Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 350 A Fraudulent Market Entity Doubling Plan

Liu Feng interjected, "County Chief Wu, the current situation in Xigou Village seems to be even worse than when I was the deputy mayor of Daling Town."

More than a decade has passed, and the roads and houses are still the same. It's fair to say that there has been almost no development in recent years.

The lack of roads is a major obstacle; without roads, no industry can develop.

If local products can't be sold, people have no income, so young people have to leave, leaving behind the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.

Although we were poor before, the security situation was good. But now, the villagers can't even keep their oxen, and the old hens they use to earn money for oil and salt have been stolen. How can they live in peace like this?

Wu Zhiyuan held back his anger, but still spoke harshly to Ma Zhenshan and Fan Xiaoyong: "With the public order in such a mess, what is the police station doing? What is the town government doing?"

If you can't even protect the common people's oxen and hens, and can't even give the masses their most basic sense of security, how can you be officials?

When an official does not make the decision for the people, it is better to go home and sell sweet potatoes.

Even the ancients had this awareness, what about you?

Oxen were stolen; they were important assets and tools of production for ordinary people!

The stolen hen could represent a family's monthly living expenses!

In your eyes, these are all trivial matters, not worth the effort to investigate or manage, right?

Ma Zhenshan and Fan Xiaoyong blushed.

The villagers felt very relieved after hearing this.

Wu Zhiyuan said to Ma Zhenshan, "Have the head of the town's police station come over. We'll work on the spot and resolve the issue on the spot."

Ma Zhenshan quickly took out his phone and called the police station chief.

Wu Zhiyuan softened his tone and said to the villagers, "Fellow villagers, I have noted down all the issues you have raised."

Road issues and public security issues are not trivial matters; they are major issues that directly affect everyone's vital interests.

I want to make it clear here that the county will take care of these issues, and will see them through to the end!

He paused for a moment, then continued, "If anyone has any difficulties or injustices, please speak up while I'm here today."

Don't worry about anything, I'm here to hear the truth, it's okay if I'm wrong.

Perhaps it was Wu Zhiyuan's attitude that gave them courage, or perhaps it was because their pent-up resentment needed to be released, and the villagers began to complain all at once.

"County Chief Wu, our village is also struggling to get water! We used to have enough spring water, but now due to the drought, the springs are dry, and we have to fetch water from even more distant mountain gullies!"

"My family meets the criteria for low-income assistance, but we haven't been able to receive it. Some families have houses and cars, and they still get low-income assistance. This is unreasonable."

"My house is about to collapse, but I haven't been able to get the compensation for the dangerous building renovation project..."

One villager said, "County Chief Wu, the village approached me earlier this year, saying they needed to use my ID card to help complete a task, to start some kind of company."

They said it was just a nominal appointment, I didn't need to worry about it, and it wasn't illegal. The village gave me 100 yuan.

I figured since the village had asked for my services and it was a task, I agreed.

I later found out that the village had used my ID card to register three companies in one go.

A trading company, a labor service company, and an agricultural cooperative.

To this day, I still don't know where these companies are or what they do.

At first, I thought it was nothing serious. But I heard from others that there might be trouble later.

"County Chief Wu, will there be any trouble if I use my ID to register a shell company?"

His opening remarks were like stirring up a hornet's nest, and several villagers began to complain.

"I, this old man, own three properties!"

"My wife is disabled and has difficulty walking. She owns a logistics and transportation company."

"My wife is over fifty years old and can't recognize a single character, but she also owns an internet technology company."

……

Wu Zhiyuan looked at Wang Changgui: "Secretary Wang, what's going on?"

Wang Changgui wanted to speak, but after glancing at Ma Zhenshan and Fan Xiaoyong, he seemed hesitant to do so.

"Secretary Wang, don't be afraid, just say what's on your mind."

Wang Changgui forced himself to say, "County Chief Wu, we have no other choice."

The town has assigned a task to complete the plan to double the number of market entities, and each village has a quota.

Failure to meet the requirements will result in point deductions, affecting the town's assessment and evaluation of the village, which is directly linked to wages.

There was no other way but to borrow villagers' ID cards and set up some shell companies.

Wu Zhiyuan's gaze fell on Ma Zhenshan: "Secretary Ma, is this what happened?"

Ma Zhenshan was also helpless: "County Chief Wu, it's true that tasks have been assigned, but there's nothing we can do about it."

I accept that tasks are assigned to specific individuals, and some are even shell companies, but this isn't how it's done in Daling Town; it's the same in all the other towns and townships across the county.

Every year, the county assigns investment attraction targets and market entity cultivation quotas to each township, and the targets become heavier year by year.

Daling Town is geographically remote, so it can't attract many genuine businesses.

But if we don't meet the targets, we'll be at the bottom of the year-end assessment and get criticized. So we learned from other townships and broke down the tasks to the villages.

Wu Zhiyuan did not get angry. If the county has unrealistic targets for attracting investment and doubling the number of market entities, and strengthens assessment and evaluation, it is almost impossible for townships not to falsify information.

Wu Zhiyuan asked Liu Feng, "County Chief Liu, are you aware of this situation? How were the county's targets for attracting investment and cultivating market entities determined? What are the bases for these targets?"

Liu Feng cautiously replied: "County Chief Wu, this work was planned and implemented by the County Party Committee and the County Government at the beginning of the year, and the County Investment Promotion Bureau and the Market Supervision Bureau were responsible for its implementation."

The annual goals and tasks are determined under the guidance of the county party committee's main leaders, in combination with the requirements of higher authorities and the county's development needs.

In recent years, the targets have been set relatively high, and the assessments have been quite strict, closely linked to the evaluation of outstanding employees and the appointment and promotion of cadres.

Secretary Yuan has repeatedly emphasized that for Qingyan to develop, it must break with convention and have the courage and determination to "reach for the stars" in attracting investment and cultivating market entities, and dare to take on responsibilities.

The pressure on the townships below is indeed enormous. For townships like Daling, with their weak infrastructure, completing the task is extremely difficult, and some methods may have been distorted in order to finish it.

Wu Zhiyuan then turned to Shi Xianqiang: "Director Shi, what is the county's overall target for this year's plan to double the number of market entities?"

How were the specific tasks assigned to each township determined? What were the bases for these assignments?

Shi Xianqiang was Yuan Jin's man, so of course he wouldn't speak ill of Yuan Jin, but when Wu Zhiyuan asked him directly, he couldn't refuse to answer.

Therefore, he carefully considered his words: "County Chief Wu, the plan to double the number of market entities was studied by the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee at the beginning of the year and formally deployed at the county's economic work conference."

The overall goal is to ensure that the number of newly added market entities of all types increases by more than 35% year-on-year, with the growth of enterprise market entities striving to reach 40%.

This goal was determined after thorough research and discussion, taking into account the city's assessment requirements for each county and district, and in light of our county's need to strive for advancement and achieve leapfrog development.

Wu Zhiyuan then asked, "What are the specific figures for the newly added market entities?"

Shi Xianqiang said, "If I remember correctly, the county's goal for doubling the number of market entities this year is to add 8,000 new market entities of all types, including 2,000 enterprises and 6,000 individual businesses."

The tasks were assigned to various townships and subdistricts by the county's investment promotion bureau and market supervision bureau, in conjunction with relevant departments. Preliminary plans were drafted after comprehensive consideration of local economic conditions, resource endowments, population size, and development potential, and then submitted to the county party committee and county government leaders for approval before being officially issued.

Wu Zhiyuan asked Ma Zhenshan, "Secretary Ma, according to the target tasks, how many new market entities does Daling Town need to add this year? How many have been achieved?"

Ma Zhenshan replied, "Daling Town's task this year is to add 300 new market entities, including 80 enterprises."

As of last month, Daling Town reported 250 newly registered market entities, including 60 enterprises, ranking in the upper-middle range of the county in terms of completion rate.

Wu Zhiyuan asked Liu Feng, "County Chief Liu, you have worked in townships for many years and are familiar with the situation there."

Daling Town is also a place where you used to work.

In your opinion, is it possible for Daling Town to achieve its annual target of adding 300 new market entities and 80 new enterprises?

Liu Feng was silent for a moment before replying, "County Chief Wu, to be honest, it's very, very difficult."

As you can see from the situation in Daling Town, apart from mining, there are no other decent industries.

The area is mountainous and remote, with inconvenient transportation and underdeveloped infrastructure, making it inherently less attractive for investment.

Unless a company is resource-dependent, such as a coal mine or cement plant, who would be willing to invest in a remote mountain village?

The rest are local small vendors and individual business owners, with a limited number added each year.

To reach the target of 300 households, it would be impossible unless every chicken farmer, vegetable grower, and tofu seller registered as a company.

Wu Zhiyuan nodded, then asked, "What about the situation in other townships?"

Liu Feng hesitated for a moment before saying, "County Chief Wu, apart from Chengguan Town which is in a better position, the situation in other towns is about the same."

The task of doubling the number of market entities is just a figurehead effort.

Some townships resubmitted companies that had been defunct for many years to make up the numbers, and also included companies registered by fellow villagers working in other places under their own name.

Everyone knew the truth, but no one dared to say it out loud.

Because if we say it outright, we won't be able to complete the task and we won't pass the assessment;

If you fail the performance evaluation, you will be criticized and reassigned at the end of the year.

In order to keep his position, he had no choice but to turn a blind eye.

Doesn't the county know? Of course they do.

Just like the data on investment attraction and GDP reported by various localities, the county knows it's inaccurate, the city knows it's inaccurate, and the province knows it's inaccurate. But if everyone reports the facts truthfully, the county won't agree, the city won't agree, and the province won't agree either.

Wu Zhiyuan asked Ma Zhenshan, "Secretary Ma, among the newly added market entities in Daling Town this year, how many actually have business premises, business activities, can create jobs, and generate tax revenue?"

Ma Zhenshan looked nervous and evasive, saying, "County Chief Wu, we haven't done a detailed investigation yet..."

Wu Zhiyuan interrupted him: "I don't need detailed verification data, I just need your judgment."

As the town's Party Secretary, you should have a clear understanding of the situation.

Just give me a rough estimate, even just a percentage. But tell the truth.

Ma Zhenshan forced a smile and said, "Maybe only thirty or forty households."

"Thirty or forty households? Two hundred and fifty households were reported, but in reality, only thirty or forty households were reported?"

In other words, over 80% of it is fake?

Ma Zhenshan quickly explained, "County Chief Wu, it can't be said that it's all fake."

Some have registered, but haven't had time to start operating yet;

Some are in the preparation stage and will open soon;

Some are small-scale, unstable businesses...

Wu Zhiyuan waved his hand, stopping his explanation: "Secretary Ma, you don't need to explain."

I understand what you mean, and I also understand your difficulties.

However, understanding is not the same as agreeing, and difficulties are not a reason to fabricate facts.

He paused, then looked around at the villagers: "Today in Xigou Village, I saw the real countryside and heard the real voices."

Ordinary people have a hard time making a living. What they need is real help, tangible income, and a stable and peaceful life.

These aren't numbers we made up while sitting in the office, nor are they from these shell companies trying to fool people!