Chapter 356: The Last Standing Committee Meeting Before the New Year

Two people were absent from the last Standing Committee meeting before the New Year: Organization Department Minister Peng Dingjun and Political and Legal Affairs Committee Secretary Ma Yumin.

Secretary Liu Qimeng announced the start of the meeting, mainly to discuss fire prevention during the Spring Festival and the distribution of bonuses for cadres and staff.

The Chunshan County fire prevention meeting was held every year, and every year it was the same old tune. In the entire Hengyue City, Chunshan County had the highest forest coverage rate; although there weren't many large trees, every mountain was covered in shrubs. A single spark could cause a sky-filling fire. Fortunately, no major fires had occurred in the past few decades, and a new Forest Public Security Bureau had been established, so the prevention was relatively high.

Secretary Liu arranged the fire prevention work with the same old methods, and then the discussion moved on to the issue of year-end bonus distribution.

According to many years of practice, cadres and staff were divided into three grades. The County Party Committee and County Government were the first grade, and the various bureaus and offices were divided according to their social influence. For example, the Finance Bureau, which held the economic power of the whole county, was almost on par with the County Party Committee and County Government in terms of grading. Bureaus that didn't matter, like the Agricultural Machinery Bureau or the Animal Husbandry Bureau, were at the bottom.

As for the public security, procuratorate, and court organs, they all had their own "small treasuries" and many ways to make money, so they didn't care about the small change from the county treasury.

As for organs like Huang Qishan's, they were broke all year round; apart from their fiscal wages, they had no other source of income, so they had to wait eagerly for the year-end bonus.

Yu Xianzhang Mingfang first expressed his opinion, saying that the year-end bonus should be divided into three grades: administrative, public institution, and enterprise. Administrative personnel would receive two months' extra wages, public institution staff would receive half of that, and enterprise personnel would only receive one-third of the administrative staff's bonus.

After Yu Mingfang finished speaking, the meeting room fell into silence. Not many people came to the meeting today; out of the fifteen standing committee members in the county, ten were present. Apart from Political and Legal Affairs Committee Secretary Ma Yumin, Organization Department Minister Peng Dingjun, CPPCC Chairman Guan Dajun, and Armed Forces Department Minister Deng Hanyang, there was also Chengguan Town Party Committee Secretary Zhao Dahong.

In this way, three were missing from the Party side, and two were missing from the government side.

I had entered the Standing Committee, although there was no formal document appointing me as Executive Deputy County Magistrate, but only those serving as Executive Deputy could qualify to enter the Standing Committee. From this, it seemed that I was the person on the government side wearing the halo of Executive Deputy County Magistrate. My status as a Standing Committee member hinted that I was the future Executive Deputy County Magistrate.

Liu Qimeng saw that no one was speaking, so he proposed a show of hands to vote.

Yu Xianzhang Mingfang took the lead in raising his hand, and the Armed Forces Department Minister on the government side followed suit. The Chairman of the People's Congress hesitated for a moment before raising his hand, and the newly entered Public Security Bureau Director also raised his hand.

Once the people on the government side raised their hands, the people on the Party side looked at Liu Qimeng.

Liu Qimeng remained smiling, his fingers tapping lightly on the table; no one could see what he was thinking. Liu Qimeng didn't raise his hand, so the Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary naturally didn't raise his, and the Executive Deputy Secretary kept his head down, earnestly writing something in the notebook in front of him. But we all knew he was faking it!

The voting at the Standing Committee meeting was full of mystery. Every vote revealed who was in whose camp.

I was a newcomer to the Chunshan County Standing Committee and had no camp.

The Deputy Secretary in charge of Party affairs saw that everyone was hesitating, so he looked at me, his eyes widening in surprise as if he had suddenly discovered something.

I hadn't reacted yet when the Public Security Bureau Director kicked me under the table and winked at me.

"Deputy County Magistrate Chen, what is your opinion?" the Deputy Secretary asked, pointing directly at me.

I was stunned for a moment and quickly stated my position: "I don't have any major opinions. I'm just thinking, if the year-end bonus is also distributed according to grades, will the common people curse us behind our backs?"

Yu Mingfang looked at me with a smile and said, "It's been distributed like this for many years. I haven't seen any backlash."

I returned a smile and said, "Yu Xianzhang, the present is not like the past. It's been twenty years since the Reform and Opening Up, and the common people now dare to curse their mothers."

Yu Mingfang let out an "Oh" and said meaningfully, "According to your opinion, what should be done?"

My face turned red, and I hesitated, saying, "I don't know either."

As soon as I finished speaking, everyone laughed and turned their eyes to look at me.

Liu Qimeng encouraged me: "Deputy County Magistrate Chen, tell us, how should this be handled? Standing Committee meetings are meant to have different opinions."

Encouraged by him, I immediately felt a surge of boldness and said, "I think public institutions can completely refer to administrative organs, but the government should not rigidly regulate the bonuses for enterprise units. If an enterprise has money, it can pay more; if it doesn't, it can pay less or not pay at all."

Liu Qimeng took the lead in applauding, one clap after another; I didn't know if he was agreeing or opposing.

Yu Xianzhang Mingfang didn't expect me to propose such an idea. The County Magistrate managed the county's industrial enterprises. In recent years, a large number of people had been laid off to follow the trend, and the remaining County Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant was also half-dead. The supply and marketing system had long since collapsed, and the heads of the supply and marketing system were just living off the rent they collected. Now that the county treasury wasn't giving money, wanting to pay year-end bonuses was harder than ascending to heaven.

There was a huge crowd of enterprise employees in the county, and every year-end for the past few years, the county treasury had allocated special funds to pay for New Year benefits. If it suddenly disappeared this year, Yu Mingfang's position would be in danger.

Laid-off workers had their own ways of causing trouble. Almost every household with urban household registration in the county had laid-off workers. The government couldn't suppress them even if it wanted to.

A few years ago, more than a hundred workers from the Machinery Plant blocked the entrance to the County Government. Later, when the police were dispatched, they saw that they were either relatives or neighbors, so the police turned a blind eye. As long as they didn't storm the government, they could block the entrance if they wanted to. During that time, Liu Qimeng didn't even dare to use the main entrance when coming and going.

Now that Yu Mingfang had taken over the County Magistrate's throne, this hot potato naturally fell into his hands. Liu Qimeng used to use the county treasury to appease the people, and Yu Mingfang, having no other way, wanted to follow suit. He didn't expect to be disrupted halfway by a greenhorn like me. Yu Mingfang was smiling on the surface, but I estimated he was furious inside.

"I think this method is good! If enterprises have no efficiency, the treasury can't afford to support them," Armed Forces Department Minister Deng Hanyang said, supporting me.

Deng Hanyang actually didn't have much to do with the local area; his wages, bonuses, and benefits were all national defense expenditures. The local treasury couldn't do anything to him.

"I also think it's feasible," the Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary coughed and said, "Reform and Opening Up is the mainstream now; it's a growing pain. Someone has to contribute, someone has to sacrifice. If the government keeps carrying the burden, let alone letting go and doing big things, I'm afraid it will be difficult to even take another step."

Liu Qimeng remained calm and drank his tea quietly.

After everyone had spoken, he said slowly, "Let's vote. We follow the principle of democratic centralism; there is no 'one-man rule'."

After he finished speaking, he took the lead in raising his hand.

Once Secretary Liu Qimeng took the lead, the standing committee members were not to be outdone and scrambled to raise their hands.

Around the round table, only Yu Mingfang didn't raise his hand, his face looking terribly gloomy.

Liu Qimeng coughed and said, "Old Yu, do you have any objections?"

Yu Mingfang seemed to be suddenly startled, a trace of an ugly smile appearing on his face as he said, "Everyone agrees, what objections could I have! However, I'm afraid I won't be able to pass this New Year peacefully."

Liu Qimeng laughed, "We will all accompany you."

Yu Mingfang smiled bitterly, "I wouldn't dare! I'll be the one to take the hit. This is like blowing up a bunker in war; someone has to carry the explosives. Don't you think so, Secretary?"

Yu Mingfang's look of "ready to die" made me want to laugh, but as soon as the smile appeared, I suppressed it hard, to the point where the muscles on my face were severely distorted.

The Standing Committee meeting ended, indicating that all work for the year had come to an end. Everyone filed out of the room, feeling relaxed.

I walked at the very end; among the standing committee members, I had the least seniority! A person must have self-knowledge; if I walked in front with my head held high, I reckoned no one would know how I died next time.

Returning to the office, Zhu Hua Yu was tidying up my desk; in a corner of the office, a lot of local specialties were piled up.

Seeing me come in, Zhu Hua Yu smiled faintly and said, "County Magistrate Chen, is the meeting over?"

I nodded and walked to the high-backed chair, sitting down with a heavy heart, my mind in a mess.

At the Standing Committee meeting, I had officially made an enemy of Yu Xianzhang Mingfang! I pinched my thigh quietly and cursed myself: Kid! Don't get too cocky; you've only been here a few days, and you don't know who you are anymore?

In fact, I had no intention of going against Yu Xianzhang Mingfang. I knew a little bit about the actual situation in Chunshan County. An agricultural county with an annual fiscal revenue of less than 80 million yuan could not afford to support these enterprise employees even if it died trying.

A few years ago, Chunshan County began to carry out enterprise reform according to the instructions of superiors. After reforming back and forth, they turned factories that used to smoke into ones that didn't, and turned supply and marketing clerks who used to have a sense of superiority into ones who looked gray-faced.

With nearly 3,000 laid-off enterprise workers in the county, this burden had been like a mountain pressing on the shoulders of the County Party Committee and County Government for many years, leaving people with bitterness they couldn't speak of.

Only by shedding this burden could Chunshan County see hope! This was the original intention behind my proposal!

"County Magistrate Chen, these were all sent by some townships," Zhu Hua Yu said, pointing to the pile of local specialties in the corner of the room.

"Send them all back," I said dully, though ripples stirred in my heart. Damn it, I had been in Chunshan County for more than six years, and this was the first time I had seen someone send me something.

"How can I send them back? They left them and walked away; I couldn't stop them even if I tried," Zhu Hua Yu said, looking aggrieved.

"I don't care. You must handle this well. If you don't, you'll have to consider whether you want to stay in my office after the New Year," I said, pretending to be angry.

I didn't even want to look at the local specialties in the corner of the room now. In my eyes, these things were now worth less than a pile of dog shit.

"What should I do?" Zhu Hua Yu muttered, pacing in the middle of the room in a panic.

I wanted to laugh at her appearance, but in the end, I didn't. So I pointed her in the right direction: "Go find Yu Wei to help you."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Hua Yu immediately beamed. She was about to leave happily when she turned back at the door and said to me, "Yu Wei went to Yu Xianzhang's house to deliver New Year goods."

"What do you mean?" I asked, a thought stirring in my heart.

"Yu Wei is Yu Xianzhang's nephew. You didn't know?" Zhu Hua Yu looked at me strangely.

"I really didn't know!" I replied, then added, "What else do you know?"

"A lot! For example, why I became your secretary—don't you want to know?" Zhu Hua Yu changed from her pitiful look, tilted her head, and looked at me with a half-smile.

"Why?" I pressed, then shook my head and said, "The organization needed it!"

Zhu Hua Yu smiled and didn't answer; she brought me a cup of tea and floated out the door. ===== CHAPTER 357 =====