Chapter 370

The negotiations with the Quanjiji Pharmaceutical Factory proceeded quite smoothly. Basically, all the terms were modeled after those of the Yongfeng Beverage Company. Since there was already a precedent, it was not too difficult for both sides to reach a consensus.

The only point Feng Quanjiji struggled with was the nearly harsh environmental protection requirement insisted upon by Su Xinghui. He said that no local government would impose such high environmental standards on investors, and some places didn't even have any requirements at all, hoping Su Xinghui would reconsider.

Su Xinghui smiled and said that this point was non-negotiable and must be met.

Feng Quanjiji said again that the environmental standards proposed by Su Xinghui were even higher than national standards, and asked if they could be lowered to meet national standards. According to Su Xinghui's requirements, the costs would increase too much.

Su Xinghui said, "Feng Zong, you saw it yesterday. Although the name of Ye Zhugou Village doesn't sound very pleasant, it is a place with green hills and clear waters, very beautiful. But the more beautiful such a place is, the easier it is for the environment to be destroyed. I am not questioning that the national standards are set too low, but here, it is clearly not enough to just implement national standards."

"In fact, implementing higher environmental standards is also beneficial for your pharmaceutical factory, Feng Zong. If the environment is well protected, the quality of raw materials will also be higher, which is also beneficial for the quality of your products. As for the cost issue, haven't we already provided quite a few preferential policies in terms of taxes?"

In the end, Feng Quanjiji could only shake his head and accept this condition. The temptation of that Eucommia forest was simply too great for him. And to be honest, Feng Quanjiji admired Su Xinghui's work style from the bottom of his heart; being able to place the importance of environmental protection above attracting investment was not something just anyone could do.

Feng Quanjiji had already inquired in detail about Li Wanfu yesterday. He knew that Su Xinghui was not using this method to make things difficult for anyone or to seek personal gain; he was an official with very high integrity. Such people were too rare, and Feng Quanjiji actually felt more secure dealing with him—at least he did everything according to the rules.

As a result, the Quanjiji Pharmaceutical Factory decided to invest 20 million yuan in Ye Zhugou Village, Meng Hu Ling, to build a new pharmaceutical base.

After both sides successfully signed the contract, Zhang Kaishan also sought out Su Xinghui privately to exchange thoughts. He asked Su Xinghui, "Xinghui, is the environmental standard you insisted on a bit too high? It's even higher than national standards. Sometimes, can you make a slight concession? Meeting national standards should be enough. What if they don't accept it?"

Su Xinghui was not surprised by Zhang Kaishan's thoughts. In this era, economic development overrides everything; in the face of economic development, everything can give way. What is environmental protection worth?

Some local governments even proposed the slogan of "develop first, pollute first, and treat it after getting rich." Such slogans still had a market, and it was already quite good that Zhang Kaishan could follow national standards.

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Uncle Zhang, don't worry, I have a plan in mind. Didn't they all accept it? The most important thing for us is to improve our own investment environment; that is the real way to attract investors, not by pandering to their demands."

At this moment, Su Xinghui put away his smile and said, "Uncle Zhang, I once read some materials in the library that contained pictures of environmental pollution in Western countries from the past. Those pictures were shocking. It took them decades of treatment to restore their environment to green hills and clear waters. We cannot repeat that old path!"

Zhang Kaishan nodded and said, "What you say makes a lot of sense, but can't we just follow national standards?"

Su Xinghui said, "Uncle Zhang, our country doesn't have much experience in this area yet, and some national standards seem to be set too low. They might be enough in general areas, but here in our Meng Hu Ling, it is clearly not enough. The green hills and clear waters here need stricter environmental standards to protect them."

Su Xinghui stood up and pointed toward the direction of Hu Jia Ao, saying, "Take the Immortal Spring in Hu Jia Ao, for example; it can be used directly for drinking. But if sewage is discharged there, can it still be used directly for drinking? And our large-scale planting of fruits and medicinal herbs—if pollutants are discharged into the soil here, it will seriously affect the quality of the crops. Do you think that will work?"

Zhang Kaishan frowned and said, "Maybe you are right, but I still don't understand. We are in urgent need of investment now; isn't it enough as long as it meets national standards? Our Shangjun County is still a poor county!"

Su Xinghui said, "Uncle Zhang, with the economic development of our country, such old standards will soon become inappropriate. Many testing standards will definitely be raised step by step in the future. If we set the standards higher now, we won't have to go through the trouble later, and it will also save us from paying a huge price to treat it later."

Speaking of this, he smiled and said, "Uncle Zhang, just trust me, trust my vision. I guarantee that under the premise of not destroying the environment, I will definitely develop the economy of Meng Hu Ling."

Zhang Kaishan was still not convinced by Su Xinghui. In this era, he could not possibly have such an advanced vision. However, there was one thing he was good at, and that was trusting Su Xinghui's vision. For so long, everything Su Xinghui insisted on had proven to be correct in the end, which gave him strong confidence in Su Xinghui.

Zhang Kaishan nodded and said, "Fine, I trust your vision. Do whatever you want to do."

At the end of March, these two investment enterprises successively began to requisition land. The factory site for the Yongfeng Beverage Factory was chosen in Hu Jia Ao, while the site for the Quanjiji Pharmaceutical Factory was chosen in Ye Zhugou.

Before this, the township government staff and the village cadres of the two villages had already done a lot of work in advance. The compensation standard for land requisition was already considered relatively high in this era, and the villagers of these two villages also knew what these two enterprises meant for them. Therefore, the vast majority of villagers were very cooperative with the land requisition work.

Saying "the vast majority" is because in Hu Jia Ao, there was an idle rascal whose land was right on the plot that the Yongfeng Beverage Factory intended to requisition. He was idle all day long, couldn't do farm work, and didn't farm that piece of land well either. His family was so poor that the walls were bare. Seeing the Yongfeng Beverage Factory coming to requisition land, he started to have devious thoughts.

These devious thoughts were, of course, to become a "nail house" (holdout). At that time, he didn't know this term, but that didn't stop him from asking for an exorbitant price.

This rascal's name was Hu Chengxi. His family's land was right in the middle of the requisitioned area. If the Yongfeng Beverage Factory wanted to requisition this land, they absolutely could not bypass his family's land. Relying on this, he demanded an astronomical price several times higher than the average compensation standard for everyone else.