Chapter 528

On the fourth and fifth days of the first lunar month, Lu Fan called Chen Xu to his home for two consecutive days, creating an opportunity for his sister and him to be alone, determined to get his sister married this year.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Lu Fan went to Nanyuan City full of confidence, officially starting work for the new year.

After leaving the airport, Secretary-General Dou Zhengyang had been waiting for a while.

After getting in the car, Dou Zhengyang said, "Secretary, some comrades from the counties and districts want to gather with you in the evening."

Lu Fan laughed and asked, "Who all?"

Dou Zhengyang replied, "The secretaries of Wolong District Li Yuan, Wancheng District Wu Dingzhe, Nan County Shen Youqing, Zhenping County Wang Mu Yi, Neixiang County Sun Wenrun, Xichuan County Ren Zhao, and Xinye County Xie Siming."

"Even though it's still a holiday, having a few drinks with everyone is no big deal! These few people have considerable scheming; when having a meal, they insist on inviting some and not others, calling Tang County's Zha Jianyu, Tong County's Yang Yanwei, Xijia County's Xiao Yun, She County's Chang Zhichao, Fangcheng County's Lu Jing, all of them—just adding a few more pairs of chopsticks. For Nanyuan City to develop, this group of county Party secretaries is key; we must engage in healthy competition, forming cliques and factionalism is serious internal drain, which must not happen!"

"Okay, Secretary. Also, I need to ask: can we arrange the municipal departments for tomorrow evening?"

Lu Fan thought for a moment and said, "Arrange it, otherwise they'll say I'm playing favorites."

Cultivating and selecting cadres is important; Lu Fan knows well that to succeed one needs a group of like-minded people, thinking as one and exerting effort in unison, working together with a shared purpose to strive forward toward the ideal goal.

After handling documents at the office all day, Lu Fan proceeded to Nanyuan Grand Hotel accompanied by Secretary-General Dou Zhengyang and Cheng Haohao.

Upon entering the private room, more than ten county Party secretaries immediately stood up to welcome Yingjiang, only missing the Party Secretary of Danzhou City, which Dou Zhengyang intentionally arranged.

After taking the main seat, Lu Fan smiled and said, "After the holidays, everyone's gotten fat! After work we go running to lose weight, and I'm no exception."

Everyone responded with a kind smile, and the secretary of Wolong District, Li Yuan, said, "Secretary, you have a standard figure—no belly at all—you don't need to lose weight."

Lu Fan said, "We also need to exercise; only with a good body can we have abundant energy and sufficient vigor to devote ourselves to this year's heavy workload. While everyone is here, I'll briefly say a few things: Nanyuan must catch up and surpass economically, entering the trillion‑yuan GDP club; county‑level economic development is of utmost importance, and the key lies with you, this group of county Party secretaries! After work, I will personally assign each of your districts this year's economic growth targets, investment promotion tasks, and fixed‑asset investment; how well you complete the work will be my individual assessment of you."

I know you all have aspirations for political advancement; we will judge heroes by actual performance and rank seats by contribution, and I will spare no effort in recommending to the provincial Party Committee outstanding leaders with exceptional ability.

I solemnly declare that if anyone fails to complete the tasks assigned by the Municipal Party Committee, no matter how strong your connections or how you try to pull strings, you will not get past me! You will not only not be promoted, but you must step down to make way for the capable, vacating the county Party secretary post so that the able can take the position and those daring to assume responsibility can have a post.

Alright, I raise a glass to you all! May you, in the new year, stride forward with vigor, persevere without slack, seize the momentum to open a new chapter, and present a satisfactory answer sheet to the organization and the entire city with outstanding achievements!

As soon as his words fell, everyone rose to their feet in unison, looking firmly at Lu Fan, and raised their glasses to drink together.

After the serious matters were concluded, the banquet officially began; Lu Fan let down his dignity and fully joined in, exchanging cups and glasses amid continual laughter and cheer. The atmosphere was warm and harmonious, incredibly lively.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, the first day after the holiday.

Just arrived at the office, Lu Fan had the secretary summon the Deputy Municipal Party Secretary Wang Hong, Propaganda Department Head Li Mu Ci, Culture and Tourism Bureau Director Wang Chong, Commerce Bureau Director Xie Siming, and Agriculture Bureau Director Yan Chengci to the office to arrange work.

After everyone had gathered, Lu Fan smiled and said, "I have seen your selection of Nanyuan's top ten 'online influencers'; they are interesting, talented, full of positive energy, have high attention, and are down‑to‑earth, with very high quality—especially 'Nanyuan Zhiruo' and the Culture and Tourism Bureau's 'beautiful bureau chief,' whose fan bases have each reached several million. I verbally commend your hard work and the effectiveness of this event."

Next, we must turn advantages into victory and economic benefits, letting Nanyuan's 'internet celebrities' endorse and promote local specialties, pushing the city's agricultural and sideline products and characteristic goods into the market, then carrying out agricultural assistance through 'live‑stream sales'. The government should give full support, striving to cultivate a batch of 'top‑tier' 'sales‑stream hosts'.

'Siming, how is the Commerce Bureau's e‑commerce platform coming along?'

Xie Siming immediately replied, 'Secretary, last year our city's e‑commerce comprehensive pilot zone was rated by the Ministry of Commerce as the second tier, 'relatively effective'; there are 50 such zones nationwide, our overall performance stood out, and we received 5 million yuan in reward funds. I have already vacated the third and fourth floors, done simple renovations, equipped them with office facilities, and the 'online influencers' can move in at any time.'

This year, I plan to apply for provincial and national e‑commerce demonstration zone creation activities, which have a relatively high chance of success. If we can secure it, we could obtain over one hundred million yuan in support funds.

Lu Fan nodded and said, 'Not bad; we must definitely increase coordination with higher‑level departments to strive for more funding and projects to land in Nanyuan.'

Then, turning to the Agriculture Bureau Director Yan Chengci, Lu Fan said, 'Now that Nanyuan Zhiruo has come to the Agriculture Bureau, what position can you give her?'

Yan Chengci replied, 'I plan to newly establish the "Agricultural Products Exhibition and Sales Department", with her as the department head, at the Zhengke level, and I ask for your support, Secretary.'

Lu Fan laughed and said, "That's a good name for the section. Go ahead, submit the report, I'll approve it, and first give this section five administrative staff positions; later, depending on business development, we can consider increasing the quota. I can tell you, we must make sure Nanyuan Zhiruo plays its role, becoming Nanyuan City's official 'sales promoter', pushing the city's characteristic products and agricultural sideline goods nationwide. We must strictly control product quality; the Agriculture Bureau should aim for zero profit, do this job well, and I will record a major merit for you, using annual sales volume as the evaluation metric."

Finally, Lu Fan said, 'Wang Hong, you will take the lead, with Minister Li Mu Ci and the Culture and Tourism Bureau cooperating; you should depart today for Jingcheng to connect with the 'Bit Group' for deep strategic cooperation, starting from the technical level, to fully promote our 'top ten online influencers.'

Now is the era of booming short videos; Nanyuan must leverage short videos, and the publicity and culture‑tourism departments should make good use of this convenient, flexible, low‑cost format—clarifying positioning, choosing the right angle, targeting the audience, creating quality products, and promoting them well—to release a batch of high‑concept, high‑quality, widely disseminable hit short‑video products, making Nanyuan a hot city on Douyin. Remember to seek a distinct, unique character, avoiding the phenomenon of 'a thousand cities with the same face, a thousand scenes with the same look'.

Several people departed after receiving their orders, and Lu Fan proceeded to the government affairs hall accompanied by Secretary‑General Dou Zhengyang and Executive Vice Mayor Zhao Haorui.

On the first workday after the Spring Festival holiday, although the festive atmosphere lingered, the hall of the Municipal Government Services and Public Resources Trading Center was crowded with people yet orderly.

Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan successively visited the postal, public security, traffic police, land resources, judicial notarization, and taxation service windows, extending New Year greetings to the staff and gaining a detailed understanding of the handling procedures and time limits for each service.

At the Public Security Bureau's ID‑card service window, the notice board for 'Returning‑home Migrant Worker ID Services' was especially conspicuous; Lu Fan instructed the window staff to certainly facilitate matters for migrant workers and provide them with high‑quality, efficient service.

At the social security service window, Lu Fan exchanged views with the staff, learning about medical insurance reimbursement and review procedures. Upon learning that the goal of having the public make at most one trip had already been achieved, Lu Fan gave affirmation and urged the Human Resources and Social Security Department to further strengthen its service‑to‑the‑people function in the new situation, devoting more energy to serving the public.

Lu Fan instructed the director of the Administrative Approval Bureau, Zhang Xixi, that the government affairs hall is a unit directly serving the public; its service level directly affects the image of the Party and government, so it must play its window role to serve the public better. He also urged further improvement of administrative efficiency to truly achieve 'handle it immediately, handle it online, handle it in one go,' especially putting effort into 'handle it online' so that the public needs to make fewer trips, positioning Nanyuan at the forefront of creating a first‑class business environment in the city and setting an example.

Next, Lu Fan went to the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the Municipal Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau, and other units to visit cadres and workers, thanking everyone for their hard work over the past year, encouraging them to shake off holiday lethargy, quickly enter work mode, in the new year to invigorate their spirits, meet challenges head‑on, strive to push all work to a higher level, and make new and greater contributions to the city's economic and social development.

In the afternoon, Lu Fan successively visited the municipal road restoration and reconstruction project, the Environmental Protection New Materials Limited Company, and the Six‑Flavor Rehmannia Pill Company, entering construction sites and workshops to investigate the enterprises' production and operation conditions.

Wherever he went, project sites and enterprise workshops were bustling, everyone working full‑speed to meet deadlines, build projects, and carry out production, presenting a scene of vigorous prosperity.

Lu Fan urged enterprise heads to seize development opportunities, accelerate efforts to increase output and expand scale while improving quality and efficiency, in order to lay a solid foundation for a good start to the city's first quarter.

Returning to the office, night had already fallen and the lights were just beginning to shine.

Lu Fan personally dialed the mayor's phone number and said, 'Xianghai, are you busy now?'

'Secretary, I'm in the office; what instructions do you have for me?'

'Come to my office for a moment; let's discuss personnel issues—some positions definitely need adjustment, especially the counties and departments that ranked lowest in the evaluation.'

'Okay, Secretary, I'll be right over.'

Lu Fan is now not only considering internal adjustments in Nanyuan; he has already begun scouting for a 'successor'.

From the standpoint of policy continuity, Mayor Su Xiang Hai is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate, but his shortcoming is lacking a political performance 'foundation,' and his experience is too shallow; it is not the case that anyone who serves as mayor for a year or two can simply be adjusted to become the municipal Party secretary.