Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

"Why did you let the militia surround us with guns for no reason?"

Hua Zhenhong looked at Zhang Guoqiang with an embarrassed expression, unloaded the Type 54 pistol from his hand, removed the magazine, and then smiled to cover up his embarrassment, saying to the angry Zhang Guoqiang, "Commander Zhang, I didn't know you were here!"

"The commune didn't notify me. The villagers saw someone taking pictures with equipment at the foot of the mountain. I was worried that enemy agents might come to spy, so I brought some people over, thinking of arresting them. I never expected that the flood would wash away the Dragon King Temple!"

Old Liu, who had been kicked to the ground, was helped up by someone. The militiaman who had kicked him was now brushing the dust off his clothes and apologizing to him repeatedly.

Zhang Guoqiang frowned and looked at the deputy director of Mengyu Commune. "Director Qian, didn't you notify Hongping Village beforehand? What kind of work are you doing? This almost caused a major incident!"

Deputy Director Qian from Mengyu Commune said with an embarrassed smile, "Director Zhang, I was in such a hurry that I forgot. I was originally planning to go to Hongping Village first to talk to Secretary Zhenhong about this, but I heard that you were going to come up with me later. I thought it wasn't a big deal, so I went up with you."

"There are no telephone lines in Hongping. Communication usually relies on people passing things up and down. It was my oversight," Deputy Director Qian immediately admitted his mistake.

Hua Zhenhong was speechless. "Look at the mess this has made! I thought you guys were enemy agents. I thought I'd finally caught a nest of mice, but it turns out I've run into a pack of cats!"

"Alright, thankfully nothing serious happened, otherwise it would have been too late," Zhang Guoqiang said angrily, pointing at Hua Zhenhong and Deputy Director Qian, before putting his pistol back into its holster.

The surveyors were also quite frightened. Anyone would be scared out of their wits if suddenly confronted by a group of people with guns pointing at them. Fortunately, the survey was nearing its end, and Hua Zhenhong and his team arrived to help the surveyors carry their equipment to Hongping Village.

Hua Zhenhong lagged behind, walking alongside Deputy Director Qian of Mengyu Commune, and asked in a low voice, "Director Qian, what are all these people, including police and photographers, doing here?"

Deputy Director Qian took out a cigarette, handed it to Hua Zhenhong, and said, "Surveying the terrain, planning to build a road, what else could it be?"

Hua Zhenhong raised an eyebrow. The county government had finally remembered Hongping Village and was willing to build a road for them. That was wonderful!

Seeing Hua Zhenhong beaming with joy, Deputy Director Qian glanced at him and said, "It's not the county government that's funding the road construction. It's an overseas Chinese from the neighboring county who's back from overseas. I heard they're planning to set up some kind of factory and they think the national highway is too roundabout, so they insist on building a road that goes through our Mengyu Commune."

"So, we've come to Hongping to survey the area. We're planning to build a road from Lianzhai in Jiping Commune along the mountainside, passing through Hongping, to take advantage of the terrain of your village and save some costs."

"Overseas Chinese, even running factories. I heard from the county a few years ago that it costs a lot of money to build a road. Are overseas Chinese really that willing to spend so much money to build a mountain road?"

Deputy Director Qian became quite excited as he spoke. He glanced at Zhang Guoqiang, who was still walking ahead, and whispered to Hua Zhenhong, "You don't know, do you? This overseas Chinese businessman spent a hundred million US dollars just on the initial road construction!"

"All the equipment was imported from Japan. That day, many people saw it on the national highway in our county. Good heavens, that convoy, dozens of vehicles driving straight down the national highway, you couldn't have seen it, it stretched as far as the eye could see!"

Hua Zhenhong was stunned when he heard this. One hundred million. Regardless of whether it was US dollars or Chinese yuan, just hearing about one hundred million in funds left Hua Zhenhong speechless.

He was calculating in his mind. These capitalists who had returned from overseas were willing to spend 100 million yuan to build roads. Why not take advantage of them?

If they want to leave through Hongping and take advantage of the terrain of Hongping Village, then Hua Zhenhong will have to settle the land expropriation compensation with this overseas Chinese.

After all, if you want to build a road, the land you're moving belongs to the Hongping Village collective. Without sufficient compensation, Hongping Village won't let you start road construction.

Seeing that Hua Zhenhong didn't react after listening, Deputy Director Qian looked at him and asked, "Old Hua, what are you thinking? Are you stunned by this hundred million US dollars? Don't laugh at me, but when I first heard about this, I was just like you."

"Director Qian, when the land is requisitioned, will the county government or the overseas Chinese pay for it?"

Deputy Director Qian looked at Hua Zhenhong as if he were a fool and said, "Of course it was the company owned by that overseas Chinese that gave it to us. We've already lost out by letting him pass through our Zhaoyang County. We didn't ask him for more subsidies, which means the city has already spoken and we've been forced to comply."

"They even want our county to pay for it!"

"Then I'm relieved, hehe!"

Deputy Director Qian was puzzled and asked Hua Zhenhong, "You can rest assured that the road passing through Hongping will indeed be beneficial to the development of Hongping."

Hua Zhenhong smiled and nodded in agreement with Deputy Director Qian, "Director Qian, you are right. It will indeed benefit our Hongping Village in the future."

Hua Zhenhong said this, but in his heart he had already made up his mind. When the people from the county land bureau finished the survey and came to a conclusion, when the overseas Chinese came to build the road, their Hongping village collective would make an exorbitant demand and squeeze him for a huge sum of money.

Anyway, this road can only pass through Hongping Village. If you want to build it in other places, unless you can drill a tunnel, then that's another story. Otherwise, don't even think about passing through Hongping Village unless you give them enough compensation that satisfies the collective.

After Zhang Guoqiang and his group conducted another survey in Hongping Village, the surveyors all nodded in satisfaction and unanimously agreed that the Nanzhao Highway section to be built would pass through Hongping Village. They wrote down their suggestions on the survey report.

It is suggested that the route be taken from Lianzhai to Hongping, then to Mengyu Commune, and then through Zhaoyang County to reach Tuogang. The entire route is 32 kilometers long, with very few sections requiring bridges. The estimated construction cost is only 9.6 million yuan, with an estimated cost of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan per kilometer.

The surveyors' recommendation suggested a terrain with minimal undulations and flat land, minimal demolition along the way, and minimal crossing of rural collective farmland. The cost of 30 yuan, including labor costs, was already very cheap.

These days, most of the highways built in China are made of cement concrete. A large number of migrant workers are recruited to participate in the construction. Because Guangdong Company is a joint venture, it also has to pay the migrant workers' wages and three meals a day. Otherwise, the price would be even lower.

Hua Zhenhong waved goodbye to Zhang Guoqiang and his group at the village entrance, his smile so bright, for their good days in Hongping Village were about to begin!