Reborn as a Noble's Son

After a moment’s contemplation, Zhenbang asked, “What factory? What havoc? Fellows, please explain. What exactly happened?”

Though Nie Zhenbang had surmised the general situation, he still deliberately asked these questions. Speculation and reality, after all, are two different things.

The middle-aged man and the old man exchanged glances, eventually, it was the middle-aged man who slowly said: “Mayor, this is what happened.”

At this moment, not only Nie Zhenbang, but also Zhao Xintian and Zhang Keqiang listened attentively. Gaojia Town is located along the Liangxi River, which is the river that gave Liangxi City its name. More than four years ago, Liangxi City set up a development zone. At that time, Li Guohua was the deputy mayor. He introduced several well-known chemical production companies and two internationally renowned pharmaceutical factories from foreign countries. The medicines produced by these factories were groundbreaking in the domestic market. This caused quite a stir at the time.

The Liangxi City Development Zone is located along the Liangxi River, and the factories were also established here. The first year was passable, but as time went on, these factories, without any environmental protection measures, discharged industrial waste water directly into the Liangxi River. Consequently, the downstream environment became increasingly polluted. Gaojia Town, as the first major town downstream of the discharge, unfortunately bore the brunt of it. However, farther downstream, the pollutants became diluted and the situation improved significantly.

After saying this, the middle-aged man got down on his knees again: “Mayor Nie, we know you’re a good man, an honest official. With the textile factory scandal, you spared no corrupt officials. We believe you will deal with our situation as well.”

As he finished speaking, Zhang Keqiang on the side asked, “The pollution in Gaojia Town is so serious, why haven’t you reported it to the government?”

“Dear leader, we wish we could. However, the town forbade us, saying it involved foreign investors. National regulations mandate full protection of foreign investments. If we caused trouble, we’d all be arrested. Moreover, every time we planned to protest, numerous rogues would come to intimidate us. We thought we could just muddle through, hence had neglected it till now. In previous years, the river was clear and filled with fishes and shrimps. Now, not to mention fishes or shrimps, we can’t even see water plants. We don’t dare irrigate the rice fields with this water. As soon as this water touches the rice, they would certainly die. We have no other choice.” The old man on the side said helplessly.

Hearing these words, Nie Zhenbang was almost entirely convinced. The crowd was filled with ordinary farmers who would not be lying. Moreover, foreign-funded enterprises have always been notoriously arrogant. Back then, if he hadn’t intervened, perhaps Audi would still be unduly arrogant.

With this in mind, Nie Zhenbang turned to the side and said to Liu Weijun, “Secretary-General Liu, call Yanling City now and tell them we have an emergency and cannot go there today.”

He then turned to Zhang Keqiang and said, “Deputy Mayor Zhang, could you contact the Environmental Protection Bureau and ask them to send professional technicians to Gaojia Town as soon as possible?”

Now, after this incident, it is most likely not a matter that can be solved in the short term. As for calling the Environmental Protection Bureau, Nie Zhenbang wanted to evaluate the degree of pollution.

Subsequently, Nie Zhenbang turned to the villagers and said, “Fellows, can you take me to the riverside to have a look?”

The crowd was more than eager to oblige when Nie Zhenbang made the request. The middle-aged man’s face was filled with joy, and he nodded repeatedly, “Alright, alright. I’ll lead the way.”

From a side road next to the Expressway, straight down, it was less than a mile to Gaojia Town along the Liangxi River. Under the lead of the middle-aged man, the group took a small road on the edge of the town and went directly to the Liangxi riverside.

As soon as Nie Zhenbang saw the Liangxi River in its current state, he furrowed his brows. The Liangxi River is the main channel of the Liangxi City area. Although the river is not large, it runs through the city of Liangxi, and the water volume is abundant. Looking ahead, the entire river had turned pitch black. Apart from some floating rubbish on the surface, nothing else could be seen. Even both banks of the river are devoid of any weeds. As the water flowed downstream, the black color gradually faded until it turned green again. In the distance, grass and other vegetation could be seen on the river bank.

A gentle wind blew and occasionally transmitted bursts of offensive smells from the river surface. This made Zhao Xintian and others feel sick. However, since Nie Zhenbang did not cover his nose, others naturally wouldn’t either.

Nie Zhenbang was shocked by the scene before him. Whether in the past life or this one, Nie Zhenbang knew only the concept of extreme pollution, but he had never experienced it himself. Seeing the severity firsthand today gave him a tremendous shock.

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang appeared solemn, his gaze serious as he stared at the factory standing upstream from the river with a frown etched on his face. Half an hour later, a minicar arrived with the emblem of Liangxi Environmental Protection Bureau still on its body. Leading the group, Du Nianchun, the Director of the Liangxi City Environmental Protection Bureau, had already disembarked from the vehicle. Behind him, several technical personnel followed.

Having received a phone call from Deputy Mayor Zhang indicating that Mayor Nie required him to immediately dispatch his technical personnel to Gaojia Town, Du Nianchun dared not delay and immediately brought his team to the scene.

Just as he was about to greet Mayor Nie, Nie Zhenbang spoke: “Director Du, let’s dispense with the formalities. Have your team start work immediately, beginning with a preliminary water quality test. Additionally, collect samples from a thousand-meter radius along the riverbank. As soon as you return, start the laboratory testing. Can you determine the pollutants within a day? Provide me with a detailed environmental assessment report by tomorrow. Can you do that?”

Nie Zhenbang’s straightforward and efficient approach to situations had become more familiar to most officials in Liangxi City over the past few months. Du Nianchun responded solemnly, nodding: “Yes, Mayor Nie. I will produce the environmental assessment report by tomorrow afternoon.”

No sooner than his words had fallen, a sudden uproar erupted from behind. On the river embankment, a crowd of dozens of local people had started shouting loudly.

Looking at the embankment, four or five vehicles had already stopped on the road below, and a group of young men in their late teens to early twenties had begun confronting these people.

On sighting a middle-aged man leading them, one of the young men with a crew cut shouted: “Gao Zhihua, do you have a death wish, stirring up trouble again? Damn it, why are you looking for problems when there are none? You’ve even brought in the environmental protection people? I tell you, don’t mess around, think about your wife and children.”

This group, they were all young men dressed in fashionable and trendy attire. Despite being respectable men, some of them had piercings in their ears. Their hair was dyed in various vibrant colors. They looked like troublemakers from the streets.

However, these hooligans, capable of driving cars, seemed to have a stronger backing. At this moment, the middle-aged man, Gao Zhihua, who was being referred to by the hooligans, retorted angrily: “Huang Ma Zi, you bastards, what kind of heroes are you for threatening families? If you have the guts, deal with it face to face. Can’t you see the state of the Liangxi River for yourself? Within a decade, I fear the groundwater of Gaojia Town will be polluted. Your descendants will speak ill of you.”

As soon as his words fell, Huang Ma Zi burst into laughter: “Conscience?”

“Brother Ma, this old boy is giving us lessons in morality. We should beat him up.”

After laughing, Huang Ma Zi looked at him disdainfully: “Gao Zhihua, don’t talk big to me. I don’t believe that if the river is polluted, it could suffocate people; there is plenty of water in the great lakes. What’s more, Mayor Li himself introduced the factories. It’s all approved by the government and even earned Mayor Li a promotion. You think you can talk your way out of this, Gao Zhihua? Listen, Brother Tiger has given his order today, we’ll break your legs to try and teach you a lesson. Brothers, let’s do this!”

The mention of Brother Tiger, the factory, and the officials of Gaojia Town all seemed to be part of a web of vested interests. With the factory emitting industrial wastewater and waste without any prevention measures, production costs were minimized. Moreover, pollution treatment is incredibly expensive even abroad. As the factories were owned by profiteers pretending to be saviors rather than real ones, naturally, they didn’t bother with such matters. To prevent local people from causing trouble, they colluded with the government and local hooligans to maintain this scenario. This is their “star business.” At this moment, the rage within Nie Zhenbang was soaring.

Seeing the impending fight, Liu Weijun stepped forward. This was a rare opportunity to demonstrate himself. Standing at the front, Liu Weijun shouted loudly: “What are you doing? Do you recognize who’s here with us? This is Mayor Nie from the City Government. Do you still acknowledge any rule of law, any governmental authority? You’re shameless to threaten and assault a person publicly.”

Liu Weijun, having been a leader for many years, exuded a certain dignity in his speech and actions. For a while, he stunned the crowd with his words.

At his side, Huang Ma Zi and the others were taken aback. They glanced hesitantly at Nie Zhenbang and the others. As hooligans, they were keen observers. From the mannerisms and attire of Nie and his entourage, they appeared to be anything but ordinary people.

However, Liu Weijun miscalculated. There’s a saying in the street: civilians fear hoodlums, hoodlums fear the police, police fear officials, officials fear leaders, and leaders fear civilians. If a uniformed policeman were here, there would likely be some deterrent effect. Yet the city’s leaders seem too remote to men like Huang Ma Zi.

Almost instantly, Huang Ma Zi burst into laughter: “Mayor Nie? Would Mayor Nie come to a place like this? Stop bluffing; anybody can claim to be the Mayor. Hell, why don’t I claim to be the Governor then? Brothers, go and smash everything they have in their hands. Render Gao Zhihua useless. Brother Tiger said that if this is done right, there’s a reward of one hundred thousand yuan!” (