Era: Starting from divorce from female college student

August 1990, Beijiang City.

Before the establishment of Yunlan City, Zhao Mancang must have been extremely busy.

After all, there are just too many things to do right now.

However, Zhao Mancang managed to steal a moment of leisure while in France and happened to catch a football match in progress, so he went to watch a few games.

After watching the match, Zhao Mancang thought of something and couldn't wait to return to Beijiang City.

In Yunlan City, a football team had been prepared several years ago, but organizing a football league was extremely difficult.

It would be really difficult to do in less than one or two decades.

The total population of Yunlan City is still less than 20 million.

It's so difficult to find young people with real football talent.

The only way is to cultivate them from a young age, or to discover them from other parts of the country.

The situation is different in Beijiang City, which has a large population base, allowing for advance preparation.

In the municipal government office building, Lu Wenzong and Yang Kangsheng were shocked to hear that Zhao Mancang actually wanted to build five more football fields within the territory of Beijiang City.

"Sir, we already have two football fields and two basketball courts. Is there any need to set up five more?"

Zhao Mancang shook his head and said:

“The previous football fields could only accommodate 5,000 spectators at most, which could not be considered large stadiums.”

"What I want to do now is invest money to build football fields in our Beijiang City, and boost consumption in Beijiang City through football matches."

"If we cannot stimulate consumer spending in Beijiang City itself, then subsequent economic growth could face significant challenges."

"The same applies to the development of commercial housing, especially since there isn't much land in our Beijiang City to begin with, and now there's even less land available for development."

Upon hearing Zhao Mancang's words, Lu Wenzong, Yang Kangsheng, and the others immediately fell silent.

It concerns the economic development of Beijiang City, and they really have no way to stop it, nor can they stop it.

We've already discussed the economic development of Beijiang City, especially the issue of domestic consumption, which is quite troublesome.

Lu Wenzong and Yang Kangsheng have already used many methods, but stimulating consumption is not an easy task.

To be honest, Lu Wenzong and the others also think that the football that Zhao Mancang mentioned is worth a try.

The problem is, with such a large initial investment and the need to compete in leagues with other cities, it's probably not that simple.

Whether it can be done is really a question mark.

"You don't need to worry about that. I will personally contact cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Hong Kong to get their agreement."

"What you need to do is complete the relevant procedures as soon as possible."

As soon as Zhao Mancang finished speaking, Lu Wenzong suddenly said, "Sir, are you personally handling this matter?"

"Yes, what's the problem?"

"Why don't we let our staff handle this? You're so busy, there's no need for that."

Before the other person could finish speaking, Zhao Mancang interrupted him:

"Ha, I wouldn't trust you to handle that!"

After a pause, Zhao Mancang continued:

"Any government leader in Beijiang City who is at the section chief level or above is strictly prohibited from having any connection with the football league. If I find out, well, don't blame me for not giving you advance notice. You'll be sitting on the sidelines, and you can forget about ever getting promoted again!"

hiss!
Lu Wenzong and Yang Kangsheng both gasped in shock.

Is it that serious?
Although they didn't know why Zhao Mancang was reacting so strongly, none of them dared to say no.

For the next two weeks, Zhao Mancang traveled all over the country, all for the establishment of football fields and preparations for the future establishment of a football club.

Just then, two leaders of the Football Association found Zhao Mancang and cornered him in the mountain city.

"Hello Comrade Zhao, we heard you've been busy with football-related matters lately."

"This is Director Xie Lingchuan of the National Football Association. Regarding the football league, it should be organized by our Football Association."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mancang said irritably:
“If you want to organize a competition, then do it yourselves. Don’t bother me. I don’t have time to talk to you in official circles.”

Thinking back to my past life, the Chinese national football team made it into the World Cup for the only time in 2002.

But afterwards, they completely gave up, which made Zhao Mancang furious.

It's not necessarily true that he loves football that much.

As a casual football fan, Zhao Mancang dares to say that his love for football surpasses that of his boss, Xie Lingchuan.

In his previous life, when Zhao Mancang was still in elementary school, he often played football with his peers from the same village.

Back in my hometown, there was a fishpond next to a large natural meadow.

This meadow used to be farmland cultivated by someone else, and it covers an area of ​​more than two acres.

Later it was abandoned and became a cattle grazing area.

So Zhao Mancang often played football with his peers from the same village, especially during the two months of summer vacation, which they did almost every day.

Later, when he entered junior high school, he joined the school's football team.

To be honest, the school's football team was more formal, and Zhao Mancang received more comprehensive training at that time.

Later, he even participated in the junior high school league organized by the county, but was eliminated after only five games.

After that, when I entered high school, I had to put soccer aside because of the heavy academic workload.

For many years afterward, he barely touched a football, let alone participated in any matches.

It wasn't until a year after he started working that he went to Mauritius, where the football atmosphere was even stronger, which gave Zhao Mancang more time to play football.

It really feels great to work up a sweat.

However, by then, the Chinese national football team had already completely collapsed.

In any case, Zhao Mancang has never bought a ticket to watch a football match in China, but he has watched several matches in Europe.

Ugh!
It's not that foreign football matches are more exciting, it's just that domestic football is...

The result of today's match was already known last night.

So what's the point of comparing them?
"you!!!"

Xie Lingchuan and his deputy were so angry that their faces turned ashen when they heard Zhao Mancang's impolite words.

However, Zhao Mancang was not going to tolerate them:

"Your football association can do your own thing, we can do ours. We can just keep to ourselves and not interfere with each other. In short, don't meddle in our affairs, or else..."

"Fine, fine, fine!" Xie Lingchuan was furious at this moment and said fiercely:
"Then I'd like to see how you compete without anyone here."

"Don't worry, even if there really is no one, it won't trouble you!"

There was no point in arguing with them, so Zhao Mancang didn't waste any more words and turned to leave.

A month later, several cities, including Beijing, Beijiang City, Baiyun City, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Jiangcheng, Jinling, Hangzhou, Tianjin, and Harbin, have been confirmed.

A total of 22 cities will participate in this league.

However, the football club is still in the process of being established, and training has only just begun.

Zhao Mancang uses all capital for investment management.

They only cooperated with the local cultural and tourism bureau and cultural publicity department, completely bypassing the football association.

In terms of publicity, it's impossible to shake off the local official media.

Furthermore, Zhao Mancang had no intention of going it alone.

After all, Zhao Mancang's main objective was to stimulate the domestic economy.
The football league is just a means to an end.

It's insignificant and not worth mentioning, but keeping quiet about it is currently the most appropriate approach, bar none.

China's economic development has reached a bottleneck, and it will not be easy to achieve good development in the short term.

When Xie Lingchuan learned of this, he returned to the capital and went on to smear Zhao Mancang in front of his superiors.

"Boss, you have to stand up for us! Our Football Association is the most legitimate official organization in the country. Where did this Zhao Mancang come from?"

He also said

The more the leader listened, the darker his face became.

"presumptuous."

"Yes, yes, boss, they really are very audacious!" Xie Lingchuan was overjoyed, but he still kept a straight face and continued:

"They've already contacted many cities, using money to bribe local cultural and tourism bureaus and other departments, trying to bypass us and go it alone by investing in football fields. It's outrageous!"

"Just because you have money doesn't mean you're all that great."

However, the leader glared at Xie Lingchuan:
"I'm talking about you. You've gone too far, you know that?"

what?
Xie Lingchuan's mouth dropped open in surprise. He was genuinely astonished: "Sir, are you sure you've got it backwards? It's clearly Zhao Mancang who doesn't understand the rules; he's the one breaking them!"

"Bullshit! You're the one who doesn't know the rules!"

The leader was furious and quickly said:
"Do you know that because of you, I'm getting scolded too?"

"You don't know who Zhao Mancang is, but do you think the higher-ups don't know? Can't you use your brain before you do things next time?"

"Do you know how Beijiang City rose to prominence? The real mastermind behind it all is Zhao Mancang, and... well, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"In short, from now on, your football association should reflect on its own actions."

"The higher-ups said that if your football association cannot achieve results, it should be dissolved within ten years."

Swish!
Xie Lingchuan was dumbfounded. He really didn't understand football, but was it really necessary to punish him so severely?

If the football association is abolished, what will he do?
He should have known better than to offend Zhao Mancang.

Unfortunately, he now has no way out and can only go all the way down this path and see if he can make it work.

So, after returning to his office from his superior's side, Xie Lingchuan began to reflect on what he should do.
When Xie Lingchuan returned home after get off work, he saw several buses pass by him.

These buses have the following slogan written on them: The First National City Super League (Division A) Football Tournament!

He was immediately stunned: It's starting already?

Zhao Mancang could answer the question: the first football league has indeed begun.

Although new football fields have begun construction, the smaller fields can be used as a substitute for now.

Whether it accommodates several thousand people or several hundred, it won't affect the conduct of the football league.

In a few years, the football league will have cultivated a sufficient number of fans, and the new football field will be ready for use, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop.

Anyway, it's a gradual process.

Even if the new football stadium is built right now, there may not be enough spectators to buy tickets to watch it.

You have to understand that this is not the original timeline of history, so people don't have much of a desire to spend money right now.

Being a "ten-thousand-yuan household" was a very prestigious title a few years ago, and it still carries considerable weight in the county town.

Therefore, there are not many people who can afford to watch football matches.

The market needs to be cultivated gradually; there's no rush.

However, to Zhao Mancang's surprise, more than 10,000 people bought tickets to watch the first match of the first tournament at the football stadium in Beijiang City.

"Boss, it seems there are quite a few people in our Beijiang City who are both wealthy and have plenty of free time."

Upon learning the vote results at the municipal government office building, Lu Wenzong and Yang Kangsheng were both very excited and hurriedly reported to Zhao Mancang.

"Yes, that's quite surprising, but it's good news."

Zhao Mancang laughed:
"Since so many people are buying tickets to watch the football match, this first game absolutely has to be exciting, it must be!"

"No one is allowed to interfere with the outcome of a football match. Who wins or loses is not important; the key is whether the match is exciting and can attract viewers."

"If anyone touches a piece of the pie, causing the football league to lose its original meaning, well, let that person be punished by law."

He said it with a smile, but Lu Wenzong and the others felt no warmth at all, only a chill.

Perhaps because football leagues involve money, Zhao Mancang has always emphasized that preventing corruption is more important than preventing floods.

In conclusion, for Zhao Mancang, the football league is more than just a league.

People like Lu Wenzong and Yang Kangsheng might understand this principle, but Xie Lingchuan might not.

However, regardless of whether others understand or not, whoever dares to make a move will have their claws chopped off.

All information about the football league is completely open and transparent.

Even the selection of football players needs to be open and transparent, with the highest bidder winning!

Utilize all available resources to coordinate and make the football league the most watched competition by the public.

By exposing all of this to everyone's eyes, those who want to take advantage of others behind the scenes will have nowhere to hide.

Perhaps only in this way can we possibly stop the greed of those demons and gods.

Zhao Mancang offered many suggestions on the system, and he also knew that systems need people to implement them.

Therefore, he could only try his best to supervise and prevent the football league from being abolished. (End of Chapter)