Chapter 456

Three minutes, Deputy Secretary-General of the City Government Han Shiming arrived at the Mayor's office with a nervous and excited feeling.

After entering, Han Shiming adjusted his mindset, appearing steady and capable, and bluntly said: "Mayor, please give your instructions!"

Lu Fan put down his pen, raised his head, and asked: "Are you a graduate of the Finance and Politics University of Huayuan Province?"

"Yes, my major was law. I graduated from university in 2008, took the provincial party committee's selected cadet exam, was assigned to a township in Nan County, then transferred to work in the County Government Office, participated in the City Government Office's selection exam in 20112, was promoted to Section Chief of Section Six in 2016, and promoted to Deputy Secretary-General in 2019."

Lu Fan nodded and said: "Your document-handling skills are solid, you've also been trained at the grassroots level; I'm now seeking your opinion, planning to have you temporarily assist with my work."

Faced with the sudden surprise, Han Shiming did his utmost to steady his mind, and firmly replied: "Thank you for the Mayor's trust and kindness; I will wholeheartedly, conscientiously, dutifully, and wholeheartedly serve all of the Mayor's work!"

Lu Fan said: "First, I have a requirement: in work and life, you must strictly regulate your words and deeds, constantly keep the string of integrity and self-discipline taut, remember that in personal relations there are principles and in interactions there is discipline; with sincere reverence and steadfastness from the heart, truly manage your 'social circle,' 'life circle,' and 'friends circle,' always exercise caution in solitude, in minutiae, in speech, and in conduct, so as to never forget the foundation of being a person in establishing oneself, never waver from the heart of a public servant in governance, and never seek personal gain in the use of power."

Han Shiming firmly said: "Mayor, I will persistently strengthen and harden the awareness of strictly observing political rules, with sincere reverence and steadfastness from the heart, achieving political observance of rules, organizational obedience, and disciplinary action; always knowing reverence, holding fear, and guarding the bottom line."

Lu Fan nodded and said: "Currently, there are several tasks to arrange: first, liaise with the Municipal People's Congress and Municipal Political Consultative Conference; I will go pay a visit; second, first arrange for county and district heads to report work, then the economic departments, with other matters postponed except urgent work; third, coordinate with Yingjiang City Government to transfer Cheng Haohao over, appoint him as Section Chief of Section One, clearly at the deputy division level—this matter you communicate with Mayor Wang Hong; fourth, conduct research on various counties and districts, key enterprises, and key projects with investments over one hundred million yuan; fifth, learn about the situation of deputy section chiefs and above in the Government Office, including background, connections, political inclination, and work ability."

Lu Fan follows the principle of employing without suspicion and not doubting those employed; once a decision is made, he will give Han Shiming full trust. Originally, employing people is a matter of luck; one can only judge by words, observe actions, and know the foundation to truly discern a person.

Han Shiming received the order and left, a strong sense of responsibility and mission surging in his heart. He understood that this was a rare opportunity, possibly the most precious one in his life, and thus threw himself into the work with great enthusiasm.

The first to come and report work was Vice Mayor Zhao Haorui, responsible for science and technology, industry and informatization, finance, investment promotion, advanced industry development zone construction, illegal fundraising disposal, private economy, and management of the City Government's overseas institutions.

Zhao Haorui's report was very detailed, focusing on the industrial economy and non-public economy; it is estimated that this year Nanyuan City's industrial value-added will be around 107 billion yuan, with growth of about 5%. The growth of value-added for industries above designated size is about 6%......

After listening to the report, Lu Fan commented: "Haorui, achievements exist, but we must clearly see that Nanyuan's industrial scale is small, level low, innovation insufficient, parks weak, and these problems remain prominent; the intensity of pushing industry still needs to be increased."

To realize the three-year doubling plan, we must unequivocally place industry in the primary position; you should focus on your main duties and main business, meet challenges head-on, strengthen the scheduling, monitoring and forecasting, analysis and judgment of industrial economic operations, timely prevent and resolve risks and contradictions, based on advance. Carefully plan the industrial development path, focus on key projects, key enterprises, and major platforms, and promote innovative development of leading industry clusters.

I have preliminarily set a task for you: in 2023, industrial value-added must exceed 1500 billion yuan, and the value-added of industries above designated size must grow by more than 10%; you should plan your work around these two goals. Let's put the unpleasant words up front: in the work, I will give you full autonomy and decision-making power, including personnel, finances, and materials, and will also provide logistical support. But if you fail to achieve the City Government's set targets, then we will have to have a serious talk.

Although Lu Fan gave the task with a smile, how could Zhao Haorui dare not take the Mayor's instructions seriously? He immediately replied: "I will, under the Mayor's strong leadership, revolve around the work goals set by the Mayor, base myself on reality, take responsibility and act, adhere to a problem-oriented approach, actively plan work, make one day count as two, two steps as one step running, vigorously grasp the business environment, to achieve better service, faster approval, more solid work, and stricter management, contributing to promoting the high-quality leapfrog development of Nanyuan City's industrial economy."

Some things need not be spelled out too clearly; everyone understands implicitly. Still, that saying holds: Lu Fan must judge by words and observe actions; nothing can be achieved overnight, let alone the major matter of 'uniting colleagues'.

Next, Vice Ministers Gao Shu and Zhu Xinlan came one after another to report work; in the afternoon, Vice Mayor and Public Security Bureau Chief Tian Xian also came to report work, and the two deputy mayors on temporary assignment also joined in the 'liveliness'.

Lu Fan responded to all with a smile, listened to the reports, raised some work-related demands, and the communication went smoothly.

Among them, Vice Mayors Zhao Haorui, Gao Shu, and Zhu Xinlan expressed their intention to become standing committee vice mayors; Lu Fan all indicated that wanting to advance is good, and he would seriously recommend them to the superior organization.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Lu Fan was reviewing documents in the office; the Mayor's workload is considerable, so guidance must be given on each document.

Suddenly the door opened; Lu Fan looked up and saw Cheng Haohao, then smiled and said: "You came so quickly? Have you finished handling your unit's affairs?"

Cheng Haohao laughed and said: "Hearing the Mayor's summons, I wished I could fly to Nanyuan. Municipal Party Secretary Li Ruifang and Mayor Si Daiqiang demanded I rush over immediately, with procedures to be supplemented later; besides, I am not in charge of especially important work, so I handed over everything in an hour. The Mayor's side cannot be without personnel, so I rushed over overnight."

Lu Fan said: "Later, go find Deputy Secretary-General Han Shiming to settle the meals and accommodation issue. Starting tomorrow, select someone for Section One, that is, the Mayor's Office personnel; they must be politically reliable, capable in business, and solid in work style; specifically, you yourself weigh the choices, pick one and bring in one, preferring scarcity to excess."

"Okay, Mayor, I know what to do. Section One will surely become the City Government's bridgehead and outpost! Mayor, you haven't eaten yet, have you? I brought you some 'dry rations'."

Seeing Cheng Haohao pull out 'fruit jam' and 'oven-baked bun' from his bag, Lu Fan laughed and said: "This is good stuff—convenient, tasty, and staves off hunger!"

The next day, the Government Office held a meeting; Executive Vice Mayor Wang Hong announced that Deputy Secretary-General Han Shiming would coordinate the Mayor's work, and Comrade Cheng Haohao would preside over the work of Section One.

After the meeting ended, the two immediately became the object of everyone's goodwill.

According to protocol, when counties and districts report work to the City Government, it is usually the district chief, but Nan County's Party Secretary Feng Guanqiao became the first county/district leader to report work to the Mayor, with no avoidance at all.

Feng Guanqiao seriously reported: "Mayor, preliminary calculations show that the county's annual gross domestic product is expected to reach 1.89 billion yuan, up 5.2% year-on-year; the county's grain planting area is 28,900 hectares, grain output 145,400 tons, total meat production 11,400 tons, general public budget revenue 890 million yuan, per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents 22,000 yuan, and the resident population is 480,000......"

In less than five minutes, Feng Guanqiao had presented Nan County's situation clearly and comprehensively; the conditions were very clear, strengths and weaknesses immediately apparent, giving Lu Fan an intuitive impression of Nan County.

Lu Fan said: "Next Monday, you and Han Shiming will interface; I will go to Nan County to take a look, focusing on key projects and industrial economic development."

Feng Guanqiao happily said: "The entire county's cadres and masses are looking forward with anticipation; welcome the Mayor to inspect and guide Nan County's work; the whole county will surely be greatly encouraged, spirits lifted, morale boosted, and will strive to accomplish all tasks of the fourth quarter."

In the course of chatting, Feng Guanqiao unintentionally revealed that he had previously served in the Provincial Government Office's General Office, having served Deputy Provincial Governor Huang Chongzhou.

Indeed, there are no coincidences in the world; it turned out he was 'one of our own,' and Lu Fan's attitude toward him became somewhat closer in an imperceptible way.

At this moment, Municipal Party Secretary Wang Haiyang was reporting work in Secretary Guo Guangqi's office, mainly concerning the recommendation of provincial-level cadres managed by Nanyuan City.

After patiently listening to Wang Haiyang's request, Guo Guangqi spoke solemnly: "Regarding cadre adjustments, the Provincial Party Committee will start from the overall situation, placing greater emphasis on examining actual performance, based on work needs and the actual circumstances of Nanyuan City's leadership team building, after comprehensive consideration, repeated deliberation, and prudent study and decision. I know your idea; when the Provincial Party Committee researches personnel, it will fully take it into account."

Hearing this, Wang Haiyang knew the plan basically had no chance, yet he was not discouraged; if one attempt fails, try again—when is it ever easy to get things done with leaders? One must persist!

But what Wang Haiyang did not expect was that, just as he left the office, Guo Guangqi called Lu Fan's phone, laughing and saying: "Lu Fan, Nanyuan City's vice mayors lack a female comrade; the Provincial Party Committee will assign you a capable and strong soldier, also a trainee of the middle-young cadre class, named Ma Caihong, who is currently a county party secretary."

Provincial Party Committee

Institutions/places:

Guo Guangqi asked: "Regarding standing committee vice mayors, do you have any recommended candidates?"

Lu Fan breathed a sigh of relief and, without yielding, replied: "Secretary, I recommend Vice Mayor Zhao Haorui to concurrently serve as a standing committee member, and recommend Nan County Party Secretary Feng Guanqiao to serve as vice mayor. Furthermore, Wolong District holds significant weight in Nanyuan City; the district party secretary also has the tradition of concurrently serving as a municipal party committee member, so I dare to recommend Comrade Li Yuan to also serve as a municipal party committee member."

Hao Guangqi hesitated for a while, then said, "The Provincial Party Committee will consider it carefully!"