Chapter 340: A Clean and Upright Political Ecology

At the end of December, the Municipal Committee carried out its final personnel adjustments for the year. An inspection team arrived in Ganshui to conduct an organizational assessment of Zang Jinfeng, the Director of the Agriculture Bureau.

Only after the inspection announcement was posted did everyone realize that Bureau Director Zang was about to become Deputy County Chief Zang.

This quiet promotion left Zang Jinfeng both excited and extremely surprised; there had been absolutely no signs of it!

Yet, Zang Jinfeng had a clear head: without Secretary Lu's recommendation, it would have been impossible for him to be promoted.

Therefore, immediately after the organizational interview concluded, Zang Jinfeng went to the County Committee to express his most sincere gratitude to Lu Fan.

Lu Fan spoke earnestly to Zang Jinfeng: "The County Committee recommends cadres based on actual performance, ability, and competence. You have done a good job as Director of the Agriculture Bureau, which is why I recommended you to the Municipal Committee. Regarding the division of labor in the County Government, I will suggest that you oversee agriculture, continuing your old line of work."

"Jinfeng, a new position brings new responsibilities. The 'charge' to vigorously grasp agriculture across the county has already been sounded; at this critical moment, we must fight to win."

"When industry flourishes, the countryside flourishes. Each township must seize the momentum, relying on natural conditions, resource advantages, and climatic characteristics to make distinctive, high-advantage agricultural industries thrive. Build them into brand industries and wealth-generating industries to lead more of the masses out of poverty and toward prosperity."

"To do well in distinctive agriculture, we must follow the principle of refinement and strength. We must put effort into the 'distinctive' aspect, winning through quality and uniqueness. Focus on embedding green genes into these industries, achieving the goal of 'greening the land while enriching the people'."

"Now that you are a Deputy County Chief, you must act quickly, taking the lead in charging forward and overcoming obstacles, setting an example through your own actions. At the same time, you must remain clean and self-disciplined, serving the public with integrity. Resolutely resist all forms of corruption and unhealthy tendencies. You must ensure the organization is reassured, the masses are satisfied, and the cadres are convinced!"

"If you fail to grasp agricultural work well, I will hold you solely responsible. You can go wherever it's cool!"

Zang Jinfeng looked at Lu Fan with a firm gaze and said resolutely: "Thanks to your promotion, Secretary, this is the most important challenge in my career. Under your leadership, I will resolutely keep in step with the County Committee, thoroughly understand, contemplate, and execute the work. I will anchor myself to the goal of building a strong agricultural county, effectively grasp agricultural work, and exhaust every means to broaden the channels for farmers to increase their income and get rich. I will never fail your trust and expectations!"

After work, having finished dinner, Lu Fan was "strolling" through the county compound, with his secretary Chen Zemin following five or six steps behind.

Upstairs, some cadres were "pointing and gesturing" at the strolling Lu Fan, joking: "Look, the Secretary has stopped to think again. I bet he's considering personnel adjustments!"

Someone nearby said: "Zang Jinfeng became Deputy County Chief, and the Finance Bureau Director was put under 'double regulation'. You have to admit, the Secretary really might be thinking about this."

"Yes, yes, yes. Last time the Secretary walked around the courtyard until past seven, and that very night, a meeting of the five-person group was held."

As they were discussing this, they saw Lu Fan beckon to his secretary, call him over, and give him a few instructions.

They saw the secretary turn and leave, jogging back to the County Committee Office.

Those who were discussing it exclaimed: "Look, look! Chen Zemin is running. Is he notifying people for a meeting? Old Ma, your mouth is blessed—a five-person group meeting might really be held tonight!"

"Really? The County Chief position is vacant; can personnel be adjusted?"

"Theoretically, there's no problem. It mainly depends on whether the Municipal Organization Department approves it! Could it be that if we don't have a County Chief for a year, the county won't adjust any personnel for a year?"

Before the five-person group meeting even began, rumors of the meeting spread among the leading cadres. Too many people were looking toward the County Committee Office with eager anticipation.

Ever since Lu Fan became the Secretary of the Ganshui County Committee, the leading cadres of Ganshui gradually reached a consensus: don't blindly look for people to pull strings for promotions or adjustments. Even if you find a connection that reaches the heavens, you still have to worry about Secretary Lu settling scores later!

Everyone gradually "lay flat" regarding finding connections and going through the back door, starting to compete on work, performance, and highlights, hoping to gain the Secretary's favor. A trend of striving for excellence in Ganshui County became the norm, and a political ecology that was clean, upright, and peaceful gradually formed!

After the meeting began, Lu Fan went straight to the point: "Today's meeting is to study personnel adjustments. Xinbo, take good meeting minutes. Four people are present."

"Comrades, the Finance Bureau and the Agriculture Bureau are both very important. The heads must be equipped as soon as possible, otherwise, it will delay work. Please, Tongyu, report the personnel adjustment plan."

Organization Department Head Guo Tongyu reported: "Following the instructions of the County Committee, the Organization Department solicited opinions from all sides, adhering to the personnel principles of democracy, openness, competition, and merit-based selection. After full deliberation and combining the situation of vacant positions, we propose the following cadre adjustment opinions:"

"Recommend Huang Ruiqi, Director of the Urban Management Bureau, to serve as Director of the Finance Bureau;"

"Recommend Wang Shuxian, Secretary of the Laoshan Town Party Committee, to serve as Director of the Agriculture Bureau;"

"Recommend Meng Xiangyue, Secretary of the Chengguan Town Party Committee, to serve as Director of the Urban Management Bureau;"

"Recommend Lin Hao, Mayor of Chengguan Town, to serve as Secretary of the Chengguan Town Party Committee;"

"Recommend Geng Kai, Mayor of Laoshan Town, to serve as Secretary of the Laoshan Town Party Committee;"

"Recommend Gu Jie, Chairman of the Laoshan Town People's Congress, to serve as Mayor of Chengguan Town;"

"Recommend Zhou Zhen, Chairman of the Siwan Town People's Congress, to serve as Mayor of Laoshan Town;"

"......"

"12 Zhengke-level leading cadres adjusted, 18 township deputy positions adjusted, and 8 general township cadres promoted."

After the report was finished, Lu Fan said: "Please discuss it, speak freely. If there are different opinions, please raise them."

Deputy Secretary Wang Zhikun said: "This has all been fully deliberated by the organization. I have no objections."

Discipline Inspection Committee Secretary Zhang Qianyuan stated: "I agree!"

Organization Department Head Guo Tongyu said: "I agree!"

That's it? Lu Fan felt it was a bit too simple. How should the meeting minutes be written?

He then said: "Selecting and employing people is the weather vane of a local political ecology. What standards are used to select people, and what kind of people are selected, has always been the primary issue in cadre work. It is especially important that the organization is reassured, the masses are satisfied, and the cadres are convinced!"

"The essence of governance lies in employing people. If Ganshui wants to achieve leapfrog development in all its undertakings, the key lies in building a core team of officials who are politically firm, highly capable, excellent in style, and enterprising."

"Possessing both political integrity and professional competence, with integrity coming first, is our standard for employing people, our policy orientation, and our basic principle. In cadre inspections, we must implement 'integrity first' in practice, examining deeply, realistically, and accurately."

"The ancients said, 'I urge the Heavenly Lord to shake things up, to recruit talent without sticking to one pattern.' We must resolutely prevent limiting our vision for selecting people to those around us or those we are familiar with. We must truly look at all fronts and fields, look at the grassroots frontline, look at places with harsh conditions, difficult work, and complex contradictions, and look at key positions, important positions, and positions where people have been silently contributing for a long time. We must truly enable outstanding talent to find their place and perform to their full potential, promoting a clear and beautiful political ecology through a clean and upright environment for employing people!"

"Since everyone agrees with this plan, Tongyu, please report it to the Municipal Organization Department immediately and start the cadre inspection procedures as soon as possible."

In less than ten minutes, the meeting ended.

Many people were waiting eagerly to find out the news, but since the meeting ended so quickly, they couldn't help but suspect: this couldn't possibly be about studying personnel adjustments, could it?

Furthermore, the few people who attended the meeting kept their mouths shut, and not a single whisper of news leaked out.

The next day, Guo Tongyu took the personnel adjustment plan to the Municipal Organization Department, reigniting a glimmer of hope among Ganshui's leading cadres.

At 3:00 PM, the Organization Department suddenly convened a cadre inspection meeting, drawing personnel to form 8 inspection teams, which were dispatched to various units to conduct organizational inspections of the cadres proposed for promotion.

Only then did the cadres of Ganshui realize that the Secretary really had been studying personnel adjustments last night. But wasn't this speed a bit too fast? It seemed they hadn't heard of the Secretary talking to any leaders recently; there was absolutely no news, no signs!

During the New Year's holiday, Lu Fan returned to Jingcheng with Li Mingzhou, first going to Beizongbu Hutong to visit his grandfather.

Li Lao was getting on in years and loved to play the teacher, pulling Lu Fan aside to impart the ways of officialdom.

Lu Fan sat by his side, listening patiently and occasionally asking questions.

After receiving Li Lao's answers, Lu Fan would think seriously and draw inferences, which made the old man very satisfied.

Ever since he became County Committee Secretary, Lu Fan's importance in the Li family had grown day by day. A large part of the reason was that the Li family had few descendants, and in this generation, only Lu Fan was seriously pursuing a political career. He also carried Li Lao's hopes, and the old man began to focus on training Lu Fan.

After chatting for two hours, Li Mingzhou asked: "Dad, the conclusion on Song Yong is basically out. Will Wang Hongtao take over?"

Li Lao nodded and said: "I expect the Organization Department has already talked to Wang Hongtao by now. This young man is not simple; to have such achievements at such a young age, he has already entered the field of vision. His future achievements will be immeasurable! Lu Fan, Wang Hongtao is your teacher. You must maintain this bond well; perhaps in the future, it will benefit you immensely!"

Lu Fan nodded and said: "I have special respect for Secretary Wang in my heart. He taught me a lot and has always been my role model and the direction of my efforts!"

After dinner, Lu Fan returned to the Machinery Ministry's Qinan residential area in the Xicheng District to spend time alone with Li Zimeng. The house there had already been renovated.

At this time, Lu Yao was inspecting Qinchuan Province, responsible for organizing materials.

Lu Yao was serious and responsible in her work, cheerful, clever, and beautiful, making her deeply loved by everyone. She was the "key protected object" of the entire inspection team.

Seeing that the inspection work was coming to an end, Lu Yao used her "official convenience" to start verifying some contents of the whistleblowing letter against Le Xueren and continued to collect evidence of Le Xueren's violations of rules and discipline.

Although Lu Yao was very careful, what kind of people were in the inspection team? Her actions were soon known to her colleagues, but everyone turned a blind eye.

The people in the inspection team were all hand-picked by Wang Hongtao, so he soon learned of this matter. But Wang Hongtao also chose to turn a blind eye, instead instructing Xiao Bin and others to cooperate with Lu Yao as much as possible and help cover for her. The young girl was too young, and her methods were relatively immature.

Just like that, the "things" in Lu Yao's hands became more and more numerous, giving her more confidence in toppling Le Xueren in the future.

For an inspection team to want to investigate problems, it couldn't be easier!

Lu Fan spent two happy days in his new home, very satisfied with the renovation, and rewarded Li Zimeng handsomely.

After drifting for so many years, he was finally going to have a home! Lu Fan was now infinitely looking forward to marriage. You have to know that many of his brothers' children were already in kindergarten; how could he not be envious?