Chapter 567: with translation of chapter title

On the morning of December 6, Lu Fan went to Nanling to report his work to Hong Tao.

Despite his busy schedule, Hong Tao specially reserved lunchtime for Lu Fan. The two ate and talked, and Lu Fan gave a detailed report of his ideas on institutional reform.

Hong Tao nodded and said, "You have great courage, dare to think and dare to act; I am very much looking forward to it!"

At present, some fields indeed have entrenched problems: overlapping institutions, intersecting responsibilities, and a disconnect between authority and duty; some institution setups and responsibility divisions are not scientific enough, leading to prominent issues of missing responsibilities and low efficiency, while functional transformation remains incomplete; the establishment of grassroots institutions and allocation of power need improvement, and the ability to organize and serve the masses requires further enhancement.

Deepening institutional reform is a major matter in political life, a profound change in advancing the governance system and governance capacity, and also a new requirement to meet the people's new expectations. As leading cadres, standing in the tide of reform, institutional mergers, post adjustments, and promotions are like undergoing a 'major operation', inevitably causing unrest and severe 'growing pains' among some people.

Lu Fan, reform best illustrates the dialectical relationship between gains and losses, joy and pain, long-term benefits and immediate benefits. To cut out the 'tumors' and eradicate the 'viruses' in the political and economic systems, you may face denunciation from Hua Yuan's cadres; are you mentally prepared for that?

Lu Fan firmly replied, "Even if tens of thousands stand against me, I will go forward! Secretary, I have been thinking about institutional reform for over ten years; personal gains and losses are insignificant compared to national interests. Even if I fail, I can still provide some valuable lessons from mistakes."

These words reminded Hong Tao of when he organized free medical care in Yinzhou; that was exactly this kind of courage and boldness!

Hong Tao said earnestly, "Lu Fan, selflessness breeds fearlessness. Without a spirit of venturing and a spirit of daring, you cannot blaze a good path, nor a new one, and thus cannot achieve new undertakings. Without the grinding of water wearing away stone and the persistent climb, without the tempering of blood and fire and the forging that removes tumors and abscesses, you will not attain height and strength."

Institutional reform is a livelihood of 'wielding the knife'; to accomplish things, you must have the spirit of not shying away from difficulties, dare to confront difficulties and contradictions head-on, proactively go to departments with great difficulties and many contradictions to study and solve problems, with iron resolve, iron will, iron methods, and iron work style, fearing no hardship or obstacle, disregarding personal gains and losses, using reformist thinking and scientific methods to push institutional reform to achieve real results; the Hua Yuan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee will be your strong backing.

Lu Fangu said excitedly, "Thank you, Secretary, for your strong support. I will certainly follow the principle of 'establish before breaking, no establishment no breaking,' grasp the rhythm, intensity, and sequence of reform, and with firm resolve, tight organization, and powerful measures, complete Hua Yuan's institutional reform successfully."

Hong Tao encouraged, "There is no experience to refer to for this work; if you want to achieve something, mistakes are inevitable. You must be unafraid of mistakes and not fear them, draw lessons from practice, summarize experience, and apply one lesson to many, forging your own path."

Nowadays, being too lenient, lax, and soft has led to individualism, self-interest, and liberalism gaining traction; the flood of such negative energy not only strikes our bottom line but also undermines cadres' faith and conviction, so we must build a firm dam!

Lu Fan, as solid as an iron-clad camp and as fluid as flowing-water soldiers, each of us should make a difference in our posts, accomplish a few things within our limited time; the people have a scale in their hearts, and history's brush will record it! I hope you, through years of quantitative accumulation, will drive a qualitative leap in your life's growth and blossom with youthful brilliance.

"Secretary, I will surely not disappoint you!"

……

Returning to Li Lao's residence, night fell, and Li Mingzhou also rushed back specially, because what Lu Fan intended to do was too major, necessitating careful consideration.

Lu Fan spent over half an hour elaborating his ideas in detail.

Li Mingzhou sighed, "With such a great reform effort, resistance will surely be heavy! I must say, your courage surpasses mine! Dad, does Xiao Fan really need to make such a big move? His steady, step-by-step development would also bring him considerable achievement."

Li Lao's face showed firmness and wisdom as he said, "In work, choices abound everywhere; we must weigh pros and cons, that is, compare the value of doing versus not doing. This value is not measured in money; victory or loss, gain or loss, lies in the courage of taking or letting go."

Everyone makes intentional or unintentional decisions to seek advantage and avoid harm; Xiao Fan having such courage makes me relieved. As the saying goes, 'Stand high, see far.' When you are at the mountain's base, the scenery you see is inevitably jagged rocks; if you set a long-term goal—reach the summit! —then by persisting in climbing upward, you can experience the feeling of overlooking all mountains. Therefore, you must think far ahead, set your goals, pursue long-term development, have the patience to play a good game of chess, do what ordinary people cannot, decide what ordinary people cannot, and achieve what ordinary people cannot.

After reaching consensus, Li Lao and Li Mingzhou used their experience to help Lu Fan identify gaps and improve the reform plan, benefiting Lu Fan immensely.

The next morning, Lu Fan suddenly received a call from Hong Tao and hurried to a private restaurant in the city.

Upon arrival, Chen Jianfei was waiting outside the courtyard and led Lu Fan into a private room.

Just as he entered, Lu Fan suddenly saw Chen Deming, Chen Jiazhong, Zhou Xi, Liu Congfeng, and Guo Mingxiong, with Hong Tao chatting and laughing with them; this scene left Lu Fan somewhat at a loss.

Noticing Lu Fan's nervousness, Hong Tao smiled and said, "Lu Fan, take a seat; today you are the 'main character.' Everyone is very interested in your reform ideas, so please elaborate. I have specially invited these leaders to help you 'take the pulse and diagnose.'

Turning to business, Lu Fan gained confidence and began his report: "Thank you, leaders, for giving me this precious opportunity! My idea is that institutional reform must strictly control the establishment of new institutions and the increase of staffing, ensuring this at the legal level; institutions, staffing, and positions must not repeat the old cycle of 'streamlining—bloat—streamlining again—bloat again.' Fundamentally, we must eliminate the bloat of public institutions. My specific measures are……"

In about half an hour, Lu Fan elaborated his ideas in detail; everyone nodded frequently and listened attentively.

Zhou Xi said, "The intensity is unprecedented, but I need to point out an issue: staffing allocation is based on work needs and scientifically set; streamlining must have limits. In practice, we often see auxiliary police on the streets and non-formally staffed personnel in urban management teams, which to some extent shows that grassroots units' staffing allocation needs improvement; the staffing numbers at the grassroots level should not be reduced but rather increased."

Lu Fan explained, "Minister, my idea is to tilt staffing numbers toward the grassroots to change the top-heavy, bottom-light situation."

Chen Jiazhong said, "Reform can be described as some rejoicing and some lamenting; your idea is indeed 'genuine.' Reform makes public institutions truly places for undertaking work, reduces resource consumption, improves efficiency and cadres' enthusiasm, which is the prevailing trend. However, during the reform process, we must pay attention to methods and means, minimizing instability among people as much as possible; fairness and justice are key."

Chen Deming said, "Reform inevitably involves complex interest struggles and fierce power contests; departmental interests, personal power, and even the interests of special interest groups easily become obstacles to reform."

Some leading cadres, having finally secured leadership positions and not yet reached retirement age, are unwilling to lose their posts due to institutional reform; thus they only abolish the institutions while keeping their positions, resulting in a department supporting a large number of idle personnel—a phenomenon I deeply resent and must be resolved.

Lu Fan, you must grasp macroeconomic regulation as a decisive weapon; those who go against reform are absolutely unacceptable! Once problems arise, you must ensure orders are carried out and prohibitions enforced; no one may let personal interests override the organization.

……

This meal lasted over three hours; the leaders gave Lu Fan many macro-level suggestions, deepening his understanding of institutional reform and filling him with confidence in it.

When the meal broke up, Hong Tao reminded Lu Fan not to have worries, to be a man of action who gives his all, and at the appropriate time he would take Lu Fan to report to the main leaders.

Stepping out of the courtyard, Chen Deming smiled and said to Lu Fan, "Is Li Lao free today? I would like to pay him a visit."

Lu Fan hurriedly replied, "Grandfather is quite free now; if you go, he will surely be very pleased!"

After getting in the car, Chen Deming said, "Lu Fan, Hua Yuan's institutional reform will surely cause a nationwide stir; you must grasp the rhythm, be firm toward 'bad apples' that need to be dealt with, and handle what needs handling. I will instruct Ling Yun to have the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee fully support your work."

Lu Fan sincerely expressed his gratitude for Chen Deming's support.

As they approached the north headquarters hutong, Chen Deming smiled and said, "Xiao Fan, Chen Xu and Lu Yao are no longer young; I feel they have been getting along well lately. Why not seek Lu Yao's opinion and see if we can settle the marriage?"

Lu Fan thought for a moment and replied, "My sister is not at all mature and is willful; you and Auntie, please bear with her! I'll call her later to see what she really thinks, and if we can decide, we will."

Chen Deming said happily, "Actually, Yao Yao is a good child, strong in principle; I and your aunt both like her very much! Rest assured, once she enters our family, she will suffer no grievance."