In his previous life, by the time Li Ye had heard of Zhuancheng, it had already become a well-known Automobile City in North China Region.
Futian Automobile alone had driven the economy of an entire industrial chain, and coupled with the rich mineral deposits in Zhuancheng's mountains, it had raised Zhuancheng to thirty-second place in the national rankings of the top one hundred counties and cities by county-level economic strength and basic competitiveness.
But when Li Ye arrived in Zhuancheng in 1990, he understood why Wang Jinyu had fought so hard to seek a way out—and why he had gained the support of the local authorities.
On the map, Zhuancheng looked like a decent place. A hundred kilometers to the east lay Island City, and it was already within Dongshan Province's most economically developed "Peninsula Region." But in the most crucial matter of transportation, it had fallen behind.
Before the inland highway network had fully developed, ninety percent of prosperous regions had been close to railways, and the nation's resources had correspondingly been tilted toward areas along the rail lines.
Yet before 2000, the Jiaoxin Railway had not been completed. So Li Ye, Wang Jinyu, and the others could not travel directly from Beijing to Zhuancheng by train; they had to get off at Jiaozhou or Mi County to the north.
Wang Jinyu had arranged a large bus and a 212 Jeep in advance. After picking up Li Ye and the others at the station, they headed south all the way.
That in itself was nothing. Li Ye's hometown, Qingshui County, did not have rail service either.
But the road conditions were worlds apart. From Qingshui County to the provincial capital, it took a little over half an hour at high speed, while the fifty-kilometer road from Mi County to