Reborn as a Noble's Son

Thinking of this, Nie Zhenbang raised his head and said to Lu Wu: “Secretary Lu, I will not say much. For now, it is not the time to make the issues of Qingfang City public. All things, wait for my news.”

At this point, Nie Zhenbang had an expression on his face that was extremely resolute and he reaffirmed: “Under my watch, I absolutely will not tolerate or allow such things to happen.”

Seeing Nie Zhenbang talk, Lu Wu felt a sense of conviction arise in him. He didn’t know why he felt this way before a leader younger than him. In truth, this was the charm of Nie Zhenbang’s personality. In his two-plus years in Xinli City, Nie Zhenbang influenced a group of people, and so, despite his departure, Xinli City was still able to continue to develop efficiently and honestly. Now, the same was true of Liangxi City. Gradually, people have been subtly influenced.

…

The next day was the deadline set by Nie Zhenbang for Li Guohua for the plan to restructure Qingfang City. On this day, Li Guohua must hand it over to Nie Zhenbang.

In the morning, Nie Zhenbang inspected the Liangxi City Environmental Protection Bureau with Vice Mayor Shi Hongbo, city leader Liu Weijun and Yi Jun accompanying him. A TV crew from Liangxi City TV station followed him for the whole time, along with journalists from the Liangxi Daily.

After listening to the work report of the leaders of the environmental protection bureau and carefully inquiring about environmental protection work, Nie Zhenbang emphasized the importance of environmental protection in the meeting and made a speech on “Promoting Economic Development and Building a New Green City”. He pointed out that under the current situation of economic development, the environmental department should also do its own work better. This speech, however, was like a breath of fresh air, somehow out of place. In this era, throughout the country, the focus was on economy and development. Environmental protection was a department that was overlooked during this period.

In the afternoon, just as he was starting work, Yi Jun came in and whispered, “Mayor, Vice Mayor Li is here and he seems pretty calm. What do you think?”

[He had] to meet [him], that was certain. Since Li Guohua had come as scheduled, if he did not meet with him at this time, it would be said that Vice Mayor Li had done a good job with the plan, but the mayor refused to meet him, and the responsibility would be big. Nie Zhenbang would not do such a thing.

Immediately, Nie Zhenbang pondered for a moment, then stood up and said, “Let him in.”

Yi Jun had just left when Nie Zhenbang also walked out from behind his desk. At this time, Nie Zhenbang had calculated very well. Practically, by the time Li Guohua would push the door open, he would have walk to the center of the office. This way, it wouldn’t give an impression of arrogance.

As soon as he saw Li Guohua, Nie Zhenbang smiled and said, “Vice Mayor Li is here, please sit.”

Although the words were polite, they gave off a sense of insurmountable distance. Li Guohua, having the capability to sense this, also smiled and said: “Mayor Nie, I came here specifically to report on the Qingfang City issue.”

As Li Guohua said this, he clearly displayed an official business-like expression, and moreover, from his tone leaked a distant feeling. The long-standing enmity between Li Guohua and himself, their similar backgrounds, both having fatal flaws; one having Western overseas experience, the other with Commission for Discipline Inspection work experience, both were like half a dozen of one and six of the other. They were destined to be adversaries and there was no chance for reconciliation. So then, Nie Zhenbang nodded and said, “The affairs regarding the three factories in Qingfang City are of the utmost importance. It concerns the overall stability of our city. Vice Mayor Li has conducted long-term research in this area and is now in charge of this matter. I believe you already have a suitable plan. I can’t wait to see your plan.”

The atmosphere between the two was quite awkward. They had already clashed, albeit not openly. At this moment, Li Guohua didn’t say much. He pulled out a document and handed it over, then fell silent.

Nie Zhenbang took the document, around forty pages in total. The title on the cover read “About the reform plan for the textile industry in Liangxi City”. Nie Zhenbang read it meticulously, almost word for word. After approximately fifty minutes, he finally looked up.

On the surface, Nie Zhenbang showed no strong emotion, but inside he was analyzing. To be fair, Li Guohua was competent in economic construction and development. Over the past few years, Liangxi City’s economy had developed rapidly and surpassed Jiangzhou to become the top performer in Jiangbei Province. This was largely due to Li Guohua. Several globally renowned corporations had set up in the city thanks to Li Guohua’s influence. In terms of networking and ability, Li Guohua was very strong.

However, Nie Zhenbang had different views on the reforms for Qingfang City. According to Li Guohua’s plan, the three factories in Qingfang City would undergo an asset merger and restructure. The city government would invest one hundred million, along with the combined one thousand acres of land, factory buildings, equipment, and technical patents from the three factories to hold fifty-five percent of the shares. The remaining forty-five percent would be open for foreign investment. The plan offered to buy out worker’s years of service and reassign jobs. The remaining employees would be retrained and assessed. Advanced foreign production lines would be imported, and they would form a new Liangxi Textile Group to revitalize Qingfang City.

This plan was good, indeed a good plan. But, from Nie Zhenbang’s perspective, there were still shortcomings.

He shook his head and sighed in his heart. Li Guohua was capable, but he was always too ostentatious.

The plan didn’t take into account the interests of ordinary workers of the three factories in Qingfang City. In other words, what Li Guohua did were major undertakings. Investment, foreign capital introduction, and importing new production lines were all considerable tasks. However, Nie Zhenbang had doubts about the benefits these actions would bring. Further, he bluntly stated that such baseless merger and reform, without market-based adjustments to the production direction, could possibly burden Liangxi City with an enormous load.

The three factories might consume tens of millions a year combined, but once merged, the losses could spiral into the hundreds of millions, or even billions, annually.

After some contemplation, Nie Zhenbang slowly said: “Deputy Mayor Li, your plan is generally good. However, when it comes to introducing foreign capital, I personally believe that it should be handled cautiously. We must galvanize the enthusiasm of the workers from the three factories. I think we could consider stock participation by the employees. They could become shareholders in the new enterprise, which would give them a personal stake and also help to alleviate their anxieties.”

After saying this, he suggested that since the three factories were essentially adjacent to each other, by just knocking down a few walls they could be connected. This was not an issue, but having such a vast area of land was wasteful. Nie Zhenbang proposed that five hundred acres of the land near the center of the bustling main access road of Guicheng District could be earmarked for the Light Spinning Group Real Estate Company to develop real estate. This could be a test for the renewal and rejuvenation of the old city and the old factories.

For production, Nie Zhenbang also offered his opinion: they should base decisions on the market, conduct a full investigation, and use existing machinery to produce products that are in short supply in the market, rather than blindly introducing new types of equipment, making the best use of limited funds.

Upon hearing Nie Zhenbang’s remarks, Li Guohua’s face darkened. An extremely conceited person, Li Guohua considered Nie Zhenbang’s approaches to be trivial and indicative of a petty mindset which would not lead to any substantial development. In his view, Nie Zhenbang’s strategies would accelerate Qingfang City’s demise. However, as Nie Zhenbang was now in charge, there was little Li Guohua could say. Additionally, Li Guohua was more than happy to see Nie Zhenbang fail and make a fool of himself.

Li Guohua retorted with a cold hum: “Mayor Nie, since you insist, I won’t say more. Regarding this matter, I reserve my objections. But I think we should solicit the workers’ opinions.”

Nie Zhenbang nodded and replied: “Well, take your plan as it is and present it. Then I will develop a new plan based on your blueprint. We’ll show these two proposals to Qingfang City’s employees and let the public decide. What do you think about that?”

Li Guohua’s eyebrows rose. Was this a challenge or gamble of sorts? Did he think this was some remote area in the Xibei Autonomous Region? The people in a developed economic area, she thought, were broad-minded and worldly.

Thinking along those lines, Li Guohua was looking forward to Nie Zhenbang making a fool of himself and promptly agreed: “Fine, we’ll go according to Mayor Nie’s suggestion, and let everything be determined by the people’s choice.” (