92: Chapter 92 Zhao Shaojun's First Stop on His Investigation

The new County Party Secretary was beaten before he even took office, causing a huge stir.

Needless to say, the few Chengguan officers who did the beating, including the Chengguan Captain, were all quickly arrested.

The Chengguan Captain's brother-in-law, the Director of the Urban Management Bureau of Sanjiang County, was quickly investigated, suspected of serious corruption, and placed under Shuanggui by the Discipline Inspection Commission.

The new County Party Secretary was originally scheduled to officially take office next Monday, February 28th. However, because Secretary Zhao Shaojun's face was bruised and it affected his image, it was postponed to March 7th, a full week later than the original date.

Since the new County Party Secretary took office, because he revealed a powerful background, many people wanted to curry favor with him. The County Party Secretary's office was always bustling, with many cadres taking the initiative to report their work.

As a Township Party Committee Secretary, it didn't seem right not to show his face to the new County Party Secretary, but he didn't want to join the hustle and bustle, so Qin Chuan waited several days before going.

Seeing Qin Chuan knock and enter, Secretary Zhao Shaojun was slightly taken aback, then slightly assumed the airs of a County Party Secretary, "Comrade Qin Chuan, you've come."

As for the fact that Qin Chuan had helped him greatly before—essentially saving him, as he otherwise would have been beaten half to death by Ma Xiaofeng and his group—it seemed as if this matter had never happened.

When the two met again, Secretary Zhao Shaojun showed no sign of gratitude. In his heart, there was only the relationship between a superior and a subordinate; he was the County Party Secretary, and Qin Chuan was the Township Party Committee Secretary.

Qin Chuan did not need his gratitude either, but said, "Secretary Zhao, I have some work-related matters that I need to report to you."

Secretary Zhao Shaojun nodded and sat there listening to Qin Chuan's report.

After listening, Secretary Zhao Shaojun specifically asked about many details regarding the Jiucailing Coal Mine, appearing to show great interest in this coal mine.

For example, what the current scale of the coal mine was, how many workers there were, what the monthly extraction volume was, what the monthly revenue was, and so on.

This made Qin Chuan slightly surprised.

As a new County Party Secretary, fresh on the job, shouldn't he be trying to win people over, unite a group, and form his own circle?

Instead, he kept asking about the Jiucailing Coal Mine rather than trying to win him over.

As the top leader of Dahe Township, Qin Chuan believed he was fully qualified to be courted by Secretary Zhao Shaojun, but the man hadn't done so.

Perhaps, in Secretary Zhao Shaojun's view, since his background was so powerful and many people were taking the initiative to pledge loyalty and curry favor, there was no need to take the initiative to court anyone.

Or, perhaps he was waiting for Qin Chuan to take the initiative to declare a side, rather than him doing the courting.

Although it was slightly strange that Secretary Zhao Shaojun had not actively courted him, he would not cheaply take the initiative to align himself with Secretary Zhao Shaojun.

Qin Chuan's consistent position was: do not take sides, do not participate in the power struggles within the county, do his own work well, and just develop Dahe Township well.

After reporting on his work, Qin Chuan left.

Secretary Zhao Shaojun made no move to stand up and see him off; he sat upright in the County Party Secretary's executive chair. After Qin Chuan left, a playful expression appeared on his face.

Interesting! Very interesting!

To think he didn't take the initiative to align with me; could it be that he wants to align with County Magistrate Zhang Yuansong and become one of County Magistrate Zhang Yuansong's people?

Struggles and power contests between the number one and number two leaders are not uncommon.

Although Secretary Zhao Shaojun had not been County Party Secretary for long, his rivalry with County Magistrate Zhang Yuansong had already begun.

Relying on his powerful background and connections above, many mid-level cadres in Sanjiang County took the initiative to align with him, while County Magistrate Zhang Yuansong had already been working in Sanjiang County for some time, with several allies by his side and a group of his own people below.

The struggle between the two was surprisingly evenly matched; it did not lean heavily to one side just because Secretary Zhao Shaojun was the County Party Secretary and County Magistrate Zhang Yuansong was only the second-in-command.

Qin Chuan was not interested in the struggles within the county and did not want to participate.

Although he had heard some things about this, he would just smile each time and keep aloof when it didn't concern him.

He focused his main energy on the development and construction of Dahe Township.

With money in the coffers, Dahe Township had been investing heavily in infrastructure, and some livelihood projects had also begun.

For example, the construction of some roads, the expansion of the township health center, and the implementation of free medical care for all residents of the township, free education, and free lunches in all schools, etc.

These past few days, Qin Chuan had also been thinking that within Dahe Township, he should consider selecting a site to build a large Thermal Power Plant.

Should this power plant be solely funded by Dahe Township, or should they bring in outside enterprises to invest?

In the end, he basically rejected the plan for Dahe Township to fund it solely; bringing in power enterprises with advanced management experience and advanced technology to invest was far better than funding it himself.

Although Dahe Township had some money, investing billions or even tens of billions to build a large power plant still posed a financial burden.

Attracting power enterprises would not only bring advanced technology and management experience, but there would also be no need to worry about the management and operations after the power plant was completed. Furthermore, it would save a large amount of funds, as the construction costs could be entirely borne by these power enterprises.

After these few days of thinking, some plans became increasingly clear in Qin Chuan's mind. He had even contacted the largest and most powerful energy group in the country through the resources and channels of the Qin Family.

What Qin Chuan did not expect was that Secretary Zhao Shaojun would take the initiative to come to Dahe Township.

When he received the notice, Qin Chuan was slightly surprised.

If he remembered correctly, this was the first time Secretary Zhao Shaojun had gone down to a township for investigation and inspection since taking office as County Party Secretary.

He had designated Dahe Township as the first township for investigation and inspection.

Director Hu Qibin came to report, "Secretary, we have received a notice from the County Party Committee Office. Secretary Zhao and his entourage have already set off and will arrive in our Dahe Township in about twenty minutes."

After the road from Dahe Township to the county seat was repaired, transportation became convenient. Previously, it took a full forty to fifty minutes to drive, but now, twenty-something minutes were sufficient.

Qin Chuan waved his hand and said, "Notify all Party Committee members to gather at the main entrance of the Township Government in ten minutes to welcome Secretary Zhao."

After all, he was the County Party Secretary, so he had to be mindful of etiquette and avoid giving people any reason to criticize.

Thus, ten minutes later, such a scene appeared: Qin Chuan led the way, with a total of eight Party Committee members, including Ma Zhengnan, standing behind him to welcome them at the main entrance.

After waiting for a few minutes, the motorcade arrived.

Seeing this motorcade, Qin Chuan was slightly stunned.

There are so many cars!

This display was unusually grand. Those who didn't know might have thought the Provincial Party Secretary had arrived; the long motorcade was almost endless at a glance.

Not only were there cars from the County Party Committee, but also many leaders from various bureaus and offices, and even the county television station, county newspaper office, and other units.

At the very front was a police car.

It was wailing with its siren.

A police car clearing the way—so impressive!

There were simply too many cars; the courtyard of the Township Government could not accommodate them at all. More than half of the cars had to be parked outside the gate of the Township Government or in the square opposite.

Many ordinary people were watching.

"I've lived my whole life and this is the first time I've seen so many cars. Which big leader has come here!"

"Did you see that? A police car clearing the way, and two police cars following at the very back of the motorcade. I guess a Provincial leader must have arrived!"

"What Provincial leader? I checked, and they are all our county's license plates. It must be some leaders from the county!"

"..."