Chapter 38 There is really no free lunch in the world
Liu Tieshu sorted out the documents on his desk again, feeling a little regretful. He had just met a big tree and thought that everything would be smooth sailing from then on. Unexpectedly, in less than a year, there was a personnel change and Wu Hao and Hu Jiao had intertwined interactions.
The flashing of swords and the shadow of sabers.
No one is an easy target.
Recalling the statement made by the new deputy county magistrate Hu Jiao at today's cadre meeting, Liu Tieshu almost suspected that he was living in a dream?
The young man who seemed a little disheveled at first and had to dress up before meeting the county magistrate now holds sole power in the county.
Wu Hao came from the Provincial Inspectorate and now he has returned.
Hu Jiao went to the Inspection Office from Tong County and now he is back.
Liu Tieshu was in a gloomy mood and filled with indignation. Has the Tong County government become a pit for the Provincial Party Committee's General Office's Inspectorate? You take a shit once, and I take a shit once.
Hu Jiao was still thin and in excellent spirits. He had a smile on his face and a playful look in his eyes as he looked towards the venue.
"We are all acquaintances, so I don't need to go through the motions, right? Before coming here, I thought a lot... How can Tong County become rich and develop? I am young and lack work experience. This problem cannot be solved by me alone. It depends on everyone present . You are the old Tong County officials. You have served as officials and benefited the people. I hope that together, we can write a brilliant chapter in the history of Tong County!"
Liu Tieshu listened to it once and didn't try to remember it, but the words rang vividly in his mind, without missing a word or making any mistake.
I remember the first time I met Hu Jiao, he was holding a comb, looking uneasy and flustered.
Liu Tieshu sighed slightly, sorted out the transfer procedures on the table again, sat in the chair with a teacup in his hand, and stared blankly.
According to convention, the successor would not continue to employ the secretary used by the predecessor. But this time, Wu Hao did not arrange Liu Tieshu out in advance for some unknown reason.
Maybe the time is too short to arrange it.
Maybe he ignored Liu Tieshu.
Whatever the reason, Liu Tieshu is now in a very low mood.
When Hu Jiao came in, Liu Tieshu was still in a daze, his mind was blank, he just felt a figure passing by, he stood up instinctively, his scattered eyes took several seconds to focus, Liu Tieshu was helpless about his behavior, "I was distracted, please take a seat, County Magistrate."
As he spoke, he pushed back his chair and prepared to make tea for the reception as usual.
Hu Jiao shook his hand, "Big sister, it seems like you don't welcome me?"
Hu Jiao looked at Liu Tieshu. The female secretary had a few faint white pockmarks on her face, a slightly high nose bridge, slightly protruding brow bones, slightly deep eye sockets, and a thin and long oval face, which made her eyes look sharp and intimidating.
He did not directly answer Hu Jiao's question, but pointed to the things on the table and said, "I am ready for the handover."
Hu Jiao didn't take it as an offense, and completely ignored Liu Tieshu's stiff attitude, looking around leisurely, "Oh. What are your plans for the next step?"
Liu Tieshu's eyes followed Hu Jiao's figure, turning around in the small space of the office, "Follow the leader's instructions."
Hu Jiao stopped and met her gaze, "Are you serious?"
"really."
Hu Jiao nodded and pointed at the handover documents on the table. "These, you hand them over to your left hand and take care of them yourself. Prepare the basic situation, data and materials, as well as the work plan of County Magistrate Wu. Report them to me when they are ready."
Liu Tieshu tilted her head. She had never thought that she could continue working as the county magistrate's secretary. It was a little unbelievable. Didn't Hu Jiao know the rules?
Hu Jiao smiled, "What's the matter? What's the difficulty?"
Liu Tieshu smiled and quickly pulled out a few documents and handed them to Hu Jiao. "This is the half-year work summary and the next step arrangement plan. I will sort out the other information and give it to you later."
Hu Jiao nodded, took it, and turned back before leaving. "Thank you, sister! In addition, my next work focus is the revolutionary education base. Please prepare the relevant information of the project."
Hu Jiao's gentle smile, especially the word "sister", was circling in his mind. Liu Tieshu closed his eyes tightly, secretly ashamed of his previous doubts.
Hu Jiao did not arrange any meetings in the afternoon. After the meeting in the morning, Deng Shengni and Huang Yu had lunch and rushed back to the city.
Tie Xiangqian presided over a party committee meeting in the afternoon to implement the decision of the municipal party committee.
When he was working in Tieshu, although he spent less time in the county, he basically knew all the leaders in the county.
His current positions are member of the Tong County Party Committee, member of the standing committee, deputy secretary, and deputy county magistrate (in charge of government work). The most important thing is that he is in charge of the work.
In fact, he has already exercised the powers of the county magistrate. The municipal party committee has not nominated him to be the acting county magistrate, and the county party committee and the people's congress will not take the initiative to respond.
The People's Congress will go through the procedures and appoint him as the deputy county magistrate. Then the Tong County government will enter an era of vacant county magistrate.
Liu Tieshu entered Hu Jiao's office three times. Except for the first time when he delivered information, the second and third times were when Hu Jiao called him.
He could not understand some of the information clearly. For example, when it involved a township official or the cooperation of several departments, he had to clarify these people and things and consider the interests behind the scenes. The most direct way was to understand the real situation through the secretary.
Therefore, the secretary's huge influence on the leader is often reflected in these aspects.
How many section-level cadres are there in a county? About a hundred. As the top government official, he is not familiar with the situation and often cannot make accurate judgments.
The role of the secretary is undoubtedly demonstrated here.
It was for this reason that Liu Tieshu was preparing to hand over his post and leave.
The province and the city attach great importance to the Tieshu Revolutionary Education Base, and Hu Jiao had made preparations in this regard before arriving.
He was the one who originally took the lead in applying for the base, and now that he is in charge of the county government, he will continue to take over and let things take their course.
According to the information reported by Liu Tieshu, Wu Hao had paid great attention to the construction of the education base before, and Wu Hao's shadow could be seen everywhere in the project bidding.
The educational base is divided into three major projects. The expansion of the Red Army cemetery, all graves are made of marble and granite, green gardens, deeds inscriptions, and a detailed deeds introduction hall for General Chen Hu and the old Red Army soldiers are built around the tombs.
The investment budget for this project is six million yuan. After coordination between the provincial party committee and the provincial military region, the military region applied for the funds from the Central Military Commission, and the funds have now been transferred to the account of the Tongxian Base Construction Command.
The second is to expand the Tongtie Highway into a second-class four-lane standard highway with a total length of 38 kilometers. The original 49-kilometer old road has a section that can be directly bridged to save 11 kilometers of winding mountain roads. In this way, the saved road will be used to compensate the people of Tieshu Township for reforestation.
The Provincial Department of Transportation allocated 50 million yuan for highway construction, Fenghuang City contributed 20 million yuan, and Tong County was responsible for the rest.
The third piece is the former residence of General Chen Hu. The investment in this piece is not much, with a budget of 1.5 million yuan, and it was built with direct funding from the provincial finance.
There are five construction units that won the bid, four from the province and one from the city.
Four companies in the province focus on highway construction, and one company focuses on bridge construction. The 39 kilometers are divided into three sections, with each company responsible for one section.
Phoenix Red Star Construction Company undertook the construction of the Red Army Tomb and the General’s former residence.
What gave Hu Jiao a headache were the four listed provincial road and bridge construction companies involved in highway construction. When he left Tieshu, they were carrying out preliminary work and the bidding was in progress.
No one expected that a secondary highway of only 39 kilometers would attract four construction companies.
After listening to Liu Tieshu's introduction to the bidding work at that time, he watched the slender secretary leave the office with a slender waist and swaying plump buttocks.
Unexpectedly, Liu Tieshu, who is in her early thirties, is thin but has a lot of knowledge. Hu Jiao guessed maliciously whether Wu Hao chose her as his secretary because of her sexy figure.
Hu Jiao drove away the bad intentions in his mind and began to face the relevant introductions of the four construction units.
Of course, he could have spent less time thinking about it and just gone directly to Tie Xiangqian to find out the situation.
Wu Hao was obviously using the highway construction as a favor, but he couldn't bypass Tie Xiangqian, the county party secretary, so others might not be aware of the complicated relationship, but Tie Xiangqian definitely knew it, and he even acquiesced to Wu Hao's operation.
Hu Jiao looked at the information of these winning bidders, hoping to find the information he needed through these seemingly reasonable and legal procedures.
Wu Hao is gone, but the favor cannot be taken away.
When he came across the information of the Provincial Second Construction Road and Bridge Company, Hu Jiao was stunned.
Project leader: Liu Degui.
Hu Jiao picked up the phone and held it in his hand for a long time until the handle made a harsh sound in his hand, then he put it down again.
In the end, Hu Jiao started dialing and called He Miao.
No one answered, so Hu Jiao put the phone down and called his father Hu Jianguo, who happened to be in the office.
"Jiaojiao, have you arrived in Tong County?"
He first asked about his father's health and then briefly reported on his tenure. After a long time, the father and son fell silent on the phone.
Hu Jianguo knew Hu Jiao well. He would not take the initiative to call unless he encountered any difficult problems. If he did call, apart from normal greetings, it must be because there was some difficult situation to deal with.
"Go ahead."
Hu Jianguo couldn't help but urge.
"When I was checking the information of the winning bidder for the Iron Tree Base just now, I found that one of the project leaders was named Liu Degui. I remember that the fat man Hu who ordered people to beat up Chang Wei seemed to have the same name. To confirm, I called Wu Hao's secretary, who is also my current secretary, to verify. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be the same person."
Hu Jiao didn't need to imagine too much, he seemed to see his father frowning. After a long while, Hu Jianguo still didn't speak.
Hu Jiao couldn't help but remind him, "Dad, find out what the conversations were between the main leaders of the provincial party committee before they took office."
Hu Jianguo said "hmm" and hung up the phone.
Secondary roads are not as expensive as expressways, but 39 kilometers also involves hundreds of millions of dollars. Hu Jiao was sensitive to the fact that Wu Hao and he were swapped. Could it be that some bigwigs did it on purpose?
If that's the case... Hu Jiao felt a chill all over his body. He flipped through and checked for a long time, but he really didn't see Wu Hao's autograph.
More than half an hour later, the phone on the desk rang. Hu Jianguo's deep voice was clearly hoarse. "The governor told me that the day after Chang Wei was beaten, Deputy Secretary Wu took the initiative to apply to step down."
Hu Jiao smiled bitterly, "I just looked at all the project materials. All the places that require signatures are only signed by Executive Deputy County Mayor Meng Qifa. Wu Hao does not have any signature."
The phone fell silent again.
If it was a general road construction or routine traffic planning and construction in other towns in Tong County, Hu Jiao could have retreated safely even if any problems arose.
But now that it involves Tieshu Township and the revolutionary education base, they dare not touch the Red Army tombs and the general's former residence, but instead set their sights on highway construction.
A short 39-kilometer secondary road, plus a highway bridge, was sold to four provincial road and bridge companies for the winning bid?
Once a problem occurs, it will not only involve the provincial and municipal levels, but will also shake higher-level officials, the military and other key departments.
At that time, even if he didn't want to expand the impact, Hu Jiao couldn't get away with it. In other words, his crotch was now filled with a pile of yellow mud by his ex.
What Hu Jiao was worried about was whether someone had done this whole thing on purpose?
If that is the case, if Hu Jiao retreats now and finds a reason, he will at most be accused of being "all show and no substance".
If not, how should we carry out the work next to ensure the quality of the project?
Hu Jiao is no longer the mere theoretical scholar he once was. Which bigwigs are closely connected with the four provincial-level units?
From the moment Liu Degui's name appeared, Hu Jiao had clearly realized that the situation in Tong County was somewhat different from Wang Jianxin's optimistic estimate when he left Nanhu.
There is really no such thing as a free lunch. Before coming here, he was still smug, and the provincial party secretary personally named him... Hu Jiao's mouth showed a hint of self-mockery.
Hu Jianguo began to slowly remind his son on the phone. Although the situation was complicated, fortunately Hu Jiao appeared in time. Now the highway construction is still in the stage of widening and road load-bearing. It is necessary to increase quality supervision and assign responsibilities in sections.
Finally, Hu Jianguo hung up the phone and called Tie Xiangqian himself, asking him to come forward and be the person in charge of the highway bridge construction.
In the evening, Hu Jiao had a quick dinner with members of the Tong County leadership team who were at home. Led by Tie Xiangqian, the two entered the temporary residence of the leaders on the side of the county party committee office building.
There is an apartment building here with four floors. Hu Jiao lives on the third floor, Tie Xiangqian lives on the second floor, and the fourth floor is vacant, used to receive senior leaders with whom one has a good personal relationship.
The first floor is a small restaurant and residence for county party committee service staff.
After sending the waiter away, Tie Xiangqian's face became solemn. The reason why he turned a blind eye and allowed Wu Hao to manipulate the bidding work was mainly because the four units were respectively linked to the son of the vice chairman of the Provincial CPPCC, the deputy director of the Provincial Department of Transportation, the deputy director of the Provincial Department of Finance, and Chang Wei, the son of the provincial party secretary.
Tie Xiangqian can't afford to offend these people, and their qualifications and bidding procedures are fully qualified.
Tie Xiangqian was reassured about another point: the project involved famous generals who had made great contributions to the Republic and were the calling card of Nanzhao. Even if these people had great courage, they would not dare to do anything too big in this regard.
Of course, there is no such thing as cutting corners when doing a project. Tie Xiangqian has been in the party and government departments for a long time and is quite familiar with the shady methods of such things.
It can't be eliminated. As long as you don't have a dirty mind and produce something shoddy, who will really care?
But Hu Jianguo's call today suddenly made him alert!
After hanging up the phone, he realized it belatedly and slapped his thigh. Wu Hao was gone and Hu Jiao was here!
Only he and Hu Jiao can take responsibility for the project.
After more than two hours of negotiation, the two finally came up with a complete plan. Tie Xiangqian couldn't help but feel scared, "It's not too late to mend the fence after the sheep have been lost."
Hu Jiao was not relaxed at all. "Uncle Tie, it's not optimistic. Have you ever considered that if we focus on quality, will they focus on funding?"
Tie Xiangqian curled his lips, "I hope so! It would be best if the project is completely stopped, and they mobilize the winning bidder to quarrel with us. Hehe, the fiercer the quarrel, the better. I will also invite reporters from all walks of life to visit and witness, help them publicize, and complain for them!"
Hu Jiao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.
But in my mind, Liu Tieshu's plump and round butt flashed in amazement. Wu Hao saw it, and so did I.
The next day, Tie Xiangqian met with the other two deputy secretaries and immediately convened a standing committee meeting in the afternoon, announcing the establishment of the Tong County "Tongtie Secondary Highway Quality Supervision Leading Group". The eleven standing committee members of the county party committee and two deputy county governors except Hu Jiao were each responsible for the quality supervision of the three-kilometer Tongtie Highway project. Tie Xiangqian and Hu Jiao were the overall responsible persons.
The meeting decided that the Tongtie Class II Highway is the top priority and primary work of the county party committee and government at this stage. All responsible persons are mainly responsible for highway quality supervision, and daily work is handed over to deputies or designated personnel. Except for necessary major decisions, they shall not leave the quality supervision responsibility post until the project acceptance is completed;
2. If quality problems occur in the section of the project that each person is responsible for, rectification must be completed within a specified period of time. If the rectification is not completed within the specified period of time, the work must be stopped and reworked. If it is found that there is collusion with the project contractor and major quality problems are caused, severe punishment will be imposed in accordance with the Party’s discipline and the state’s laws.
3. Hire well-known and experienced road and bridge engineering inspection experts from outside the province to be responsible for quality inspection, strictly implement the quality clauses signed in the contract, and if any unqualified areas are found, the person in charge of the road section must listen to the experts' opinions and supervise the rectification throughout the process;
The New Tong County Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Tong County People's Government jointly issued a document to the Provincial Department of Transportation, the Provincial Department of Finance, the Fenghuang Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, and sent it to all county-level agencies, the Tongtie Highway Command, and the four construction units responsible for the construction.
Liu Tieshu saw that in just one day, Hu Jiao's speed was so fast that no one could react at all, and the first raging fire was started.
