but think more highly of this Mayor Li; he hadn't expected him to be so well-prepared.

In fact, the education Zhang Weidong had received in Xiangjiang over the past ten-plus years left him lacking in understanding of the Mainland.

Normally, for a mayor of a city, a department-level Cadre, being able to see a businessman was already giving him a lot of face. That was only because of this era; forty years later, one wouldn't even dream of such treatment.

Soon, the Secretary brought over a middle-aged man, who was holding a thick stack of documents and a map of Jinghai City.

"Mayor Li."

"Mm, General Manager Zhang, this is the director of our Jinghai City Land Resources Administration Bureau, Wu Dazhi. Comrade Dazhi..." Li Weidong repeated Zhang Weidong's requirements.

"Mayor Li, General Manager Zhang, there is indeed a place here that perfectly meets your requirements: nearly seven hundred mu of wasteland, and it also backs onto a small hill, about a hundred meters high."

Zhang Weidong's eyes lit up after hearing this; it couldn't be more suitable. Later, they could scatter pasture seeds on the hill; it would simply be a natural grazing ground.

"Not bad, very suitable. However, we still need to conduct an on-site inspection."

"That is only natural. But it is getting late now; why don't we chat while we eat?"

"Sounds good."

Downstairs in the bus, ninety people were still waiting.

"Weijun, after you all finish eating, go to the next inspection site. If there is a suitable place, conduct an on-site inspection. Just leave one vehicle for me."

"Alright, Big Brother."

Afterward, Zhang Weidong called back to Xiangjiang; someone would come tomorrow to conduct land surveying.

In the afternoon, led by Director Wu, Zhang Weidong and his party of ten arrived at the destination. After seeing it with his own eyes, Zhang Weidong was even more satisfied and just waited for tomorrow's land survey results.

"How was it, Director Wu? Were those Xiangjiang people satisfied?" Li Weidong asked.

"Very satisfied, but we still have to wait for tomorrow's results."

"Mm... very good."

Li Weidong had a plan in mind, and he had some confidence for tomorrow's negotiations. He could not make concessions on taxes—this was the key to his promotion to the ministry—but the land preferential policies could be appropriately relaxed.

The following afternoon, Zhang Weidong received good news; this location was very suitable for planting and breeding.

The two sides met again in the office building. Zhang Weidong, adhering to his father's principles, insisted on acting within the rules, so he did not accept Li Weidong's proposal.

"Mayor Li, the land preferential policy just needs to comply with the state policy; no additional preferential treatment is needed. We cannot take advantage of the state."

"We will naturally pay the taxes in full; we only hope that Mayor Li can give us the green light within a reasonable scope."

It was better to follow state policy; who knew if Li Weidong's successor would use the previous preferential policies as an issue? It was better not to leave anyone with a handle.

"That goes without saying."

Li Weidong also thought more highly of the Oriental Group; he hadn't expected there to be such patriotic foreign businessmen. In the past, which one of them didn't argue until their faces were red for their own interests?

"Another thing is the employees; we also need Mayor Li's help. We need about one thousand one hundred people for job positions. Our requirements aren't high: honest people who can endure hardship and work hard."

"Hahaha, that is absolutely no problem."

Li Weidong bared his teeth in a grin; this Oriental Group was practically handing him political achievements on a silver platter, solving the employment problem for one thousand people in one fell swoop.

As for finalizing the contract details, that was left to the legal team that had accompanied them; this investment was expected to be six million US dollars.

The primary costs were the construction of pigsties and roads, warehouses, staff dormitories, as well as the procurement of breeding pigs and piglets, feed, medicine, cleaning, and staff salaries, while the land rental fees were actually the most negligible part.

Zhang Ping'an planned to have Maidige launder the piglets and breeding pigs in Xiangjiang before shipping them to the Mainland; once there were two or three breeding bases, they could quickly be distributed nationwide.