Power and Wealth-Chapter 1083: County’s Financial status

Morning

County Party Committee small meeting room.

After all the members got into their seats, Party Secretary Meng Rui and Mayor Jiang arrived. Secretary Meng looked terrible, and he was speaking to Mayor Jiang. She looked emotionless. Dong Xuebing looked at them and felt Jiang Fangfang seemed better at concealing her emotions. Although Secretary Meng has the final say in Zhen Shui County, he could not hide his emotions well.

“Have you given out the documents?” Meng Rui looked at a youth.

The youth, Zhang Feng, replied. “Yes.”

Meng Rui nodded. “Let’s start the meeting.”

Zhang Feng is Secretary Meng’s secretary. He is around twenty-six or seven and is in charge of taking meeting minutes.

The two top leaders got into their seats, and the meeting started.

Dong Xuebing looked at Jiang Fangfang secretly.

Mayor Jiang drank her tea and looked in front.

Secretary Meng should introduce Dong Xuebing as this was his first time attending the meeting. But everyone could tell Secretary Meng was in a bad mood.

Secretary Meng looked at a man in his thirties. “Chief Yan, update us on our current financial status.”

Yan Yizhi.

County Financial Department Chief.

Yan Yizhi is close with Secretary Meng’s faction and is considered one of them.

Dong Xuebing looked at Yan Yizhi and remembered what Yao Cui had told him.

Yan Yizhi attended this meeting but had no power to make any decisions. He replied. “Our funds are running low. The higher had issued some funds to use, and we had used them to repay our debts and make up last year’s deficits. Our account has less than 2 million RMB now.” 2 million RMB must seem like a lot, but it’s nothing to a county. “If we cannot get fresh funding, we might not have enough to pay our staff this month.”

The leaders started to discuss softly among themselves.

Secretary Meng did not say anything. He lit a cigarette and looked at the rest.

Deputy Secretary Zhang Wanshui said. “We cannot pay the staff’s wages?! Do we have other solutions?”

Yan Yizhi replied helplessly. “We tried going to the City Government, but their situation is no better. They don’t have extra funds to support our County. My men visited the City three times, and I went there once. We could not get the funds from them.” The Finance Department Chief is a good position many people would fight for. However, Zhen Shui County is poor, and the Finance Department lacks money. The Chief got to beg for funding from the City Government.

Deputy Mayor Ci Boyang frowned. “The City has always given us funds. Why are they not giving this year?”

Yan Yizhi explained. “The City suffered heavy losses earlier this year because of the snowstorm.”

Everyone was feeling terrible except for Jiang Fangfang.

No one said a word.

One second….

Two seconds….

Three seconds….

Meng Rui snubbed his cigarette and said. “I want to inform everyone another thing. I went to the Provincial Government to seek financial assistance and returned this morning. You might not know about the result. The Provincial Government will not be giving us additional funding this year.”

“Ah?!”

“How can this be?!”

“What…. This….”

Secretary Meng’s words caused everyone to panic.

Their county relied on Government funding every year, and they sometimes needed to borrow money. The Provincial government is not giving them money, and they are in trouble.

No money….

The county cannot do anything now.

United Front Work Department Minister Jian asked. “Secretary Meng, can the Province….”

Meng Rui knocked on the table. “Don’t think of asking the Provincial Government for help. The snowstorm had a great impact on the Province too. Their fund is used in the disaster zones. I called for the meeting to discuss how our county can get money to make up for the shortfalls. If we cannot think of a solution, we cannot last until the end of the month. This cannot happen.”

If the county has no money to run, the higher-ups might blame it on the County leaders.

Meng Rui looked at Dong Xuebing. “Mayor Dong, you are in charge of the Finance Department. What do you suggest?”

Dong Xuebing thought for a while and said. “I can set an example and help speak to our people to take their salaries a few months later. Other than those in financial difficulties, the rest should be fine.” He does not mind his salary as his asset is more than 100 million.

Meng Rui nodded. “We will not pay their salaries in time this month. We must let our staff knows and get them to understand our situation.”

Everyone nodded.

Jiang Fangfang interrupted. “This is only a temporary solution.”

Meng Rui nodded. “We got to solve this problem at the root.”

Deputy Mayor Ci Boyang said. “Can we organize an Investment fair to get outside funding? We can…. I forgot Mayor Dong is in charge of the Investment Promotion Agency now.”

Meng Rui said. “Anyone can make suggestions. This is the worse year for our County, but let’s put aside the Investment fair for now. We need funds to organize this fair and are unsure about the results. We held it once, and the funds we received were less than our cost. The investments will also not come in so fast. Does anyone has any other suggestion?”

No one said a word.

It’s not easy to solve financial issues.

Secretary Meng waited for a while and looked at Jiang Hai.

Jiang Hai said. “I remember the higher-ups had given our Education Department some funds. Our education department still has money, and we can use it first. We can put back the money when our county has funds.” Google search f𝚛𝗲𝒆we𝙗𝙣o𝙫e𝗹. 𝐜o𝚖

Jian Xiangrong frowned. “But that fund is for education, and it’s not much too.”

Jiang Hai continued. “We have no choice now.”

Meng Rui sighed. “If we don’t have any better ideas, this is our only solution. We will use the education fund to repay the deficits and think of a solution later.”

These two men seemed to be putting on an act.

Dong Xuebing could tell Secretary Meng and Jiang Hai had discussed this before the meeting. Secretary Meng did not want to be responsible for touching a specialized fun and got Jiang Hai to suggest it during the meeting.

Everyone kept quiet. After all, Secretary Meng held the most power in the county.

However, Jiang Fangfang put down her cup and said. “I disagree.”

Meng Rui looked at Jiang Fangfang. “Then what do you suggest?”

Jiang Fangfang replied calmly. “We cannot touch that education fund. It is used for our county’s students and education. Even if the government agencies cannot pay the staff for the next six months, we must protect the children’s interest.”

Deputy Secretary Zhang Wanshui said. “Mayor Jiang, we got no choice. If we have money, who wants to touch that fund?”

Publicity Department Minister Cheng Fuguang added. “That’s right. This is for the bigger picture.”

Jiang Fangfang replied slowly. “I disagree.”

Dong Xuebing also felt they should not be using that fund. This fund is for the children, and using it for other purposes is against his principles. However, almost everyone at the meeting agrees with Secretary Meng, and he can do nothing.

Meng Rui looked at Jiang Fangfang. “Mayor Fang, how are we going to fill the deficit?”

Jiang Fangfang glanced at Meng Rui. “I think we should ask for funding from the central government. If we can get 10 million from them, it will solve our problems temporarily.”

“10 million?” Meng Rui laughed.

Meng Rui’s people shook their heads. “This is impossible.”

Meng Rui continued. “Mayor Jiang, you are too na?ve. The Central Government gave us lots of support. Why would they give us 10 million RMB now?”