Chapter 486: Two Lis in Politics
On the day the northern government asked for help, a disaster assessment team composed of various non-governmental organizations and diplomatic officials from some countries went to Longchuan.
Just before that, a batch of relief supplies from the International Red Cross had already arrived in Longchuan area.
Rescue workers have distributed various daily necessities to local residents.
Reporters entered Longchuan and saw two ten-meter-deep pits at the explosion site, with countless shattered rails, train cars and building fragments scattered around.
Even several residential areas near the accident site had been blown beyond recognition. Only 200 meters away from the explosion site was Longchuan County Primary School. The accident happened during school break, and the sudden explosion caused serious casualties.
Because the power facilities of the city's water supply system were destroyed in the explosion, some residents were unable to get clean drinking water.
In order to ensure the basic quality of local people's living water, the World Food Program distributed 2,000 water storage containers to the affected people and 720,000 units of water purification tablets.
Now some residents have received orders to take the initiative to take those who were made homeless by the explosion back home, temporarily alleviating the pressure of these people having no place to live.
However, this approach will increase the level of overcrowding among families who own houses and is not a long-term solution.
There is a shortage of medical facilities and medicines, and the power supply is not guaranteed. Even some infrastructure construction related to people's lives may not be resolved by October this year due to insufficient supply of materials.
This time, the North's response to the explosion went a step further than its active request for food aid ten years ago.
What is intriguing is that on the 26th, the North Korean government first rejected the Korean government's suggestion to provide them with assistance, and then proposed to hold talks on rescue issues at the Namsangol Hotel in Kaesong on the 27th. The two sides need to discuss rescue plans including the transportation routes for relief supplies.
Before this, the Kaesong Industrial Park, which was opened in cooperation with the North by the incumbent President Kim Min-jung, was still under construction and was expected to be put into use next year.
This is also the greatest symbol of friendship between the two sides at present.
Although Li Lianchang was very unhappy that the rescued people were acting like bosses, the first batch of relief supplies provided by the Korean Peninsula to the North was still transported via a fixed cargo ship on a fixed route from Incheon to the North.
Many media have been analyzing that the Longchuan explosion should become an important opportunity to strengthen cooperation between the North and the South.
"It's not important at all!" Li Lianchang and Li You met in the Blue House, and Li Lianchang was very angry.
"Do you know what they said?" Li Lianchang held his head, his eyes a little red. He didn't sleep well in the past few days and was also angry.
“They say they want the aid to come without strings attached.”
"And they said this only because I instructed my representatives to express their willingness for peace to them!"
"I said I hope for peace, but they said it's an additional condition," Li Lianchang said with anger. "Chairman Li, look at how much they've spoiled you!"
"I was thinking that they had a different understanding of their environment at this time," Li Lianchang sat back in his seat, "I really didn't expect that they would show a retreat in this situation."
"Even so," Li You smiled softly, "President Li still hopes that both sides can continue to move in a positive direction."
Li Lianchang also said, "If the North is willing to hold a South-North summit meeting with him in the near future, various major issues, such as nuclear bombs and missiles, can be resolved through dialogue."
“This is also a necessary condition for moving towards normal cooperation for the safety of our citizens and the security of our country.”
Li Lianchang sighed, "Every time, before we get their clear apology or promise not to do it again, we are once again subject to those peace offensives."
Li You also quite agrees with his view, "Every time the North-South dialogue is restarted, it is equivalent to being teased by their 'war business'."
"War business." Li Lianchang narrowed his eyes and thought about it, and felt that this statement was very appropriate. "
"During the previous two regimes, they always tried to buy peace with money, and even the so-called 'sunshine policy' was an attempt to beg for peace. Now they always provoke and then deny it, and they have to throw dirty water on us first, and then pretend to make concessions and ask for compensation, starting this kind of 'war trade' and 'security trade'."
Li Lianchang's statement was a bit extreme, but it does not mean that his statement is wrong. "This clearly puts us into a paradox."
He frowned, his face full of disappointment. "Only when we have the will to fight at all costs can we avoid war and protect peace."
"During those five years, Kim Min-jung maintained that false peace and even won the Peace Prize?"
"I really want to throw all the previous messes into the sewer," Li Lianchang half-closed his eyes before talking about the main event this time.
"Congress has approved the agreement signed between Chairman Li and the military. Since the first batch of Marine Corps members are all active-duty soldiers, special regulations have been opened."
Li You nodded and continued listening to Li Lianchang.
"Soldiers who are less than six months away from retirement can retire early and join the security work in Kinmen, but those who are beyond this time limit still have to wait until this time before they can leave the army."
This is equivalent to six months less of military service.
This is a good policy at present, after all, it is only the first cooperation.
"Members of the Marine Corps will begin to leave early next month according to this system," Li Lianchang told Li You, while conveying the military's request, "However, in order to prevent people from evading military service in this way, the military requires these soldiers to sign for at least one year."
"Of course," Li You chuckled, "The longer the time limit, the more beneficial it will be for our Kinmen security."
"Then there is nothing else important." Li Lianchang hesitated for a moment, but still asked tentatively, "I really didn't expect that you could reach an agreement with that person."
"Who?" Li You kept a smile on his face. Since Li Lianchang didn't point it out clearly that it was Quan Douguang, he naturally couldn't point it out either.
"Forget it," Li Lianchang closed his mouth again and waved his hands in frustration, "It's not convenient for me to know about this kind of thing."
The relationship between the two was not as good as before, so Li Lianchang did not ask any more questions.
"As for Jeon Ki-dong, I will support him in his election as a member of the National Assembly in South Gyeongsang Province," Li Youlin told Li Lianchang before leaving. "After all, he has worked diligently for so many years. I think he deserves the position of a member of the National Assembly."
Li Lianchang was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded, "Of course it's suitable."
Only one year after taking office as mayor of Seoul, Lee Myung-hak has done many things that have won the support of the people.
For example, the public transportation system has now been reformed. The buses throughout Seoul have undergone major changes. Many people have started taking new buses to travel, and traffic police will also pay special attention on the road, asking other vehicles to give way as much as possible to avoid congestion.
But this is not so relevant to Li You now, as Li You has already taken advantage of this project at the very beginning.
More important now is the ongoing Cheonggyecheon restoration project.
During the demolition process of the Qingxi Viaduct, aging problems were discovered, which also caused safety issues.
In order to ensure the safety of surrounding buildings, the Qingxi Elevated Road had to be demolished.
However, this project is also broken down into demolishing buildings, restoring the river, ensuring water supply and repairing sewers, and finally building roads on both sides and nearby.
It is estimated that a total of 22 bridges will be built, along with various restoration projects.
Cheonggyecheon is located in the city center, adjacent to the upstream section of the national government agencies. There are many historical sites and plans are underway to build tourist attractions.
Li You has invested in a large piece of land and real estate in the surrounding area, and believes that there will be huge room for appreciation in the future.
The Dongdaemun Stadium that Lee Woo bought earlier has now been converted into the Dongdaemun Market.
The renovated middle reaches of Cheonggyecheon are located right in the middle of Seoul, right across Dongdaemun Market, the famous small commodity wholesale market in Seoul.
The progress is very good. All the viaducts and roads have been dismantled, and the construction of sewage systems and roads and bridges is underway, but the environmental beautification projects will take a long time.
The properties in the surrounding area have been targeted by the increasingly enthusiastic real estate speculators recently, but after they set their sights, they found out that they already had owners.
The cement slabs that covered the area made the water in Cheonggyecheon increasingly dirty, the surrounding environment increasingly worse, the number of nearby residents and businesses decreased, and the surrounding economic development gradually slowed down.
Therefore, the current progress alone is enough to satisfy the citizens of Seoul.
Even the title of "Green Mayor" has been publicized through the media, and citizens are quite supportive of it.
Li Mingxue's popularity continues to soar, which means that he is getting closer to Li You's goal.
What Li You has to do now is to push him up further and give him more political achievements.
This will allow the Kinmen Group to act more recklessly in Seoul.
The construction workers who previously dismantled the viaduct and roads and are now building the sewage system and bridges are all from Golden Gate Real Estate’s construction team.
For the entire project, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is expected to invest US$360 million, and apart from compensation to surrounding residents, most of the money will go into the account of Golden Gate Real Estate.
The materials were purchased from Kinmen Real Estate, the people were hired from Kinmen Real Estate, and the construction plan was designed jointly by experts from Kinmen Real Estate and the environmental department.
Even most of the affected properties and shops in the surrounding area belong to Li You, which will allow Li You to receive a large amount of compensation.
Li You has been spending money lavishly recently and using various connections, but soon the money started to flow back into his pocket.
Although the project seems to have nothing to do with the Kinmen Group, it can still seize the benefits through various means.
It's just like these projects are specifically designed to provide funds to Li You. The money given out did not disappear, but turned into a network of connections surrounding Li You, and another part of the money flowed to Li You again.
When Li Mingxue found Li You, his face was full of vigor and vitality, but he soon calmed down and bowed his head respectfully in front of Li You, "President."
Li You didn't say anything, but just drank the tea slowly. It was a long time before he put down the teacup. "The mayor has done a good job recently. Not only has he gained a good reputation, but he has also easily achieved political achievements."
"Well, I didn't lie to you?"
Li Mingxue nodded gently, "No, President Nim."
"Although I have taken so much benefit, it was as a reward for pushing you to the forefront," Li You made no secret of it. "From now on, we are also partners."
He indirectly raised Li Mingxue's status. "I asked you to pay attention to Shunyang's behavior in the City Hall. What is Chen Rongji doing now?"
After Li You had a phone call with Chen Rongji last time, they completed the communications cooperation in the next few days. However, the content of the cooperation was very simple, which was about traffic charges and instant messaging software, and it was not complicated.
Cooperation of this scale will not affect Li You's desire to take over Shunyang. However, Suriname's oil is about to be shipped to the Korean Peninsula, which also means that Li You will lead the Kinmen Group and the Tianxia Group to go to war, and he will postpone Shunyang.
Li Mingxue thought for a while before he spoke slowly, "Chen Rongji has been acting like a coward now, and has completely lost his former obedient demeanor."
"He runs the business well, but he can only be a guardian of the status quo. He can't help Shunyang to make a comeback."
"As for the specific projects." Li Mingxue thought about it for a while and shook his head. "Based on my observation, there are no projects worthy of our attention."
Li You also felt a little regretful. After all, Shunyang was weak now, and this was a good opportunity.
But the key to using oil to impact Tianxia Group also lies in these three years, and he has to make a choice among them.
To conquer the world first or to conquer the foreign countries first, this is a multiple-choice question.
What Li You did was very simple. While Tianxia Group was waiting and watching regarding oil, he had to strike first.
Li You also guessed that Jin Jianying of Tianxia Group might soon fall seriously ill, or even a serious illness that would last for several years.
Li You clearly remembered that Jin Jianying passed away after suffering from illness for several years.
The Tianxia Group, which he had worked so hard to build, eventually became a cash machine for Cho Tae-seop, and even supported Cho Tae-seop, allowing him to successfully win the presidential election.
Li You was curious about what Zhao Taixie would do.
But if you think about it simply, Kim Jae-young has contracted a serious illness that has prevented him from controlling the Tianxia Group, and there are not many places for Zhao Tae-seop to start with, so he might be able to benefit from it by then.
"Since there is no reaction from Shunyang, we should be ready," Li You said after thinking, "Oil will soon be shipped to the Korean Peninsula. Although Busan is my first target, Seoul is the second. You must be prepared to face the turmoil between Tianxia Group and Kinmen Group."
"I know what to do, President."
Li Mingxue knew very clearly that he and Li You were now in a relationship where they would prosper together and suffer together.
Li Mingxue looked out the window and saw that the sky was gradually getting dark. He quickly stood up, said goodbye and left.
When he got downstairs, he turned around and took a look at the four large glowing words, feeling a little emotional.
In the blink of an eye, the Kinmen Group is now facing off against the Tianxia Group.
(End of this chapter)
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