Chapter 570

Su Xinghui said, "I'll probably still go on the fourth or fifth day of the New Year to pay my respects to your father."

Lu Xiaoya said, "Alright, then I'll wait for you at home."

Su Xinghui then went home with Lu Xiaoya, borrowed a car from Xu Xiaoguang, drove Lu Xiaoya to Jiangcheng, and then returned home.

In the few days before the Spring Festival, Su Xinghui helped his family buy all the necessary New Year goods and bought a new set of clothes for each of his parents.

In truth, there wasn't much that needed buying. Pengjiawan Town had distributed quite a lot of benefits this year, including dozens of pounds of fish and meat, which was more than enough to have a bountiful New Year. Su Xinghui mainly bought some melon seeds, peanuts, and candies—things essential for the holiday.

With the New Year goods purchased, the Su family spent a lively and happy New Year's Eve. How could they not be happy? Life at home was flourishing, getting better day by day. Isn't that what the Chinese people hope for?

On the first day of the New Year, when Su Xinghui went to pay his respects to Zhang Kaishan, he talked to him in the study about building a park at Zhongming Lake.

In Su Xinghui's previous life, the construction of a park at Zhongming Lake in Shangjun County happened ten years later. At that time, a very capable County Party Secretary had arrived in Shangjun, and he played a crucial role in the county's development and urban planning.

Back then, a deputy to the People's Congress in Shangjun County wanted to buy the land by Zhongming Lake to develop a hotel. This deputy was very powerful, had extensive connections, and was a guest of the then-Provincial Party Secretary and a future member of the Politburo. He was also incredibly arrogant and had brazenly demanded that the County Party Secretary approve the land for him.

However, this County Party Secretary was not a man to be intimidated. He felt that building a hotel by Zhongming Lake would pollute the water, and he was deeply repulsed by the deputy's behavior—it was too arrogant to rely on the Provincial Party Secretary's influence to directly demand land approval.

The County Party Secretary felt that building a park on this land would be of immense benefit to the overall environment and development prospects of Shangjun County. He flatly rejected the deputy's request and, with great boldness, passed the proposal to build a park by Zhongming Lake.

At the time, countless people advised him not to offend that deputy, but he resolutely made the decision. He didn't sell this prime piece of land to any commercial real estate developer; instead, for the sake of the overall interests of Shangjun County, he developed it into a park. That was truly immense courage!

Strangely enough, after the County Party Secretary made this decision, he faced no retaliation. On the contrary, that arrogant and domineering deputy remained submissive in his presence and never dared to cause trouble again until the Secretary left office.

In the current Shangjun County, there wasn't a single park yet, so building one was highly necessary. Taking the opportunity of paying his respects to Zhang Kaishan, Su Xinghui proposed the idea.

After listening to Su Xinghui's suggestion, Zhang Kaishan pondered for a long time before saying, "Is it a bit too early to build a park now?"

Su Xinghui said, "It's not early at all. The leisure and entertainment facilities in Shangjun County are currently far too scarce. After getting off work, the common people have nowhere to go except to stay home and watch TV. Especially since the two-day weekend system is being implemented this year, how are they supposed to spend those two days? The county needs to consider them."

Zhang Kaishan said, "I have certainly considered this issue, but the funds required to build a park are not a small number. While the county's fiscal revenue is increasing relatively quickly, expenditures are also rising just as fast. All kinds of infrastructure need updating; there isn't that much surplus money to build a park."

Su Xinghui said, "Actually, the county doesn't need to rely solely on 'spending within its means.' For many infrastructure investments, one can fully utilize financing."

Zhang Kaishan said, "You mean, like building the Changjiangdaqiao, taking out loans? But the Changjiangdaqiao can collect tolls to repay the loans. These county infrastructure projects cannot collect tolls; they are real expenditures with no return."

Su Xinghui said, "How can you say there's no return? Once the infrastructure is improved, the investment environment in Shangjun County will get better and better, and more enterprises will come to invest. Won't the county's fiscal revenue increase then? This is a virtuous cycle."

Zhang Kaishan nodded thoughtfully. Su Xinghui's proposal was fresh and struck him as very reasonable, but he still needed time to digest and absorb it.

Su Xinghui said, "Building a park has another benefit: it can increase the value of the surrounding land. Once the park is built, the price of the surrounding commercial plots will certainly rise. Zhongming Lake is still quite remote, and not many people live there. Many plots are still in the government's hands. If you sell these plots to developers, wouldn't you be able to recoup a large sum of money immediately? Not only would the money for the park be recovered, but it could also be used for other purposes."

Zhang Kaishan became excited as he listened. He nodded repeatedly and said, "That's a good strategy. Build the park first, raise the land value, and then sell to developers. Following this line of thinking, the county's treasury won't be short of money in the future."

Su Xinghui said, "This is the concept of 'managing a city.' As the administrator of a city, one can treat the city like an enterprise. There are many ways to enhance an enterprise's brand value, and building a park is one of the best ways to enhance a city's brand value."

"'Managing a city'?" Zhang Kaishan felt this concept was very novel.

Su Xinghui nodded, "Yes, this concept is not yet common in China, but in foreign countries, it is already a relatively mature concept."

Zhang Kaishan nodded, "Since you put it that way, I really must study this. Come and chat with me when you have time and teach me."

Su Xinghui laughed, "You're too kind. I've only read a few books and am not very proficient myself. I wouldn't dare say I'm teaching you; we can only explore it together."

Zhang Kaishan said, "Don't be so modest. Given our relationship, there's no need for you to be so polite just to save my face. I'm not a sage who knows everything; there are still many things I don't understand, especially these new concepts. You're a young person and accept things quickly. If you understand it, come and teach me—what's wrong with that?"

Zhang Kaishan's broad-mindedness moved Su Xinghui deeply. He said to Zhang Kaishan, "Uncle Zhang, I understand."

Zhang Kaishan laughed, "Xinghui, I also hope to build up Shangjun County as soon as possible. Fortunately, I have your help; otherwise, Shangjun County would definitely not be in its current situation."

Su Xinghui said, "Oh, right, Uncle Zhang, what I said about selling land can only solve immediate needs; it cannot be a long-term plan."

Su Xinghui did not want his suggestion to lead Zhang Kaishan into the trap of a "land-sale economy," so he had to make this point very clear to him.

Zhang Kaishan asked in surprise, "Why? I think it's quite good. Now that the central government is implementing the dual-tax system and has taken national tax revenue for itself, local tax revenue is too low. This income from selling land belongs to local fiscal revenue. If the government can sell more land, won't it have more income?"

This was not Zhang Kaishan's fault; the dual-tax system had only been in effect for a year. Few people could foresee the consequences, and no one knew that the loophole the state left for local fiscal revenue—land transfer fees—would later lead to so many negative outcomes.

In this era, everyone was "crossing the river by feeling the stones." With income like land transfer fees that didn't require much effort, who wouldn't want to sit back and enjoy the benefits? Otherwise, why would land transfer fees later account for nearly half of the total fiscal revenue in some places?

Su Xinghui explained to Zhang Kaishan, "Uncle Zhang, land transfer fees are certainly a beneficial supplement to local government fiscal revenue, but they can only be a supplement. If land transfer fees are used as the main source of local fiscal revenue, it indicates that the local government's fiscal situation is not very healthy."

Zhang Kaishan said, "Go on."

Su Xinghui said, "With economic development, land prices get higher and higher. To increase fiscal revenue, local governments will inevitably find ways to drive up land prices. As long as the local government uses land transfer fees as its main source of revenue, land prices will keep rising until they reach an astronomical level."

Zhang Kaishan couldn't help but frown. As a government official himself, he knew the common traits of officials. He knew that if land transfer fees were truly made a primary source of revenue, land prices being driven up by officials was an inevitable outcome. And Zhang Kaishan could certainly imagine the consequences of inflated land prices.

Su Xinghui said, "Uncle Zhang can certainly imagine the consequences of inflated land prices: housing prices will gradually be driven up. One day, they will reach a level that the common people cannot afford. At that point, a single house will often require the life savings of an entire family. Do you think that's reasonable?"

Zhang Kaishan shook his head, clearly using this to show his agreement with Su Xinghui's words.

Su Xinghui said, "To speak bluntly, this is a form of plundering the wealth of the common people, and it all stems from the land transfer fee system. Such easily obtained fiscal revenue also directly causes local officials to develop a 'lazy governance' mindset. They don't think about how to develop real industries; they only think about how to drive up land prices. When land and housing prices reach a terrifying height, will there still be any room for industrialists?"

What Su Xinghui was describing were things that had already happened in his previous life. In that life, nearly half of China's GDP was propped up by housing prices. A large-scale entrepreneur's annual profit couldn't even buy a single apartment in a first-tier city. This kind of distorted phenomenon was the reality of Chinese society at that time.