Chapter 183 Step 1, Member of Parliament
Chapter 183 First Step, Member of Parliament
Mong Kok hall, company land.
Yin Zhaotang strode into the company with his hands in his pockets, his suit neatly pressed, and whistling, looking very proud.
A man with a middle-parted hair, a shirt, a round head, and a black mole on the corner of his mouth ran out of the tea room, handed over his business card with both hands, and bowed and said, "Mr. Yin, Mr. Yin, I'm Guo Zhengmin from Garden Building!"
Niu Qiang pushed him away and said unhappily, "Who let the little groom who distributes small cards into the company? You don't want to do it anymore!"
Several thugs looked panicked and immediately stood up to arrest the man, apologizing: "I'm sorry, Brother Qiang."
"He said he knew the big boss and blamed us for being stupid!" A scoundrel slapped himself in the face, then turned around and punched Guo Zhengmin in the stomach, causing him to scream in pain.
Yin Zhaotang didn't like his recklessness, but just wanted to teach him a lesson, so he raised his hand and said, "Okay."
"Mr. Yin, I'm not a pimp."
Guo Zhengmin has a pointed face and an inappropriate hairstyle, which makes him look like a tael of gold. He was kneeling on the ground with his mouth open, and there was still a few traces of gastric juice on his chin.
Niu Qiang said disdainfully: "If you're posting flyers on the bus all day, you're not a pimp, what else can you do?"
Guo Zhengmin wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, climbed up and said, "Mr. Yin, I am a member of Mr. Hu Bochao's campaign committee. I came to you to ask you to mobilize the citizens of Garden Building to vote for Mr. Hu."
Yin Zhaotang looked at him and replied coldly, "Why should I vote for Hu Bochao? To be honest, I can't even remember what he looks like!"
“There’s money to be made, there’s money to be made.”
Guo Zhengmin hurriedly said, "The price can be negotiated."
"Oh?"
"Come in and chat." Yin Zhaotang showed a little interest and took the lead into the office.
Niu Qiang poured a cup of tea and closed the door.
Guo Zhengmin's face was filled with lingering fear. He held the cup cautiously and said, "Mr. Yin, one ticket is twenty dollars. As long as it is a vote from Garden Building, every vote counts!"
"Two or three hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars are easily pocketed. My boss is really generous. I really want to cooperate with you."
Yin Zhaotang knocked his legs on the table and asked coldly: "Amin, right? Do you know what the companies under my name do?"
Guo Zhengmin took out a handkerchief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said with a wry smile: "Mr. Yin, I have suffered so much, why don't I know?"
"Then why do you still have the guts to come to me? Mr. Hu, do you want to play black gold politics?" Yin Zhaotang took a sip of tea and asked with interest.
Guo Zhengmin's face turned pale, and he quickly said, "Mr. Yin, don't talk nonsense. Mr. Hu was the former secretary general of the Planning Office of the Housing Department. How could he be related to the gangs?"
Yin Zhaotang lit a cigar, took a deep breath, and exhaled: "Yes, I am!"
"impossible!"
Guo Zhengmin suddenly stood up and rejected it decisively, leaving no room for doubt.
"Mr. Yin is a rare young entrepreneur in Garden Building. Many of his companies are in legitimate industries and pay taxes according to the law. Why would he be connected with the mafia?"
Seeing that Guo Zhengmin was even more anxious than him, Yin Zhaotang jokingly said, "Politics is damn interesting!"
Guo Zhengmin bowed deeply and said, "Please help me, Mr. Yin. Thank you very much, Mr. Yin."
Yin Zhaotang sat up straight, resting his elbows on the table, holding a cigar, and said seriously: "Don't talk to me about money, a dozen or so dollars a note, that's enough to pay off a beggar!"
"If someone is sincere and wants Mr. Hu to come and negotiate in person and offer me a price that appeals to me, I will definitely call on the neighborhood to support him." Guo Zhengmin nodded: "Okay, I will ask Mr. Hu to arrange a time right away. Can you leave a phone number for contact?"
"There is a business card on the table, please take it." Yin Zhaotang slumped back in his chair and leisurely sucked on his cigar.
There are 18 district councils in Hong Kong Island, each with a different number of seats for councillors according to population. The number of seats for councillors is divided into several constituencies, and one councillor is elected from each constituency.
If there is only one candidate in the constituency, he or she will be automatically elected.
District councillors who win elections are called "directly elected councillors". The Hong Kong government can directly appoint councillors, who are called "appointed councillors". The Director of Municipal Affairs and the Executive Secretary of the Hong Kong government automatically become "ex-official councillors" of the district.
The councillors of each district vote to elect the "council chairman", who has the power to decide the allocation of funds for the district council. In addition, the district council actually controls the municipal bureau, holds the actual financial power of the municipal bureau, and has the right to use the land in the district.
One can imagine how much profit one can make by holding the land tickets and money tickets of a jurisdiction.
A large number of district councillors are administrative officers of regional municipal councils or former Hong Kong government officials. As the former "Secretary-General of the Planning Office of the Housing Department", Hu Bochao's running for district councillor is his first step into politics.
In the future, I will run for Speaker of the Parliament, Legislative Council, and then Chief Executive.
Many senior executives started out step by step in the district councils. In the democratic election systems of Europe and the United States, district councillorship is the standard starting point for a career.
Yin Zhaotang knew that politics was a mess and that he could not act blindly and had to be cautious in every move. In the underworld, there was a saying of "washing one's reputation", but in politics, it was all about stance.
If I want to ask for advice on how to manage the club's affairs, I have Uncle Mao, Uncle Sen and other senior colleagues, but if I want to ask for advice on political matters, after much thought, only Liao Zhihong can be asked.
After receiving the call, Liao Zhihong took time out to come to Kowloon and met Yin Zhaotang in the tea restaurant area of the Peninsula Hotel. He shook hands with Yin Zhaotang in a neat suit and said, "Ah Tang, I haven't seen you for a while."
Yin Zhaotang spread his hands helplessly: "Brother Zhihong, you know that the world is not peaceful, and there are many things in the company that need to be taken care of."
"Let's not talk about the underworld. He said on the phone that he wanted to donate money to the New Territories Association for the Disabled. How much do you plan to donate?"
"The donation is too little, and it's not worthy of your identity as Lao Zhong's big water pipe." Liao Zhihong took out a cigarette box with one hand, and the movement of opening the box and throwing the cigarettes was very cool. He could still be a handsome guy even if one hand was broken.
Yin Zhaotang took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and turned on the lighter with a smile.
"About one hundred thousand or eighty thousand."
Liao Zhihong held a cigarette between his lips, lit it with the help of Yin Zhaotang, and said with a smile, "180,000?"
"No problem. Worshiping Buddha requires lamp oil, burning incense requires Guan Gong, and worshipping Brother Zhihong requires a lot of money." Yin Zhaotang and the waiter finished ordering coffee and spoke calmly, not feeling sorry for the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Liao Zhihong crossed his legs and said, "I am a useless person and can only live by begging for alms. But I still have dignity. Tell me, what can I do for you?"
Yin Zhaotang exhaled white smoke and said slowly, "There is someone in Kwun Tong who claims to be a member of the Hu Bochao campaign committee who came to me and hoped to mobilize the people in Garden Building to vote for them."
"What's the price?" Liao Zhihong thought carefully and smoked quietly.
"Twenty dollars a ticket."
Yin Zhaotang said.
Liao Zhihong sneered and said, "Twenty dollars a ticket, you are such a miser. You might as well vote for yourself instead of Hu Bochao."
"Ah Tang, I think you have a better chance of winning than him if you run for election!"
(End of this chapter)