Chapter 72: Superpower
Wang Bu and Su Licheng were discussing matters in the study. Against this backdrop, Su Can could sense the feverish preparations underway, as though even the air held a densely woven pressure that made it hard to breathe.
Su Can could understand that, once people reached their level, to a great extent they no longer lived for personal gain or struggled solely for themselves. Within the system, the municipal Party secretary had always controlled personnel and money. Controlling personnel naturally meant Wang Bu held Rongcheng's power over appointments. Personnel matters were an eternal talking point for almost everyone in officialdom, as well as their greatest concern, a source of conflict and power, and a direct expression of political maneuvering.
Control over money, meanwhile, took concrete form in projects encompassing municipal affairs, the economy, industry, infrastructure, the environment, water management, the service sector, and more. Almost every aspect of the resources Rongcheng could mobilize was covered. Anyone sitting in that position was bound to be either at the center of a storm or locked in a sharp confrontation. Those capable of confronting the Party secretary of a provincial capital were naturally no ordinary people, but a group of exceptional, worldly-wise figures who had spent more than half their lives climbing to comparable positions.
Did the counties and cities under Rongcheng's jurisdiction not need development? Did they not need to demonstrate their administrative achievements and political ambitions? Blending in with everyone else meant stagnation and decay. Breaking out meant destroying some people's interests. It was work that offended people.
Take, for example, the construction of an economic zone encompassing automobile manufacturing, construction, information and communications, and related industries. Every link in the associated industrial chains had to be considered, from real estate, raw materials, labor, and steelmaking to the