Official Career Storm
Chapter 630

Chapter 630: Chapter 630

The next morning.

After two days of rest, Song Guanchao was completely recovered.

He arrived at the City Committee, cleaned up, and waited until nine o’clock before sending a message in the high-speed rail project group’s chat, asking them to come to the office for a meeting.

At 9:30, in the project team’s office.

Song Guanchao did not bother with pleasantries, and directly assigned tasks, "Director He, draft a notice."

"What notice?"

"The relocation notice for Three Lanes."

"Ah? The relocation plan..."

"Stick to the plan we set before," said Song Guanchao. "Tell them that the relocation plan is valid for one week."

"What about after a week?" asked Director He.

He guessed that Song Guanchao was planning to enforce demolition.

"After a week?" Song Guanchao smiled and said, "After a week, we won’t demolish anymore."

"No, not demolish anymore?"

"Mhmm, we won’t demolish." Song Guanchao said, "If they think the conditions are unreasonable and don’t want to relocate, then we’ll respect their wishes. After the notice is drafted, send it to me to review."

"Okay." Director He was secretly surprised. This Secretary Song did things quite differently.

Others, if you didn’t want to demolish, would cut off your water and power, and send thugs to have a ’chat’ with you.

If there were public servants in the family, they’d go straight for them.

But Song Guanchao was different, willing to demolish if they were, and if they weren’t, then let it be.

At worst, the plan could be changed.

After all, the specific construction drawings for the high-speed rail hadn’t been designed yet; there was a lot of room for change.

If the relocation plan was unreasonable and these people protested, wanting a fair price, Song Guanchao could understand.

He was human too, had seen and heard about many forced demolitions, and deeply despised such unfair relocation plans.

But Song Guanchao felt he had done his duty to the utmost.

The real house prices in that area were twelve to thirteen hundred per square meter, and there weren’t any buyers.

What were the conditions he had offered?

If they wanted money, demolish immediately at the rate of eighteen hundred per square meter.

If they weren’t comfortable in apartment buildings, they could have a new residential land allotted nearby with additional subsidies.

For those who wanted apartment accommodation, there were resettlement apartments with extra subsidies.

Three options, choose at will.

But they were insatiable.

Of course, Zheng Bihui must have had a hand in this.

He Songming looked at him with an indescribable complexity.

In his opinion, Song Guanchao shouldn’t have presented all of the relocation plans at once.

Song Guanchao was an idealist; his biggest demand in relocation was fairness.

But He Songming had been involved in too many relocations, and he knew very well that human nature couldn’t withstand the test.

The more you offered, not only would people not stop, but they would ask for even more.

Because they thought you were an easy talker.

One would step by step test your limits.

But there was one thing He Songming admired about Song Guanchao, and that was cutting losses in time and not being swayed.

He put out the plan; you agree, then sign.

If you don’t agree, then don’t sign.

At worst, reroute the high-speed rail.

Even if it means both sides lose, do not compromise.

At ten in the morning, Director He from the Land Resources Bureau brought people to Three Lanes.

There were no police there anymore, as Mayor Zheng had contacted Director Qin early in the morning, telling him that police were absolutely not allowed to participate in any demolition activities.

That meant, for the time to come, no matter what kind of conflict erupted between the project team and Three Lanes, the police would only intervene as civil dispute mediators.

Regarding forced demolitions, that was absolutely forbidden.

As long as they dared to force demolish, the police would immediately take them away.

When Director He appeared, residents immediately surrounded him.

"Director He, did Secretary Song come?"

"What did Secretary Song say about our demands yesterday?"

Director He smiled and distributed the notice in his hand: "Everyone, take a look."

After he handed out the notices, he instructed several others to distribute them as well.

According to Song Guanchao’s instructions, every household had to be informed.

If no one was home, they would call, or send it by mail.

In any case, not a single one could be missed.

The crowd looked at the notice in their hands and noticed that the demolition plan was the same as the very first one, without any differences.

They proposed a demand for 8000 yuan per square meter, which simply wasn’t reflected on the notice.

"This, this..."

"Director He, what happened to the promised 8000? Why is it still 1800?"

Director He said, "No one agreed to 8000 with you. That was just your demand, we never agreed from the beginning."

"You all need to read the notice carefully, don’t miss a single word."

"Demolition has always been a matter of mutual consent. We have provided a plan, and if you find it unreasonable, you are free not to sign. We won’t force you, and we certainly won’t demolish forcefully."

"Furthermore, if even one household does not agree to sign within a week, the demolition cannot proceed."

"But likewise, within the same week, if even one household doesn’t sign, the demolition in this area will be halted, and the high-speed rail will be redirected."

With those words, Director He and his team left.

The residents were panicked.

This wasn’t what they expected.

A group of old men and women gathered to discuss but couldn’t come up with any solution.

"Go find Xu Hai, he’ll have a way!"

The crowd went to Xu Hai’s house, and he too had seen the notice.

Facing the residents who had come to him, Xu Hai said, "Everyone, rest assured, the city’s high-speed rail plan is already set, there’s no way they’ll change the route!"

"You should know, just the design cost for the high-speed rail is tens to hundreds of millions. To change the design plan on a whim would mean starting losses in the tens of millions."

"This is just the city putting pressure on us. We must stand united and firmly disagree!"

"Whoever signs is our enemy!"

Xu Hai’s words calmed everyone down.

After they left, Xu Hai quickly dialed a number.

"Brother-in-law, the project team just came by with a notice, saying that if we don’t agree to the demolition within a week, they won’t proceed with it. That couldn’t be true, could it?"

"It’s not true. They are definitely planning to demolish."

...

Bao Jianhua, director of the Lingjiang Finance Bureau.

Director Bao was feeling restless now. Ever since Hou Wen absconded with the funds, he had been negatively impacted.

The province had requested that Lingjiang City self-inspect and self-correct, with the Finance Bureau being a major focus of attention.

Finance bureaus in various places all had more or less problems.

The Lingjiang Finance Bureau was no exception.

Over the years, Lingjiang’s finances had always been tight. Using his position, he opened doors of convenience for some friends and relatives, landing some government projects.

They would quote high prices, and the Finance Bureau would directly approve them.

Over time, a significant amount of money had been funnelled away.

But this money wasn’t only for him.

In a city with a better economy, this wouldn’t be a big deal, and he could have comfortably worked until retirement.

Although Lingjiang wasn’t wealthy, it wasn’t poor either.

Over the past few years, it had attracted many enterprises, greatly easing the financial strain.

Actually, he wasn’t very worried about this round of self-inspection, because what he did wasn’t excessive.

What concerned him was Song Guanchao.

Because the main investors for the high-speed rail project were the National Railway Bureau and Lingjiang City.

The National Railway Bureau was responsible for 50%, Lingjiang City for the other 50%.

The Lingjiang section of the high-speed rail totaled 177 kilometers, with a total cost of 18.3 billion yuan, and the current budget for relocation compensation was 2 billion, plus subsequent demolition costs.

Added up, it was all heading towards 25 billion.

The National Railway Bureau only covered construction costs, which meant that the expenditure falling on Lingjiang’s shoulders exceeded 15 billion!

Originally, this sum shouldn’t have all come from the Finance Bureau. It could have been shared among different departments.

But Zheng Bihui had initially expressed to the province that the city’s financial resources were ample.

Of course, 15 billion, indeed, the Finance Bureau could afford.

But the problem was the upcoming Fengmen Building urban redevelopment project was next!

The capital needed for this project was even greater than the high-speed rail.

Now, the problem he faced was that if the funds were used for the high-speed rail, there would definitely be no money left for the old city redevelopment.

Once there was no money available, the province would find out, and they would surely audit the government projects the Finance Bureau had approved over the years.

At that step, he would be finished.

So, what he could do now was to stall!

The astronomical demands of the residents of Three Lanes were not the doing of Zheng Bihui; they were orchestrated by him, Director Bao.

This tactic was to delay the project.

Stalling, a solution might emerge.

But, this wasn’t the source of his restlessness.

What really troubled him was a letter the secretary had just handed him.

The contents of the letter were accusations against him.

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