Chapter 92: The Mountain Rain is Coming, the Wind Fills the Building
(Seeking collection)
One of the main topics today is the issue of new Standing Committee members in three counties and county-level cities. In fact, this issue has been dragging on for over a month. Initially, the recommended candidates from the three counties and cities were quickly passed to the Organization Department. Xu Yingjie found that among them, Xinhekou City and Beishan County only recommended one candidate each, while Cheng'en County recommended two people.
Xu Jingjie was young, but also an old hand. With just one glance, she knew what tricks Cheng'en County Committee was playing. Liu Siyuan's conditions were not comparable to Zhong Hanyun's in any aspect, and he was simply a substitute. Although Liu Siyuan was someone Minister Ouyang had asked to take care of, the difference was too great, and she couldn't openly help him. She believed Minister Ouyang would understand. So, she didn't think much about it and directly organized the materials of the recommended candidates from the three counties and cities, then handed them over to Vice Secretary Li Zhexuan for signature.
Xu Jingjie had always disliked Li Zhexuan, thinking that the former provincial governor's secretary was extremely sinister and not good to be around. On the other hand, the new mayor Yan Chuting was elegant and refined, a typical scholarly official, which made her feel very good.
As expected, Li Zhexuan looked at the materials and immediately praised Cheng'en County's approach, talking about grand principles, in short, requiring the other two counties to recommend at least two candidates.
Xu Jingjie was disdainful in her heart, but after all, the other party was a leader, so she could only think that if you want to make trouble, then go ahead and make trouble. So she followed his instructions and asked Xinhekou City and Beishan County to re-discuss and recommend at least two candidates, which delayed this matter for a period of time.
After the two counties and cities resubmitted their lists, Xu Yingjie felt that something was off. The new candidate from Xincheng City was originally recommended as Vice Mayor Zhang Chun'an, who had been transferred to be the Secretary of the Dongcheng District Committee and a member of the Municipal Party Committee. This person's background is well-known to everyone, and he is actually the former secretary of Secretary Zhang Mingduan. As a result, after being rejected by Li Zhexuan, another candidate was added, namely Liao Fan, the Secretary of the Xicheng District Committee, who is also a loyal subordinate of Zhang Mingduan. This addition is a typical case of "changing the soup but not the medicine", and no matter who the Municipal Party Committee decides on, the result will be more or less the same. Of course, this was also within Xu Yingjie's expectations. What really made her feel uneasy was the new candidate from Beishan County - Luo Zheng, the Secretary of the Huangshi Township Party Committee. Xu Yingjie clearly remembered that Luo Zheng had almost immediately run to Li Zhexuan to report on his work! In other words, nine out of ten, Luo Zheng is Li Zhexuan's man!
However, to everyone's surprise, Xu Yingjie handed the two updated lists to Li Zhexuan again. The latter took a look and burst out laughing, saying "This is it!" He then signed his name and annotated that he suggested discussing it at the secretary's office meeting.
Xu Dianjie then handed it over to Yan Chuting for signature, who only looked at it for ten seconds, and probably just glanced at a few names before signing without hesitation, without any comments or even a period.
Finally, after handing over the thing to Zhang Mingduan, Secretary Zhang was silent for a few minutes before saying that it would be directly discussed at the Standing Committee meeting. Xu Huijie could understand this result, as recent rumors had been circulating that two deputy secretaries of the municipal party committee were getting close to each other. If Li Zhexuan's intention was indeed to discuss it at the secretary's office meeting, Secretary Zhang would not have an advantage, so it was better to go directly to the Standing Committee meeting, after all, the Standing Committee was still firmly under Secretary Zhang's control.
At the same time, Zhang Mingxuan also fully revealed his strong side. The secretary's office meeting is often a meeting where several deputy secretaries negotiate and compromise with each other, figuratively speaking, it's like dividing fruits. By vetoing the decision to hold a secretary's office meeting, Zhang Mingxuan showed his attitude: he had no interest in negotiating prices with the two deputy secretaries! You want to fight me? Fine, let's see who's real at the Standing Committee meeting.
"Director Xu, I heard that your neck has been a bit uncomfortable lately?" said Cai Zhiwei, the director of the Municipal Propaganda Department, who was sitting next to Xu Duanjie. He was the oldest among the 12 municipal standing committee members and had a smile that could light up his whole face like a chrysanthemum flower. By the way, due to various reasons, the number of standing committee members in Ziwai City has been one short for some time, maintaining an even number.
"Thank you Minister Cai for your concern, I suppose this is an occupational disease, can't be helped." Xu Jingjie smiled.
Cai Zhiwei continued to smile: "Yes, Minister Xu is still young and should pay attention to balancing work and rest. If you wait until my age to take care of yourself, it will be too late. I know a blind massage place that's quite good, Minister Xu might as well give it a try."
"Definitely, thank you Minister Cai for your concern." Xu Jingjie replied while catching a glimpse of the newly appointed Executive Vice Mayor Wei Dachao walking in with big strides. Speaking of Mayor Wei, he was obviously an important helper sent by the province to assist Secretary Zhang. The fact that the Qiao and Yan factions had taken over the mayor and party secretary positions had put pressure on Zhang Mingduan, and soon after, Wei Dachao was sent to help out. It seemed that although the provincial governor and deputy secretary of the provincial Party committee had fallen ill one after another, the political climate in Qiannan Province had not undergone any fundamental changes. The Provincial Party Secretary still firmly grasped the overall situation.
At this time, Cai Zhiwei suddenly said: "Director Xu, recently both the central government and the province have been advocating for the rejuvenation of cadres. I think it makes sense. I've always supported the rejuvenation of cadres. Young people are strong and energetic, they have vitality in their work, and as people get older, they tend to become lethargic. We need young people to inject new blood."
Xu Yingjie listened to his words and vaguely felt that he was hinting at something, but for a moment she couldn't think of what it was.
Wei Dachao came in not long after, and Yan Chuting and Li Zhexuan walked in together, chatting happily. They entered the conference room, where they greeted each of the standing committee members one by one. Especially Li Zhexuan's humorous remarks made several of the standing committee members burst out laughing, greatly enlivening the atmosphere.
Zhang Mingduan was the last one to arrive as usual. He came in with his celadon cup just on time, not late at all.
The previous agenda of the Standing Committee went smoothly, and the scene was calm and harmonious. When it came to the last item on the agenda, the discussion of the new Standing Committee members from three counties and cities, the atmosphere in the meeting room changed immediately, becoming visibly tense.
"Please let Minister Xu speak first and express the opinions of the Organization Department." said Zhang Mingda with a stern tone.
Xu Jingjie bowed to the delegates and began: "According to the instructions of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department, each of the three districts, three cities, and three counties under our city must have one or two representatives from lower-level party committees to strengthen communication between the Standing Committee and grassroots levels. Based on the actual situation in our city, the Organization Department suggested starting with a pilot program in the three cities and three counties, and later promoting it to the municipal districts. Currently, the counties and cities that do not have lower-level party committee members are Xinhua City, Beishan County, and Cheng'en County. Next, I will introduce the list of recommended candidates from the Xinhua City Party Committee and their personal resumes..."
Xinhekou City is actually a provincially administered city, managed by Ziwai City, so it has relatively strong independence. Generally, the municipal party committee will also respect the opinions of the Xinhekou City team. This time, they recommended two candidates who are both Zhang Mingduan's trusted subordinates, making it even more certain. As expected, except for Military Region Commander Zhao Chugang, who abstained as usual, the other eleven people unanimously approved the appointment of Zhang Mingduan's former secretary, Zhang Chun'an. Of course, Xu Yingjie was very clear that this harmony is temporary, and the real competition lies in Beishan County.
As expected, when discussing Xu Dianjie's statement on the supplementary committee members of Beishan County, different voices emerged at the Standing Committee meeting. Li Zhexuan was the first to speak, and he strongly supported Luo Zheng, saying that Comrade Luo Zheng is young and strong, with rich work experience, and is a suitable candidate. Then Yan Chuting also echoed, and the two or three good characters took the lead in making others react slowly, and for a while, it was a bit cold on the scene.
The deadlock was broken by the municipal party committee secretary-general Chai Qiushi: "Comrade Luo Zheng is indeed good, with strong work ability and a down-to-earth style. However, if I remember correctly, wasn't he promoted to deputy department level just last year? He hasn't even worked at the deputy department level for three years yet, so promoting him to vice minister level again doesn't conform to organizational principles. Therefore, I still support appointing Zhou Yuliang as a member of the Beishan County Party Committee."
As soon as Chi Aoshu spoke, the atmosphere changed instantly. Minister of Propaganda Cai Zhiwei, Standing Deputy Mayor Guo Aimin, Municipal Discipline Inspection Secretary Shen Yingchun, and Municipal Political and Legal Committee Secretary Du Yi all expressed their support for Comrade Zhou Yuliang one after another.
Vice Mayor Wei Dachao took a sip of water and said, "Comrades' speeches are very persuasive, but I'm new here and not familiar with these two comrades, so I won't comment." Xu Yingjie understood that he saw the situation was already settled, so he chose to keep a low profile and not show off.
Then, as expected, the military district commander Zhao Chugang also abstained. The situation became 5 to 2, with two abstentions. Zhang Mingduan, Xu Huijie and Peng Nanxia had not yet expressed their opinions. At this time, everyone's eyes were on Peng Nanxia, who was himself the secretary of the Beishan County Party Committee, so his opinion was very important.
Peng Nanxia burst out laughing and said: "I'm just the opposite of Mayor Wei, I'm too familiar with these two comrades, they're both good comrades, after all, the palm and back of the hand are all flesh, so I won't express my opinion." Everyone else also couldn't help but laugh.
Xu Jingjie also spoke up at this time, saying: "What the Secretary-General said earlier makes sense. From the perspective of the Organizational Department's principle of seriousness, it is too early to promote Comrade Luo Zhuang now. He should be allowed to temper himself for a few more years at the deputy departmental level. Therefore, I think Comrade Zhou Yuliang is more suitable to serve as a Standing Committee member of the Beishan County Party Committee."
As the Standing Committee of Ziwai City is temporarily composed of only twelve members, with Xu Jingjie's statement, due to three abstentions and six votes in favor being enough to reach a majority, it was not necessary for Zhang Mingduan to take action, and the outcome had already been decided. The latter indeed announced that since most opinions have been unified, Comrade Zhou Yuliang's appointment has been formally passed.
Xu Yingjie looked at Li Zhexuan with some surprise, finding that he still had a hint of a smile on his face, seemingly unaffected by this crushing defeat. To think that just earlier, it was clear that neither he nor Yan Chuting's alliance had any solid supporters, and even Peng Nanxia, who had nominated Luo Zheng, retreated at the last moment, making this defeat not an exaggeration. So she couldn't understand why he could still smile.
