Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

At 9 a.m., Li Dakang strode into his office at the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee building.

Secretary Xiao Jin had been standing at the door for an hour, and hurriedly followed Li Dakang when she saw him.

"Secretary Dakang, here's the latest situation at Dafeng Factory—"

Xiao Jin placed a well-organized briefing on the table and took a half step back.

"The provincial military command has already erected barbed wire and set up machine gun positions around Dafeng Factory. The entire area within one kilometer is a military warning zone."

"Director Zhao of the Municipal Bureau led a group to negotiate, but to no avail."

"More than 200 members of the demolition team were taken away by military vehicles, and their whereabouts are unknown. They are probably in a military detention center."

"Chang Chenghu from the demolition team, three bulldozers, and five excavators—all gone."

Li Dakang flipped through two pages of the briefing and slammed it on the table.

"boom--"

The teacup bounced, and the lid slid off the edge of the table and fell onto the carpet.

"What exactly is Shen Zhong trying to do?!"

Xiao Jin bent down to pick up the cup lid, not daring to say anything.

"I gave him everything he wanted! Now he's coming to mess with the Bright Peak land deal. What did the Bright Peak project do to offend him?"

Half a minute later, the fire subsided a bit, and Li Dakang stood up from his chair and walked to the window.

"Where is Ding Yizhen? Such a huge incident happened and he hasn't even come to report it. He's the commander-in-chief of Bright Peak!"

"This is lazy governance! This is dereliction of duty!"

"Have the Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department keep a close eye on the online activity. The Dafeng Factory incident must not be allowed to escalate any further. All posts related to the military's presence must be dealt with immediately."

"Yes."

"Also, notify Director Zhou of the Municipal Development and Reform Commission and Old Chen of the Construction Bureau to come to my conference room at nine o'clock. The second phase of Guangming Peak cannot be delayed any longer."

After Xiao Jin finished writing, he turned and left.

Nine o'clock sharp, in the conference room.

Director Zhou from the National Development and Reform Commission and Deputy Director Chen from the Construction Bureau entered one after the other, both looking tired and like they hadn't slept enough.

Li Dakang sat in the main seat, with the master plan of the second phase of Guangming Peak in front of him. He had drawn a big cross on the land of Dafeng Factory with a red pen.

"The core plot of Guangmingfeng Phase II has been taken over by the military, so don't even think about touching it in the short term."

One sentence silenced the two of them.

"But the project can't stop. The investors need to see the progress report next month, and the provincial quarterly assessment is coming up soon. I don't care what methods you use, you have to get Phase II moving."

Old Chen from the Construction Bureau flipped through the blueprints in his hand and, steeling himself, began to speak.

"Secretary Dakang, we've come up with an alternative plan: shift the planned route 800 meters east, bypassing the Dafeng Factory site, and connecting from the Binhe Road side—"

"What about the cost?"

"Preliminary estimates indicate an additional investment of 17 billion."

Li Dakang slammed the red pen onto the table.

"17 billion? Where am I supposed to conjure that up from? You all know how badly Jingzhou's finances are strained. The infrastructure hole in Hexi District hasn't even been filled yet. If you add another 17 billion, how am I supposed to explain it to the province?"

"veto."

Old Chen put the blueprints away and shrank back into his chair.

"Three days. Each department will come up with a feasible plan to resume work, with costs kept within 10% of the original budget."

Li Dakang stood up and placed his hands on the conference table.

"If you can't produce it, submit your resignation letter yourself."

Director Zhou and Old Chen exchanged a glance, nodded, and left.

After the meeting room door closed, Li Dakang sat back down alone.

On the table was the new quarterly economic performance assessment document issued yesterday by the provincial party committee, with a red header and the official seal of the provincial party committee office.

Looking at each line, GDP growth, fixed asset investment, investment attracted, and fiscal revenue growth—each indicator has increased by two to three percentage points compared to the previous quarter.

He tapped his fingers a few times on the edge of the document.

Zhao Lichun was humiliated at the Standing Committee meeting, so he turned around and made a fuss about the performance indicators. This tactic is not new, but it works.

Guangming Peak has been shut down, and the land for Dafeng Factory cannot be recovered. Jingzhou cannot meet these targets, and its year-end performance ranking will drop. Li Dakang will be the first to be held accountable.

"Little Jin!"

The secretary poked half her head in from outside.

"Retrieve all the detailed fiscal expenditures of Jingzhou over the past five years, categorize them by year and by project, and make one electronic version and one paper version."

"If the province is going to conduct a financial audit, I need to be prepared in advance."

Little King Kong turned to leave, but the door was pushed open again.

The duty officer from the Municipal Party Committee Office jogged in, bent down, and whispered in Li Dakang's ear.

"Secretary, the security guards at the gate reported that several cars drove around outside the municipal party committee compound several times this morning without regular license plates, which seemed suspicious."

Li Dakang leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers twice on the armrest.

They mistakenly believed that the spy was sent by Zhao Lichun to monitor their political activities.

That old fox, on the surface, uses performance indicators to exert pressure, but secretly he also tries to monitor people.

However, we can't afford to worry about these little tricks right now.

"Instruct Zhao Donglai to strengthen security at the municipal party committee compound. All outside vehicles must be registered and inspected, and unauthorized personnel are not allowed to approach."

The duty officer left.

For the rest of the morning, Li Dakang's desk was piled high with documents, and the phone rang no less than a dozen times.

The most troublesome calls were from several investors, each asking the same question – when will Guangming Peak resume construction?

He comforted them one by one, promised them a bright future, and talked until his mouth was dry, then drank two cups of ice-cold tea.

After hanging up the last phone call, he pulled out a stack of letter paper from the drawer, unscrewed the pen cap, and began writing himself.

Special Report on Industrial Upgrading and Cultivation of New Economic Growth Poles in Jingzhou City.

This report is not a document for the provincial party committee; it is a weapon.

At the next Standing Committee meeting, if Zhao Lichun tries to use economic indicators to hinder his efforts, he will use this report to fight back—Jingzhou is not without growth potential, but the province's resource allocation is problematic.

I had written more than half a page when my phone rang. It was my cousin, Xingzhi.

"Brother, are you coming home for dinner tonight? I made some pork rib soup."

"We'll see. I'm busy today. Is Ouyang Jing going back?"

"My sister-in-law said she's not coming back; it seems she's working overtime again."

Li Dakang's pen stopped on the paper, and he paused for two seconds.

"He's never home, I don't know what he's busy with, does he even care about this family anymore?"

After muttering that, he hung up the phone and continued writing his report.

The sunlight outside the window had shifted to the west side of the office, casting a long strip of light.

When Xiao Jin came in for the fourth time, Li Dakang was reviewing an investment promotion plan for the Chengbei New Area.

"Is there anything else?"

"Secretary, your schedule is booked until 8 PM today, and that's it."

He screwed the pen cap back on and tucked it back into his breast pocket.

"Please contact the military region for me. I'd like to meet with Secretary Shen to discuss the demolition of Dafeng Factory."

Xiao Jin was stunned for a moment.

"Just say that I, Li Dakang, took the initiative to make the appointment, and I'll cooperate whenever it's convenient for him."