Reborn as a Noble's Son

Chapter 578: Chapter 534: Heading to Beijing from the Running Department (Five More Explosions, Seeking Monthly Ticket)_1
 

Great opportunity, indeed a great opportunity, Li Taishi is not a mediocre, on the contrary, he is very smart. Upon hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, he keenly sensed the difference in this matter. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Transportation organised by the State Council to plan the development of highways nationwide definitely involves two aspects, one is the quality improvement of the existing national roads. The other is the highway.

For WangHai City, highway transportation is the weakest. The reason is that Minan Province is a mountainous area. Apart from the coastal region, the cost of highway transportation is high, making it difficult to develop. Now, if a national plan can get Wanghai City a highway, the entire transportation layout of Wanghai City would be completed. Highways, sea routes, railways, and air routes would all be available. This will play an immeasurable role in the economic development of Wanghai City.

“Zhenbang, is this information accurate?” Li Taishi still found it hard to believe.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

In front of Li Taishi, Nie Zhenbang did not deliberately hide anything. Moreover, revealing his cards appropriately could have a deterrent effect on Li Taishi, which would be beneficial to his work. Nie Zhenbang nodded in confirmation: “Absolutely true, this news was personally told to me by Vice Chairman Shen when he was here. And looking at Vice Chairman Shen’s purpose, I’m afraid he is implying that I should fight for it. Now, the central government’s attitude towards Wanghai is neither policy inclined nor financial support. It seems that the leaders intend to leave it to the next government to deal with Wanghai. Now, Vice Chairman Shen deliberately told me this news, there must be such considerations.”

Upon hearing this, Li Taishi also nodded, feeling somewhat puzzled, as expected, Nie Zhenbang and Vice Chairman Shen have a special relationship, otherwise, how could Vice Chairman Shen leak such crucial news.

Immediately after, Li Taishi said: “Zhenbang, this is a great opportunity indeed. You should pack your things up and go to Jingcheng to specifically run this matter. If anything comes up in the city, I will keep in touch with you. You can relax, I am here in Wanghai.”

Li Taishi said this with the aim to dispel Nie Zhenbang’s concerns. The purpose of his words was subtly expressed – he would not seize power when Nie Zhenbang was not around, and would communicate with Nie Zhenbang regarding matters related to him. Everything else would follow Nie Zhenbang’s established path of development.

Nie Zhenbang naturally understood this subtle expression. He nodded and smiled: “I also have the same idea. It’s July now, and I guess research and investigation is almost completed. Going there now is an absolute opportunity, it would be too late to do anything if we wait until final decisions come out. I’ve also discussed with Mayor Xiangtian about work in the city. I estimate that this trip could take up to half a month, and during this time, I would need to trouble you, Secretary Li.”

Li Taishi also laughed out loud. He understood Nie Zhenbang’s words as being in harmony with his own statements. He then nodded: “It’s no trouble at all, we are a team after all. Have you fixed a date? I’ll accompany you.”

Two days later, Nie Zhenbang was fully prepared. This trip wasn’t just for Nie Zhenbang alone since the main purpose was to initiate the project. This included his secretary Li Jupeng, Secretary General An Guoyu, Deputy Mayor Deng Yihui in charge of transportation work, and Party Secretary and Director of the Transportation Bureau, Xia Yuxiang, along with their teams, totalling up to eight people.

At this moment, in front of the entrance terminal of Wanghai Airport, the municipal party committee’s fleet was parked below. The Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, Li Taishi, got down from the vehicle. With the attention of the media reporters, he smiled and shook hands with Nie Zhenbang to say goodbye.

Afterwards, Nie Zhenbang and others didn’t delay any further, entered the airport, completed the boarding procedures, and proceeded inside the airport.

The flight, scheduled for 1 pm, landed at Jingcheng City International Airport just 15 minutes shy of 4 pm. The whole journey lasted two hours and forty-five minutes.

Outside the airport gate, several workers from the Wanghai City Office in Beijing had already come to welcome Nie Zhenbang and his team upon spotting them.

Nie Zhenbang didn’t know the staff of the Wanghai City Office in Beijing, but that didn’t mean they didn’t know him. As government officials from Wanghai, though they were stationed in the Beijing office, they were generally aware of the main leaders’ appearances. Otherwise, if they failed to recognize a leader, they would only be inviting trouble.

On the side, the secretary general of the city government, An Guoyu, also introduced with a smile: “Mr. Mayor, let me introduce you to our director of the Wanghai City Office in Beijing, Comrade Xiong Feng.”

As An Guoyu’s voice fell, Nie Zhenbang was looking at Xiong Feng. It was not easy for a woman to be the director of the Beijing Office. Although Nie Zhenbang had no gender bias, it was still remarkable. The Beijing Office might seem like a small office, but it carried a significant workload, especially for a separately planned city at the sub-provincial level like Wanghai. It was directly linked to the central government, and the work that its Beijing Office had to undertake was far more than that of a Beijing Office of other prefecture-level cities. Whether it was exchanges and communications with various ministries, maintaining good relations, or sending holiday greetings to various ministries on behalf of Wanghai City, they all needed to be completed by the Beijing Office.

And the director of the Beijing Office must be quite the resourceful person to be able to handle all of this. A woman who could accomplish this was indeed rare.

Xiong Feng, around thirty-five or six years old, was about one meter and seventy tall. She had a slim figure and delicate features. Her eyes were quite captivating. Purely by look, she was undoubtedly a rare beauty. Despite being in her thirties, she was dressed in a trendy and attractive style, making her look like a woman in her twenties, exuding a charming, mature charm of a young woman.

At this moment, Xiong Feng also extended her hand and spoke, “Mayor Nie, welcome your inspection and guidance.”

She had fair skin, full of elasticity, spoke with a sweet voice and quickly withdrew her hand after a light handshake. This woman, deservedly held the post of the director of the Wanghai City Office in Jingcheng. Just from this display of aptitude, she was indeed not ordinary, occupied this position since the era of Shi Yiwu, and she still secured it firmly, like Taishan. Wanghai City’s past support from the central government had a lot to do with Xiong Feng.

Nie Zhenbang also nodded and said, “Director Xiong, I wouldn’t dare to say I am here for guidance. This visit might inconvenience the comrades in the Beijing Office.”

Whatever the reason for this visit, the Wanghai City side naturally did not hide anything from the Beijing Office, after all, they had to rely on the people of the Beijing Office to liaison with others.

Nie Zhenbang didn’t choose to contact them himself in this matter. It was not possible to rely solely on his own connections for everything, this could otherwise foster some negative ideas among the team members. Therefore, on this visit, Nie Zhenbang was determined to first use the people from the Beijing Office to liaise with the people of Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Transport. If successful, that would be great, if not, it wouldn’t be too late to figure something else out.

At this moment, Xiong Feng also smiled and said, “Mayor, you are too courteous, serving Wanghai City is our duty in the Beijing Office. Dear leaders, you must have had a tiring journey. We have prepared rest rooms for you, why don’t you rest for a while?”

Two minibuses, one for the secretaries and staff, and another for the leaders. In the nine-seater minibus, Secretary of Traffic Bureau Xia Yuxiang and Secretary An Guoyu sat in the rear, Nie Zhenbang and Liu Gaohua sat in the front, and Beijing Office Director Xiong Feng sat beside them.

As soon as they boarded the bus, Xiong Feng begun to report, “Mayor, respected leaders, after receiving the call from the city yesterday, I contacted Director Xia from the Basic Department of the Development and Reform Commission, but Director Xia was tight-lipped and sternly denied it. I then contacted Director Liu from the Comprehensive Planning Department of the Ministry of Transport, and they too denied it.”

This statement is enough to see Xiong Feng’s tactful approach to deal with matters. On the surface, they seem to be denying it, keeping it confidential, but the underlying message is subtly suggesting to Nie Zhenbang and others that perhaps the city may have made some mistake.

Nie Zhenbang was unfazed, he found it beneath him to explain such matters. Seeing that Mayor Nie didn’t want to say much, Liu Gaohua chimed in: “Director Xiong, the information from the city certainly comes from a reliable source. You don’t need to doubt this. On this trip, can you arrange for us to meet with the deputy leaders of these two parts?”

Xiong Feng paused briefly before laughing it off, “Mayor Liu is right, I guess they do have their strict confidentiality rules. Such information is indeed not usually disclosed. As for the deputy leaders, Mayor Liu, as you know, the leaders in Jingcheng are all high-ranking individuals. In the past, even our Deputy Governor of Minan Province was snubbed here. I will try my best to arrange it, please give us a few more days.”

The Wanghai City Office in Jingcheng was conveniently located in the Dongcheng District, not too far from the Great Hall of the People. It was a meticulous choice, leaning close to the highest power center of the nation.

The seven-story building belonged entirely to Wanghaishi Municipal Party Committee and City Government, which was now transformed into a hotel. On ordinary days, it was open to outsiders for business, which added quite a bit of income to the operation of Wanghai Beijing Office.

On the third floor banquet hall of the Wanghai Hotel, two banquet tables have already been arranged. The cuisine was of Jingcheng style, and the chef’s skill was quite impressive.

Nie Zhenbang sat at the head of the table, other leaders sat down in turn. Accompanying them were the Director of the Beijing Office, Xiong Feng, and Deputy Directors Liu Yi and Li Yinbin.

As soon as they were seated, Xiong Feng picked up her wine glass, stood up and smilingly said, “I thank the leaders for coming to Jingcheng and guiding the work of our Beijing Office. On behalf of the staff at the Beijing Office, I’ll first toast to the leaders. I’ll drink first, and the leaders can join in as they wish.”

Having said that, Xiong Feng, the woman, was not hesitant at all and downed her small cup of liquor in one gulp.