Chapter 115: The Standing Committee Under Everyone's Spotlight

  The next day at noon, Ouyang Qian finally boarded the train back to Hanjiang. Liu Siyuan had also planned to go with her, as Ouyang Xinghua had said he wanted to have a good talk with him. However, in the end, he gave up. On one hand, he hadn't thought about how to face Director Ouyang yet. On the other hand, he had received a notice early that morning that there would be a meeting of the Kai County Committee at 1 pm the next day, and the only agenda item was the discussion of personnel issues related to the county's economic development zone.

  This county committee meeting has become the biggest focus of Cheng'en County. The day before the meeting, almost all the standing committee members in the county seat looked solemn and hurried, with a hint of anxiety. In the county party committee and government offices, the atmosphere was tense, no one dared to speak loudly, instead, there were occasional whispers among small groups of people.

  The establishment of an economic development zone is a big deal for all the officials in Cheng'en County, and the most direct impact is that at least one deputy department, three full departments, and several deputy departments will be added out of thin air. And once someone grabs these positions, their original positions will be vacated, so someone needs to fill them, thus involving a considerable number of people with direct or indirect interests.

  What's more important is that they all know, this Standing Committee meeting is very different from the past, it's no longer a dictatorship of Secretary Fan. It's said that County Magistrate Jian, Secretary Zhao and even several other Standing Committee members have some different views on personnel issues with Secretary Fan. This means that the gunpowder smell of this meeting is quite strong.

  The Standing Committee meeting started at 1 pm that day. After lunch, all the staff of the county party committee office returned to their posts exceptionally early. Director Zhang Zhongyi of the county party committee office was carefully checking the layout of the conference room with two clerks. This is a meticulous task. He personally checked whether there were any omissions in the materials in front of each leader, and whether the tea water that they liked to drink had been placed incorrectly.

  Ren Lili was originally the deputy director of the county's investment promotion office, a mid-level cadre who didn't have much influence. This time, after hearing about the establishment of the economic development zone team, her father, who had been ineffective in his official career, finally gritted his teeth and thickened his skin to visit Director Leng of the County People's Armed Forces Department. Although Director Leng not only accepted the gift but also explicitly expressed his support for her to work at the Economic Development Zone Management Committee, she was still worried because although Leng Feng was a member of the county party committee, he was a very marginal one, and she had no confidence in whether he could help her rise to power.

  Especially when she heard that nearly half of the civil servants in Cheng'en County were actively working towards their goals, she felt increasingly uneasy. She knew that an important county committee meeting was to be held today, so she made up an excuse and slipped into the county committee office, with the intention of getting closer to the meeting.

  Of course, this is purely psychological, in fact, the Standing Committee will not be open to outsiders, except for the 10 members of the Standing Committee, only Secretary Fan's secretary can attend as a recorder, others, even if it is Director Zhang Zhongyi of the County Party Committee Office, can only wait outside.

  At around 12:50, a Santana drove into the county party committee compound. Her good friend, Zhang Shuang, who worked in the propaganda department of the county party committee, smiled and patted her shoulder, saying, "Look, the only standing committee member not working in the county seat has arrived."

  "Are you referring to... Secretary Liu of Beixi?" Ren Lili hastily asked.

  Zhang Shuang smiled and said: "Who else? Look, the one walking in front wearing a black jacket, who is a bit dark and particularly young."

  Although she had known that Liu Siyuan, the Party Secretary of Beixi Town, was the youngest Standing Committee member of Cheng'en County and even Ziwu City in history, when Ran Lili really saw him, she still felt a little unbelievable.

  "That guy, I heard he got his position because of a woman, his girlfriend is the daughter of the provincial party committee's organization department's vice minister." Zhang Shuang gossiped.

  Ren Lili nodded repeatedly and said: "No wonder..."

  Liu Siyuan wasn't very clear about his own reputation being not so good, and he was also looking forward to this meeting. It's not that he really cared about the personnel issue, after all, he just casually nominated a Bai Changjiang, whether or not he could get on board, he didn't really care much. On the contrary, he was quite interested in the upcoming dragon-and-tiger fight, being able to observe at zero distance, and even personally participate in the legendary Standing Committee battle, this is what he was looking forward to.

  All the way, county committee staff saw him standing a few steps away and greeting him respectfully. He also smiled back and slowly walked into the conference room to find that Leng Feng was already sitting in the conference room reading documents, even earlier than him.

  Seeing him come in, Leng Feng warmly shook his hand and said: "Si Yuan has arrived, how's the recent work in town?"

  Liu Siyuan hastily said: "Everything in town is fine, has Director Leng been busy these days?"

  Leng Feng burst out laughing and said, "What's there for me to be busy with? I'm so idle that I'm getting anxious." Then he suddenly lowered his voice and said, "I saw Secretary Zhao Yingfeng today, and he seemed quite confident."

  Liu Siyuan smiled slightly and said: "Anyway, I just brought my ears..."

  As the two men spoke, other standing committee members also walked in one after another. On the surface, everyone was getting along harmoniously and exchanging greetings, occasionally even cracking jokes, so the atmosphere was unusually harmonious.

  The relaxed atmosphere on the surface came to an abrupt end when Fan Yugun walked into the conference room with a steady pace, and everyone's expression turned solemn in an instant. They all took their seats, followed by the sound of "ding" - the sound of Secretary Fan putting down his teacup, marking the official start of the meeting...

  Comrades, everyone knows that the municipal party committee has approved our county's proposal to establish an economic development zone. This is a major opportunity for our county's economy to take off. The first established economic development zone will become the leader of our county's development in the near future. Therefore, today's meeting only has one topic, which is to determine the personnel of the economic development zone management committee as soon as possible. Next, let's have Director Liu from the Organization Department of the County Party Committee express his opinions.

  Liu Dafar quickly took over the conversation and said: "The draft list of members of the county economic development zone management committee is a proposal made by our county party committee's organization department after repeated discussions and multi-party arguments, based on the principles of fairness, openness and justice. Please discuss it with the standing committee members. First, we propose to appoint Vice County Mayor Hou Xinyun as the Party Secretary of the Economic Development Zone Management Committee."

  Hou Xinyun is in charge of investment and economy as the vice county head, so it's natural for him to take on the role of party secretary of the development zone management committee. Indeed, there was no controversy about this appointment. Soon all the standing members raised their hands in agreement and passed the proposal smoothly. However, Liu Siyuan thought that Hou Xinyun was also one of the candidates competing for the supplementary standing member position, and wondered whether this concurrent post would be beneficial or detrimental to him.

  After the first vote, Liu Dayuan continued: "It is proposed to nominate Comrade Zhang Zhongyi, Director of the County Party Committee Office, as the Director of the Economic Development Zone Management Committee. Please discuss."

  Liu Siyuan has not been completely idle in the past few days, and through Ma Feng, he also roughly understood the background of several popular candidates. Therefore, it can be said that Zhang Zhongyi has always been mediocre, and after serving as the director of the county party committee office for several years, he was unable to enter the standing committee team - because he used to be a person under Jian Zhiqiu!

  After this nomination was announced, there was a moment of silence at the Standing Committee meeting, obviously it was not as non-controversial as the previous proposal.

  As expected, Zheng Gaofeng spoke first: "Director Zhang has been working in the county committee office for many years. I think he is more suitable for doing some party work. As for the position of director of the management committee, my opinion is that it can be taken by a younger comrade with richer government work experience. I recommend Comrade Cai Mingcai, Director of the County Investment Promotion Bureau."

  Liu Dayuan had never gotten along with Zheng Gaofeng, and seeing him jump out to oppose the Organization Department's nomination, he said irritably: "Comrade Zhang Zhongyi served as the county committee office director before serving as a township head for five years, how can you say he has no government work experience?"

  Vice County Magistrate Wang Tingxiang said: "Director Liu is right, Director Zhang also has some government work experience. However, I think Secretary Zheng's proposal is also very reasonable. As Secretary Fan said, the economic development zone will become the engine of our county's development in the future. Therefore, I think a relatively younger and more energetic comrade like Cai Mingcai is more suitable for this position."

  Minister of Publicity Guo Limin suddenly coughed and said slowly: "Comrade Cai Mingcai, if I'm not mistaken, you were just promoted to director last year, and the time in a regular position is still a bit short. If you are promoted to deputy department head, it would be an exception. Moreover, County Magistrate Wang said that old comrades lack enthusiasm for work, but I don't agree with that. Although I'm a bit older, I think I'm still very enthusiastic."

  County Party Secretary Zhao Yingfeng seemed to want to say something, but at this time Fan Yugun suddenly pressed his hands down, and he could only swallow back the words that had reached his lips. Then Fan Yugun confidently said: "Comrades have different opinions, which is a good thing. Democratic centralism is about listening to different opinions and then having the minority obey the majority. Considering there are many candidates today, I think we should make the most of our time. For the position of Director of the Management Committee, since comrades' opinions are not very unified, let's just have a show of hands."