My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 484 Plan
What Li Jinshi said was exactly what An Rusong should do later. His proposed strategy mainly consisted of two points: first, that An Rusong's side should not target the deceased and their families; and second, that he should target the "behind-the-scenes supporters" of those opposing the land expropriation.

These two demands seem similar to those An Rusong made to Liu Shanyong before, but in reality they are quite different. In comparison, Li Jinshi's demands actually grasped the so-called principal contradiction.

For An Rusong, is the real trouble the old man who died in the conflict and his family? The answer to this question is obviously no, because these people are just ordinary people, and even if they risk their lives to cause trouble, they won't make much of a fuss.

Most importantly, just as An Rusong had arranged before, these people are easily bribed with money. If someone says they can't be bribed, it's only because the price offered isn't high enough.

Since it wasn't the deceased or their family, were the people causing trouble for An Rusong the behind-the-scenes manipulators who supported the opposition? The answer to this question needs to be considered from two perspectives.

If this mastermind truly exists, and its target is An Rusong, then it is clearly trouble for An Rusong. Conversely, if this mastermind does not exist, or if its target is not An Rusong, then it is not trouble for An Rusong.

However, regardless of whether the other party is "troublesome" or not, since things have escalated to this point, An Rusong must deal with it as "troublesome," because in Li Jinshi's plan, this black hand is the target they will be targeting next.

Although An Rusong had no political experience, he was smart enough, and he had spent some time dealing with high-ranking politicians, which broadened his horizons. Therefore, after hearing Li Jinshi's request, he immediately understood Li Jinshi's, or rather, Li Haixian's, idea.

Currently, for An Rusong, regardless of who caused the conflict at the construction site, the one who really came to cause him trouble was Quan Longcan, who was running for Congress. If it weren't for this guy, the death of one person at the construction site wouldn't have been a big deal.

Therefore, to resolve this problem, he had to deal with Jeon Yong-chan, either by getting him to change his mind or by making him shut up. The reason he chose to seek help from Lee Hae-heon was precisely for this purpose.

Now, as the representative appointed by Li Haixian, Li Jinshi put forward two conditions directly. Judging from these two conditions alone, An Rusong understood Li Haixian's meaning.

It's obvious that Lee Hae-heon is willing to help him, but he won't target Jeon Yong-chan right away.

Jeon Yong-chan intervened in the construction site conflict not because anyone died in it, but because he wanted to use it to promote his political ideology of "promoting social fairness" and thus gain public support.

Because of his purpose, he had a bias when looking at the conflict—he was a supporter against land expropriation. From his perspective, investors like An Rusong and NGN Company, as well as the Enping District Government, were creators of social injustice, unscrupulous businessmen and unethical officials.

However, regardless of whether Quan Longcan's stance is right or wrong, the political ideas he put forward are not wrong. For ordinary people, his political ideas are very seductive. Whether they support the progressives or the conservatives, as long as they are not from the wealthy class, everyone has a resentment towards the rich. Therefore, when something like a land acquisition conflict occurs, no matter what the truth is, people's first thought is that unscrupulous businessmen and unscrupulous officials are colluding to create a terrible social injustice.

Therefore, as a strong contender for Jeon Yong-chan's seat in the National Assembly, Lee Hae-heon would absolutely not stand up against his opponent on the basis of political ideology; that would be a completely foolish act for him.

Since they didn't want to directly challenge Jeon Yong-chan, and targeting the deceased and his family was pointless, Lee Hae-heon believed that their only option was to first target the "black hand" behind the land expropriation protesters.

We need to expose this "mastermind," pin a whole host of heinous crimes on him, and characterize his opposition to land expropriation as "intending to seek improper benefits," or even deliberately obstructing the economic development of Enping District.

In this simple maneuver, the opposition to the land expropriation lost its footing. Their actions of blocking the construction site were illegal, or at least instigated and misled by malicious individuals. Correspondingly, business owners like An Rusong naturally became victims.

Once public opinion shifts in this direction, Li Haixian can then openly step forward, condemning the "mastermind" while publicly supporting Enping District's efforts to attract foreign investment and boost its economy. He can also publicly express his support for business owners like An Rusong. Perhaps Li Haixian will never directly criticize or condemn Quan Longcan; he might even appreciate the latter's advocacy for "promoting social fairness." However, after this controversy, Quan Longcan will at least bear the reputation of being indecisive and easily swayed. For a politician, such a reputation is not good; at the very least, it will inevitably damage his election prospects.

In an instant, An Rusong understood Li Haixian's intentions, nodded, and said, "I understand what Councilor Li means. Two things: I will send someone to comfort the deceased's family."

He took a drag of his cigarette, chuckled, and said, "I heard the man who died was nearly eighty years old. He had three sons and two daughters, but no one was willing to support him before. Now that he's dead, they're making a scene. It's not hard to appease someone like that; it's just a matter of giving them more money."

Lee Jin-seok smiled in agreement and said, "If the children are filial enough, an octogenarian wouldn't brave the wind and rain to cause trouble at the construction site for a daily wage of 1 won."

He's right. Just like what Liu Shanyong said before, many of the elderly people who were blocking the construction site were hired, and those who hired them were the "masterminds." Each person was paid 1 won a day, which is roughly 50 yuan. Many people know this going rate.

"As for the mastermind behind it all, that's not hard to solve either," An Rusong said calmly, pursing his lips. "Just like Brother Jinshi said, it's not difficult to find such a mastermind. Even if the real masterminds are unwilling to cooperate, we can easily find a few who are willing to cooperate."

Although Shin Sang-gil is impulsive and rash, he's been a contractor for so many years, constantly navigating between the legal and illegal worlds, so he must have a considerable number of ruthless individuals under his command. Since these people can be charged with murder, they can certainly be charged with instigation; ultimately, it all comes down to how much money they're paid.

So, what's that saying? Money can solve 99% of the world's problems, and for the remaining 1%, even if it can't solve them directly, it can at least play a significant supporting role.

“Once these two matters are resolved,” An Rusong said, raising his glass to the other person and taking a sip, “I will arrange for some media outlets to cover this matter. At that time…”

“Hey, Chairman An,” Li Jinshi interrupted him with a smile, “Don’t rush, I haven’t finished speaking yet.”

He put down his wine glass and said, "As you know, it's not just Chairman An's NGN that has confirmed its investment in Enping District. The Enping District Department has done a lot of work in this regard. There are currently nearly twenty enterprise projects under construction in Enping District."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "What you mean is that this matter, while seemingly targeting Chairman An and NGN Company, is actually targeting every company that has already invested in Enping District. Therefore, it infringes on the interests of all investing companies. Consequently, it is clearly inappropriate for Chairman An and NGN Company to handle this situation alone."

An Rusong didn't speak, but an expression of interest appeared on his face. To be honest, he had this idea before. Just think about it, joining forces with a group of companies that invested in Enping District to fight against NGN alone would definitely not be the same situation.

However, among the corporate projects currently under construction in Enping District, giant conglomerates like Samsung and LG are completely out of An Rusong's reach, and frankly, even if he were to contact the small and medium-sized enterprises, it wouldn't have much of an effect.

However, if the same thing were handled by Lee Hae-hyun, the effect would be completely different. After all, he is a senior conservative politician and a three-term member of parliament. The same words spoken by him are completely different from the words spoken by Lee Hae-hyun.

“My uncle means that he plans to push things out behind the scenes recently, with the Enping District Government taking the lead in inviting representatives from the investing companies to participate in a joint event at the Enping District Government,” Li Jinshi continued. “He will be there to solicit the opinions and views of the investing companies regarding the District Government.”

(End of this chapter)