Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 840 - 571: Favoring Relatives in Appointments (Part 2)

For instance, when the Transportation Bureau wants to build a road and encounters a river, they certainly look for the most cost-effective solution. If they can avoid building a bridge, they will, opting instead to fill the river with soil and construct a dam, laying the road straight across. Even if they have to build a bridge, they’ll avoid constructing it too high.

In such cases, the Water Resources Bureau won’t agree. Blocking the river affects flood drainage and drought resistance. Who will be responsible if problems arise later? You could say the two departments have this kind of relationship. In Hanwu, it’s quite contentious; however, since we’re far from Hanwu and both departments are outsiders here, their relationship isn’t as tense."

The three listeners were taken aback, hardly believing that upper-level departments could operate this way too.

Liu Degui thought for a moment and then asked perplexedly, "But the Yangtze River isn’t a small inland river. What kind of conflicts could they have?"

"Because of road and bridge construction, our Linghai Transportation Bureau and Linghai Water Resources Bureau often have conflicts. Although it’s impossible to block the Yangtze River to build roads, constructing the Yangtze River Bridge or building dams for hydropower stations is necessary."

Han Yu smiled and continued, "I don’t know much about the situation at the Nanyun Tributary, but I know Gezhou Dam is quite complicated. The dam, the hydropower station, and the ship locks are all built by the Water Resources Bureau, yet the ship locks are managed by the Changhang Bureau.

Operating such large ship locks requires significant funding, which is covered by the hydropower station. Some suggest that due to the high operation costs, the ship lock management should charge passing ships a navigation fee, essentially a lock passage fee.

The Changhang Bureau resolutely disagrees because the Yangtze River is a natural waterway. Without the construction of hydropower stations and ship locks, navigation is still possible. Charging passage fees would raise costs for port and shipping enterprises along the Yangtze. You can’t just focus on economic benefits and burden our port and shipping enterprises."

These issues were new to Liu Degui, who asked in surprise, "Cargo ships don’t need to pay when passing through Gezhou Dam Ship Lock?"

"Right, not only is passing through Gezhou Dam Ship Lock free, but once the Three Gorges Project is completed, passing through the Three Gorges Ship Lock might also be free. The Changhang Bureau remains adamant about not compromising on this issue for the benefit of all port and shipping enterprises along the line."

"But our local small ship locks charge a fee daily. If the Ministry of Transport managed our small ship locks too, it would save ship owners so much money!"

"Our local Tong River waterways are mostly man-made and don’t belong to natural waterways," Han Yu paused and added with a smile, "Besides, if the Ministry of Transport managed everything, could they handle it all?"

In Yang Jianbo’s straightforward understanding, any department that argues on behalf of enterprises and citizens is a good one, prompting him to say, "Secretary Han, I think the Changhang Bureau is justified in not charging passage fees."

"Camp Commander Yang, it’s not as simple as you think."

"Why not?"

"Gezhou Dam is not only a power generation project but also a water conservancy project for flood control and drought resistance. It allows regulating floodwaters and serves to delay floods and avoid peak flows. Maintenance of both dams and ships requires funding."

"Each side argues their point?"

"Pretty much, everyone has their considerations, but it’s unrelated to us."

"Then why did you call Yang Yuan over?" Liu Degui asked curiously.

There are numerous departments managing the Yangtze, so it’s normal not to be fully aware of them.

Han Yu smiled and explained, "The Yangtze River Water Bureau not only oversees the hydrology, sediment observation, water environment monitoring, and waterway surveying of the Yangtze River estuary but also manages the governance and development surveys of ports in its jurisdiction. The jurisdiction is vast, covering bed changes, ports, docks, and embankments from Jiangyin downwards, and participating in waterway management planning."

Liu Degui asked in shock, "Are we under their jurisdiction too?"

"Of course, when we build ports, we need their approval. Secretary Ye, Mayor Qian, and Mayor Shen have all sought their favor more than once in the past."

"No wonder Mayor Shen invited them to meals; they are the operations management department!"

"They are not only a management department but also have enforcement authority."

"Isn’t the Hydrological Bureau focused on surveying, observing, and planning? What enforcement authority do they have?"

"They have an additional title as the Yangtze River Water Resources Supervision Team and fulfill the duties of water resources supervision at the Yangtze River estuary. Their relationship with the Binjiang Water Resources Bureau Water Law Enforcement Team is similar to the relationship between the Ministry of Transport’s Port Supervisor and local port supervision."

Han Yu smiled and continued, "But their main work is surveying; their enforcement strength is not as strong as the Port Supervision Bureau. They have the ’Imperial Sword’ authority. Yang Yuan now has both ships and troops, which resources can be fully integrated since they all belong to the water system."

This is Xu Sanye’s way of doing things. No wonder he’s Xu Sanye’s closed-door disciple.

Liu Degui realized that the ’Yangtze Joint Law Enforcement Family’ forged by them over ten years is welcoming yet another ’National Team,’ and couldn’t help but laugh.

Second Battalion Commander Zhao Jiang only knew that the "Binjiang Water Army Commander" was formidable, not aware of how extensively the "Binjiang Water Army Commander" was seeking cooperation and how powerful the formations they could organize were, prompting him to ask, "Secretary Han, you mentioned the Datong inflow is three times that of previous years. What is the Datong inflow?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Datong is actually a place name, located in Tongling City, Hui’an Province, with a hydrological station like Xu Liujiang on the opposite side of the river, upstream of the Yangtze River Wuhu Hydrological Station by 123 kilometers. The Datong water flow is a crucial metric for measuring water levels and volumes in the Yangtze River Lower, and it can be said that the Datong flow is directly related to Yangtze River flood control in Jiangnan Province."

Han Yu thought for a moment and continued, "Datong inflow indicates how much water has come from upstream. This year, the weather is anomalous in the Yangtze River Basin, with Datong inflow surging drastically. Master Xi mentioned it’s three times the usual amount for this time of year. It’s already May, and with the rainy season approaching, one can imagine that the Datong inflow will grow even more soon."