latelenovela Chapter 540: Road Construction and Repayment
Chapter 540: Road Construction and Repayment
While the two party and government secretaries were worried about Qi Tongwei's secretary, Qi Tongwei was arguing with Tian Fengyi on the phone.
Today was the second communication between the two. The first time was on the day He Anxia returned from the Provincial Party Committee. Qi Tongwei called and as soon as he explained his purpose, Tian Fengyi hung up the phone angrily.
Qi Tongwei was not annoyed, as he had already calculated that the other party would call back.
Tian Fengyi started by questioning, "Mayor Qi, do you keep your word? Secretary He promised me 10 million, and now it's been a week, and our city government still hasn't seen the money in its account."
It was also Tian Fengyi's fault for being impatient. He reported it in the newspapers before the money arrived, and the praise from citizens all over the city was overwhelming. Now everyone in the city thought that the 10 million yuan had arrived, and the workers were waiting to be paid.
As a result, the money from Beishan City was not received for a long time, and Tian Fengyi became anxious. He had to approve 10 million yuan from other places to distribute to the workers.
Qi Tongwei leaned back in his chair comfortably, pretending to be confused. "Comrade Feng Yi, just go find whoever promised you."
"No, Mayor Qi, what do you mean? Defying the debt?"
"What are you refusing to pay? Even if Secretary He promised you, I never promised you. You're the mayor of a city, and you should know that the mayor is the one in charge of the purse strings. Comrade Anxia promised to give you the money without consulting me or getting my consent. This is a mistake of principle. I severely criticized Comrade Anxia yesterday for this, so what you said doesn't count."
Tian Fengyi was stunned. He had seen something. There were actually people who were more shameless than him. How dare they criticize the top leader?
"Mayor Qi, if this were to happen in Beishan City, I would have told my workers the truth. They were just cheering for their wages a few days ago. If they hear this news and become enraged and go to the provincial capital to complain, then you can't blame me."
Qi Tongwei was not afraid at all. "That's your business. I also want to ask Secretary Pei, one dares to block the road to demand payment, and the other dares to talk nonsense. Do our Red Star Party cadres still have the party spirit and principles? Can Beishan City still develop and survive? They dare to rob this special fund. I don't think I can continue to be the mayor of Beishan City, and the development will not be able to continue. I will ask the Provincial Party Committee to invite you, Mayor Tian, to be the mayor of our Beishan City. That way, you can take anything you want, not to mention 10 million, even 100 million, or even 1 billion."
"You..." Tian Fengyi was furious. What kind of words were these?
Tian Fengyi got a general idea of the two people's background from his old leader. He knew that Qi Tongwei and He Anxia were both invited by the provincial party committee. If the two cadres who were invited with great difficulty were really driven away for the sake of 10 million yuan, others would not dare to say anything, but Zhao Anbang would definitely hold him fully responsible.
Tian Fengyi suppressed his anger and said sarcastically, "Mayor Qi, I've finally seen how powerful Handong's cadres are. They can owe money so confidently."
"Comrade Feng Yi, this is not true. First, the debt owed to you is owed by the enterprises under Beishan City, not by our Municipal Party Committee and Government. Second, this hole was not created by our current municipal leadership team. I don't think you can find us no matter what you say.
Of course, our current leadership is willing to shoulder the responsibilities of this historical legacy, but you have to give us time, at least until we can become prosperous. However, I believe that if you don't repair the road, our Beishan City will never become prosperous."
Tian Fengyi was so angry that he almost smashed the phone. He only asked for 10 million yuan, but they actually asked him to repair the national highway, which was more than 100 kilometers long. What a joke! It couldn't be done without tens of millions of yuan?
Of course, it’s not that Wenshan City can’t afford to repair it, nor that it doesn’t want to repair it, but at least it doesn’t need others to threaten it to repair it.
"Mayor Qi, this is the work of our Wenshan City. We will decide when and how to repair it. It cannot be a reason for you to delay paying us the money." Tian Fengyi wanted to bring the subject back.
Qi Tongwei refused to give in and continued, "Comrade Feng Yi, the section of road that your city is responsible for has become an important accomplice in hindering the development of our Beishan and Tianzhou.
If the roads are not good, how can we develop? If we can't develop, how can we have the money to pay you back? Don't you think this is the truth?"
What a fart!
Tian Fengyi really wanted to ask Qi Tongwei, is he the mayor of Beishan City or the governor of Hanjiang Province?
Isn't this bullying?
Tian Fengyi said firmly: "Comrade Tongwei, I still say the same thing, we will build the road, but we don't have the money now. We can't compare with the economically developed cities like Ningchuan, so we have to spend every penny carefully.
Also, you said it's hindering the development of your Beishan City. Don't you have railways and highways? Why do you have to use the national highway? And your trucks are hauling steel. Even if I repair them, they will break down after a few trips. How can I repair them?"
Qi Tongwei said, "Yes, we have railways and highways, but the destinations and demand in these places are no longer sufficient to support our center of gravity. Now that the market economy has taken root in the south, we have decided to develop towards the provincial capital and the six southern cities in the next two years, maintaining close communication. We will also develop further, towards Handong and southern Guangdong. This national highway is our first step towards the south."
Qi Tongwei's words were not nonsense. As an important industrial base in the north, Beishan City has always focused on developing the northeast and northwest, so most of the railway lines lead to these two directions, and of course there are also some to the south.
However, due to the long distance and high transportation costs, as well as the southern provinces' own layout of the steel industry and the industrial transformation in recent years, it gradually became a decoration.
If we want to restart this railway, the cost of repair and maintenance will be very high. It would be better to force Wenshan City to improve the national highway to meet current needs.
However, Tian Fengyi felt that Qi Tongwei was deliberately bullying people. These were all empty words and clichés. The national highway was the only way to go, but it was also not irreplaceable. The other party was using their Wenshan City's money to benefit himself.
Tian Fengyi was furious. "Mayor Qi, fine, fine, you're a reform leader from Handong. You're my guest. I won't argue with you. I'll give in. But if you want us to build the road in Wenshan City, you have to pay back the 200 million first. As soon as the money arrives, I'll immediately organize a construction team."
Qi Tongwei smiled and said, "Mayor Tian, let alone 200 million, we can pay you back even 630 million, and we won't owe you a cent. But Secretary He has already reached a consensus with you on this issue. I don't know why you are bringing it up again."
Tian Fengyi laughed. Now what did He Anxia say matter again? It seemed that the words of your municipal party secretary were only useful if they benefited the city, and were bullshit if they did not?
However, he no longer had time to think about these things at the moment. His mind was entirely focused on the amount. The amount was wrong, it was far off.