Chapter 1347

Xue Xingyuan lit another cigarette and said, "Magistrate, the bidding for the road construction is the day after tomorrow, right?"

Ling Anguo said with excitement, "Yes, five or six construction companies have already submitted bids. If a capable company wins the bid, perhaps this road will be fully open to traffic by the second half of the year. By then, our county will have another channel connecting to the outside world."

Xue Xingyuan said, "I hope this channel can play a significant role in our county's economic development."

Ling Anguo said, "With this road, our county's economic development will certainly accelerate. However, there is one thing I need to discuss with you."

Xue Xingyuan said, "Whatever it is, feel free to say it."

Ling Anguo said, "Actually, the road currently leading to Yulin City in our county used to have very good road conditions; it only started to deteriorate in the last two years. And the Secretary should know how the road conditions of this highway deteriorated, right?"

Xue Xingyuan said, "Are you talking about those trucks hauling crushed stone?"

Ling Anguo nodded: "In the last two years, the price of stone has been getting higher and higher, and quite a few new quarries have opened in the county. The vast majority of vehicles running on that road to Yulin City are these kinds of trucks. Overloading is the norm. A truck originally rated for five tons is loaded with twenty or thirty tons, crushing the road completely."

Xue Xingyuan said, "So, what do you mean?"

Ling Anguo said, "I think the county should rectify these overloaded trucks; otherwise, I'm afraid this new road will be crushed within a month."

Xue Xingyuan nodded thoughtfully and said, "These trucks do indeed cause great damage to the highway. But if the rectification efforts are too strong, won't there be a lot of opposition?"

Most of the quarries in the county have shares held by county leaders. To make more money, basically none of them avoid overloading. Trucks originally rated for five tons have illegal sideboards added to their cargo beds, increasing the height from about one meter to about two and a half meters, and when loading crushed stone, they pile it as high as possible, allowing them to carry up to thirty tons of cargo.

And the few large trucks rated for ten or twenty tons, after having their sideboards heightened, can even carry eighty or ninety tons of cargo, reaching over one hundred tons including the vehicle and cargo.

Such overloaded trucks can't be withstood no matter how sturdily the road is built; it would be crushed in at most a month.

It's not that the county hasn't rectified the overloading phenomenon before, but because these quarries all have connections, the rectification efforts couldn't be too strong. Catching them on the road usually resulted in a fine, and then they were let go.

Fines have no deterrent effect on overloading; instead, they have become a way for the traffic police department to collect money. Now it has developed to the point where each truck pays a "monthly pass fee" of one or two hundred yuan, and the traffic police don't bother them.

Do Xue Xingyuan and Ling Anguo know about this phenomenon? Of course they do. But they don't have any good solutions, or rather, they haven't made up their minds, as it involves many county leaders.

Ling Anguo said, "Secretary, no matter how great the opposition is, we must make up our minds. This time can be called the best opportunity for Changshan County's economic takeoff, and it can also be called the only opportunity. If this road is crushed in a month, can we build another one?"

Xue Xingyuan smoked one cigarette after another, remaining silent for a long time.

Ling Anguo said, "Secretary, can you just watch Changshan County remain in last place forever, not even comparable to the GDP of a single town in Shangjun County?"

This sentence moved Xue Xingyuan. He took two more fierce drags, forcefully stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray, and said in a deep voice, "Those people have made enough money. Magistrate, go ahead and do it. This time, I support you!"

The next day, Ling Anguo convened a county magistrate's office meeting. At the meeting, he proposed the initiative to vigorously crack down on truck overloading throughout the county. This proposal was opposed by several deputy magistrates, but several others supported Ling Anguo. Coupled with Ling Anguo's unusually firm attitude, the proposal was forcibly passed.

Subsequently, Xue Xingyuan also mentioned the issue of truck overloading at a county party standing committee meeting. He proposed to thoroughly rectify the phenomenon of truck overloading.

The two top leaders of the county party committee and the county government expressed their stance on this matter simultaneously, proving that the county's determination to crack down on truck overloading this time was unusually strong.

The joint law enforcement action to rectify truck overloading in Changshan County began very quickly. The county traffic police brigade, the transport management office, and the road administration department jointly took to the road for several consecutive days to intercept overloaded trucks. This time, intercepting trucks wasn't just about paying a fine and leaving; the cargo had to be unloaded at a designated location for confiscation, and the illegally heightened sideboards were forcibly cut off.

Xue Xingyuan, Ling Anguo, and the County Political and Legal Affairs Committee Secretary and Public Security Bureau Chief Xie Linsheng would frequently go to various law enforcement points for surprise inspections, which made these law enforcement officers not dare to engage in favoritism or malpractice and release overloaded trucks without authorization.

Moreover, it was too obvious for trucks with uncut heightened sideboards to run on the road now; anyone could see it at a glance. Ling Anguo also gave a speech on television and announced his office phone number. If any citizen discovered overloaded trucks still driving on the road, they could call him directly to report it, and there would be a reward if the report was verified.

Such a crackdown intensity made the phenomenon of truck overloading almost extinct within just a few days.

Quarry owners and truck drivers were full of complaints. After the trucks' sideboards were cut off, the amount of crushed stone they could transport was suddenly reduced by more than half. This meant the truck drivers earned less money, so they wanted to raise transport fees. And once transport fees rose, it meant the quarries' costs increased, and increased costs meant raising prices, which led to a decline in competitiveness.

In short, they earned less money, so of course they had to complain.

However, this time Xue Xingyuan and Ling Anguo had made up their minds; no matter whose complaints they were, they could not shake their determination.

Shen Dayou had hit a wall in front of Su Xinghui last time, and this time the county was using such great force to crack down on truck overloading, which made Li Bokun smell some ominous signs.

On this day, he called Shen Dayou and several shareholders together to discuss countermeasures. The location was at his home, and he had Shen Dalan prepare a banquet, discussing while drinking.

After drinking two glasses of wine, Li Bokun said, "The matter of the quarry cannot keep dragging on like this. Everyone, let's come up with a plan and see what should be done."

Deputy Magistrate Zhang Shiqing drank a glass of wine, then heavily slammed the glass onto the table and said, "That Su Xinghui, isn't he being too bullying? Doesn't he know that Dayou is your brother-in-law, Secretary Li? How can he be so disrespectful?"

Shen Dayou said, "How could he not know? He knows very well. He just doesn't give face. What can we do?"

The Vice Chairman of the County CPPCC said, "The momentum this time is a bit wrong. Secretary Xue and Magistrate Ling are putting so much effort into rectifying truck overloading; it seems they are also targeting the quarry. It looks like this quarry of ours is going to be hard to manage."

Shen Dayou said, "Indeed. Originally, if we rectified the quarry according to the conditions proposed by Su Xinghui, we could still barely make some money. But if transport fees rise, then we won't have a way to survive; we'll really be losing money."

Zhang Shiqing said, "Then what should we do? We have so many local county leaders, and we can't beat one outsider town party secretary? This is a bit unreasonable, isn't it?"

Li Bokun said, "Is he just an ordinary town party secretary? Are the things he has done recently what an ordinary town party secretary could do? He has such great energy and is in the right. Now Magistrate Ling has also made it clear he supports him. How can we fight him?"

Zhang Shiqing said, "I just don't understand why Secretary Xue seems to support him now too. When he first arrived, wasn't Secretary Xue very much at odds with him?"

Li Bokun glanced at Wang Yuwen and said, "Yuwen, don't just drink. You should also express your opinion."

Wang Yuwen said, "Deputy Secretary Li, I want to withdraw my shares. My family is in urgent need of money."

Wang Yuwen wants to withdraw his shares? Everyone looked at each other in dismay. Wang Yuwen is the Director of the County Party Committee Office; he understands Secretary Xue's thoughts the best. Him wanting to withdraw his shares is not a good sign.

Li Bokun thought for a moment and said to Shen Dayou, "Dayou, since Director Wang wants to withdraw his shares, then let him withdraw them. Anyone else who wants to withdraw their shares can also bring it up." ===== CHAPTER 1349 =====