Chapter 343

By mid-January, all annual economic figures had been reported. The city was waiting for feedback from the province, entering the inventory period for the whole year's work. The main leaders of each county gathered in the city, this unit entering, that department exiting, all wanting their county to get a good ranking in the year-end assessment to lay the foundation for future "progress."

For this reason, Lu Fan specially called County Chief Yuan Weiwei to his office to discuss this matter.

Yuan Weiwei said: "Secretary, the year-end assessment is a summary and evaluation of Ganshui's work for the whole year. It won't work if we don't strive for it. I heard that many county and district leaders have already 'stationed' in the city, and we must also start taking action."

Lu Fan nodded and said: "The cadres of the whole county have worked hard for a year, and we must let them get the recognition they deserve, which requires us to bring back a good ranking. We all understand some things, and some indicators are too flexible; we must strengthen docking. If you don't run or ask, others won't take the initiative to give it to you. The whole city is 'running and asking,' so we have to compare whose strength is greater and whose relationship is stronger, so the main responsibility still lies with the two of us.

The city's assessment plan has been released, with a total of 26 major categories and 89 assessment indicators. Let's divide them and personally coordinate with the corresponding departments in the city. You just took office, so you pick first; see which units in the city you are familiar with, and the rest will belong to me. But it won't work next year; you have to take the bulk!"

Weiwei laughed: "Thanks to the Secretary for your high style! To be honest, I know most of the units in the city, but I don't have any special relationships. If the Secretary doesn't help, I can't handle them and can't grab a good ranking back. My idea is that the Secretary will be fully responsible this year, and I will be the assistant. Next year, I will definitely take on the heavy burden!"

Lu Fan didn't decline and laughed: "You want to tire me to death! Dealing with them requires saying all the good words and pestering them; it's very annoying! Forget it, I won't say anything this year, but next year you must brace yourself for me! Also, the two of us are charging at the front, but we can't let the units involved in the assessment indicators be idle. You 'drive' them all to the city to dock the indicators. Even if we coordinate the ranking, the basic work still has to be done by them."

"Okay, Secretary, I will hold a meeting this afternoon to decompose the indicators one by one and consolidate the responsibilities of each department."

After chatting about work, Lu Fan said: "The Provincial Party Committee held a Standing Committee meeting today. Chen Dong, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission, was adjusted to be the Secretary of the Chang'an Discipline Inspection Commission. Director Xiaobin should have a chance now, right?"

Weiwei said: "He definitely has thoughts, but the internal competition in the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission is very fierce, and whether he can get his wish is another matter."

Just as they were talking, Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Zhang Qianyuan came and reported: "Secretary, let me report on the situation of cadres investigated and punished recently."

Hearing this, Weiwei intended to stand up and say goodbye, but Lu Fan said to him: "Listen together!"

Zhang Qianyuan said: "Former Deputy County Chief Li Junxia, the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission implemented corrupt funds of more than 38.9 million yuan, not announced to the public; former Education Bureau Xu Ziheng, implemented corrupt funds of 21.1 million yuan; Finance Bureau Shen Kaixing, implemented corrupt funds of 28.9 million yuan; these are the big ones, and other deputies and cadres implemented a total of more than 5 million yuan in corrupt funds. Except for Li Junxia, a total of more than 55 million has been implemented."

Lu Fan patted the table heavily and said angrily: "Weiwei, listen, Ganshui is a poor county. These bastards can fish so much; I can't even imagine how they were corrupt. They deserve to die! Qianyuan, continue to dig deep, dig until they are penniless, and all go to the streets to beg for food. These people are not worth pitying!"

Then, Lu Fan said to Weiwei: "Li Junxia was corrupt for nearly 40 million, all of which is the hard-earned money of the people of Ganshui. I will strive for it with the Municipal Party Committee; it must be returned to us, taken from the people and used for the people. In this way, there will be 95 million in funds. I mentioned to you last time that the finance department will go all out to raise funds at the end of the year to repay government debt. For the remaining 700 million in debt, you repay it at a ratio of 30%, and it must be fair, just, and open, so that the debt-ridden enterprises will have no opinions."

Weiwei said readily: "Okay, Secretary, I guarantee it will be implemented."

"Weiwei, with the commissioning of several major projects, Ganshui's finance will be greatly improved next year. We will not engage in image projects or political achievement projects, but first concentrate our energy on repaying government debt. In addition, projects implemented by the county will focus on infrastructure improvement and improving people's livelihood, which must have support and supporting funds from superiors. The county will not use local fiscal funds to implement projects in the short term."

"Okay, I've noted it!"

Starting from mid-January, Lu Fan began to "nail" himself in the city, asking for rankings, accompanied by County Party Committee Office Director Li Xinbo.

The first stop, Lu Fan went to the Municipal Development and Reform Commission and was warmly received by Director Yang Shaokai.

Yang Shaokai personally made tea and laughed: "Secretary Lu, I guessed you were coming!"

Lu Fan said: "Starting from today, I will make the Development and Reform Commission my home. If I don't get first place, I will pester you and not leave!"

"No problem, I'll give you first place in fixed asset investment!"

"Director, don't fool people like that. Fixed asset investment is a hard indicator; we are already first! The Development and Reform Commission is responsible for the overall coordination of economic indicators. You have the most indicators and the largest weight. Ganshui's work this year is not bad, right? We have made great contributions to the city; we must be rewarded, right? I have to 'argue' with you one by one about these 18 indicators of yours!"

Yang Shaokai laughed: "If everyone is like you, my work won't get done!"

"The relationship is different, so I dare to 'not stop until I reach my goal' with you! Anyway, I will work at the Development and Reform Commission during this period; you find me an office!"

"You're being a rascal! Lu Fan, I will definitely support your work. Don't worry about this; I will definitely give you a satisfactory result!"

"My Director Yang, you can't fool people like this! Let's not be superficial. I have your assessment indicators here; let's go through them one by one, okay? I've prepared your 'pig head' and am just waiting to thank Director Yang!"

Yang Shaokai thought for a while and said: "It can't be done like this. You also know that I am just an 'operator' and have to wait for instructions to come down before I can operate specifically. How about this? After implementing the leader's instructions, I will put Ganshui in the first place behind, how about that?"

"Are we stepchildren? Anyway, I won't go back to the county recently; I'll just stare at this matter. You have a number in your heart first; I'm going to the Municipal Party Committee to report on work this afternoon."

"That's right, as long as the Secretary and Mayor have instructions, there will definitely be no problem with the Development and Reform Commission!"

Forget about the Mayor; let Weiwei try his luck. Lu Fan can only find the Secretary.

At 4:00 PM, Lu Fan waited for more than an hour and saw Li Mingzhou.

"Are you here to run for indicators too?" Li Mingzhou asked.

Lu Fan replied: "Yes, Secretary. After working hard for a year, I have to give the cadres in the county an explanation."

Li Mingzhou put down his pen, sighed, and said: "The unhealthy tendencies in year-end assessments have existed for a long time. The reason is that a few units and individuals don't put in real effort 'usually,' and worry about exposing 'family ugliness' 'during evaluation,' so they want to use side-door ways like running relationships and finding doors to cover up work deficiencies, which is essentially fraud and deceiving superiors and subordinates.

Assessment and evaluation are effective 'batons' and 'vanes' for promoting work. If the 'baton' is biased and the 'vane' is crooked, letting those who engage in fraud get what they want will not only damage the credibility and authority of the assessment and evaluation itself, but also chill the hearts of grassroots doers, corrupt the party style, government style, and social style, and affect the image of the party and government. The harm cannot be underestimated!"

Lu Fan said what he had to say: "Secretary, actually we also hate doing it this way. A round trip costs hundreds of thousands, right? There's no way; most counties and districts worry that if they don't 'run around' and contact feelings, they will suffer no matter how well they do their work, and it's a high probability event!"

"You're right. I've been thinking about this problem recently. To govern subordinates, one must first govern superiors; to cure diseases, one must cure the root. To be realistic, the prevalence of these crooked ways has a lot to do with whether the assessment responsibility departments are upright and walk straight. If the assessors themselves cannot be selfless and always think about using the right of judgment to seek personal gain, engaging in 'human relationship assessment' and 'relationship assessment,' and even laying 'foreshadowing' for eating, taking, carding, and demanding, it is actually a kind of invisible and mutated corrupt behavior, and it is also the crux of the crooked assessment style.

A qualified assessor must not only be objective, fair, and truly assess, but also hold their own bottom line, dare to fight and show their sword, and resolutely say 'no' to hidden rules, so that those who want to 'take shortcuts' have no tricks to use. Only in this way can we test out good answers and bring out good atmosphere!

I plan to hold a meeting for all assessment departments in the next two days to tighten the screws and let them strictly assess discipline!"

The father-in-law also has face; Lu Fan didn't hit him. If this matter could be solved by holding a meeting, you would be a god!

Li Mingzhou continued: "You can dock work with these assessment units. After all, more communication and more reporting can also let others know your work achievements and highlights. Then go back to the county and work with peace of mind. You don't need to consider the ranking!"

Hearing this, Lu Fan knew it was settled. His heart was settled. It's still better to have someone in the center to be an official!

However, one cannot listen to the father-in-law entirely. What should be run must be run, and what should be sent must be sent. It is precisely through these human interactions that the main leaders of the county can establish "deep-level" friendships with the department leaders in the city, using public "resources" to make personal "relationship networks." No one can refuse!

Starting from January 20th, Lu Fan stayed in the city for a full week, running through the Organization Department, Propaganda Department, Discipline Inspection Commission, Development and Reform Commission, Industry and Information Technology Bureau, Education Bureau, and other departments involved in the assessment. Every time he went to a place, he could communicate deeply with the top leaders of these units.

At this time, the advantage of Lu Fan having served as Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee was revealed. Most of the directors gave face and indicated that they would treat Ganshui differently.

This week, Lu Fan almost had dinner parties at noon and drinking parties at night, "indulging" in human interactions, drinking himself into a daze every day, but the effect was obvious.

On January 23rd, the Provincial Party Committee fed back the various data of Yingjiang City, and the city officially entered the stage of "sitting in rows and distributing fruits"!