Chapter 3: The Great Poisonous Weed

  A black Santana slowly drove into the courtyard of the Qīnglóng County Committee, where a sparse crowd of officials were already waiting in front of the flower beds. Mǎ Wèiguó had just walked out of the office building and was now standing at the very front of the welcoming party, perfectly timed to coincide with Lù Zhēn and Gāo Yànyàn getting out of the car.

  Lu Zhong smiled and shook hands with Ma Weiguo, then Ma Weiguo introduced the three standing committee members and several deputy county-level cadres who were present to welcome them. The three standing committee members who came to welcome them were Qin Jiahao, Deputy Secretary of the County Party Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, Tan Wusi, Deputy Secretary of the County Party Committee and Executive Vice Governor, and Hao Baishan, Director of the Organization Department of the County Party Committee.

  Among the deputy county-level cadres, several vice-county magistrates who were on duty that year almost all came and warmly shook hands with Lu Zhong.

  Lu Zhong smiled and exchanged pleasantries with each of the officials, knowing that many pairs of eyes were watching him, and from today on, he would face a completely different political life.

  After sitting in Ma Weiguo's office for a while, listening to Ma Weiguo briefly introduce the situation of Qinglong, Lu Zhong and Gao Yanyan then went to the county party committee guest house with Deputy County Magistrate Tan Wusi to rest for a bit. The welcoming dinner for Minister Gao and County Magistrate Lu was also set up in the canteen of the county party committee guest house.

  Looking out of the window, watching the black Santana leave the county party committee compound, Organization Department Director Hao Baishan asked inexplicably: "Is this County Mayor Lu's car? Did Municipal Party Committee Secretary Duan lend it to him?"

  It's true that nowadays, high-ranking officials, changing to Santana seems to have become a trend. However, I heard that this year, Shanghai Volkswagen produced only over 10,000 Santanas, and in the whole Wushan county, it was just the secretary of the municipal party committee who had just changed to a Santana. So when Lu Zhong's car drove into the county party committee compound, Hao Baishan and many other officials were shocked, taking a deep breath.

  Secretary Ma, is it still the green Jeep for the car arrangement now?

  Ma Weiguo smiled lightly and said: "Lu Xianchang concurrently served as the party secretary of Changming, this car was assigned to him by Changming."

  Hao Baishan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded silently.

  Ma Weiguo slowly picked up his teacup, and from Hao Baishan's eyes, although he didn't say it explicitly, Lu Zhong's first impression of him was that this county head was quite tough.

  Many cadres present should have the same idea as Hao Baishan.

  Now, Lu Zhong is no longer the same as the one who was reckless and impulsive in the officialdom of Wushan a year ago. During his tenure in Wushan, he has accumulated extensive connections, especially among the old cadres. Many people have high hopes for him. Despite the risks, he still maintained secret contact with Zhang Yuke during the investigation period, which seemed simple-minded but actually moved some old cadres deeply. This Lu Zhong is indeed deep-thinking.

  Maybe I'm just being petty, but this Lu Gantou is really not a good person.

  When he was in the Planning Commission, he never used this Santana for a day, but when he came to Qinglong, he brought it with him, naturally to show off and let all the cadres of Qinglong see.

  Ma Weiguo slowly closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, lost in thought...

  At the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee of Qinglong County, the notice of appointment and removal was read by Gao Yanyan, Deputy Director of the Organization Department of Wushi City. The city party committee announced that Lu Zhong was appointed as a member of the county party committee, standing committee, and deputy secretary of Qinglong County, and nominated as a candidate for county mayor. On the second day, the 12th meeting of the Sixth People's Congress of Qinglong County was held, and the resolution appointing Lu Zhong as Vice Governor and Acting Governor of Qinglong County Government was passed.

  Lu Zhong's office and Ma Weiguo's office are both on the fifth floor of the county committee office building, but the two offices are located at opposite ends, one facing east and the other west, with the staircase as the boundary, each occupying half of the party and government affairs institutions.

  On the windowsill, the two pots of tiger skin bananas that Lu Zhongte liked were also brought over, adding a touch of green to the cold winter season.

  Sitting at his desk, Lu Zhong flipped through the thick stacks of documents to gain a macro understanding and grasp of Qing Long's government affairs.

  The office door knocked gently, and with Lu Zhong's casual response, a bespectacled, refined middle-aged cadre walked in - County Government Office Director Cui Panshi.

  "County head, the formalities for Little Zhou have been completed." The Little Zhou in Guan Dishui's mouth was actually Zhou Daqing. Lu Zhong brought Qinglong directly from Guangning and called the Labor Bureau of Guangning to explain the situation, then asked Qinglong to organize Department Head Hao Baishan to pick up Zhou Daqing.

  This matter, since no one pushed three and blocked four, now, Zhou Daqing was settled into the comprehensive department of the government.

  Yes, Lu Zhong nodded.

  After waiting for a while by the stone table, seeing that Lu Zhong had no other instructions, he retreated and went out.

  He went back to his office, picked up the phone and dialed a number, speaking in a very low voice, it was unclear who he was talking to.

  Then, his office door was suddenly knocked on, and the peephole was blocked by a piece of paper. The person outside seemed to push it gently, but couldn't open it.

  Qiu Pan Shi hung up the phone and rushed to open the door, only to find Lu Zhong standing outside.

  His heart tightened as he forced a smile on his face: "County Magistrate, is there something I can help you with?" His office was adjacent to the County Magistrate's.

  Lu Zhong raised the document in his hand and asked: "What's going on? Repairing the golf course?"

  In a document that Lu Zhong had to review, he suddenly found this form, which was an expropriation statement for planning a golf course.

  "Right, this is the first of three major things Secretary Ma has done for the people of Qinglong. He's run his legs off for this project. At first, including me, nobody believed he could pull it off. It seemed like a mirage. But unexpectedly, he actually managed to secure funding. Before you arrived, the Standing Committee had already passed a resolution to report this magnificent plan to the province and central government, striving to get it officially approved as soon as possible. Now everyone in the county is working together to do a good job on the preliminary evaluation and preparation work for this project."

  Lu Zhong nodded slightly and didn't say anything, then turned around and left.

  Lu Zhun didn't return to his office, but instead walked along the corridor towards the east, and indeed arrived at Secretary Ma's office door, knocked on it, and then pushed the door open.

  Gu Pan Shi stood at the door for a while, not seeing Lu Zhong come out. There were also staff members who occasionally walked by and greeted him. After thinking about it, Gu Pan Shi turned around and went back inside.

  Ma Weiguo was discussing personnel issues with Organization Department Minister Hao Baishan when Lu Zhong came in. He smiled and beckoned: "Come, you sit down too. I wanted to hear your opinion anyway. Baishan, brief County Magistrate Lu on the situation."

  Hao Baishan immediately told Lu Zhong that it was about the dissolution of the people's commune and the allocation of land. The masses of Ma Touying Commune and Qing Wa Commune were strongly opposed to the dissolution of the people's commune and refused to agree, while the party secretary of Qing Wa Commune, Lao Niu, had a rough style and not only failed to alleviate the opposition sentiment of the masses but also provoked public outrage. Some masses even wrote slogans in blood: "Resolutely defend the people's democratic dictatorship! Defend socialist collective economy! Down with revisionism! Cut off Niu Baowang, this poisonous weed that is taking the capitalist road!"

  Although the old cow called the police station to dispatch police, in the face of several hundred people who were excited and indignant under the bloody book, the public security police finally retreated.

  Ma Weiguo is preparing to remove this Cowherd and wants to listen to the opinions of the Organization Department, which has more contact with Lao Niu.

  Hao Baishan briefed Lu Zhuang on the basic situation, and Ma Weiguo asked Lu Zhuang: "County Magistrate, you just arrived, your view is relatively objective. What do you think? Should we still try to rescue this old cow?"

  Lu Zhong smiled: "This issue, I don't have the right to speak without investigation. But what's going on with Ma Touying Commune and Qing Wa Commune? I heard they are going to merge into one township? Why do the masses all oppose it?"

  Hao Baishan curled his lip: "Too poor, people are crazy from poverty, haven't seen the world, so poor they don't know how to make a living." Frowning, he said: "If all else fails, just send someone from the county bureau, joint defense and militia, with several villages, can't even take it down?"

  The municipal party committee has given a death order that the work of withdrawing from the society and building a township must be completed before the Spring Festival next year. Now it's already December, no wonder the county officials are anxious.

  "This is not good, right? If it gets out, it's a big deal. Voice of America is looking for this kind of news every day." Before Ma Weiguo could respond, Lu Zhong waved his hand to veto Hao Baishan's proposal.

  Ma Weiguo didn't make a sound, picked up his cup and drank tea.

  "It's better to focus on pacification, I've been to Ma Touying, the masses there are kind and simple, it's also an old revolutionary area with a foundation of thought, so work shouldn't be difficult, right? Secretary Wei Guo, how about I go understand the situation first?"

  Under Hao Baishan's astonished gaze, Lu Zhong proposed this suggestion.

  Ma Weiguo smiled and said: "Good, then I'll ask the county magistrate to take extra care and ensure that we complete the task assigned by the municipal party committee."

  Hao Baishan shook his head, this new county magistrate is really hard to figure out, who would have thought he'd take on something like this? Secretary Wei Guo is indeed clever, and immediately framed you for it.

  Lu Zhong then handed over the materials related to the golf course to Ma Weiguo and said, "Secretary Weiguo, is the golf course in our Qinglong too advanced?"

  "Over-optimistic?" Ma Weiguo was taken aback, and couldn't help but laugh. "My County Magistrate, I thought you'd definitely be cheering for this project. The words 'over-optimistic' probably don't exist in your dictionary, do they?"

  Speaking with a wave of his hand, "I know your concerns, Huanghe Industrial's Zhuo has already agreed. As long as the golf course project is approved, he will invest in building a highway from Qinglong to Guangning at no cost, and it will be built according to national secondary highway standards. To get rich, one must first build roads. The most fundamental problem hindering Qinglong's development is the inconvenience of transportation. With this highway, I believe it will play a crucial role in changing our impoverished face."

  "Moreover, why Huanghe Industrial Investment invested, I don't rule out that there are personal relationships involved, but most importantly, they believe that Wushan will develop rapidly and the Guangning Tourism Area will also become a future leisure tourism holy land. This golf course has great potential, as the fourth golf course in the country will be located in our Qinglong, this is something to be proud of for our Qinglong, and it will go down in history."

  Talking about the golf course project, talking about Huanghe Industrial, Ma Weiguo is quite proud of it. Obviously, this is his proud work, and being able to run such a large project itself explains his ability.

  He must have used countless efforts to strive for it, and after succeeding, he will have an unspeakable sense of relief.

  Moreover, in this grand and ambitious blueprint, he has been dreaming of the prosperous scene of Qinglong changing its poor face for many years, and he is the pioneer who led the people of Qinglong to become rich.