Chapter 153

Three days after Shan Guozhi's inspection of Meng Hu Ling Township, Shang Jun County Party Secretary Ji Tao also came to Meng Hu Ling Township for an inspection.

This was an unusual move. In the past, few leaders would come to Meng Hu Ling Township, but now a whole string of them came, and almost all the leaders in the county had taken turns to come once.

There were not many people accompanying Ji Tao to Meng Hu Ling Township, totaling less than ten people. The county-level leaders were Agricultural Deputy County Head Zhang Kaishan and County Committee Office Director Gu Kangping. Only two reporters came: one was a photographer, and the other was still that correspondent for the "Yu Lin Daily" in Shang Jun County, Wang Congliang.

This was already the second time Zhang Kaishan had come to Meng Hu Ling Township this month. Last time he came alone, but this time his arrival was even more eye-catching because he came with County Party Secretary Ji Tao. What did this imply?

Ji Tao had been in Shang Jun County for so long, and the only County Committee Standing Committee member who truly leaned towards him was Gu Kangping. Gu Kangping was the Director of the County Committee Office, and this position naturally required leaning towards the County Party Secretary. The County Party Secretary would never tolerate having a County Committee Office Director who was incompatible with him by his side.

Zhang Kaishan's relationship with Ji Tao was very average before. At this sensitive moment, the two appeared in Meng Hu Ling Township together. What did this actually mean? Many people were thinking about this question.

Of course, Meng Hu Ling Township had become a pilot unit for agricultural reform in the province, so it was normal for Ji Tao to come for an inspection, and it was also normal for Zhang Kaishan, as the agricultural deputy county head, to accompany him. But was the matter really that simple?

How many simple-minded people were there in politics?

Ji Tao's style was much more low-key than Shan Guozhi's. He only came with two cars, and it was only when they set off that the County Committee Office notified Meng Hu Ling Township, asking Chen Hongfu and the others to wait at the township government.

After arriving in Meng Hu Ling Township, Ji Tao and his party ran to several villages in the entire township. They arrived at eight in the morning and didn't return to the county seat until four in the afternoon. They climbed quite a few mountains, which could be described as running solidly in Meng Hu Ling Township for a day. They ate lunch at a villager's home in Qishuping.

Ji Tao didn't let Meng Hu Ling Township send too many people to follow. Among the township leaders, he only let Chen Hongfu, Dong Jianshu, and Li Maofa accompany him throughout the whole process. In addition, he also named Su Xinghui, asking Su Xinghui to accompany him.

Many people were so jealous of Su Xinghui's treatment that their eyes turned red, especially Peng Kehong. He looked at Su Xinghui with eyes that were almost spitting fire. Why was he able to get the favor of the County Party Secretary?

Although Ji Tao was a weak County Party Secretary in the county, in any case, he was the number one person. Who among the people in the township below didn't want to curry favor with him?

Ji Tao not only had a very different style of doing things from Shan Guozhi, but he also had a great contrast with Shan Guozhi in image. He was only in his early forties this year, while Shan Guozhi was already in his fifties. His figure was very lean. If he stood with Shan Guozhi, people who didn't know would probably think Shan Guozhi was the number one person.

Because Ji Tao was young, he also appeared energetic when climbing mountains. Fortunately, the physical condition of these followers today was also good, so they could keep up with his pace.

In Ye Zhugou Village, Ji Tao stayed the longest. He looked at the wild game raised in the special breeding farm and asked some questions, asking in great detail. When he learned that the first batch of wild game would be ready for market in late November, he appeared very happy.

For Professor Rao and his students who were providing technical guidance at the breeding farm, Ji Tao asked more questions. He also expressed his gratitude to these experts for coming to Meng Hu Ling Township to guide the breeding technology.

He was also very interested in the bamboo weaving crafts of the bamboo weaving factory. In particular, a bamboo weaving painting "This Land So Rich in Beauty" woven by Xia Zhu made him praise it endlessly after seeing it, giving it the evaluation of "superb craftsmanship." When he heard that this bamboo weaving painting was worth one thousand yuan, he also exclaimed repeatedly.

And when he learned that the women in the village could now earn an average monthly income of nearly one hundred yuan by relying on these bamboo weaving crafts, he nodded happily and said, "This is truly 'women can hold up half the sky'!"

Zhang Kaishan introduced to him that the annual per capita cash income of the people in Ye Zhugou Village was only twenty or thirty yuan before. Now, just the income from this bamboo weaving craft for one month was worth several years' worth. This contrast was indeed too great.

Ji Tao said that this proved the necessity and correctness of vigorously developing the rural economy, and that the efforts to develop the rural economy should be further increased in the future.

At the seedling breeding base of the Du Zhong protection forest, Ji Tao met Professor Luo Ping and several of his students. Huang Chuanxiong and some of their other students had gone to other villages to provide technical guidance.

Ji Tao asked them some questions with great interest. When he learned that this Du Zhong was a rare plant and also a precious Chinese medicinal herb, he asked the villagers to expand the planting area year by year. After more than ten years, this Du Zhong forest would become a treasure bowl for Ye Zhugou Village.

Ji Tao also asked the villagers on the spot very carefully whether the national subsidies for planting this Du Zhong forest had been distributed to the villagers. The villagers told him that the subsidies had been distributed to them according to the planting area. Only then did he nod happily.

During the inspection process, Ji Tao asked Su Xinghui, "Comrade Little Su, how did you think of so many ways to get rich?"

Su Xinghui said, "Secretary Ji, I read newspapers and saw stories of poverty alleviation and getting rich in economically developed areas. I felt that the conditions in our township were relatively similar to theirs, so I thought we could try it. Of course, this also requires thanking the agricultural experts. These specific implementation plans were all proposed by them."

Ji Tao said with deep emotion, "Comrades, we all read newspapers. Some common people even say that our agency's work is just drinking tea and reading newspapers every day. But why didn't we see anything when we read the newspapers, while Comrade Su Xinghui could see so many ways from them?"

"This shows that we need to be a thoughtful person. Our work ideas need to be broader, and we cannot act recklessly. We must know how to ask experts for advice in areas we don't understand, so that our rural economy can develop well."

"Comrades, this year Deng Gong toured the south, determining that economic construction is our main work focus in the future. We must be like Comrade Su Xinghui, be bolder, take bigger steps, and have a more flexible mind..."

While praising Su Xinghui, Ji Tao didn't forget to praise the township leaders of Meng Hu Ling Township. After all, some specific work still needed to be done by them.

Regarding Ji Tao, Su Xinghui in his previous life didn't know much about him. Ji Tao was the County Party Secretary of Shang Jun County for three years before being transferred to another city in Hudong Province to serve as Deputy Mayor. Later, Su Xinghui didn't pay too much attention to his official career trajectory, only knowing that he certainly hadn't risen to the provincial level.

During the three years Ji Tao served as County Party Secretary in Shang Jun County, Su Xinghui was still in Meng Hu Ling Township, a standard officialdom rookie, lost in confusion. Of course, he wouldn't have any intersection with Ji Tao. He wasn't very clear about Ji Tao's personality or ability.

Speaking of which, in his previous life, Ji Tao's impression on most people in Shang Jun County was also blurred. Because Shan Guozhi had great influence, Ji Tao didn't reveal his edge. He didn't find any good opportunities, just steadily spent three years padding his resume before rising one step.

However, judging from the process of his inspection of Meng Hu Ling Township today, Su Xinghui's first impression of him was not bad. At least his work style was more pragmatic than Shan Guozhi's. Being able to climb so many mountains during the inspection process was not something an ordinary person could do.

If you say he was grandstanding, leaders like Shan Guozhi were even too lazy to grandstand. No matter where they inspected, they were just skimming the surface and wouldn't go deep at all. From this point of view, leaders who could grandstand were still better than leaders who weren't even willing to grandstand.

Of course, judging from his previous life's experience, Ji Tao was still a bit slick. In the absence of certainty or opportunity, he would absolutely not take the risk to fight Shan Guozhi. He would rather steadily spend three years padding his resume.

However, among the current officials, how many were not slick? Su Xinghui didn't think this was a big evil.

Judging from the inspection process today, Ji Tao seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding with Zhang Kaishan. This showed that Ji Tao's political sense was still very sensitive. As long as he discovered an opportunity, he would strike decisively. His decisiveness was still good.

Seeing these advantages of Ji Tao, Su Xinghui believed that Zhang Kaishan and Ji Tao still had a basis for cooperation. No matter what kind of person Ji Tao was, if Zhang Kaishan and he could dismantle Shan Guozhi's influence through cooperation, then Shang Jun County wouldn't become worse than in his previous life. This was worth it.

At least Zhang Kaishan could also get what he wanted in the cooperation with Ji Tao.

Ji Tao certainly didn't know that the young man in front of him was evaluating him in his heart. After delivering an impromptu speech, he said cordially to Su Xinghui, "Comrade Su Xinghui, keep up the good work!"

Su Xinghui put on an excited look and nodded repeatedly.