Chapter 4: Appointing People Based on Merit is the King's Way

  Tang Yi cursed the old fox in his heart, what's the point of discussing it at the Standing Committee meeting? I heard that most of my proposals won't pass. This document is Tang Yi's report on setting up a business bureau, Tang Yi didn't want to waste all his time fighting with these old slippery guys, he still had things to do, and he was tightly grasping the work related to economic construction.

  Seeing Secretary Tao's perfunctory expression, Tang Yi smiled and said: "Secretary Tao, although the Investment Promotion Bureau is a new thing, it has become a regular department in developed counties in the south. The main work is to attract investment, if our Investment Promotion Bureau operates well, it may bring the first foreign investment to Yanshan."

  Secretary Tao's eyes lit up as soon as he heard it. If Yan Shan can really attract foreign investment, under the current situation, it would be a thick political achievement, much more effective than falsely reporting some economic growth of several percentage points.

  Tang Yi smiled and said, "Of course, this is just an immature idea of mine. I'll leave the file here for your reference. If you think it's feasible, you can formally draft a report, and I'll fully support you at the Standing Committee meeting." In fact, Tang Yi's document was already suitable to be used as a formal report, but he knew that Old Fox would not put in any effort unless he got some benefits from it. Only by putting the suggestion to set up a business bureau under his name could he get his support.

  Secretary Tao nodded slightly, watching Tang Yi walk out of the back, with a thoughtful expression.

  The next day, Secretary Tao convened a county party committee meeting to discuss the report on the establishment of an investment promotion bureau in Yanshan County. If it were someone else's proposal, Secretary Tao would naturally take credit for the report without hesitation. However, Tang Yi was not his subordinate, so Secretary Tao spent half a day revising Tang Yi's report and claimed that he and Tang Yi had jointly drafted it.

  The report jointly drafted by the Secretary and Deputy Secretaries was, of course, passed unanimously. However, several deputy secretaries looked unhappy, seeing Tang Yi and Secretary Tao sitting closely together, occasionally exchanging opinions. These people were all puzzled - Tang Yi usually acted superior, so why did Secretary Tao treat him so well? Was he one way with his own people but another way with Secretary Tao? Some people thought deeper, wondering if Tang Yi, this inexperienced young man, was being used by the old fox to play the white face.

  Actually, Secretary Tao was also very uncomfortable in his heart and didn't know why Tang Yi had been smiling and discussing issues with him since they sat down. He couldn't take a distant attitude, after all, today was equivalent to occupying someone else's labor achievements, so he could only respond to Tang Yi perfunctorily. When he saw the faces of several deputy secretaries, he was suddenly shocked, and when he looked at Tang Yi's eyes again, they had changed. However, there was no unusual expression on Tang Yi's face, just excitement as he discussed the issue of attracting investment with him. Thinking about it, Secretary Tao somewhat understood Tang Yi - at the age of twenty, he could decide the establishment or abolition of a county-level institution, and this kind of initial excitement from exercising power was extremely difficult to conceal. Secretary Tao was even infected by Tang Yi's enthusiasm, recalling his first decision-making experience when he was in charge of the Industrial Bureau in Pingcheng County, feeling some emotion, and forgetting about the several pairs of unusual eyes around him.

  On December 5, 1991, the municipal party committee approved the resolution of Yanshan County Party Committee and Government to establish an Investment Promotion Bureau, initially intending to make it a regular section-level institution under the leadership of the government office, temporarily supplemented by personnel seconded from various administrative organs.

  A few days later, the Commerce Bureau was officially established, with its temporary office located on the third floor of the county government building. The first director and party secretary was Li An, a name that no one had expected. Many deputy department-level officials in the county had been eyeing this promotion opportunity, and several deputy department-level doors were quite hard to open. Who would have thought that it was snatched by an unknown small figure? Upon inquiry, it turned out that he used to be the deputy director of the Construction Bureau, and had sat in that position for eight years, clearly without any connections. In a county-level unit, going from deputy department level to full department level seems like only half a step, but in reality, it's a huge hurdle. Maybe you can work hard and get promoted quickly by flattering others, but to be promoted from deputy department level to full department level and become the director of various administrative and business bureaus, without strong backing, is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

  Li An was in a similar situation before. He was very clever and capable, but unfortunately, he had bad luck. Over the years, he spent a lot of money trying to get ahead, but he couldn't find a good opportunity. When the Organization Department talked to him, he was also stunned and didn't know why such a big pie fell from the sky. Jiao Zuo Long, the head of the Jiao Department, thought Li An was pretending to be innocent and thought that Secretary Tang hadn't informed him in advance. This time, when appointing the new head, Jiao had his own candidate, but Tang Yifei didn't sell anyone's face and directly appointed Li An from the Construction Bureau. His attitude was very firm. Tao Shuji, who had benefited from Tang Yifei's personnel appointments in the past, knew that he should give Tang some benefits too. So, he nodded in support of Tang's decision, and thus Li An became the first head of the Investment Promotion Bureau.

  Li An walked out of the county party committee compound still dazed, almost getting hit by an oncoming car. After a shock, he came to his senses and thought it over. Considering the weighty appointment of this bureau chief, among the heavyweight figures who could make such a decision, he only knew one person - Secretary Tang. If not for Secretary Tang's promotion, how could he have become someone?

  Since Tang Yi's promotion, Li An hadn't seen him. Although he had the intention to curry favor with him, he didn't dare to visit him rashly. Unexpectedly, Secretary Tang still remembered him and quietly helped him get a transfer. Li An felt a little grateful and went to find Chen Dahe immediately. Although he couldn't get close to Tang Yi, he was quite familiar with Chen Dahe.

  Chen Da pulled Li An, who was still reeling from the shock of being fired, out of the municipal government compound and into a quiet alley. When he heard about the new appointment, Chen couldn't help but chuckle and patted Li on the shoulder to offer his congratulations. "Look at Secretary Tang," he said, "he's still got you in mind."

  Li Anqiang suppressed the excitement in his heart, but his voice still trembled: "Director Chen, do you think I should go take a look at Secretary Tang?"

  Chen Da smiled and said: "Of course, I say you're a clever person, how can you also be confused sometimes?"

  Li An's face turned red, he was also stunned by the sudden surprise, and lost his usual cleverness. He asked Chen Dahe: "What do you think I should buy? Is it too shabby to buy two packs of Zhonghua?" As he spoke, he felt a little pain in his heart, these years as a deputy director without real power, he didn't get much benefit.

  Chen Dahe curled his lip and thought to himself, "Does Secretary Tang really think you're worth anything? He has no idea how much money he has." He couldn't say that out loud, so he just smiled and said, "No need, no need. To be honest with you, brother, every time I go see Secretary Tang, I always get something for free - food, drink, and even gifts." What Chen Dahe said was the truth, but Li An's eyes widened in shock, and after returning home, he thought about it for half a day, feeling that there was more to Chen Dahe's words than met the eye, but he couldn't quite figure out what Chen Dahe meant.

  December's Yanshan Hei Tian came early, at 6 o'clock after work the night had already fallen. Li An arrived at the entrance of Yongsheng Building according to his appointment with Chen Dahua and waited for half an hour under the streetlight before Chen Dahua rode up on his bicycle. When coming to Yongsheng Building, Chen Dahua would never make a big show, driving a police car and speeding in, even if everyone knew he was Secretary Tang's man, but still had to keep a low profile.

  Chen Da saw the two Chinese characters in Li An's hand and turned black, very seriously saying to Li An: "Return the thing, otherwise I won't take you through this door."

  Li An was reluctant, but without Chen Da and Ling Lu, he didn't dare to go to the door rashly. He had to return the Chinese cigarettes to the tobacco and liquor store. After much persuasion, the salesgirl finally agreed to refund him. Her disdainful look was unavoidable.

  Anxiously following Chen Da and entering the neighborhood, he was so nervous that he didn't remember the building number. After returning home, he learned that Tang Secretary lived on the second floor, but knew nothing else, almost scaring his wife who had been waiting for news at home to death.

  Chen Da and Qi Jie had agreed on the phone earlier, and as soon as he rang the doorbell, the door was opened to reveal her bright and beautiful face. Wearing a blue home outfit, Qi Jie exuded an even more mature charm. Her hair was casually tied back with a rubber band, and she wore a pair of yellow cotton slippers. Despite her casual attire, she had an air of elegance about her. Her smile lit up the room like a blooming peony, shining brightly for all to see. Li An couldn't help but stare, quickly looking away.

  As soon as Li An entered the door, he took a cold breath. The decoration of this house was too particular. The milk yellow floor tiles and the yellow leather sofa in front of the tea table were exceptionally matched. The light yellow combination cabinet showed elegance and luxury, with a 21-inch color TV inside. Tang Yi was sitting on the sofa, intently watching the football match. He didn't notice until Qi Jie lightly patted his shoulder, then he quickly stood up, smiled, and walked over to shake hands with Li An. Chen Da said carelessly: "Secretary Tang, we won't change into slippers, afraid of dirtying your air here."

  Tang Yi smiled and said, "When did you become so particular? Was it because your sister-in-law scolded you?" He also spoke to Li An, who was greeting him with a bow and handshake, "Don't be too formal, just treat this as your own home. Come on, sit down." After saying that, he himself felt somewhat helpless, thinking that he was increasingly speaking like a leader.

  Li An, however, was very used to Tang Yi's transformation and carefully sat on the edge of the sofa with half his buttocks, keeping a few feet away from Tang Yi. He wanted to say a few flattering words but felt that he couldn't bring himself to say them out loud. Inwardly, he admired how Tang Yi's official aura was becoming increasingly imposing.

  Tang Yi pointed to Qi Jie and said, "You know her too, my girlfriend Qi Jie." Qi Jie smiled and greeted Li An before swaying into the kitchen, where a mouth-watering aroma of dishes had already wafted out.

  Tang Yi and Li An had only exchanged a few words with Chen Da when Qijie came out to call them in for dinner. The dining room was an area enclosed by glass partitions, with deep red sandalwood tables and chairs, white and green striped tablecloths, crystal-like candle holders, and it looked very similar to the petty bourgeois lifestyle of capitalist countries shown on TV.

  The dishes were extremely sumptuous, and what caught the eye most was the several large hairy crabs on the big plate in the middle, each weighing at least half a catty. The enticing aroma of the seafood made Li An swallow his saliva repeatedly.

  Qijie also took out two bottles of Wuliangye from the restaurant cabinet and put them on, whispering in Tang Yi's ear: "Drink less." Then she bid farewell to Li An and Chen Da, saying that she was going home. Li An was a bit worried: "It's too late tonight..." He got stuck here, should he ask Secretary Tang to send her back? Or should he send her himself? This, this doesn't seem right. Tang Yi had already smiled and said: "She lives just upstairs." Only then did Li An realize.

  After drinking a few cups of wine, Li An gradually became less restrained, holding up his cup to toast Tang Yi, with a grateful face: "Secretary Tang, I, Li An, will always remember your great kindness and virtue. I'll drink this cup dry for you, please help yourself."

  Tang Yi smiled and clinked glasses with him, saying: "Don't thank me, do you know that maybe I've harmed you?" Looking at Li An's puzzled expression, he gradually put away his smile and said very seriously: "From now on, your head is labeled with three words - Tang Secretary. These three words are a death warrant, many people are watching me, waiting for me to make mistakes. You, without a doubt, have become a target of their criticism."

  Tang Yi was telling the truth, Li An is not like Chen Dahe. Chen Dahe has been in the public security system for many years and has his own influence, so others will think twice before offending him. Li An is different, new unit, new people, those who don't like him will naturally find trouble with him.

  In fact, Tang Yi could have cleverly helped Li An onto the stage, but he didn't do that. Instead, he openly brought Li An up and let everyone know that Li An was his man. He also had the intention of testing Li An to see if he could stand on his own feet. If he only knew how to flatter and fawn, then it would be better not to use him.

  As for work ability, the Investment Promotion Bureau is just a place to fool people, fooling foreign businessmen and local merchants, taking money from their pockets. Li An has no worries in this regard, he can handle leaders and deal with businessmen, which is also one of the reasons why Tang Yi promoted Li An. At that time, Tang Yi joked to himself, "This is probably a kind of 'people doing what they are best at'".

  Li An listened to Tang Yi's solemn words and immediately put down his wine glass to show his loyalty: "Secretary Tang, rest assured, I won't let you down." He was both surprised and delighted in his heart. Secretary Tang really considered him as one of his own people. With that, he could be said to have found a strong backing. As for Tang Yi, although Li An didn't know much about him, if the speed at which he rose like a rocket was attributed solely to luck, Li An would never believe it.

  Tang Yiyuan smiled happily: "You have confidence, that's good. I'll wait and see."

  Seeing Secretary Tang laughing happily, Li An felt his heart filled with excitement and thrill.