stjorthotic Chapter 126 The Martial Arts Association's Open Scheme, A New Standard!
Chapter 126 The Martial Arts Association's Open Scheme, A New Standard!
After the initial excitement, Ding Hao immediately began investigating the ownership of the land.
This matter went more smoothly than he had imagined.
He contacted the local cultural heritage management department and learned about the situation of Yunhai Temple.
It turns out that this land does indeed belong to the public.
After its destruction, the government considered restoration, but the plan was shelved due to the enormous amount of funding required. Over the years, many businessmen have tried to contract the development, tourism, and hotel projects, but all have been rejected by the government for one reason.
That is, Xiqiao Mountain is the birthplace of "Southern Fist Culture," and every inch of its land has a profound martial arts cultural heritage. The government hopes that the development of this area can be combined with "martial arts culture."
However, the businessmen who came were only thinking about making money. Their proposals were either incongruous imitation ancient buildings or theme parks, which did not meet the government's expectations at all.
As time went on, the development project of Yunhai Temple became a "chicken rib" that was neither worth eating nor worth throwing away, and it was dragged on year after year.
When Ding Hao explained his purpose and mentioned that there was an organization called the "National Martial Arts Alliance" that wanted to rent the place to establish a non-profit "National Martial Arts Heritage Base," and that he was willing to fund the restoration and renovation while preserving the original architectural style, the section chief who was in charge of receiving him had his eyes light up.
"The National Martial Arts Alliance? You mean that... the one organized by Mr. Ma Cong?" The section chief was clearly a young person who was also online.
"Yes! It's Leader Ma!" Ding Hao proudly puffed out his chest.
"Oh! That's wonderful!" The section chief slapped his thigh and stood up excitedly. "Our leader has been paying attention to Mr. Ma for a while now! Everyone in our office watched his fight with Lei Lei—it was so satisfying! That's real martial arts!"
"If you could really come to our Xiqiao Mountain and establish your base here, it would be a tremendous boon to the promotion of martial arts culture in Foshan! I will definitely do my best to report this to my superiors!"
Ding Hao never expected that Ma Cong's fame had spread so far that even government officials were his fans.
What followed went exceptionally smoothly.
With the strong support of the local government, a long-term lease agreement for renting Yunhai Temple to establish the "Huaxia National Martial Arts Heritage Base" was presented to Ding Hao in just two days.
The lease term is fifty years, and the annual rent is just a symbolic one dollar!
The only condition is that the National Martial Arts Alliance must complete the restoration of the main buildings of Yunhai Temple within three years, and hold at least one nationally influential martial arts cultural exchange activity every year.
Ding Hao held the thin contract, feeling his hands trembling.
He immediately called Ma Cong, who was in Beijing, to share this incredible good news.
On the other end of the phone, after listening to his report, Ma Cong calmly said only three words.
"here you go."
Then he said, "Don't come back yet. The first installment of funding from Chairman Qian will be transferred to your account soon. Stay in Foshan and assemble an engineering team for me. I need you to bring this ancient temple, which has been dormant for decades, back to life as quickly as possible!"
Beijing, the headquarters of the Martial Arts Association.
The atmosphere in Li Jianguo's office was so oppressive it felt like you could wring water out of it.
On the ground lay a pile of shattered fragments of a purple clay teapot.
Zhao Lixin stood trembling in front of the desk, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Just now, he reported the latest situation to Li Jianguo.
Ma Cong refused the offer of amnesty.
A wealthy businessman named Qian Zhenhua publicly announced that he would serve as the chairman of the "National Martial Arts Development Foundation" and injected as much as 100 million yuan in start-up capital.
The Foshan government granted Ma Cong's "National Martial Arts Alliance" a 50-year lease on the Yunhai Temple on Xiqiao Mountain for a symbolic rent of one yuan, to establish the "Chinese Martial Arts Heritage Base".
Every message was like a resounding slap across Li Jianguo's face.
His meticulously planned "co-opting" and "praising to death" schemes failed completely.
He thought that by cutting off Ma Cong's official channels and putting him in a public relations crisis, the 19-year-old would be in a terrible predicament, if not desperate.
But to his utter surprise, Ma Cong not only didn't get burnt, but instead, thanks to the fire, he burned even brighter.
Instead of going through official channels, they found a big investor themselves!
No official venue? They directly secured a key cultural project from the Foshan government!
In just a few days, Ma Cong's "National Martial Arts Alliance" quickly transformed from a mere concept into a real entity with money, land, people, and prestige.
Moreover, the entire process completely bypassed him, the "leader of the martial arts alliance," the highest leader in the martial arts world.
This is no longer a provocation; this is digging up his very foundation!
"Qian Zhenhua... Foshan government..."
Li Jianguo squeezed out these names through gritted teeth, his fists clenched, veins bulging on the back of his hands.
He couldn't understand why Qian Zhenhua, that old fox, who was always so polite to him, would dare to stand so openly against him this time.
And those people from Foshan are even more audacious! Such a large cultural project, and they dared to sign a contract directly with a non-governmental organization without the approval of the Martial Arts Association? Do they even respect him as the president? Do they even respect the Martial Arts Association as the competent authority?
"Chairman... what... what do we do now?" Zhao Lixin asked cautiously. "Should we... call Foshan and ask them to terminate the contract immediately? And that Qian Zhenhua, investigate his company, see if there are any problems..."
"Idiot!" Li Jianguo slammed his fist on the table and roared at Zhao Lixin.
Zhao Lixin was so frightened that he almost knelt on the ground.
"Making a phone call? On what grounds are you calling? To ask them to terminate the contract? The contract has already been signed and is legally binding. You think you can just terminate it like that? Do you consider the laws of this country a joke?"
"Investigate Qian Zhenhua? Do you think he'd leave such obvious dirt on him to be caught? Even if he did, taking action against him now would be tantamount to telling the whole world that our martial arts association is settling personal scores and suppressing dissent!"