Right path to power

After a brief silence, Shen Xueying said helplessly:

"Secretary Zhu, as you just mentioned, we are willing to accept and resettle all the miners and have committed to an investment of no less than 200 million yuan. This condition already demonstrates our sincerity, and I believe that other companies would find it difficult to obtain such generous terms. However, the county seems to have other ideas, so there's nothing I can do about it."

Zhu Lishu took a sip of tea and smiled at Lin Xiao, saying, "Comrade Lin Xiao, I think we should listen to President Shen's specific ideas before making a judgment. President Shen's sincerity is indeed very strong, and it's better to resolve the Xinyuan Coal Mine issue sooner rather than later. This way, you can focus more of your energy on more important matters."

Lin Xiao looked directly at Zhu Lishu with a firm expression and said, "Secretary Zhu, the restructuring of Xinyuan Coal Mine involves county-owned state assets and the resettlement of thousands of miners. It is a major issue for the entire county. Since we two have different opinions, I suggest that this matter be submitted to the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee for collective study and discussion, so that all the Standing Committee members can make a decision together."

As soon as she finished speaking, Juliet was suddenly stunned; this was a scene she had never expected.

She wasn't entirely confident about submitting the proposal to the Standing Committee, especially since the decision was made collectively by the county party committee, and ultimately, she, as the county party secretary, would bear the greatest risk.

Furthermore, this is not just a matter of restructuring an ordinary enterprise; it involves the loss of state-owned assets and the resettlement of miners.

She didn't expect Lin Xiao to reveal this card so directly.

Seeing that Zhu Lishu remained silent, Lin Xiao continued, "President Shen, you must know about Wan Yingyong's matter. Originally, Hengtong Road Construction should have had no problem winning the bid, but his ideas deviated from the right direction, and in the end, he lost both money and people."

Regarding the restructuring of Xinyuan Coal Mine, I have always believed that openly soliciting partners is the fairest and most impartial approach. Fuchuan has always welcomed responsible, committed, and capable enterprises to participate in the county's development.

I believe that this approach will allow businesses to benefit from the development boom in Fuchuan and reap substantial profits, while also ensuring the best possible implementation of government policies and plans. Only through mutual benefit and win-win cooperation can this collaboration be sustainable; otherwise, it will be short-lived.

Afterwards, Lin Xiao excused herself, saying she had work to attend to, and got up to leave.

Juliet's face immediately darkened; her earlier displeasure had turned into anger—she was too self-centered and could never get her sense of her place.

It's good that young people are energetic, but impulsiveness is the devil.

"Secretary Zhu, isn't he being far too arrogant? You're the secretary, the top leader of the Party Committee, how dare he act like this?"

Shen Xueying appeared to be standing up for Lin Xiao, but in reality, she knew very well that Lin Xiao had every right to be so confident.

However, she could see to some extent the situation Zhu Lishu was in in Fuchuan—at least she still couldn't completely control the Standing Committee. Otherwise, she wouldn't have remained silent when Lin Xiao raised his opinion at the meeting, since the Standing Committee was led by the top leader.

Therefore, she needed to fan the flames.

"Secretary Zhu, is County Chief Lin deliberately making things difficult for me? Because I approached you first, Secretary Zhu, instead of him, since the county government is in charge of this restructuring."

After calming down, Zhu Lishu also felt quite upset. The disagreement with Lin Xiao was not her intention, and her reasons for speaking up for Shen Xueying were mainly twofold:

First, if the problems at Xinyuan Coal Mine can be resolved, that would be an achievement personally led by her.

Secondly, maintaining a good relationship with Shen Xueying would be beneficial for her future development, because Shen Xueying promised to introduce her to Duan Xinghuo, the executive deputy minister of the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department.

The second point, in particular, was almost irresistible to her.

From secretary of the municipal youth league committee to county head of Fengshan County and then secretary of the county party committee of Fuchuan County, she has experienced three positions at the level of director-general in four years.

For a woman with such a rich resume, further advancement is very promising.

But without someone to help them, who knows how long they'll have to wait.

If one could get to know Duan Xinghuo, it would no longer be just a theoretical possibility for her to be promoted to the deputy director-general level by virtue of her position as the executive deputy director of the provincial party committee's organization department.

Within the system, promotion is the hope of everyone with room for advancement.

Almost no one is an exception to this rule!

Who knew Lin Xiao wouldn't give him any face at all.

Just then, a call came in from Luo Jinlian, the director of the Municipal Finance Bureau. After hesitating for a moment, Zhu Lishu answered the phone.

"Well done, Comrade Lishu, your Fuchuan people are getting more and more capable. They've even learned to appeal to the emperor. I've misjudged them."

On the phone, Luo Jinlian spoke in a sarcastic tone, but it seemed that every word she uttered carried her anger.

Zhu Lishu was completely bewildered: "Director Luo, what happened? Please tell us if there's anything we didn't do well enough."

"It's nothing. I just wanted to let you know that if anything happens in Fuchuan in the future, just go directly to the leaders. I can't control you, but you can avoid them. Also, I'm just giving you a friendly reminder: don't let anyone lead you astray."

Luo Jinlian's words confused Zhu Lishu even more, but she quickly realized that this matter was very likely related to Lin Xiao, but what exactly did this guy do?

"Director Luo, is there some misunderstanding here? Tell me, and I'll think of a solution."

"Forget it, for the sake of our friendship, I advise you to think about your own future."

After saying that, Luo Jinlian hung up the phone.

It turns out that at a special meeting on the work style and efficiency of municipal government departments convened by the municipal party committee the day before yesterday, Zhou Zizheng, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and Secretary-General, presided over the meeting on behalf of the Municipal Party Committee, emphasizing the need to vigorously improve the efficiency of government work and strengthen the supervision of key project funds. When discussing the supervision of project funds, he directly named the Municipal Finance Bureau.

Although Luo Jinlian's name wasn't mentioned, everyone in the audience clearly meant her.

This unnamed public criticism made Luo Jinlian quite angry.

After much thought, she concluded that Lin Xiao was the most likely person to be the one reflecting the problems behind the scenes, which is why Zhou Zizheng was making a fuss about the financial system at the meeting.

Zhou Zizheng was Wang Yuanze's most trusted confidant, while Lin Xiao was Wang Yuanze's most trusted and capable assistant.

Following this line of thought, Luo Jinlian felt her guess was increasingly plausible.

However, she couldn't vent her dissatisfaction on the municipal leaders, so she took out her anger on Zhu Lishu, who had previously asked her for favors.

In addition, she also plans to delay the allocation of river maintenance funds, which were originally scheduled to be disbursed next week, for a while longer. However, she will judge whether it will be delayed again based on the situation.

Her step was like walking a tightrope on a cliff; one wrong move and she would fall into an abyss.

Does she also have a powerful backer behind her?

In fact, flowers in a greenhouse always think they are the most beautiful among all the flowers, but little do they know that without the protection of the greenhouse, they cannot even withstand the gentle sunlight. Meanwhile, those seemingly inconspicuous wildflowers outside the greenhouse will one day become the real protagonists.

After hanging up the phone, Juliet's emotions remained unsettled for a long time.

"Secretary Zhu, do you have any plans for lunch? Shall we have lunch together?" Shen Xueying asked with a smile.

Julie shook her head: "Never mind, I have too much to do today, maybe next time."

"Okay, let's get in touch again."

Shen Xueying got up to say goodbye, and Zhu Lishu saw her off at the elevator.

Back in her office, she stood by the window with a frown, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

A moment later, the voices of Hu Qingqing and Lin Xiao could be heard outside.

"Secretary, County Chief Lin is here." Hu Qingqing knocked on the door and pushed it open.

Zhu Lishu turned around and said calmly, "Is there something you need, County Chief Lin?"

Lin Xiao nodded: "There are two things I'd like to report to the secretary in detail, to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings."

Juliet did not respond and slowly returned to her desk.

Lin Xiao went straight to the chair in front of his desk and sat down. The reason he came back to talk to Zhu Lishu was mainly to have a deeper conversation, to systematically explain his thoughts, and to try to reach a consensus. He did not want to waste his energy on pointless infighting.

"Secretary, there are mainly two things. One is the coordinated development of the mining industry in Fuchuan County. Currently, the Zhongdingyuan project is progressing steadily, and my overall approach revolves around this project..."

Lin Xiao revealed the reason why he didn't want Shen Xueying to participate in the restructuring of Xinyuan Coal Mine: he mainly wanted Zhongdingyuan to do it.

"Secretary Zhu, as a large state-owned mining enterprise, Zhongdingyuan has the technology, capital, and policies to participate in the integration of local coal mines. Xinyuan Coal Mine is not depleted of resources; it is just that the old system and equipment have dragged it down. As long as the reform plan includes the county's efforts to secure policy support for historical debts and employee resettlement, the underground coal reserves can be fully released to generate benefits after the reform."

More importantly, state-owned enterprises have a strict state-owned asset supervision system, which can minimize the risk of opaque resource allocation. In contrast, Fengdu Industry is a private enterprise whose main business is concentrated in real estate projects, and its ability to complete the coal mine integration remains to be seen.

Moreover, profit-seeking is the nature of businessmen. We can hardly guarantee that they will be willing to invest heavily in safety improvements after obtaining mining rights. We are afraid that they will only think about predatory mining and leave behind a mess of safety and people's livelihood.

Of course, Zhongdingyuan isn't a company we absolutely have to work with, which is why I insisted on an open solicitation process, putting all the requirements on the table and selecting the best partner.

In fact, even if Lin Xiao promises to seek policy relief to resolve some of the historical burdens, Zhongdingyuan will not rush to take over regardless of the cost; it will inevitably have to weigh the pros and cons.

However, given the open solicitation, Zhongdingyuan is indeed the most promising potential candidate in terms of overall qualifications.