Chapter 90

Sitting in Du Peng's car, escorted by the police car from the Dongmen District Public Security Bureau, Zhou Ming soon arrived at the Nanjiang Municipal Government.

Chen Yunfei's secretary greeted Zhou Ming at the door and informed him that Chen Yunfei had some temporary matters to attend to and had arranged for Zhou Ming and Du Peng to wait in the reception room of the municipal government.

As soon as the two entered the reception room and sat down, Du Peng excitedly told Zhou Ming, "Zhou Ming, you really are a genius! I followed your advice and spent seven million yuan to bid on a piece of land at the government's land auction. I just held onto it without developing it, waiting to resell it. I asked for ten million yuan, and within a week, many people came to buy it. I didn't do anything, and just by reselling it, I made a profit of three million yuan!"

Compared to Du Peng's excitement, Zhou Ming was much more composed: "There's nothing strange about that. As an economic special zone, Nanjiang receives a constant flow of policies and resources. Everything is built to the standards of a world-class metropolis. The land here is inherently valuable, let alone the fact that the government has just started to liberalize land sales. If the price didn't rise, that would be a problem."

At this point, Zhou Ming looked Du Peng up and down and asked, "But speaking of which, you seem to be enjoying yourself quite a bit in Nanjiang. You even bought an Audi. If I'm not mistaken, Audi hasn't officially entered our domestic market yet, right?"

Du Peng laughed and said, "Zhou Ming, you don't know everything. What you said about it not being officially entered is just the official line. In reality, Audi has already come in, but it's only in limited communication with the government departments, testing the waters. They haven't officially announced it yet. The leaders thought the car was too luxurious and didn't dare to drive it, so I got a good deal."

"Is that so?" Zhou Ming said to Du Peng, "Then get one for me too."

"Are you kidding me! You know Audi hasn't entered the domestic market, and you still ask me to get one? You're making things difficult for me. I had to go through a lot of trouble and a bit of luck to get this one. Do you think they're sold everywhere?" Du Peng protested.

Zhou Ming replied confidently, "If it had officially entered the domestic market, why would I ask you? I could just buy one myself."

Du Peng wanted to protest further, but Zhou Ming patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Comrade Du Peng, as a noble son of the capital, you can't say no. As someone who calls Mayor Chen 'uncle,' you can't say you don't have the connections. At worst, you can think of a way to smuggle one in from Hong Kong."

"Coercing someone into wrongdoing must be what you're like, Zhou Ming," Du Peng grumbled.

Zhou Ming laughed heartily. To be honest, Zhou Ming just wanted a car for convenience, and it didn't matter if it was an Audi. He was just joking with Du Peng.

Just as Zhou Ming and Du Peng were talking, the door to the reception room was suddenly pushed open, and Mayor Chen Yunfei of Nanjiang walked in.

Zhou Ming and Du Peng stood up to greet Chen Yunfei, but Chen Yunfei gestured for them to stay seated.

Chen Yunfei walked around the sofa and sat in front of them. It was clear that the mayor of Nanjiang was somewhat tired. He rubbed his temples and, after a moment, looked up and asked Zhou Ming, "Du Peng told me that you had already predicted the land speculation in Nanjiang and that the idea of him buying and reselling land was yours?"

Chen Yunfei's direct question surprised Zhou Ming, but he immediately nodded and confirmed it. Chen Yunfei sighed and pointed at Zhou Ming, saying, "You little guy, you've given us and the government a real headache!"

Chen Yunfei's words left Zhou Ming somewhat taken aback. He asked Du Peng, "Is the land speculation in Nanjiang already out of control?"

"Not exactly, but there is a trend. Now all the companies that bought land are following our example, holding onto it without developing it and reselling it to the highest bidder."

Du Peng hesitated for a moment before continuing, "And just last week, a leader from the central government called Uncle Chen, urging him to find a way to control the situation and prevent Nanjiang from becoming a breeding ground for speculation."

Hearing the name of this central leader, Zhou Ming was startled. This name was too significant. He was the founder of the reform and opening-up, the one who designated Nanjiang as an economic special zone. To read the history of New China, one could not avoid this central leader. Zhou Ming never expected that the land speculation he caused would alarm such a prominent figure.

This news was simply unbelievable!

However, this news also helped Zhou Ming understand many key points. He now understood why Du Peng was so eager to have him return to Nanjiang, why Mayor Chen Yunfei had called him, and why Chen Yunfei had given him such a high-level reception upon his arrival in Nanjiang.

If someone else had heard this news, they might have thought the leader was overreacting, but Zhou Ming did not.

Zhou Ming thought carefully and suddenly realized he had overlooked a crucial issue. The land auction in Nanjiang this time was different from the real estate bubble in Qionghai Province in the future. The latter was an unexpected situation that arose from the creation of another economic special zone, but this time it was the first government-led land auction after the reform and opening-up.

In the domestic political environment, the first activity of its kind meant that no problems were allowed to occur!

If problems arose, it would tarnish the central policy, and if the policy was tarnished, how could it be implemented? Therefore, the first time, it had to be a success at all costs.

The order had been issued from above, but neither Chen Yunfei nor Du Peng had ever known that land sales could be conducted this way. They were completely at a loss when faced with the land speculation by real estate companies. In the end, they thought of Zhou Ming and called him from Linyang, giving him such a high-level reception.

Understanding these key points, Zhou Ming said apologetically to Chen Yunfei, "I'm sorry, Mayor Chen. This is all due to my lack of consideration, causing trouble for the country and the Party."

Chen Yunfei waved his hand and said, "Actually, it's not your fault. After the economy was liberalized, various speculative behaviors were bound to appear. Your advice to Du Peng served as a warning to us. If we handle this situation well, it will provide valuable experience for future housing reforms. In the future, our country and the Party will not be at a loss when faced with similar situations."

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and said, "Mayor Chen, solving this problem isn't difficult. As long as the government intervenes and requires companies that have acquired land to develop it, wouldn't that work?"

"This method won't work," Chen Yunfei immediately rejected it.

Zhou Ming made an "oh" sound, and Du Peng explained to him, "The reform and opening-up is a major policy, and allowing the free trade of land is also a major policy. As the mayor of Nanjiang, Uncle Chen can't go against these major policies."

"Even with reform and opening-up, it must be under the macro-control of the government. It's not about completely letting the economy develop freely. So, the government's intervention doesn't really go against the major policies," Zhou Ming expressed his opinion.

Du Peng shook his head and said to Zhou Ming, "Whether it does or not, that's not the point. According to Uncle Chen, the central leader's intention is that since the reform and opening-up is an economic issue, it should be solved with economic means. If administrative intervention is used, it would go against the original intention of the reform and opening-up and wouldn't allow the market to be truly tested."

"I see," Zhou Ming said.

"So if administrative intervention were possible, Uncle Chen would have done it long ago. The central leadership has already made it clear that the issue must be resolved economically, without direct administrative intervention. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so complicated," Du Peng said. "Now that you understand Uncle Chen's difficulties, why don't we go back and think about it some more..."

Before Du Peng could finish, Zhou Ming said, "If we don't use direct intervention, there are still ways."

Hearing this, Chen Yunfei and Du Peng were both stunned. They looked at Zhou Ming in surprise, hardly believing it.

"Everyone says that a young bull is fearless. I think you're a perfect example, Zhou Ming," Chen Yunfei said to Zhou Ming.

Du Peng quickly said to Zhou Ming, "Zhou Ming, you can't just say things like that. Uncle Chen has organized several meetings with city officials and experts from Nanjiang, and even went to the capital, Yanjing, and Binhai to consult experts. They didn't come up with a good solution, and the central government hasn't given any instructions. How could you possibly have a solution when you just arrived in Nanjiang and don't even know the situation?"

"The concept of land speculation was my idea. What else do I need to know? As for the other experts, I'm not saying they lack ability. It's just that the long-term planned economy has fixed many people's thinking. Many methods aren't that they can't think of, but they simply don't have the concept," Zhou Ming said.

"Is that so? I'd like to hear your brilliant ideas, young man, and see what we've been missing," Chen Yunfei said.

"What do I get out of it if I tell you?" Zhou Ming asked.

Zhou Ming's question left Chen Yunfei and Du Peng stunned. For Chen Yunfei, he had never met anyone who dared to make demands of him. For Du Peng, Zhou Ming seemed overly bold, daring to ask for something from Chen Yunfei, who was a highly respected student of his grandfather, the mayor of Nanjiang and the vice governor of Lingnan, and a major figure with direct access to central leaders.

"You little guy, you really have some nerve," Chen Yunfei laughed. "Alright, what do you want?"

Zhou Ming scratched his head and thought for a moment, "I've only been in Nanjiang for less than half an hour. I haven't decided yet."

Chen Yunfei and Du Peng were both speechless.