Chapter 530

For the Provincial Party Committee, when the city's work is done well, that is the foundation for the provincial work to improve; therefore, to support the Municipal Party Secretary's work, his recommendations for promoting cadres are generally accepted. To get a certain cadre promoted—such as a County Party Secretary being nominated for deputy bureau-level rank, or a Vice Mayor being promoted to Deputy Secretary—the Municipal Party Secretary still has to go to the provincial level to "strive for" them; generally speaking, the cadres he strongly recommends and strives for have a very high probability of success.

On February 18, the Provincial Party Committee held a standing committee meeting, studied personnel issues, and the adjustment of the discipline inspection system was also included. Nanyuan City Discipline Inspection Secretary Fang Yang was transferred to become Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee, and Du Wenlong, director of the First Supervision Room of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee, was assigned to Nanyuan to serve as a Standing Committee member of the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Discipline Inspection Secretary.

After receiving the news, Fang Yang went to the office of Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan and stayed for an hour, expressing his deep gratitude.

Lu Fan smiled and said, "Recommending Nanyuan cadres is my duty as Municipal Party Secretary. After going to the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee, you should quickly familiarize yourself with the work, enter work mode as soon as possible, play your role, and bring honor to Nanyuan cadres. Fang Yang, I privately assign you a task: pay more attention to Secretary Hu Jia Yu, especially regarding clean governance."

The secretary's words carried a lot of information, shocking Fang Yang inside, but he immediately agreed verbally.

On February 20, the Provincial Organization Department issued a document, and a section chief sent Du Wenlong to Nanyuan to take up his post.

At 2:00 p. m., the Nanyuan Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission held a meeting of all cadres, announcing the Provincial Party Committee's decision on the adjustment of the principal responsible comrades of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission: Comrade Du Wenlong shall serve as a member of the Nanyuan Municipal Party Committee, a standing committee member, and the secretary of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission.

Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan and Feng Guanqiao, head of the Municipal Organization Department, attended the meeting, and Lu Fan spoke.

Du Wenlong said, he fully endorses the Provincial Party Committee's decision, resolutely follows organizational arrangements, will surely cherish the organization's trust even more, and under the strong leadership of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission and the Municipal Party Committee, with the spirit of daring to take responsibility, a pragmatic work style, and innovative thinking, he will devote himself wholeheartedly to work, answering the era's examination with struggle and practical effort. He will persist in strict self-discipline, set an example, promote the most thorough spirit of self-revolution, strictly observe political discipline and rules, strictly lead the team, and take the lead in maintaining and establishing a good image for discipline inspection cadres.

Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan pointed out that Comrade Du Wenlong has rich work experience, and hopes everyone will fully support Comrade Du Wenlong's work through concrete actions. The municipal discipline inspection organs, under Du Wenlong's leadership, must uphold the political integrity of loyalty to the Party, shoulder the responsibility of supervision and discipline enforcement, forge solid capabilities for fulfilling duties, and maintain a clean and pragmatic work style.

After the meeting, Lu Fan returned to the Municipal Party Committee, and Du Wenlong followed closely behind to go to the Municipal Party Committee to "pay his respects". Although Brother Fan is not an outsider, the rules must not be broken.

Stepping out of the elevator, Lu Fan saw the Dengzhou Municipal Party Secretary and the Civil Affairs Bureau chief standing in the corridor, and he walked over with a grim face.

Upon seeing the secretary, the two stepped forward and said indignantly, "Secretary, we want to raise an issue!"

Lu Fan did not return to his office but stood in the corridor and said sternly, "How so, do you feel the organization has treated you unfairly? At the beginning of the year, did I not say that for counties and departments that fail to implement orders, neglect responsibilities, or implement measures ineffectively, we must strictly pursue accountability? You just do as you please, treating my words as wind in the ears! Your lack of action, lack of responsibility, or insufficient ability, and mediocre performance, your very existence has severely constrained the development of Dengzhou City and the Civil Affairs Bureau, making you the worst in the city—shouldn't we remove you?"

"Secretary, as long as there is evaluation, there will be a lowest rank, but that does not mean we have not worked hard. Please give us another chance! We will certainly give our all, actively fulfill our duties, and absolutely will not have any negligence or oversight." The Dengzhou Municipal Party Secretary said with remorse and regret.

The Civil Affairs Bureau chief, being senior, could be a bit firmer, and said, "Secretary, evaluation is just evaluation; it cannot fully represent a department's work. There are certainly personal connections and impressions. I have worked all my life diligently and conscientiously; though I do not claim merit, I have surely put in effort. You cannot just remove me because I once ranked lowest—that would be too childish! If the organization does this, it will chill the hearts of the cadres in Nanye."

"The ruler worries, the minister labors; the ruler is humiliated, the minister dies!" Since anything that harms Brother Fan's authority, how could Du Wenlong stand by? He immediately stepped forward and said, "I am Du Wenlong, the newly appointed Nanyuan Municipal Discipline Inspection Secretary. This is the Municipal Party Committee; how can you shout and make a scene? If you have problems, go to the Discipline Inspection Commission to report them!" Having said that, he turned and left.

Now the two were flustered, looking at each other, not knowing what to do.

Du Wenlong turned back and said sternly, "Still not leaving? Do you really want me to carry you in an eight‑person sedan chair?"

The two had no choice but to grit their teeth and follow Du Wenlong to the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission.

On the morning of February 21, Nanyuan City held the "2024 Spring Festival Recentering Meeting and First-Quarter Key Work Redeployment Meeting," deploying post‑holiday key work and mobilizing the whole city to quickly recentering, starting well, and beginning strongly.

At the meeting, Mayor Su Xiang Hai comprehensively deployed the relevant work, and each deputy mayor in charge made specific deployments, requiring all city‑level departments to adhere to the "problem‑itemization, list‑itemization, responsibility‑list" work mechanism, further implementing the first‑quarter "opening red" responsibilities: the "Nine Major Responsibility List," the "Five‑One‑Batch" item list, the "Investment Promotion 2024" first‑quarter task list, the key finance‑tax item decomposition list, and the fixed‑asset investment not yet in storage responsibility list, to ensure pressure is transmitted layer by layer, responsibility is implemented down to posts and individuals, and to strive to invigorate spirit and vie to be the vanguard.

The Municipal Party Secretary emphasized: first, to conclude the holiday and recentering, usher in a new year and new atmosphere; with the confidence and determination that the start is a sprint and the new year requires tackling tough challenges, resolutely overcome the bad pattern of lax beginnings and tight ends, start now, from the beginning of the year, grasp early, detail, and substance, win the initiative, seize the initiative, truly generate Nanyuan's acceleration, and demonstrate Nanyuan's spirit. Second, to continue and strive to achieve an "opening red," tightly focusing on realizing economic opening red, performance evaluation, "Investment Promotion 2024," old‑area renovation, industrial upgrading, and the other ten key works, ensuring all work increases speed and effect. Third, to take responsibility, go deep to the frontline to ensure implementation: municipal‑level leaders must lead on the front line, counties and districts must achieve results on the front line, municipal departments must provide frontline service, go to the grassroots, construction sites, and enterprises, solve problems, and promote development.

Finally, Lu Fan solemnly stressed that at all times the people's interests and economic development must come first; the Municipal Party Committee will keep a close watch on cadres who shirk responsibility, do nothing, act disorderly, act slowly, or pretend to act, and who are indifferent to or harm the people's interests—draw the sword against lazy governance! For cadres who are not in condition, dare not take responsibility, or are unfit for their current posts, we will resolutely adjust them! We must uphold judging heroes by actual performance and employing cadres according to performance, promoting a sound atmosphere where the capable rise, the excellent are rewarded, the mediocre are demoted, and the inferior are eliminated.

The lessons of the past are clear before our eyes, and Municipal Party Secretary Lu's resounding, thought‑provoking speech aroused great attention from the city's leading cadres, constantly warning everyone not to repeat past mistakes.

At the start of the new year, with all things renewed, Nanyuan City's departments at all levels have made genuine, down‑to‑earth work a prevailing trend. No longer merely theorizing on paper, they now solve problems with practical action; no longer clinging to old ways, they actively innovate approaches and methods; no longer shirking responsibility, they now take initiative and assume responsibility.

In a short time, all work in Nanyuan City progressed vigorously, with frequent reports of success. Construction sites of key projects were buzzing, racing against time to meet schedules…

On the morning of February 23, the city‑wide education system's spring semester opening work conference was convened. Attendees included members of the Sports Bureau leadership team, principals of municipal schools, heads of various bureaus and directly affiliated units, division‑level leaders from the counties and districts, and the director of the Education Bureau.

30 minutes before the meeting was to convene, the Education Bureau was preparing the meeting in an orderly manner when it suddenly received a notice from the Municipal Party Committee Office: Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan would personally attend the meeting.

A single phone call threw the Education Bureau into chaos, the meeting's specifications were immediately raised, and Vice Mayor Ma Caihong rushed to the Education Bureau in a flustered hurry.

At 10:00 sharp, Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan, accompanied by Secretary-General Dou Zhengyang, strode into the meeting room with steady steps, walked to the rostrum, and took seat in the center. The attendees all straightened their backs, sat upright, and gazed at the rostrum, filling the venue with a tense and solemn atmosphere.

After the meeting began, the Deputy Bureau Chief made arrangements and deployments for the spring semester opening preparations, and Bureau Chief Ma Yang gave a summary speech on earnestly carrying out the spring semester opening work.

After the agenda concluded, Ma Yang spoke enthusiastically: "Next, please have Municipal Party Secretary Lu deliver an important speech!"

After the thunderous applause subsided, Lu Fan picked up the microphone and said, "I won't talk about routine work. To attend today's meeting, I chatted with the mayor for over an hour last night and reached a consensus. I will now present three points; please ensure they are implemented thoroughly."

First, starting this semester, all public compulsory education schools in the city shall not collect any tuition or miscellaneous fees; shall not compel students to purchase designated teaching aids or materials; schools shall not unilaterally establish service-type charges or proxy collection items; shall not, under the pretext of early semester start or other forms, illegally collect related fees through disguised remedial tutoring; shall not collect after-school extended-hour fees; compulsory education shall be fully incorporated into the fiscal guarantee scope. If a school genuinely needs to collect fees for work reasons, it shall submit a report to the Education Bureau, and the finance department shall bear all costs. This policy will be piloted for one year; my meaning is that parents will no longer pay money to schools, and schooling will be zero cost!

Meanwhile, increase the intensity of investigating and punishing illegal fee collection; principals and Education Bureau chiefs who damage the public's vital interests and create a negative social impact shall be held strictly accountable. For private schools that cause a negative impact through illegal and arbitrary fee collection, halt fiscal subsidies until their operating permits are revoked or withdrawn.

Second, starting with the opening of school, prepare for the college entrance examination! Please, comrades of the counties and districts, go back and inform your secretaries and county chiefs: the 'military orders' they set for me last year are all on record. The top official of each county and district is the primary person responsible for the college entrance examination; you must spare no effort to guarantee senior-year logistical services, improve teaching quality, and strictly enforce a good study atmosphere, and in June personally hand over your score sheets to me to report back!