The Beautiful County Magistrate
Chapter 336: Road Construction Blocked!

Chapter 336: Chapter 336: Road Construction Blocked!

Over the following period, Xu Qianli gradually became busier.

The first batch of thirty tourism projects in the town had successively broken ground, and he was required to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

Many accompanying municipal engineering projects had also started, and he needed to monitor their progress.

The pressure to prevent flooding this year was immense; he had to inspect the riversides from time to time.

In short, he was burnt out with rushed business.

Early that day, accompanied by Si Cheng and others, Xu Qianli came to inspect the road leading from Qingshan Town to Jiang City.

Qingshan Town was making a big push for tourism development and would inevitably attract numerous tourists to the town, so road construction had to keep up.

This current pothole-ridden, waterlogged mess of a road had to be turned into a wide, smooth asphalt road.

Not only did the road in Qingshan Town need to be built, but Xu Qianli also planned to extend it all the way to Jiang City, connecting to the train station and Zhongzhou City Airport.

For this purpose, Qingshan Town’s finances had already allocated funds, and as soon as the approval came from above, the road could immediately begin to be repaired in segments.

But he waited and waited, and still, the county’s official approval didn’t come, leaving Qingshan Town only able to build within its own territory.

They were completely helpless regarding the other towns.

Xu Qianli was extremely annoyed about this matter.

As far as he understood, the approval had not come through because it was stuck at the County Government.

Qingshan Town had applied for approval several times, only to be rejected by the County Government.

Put bluntly, it was Lan Qianrong who was holding things up.

Xu Qianli had called Lan Qianrong more than once, trying to persuade her that if Qingshan Town made achievements, there naturally would be benefits for her as the County Magistrate, and it would certainly result in political accomplishments.

Alas, no matter what he said, he couldn’t get through to her; the responses he received were always that the current roads in each town were in very good condition and that it was unnecessary to waste funds on road construction.

Lan Qianrong not only disagreed with building the road but also strongly demanded that Xu Qianli hand over a large portion of Qingshan Town’s financial resources to the County Government for its use.

To get money from Qingshan Town’s finances, Lan Qianrong even pressured him with a bunch of grand principles about the need for balanced development among the towns.

After several calls, Xu Qianli became thoroughly disillusioned.

That woman, Lan Qianrong, was clearly suppressing his development, and by extension, she wanted to stifle the growth of Qingshan Town.

What she said about the roads to Qingshan Town being in good condition from each town and not needing to be rebuilt was blatant lies.

Due to insufficient economic development and tight financing, the roads in Jiang City County and surrounding areas were just passable, but as soon as one left the county borders, the roads of the towns below were mostly bumpy and uneven, so much so that a pregnant woman could be jolted into labor.

If you were in a decent vehicle, it was bearable, but if you were in a slightly worse one, especially in a mid-sized bus, a single trip was enough to give you a sore backside and leave you feeling uncomfortable all over.

With such roads, how could one expect tourists from all over the country to travel to Qingshan Town?

It could be presumed that their skeletons would nearly fall apart from the jolting along the way, and with their aching backsides, who would be in the mood to enjoy Qingshan Town?

Even if they did visit, they certainly wouldn’t come a second time, let alone recommend it to others.

Xu Qianli had communicated many times with Ge Changhong about this matter.

Although Ge Changhong was eager to help, unfortunately, his intentions exceeded his ability.

Even though he was the top official in Jiang City, the city’s infrastructure construction was managed by the County Government, and as long as the County Government did not approve, he was powerless.

In plain terms, the issue was stuck with Lan Qianrong. As long as Lan Qianrong didn’t budge, no one could do anything at present.

Watching one tourism project after another break ground, yet unable to construct the most crucial roads for supporting municipal infrastructure, Xu Qianli was so angry he almost spat out blood, constantly harboring resentment inside.

He was resentful, and Lin Feng, who had previously been overly complacent, now suffered terribly. He was tasked with several assignments to investigate impoverished rural areas, forcing him to trudge through mountains and valleys.

Faced with the tasks arranged by Xu Qianli, Lin Feng couldn’t be more reluctant, but he had no choice but to grit his teeth and go.

After several days in the mountains and valleys, Lin Feng’s legs were nearly worn out, trembling even when standing on flat ground, cursing non-stop, and sending many an insult towards Xu Qianli’s ancestors.

And so, as time passed day by day, Xu Qianli suddenly thought of a solution and quietly headed over to the neighbouring Jinkou County.

Zhou Zhengfeng and Xu Li, the County Party Secretary and County Magistrate of Jinkou County respectively, learned of Xu Qianli’s arrival and immediately put aside their work, warmly welcoming him.

Jinkou County’s Qinglong Town had recently experienced a dam bursting its banks, submerging dozens of villages and affecting tens of thousands of people.

When Jinkou County’s emergency flood and disaster prevention plan was activated, they had already heard that all of Qingshan Town’s human and material resources had been poured into the disaster relief for Qinglong Town.

It was precisely Qingshan Town’s timely intervention that helped Qinglong Town quickly complete the disaster relief and promptly seal up the breach.

And the reason for Qingshan Town’s rapid response and timely assistance was none other than the efforts of Qingshan Town’s Party Secretary, Xu Qianli.

He himself had even risked his life, diving into the flood zone to save people, particularly the hundred or so households in Li’s Slope, who owed their lives to him.

For Xu Qianli’s visit, the dual party and government leadership of Jinkou County gave him the highest courtesy, treating him with the warm hospitality reserved for receiving provincial leaders.

Xu Qianli didn’t beat around the bush and laid out his intentions to Zhou Zhengfeng and Xu Li.

He wanted to finance the construction of a road from Jinkou County to Qingshan Town using low-interest loans, linking Jinkou County Airport and the Jinkou County railway station including the high-speed rail station.

Despite being just a county city, Jinkou County had a high-speed train station and an airport, boasting huge developmental potential, and was adjacent to Qingshan Town.

Since Lan Qianrong was blocking the road construction from Qingshan Town to Jiang City, Xu Qianli simply sought another path, shifting his focus to Jinkou County.

From Jinkou County Airport, the journey to reach Qingshan Town was shorter and more convenient than from Zhongzhou City Airport, an advantage that could greatly reduce the travel time necessary for tourists visiting the area.

Upon hearing Xu Qianli’s proposition, Zhou Zhengfeng and Xu Li couldn’t contain their surprise.

They had already been envious of Qingshan Town’s tourism development plans, and they were just about to market the towns in Jinkou County suitable for tourism development, aiming to undertake major tourism projects.

Among these, Qinglong Town, which neighbored Qingshan Town, had the most potential for tourism development.

The unique karst formations at Li’s Slope in particular had tremendous developmental potential.

However, building a road from the county seat to Qinglong Town currently seemed impossible with the county’s finances.

Now that Xu Qianli was offering to fund the construction with a low-interest loan, the two were ecstatic and immediately agreed, further expressing that if Xu Qianli was willing, they hoped he would include Qinglong Town in his tourism development plans.

Although Qinglong Town and Qingshan Town belonged to two different provinces, they were as close as brother towns separated by a mere strip of water; it would be ideal to leverage Qingshan Town’s robust development to boost Qinglong Town’s growth.

To this request, Xu Qianli did not refuse but proposed a condition: he would take the lead in the new tourism development projects in Qinglong Town, and for the next twenty years, thirty percent of the fiscal revenue would go to Qingshan Town’s finances.