Rebirth of the Rising Sun

After listening to Feng Sizhe's two reasons, Tao Daotian nodded silently, "Well, it seems that Secretary Feng really has some research on land."

"Haha, County Magistrate Tao, you are too kind. I have only been the deputy county magistrate and county magistrate of Dahu County for a few years, and I have dealt with land more. Dahu County is not like Qiu County, which has gold mines to mine. They rely entirely on the land for their livelihood, so it is not good if you don't understand it."

Tao Daotian was very impressed by Feng Sizhe's humble words. This young man did not take advantage of others, but attributed everything to his previous work. This is a kind of modesty. "Yes, in fact, it is not just Dahu County. Looking at other districts and counties in Yongyang City, how many of them do not rely on the land for their livelihood? This is the capital of farmers' lives. But looking at our current Qiu County, few people think so. Everyone thinks that gold mining is the most profitable business, which can increase the county's economic income and enable the Qiu County government to obtain a lot of funds without too much effort. But they don't think about it. The gold mines will eventually run out. If that happens, what will Qiu County rely on? And this kind of excessive mining, mining without any environmental protection measures, is actually ruining Qiu County's future. Maybe one day, the gold mines here will disappear, and Qiu County here will be riddled with holes. At that time, the lives of the people here will probably be miserable."

Tao Daotian talked about the future of Qiu County from the perspective of long-term interests, which has always been his concern. Of course, he would not oppose Qiu County becoming rich and strong, but it was a bit of a foolish dream to rely solely on collecting gold mines to achieve this goal. Not to mention how much gold reserves there are here, and how many years they can last, just think about it for future generations. What kind of environment will this excessive mining leave for future generations? Look at the ditches beside the gold mines. Which one has not been polluted? Because there are no protective measures, the water in those ditches will not only emit an unpleasant stench in the summer, but some have already seeped into the ground and polluted the groundwater. Although these negative reactions are not very obvious now, if they continue like this, perhaps in a few years, it will be difficult to find even a piece of pure water in Qiu County. If that happens, they will become sinners for all time.

Feng Sizhe agreed with Tao Daotian's words. In later life, he often heard a saying, that is, sustainable development. But the current situation in Qiu County is completely contrary to this saying. They just use existing resources to get rich without thinking about the future. This is not the attitude that people who live should have, nor is it the attitude of a good leader to be responsible to the people and the country. When others were in power here before, Feng Sizhe had no control over it, and he had no right to control it. But now that the organization has asked him to come to Qiu County, some things must be changed. Since he is in this position, he must be responsible to the end and do more for the future generations of Qiu County. At least in a few years, no one will point at his spine and scold him.

"What County Magistrate Tao said makes sense. Many issues in Qiu County have reached a point where they must be resolved." After saying this with great ambition, Feng Sizhe fell silent again. "It's just that many issues are beyond my control alone. I need County Magistrate Tao's help."

This sentence was a little abrupt. The conversation suddenly turned to this aspect. This change of thinking was really not something that Tao Daotian, who was already over 50 years old, could accept. After hearing this sentence suddenly, he could only look at Feng Sizhe, hoping to judge from his eyes whether this sentence was true or false, and if it was true, how sincere it was.

Seeing Tao Daotian paying attention to him, Feng Sizhe knew that he had to say something. "Hey, I believe that my arrival must have attracted the attention of County Magistrate Tao, and you must have asked about my work in Dahu County. To be honest, when I first arrived in Dahu County, the situation there was not much better than here. There were also some conservative localists in power. What they thought about every day was not how to make progress or how to get rich, but how to ask the country for money. Dahu was indeed very poor at that time, with almost no economic income, and all expenses were funded by the state. I was only the executive deputy county magistrate at the time. Seeing that Dahu County had such fertile land, but the people here did not know how to use it, I made up my mind to change this place and to take off the hat of being one of the top 100 poorest counties in the country."

When he said this, Feng Sizhe's eyes were filled with beautiful memories. Perhaps he thought of many things in Dahu. "Hard work pays off. Finally, with the efforts of a group of aspiring comrades and me, and after exhausting all possible methods, I removed the stumbling blocks in front of me, and finally made Dahu County's politics clear. Then, relying on the environment and innate conditions there, Dahu County became rich. Finally, when I left there, more than 80% of the people in Dahu were out of poverty, and Dahu County was no longer one of the top 100 poorest counties in the country. Looking back at the roads I have taken, I don't regret it at all, although on the way forward I may have caused some corrupt officials and officials who did not do their job to suffer certain blows and punishments. But as the saying goes, if an official does not serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes. I really don't regret it at all, not at all."

Feng Sizhe tried to express his thoughts in a calm voice. After saying this, he talked about the situation in Qiu County. "I first arrived in Qiu County the day before yesterday. I still don't fully understand the situation here, but I do know how similar the situation here is to that of Dahu. The only difference is that there are gold mines that can be mined here, but there are none in Dahu. Of course, there are many similarities between the two sides. For example, there were many good officials in Dahu in the past. They had righteousness in their hearts, knew how to plead for the people, and dared to fight against all illegal acts and all evil forces. Now I have also seen such people in Qiu County. He is you, County Magistrate Tao. I believe that Qiu County can still be saved with officials like you. As long as we can work together, I believe it won't take too long for Qiu County to completely change, so that the people will benefit from it, and the people here will be able to breathe in the fresh air again."

"Okay, Secretary Feng, stop talking." When Feng Sizhe just said this, Tao Daotian interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "Secretary Feng, I admit that I have investigated your Dahu matter. To be honest, I still admire your work style there. When I knew that you came to Qiu County as the secretary, I was also glad. Even in the past two days, I have actually been observing you secretly. I want to see if the rumors are consistent with the facts. Now I have heard what you said and seen your performance in the past two days. I have to say that although you are young, you are indeed a shrewd person, a careful person, and a person who has his own behavioral standards. You are a person who can do great things. I, Tao Daotian, am already 54 years old. One day I will retire. What is there to be afraid of? All I hope is to be able to give an explanation to the people of Qiu County with my efforts this year, and to put a perfect end to my own career. So... If Secretary Feng has any use for me, just tell me. I, Tao Daotian, will definitely cooperate with you in your work."

Tao Daotian is also a straightforward person, and he is also an official with integrity who is dedicated to doing practical things for the people. When Feng Sizhe was speaking from the heart to him, he put himself in Feng Sizhe's shoes and expressed his own thoughts. Just imagine, how long will Feng Sizhe's political life last? He only has a few days left, and if others dare to come out and take a gamble and do something big, what should he be afraid of?

Tao Daotian's confession filled Feng Sizhe's heart with excitement. "Okay, County Magistrate Tao, thank you, I want to thank you."

"Don't say that. In fact, I should thank you. I want to thank you on behalf of the 700,000 people in Qiu County. Because of your arrival, the people of Qiu County will no longer worry about the future. Otherwise, I really dare not imagine that if the gold mines here are mined out, where will the people go?" When Tao Daotian said this, his big hand and Feng Sizhe's hand that he had extended were already shaking together. The two members of the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee of Qiu County, two powerful people, united together in this way.

Now that both parties have spoken out, the subsequent conversation will be less empty and more practical.

Tao Daotian agreed with Feng Sizhe's low-key approach. He knew that almost no one had gone to the secretary's office to report on their work in the past two days. Everyone was waiting and watching, because they didn't know whether Feng Sizhe could gain a foothold in Qiu County. Would he leave like the previous secretaries, or even die in an accident like Secretary Meng? It can be said that no one dared to act rashly without making up their minds. All this was because Fan Yuegang and his team were indeed too powerful in Qiu County.

Tao Daotian also suggested to Feng Sizhe that he should continue to keep a low profile, and then think of ways to collect information on the various dereliction of duty and even crimes of Fan Yuegang and others without being noticed, and then accumulate strength and wait for the right opportunity to counterattack in one fell swoop, trying to defeat them all in one blow and restore peace to Qiu County.

Feng Sizhe accepted Tao Daotian's suggestion in its entirety. Not only did he accept it, he also suggested that before things were finalized, it would be better not to make his contact with Tao Daotian public, so as to prevent Yue Gang and others from becoming suspicious.