Chapter 41

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Upon hearing this, Zhang Yun smiled and explained, "County Chief Xiao, Yang Xiao's promotion is because he is a talent personally brought in by the Secretary from the city. Yang Xiao is a high-caliber graduate from the Economics and Management Department of Yanjing University. If the Secretary hadn't personally gone to the city to request him, the city might not have been willing to send Yang Xiao to Wuh River at all!"

"The County Party Committee Office, based on the instructions from the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government regarding the introduction of talents from higher education institutions and the exceptional promotion of highly educated talents to strengthen the cultivation of young cadres, appointed Yang Xiao as the Director of the Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, responsible for the county's foreign affairs work. This is also in line with the spirit of the instructions from the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government!"

After listening to Zhang Yun's words, Xiao Yashong pointed at Zhang Yun and laughed. Zhang Yun's response was watertight, explaining Yang Jie's exceptional promotion by citing the instructions from the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, not entirely due to his achievements in attracting investment. This showed Zhang Yun's caution.

"Old Zhang, I didn't mean to criticize Wuh River County's appointment of cadres! You misunderstood me, you overthought it!" Xiao Yashong came to Wuh River County to learn and exchange experiences, not to find fault. After explaining that he had no other intentions, he said to Yang Jie, "Yang Xiao, we came to Wuh River County to learn from your experience. You mustn't hold back! Teach us, the cadres of Luosang County, and help our poor county!"

"County Chief Xiao, please rest assured, Yang Jie will do his best!" Yang Jie smiled slightly and responded with neither arrogance nor humility.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Ma Liangyu smiled and said to Yang Jie, "Yang Xiao, go to Director Gu's table and accompany the Director of the Luosang County Commerce Bureau, Mr. Wang, and others. Director Zhang and Director Zhou, we're waiting for you. Since everyone is here, let's take our seats and start the banquet!"

In the system, the principle of equal reception is always followed. Because Luosang County is economically backward and has no status in the city, Wuh River County did not arrange for a vice-county chief to receive them, but only arranged for a few directors from the County Party Committee and County Government Office to represent Wuh River County.

Yang Jie, being a section-level cadre, could not sit at the same table as Xiao Yashong. Zhang Yun and Zhou Dequan did not object to Ma Liangyu's arrangement. After indicating for Yang Jie to go to Gu Zhongyi's table, they sat down next to Xiao Yashong.

After everyone was seated, the reception banquet officially began. The dishes had not yet been served, but the wine was already on the table. Each table had four bottles of Wuh River Liquor, without exception.

In the private room, everyone, led by Xiao Yashong, stood up together, raised their glasses, and drank a toast. After the big toast, everyone in their seats took turns to raise their glasses to the leaders, and after a round of toasts, they returned to their seats and continued drinking with those at their table.

Although Luosang County was poor, the cadres who came for the exchange all had excellent drinking capacity. Yang Jie, watching the bold and spirited cadres of Luosang County, felt very moved. The less economically developed the region, the more prevalent the drinking culture among cadres. The six cadres from Luosang County were all experts in drinking.

Gu Zhongyi and three colleagues from the Comprehensive Department, after just three rounds of drinking and before five dishes were served, were already flushed and speaking with a slight stutter.

"Brother Yang, if you have the chance to come to Luosang County in the future, I'll treat you to authentic mountain delicacies. Come, let's drink!" The Director of the Luosang County Commerce Bureau, Wang Guilong, drank very happily. Knowing that Yang Jie was not just an ordinary staff member but a section-level cadre and a new favorite in the County Party Committee Office, he treated Yang Jie very well.

"Director Wang, welcome to Wuh River County to exchange experiences! If there's a chance, I'll definitely visit Luosang County. I'll toast to you!" With Xiao Wu's support, Yang Jie was open to all comers. After drinking a glass with each of the cadres from Luosang County, he finally matched up with Wang Guilong.

Seeing Yang Jie drink two ounces of white wine in one go, Wang Guilong loudly cheered, "Great drinking capacity! Brother Yang is really straightforward! I'll offer you this drink, wishing you a bright future and a steady rise." After saying this, Wang Guilong tilted his head back and drank all the white wine in his glass, then raised his glass to show that he had finished it in one go.

"Great! Director Wang, you really have a great drinking capacity!" The cadres from Luosang County, seeing this, loudly cheered.

"Brother Yang, let's have another one. If we have deep feelings, we'll finish it in one go. No cheating!" Wang Guilong, in high spirits, stood up, picked up the wine bottle, and personally refilled Yang Jie's glass before filling his own and raising his glass to toast Yang Jie. They both drank it in one go.

"It's been a long time since I've had such a good drink. Brother Yang, I didn't expect your drinking capacity to be so good." Wang Guilong was a true expert in drinking. After drinking nearly two pounds of white wine, his face was still not red, and his speech was clear, showing no signs of drunkenness.

"Brother Wang, your drinking capacity is really impressive. I admire you!" Yang Jie smiled slightly and said sincerely to Wang Guilong.

People with good drinking capacity usually don't take compliments from those who can't drink to heart, but Yang Jie's drinking capacity was deep and bottomless. After drinking so much, he looked even more sober than Wang Guilong, making Wang Guilong very happy.

"In fact, my drinking capacity is all thanks to the medicinal wine from Luosang County. Luosang County is poor, as everyone knows. Eighty percent of the county's area is in the mountains, with an average altitude of over 1,000 meters. The mountains are dense and the sunlight is abundant, producing a wide variety of medicinal herbs, which are all excellent for soaking in wine.

"In the future, when you come to Luosang County and try our medicinal wine, you'll know that what I say is true." Wang Guilong looked at the Wuh River Liquor bottle and felt very moved. A winery like this could attract an investment of 50 million US dollars, he wondered if the foreign investor was alcohol-intoxicated.

Speaking of wine, the medicinal wine from Luosang County was well-known in the Changyang region, but due to the poor transportation, no foreign investment had come to Luosang County. With only a little money from the county, it was impossible to create a company like the Wuh River Winery. Therefore, Luosang County, sitting on a treasure mountain, could not fully utilize its local resources, which made Wang Guilong sigh.

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Although Yang Jie knew that Changyang City had five counties and two districts, apart from Wuh River County and the city district, he had only heard of the other four counties but never visited them. He didn't know that Luosang County was rich in medicinal herbs.

Whether it was Wuyang Winery or Xingwang Pharmaceutical, future production would require a large supply of medicinal herbs. If Luosang County was suitable for growing Chinese medicine, a medicinal herb planting base could be established there to grow various herbs needed by the future company.

Alternatively, a purchase agreement could be signed with Luosang County, where the county would organize the local people to grow the herbs needed by the company, and the Wuh River County side would fund the purchase. This would solve the raw material problem and help the development of the poor county.

Moreover, although Luosang County did not border Wuh River County, both counties were within the Changyang City area. Even with Yumen County in between, the distance was less than 150 kilometers, much closer than buying herbs from distant places.

"Brother Wang, are there many types of medicinal herbs in Luosang County?" Yang Jie picked up the wine bottle, refilled Wang Guilong's glass, and asked casually.

"Many! Luosang County has 13 townships and 6 towns, covering a total area of 2,371 square kilometers with a total population of 360,000, including 73,000 ethnic minorities. Eighty percent of the area and population are in the deep mountains, with over a hundred types of wild and cultivated medicinal herbs.

"Selling herbs is an important source of income for the mountain residents of Luosang County. Each township takes it very seriously. Soaking herbs from Luosang County in wine is definitely a good choice. Luosang medicinal wine is famous throughout the Changyang region, usually with a price but no market, hard to buy even if you want to." Wang Guilong, as the Director of the Commerce Bureau, could easily describe the basic situation of Luosang County.

"If it weren't for the poor transportation, the income from growing and selling medicinal herbs alone would be substantial for the county and the mountain residents. Brother, asking this, do you have a good project to introduce to me?" A glint of insight flashed in Wang Guilong's eyes as he looked at Yang Jie, who was sitting not far away, with a hidden meaning.

Yang Jie was taken aback and immediately understood. It turned out that Wang Guilong was promoting the medicinal herbs of Luosang County, waiting for him! Xiao Yashong had just negotiated three projects in Wuh River County and then led a team to Wuh River County to learn and exchange experience in attracting investment. His purpose was not to learn but to find opportunities to attract project investments.

The two projects, Wuyang Winery and Xingwang Pharmaceutical, had attracted 80 million US dollars in foreign investment. While the situation with Wuyang Winery was unknown to the Luosang County delegation, the 30 million US dollars invested in Xingwang Pharmaceutical had spread throughout the Changyang region.

In the eyes of the Luosang County delegation, since Xingwang was a pharmaceutical company, Luosang County had the potential to benefit from this project by relying on its rich medicinal herb resources, possibly driving the entire medicinal herb sales and planting industry chain in Luosang County.

"Brother, your visit to Wuh River County this time is like Xiang Zhuang's sword dance, aiming at Peigong! Learning and exchanging is a pretense, finding projects and attracting investment is the real goal." Yang Jie played with the wine glass in his hand, looking at Wang Guilong with a smile.

"Exactly! No need to hide the truth from a real person. County Chief Xiao's main purpose in leading the team to Wuh River County is to meet the chairman of Xingwang Pharmaceutical, Mr. Liu Daxing, to see if there's an opportunity for Luosang County to cooperate with Xingwang Pharmaceutical.

"Brother, Luosang County is poor! The people of Luosang County are suffering! In some remote mountainous areas, there are still many villages without electricity, and the mountain residents have to use kerosene lamps and candles at night. The medicinal herbs they collect at great risk are bought by herb dealers at very low prices, and the money earned is not enough to buy new clothes for the children.

"We, as cadres, see this in our eyes and feel it in our hearts, but there is not a single pharmaceutical factory in the entire Changyang region. Even though Luosang County produces medicinal herbs, they are all bought by out-of-town herb dealers at very low prices and sold elsewhere.

"Therefore, the construction of a pharmaceutical factory in Wuh River County is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Luosang County. We don't want to miss any chance." Wang Guilong vividly described the poverty and suffering of Luosang County to Yang Jie. Looking at Wang Guilong, Yang Jie had a new respect for this cadre from Luosang County.

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