In Chen Lifu's view, if we want to further develop Guangdong's manufacturing industry, let alone other things, transportation issues are a top priority!
The Holy Emperor said many years ago: If you want to be rich, build roads!
Chen Lifu deeply agrees!
Hoping to make a contribution as the governor of Guangdong and gain the opportunity to enter the royal study in the future, Chen Lifu had just arrived at the Guangzhou pier on the coastal liner from Shanghai to Guangzhou of the Feng Shipping Company. As soon as he got off the ship, he was facing the front.
A group of officials and gentry who came to greet me spoke at length, talking about people's livelihood and economic matters.
Of course, these are general talks, and there are no details. What is more, it is to send a signal to the outside world, that is, in the next few years, he will focus mainly on the development of people's livelihood and economy.
Local officials followed their own pace, and at the same time they also sent a message to the local business community and gentry.
That is, in the next few years, the government will vigorously develop the people's livelihood economy, especially industrial manufacturing.
This means that there will be many preferential policies, and businessmen who plan to enter the manufacturing industry or expand the scale of the manufacturing industry must be prepared.
In the next few days, almost the entire city of Guangzhou knew that the new governor this time was different from the governor Zhou Yiran in previous years. At that time, Zhou Yiran focused on the administration of officials, and rectifying the administration of officials was Zhou Yiran's priority at that time.
The main job, and economic development, to be honest, is just incidental.
Of course, a good administrative environment also lays the foundation for good local economic development.
Now, Chen Lifu obviously wants to focus his main work on economic development.
However, this does not mean that Chen Lifu does not pay attention to official governance.
Because he knows very well that a good administrative environment is the basic condition for developing people's livelihood economy.
If the local government is rampant in corruption and asks for bribes everywhere, this will undoubtedly create obstacles to economic development.
Businessmen are not fools. Today, the Tang Empire has many places to invest, such as the Jiangnan region. The investment environment there is so good. In addition to the economic convenience, the local government atmosphere, especially in Songjiang Prefecture, is also great.
It is also very good. Not only will the local government not ask for bribes and create investment obstacles, but will also provide various convenient services.
There are also other areas that are in urgent need of investment. For the sake of their own political achievements, officials in those places would like to treat investors as parents.
In addition, the Tang Empire already had a complete banking system, with the Royal Bank, the Imperial Development Bank, and many other banks all over the country, which had established a complete capital circulation system for the industrial and commercial community.
As long as you have money, you can invest anywhere, but you don't have to invest in those disgusting places.
Therefore, in order to develop industry and commerce, every place actually has to compete with other places.
Advantages such as geography and special products are innate and cannot be changed, but some soft conditions can be created by oneself.
For example, the government provides various conveniences to investors, including transportation!
So when Chen Lifu first took office, although he talked about economic development, the first thing he did was not to attract investment. In fact, with the special geographical advantages of the Pearl River Delta, there was no need to do this deliberately.
For example, in Songjiang Prefecture, as long as the local officials are not stupid, a large number of businessmen come to Shanghai with checks to seek opportunities to invest and make money.
The first thing Chen Lifu did was still to rectify the administration of officials.
During Zhou Yiran's three years as governor of Guangdong, he mainly focused on rectifying the administration of local middle- and senior-level officials. After his three years of rectification, the administrative environment at the middle and senior levels has basically been greatly improved.
However, the problem of official governance at the grassroots level is still very prominent!
Chen Lifu targeted grassroots officials, and he struck hard whenever he took action!
He took office only a month ago, but he personally visited many surrounding state capitals, taking trains where there were trains, taking boats where ships were accessible, and riding horse-drawn carriages where trains and ships were not available.
In one month, he visited almost every state and county in Guangdong, and even went to the southernmost native territory of the empire, Guangning County in Lianzhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province.
Since the Tang Empire acquired the Guangning area from the Annan and Northern Dynasties, it established a county here and it was directly under the jurisdiction of Lianzhou Prefecture, making this place the empire's homeland.
It is also the southernmost mainland of the Tang Empire.
The reason why the Tang Empire treats this place as its homeland is because it has the most important coal mine for the entire empire, the Guangning Coal Mine.
A large amount of coal produced here is supplied to the whole country, not only as coal for cooking and heating by ordinary residents, but also as coal for industry.
In addition, the high-quality anthracite produced by Guangning Coal is also the designated coal for the Tang Dynasty Navy.
Today's Datang Navy, in principle, only uses high-quality anthracite coal produced by Guangning Coal, and ordinary coal produced elsewhere is generally only used as backup coal.
Such an important coal mine cannot be overemphasized by the Tang Empire!
Chen Lifu also came to Guangning Coal Mine and inspected the local mining area, as well as ports and other facilities for transporting coal.
After completing his inspection of Guangning County, Chen Lifu returned to Guangzhou and issued multiple administrative orders in succession, requiring prefectural and county government offices to rectify their officialdom.
Of course, this is just superficial.
In fact, he instructed the Provincial Supervisory Office to conduct large-scale inspections throughout the province and crack down on local grassroots governance problems.
The effect of the crackdown was also very good. He, Chen Lifu, was personally in charge, and together with a group of censors from the Inspectorate who were looking for trouble for officials in order to get promoted, a large group of middle- and lower-level corrupt officials were brought down.
The fate of these corrupt officials who were removed from their posts was naturally not that good. At present, the administration of officials in the Tang Dynasty was quite strict. Those who committed serious crimes would even confiscate their families and exterminate their families. Many people were executed, and even more were imprisoned and exiled.
too much.
Chen Lifu also knows that relying on such vigorous and resolute actions can only achieve temporary results. To truly achieve a good grassroots governance atmosphere requires long-term and sustained efforts.
But if you don’t even think about it, you can’t expect the follow-up.
Three months after Chen Lifu took office, thousands of lower-level officials were arrested. This made the local officials shout that this Chen Lifu is completely second to Zhou Yiran.
At the same time, many people remembered that when Chen Lifu was working as a tax collector, he was also cruel and ruthless, killing people wherever he went.
For a time, Chen's terror shrouded Guangdong officialdom!
But this is the effect Chen Lifu wants to achieve. He cannot guarantee that everyone will not be greedy, but he can scare the monkeys. In this way, he can tell the majority of middle- and lower-level officials that I am serious and don't be stupid.
To offend my brow.
Even if you want to be greedy, I have to hold it back!
For a time, the atmosphere of the officialdom has been greatly changed, but this change almost made Chen Lifu angry to death!
Because these middle- and lower-level officials are the ones who have the most contact with ordinary people. In the past, they used to get paid to do things, but now under the high-pressure policy, they dare not accept money, but they can't do things anymore!
This also made many businessmen and gentry discover that officials who used to do nothing without paying them now no longer do anything without receiving money.
Damn, it’s not as good as before. Although I had to spend money on things before, I can still get things done.
It's better now, I don't charge money anymore, but I don't do anything anymore. Whatever I do, I just put it off as long as I can, and I don't do it until it can't be put off anymore.
Chen Lifu was furious at this. He had been an official for more than ten years and had been in charge of the Songjiang Mansion for many years, but he had never seen such an official atmosphere.
Well, Chen Lifu raised his butcher knife again!
This time, there were not many killings. After all, the grassroots officials were just lazy in their administration, and it was not really a serious crime.
So Chen Lifu stopped killing people and arresting officials this time, but he still had a big trick, which was to go into exile.
No, it should be a transfer!
Nowadays, the Tang Empire is in the midst of the great development of Nanyang. The empire has established many new local yamen in various regions of Nanyang. In Wandan Prefecture alone, 13 new counties have been established in the past year.
The establishment of so many local yamen must require a large number of officials. The positions of high-ranking officials, such as county magistrates and prefecture governors, are easy to solve, but it is difficult to solve the many grassroots officials, ordinary clerks and the like.
Nowadays, Malacca Prefecture, Banten Prefecture, and Luzon Prefecture in Nanyang are complaining to the capital every day, saying that the local staff shortage is serious, so serious that in some places, even the county magistrate has to personally do some things that ordinary clerks do.
.
At this time, Chen Lifu sent a memorial, saying that Guangdong had a large number of grassroots officials and could support Nanyang. The number of support could reach thousands.
When the officials saw it, Chen Lifu was great. These thousands of people had solved the big problem of the officials.
After all, no one is willing to go to that miserable place in Nanyang. Although forced transfer is possible, it is always more troublesome. Now Chen Lifu has come out to be this villain, which made the officials of the Ministry of Personnel sigh. This Chen Lifu
Governor, it’s still pretty good!
But the local officials in Guangdong were completely frightened by this move!
Because the number of officials sent to Nanyang in the first batch exceeded 500!
They are all old people, people who sit in the yamen every day and do nothing!
The result was good, now he was sent to Nanyang.
Should I go here or not?
If you go, it will be no different from being exiled!
If you don't go, why don't you go even if you are transferred to the Ministry of Civil Affairs? Yes, you can hand in your resignation and you can go wherever you like from now on.
Not to mention, there are really many people who dare not resign on the spot. They are willing to make money by becoming an official, but they are not willing to go to that damn place in Nanyang.