Chapter 565

Tang Bing spoke with a firm, unquestionable tone.

Lu Fan felt resentful yet could not argue on principle, revealing a helpless expression.

Tang Bing said earnestly: "Lu Fan, falsifying statistics has long been a practice; we all know that without the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government's direction and orders, the lower-level counties and districts would not engage in large-scale falsification. It can be said that every city, to a greater or lesser extent, has problems of varying magnitude. You should know that Lei Xingxing is not a rootless weed or a baseless tree!"

Having come to this point, Lu Fan knew he could say no more; he stood up and said, "Okay, I will firmly follow the Provincial Party Committee's decision and now go communicate with Governor Liu Linghao and the others."

Being a person and an official, restraining the words you want to scold is a skill; swallowing the anger you cannot vent is a breadth of mind!

Twenty minutes later, the Standing Committee meeting continued, and Tang Bing said: "When dealing with cadres, we should combine punishment with education, achieving leniency and strictness. We must both punish violations through appropriate disciplinary measures and emphasize education and guidance, helping them recognize and correct their mistakes, thereby achieving the goal of remediation and education."

Treating illness is to save a person; the purpose of Party disciplinary measures is not to crush a Party member but to pull him back onto the correct path, as much as possible avoiding the situation of 'either a good comrade or a prisoner'. This is both responsible to the Party's cause and a caring concern for the broad masses of cadres.

Lei Xingxing admitted his mistake to the Provincial Party Committee and to me; knowing one's fault and being able to correct it is the greatest goodness! Being loyal to the Party and voluntarily confessing means one is not beyond redemption. As long as one turns from the wrong path, mends one's ways, purifies one's heart and transforms oneself, the burden can be shed and work can start anew.

I suggest that the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee hold a cautionary talk with Comrade Lei Xingxing!

After the words fell, Governor Liu Linghao glanced at Lu Fan and said, "I agree with the Secretary's opinion!"

The main leaders' opinions were unified, and this resolution was naturally adopted without any controversy.

Lu Fan had just returned to his office when the phone rang. Seeing the number, it was actually Secretary Hong Tao calling; he hurriedly answered, saying, "Secretary, good!"

"Lu Fan, giving Lei Xingxing a light punishment is done from the perspective of the overall situation; you should not have any thoughts."

Lu Fan hurriedly said, "Secretary, you are overthinking; I fully understand!"

"Wang Hongtao said earnestly: 'Those who do not plan for the overall situation are not fit to plan for one domain! In all matters, stand a step higher, break out of limitations, look to the whole, and think comprehensively—this is the necessary precondition for observing, analyzing, judging, and following the trend, and also a kind of spirit that can be comprehended from above. The breadth of your vision determines the scale of your undertakings.'

The vision is important because it not only determines a person's current behavior but also has a profound and far-reaching impact on the entire course of one's life. Constantly observing the trend and thinking about the overall situation, grasping work from the overall trend, enables one to seize the pulse of the times and ensure the correct direction.

Lu Fan replied, "Thank you, Secretary, for your guidance; I will surely ponder deeply and earnestly comprehend your teachings!"

Wang Hongtao continued: "Lu Fan, sometimes certain actions are unavoidable, taken from the perspective of the overall situation. Just like a palm: spread out it is 'multiple fingers', clenched it is 'one fist'; precisely because multiple 'fingers' form a 'fist', the 'fist' and the 'fingers' complement each other and cannot be separated."

Standing at a new historical starting point, we must concentrate our strength to accomplish great undertakings; the nation is one chessboard, up and down of one mind. Unity is strength; unity enables progress—'when hearts are united, even Mount Tai can be moved'—and shared endeavors achieve historic accomplishments.

You are now a provincial-ministerial level cadre; you should be skilled at deeply contemplating the fundamental, overall, and long-term issues of the big picture, scientifically observing, correctly analyzing, and fully grasping the situation, adept at analyzing and viewing problems from a political standpoint, and understanding the essence from the source and grasping the key points.

"Secretary, I will continually study and improve my abilities, broaden my vision, enhance my cognitive capacity, learning while working and working while learning, constantly improving my ability to solve complex problems, striving to grasp the essence of a problem at a glance."

"Do not deliberately target anyone; learn to unite comrades. The stage for young people will keep broadening; you must continually accumulate energy and strength, so that when you 'take the stage to perform', you can shine brightly."

After hanging up, Lu Fan felt greatly exhilarated, with a sense of sudden enlightenment, while also deeply recognizing his own limitations, which must be improved in his work.

He summoned the Deputy Minister Zou Weipeng and Secretary-General Li Yu, and Lu Fan assigned two tasks: first, Li Yu would take the lead in drafting the 'Measures for Reducing Burdens and Increasing Capacity at the Grassroots'; second, Zou Weipeng would be responsible for drafting the cadre adjustment plan and promptly submit it to the Departmental Party Committee for study.

Although the cadre adjustment plan must be drafted according to Lu Fan's intentions, the required procedures must still be followed; even if Zou Weipeng tried to slip in 'private goods', he would still need to obtain the Minister's consent.

As the year-end approached, some leaders were to step down from their posts; adding the leading cadres removed or demoted in this statistical supervision, Lu Fan tallied that there were more than thirty vacant positions.

"'Fragrant pastries' in abundance naturally attracted the scrutiny of many; the Provincial People's Congress, Provincial Political Consultative Conference, and each Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee member came in succession to the Organization Department, vying to have their own cadres transferred out; the municipal Party Committee secretaries and heads of provincial-level departments also flocked in, hoping to promote cadres from within."

In just one week, Lu Fan recorded more than sixty cadres recommended by leaders at various levels on his 'little notebook', each with legitimate reasons.

In the end, Qin Mengyang, head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, also came, showing great enthusiasm.

After discussing the internal personnel adjustments of the Propaganda Department, Qin Mengyang said: "Minister Lu, the Propaganda Department has not dispatched any cadres outward for years; it feels like a 'stagnant pool' with little vitality. To mobilize everyone's potential and stimulate comrades' work enthusiasm, please consider whether we could promote two outstanding cadres from the propaganda front to fill positions at the municipal and county Party committees and governments."

Facing such a request, Lu Fan responded in a uniform official tone: "Director Mengyang's suggestion is timely; the Organization Department is already working on this, breaking the departmentalization of cadres, broadening the vision and channels for selecting personnel, strengthening cross-departmental and cross-field exchanges among cadres, arranging for cadres to undergo multi-post, multi-field, multi-level training in a planned, step-by-step manner, guiding cadres to enhance their abilities and broaden their horizons in practice; I will report your opinion to the Provincial Party Committee as a priority."

Lu Fan's impartial, by-the-book attitude left Qin Mengyang with the feeling of a tiger trying to eat the sky—having nowhere to bite; he clearly understood the Organization Department head's energy, and since Lu Fan's future is promising, he very much wanted to ease their relationship, but there was currently no suitable opportunity.

In late November, Lu Fan began grassroots research, hoping to visit all the cities during his term; this trip carried out the task assigned by Secretary Tang Bing: 'Reducing Burdens and Increasing Capacity at the Grassroots'.

On November 25, Lu Fan, a member of the Huayuan Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and head of the Organization Department, arrived in Pingshan City to conduct an in-depth investigation of grassroots burden reduction work; Pingshan City Party Committee Secretary Deng Guoqing accompanied him throughout.

Lu Fan's entourage successively visited the rural areas, communities, and enterprises of four counties and districts for research and guidance; at each stop, Lu Fan cordially conversed with cadres and the masses, gaining a detailed understanding of the specific conditions of grassroots work.

In a natural village, the loudspeaker at the village head aroused Lu Fan's strong interest. He inquired in detail about the function of the loudspeaker and gave full affirmation to this innovative work.

Deng Guoqing reported that since the beginning of the year, the city has actively explored and implemented the 'Loudspeaker' project, installing loudspeakers in all 3,711 natural villages across the city, ensuring that ordinary people can hear policy broadcasts in front of and behind their homes and in the fields, and striving to bridge the 'last mile' of service to the masses.

On November 27, Lu Fan arrived in Xinzhong City to research grassroots poverty-alleviation cadres, accompanied by Municipal Party Committee Secretary Ma Yuxiang.

Lu Fan was deeply concerned about the village-resident first secretaries, work team members, and other frontline cadres in the poverty-alleviation effort; wherever he went, he solicitously inquired about their living and working conditions. He emphasized that work must be done with genuine feeling, that poverty-alleviation policies should be publicized and implemented well, to stimulate the masses' internal motivation, improve the quality of the poverty-alleviation campaign, and raise public satisfaction.

During the investigation, Lu Fan also visited four county governments and seven township administrations, gaining a detailed understanding of the grassroots work situation.

……

On December 3, Lu Fan returned to the province, made a special report to Secretary Tang Bing, and Governor Liu Linghao and Deputy Secretary Li Mingyang listened to the report together.

In the report, Lu Fan said: "The current grassroots work faces the following difficulties and problems: 1. Emphasizing superiors over reality; the issue of formalism ultimately stems from people. Many cadres lack fighting spirit and sense of responsibility, dare not or are unwilling to confront issues head-on, acting like 'gentlemen' rather than 'fighters', lacking the vigor to tackle tough challenges and crack hard bones."

Much of the grassroots burden is imposed by superiors; some departments and leaders assign work without considering local manpower, material resources, and finances, disregarding actual conditions and simply passing tasks down or pressing them down, leading to a surge of meaningless work and increased grassroots burden.

2. Like a flashlight that shines only on others but not on oneself, there is insufficient self-awareness in facing problems. Formalism is right at hand; one cannot only look at others and ignore oneself. Provincial and municipal levels must dare to turn the knife inward, dare to confront problems, and by taking the lead in overcoming their own formalism, drive the resolution of the widespread formalism at the grassroots.

3. Symptomatic treatment is disconnected from root-cause treatment. The results of the survey questionnaire show that inadequate incentive and care policies, mismatched grassroots authority and responsibility, and an imperfect evaluation and assessment mechanism are the main difficulties currently faced at the grassroots; among these, the overgeneralization and simplification of accountability are the 'greatest burden' for county and township-level cadres.

Regarding accountability issues, some leading cadres said that grassroots cadres fear taking action, fear being reported, fear being held accountable, and even more fear being blindly pursued for accountability without listening to explanations. Currently, accountability mostly targets frontline cadres who actually do the work, causing them to bear great political and psychological pressure; the resulting negative effect is that they dare not speak the truth, and nobody dares to pierce the window paper—this is truly the most frightening.

Grassroots cadres have limited promotion channels, low benefits, and heavy workloads; some township cadres mentioned that after the public vehicle reform, they often have no vehicle for going to the countryside, so they must resort to 'private vehicles for public use'; those who receive vehicle subsidies are civil servants and leaders, while those who actually do the work are non-subsidized professionals of the public institution.