Chapter 185: Zhao Sijie Returns to the Province

At the evening banquet, Li Mingzhou, a member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Municipal Party Secretary, attended in person, giving Han Guishan plenty of face.

After all, he was the "God of Wealth." Even though Li Mingzhou was a leader, for the sake of Yingjiang's "financial prospects," he had to treat the Provincial Finance Department with courtesy.

After the banquet ended, the two continued their exchange in a private room.

Secretary Li Mingzhou addressed the government debt issue raised by Han Guishan during his research that afternoon, requesting that the Provincial Finance Department provide capital support.

Han Guishan did not refuse in the slightest, stating he would implement Secretary Li Mingzhou's instructions within his capacity. Thus, the two communicated exceptionally harmoniously in a friendly and amicable atmosphere.

To Li Mingzhou's surprise, Han Guishan actually recommended Lu Fan, the Education Bureau Director of Ningyang.

This made him very curious: what exactly were Lu Fan's outstanding qualities? Or did he have some background? Why did everyone say good things about Lu Fan?

Consequently, Lu Fan's resume was placed on Li Mingzhou's desk the next day.

After entering the winter heating period, Ningyang County Education Bureau Director Lu Fan went deep into various schools to conduct special inspections and checks on winter heating, student canteens, deputy principals for legal affairs, and the quality of education and teaching.

Upon arriving at each school, Lu Fan would go deep into classrooms, student dormitories, canteens, teacher offices, and boiler rooms for on-site inspections, listen to reports, inquire about relevant situations in detail, and conduct thorough checks on heating work and student meal arrangements.

Lu Fan emphasized that during the heating period, one must attach great importance to safety work, strictly implement primary responsibilities, strengthen safety inspections, and eliminate safety hazards in a timely manner; one must truly take the warmth of all teachers and students to heart, strengthen the maintenance of heating facilities and equipment, ensure the normal operation of heating work, and create a warm and comfortable learning and working environment for all teachers, students, and staff.

When researching at the County Second Primary School, the inspection team was very "serious." While checking financial work, they discovered that the quantity and price of coal purchased were seriously inconsistent with other schools. Originally, no one paid attention to these small details, but this principal had a "prior record." The inspection team began to make a mountain out of a molehill, bringing in the County Education Bureau's discipline inspection team and financial personnel to launch a strict investigation into the County Second Primary School's accounting issues.

The County Second Primary School was like facing a formidable enemy. Principal Sun Rui was terrified and anxious, feeling deep down that he was finished, so he went around trying to find ways to maneuver.

At the County Middle School, Lu Fan led the inspection team to dine with the students, listening to their opinions on meal arrangements, and proposed five improvement suggestions to the County Middle School on the spot.

At the County Elementary School, Liuguanmiao Middle School, and Zhangqu Middle School, Lu Fan discovered that the deputy principals for legal affairs were not wearing police uniforms and had relatively low attendance rates at the schools.

Addressing these situations, Lu Fan spoke with each of the deputy principals for legal affairs, stating that this position must absolutely not be a mere formality. He demanded they act immediately to rectify the situation and fulfill their duties, strengthening legal supervision in schools. Otherwise, the Education Bureau would "return" them to their original units, mark their assessment results as incompetent, and recommend that the Political and Legal Committee and the Public Security Bureau give them disciplinary action according to regulations!

On November 15, while Lu Fan was inspecting work in Xinghe Town, he received a call from the bureau: the Provincial Organization Department's inspection team had arrived in Ningyang to inspect Deputy County Chief Zhao Sijie, and they requested Lu Fan to participate in the interview.

Upon receiving the news, Lu Fan hurried back to the county seat and went to Zhao Sijie's office.

After entering, Zhao Sijie sighed: "Finally leaving Ningyang; my heart is filled with ten thousand kinds of reluctance!"

Lu Fan laughed: "Sister Zhao is getting both a promotion and a transfer; it's something to celebrate. You're also about to tie the knot soon. You've occupied two of life's four great joys at once, making others envious. Just go back to that 'world of flowers' in the provincial capital with peace of mind and live a happy and fulfilling life!"

Zhao Sijie smiled: "In these two years, I've learned a lot in Ningyang, especially after partnering with you to handle education. I feel the things we did were very meaningful and quite fulfilling. Just as you said last time, life requires trade-offs; after all, I am a woman! Xiaofan, you must get in touch when you come to the provincial capital later; don't let the tea go cold after the person leaves!"

"You can put one hundred and eighty hearts at ease. As long as you and Brother Wu aren't annoyed, I guarantee I'll look for you to mooch food and drink every time I go to Chang'an! Sister Zhao, let me ask one more thing: which department are you going to?"

"Likely the Education Department; I don't know which division yet."

Alright, transferring back to a higher-level department and getting promoted to a division chief—one can only say that people are being used to their full potential!

After the seven-day public notice period ended, the County Committee held a farewell banquet for Zhao Sijie. Lu Fan and the Education Bureau leadership team also hosted a banquet for her as she left Ningyang to take up her post at the Education Department. The position of Ningyang Deputy County Chief was officially vacant!

With a mid-term vacancy in a deputy county-level position, those in Ningyang who considered themselves qualified to compete for this post were restless. In these past few days, people going to the province and city to maneuver were endless.

At County Party Secretary Gao Yuanfei's door, township secretaries and bureau directors were lining up to report their work.

But all of this seemed to have nothing to do with Lu Fan, because his maneuvering had started several months ago. This was the advantage of an information gap.

On the morning of November 17, Gao Yuanfei hurried to the provincial capital.

According to some well-informed sources, Gao Yuanfei had been reported! The content of the report not only involved certain image projects and political achievement projects in Ningyang, but also implicated places where he had previously served. Suddenly, a large number of reports targeting Gao Yuanfei appeared.

As everyone knew, the city's leadership team was about to face major adjustments, and Gao Yuanfei was one of the highly anticipated hot candidates.

However, at this critical moment, such a thing happened, which was absolutely unusual!

The higher one goes, the fewer the positions, and the competition becomes more intense—one could even say cruel!

In this battle without smoke, details determine success or failure.

At this very moment, Gao Yuanfei was deeply mired in it, facing unprecedented pressure and challenges.

On November 20, Yingjiang Municipal Organization Department Head Zhang Rongqu arrived. He was a division chief from the Provincial Party Committee Office, a talent specifically "requested" by Secretary Li Mingzhou from Provincial Party Secretary Chen Deming.

After completing the handover procedures, Zhang Rongqu went to Secretary Li Mingzhou's office to ask for work instructions.

Li Mingzhou said: "The urgent matter is the staffing of the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government teams. Originally, Ningyang's Gao Yuanfei was a suitable candidate, but we cannot promote someone with 'illness.' Let's put it aside for now. Your task is to familiarize yourself with the work as soon as possible, enter your role, understand Yingjiang's cadres, and launch the cadre adjustment work at both the city and county levels."

"Understood, Secretary. Do you have any specific instructions?"

"Follow the procedures. Adhere to the principle of having both integrity and ability, establish the correct orientation for selecting and employing people, and select high-quality, professional cadres who are loyal, clean, and responsible. Select and equip strong county-level leadership teams, and incentivize the city's cadres to be daring and proactive! Oh, right, Ningyang County Education Bureau Director Lu Fan won the title of National Outstanding Educator in September, and Ningyang County's Deputy County Chief has just transferred back to the Education Department. Organizational adjustments must put the right people in the right positions; only by putting people in the correct posts can we exert the maximum effectiveness of the cadres!"

Lu Fan, Ningyang County! Zhang Rongqu immediately wrote this name in his small notebook; he must focus on him!

On November 22, Gao Yuanfei returned to Ningyang. His expression was normal after getting off the car. But as soon as he entered the office, a look of worry hung on his face. Having such a serious matter happen at this time was truly damn fatal!

After exerting all his strength, he managed to temporarily suppress the reports, but there would definitely be negative repercussions.

Gao Yuanfei was worried, praying to heaven that this matter would not affect his critical promotion. One must know that the threshold between division level and deputy department level is like a watershed; one step further and the sea and sky open up, allowing one to advance toward the goals of mayor or municipal party secretary, and it is very possible to obtain deputy ministerial treatment before retirement. Conversely, the Municipal People's Congress or the CPPCC would be his final destination, and the treatment would be worlds apart!

However, the municipal leadership team was soon staffed, and the positions of Municipal Party Committee Secretary-General and Vice Mayor that Gao Yuanfei had been longing for were both taken by others! Missing this opportunity meant his life would be just like this!

The blow came so swiftly that Gao Yuanfei was caught off guard. He sat blankly in his office chair, his eyes hollow, as if he had lost his soul.

His face was filled with disappointment, and his outlook on life and values underwent a earth-shattering change at this moment.

Once full of confidence in the future, he now had no goals in his work and no direction in his life, and he began to doubt whether all the efforts he had made still had any meaning.

A man's best way to heal is the "gentle embrace." Gao Yuanfei went to the city, and didn't even go to work the next day. At his level, what kind of enjoyment could he not get?

With the county's deputy county chief position vacant, Baishu Bay Township Party Secretary Niu Qinghe was also eager to try, because he was at the Zhengke level when he was sent down from the Municipal Government Office, and he felt he was fully qualified to compete for deputy county chief. Thus, he rushed to Hanjiang City to "report work" to Municipal Party Secretary Le Xueren.

This year, Niu Qinghe was very "obedient." In the oil development of Baishu Bay, he tried his best to fight for benefits for Le Xuezhi, securing generous profits for the Le family. Just the associated gas stations alone had two built, and those were "good things" that brought in money daily. Directly transporting the oil mine's "waste gas" over and processing it into light hydrocarbons and LNG was almost a business without capital.

Now that the business was on track, Le Xueren, based on the principle of rewarding merit, dialed the number of Yingjiang Municipal Organization Department Head Zhang Rongqu. The call was connected quickly.

Zhang Rongqu said politely: "Secretary Le, what instructions do you have?"

"Rongqu, congratulations on taking another step forward! Let's get together next time you return to the province!"

"Secretary Le is too kind, I am always waiting for your summons!"

The two had known each other before, and their relationship was considered quite good.

Le Xueren said: "I heard the position of Ningyang County Deputy County Chief is vacant? I want to recommend a talent to you: Baishu Bay Township Party Secretary Niu Qinghe. I have a certain understanding of this comrade. After going to Baishu Bay, he made some achievements, such as the 'dijiao' lamb, which obtained national geographical indication certification. In over a year, he led a remote township to the top three in the county; he is still quite capable!"

Ningyang? If there were no designated leaders, Zhang Rongqu might help Le Xueren maneuver; after all, a request from a municipal party secretary is hard for ordinary people to refuse.

But now, Secretary Li Mingzhou had specifically given instructions about Lu Fan, so Zhang Rongqu could only say: "Secretary Le, I have just arrived in Yingjiang to take office and am not very familiar with the situation. Since it is a cadre recommended by you, he must be excellent, and I will focus on him. But the position of Ningyang Deputy County Chief is highly competitive; it requires Secretary Li's nod. I must ask Secretary Li for instructions, and I hope you understand!"

Le Xueren smiled and said: "Fine, you mention it. If necessary, I will communicate with Secretary Mingzhou!"

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