Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 91 The Municipal Party Secretary's Think Tank

Zhang Wanlin died, Tao Sizhong also died, and after Xu Youwei took control of the Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee, he timely shifted the focus of his work to economic development.

After Geng Dongqing was transferred to the position of Executive Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Municipal Party Committee, he was succeeded by Zhou Wei, the former Deputy Director of the Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

Zhou Wei was Wu Zhiyuan's former superior. Wu Zhiyuan deserves much credit for his promotion to such an important position as the director of the municipal party committee office.

Xu Youwei called Zhou Wei and Wu Zhiyuan to his office.

He got straight to the point: "Comrade Zhou Wei, Zhiyuan, I've invited you here today to hear your thoughts on the economic development of Longcheng. Please don't be shy, speak freely."

Zhou Wei and Wu Zhiyuan were both members of Xu Youwei's think tank.

For Zhou Wei, this conversation was also a test of his abilities.

"Secretary Xu, I believe the key to Longcheng's economic development lies in accurately positioning itself and leveraging its strengths while avoiding its weaknesses. I suggest focusing on the following aspects:"

First, we must deeply integrate into the regional development strategy. Longcheng District has obvious locational advantages, being close to the provincial capital. We must keep a close eye on the provincial capital economic circle and seize the initiative in transportation connectivity and industrial synergy.

Second, we must strengthen our distinctive industrial clusters. We have a foundation in traditional equipment manufacturing, building materials, and chemicals, but we cannot rely on our past achievements forever.

While promoting industrial upgrading, we should also explore new growth points. For example, Longcheng has abundant ecotourism resources, so could we vigorously develop the cultural tourism and health industry?

Our city is a major agricultural city. Could we focus on the deep processing and branding of agricultural products...?

Zhou Wei spoke attentively about six points, and Xu Youwei listened carefully, taking notes and nodding frequently. "Comrade Zhou Wei's thinking is very insightful. Zhiyuan, what are your thoughts?"

Xu Youwei's gaze fell on Wu Zhiyuan.

Zhou Wei talked about the "practical" aspects, while Wu Zhiyuan took a different approach, focusing more on the "ideal" aspects.

"My idea is to launch a large-scale, in-depth discussion on 'What do you think about the great development of Longcheng' throughout the city."

The extensive discussion focused on key issues such as Longcheng's future development positioning, industrial direction, business environment, urban construction, and shortcomings in people's livelihood, encouraging open discussion and insightful suggestions.

Seeing the expectant looks in Xu Youwei and Zhou Wei's eyes, Wu Zhiyuan continued, "The purpose of this major discussion is not to engage in formalism, but to solve some practical problems."

We need to discuss and figure out where Longcheng's strengths and weaknesses lie.

Which projects truly meet the requirements of high-quality development and can bring long-term benefits?

Which practices are formalistic and wasteful of resources?

What are the remaining bottlenecks and pain points in the business environment?

How can public funds be used effectively?

This extensive discussion will ultimately produce a batch of high-quality research reports and policy recommendations, which will be compiled into a book and serve as an important reference for the municipal party committee and government's decision-making.

For "golden ideas" of great value, they can be recognized and rewarded, and relevant functional departments can be encouraged to study and adopt them.

We must ensure that this major discussion truly becomes a new starting point for Longcheng to liberate its thinking, build consensus, and jointly plan for development.

After listening, Xu Youwei nodded approvingly: "Zhiyuan's suggestion is excellent. The development of Longcheng requires not only practical and concrete planning, but also ideological mobilization and breakthroughs."

This extensive discussion not only allows us to pool our wisdom and identify problems, but more importantly, it helps to unify our thinking and build consensus, its significance potentially extending far beyond the discussion itself.

After a moment's thought, Xu Youwei added, "I think this matter can be jointly led by the Municipal Party Committee Office and the Publicity Department to establish a special working group."

You can work with the Municipal Party Committee's Publicity Department to come up with an implementation plan, which will then be submitted to the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee for review.

I must emphasize that the implementation plan must adhere to a problem-oriented and goal-oriented approach, and resolutely oppose formalism. The results of the discussions must be genuinely translated into concrete measures to drive the work forward.

Zhou Wei arrived again less than half an hour after leaving Xu Youwei's office.

He reported the situation to Xu Youwei: "Secretary Xu, we just received a report from the Municipal Letters and Visits Bureau that over a hundred people have come to the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government compound to petition. The head of the Bureau is currently receiving the petitioners..."

Zhou Wei also explained the ins and outs of the matter.

There is a very famous boss in Longdong District named Peng Dafu.

Peng Dafu made his fortune in the aquatic products business. He contracted many water areas and earned a lot of money.

Later, he also worked on agricultural engineering projects, such as water conservancy construction and high-standard farmland renovation.

He also started an agricultural cooperative called Yinong Cooperative.

This cooperative was initially established by Peng Dafu to facilitate the cash flow of his agricultural projects. It mainly absorbed small deposits from farmers in the village and surrounding towns, with interest rates slightly higher than banks. The funds were used for his aquaculture and agricultural engineering investments, and its operation was relatively standardized.

But Peng Dafu's ambitions went far beyond that. Seeing the exorbitant profits in real estate and private lending, he began to have wicked thoughts.

Under Peng Dafu's control, the nature of the Yinnong Cooperative began to change.

No longer content with a corner of the countryside, he extended his reach to the urban area of ​​Longcheng.

In just one or two years, numerous stores bearing the eye-catching signs of the Yinnong Cooperative have sprung up like mushrooms after rain in the bustling urban areas.

These stores are decorated in a grand style, with marble walls, polished floors, enclosed business counters, and even financial managers dressed in uniforms similar to those of banks. From the outside, they are almost indistinguishable from regular bank branches.

They openly solicited funds from the general public by offering expected returns several times higher than those of bank time deposits.

Customer managers in uniforms took to the streets to distribute flyers to middle-aged and elderly people, hold customer appreciation events, and give away eggs and cooking oil, using all sorts of marketing methods.

In Longdong District, Peng Dafu is well-known for its high interest rates and the fact that it has indeed made all its previous payments. With flexible deposit options, many middle-aged and elderly customers have deposited their money with the Yinnong Cooperative.

Even some wage earners deposit their money in the Yi Nong Cooperative, with some even investing their life savings.

Peng Dafu used these huge sums of money to aggressively enter the real estate development industry, acquiring land and developing projects.

On the other hand, they established underground banks to lend money at higher interest rates and earn interest spreads.

Of course, a considerable portion of the funds was used for his personal luxury consumption, including luxury cars, mansions, and extravagant spending.

However, his good fortune didn't last long. His usurious loans suffered a series of collapses, with many major borrowers unable to repay their huge principal and interest payments due to either poor management or reckless expansion that led to broken cash flow.

The domino effect was immediate; the cooperative's cash pool quickly dried up, making it unable to pay the interest due, let alone repay the principal.

And just like that, Xingnong Cooperative went bankrupt. Peng Dafu disappeared without a trace.

Xu Youwei wanted to meet with the petitioners, and Zhou Wei and Wu Zhiyuan accompanied him.

Wu Zhiyuan whispered to Xu Youwei, "Secretary Xu, as far as I know, Peng Dafu has a close relationship with Vice Mayor Sang Jiaquan."

Before becoming vice mayor, Mayor Sang worked in Longdong District for a long time, serving successively as district head and district party secretary.

Mayor Sang's son, Sang Chenglong, also holds a certain number of shares in the Yinnong Cooperative.