“District Chief, something terrible has happened!”
Early in the morning, Cui Hao barged into Sun Liancheng’s office with an exaggerated sense of urgency, making the District Chief frown.
“Why are you making a fuss about everything? What’s going on now?”
“Oh dear, District Chief, this time it’s serious! You don’t know yet, do you? Yesterday, Secretary Ding summoned the heads of Finance, Public Security, Taxation, Labor Welfare, Resources, Construction, and other departments to discuss and decide on the cost sharing of various departments!”
“Oh, that’s what you’re talking about!”
“Exactly! District Chief, you were not here. He almost emptied the district government’s treasury! Can you believe it? How can he run things like that?”
Sun Liancheng said casually, “Don’t worry about it. You’re overreacting. Secretary Ding is following orders from Secretary Li of the Municipal Party Committee. He needs to come up with more than fifteen million yuan…”
“Fifteen million yuan? That’s not right. I heard it was more than twenty-five million yuan?”
“What? How did it become ten million more?”
Sun Liancheng was surprised, but upon reflection, he had a good idea where that extra ten million came from.
“District Chief, you really don’t know about this, do you?”
“Of course I know! It’s just that the ten million was supposed to be allocated somewhere else. Unexpectedly, we, Guangming District, are responsible for it in the end.”
“District Chief…”
“Alright, alright, if it’s about this, then don’t meddle. Just do your job. Get out!”
Cui Hao left, dejected.
But it wasn’t long before some department heads came to see Sun Liancheng.
They had also attended the meeting yesterday. Everyone was unhappy with Ding Yizhen’s approach.
But they didn’t dare confront Ding Yizhen, so they turned to Sun Liancheng.
After all, everyone in Guangming District knew that Sun Liancheng, the District Chief, wasn’t afraid of anything.
The last time Sun Liancheng and Ding Yizhen had a heated argument was over the renovation plan for the Complaints Office. Back then, Sun Liancheng had contradicted Ding Yizhen, almost putting him in a difficult position.
This time, everyone hoped that Sun Liancheng would step up, at least to help them keep more of their funds.
But how could Sun Liancheng possibly fall for that?
The Complaints Office matter was because Sun Liancheng couldn’t bear to see it happen, and it fell within his own division of labor. If anything went wrong, he would be the one to suffer the consequences.
But this time, it was Li Dakang’s order. He wouldn’t dare to go against it. It was a good thing that Ding Yizhen was taking the blame for it.
Therefore, he first explained the situation to them, making them understand that it was an order from Li Dakang, the Municipal Party Committee Secretary.
Then he patiently persuaded them to put the bigger picture first and not dwell on their temporary losses.
After all, everyone could still afford their basic salaries and wouldn’t starve.
He said that these funds were for the better promotion of the Guangming Peak project, for a brighter future for Guangming District, and that they should have a spirit of sacrifice…
Well, after putting on all these hats, everyone could only shake their heads and sigh as they left.
Ding Yizhen’s work efficiency was indeed not a facade.
After receiving Li Dakang’s orders, it had only been a few days, and he had already extracted more than twenty-five million yuan from Guangming District.
That’s right. It was originally supposed to be fifteen million yuan, but Zhao Donglai went to complain about his grievances, and their stability maintenance fund was exempted.
But the money had to be collected. It wasn’t possible to simply save it.
So, the shortage had to be covered by Ding Yizhen!
Ding Yizhen had scraped more than eighteen million yuan from Guangming District. Then, he went through another round of extortion from other businessmen, finally gathering enough money.
The money from the Municipal Finance Bureau was already ready. They didn’t have much pressure, just a token show of complaining about poverty.
But Guangming District was truly impoverished!
Guangming District was a district under the jurisdiction of the city, lacking independence. Its finances were still controlled by the city.
So, although Guangming District was the most economically developed district in Jingzhou City, with very impressive fiscal revenue, it actually didn’t have much flexible cash on hand.
Every year, they had to make budgets for all aspects, and then the city would return a certain proportion of the fiscal revenue.
Normally, it was sufficient for use. But now was not a normal time!
Firstly, the Guangming Peak project, which was launched in the past two years, involved old city renovation and relocation of old industrial areas, along with various expansions and renovations, all of which combined to form the entire Guangming Peak project.
During this period, there were many things that Guangming District needed to handle, and there was no shortage of expenses.
Ding Yizhen and Li Dakang were somewhat alike. They spent money lavishly, as if it were nothing.
If it weren’t for Sun Liancheng’s help behind the scenes, Ding Yizhen would have had a hard time scraping more than ten million yuan from various units in Guangming District.
But with them doing this, all the units in Guangming District that still had some cash on hand had become “impoverished” again.
Not only did they have no cash on hand, but they also had to cut back on some bonus and welfare project funds.
Everyone was going to have to endure a period of hardship!
Sun Liancheng, with his wealth and influence, didn’t need that money.
But others would have to suffer!
In this process, Ding Yizhen successfully attracted a lot of hatred, while Sun Liancheng gained a reputation for putting the bigger picture first.
So, it was indeed unpredictable how things would turn out.
However, Ding Yizhen wasn’t a pushover. He was currently pledging his loyalty to Li Dakang!
“Secretary Li, the money has been collected, more than twenty-five million yuan!”
Li Dakang smiled contentedly, “Comrade Yizhen, you’ve done well!”
“Hehe, Secretary Li, you’re flattering me. This is our job after all.”
“Yes, it’s good that you have this awareness. The Finance Department has also prepared the money. You go and coordinate with them. Within two days, the money must be disbursed, and the Guangming Peak project must continue to move forward!”
“Okay, Secretary Li, I will definitely take care of this.”
Li Dakang said impatiently, “Don’t cause me any more trouble this time! If the Guangming Peak project is stalled again for any reason, I will hold you personally responsible!”
Ding Yizhen patted his chest and said, “Secretary Li, I can make a solemn promise, there will definitely not be any more problems.”
“Good. Then the Municipal Party Committee and I can rest assured!”
Ding Yizhen then pretended to be hesitant, successfully attracting Li Dakang’s attention.
“Comrade Yizhen, is there anything else?”
“Uh, Secretary Li, there’s something that seems a bit suspicious, but I’m not sure whether I should report it to you.”
Li Dakang said with displeasure, “If you have something to say, just say it. What’s there to hide?”
Ding Yizhen gritted his teeth and said decisively, “Secretary Li, I recently received a complaint about District Chief Sun Liancheng. It alleges that he has some cases of illegal dereliction of duty and abuse of power…”