Reborn as a Noble's Son

The office of Nie Zhenbang in the county government building.

The gathering yesterday didn’t affect Nie Zhenbang’s work today. After sipping some tea, Nie Zhenbang began reading the news in the party paper of the autonomous region. Secretary Jiang Zhenquan had recently emphasized during an autonomous region party meeting the importance of meticulously conducting the handover elections among current party committee governments. He pressed on maintaining the stability and unity of the Xibei Autonomous Region.

Upon reading this news, Nie Zhenbang was taken aback. This year was one of frequent turnover at the local level, especially at the level of Dizhou City, with over sixty percent of the top two leaders in the Xibei Autonomous Region’s district-level cities potentially being replaced. Jiang Zhenquan’s speech served as a warning to the party’s cadres across the entire region.

At this moment, Yi Jun walked in from outside, placing a stack of documents on Nie Zhenbang’s desk and saying, “Director Nie, according to the originally planned schedule, the plan for this afternoon was to hold a field office meeting at the Education Department to discuss the issue of compulsory education in our county. However, yesterday Mr. Zhao chose a mining site, and he wants to set some time aside today to negotiate in detail and sign a cooperation agreement.”

“Hmm, compulsory education.” Nie Zhenbang repeated this before saying, “In Xibei, the issue of school dropout rates is quite serious, especially in Lixian. The scattered population distribution is challenging, with some herders leading a nomadic life, making supervision difficult. As a result, Lixian’s literacy rate and compulsory education compliance rate rank low in the entire city. Originally, Nie Zhenbang planned to organize an on-site office meeting at the Education Bureau today. But now, Zhao Xinglong and Li Hua had chosen a site.”

After pondering for a moment, Nie Zhenbang finally agreed, “Hmm, alright. In that case, call the director of the Education Bureau and postpone the meeting to tomorrow morning. The negotiation with Zhao Xinglong and others will be arranged for the afternoon.”

It didn’t take Nie Zhenbang long to figure out the relative importance of these two issues. Although the Education Bureau also had its own problems, education issues were troublesome and costly. Maintaining school buildings, paying teachers’ salaries, and the provision of teaching equipment all require funding. Instead of going today with insufficient funds, it’s better to negotiate with Zhao Xinglong and others in the afternoon. After that, with money on hand, Nie Zhenbang would be much more confident.

2 p.m.

In the small meeting room of the county government, Zhao Xinglong and Li Hua represented the newly registered Longhua Mineral Energy Company. On Nie Zhenbang’s side, led by Nie Zhenbang himself and including the other two vice county chiefs and Li Lin, director of the County Party Committee Office, a team of four formed the negotiation team, with Yi Jun serving as the meeting assistant for note-taking.

Surveying the array on Nie Zhenbang’s side, Zhao Xinglong smiled and said formally, “Nie County Chief, first of all, on behalf of all shareholders of Longhua Mining, I would like to express my gratitude for the warm hospitality of the Li County Party Committee, the generosity of the County Government, and their support for our work. Nie County Chief, shall we begin the negotiation now?”

A formal occasion required an equally formal attitude. Zhao Xinglong knew very well that it wasn’t the right time to be excessively friendly. Otherwise, regardless of the result of the negotiation, it might give the impression that Nie Zhenbang had assisted them.

Nie Zhenbang exchanged glances with his vice county chiefs before replying, “We can start now, Director Zhao, please.”

Unlike his normal gentlemanly and approachable style, when it came to significant matters, Zhao Xinglong became a completely different person. He was highly serious, gestured to his associate Li Hua to hand out a set of documents to Nie Zhenbang and the rest, and then said, “Nie County Chief, leaders, over this period, our company’s mining experts have conducted a detailed, in-depth study on the vermiculite mineral resources in Li County. Overall, we are pleased with the amount and reserves of the vermiculite resources. Hence, we initially plan to locate our facility in Yuanche Township in Li County. The first phase will cover an area of one-and-a-half thousand acres, with an estimated investment of 30 million yuan to build a deep processing plant for vermiculite and related companies like a vermiculite compound fertilizer factory. Once the construction is completed, it will provide at least three thousand jobs for Li County.”

Hearing Zhao Xinglong’s words, Nie Zhenbang frowned slightly. He was ruthless in business by emphasizing job opportunities for the people of Li County. It was almost like him saying that the mining operation in the county would provide a significant boost to the local economy.

Without any delay, Zhao Xinglong continued, “For some follow-up procedures in Li County, we will need the help of the County Government for coordination.”

Nie Zhenbang pondered that the situation of Longhua Company was different from that of the Farmer Welfare Company. The latter involved much more comprehensive factors, especially land. Not only may Liu Kun not afford such a large area of land, but the government wouldn’t permit such extensive land transaction in one location. Due to this, collaborating with the government was the best choice for the Farmer Welfare Company. Conversely, for Longhua Company, it would be inappropriate for the Lixian Government to hold shares. Following this line of thought, Nie Zhenbang smiled and said, “Of course, we welcome the investment from Longhua Company in Li County. The county government will coordinate the work of the commercial, tax, land and resources, safety and environmental protection, and public security departments. However, we hope that Longhua Company will arrange for the resettlement and compensation of the local villagers before requisitioning the land for lease. At the same time, the intention of our County Party Committee and County Government is to sell the 30-year land contract rights to Longhua Company at a price of 24 million yuan.”

Originally, Nie Zhenbang’s idea was to jack up the price; however, what Nie Zhenbang didn’t anticipate was Zhao Xinglong, after a moment of consideration, said quite decisively, “Alright, a total of 1,500 acres of land, a thirty-year lease, if it’s twenty-four million then it’s twenty-four million, let’s just consider it as establishing friendship with Director Nie.”

Off to the side, hearing Zhao Xinglong’s words, joy flashed across the faces of Bekri and Bayaer. As locals of Li County, they were well aware of the County Government’s situation. They had been getting by year after year; both the County Party Committee and the County Government were housed in old buildings. They always wanted to reconstruct but never dared to do so due to lack of funds. The county treasury probably never had more than ten million in it, and now with this money, the days for Li County Government will be much more comfortable.

Li Lin took a meaningful look at Nie Zhenbang. As for Nie Zhenbang, Li Lin has always found it hard to see through him. He was too mysterious. His background was profound, many big shots in the city were looking after him, he had extensive connections. Investors usually had an excellent rapport with him. This time, whatever price Nie Zhenbang said, that’s the price they accepted. They didn’t even think about bargaining, which is highly unusual. It was apparent that they were giving money to Li County.

Nie Zhenbang, however, could somewhat grasp Zhao Xinglong’s intention. The lepidolite mining, for Zhao Xinglong, was only a start. Zhao Xinglong’s aim was not here but the future petroleum extraction. Nie Zhenbang had little contact with him. This was probably a courtesy gift from Zhao Xinglong as a preparation for the future. After all, even if petroleum in Li County wasn’t under Li County’s jurisdiction, if they maintained good relations with the local government, they would have an advantage over others. With this in mind, Nie Zhenbang immediately said, “Director Zhao, since you are so straightforward, let’s proceed to the formal contract signing. I hope we’ll have a great cooperation in the future.”

The next day

Reporters from Li County TV Station, Li County Daily, Bazhou City TV Station, and Bazhou Daily all gathered at Li County Hotel. There, in a decorated hall, Nie Zhenbang and Zhao Xinglong, each representing Li County Government and Longhua Company, signed the cooperation agreement.

“Director Zhao, here’s to a successful future cooperation.” The moment the contract was exchanged, Nie Zhenbang and Zhao Xinglong shook hands. Below the stage, numerous cameras flashed.

Interviewers from Bazhou TV Station also came. A young reporter, about 21 years old, could already independently cover news at such a young age. Especially such a formal event as the signing ceremony of the Li County Government, surprised Nie Zhenbang.

“Director Nie, my name is He Xinyan, a reporter from Bazhou News of Bazhou TV Station. Director Nie, may I ask, the investment from Longhua Company in Li County is your second grand move since you took office. Does this signify a significant economic development in Li County?”

It was a standard question; Nie Zhenbang thought for a while and replied with a smile, “It’s not quite a significant development yet. Right now, Li County is merely trying to take its first steps in economic progress by leveraging its own advantages. Currently, either it’s the environment or specialist personnel, there’s a lack in the latter. People cannot be retained, and this is a common problem in our Northwest Region. An investment in agricultural and pastoral development, mining development, these are all attempts. A trial carried out for Li County’s future growth. We will have to wait a few more years to see the results.”

The same was with the news media. Those ranked upfront were naturally TV media. Bazhou Daily and local media outlets in Li County naturally fall behind.

The next day, Li County Government and Longhua Company signed an agreement. The news about Longhua Company making a two hundred million investment to solely develop lepidolite reserves in Li County was published on the front page of Bazhou Daily. The news of the county treasury receiving twenty-four million also began circulating.

All this money – for a moment, the gate of the Finance Bureau was packed with people asking for money. Almost all the officials and the second in command from the various townships had managed to nearly ruin Lin Weimin’s office.

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang decided to stay away in his office; this situation was something he absolutely could not get drawn into. If he did, the twenty-four million would probably be distributed within a month.

Then, the phone on Nie Zhenbang’s desk rang. The red internal line – this phone was only installed between several standing committee members of the county party committee. As soon as he picked up the phone, the voice of Zhang Chubin came across, “Director Nie, this is Chu Bin. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you. Do you have time now?”

PS: Brothers and sisters, our place in the monthly ranking is under threat again. Does Elder Nie really only have the fate of being third? Those who have already given out the second monthly ticket, please vote for Old Cai. Thank you.