Chapter 41 I'll give it a try

  The mayor's office is very large, with three rooms inside and out. The outermost room is the office of Secretary Zhuang, about 7 or 8 square meters in size, with a desk, a water dispenser, and a refrigerator. Inside is an office of about 30 square meters, with a mahogany desk and a sofa tea area. At this time, Secretary Zhang was sitting on the sofa, looking very respectful. There is also another room inside, estimated to be the leader's rest room, maybe with a bathroom attached.

  "Good morning, Mayor Chen!" Liu Siyuan hurriedly greeted as soon as he entered the office, then turned around and said: "Good morning, Secretary General!"

  Chen Guo, in his forties, looked clean and neat, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, with the typical scholarly and arrogant air of a Beijing official. He didn't have any airs about him, and warmly patted Liu Siyuan's shoulder, saying: "Little Liu has just returned from the Environmental Protection Bureau, right? You must be tired, sit down, Xiao Zhuang, pour Little Liu a cup of tea."

  Liu Siyuan hastily said, "I'll do it myself, I don't dare to trouble Director Zhuang." After finishing, he quickly poured himself a cup of water and took the opportunity to refill the teacups of Mayor Chen and Secretary-General Zhang with hot water.

  Zhuang Zhenyi glanced at him and showed a few points of appreciation.

  Chen Guo smiled and watched him pour tea, seeing that he was done, pointed to the sofa, Liu Siyuan tactfully sat down at the lowest position, but his buttocks only touched half of it, showing respect.

  "Lao Zhang, this young fellow is quite good!" Chen Guo said with a smile, turning his head to speak to Zhang Zhengtu on the side.

  Seeing him behave properly, grasping the measure very well, and being praised by Mayor Chen, Zhang Zhengdong also felt proud, saying: "Our little Liu is indeed a good seedling. Now we are also key to cultivating, hoping that in the future he can become a backbone of Hanjiang City."

  Chen Guo nodded and then cut to the chase, his expression turning serious. "So, about that pollution factory incident, what's the current situation?"

  Liu Siyuan hastily began to report from the beginning, as he had participated in the entire event and was naturally very clear about the situation. In addition, he had also made a draft on his way here, so his report was extremely logical and coherent. The two leaders nodded frequently until he mentioned that the negotiations were blocked, at which point Mayor Chen furrowed his brow.

  "What's your view?" he asked Liu Siyuan proactively.

  Liu Siyuan straightened his posture and said seriously: "Mayor Chen, Secretary General, I think Xinyuan Chemical Plant is really unreasonable. They ignore the environmental pollution in our Hanjiang City, ignore the health of our ordinary people, and ignore the requirements of the municipal government. They only talk about difficulties and do not mention solutions. Wastewater treatment is a social responsibility of the factory itself. If all costs are borne by the municipal government, what kind of logic is that? Moreover, it will set a bad example for other polluting factories! In the future, if all polluting factories ask our municipal government to pay, we'll be in trouble. Of course, considering Xinyuan Chemical Plant has solved tens of thousands of employment positions after all, I personally suggest setting up a working group and letting comrades from departments such as Labor Security Bureau participate."

  "Oh? Labour Bureau? Are you really planning to shut down the factory?" Zhang Zhengtu couldn't help but say.

  "Secretary General, I didn't say that the factory must be closed, but I suggest we should prepare for the worst-case scenario, which is the breakdown of negotiations. If Xinyuan Chemical Factory insists on ignoring our city government's rectification requirements, then those that need to be closed must be closed! If we don't take drastic measures, how can our city government and environmental protection bureau carry out their work in the future? Of course, this is just my personal suggestion for the leaders' reference."

  Chen Guo fell silent for a long time before speaking up: "Have you considered the consequences of closing down the factory?"

  Liu Siyuan was a bit flustered by his gaze, but still gritted his teeth and said: "If it's really closed, I think it might not be a bad thing."

  The two leaders were taken aback by his words, thinking to themselves that this young man was indeed quite bold. Liu Siyuan steeled himself and continued: "Isn't the central government currently advocating for the elimination of backward production capacity? I've investigated and found that Xinyuan Chemical Factory's energy consumption per unit is extremely high, mainly due to outdated equipment, backward technology, and bloated personnel, resulting in a GDP energy consumption three times higher than the national standard. Here are some materials for your reference, leaders. A factory with such low efficiency is not encouraged by the central government."

  As he looked at the materials, Chen Guo's face gradually revealed a satisfied expression. He picked up the phone and called Zhuang Zhen into the room.

  "Please ask Mayor Guo to come over." He said hesitantly.

  In just a few minutes, Vice Mayor Guo Hong walked in with a smile on his face. His responsibilities include industry and economics, so it's clear that Chen Guo has started taking Liu Siyuan's suggestion seriously by calling him over.

  After roughly understanding the situation, Guo Hong said with a difficult expression: "Mayor Chen, although Xinyuan Chemical Plant is now a private enterprise, it has been in operation for over 20 years on the Han River and has always been a major taxpayer. If we shut it down, I'm afraid other entrepreneurs will be discouraged. In my opinion, this matter should focus on rectification. If Xinyuan really has financial problems, I think our municipal government can appropriately provide some support."

  Chen Guo looked at him and didn't respond, instead shifting his gaze to Liu Siyuan. The latter guessed that Chen Lao Da wanted him to debate with Gu Hong, as the highest leader here, he didn't want to express his opinion easily, but rather make the final judgment.

  But the problem is that Guo Hongren's family is a deputy mayor of the municipal government, a high-ranking official at the level of a department head, how can Liu Siyuan, a small deputy section chief, challenge him? The difference in rank is tens of thousands of miles apart.

  It was just Chen Guo staring at him from behind, poor Liu Siyuan had to get up, he wiped his sweat and said carefully: "Mayor Guo has a broad vision, considering the problem is more comprehensive than me. However, I do have some different ideas, if our municipal government allows Xinyuan Chemical Plant to ignore environmental protection, won't it also disappoint those enterprises that actively respond to the national call for environmental protection?"

  Guo Hong said discontentedly: "Little Liu, I didn't say no to rectification, but we can't just put the factory on the agenda for every little thing. Solving problems requires a way and method, we can't just do things recklessly."

  Liu Siyuan was about to respond when Zhang Zhenggang couldn't take it anymore. As the Secretary General, he wasn't afraid of a deputy mayor who wasn't even a member of the Standing Committee. He raised his head and retorted: "If it doesn't pass the environmental assessment review, production must be stopped. This is clearly stipulated by law. Does Mayor Guo think that governing by law means being reckless?"

  Guo Hong was choked by him all of a sudden, his face turned bright red, and he was about to continue refuting, but saw Chen Guo press down with both hands, and the words that were about to come out of his mouth were pressed back in.

  "Old Guo and Old Zhang both make sense, the environmental protection requirements are clearly stated by the central government, our municipal government must resolutely and firmly respond to and implement them. For enterprises that do not meet the environmental protection requirements, regardless of their size or background, we will not tolerate them. Otherwise, how can we explain ourselves to the Municipal People's Congress and all the people of Hanjiang City?! However, considering the contributions made by Xinyuan Chemical Plant to Hanjiang City in the past, we can give them some time to rectify. Our municipal government should also actively help enterprises develop together and grow together. I think Little Liu's proposal is feasible, we cannot let the Environmental Protection Bureau fight alone, the Labor Security Bureau, Development and Reform Commission, Planning Commission and other relevant departments should all actively participate, establish a working group, I think it would be best for Old Zhang to take the lead as the group leader, do a good job of supervision, and make sure everything is fair, just and transparent. Oh, and the Propaganda Department should also participate, play an active role in guiding public opinion correctly."

  Guo Hong was not stupid, Chen Guo's words sounded good, but in fact everyone present could see that the situation was actually preparing to shut down and stop work. Otherwise, why would the propaganda department and labor bureau be involved? He hesitated for a moment before saying: "Mayor Chen, Xin Yuan has been in Hanjiang for many years and has deep feelings with the people of Hanjiang, including our provincial party leaders. My opinion is still to handle it cautiously."

  Chen Guo could not help but understand the meaning behind his words, and with a wave of his hand, he said to Zhang Zhenggang and Liu Siyuan: "Go ahead and do it with confidence, as long as you uphold justice, I'll take responsibility for any consequences!"

  For a moment, his image in Liu Siyuan's eyes was much taller, but he thought again and still felt that the analysis was correct. To put it bluntly, Chen Guo was also a political figure, and his involvement in the chemical plant was not for the people's sake, but ultimately for political needs.

  Out of the mayor's office, Liu Siyuan and Zhang Shuichang exchanged greetings and went straight back to their own offices. After roughly sorting out his thoughts, he reported to Yao Yuan, who didn't say much either, anyway it was that set of resolutely enforcing environmental protection regulations and so on.

  "Xiao Liu, where is Ouyang Qian comrade?" The one who asked this question was not those three unmarried young men, but rather Liu Jianguo with a receding hairline.

  "Director Liu, Ouyang stayed at the Environmental Protection Bureau to negotiate with the chemical plant." Although it was strange that he asked these questions, after all, he couldn't ignore him since he was a deputy director. Speaking of this Deputy Director Liu, he was quite idle. The Supervision Office had two business departments, one led by Zhang Jinsong and the other by Liu Siyuan, who was in charge of daily work. The Comprehensive Department was concurrently held by Zhang Jinping - actually, there wasn't much to do in the Comprehensive Department, which made Deputy Director Liu feel useless every day.

  Gradually, throughout the Municipal Government Office, whether leaders or people from other departments, they all showed respect on the surface but didn't really care about him. When something important came up, they would look for Yao Yuan, or Zhang Jinsong and Liu Siyuan. Basically, no one paid attention to him.

  This made him feel uneasy every day, extremely depressed.

  "Negotiations are the Environmental Protection Bureau's business, our Supervision Office is only responsible for supervision, as long as there is a result, that's enough, no need to blindly intervene." Liu Jianguo tapped on the table and raised his voice.

  Liu Siyuan was stunned by what he said, and didn't know what kind of medicine this guy had taken today. He felt a bit resentful in his heart, but finally endured it and made an effort to smile: "It's all the same department, brother, work has to be supported."

  "Little Liu, you're still too young, this matter was not handled properly." Liu Jianguo had an unyielding expression, "If it were any other matter, our inspection room would have participated in the specific negotiations. With just a few of us, how many achievements can we make in a year? Good steel should be used on the blade."

  Liu Siyuan was somewhat irritated by his words, and casually said: "That's okay, Director Liu, why don't you personally handle the chemical plant matter? Let us young people learn from it?"

  "Alright, I'll give it a try. Let's take the lead and see if we can make some time to go for a run together tomorrow." Liu Jianguo chimed in, his words flowing smoothly like a snake slithering up a stick.

  Liu Siyuan didn't say anything, thinking to himself that if you want to cause trouble then go ahead. However, he noticed that Zhang Jinsong, who was in the office at the time, slightly revealed a disdainful gaze.