Chapter 39: Aboveboard
After the document was issued, Hu Jiao, in the name of Tong County People's Government, sent invitation letters to three national road and bridge engineering design institutes.
After receiving the quotation by fax, Tie Xiangqian and Hu Jiao finally chose the neighboring Changhe Provincial Road and Bridge Design Institute.
The other party sent twelve senior professionals led by an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the vice president of the design institute, and the president of the School of Engineering of Changhe University of Science and Technology to Tong County.
Hu Jiao mobilized staff from relevant professions of the county transportation bureau, construction bureau, and planning bureau, and carried out the work in the form of two staff members for each expert.
The leader of the inspection expert group, Vice President Professor Fu Sen, is from Huanghai. This time he insisted on coming to Tong County to work and offered a very low price. The reason was that Fu Sen's father was once a subordinate of General Chen Hu. After liberation, he was wounded while joining the Volunteer Army and had both legs amputated. He died in 1985.
Professor Fusen said that his father had been telling him stories about General Chen Hu since he was a child, so he grew up listening to the general's deeds.
I accompanied my father to Tong County in 1984. The impression of Tong Railway left on me was unforgettable and extremely painful.
It was also after he returned that year that his father's condition worsened and he passed away.
Before leaving, the old man was still thinking, "The road is not easy to walk on..."
Fusen's words made everyone present feel ashamed. Tie Xiangqian was the first to apologize to the professor. Fusen laughed heartily, "I also know the old tradition of Tieshu. The local government cannot be blamed for this. After so many years of anticipation, this road has finally broken ground, which shows that your work is better than before! This is also the main reason why I came here to participate in the construction with a symbolic subsidy."
Hu Jiao sighed secretly in his heart. He had come up with that bad idea in Tieshu and was scolded by the old Red Army soldiers. Now, because of the general's influence, even the academicians of the National Academy of Engineering were willing to come in person. It was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito for a secondary highway.
What's more, Fu Sen Jiao Sen himself did not take a penny. The fees he asked for were mainly to subsidize the people he brought in. He could be upright, but he could not let others work for free.
The next day, Hu Jiao personally accompanied Professor Fu and his team to the construction section and began random inspections.
Professor Fu went out early and came back late every day. At first, his face was full of smiles, but three days later, he had a gloomy face all day long. If he hadn't heard that Hu Jiao had just arrived, the professor would probably have pointed at his nose and scolded him.
"Fortunately, we are now in the foundation stage! Fortunately, part of the roadbed is still being excavated. According to the project budget, if we didn't come, and we continued to do it this way, the entire road would be a shoddy project!" Fu Sen stared at Hu Jiao with indignation on his face.
Hu Jiao looked at the professor calmly without saying anything.
"How could they do this? You know, the Red Army Tomb and the General's former residence will become a national revolutionary education base. How many people will come to pay their respects, remember and commemorate General Chen Hu? If there are quality problems on the traffic roads in two or three years, have you ever thought about what kind of responsibility you will bear as the county magistrate? To put it more seriously, if a tourist group happens to have an accident, how will you deal with it?"
Hu Jiao still looked at Professor Fuson calmly and replied calmly: "This is why we invited the professor here."
Fusen looked at him with some surprise, then slowly calmed down his anger and nodded, "You are very good! Young man, very good. I am now rooted in Tong County, and I will not go back until this road is repaired! Otherwise, I will not be able to explain to my dead father and my professional conscience."
"Thank you, Professor!"
Fusen laughed heartily. The thunder before and the clear sky now made people wonder, can people's emotions change so quickly? And they don't hide it at all?
Only Hu Jiao understood and knew that these experts and scholars never liked to engage in hypocritical tricks, and the more productive the experts were, the more innocence they retained in their characters.
The so-called innocence is honesty, and the outlook on life and values appear simple.
Only those pseudo-scholars who are trying to show off their fame everywhere would be hypocritical, pretentious, and flattering to others.
After Hu Jiao got the guarantee from Professor Fusen, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, if there was no academician-level professor coming forward, he really didn't have the confidence to use the quality inspection results to blame others. Now that there is such a senior professor here, haha, who dares to go against the authority?
If you make Professor Fu angry, he will poke you in the butt a few times. Do you still want to stay in this industry?
So the troublesome matter of railway construction was made simpler because of the unexpected appearance of Professor Fusen.
As expected, the four companies all fell silent, and all the previously planned means of wrangling were abandoned.
Why did Wu Hao choose four companies in the first place?
Moreover, the contract is not just for a dozen kilometers. The most annoying thing is that the contractor has to change companies every two kilometers. The contract relationship for the entire road section is so complicated that it gives people a headache!
When Wu Hao was bidding, he responded to the request of the four companies and divided the 39 kilometers into more than a dozen small sections.
You are in me and I am in you, even the acceptance units, several companies have already registered.
If Hu Jiao had not seen Liu Degui in the information, it would have been too late if any quality problems were discovered after the acceptance was completed.
Such a complicated contracting relationship, find this one and push that one, find two and push another one, it's nonsense, it has always been the Chinese's expertise.
In the end, it was the Tong County government that was in a state of panic.
If something unfortunate happens, like what Professor Fu said, a group of people happened to have a car accident on the railway because the road quality was not up to standard...
I'm afraid that the case of County Magistrate Hu Jiao is not as simple as just putting people in solitary confinement.
If we investigate the responsibility, you didn't organize the bidding, so let's look at the person responsible. He was arrested! Then why didn't you, the county magistrate, pay more attention to quality supervision in the follow-up work? Why did you accept the acceptance as qualified?
With the appearance of Fu Sen, Hu Jianguo sighed that Hu Jiao was destined to meet a noble person!
When Wu Hao heard Liu Degui's report on the phone, his face was extremely gloomy. Liu Degui asked quietly on the phone, "Director Wu, do you want me to send some goods to Mr. Hu?"
Wu Hao's voice was dry, and he coughed a few times, "You decide for yourself."
After hanging up the phone, he started to have a headache about how to explain to those people, especially Chang Wei.
Wu Hao became angrier and angrier as he thought about it. He slammed the table hard. Wang Jianxin just happened to push the door open and saw this. He said hastily, with an idea in mind, "This is too infuriating! Director Wu, take a look at what has happened!"
As he said this, he handed a piece of accusation material in his hand to Wu Hao.
The latter's face flushed a little. He took the materials, flipped through a few pages, and handed them back to Wang Jianxin, "Leave this matter to the director."
Wang Jianxin spread his hands in embarrassment, "I am mainly responsible for the party style, and you are in charge of the administration. If I want to give it to the director, you have to sign your opinion on the handling."
Wu Hao shook his head. "Tax law enforcement officers beat up private business owners for personal gain. We can just forward this dispute to be handled."
Wang Jianxin looked at him in astonishment, "Then you just grew up... Oh! I misunderstood, then you get busy."
Wu Hao nodded. Wang Jianxin had already walked to the door, but was stopped by someone who called him, "Teacher Wang..."
Wu Hao left his desk, walked over, closed the office door, and gestured for him to take a seat.
After making two cups of tea, they sat there for several minutes. Wang Jianxin was not in a hurry and Wu Hao did not speak. He just smelled the fragrance of the tea quietly.
"What is your impression of Hu Jiao?"
Wang Jianxin narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "I haven't had much contact with him. He came to the Inspection Office to work for a few days, and I coaxed him to eat two meals. But I heard from my colleagues at the Party School that he has a high level of theoretical knowledge and unique insights. Why are you suddenly asking about this person? Is he still upset after being transferred back?"
Wu Hao shook his head, "This person is not as simple as he seems." Then he smiled bitterly and looked at Wang Jianxin helplessly, "He is quite lucky."
Wang Jianxin laughed, "Indeed. As an opponent, I am not afraid of his high level or his high skills, but I am afraid of good luck. When Zhuge Liang burned Sima, he sighed that man proposes, God disposes. It can be seen that a person's luck is far more important than strategy."
Wu Hao felt the same way. The trap that was originally foolproof and could be considered a dragnet was eventually jumped out by Hu Jiao, and it seemed particularly easy and effortless.
This made Wu Hao feel as if he had thrown a powerful punch and hit cotton.
Seeing Wu Hao distracted, Wang Jianxin took the initiative to bring up the topic, "What are your plans for the next step?"
Wu Hao rolled his eyes and sighed indifferently, "Qualifications, the qualifications that the old man repeatedly reminded me of, this time it's Sanmei County in Nanhu."
"secretary?"
Wu Hao shook his head, "Acting County Magistrate."
Wang Jianxin comforted him: "Sanmei is good, neither good nor bad, and the transition is smooth. Do your best, you are young, which is better than anything else."
After Wang Jianxin left, Wu Hao smiled contemptuously. It was widely rumored outside that his father had given up power voluntarily because he was bewitched by Wang Jianxin. Who knew the truth?
Wang Jianxin returned to his office with a wry smile on his face. He knew better than anyone what kind of person Wu Chengjing was. Wu Hao was narrow-minded and intolerant. Compared with his father, he was far inferior.
He had heard about what happened to Hu Jiao in Tong County.
Just as Wu Hao was angry at Hu Jiao's luck before, Wang Jianxin also took a fancy to this point of Hu Jiao.
When it comes to luck, materialists like them shouldn't be superstitious, but what happened to Hu Jiao made it impossible for them not to believe in it!
He came out of the double-disciplinary inspection intact. Professor Wang from the Central Party History Office stood up for him and helped him turn the situation around. As a result, his father Hu Jianguo was promoted again, from deputy mayor to acting mayor before he even took office.
He was demoted to Tieshu and had created a mess that was almost out of control. However, his mother sacrificed herself to save others, and because of her outstanding deeds, he was promoted instead of demoted, and was now at the level of deputy director.
It is estimated that Wu Hao had already heard about Hu Jiao's going to Tong County to replace Wu Hao, so he decided to go all out and set a trap to wait for Hu Jiao to fall into the fire.
What's the result?
He actually invited an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering to be responsible for the engineering inspection.
Wu Hao's carefully planned plan to kill several birds with one stone was completely ruined. As a result, Wu Hao now had to face the resentment from several parties.
Originally, the four companies could make a lot of money from the project, the companies behind the scenes owed Wu Hao a favor, and Hu Jiao took the blame...it seemed perfect.
Perhaps, Wang Jianxin's warning to Hu Jiao worked. Hu Jiao's response can be described in four words: aboveboard.
All the conspiracies and tricks seemed childish and ridiculous, not worthy of being presented in a respectable manner. For those who knew the inside story, Wu Hao and Hu Jiao immediately had sharply contrasting impressions.
Recalling the scene of Wu Hao hammering the desk, Wang Jianxin smiled happily. Wu Chengjing had dragged him to block the last arrow, and now, the dissatisfaction in his heart was released.
On the railway, the four maintenance companies strictly followed the orders of the inspection experts. Some companies that needed to rework did so, while others started work on the actual project. No one dared to mess around on their own.
The progress of the project was gradually accelerated, and the corresponding funding was in place in a timely manner. Finally, the straightforward professor Fusen's face was brightened.
With such a nationally renowned authority in charge, Hu Jiao no longer had to worry about the progress and quality of the project. Instead, he began to deal with the towns and enterprises in the county and started working on a national hot topic - enterprise reform.
Tong County has jurisdiction over 7 townships and a total of 78 county-owned independent accounting enterprises. In the audit work that has just begun, Hu Jiao looked at the preliminary audit report and pulled his hair out in worry.
Among the 78 enterprises, 44 were making losses, 30 were insolvent, and only four enterprises in monopoly industries were operating well, namely the power company, the water plant, the agricultural supplies company, and the county party committee guesthouse.
Department stores have already started to decline, impacted by individual stores, and their performance has been declining. If they continue with their current business model, they will go bankrupt sooner or later.
Some enterprises are even more difficult to deal with. For example, the warehouse of the county ethnic clothing factory still stores bedding from the 1960s, which have been gnawed by rats into pieces of rotten cotton, but are still state-owned assets on the factory's books.
The factory workers were unable to receive their wages, so they either occupied the shop facing the garment factory to sell snacks or frequently petitioned the factory.
There are more than 10,000 people in Tong County who rely on the government for their livelihood, but the county's fiscal revenue is less than 50 million yuan. Salaries of cadres are often delayed, sometimes even half a year. Some naughty cadres claim that Tong County has switched to an annual salary system ahead of schedule and that the county's finances are seriously in deficit.
Just when Hu Jiao was at a loss, he suddenly remembered the 2.4 million poverty alleviation funds he had brought to Tieshu. He spent 400,000 yuan to exchange them for two cars from the tobacco company, and there was still 2 million yuan left, which had not been used before he left.
After dialing the phone, Guilan's slightly magnetic greeting came from the other end.
"Secretary Gui, I'm Hu Jiao."
"County Magistrate Hu, you are a very busy man. You have been here for so long and you have never come to see us old subordinates. What's wrong? Are you thinking about Tieshu now? Or are you thinking about your two million?"
Hu Jiao felt a little ashamed when he heard Gui Lan's teasing from the other end of the phone. As soon as he answered the phone, the other person had guessed his intention. This county magistrate is really not a good one!
"The one who knows me best is Sister Lan. Well, as the saying goes, you don't know how expensive oil and salt are until you run a household. When I was in trouble, I had the two million as a cushion, so I had some courage. Now, when I look at the county finances, I'm shocked and terrified."
Guilan heard constant laughter. She had only been working with Hu Jiao for a short time and they had even exchanged roles. But Guilan knew Hu Jiao's character well. He was a young cadre who was willing and dared to do practical things.
Ever since they heard that Hu Jiao had returned to take charge of the county government, all the township cadres in Tieshu were happy from the bottom of their hearts. After all, he was the first cadre to be promoted from Tieshu since liberation, although the reason for his promotion was not because of any achievements in Tieshu, but simply because of his relatives.
But he was always promoted.
At least it broke the curse that the iron tree cadres could not rise!
This can also be considered indirect, a thousand-year-old iron tree finally blooms.
Moreover, Hu Jiao is not useless. The project of Tieshu Revolutionary Education Base was completed by him single-handedly. Now Tieshu has become the first township to be connected to the county by a secondary road. It won't be long before Tieshu's traffic conditions will surpass those of some county towns in Fenghuang City.
The simple Tieshu people attributed all these achievements to Hu Jiao.
So even though he has left Tieshu, his influence in Tieshu is getting bigger and bigger. Even the eight old Red Army soldiers who criticized him at the beginning have now changed their tune and praised him.
As for the reason, it is very simple. Seeing that the Red Army Tomb and the general's former residence were getting bigger and bigger and more and more beautiful, the old revolutionaries did not mention their own living conditions, and they unconditionally supported everything related to the general.
With the strong response of these veteran revolutionaries, the construction of Tieshu Highway went exceptionally smoothly.
The road is wider, flatter, and closer. The Red Army Tomb and the General's former residence are more beautiful. In the future, more and more people from all over the country will admire, commemorate, and remember the General. This is a great thing for the people of Tieshu.
Under this premise, the people of Tieshu made collective concessions.
After Hu Jiao was transferred, the county committee did not appoint another township head, but asked Gui Lan, the township secretary, to replace Hu Jiao and shoulder both party and government responsibilities.
Guilan seized the opportunity to develop catering, souvenirs, and special handicraft processing around the general's former residence and the Red Army's tomb, mobilized some people to raise funds and invest, and developed tourism sideline businesses close to the base route.
Guilan found several alumni of the art school's fine arts department and designed a series of souvenirs based on General Chen Hu's deeds, such as statues of the general, portraits, and commemorative stamps of veteran Red Army soldiers.
At the general's former residence, based on the recollections of the old Red Army soldiers, local craftsmen were mobilized to make straw and bamboo handicrafts, daily necessities, etc. that the general loved back then.
Then we reached an agreement with the city and county party history offices to compile the general's life stories about the major and minor battles he experienced from the time he walked out of the iron tree to his death into a book, which was illustrated by people from the Academy of Fine Arts and titled "The Tiger General in a Hundred Battles."
An agreement was also reached with the newly established Tourism Bureau to plan a special "Iron Tree Red Tour" line, and the route was signed by the Tourism Bureau and several large travel agencies in Nanhu City.
At the same time, the county cultural and sports bureau recruited 20 young women who graduated from junior high school in Tieshu Township and sent them to Fenghuang for training and explanation. They memorized the deeds of General Chen Hu and the old Red Army soldiers, as well as Tieshu’s geography and climate, customs, specialty crops, handicrafts, etc.
It can be said that the work done by Guilan during this period is all ready, just waiting for the channel. Today, when I received a call from Hu Jiao, an idea suddenly occurred to me. I remembered that when I talked to Li Changsheng on the phone this morning, I learned from him that Hu Jiao was working on enterprise reform recently.
When it comes to reform, there will definitely be a shortage of money.
"Since the county magistrate has invited me to report on my work, I will come back in the evening and have a meal with you first."
When Hu Jiao heard that this was a possible opportunity, he quickly agreed. Now Guilan is his little god of wealth.
