Reborn as a Noble's Son

In such matters, there is little room for niceties and pretenses in private exchanges among the leadership of the municipal party committee. In essence, everyone gets straight to the point.

At this moment, Cheng Xinhua had a distinct sense of standing aloof in the municipal party committee. In Li County, he didn’t have any subordinates, as he was not a cadre promoted from within there. Strictly speaking, Nie Zhenbang could be considered one, but his situation was different. He was someone whom deputy secretary of the autonomous region party committee, Li Yifeng, had personally requested to take care of, so he couldn’t exactly be considered Cheng’s man. Furthermore, since Nie Zhenbang had not approached him this time, Cheng naturally would not take the initiative to help Nie vie for anything.

Therefore, Cheng Xinhua was the most relaxed about the reshuffling in Li County. Basically, any leader who was interested in Li County had approached him.

Reflecting on Ding Aiguo’s words, Cheng fell deep into thought. It was indeed straightforward, but how to respond was crucial. Any remark represented his attitude – words were not to be spoken in vain, they had to be fulfilled.

After some thought, Cheng Xinhua smiled and said, “I have no particular opinion. Comrades Wu Zhixiong and Zhang Chubin are both excellent choices. Personally, I wholeheartedly respect the organization’s arrangements.”

Ding Aiguo cursed inwardly. Cheng’s position was so slippery – he had basically said nothing while seeming to agree with the idea of obeying the organization’s arrangements. Wasn’t he just waiting to see how the wind blew? However, on the surface, Ding was all smiles and said, “Secretary Cheng, I think Deputy Director of the City Construction Bureau, Comrade Yu Zejun, is quite good. This time, several comrades from the city and municipal bureaus are ready for promotion. I think we can fully consider giving Comrade Yu a heavier responsibility. Capable comrades should naturally be assigned to more important positions.”

Though this statement seemed unrelated to the reshuffling in Li County, in reality, Ding Aiguo was sending Cheng his terms.

Yu Zejun was one of the cadres Cheng had brought up during his time as head of Ta County. He was one of Cheng’s trusted men. The position of director of the City Construction Bureau was also a division-level position. In relative terms, Cheng had gained an advantage since Wu Zhixiong was only transitioning from a county chief to a secretary, and his rank wasn’t changing. This was the condition Ding Aiguo put forward. The offer was quite generous on Cheng’s behalf.

However, Cheng Xinhua merely smiled and said, “Mayor Ding, I find Comrade Wu Zhixiong quite commendable. However, the incident with Mo Zhihai has given us a profound lesson. Secretary Liu has stressed multiple times the importance of mobility among local leading cadres. Now, the Secretary of Ta County Party Committee is approaching retirement age. I think it’s feasible to have Comrade Wu Zhixiong transferred there to oversee the comprehensive work of Ta County.”

At this moment, Ding Aiguo furrowed his brows. Cheng’s intentions were clear – it’s not about keeping Wu Zhixiong stationary. Cheng was supportive of Wu becoming the party committee secretary, but only in a different location. Since the incident in Li County, Liu Wenqing has emphasized the mobility of cadres at various occasions to curb localism and corruption. It was clear that this tacit expression was in opposition to Wu Zhixiong becoming the party committee secretary. After all, Wu Zhixiong and Mo Zhihai’s situations were quite similar. Wu was also a cadre who had been promoted from within Li County.

At this point, it appeared from Cheng’s attitude that the prospect of Wu Zhixiong becoming the county party committee secretary directly was highly unlikely. After careful consideration, Liu Wenqing certainly wouldn’t agree, let alone Zhao Weihong and Bai Weimin, who always opposed localism. That accounted for three votes. Now, with Cheng Xinhua added, that made four. The Ministers of the organization department, Fang Gushan, and propaganda department, Liu Sufang, would certainly follow the majority. So, there was no hope of winning at the Standing Committee meeting.

Rather than dwelling on Li County, it would be better to let Wu Zhixiong assume the position of Ta County party committee secretary. At least, this would be a step up and beneficial for subsequent promotions. At this point, Ding Aiguo was not too concerned about the projects in Li County.

Following this, Ding made his decision and smiled, “Ta County is a good place indeed. Secretary Cheng, I won’t take up any more of your time.”

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. All the leaders in the Li County Party Committee who had their own ideas were busy lobbying. Wu Zhixiong was not too active and only went to Bazhou twice, while Zhang Chubin continually ran to Bazhou in the past few days. Likewise, Ma Yunfang from the county government was also doing the same. The atmosphere in Li County became eerie?

The routine standing committee meeting of the second half of the month in Bazhou was officially convened.

At this moment, the entire conference room was silent. Unlike the previous standing committee meetings, Ding Aiguo was sitting in the conference room early, holding a pen in his hand, occasionally scrolling on the notebook, writing something.

As soon as it was nine o’clock, Liu Wenqing almost stepped into the conference room on the dot, his gaze sweeping over the attendees. At this moment, Liu Wenqing’s expression was very serious as he took his seat. He began, “In this standing committee meeting, I would like first to ask Secretary Bai from the Discipline Inspection Commission to report on the corruption case of Mo Zhihai in Li County.”

As soon as the words fell, Bai Weimin nodded and said, “Leaders, comrades, at the commission of the municipal party committee, the city disciplinary inspection commission immediately sent an investigation team to Li County after the corruption case occurred. I will now report the situation truthfully to everyone. During Mo Zhihai’s tenure as Li County Party Secretary, he received bribes under various pretexts such as birthdays, holidays, and the Lunar New Year. His actions were extremely egregious, with a staggering amount of money involved, which had a detrimental impact on the local area. The case has been turned over to the procurator’s office for litigation…”

“Comrades, this is a profound lesson for us. Mo Zhihai’s corruption did not come out of nowhere, but was rooted in his long-standing dominance in Li County, which fostered his overbearing, patriarchal style. This is a breeding ground for corruption. Without supervision, without any opposition, Mo Zhihai’s corruption and depravity were inevitable. I believe it is absolutely necessary for us to increase the mobility of our party and government officials to firmly curb the spread of corruption.” Liu Wenqing at this moment is solemn, his voice stern and powerful.

At this moment, all the standing committee members know clearly that Liu Wenqing is only using this issue as a pretext, merely clearing the way for Zhang Chubin’s ascent to power.

Continuing, Liu Wenqing said, “Now, the position of Secretary of Li County Party Committee has been vacant for half a month already. This vacancy is not conducive to the economic development of Li County. Minister Fang, you preside over the Organization Department. Do you have any thoughts on the candidates for the Secretary of Li County Party Committee?”

Fang Gushan nodded, then added, “After the Mo Zhihai incident, under the instruction of the municipal committee, the Organization Department has performed a preliminary evaluation of the officials across the city. At present, there are three comrades who are relatively qualified. The first is Comrade Zhang Chubin, who has held various positions such as a teacher in Hetai County’s No. 1 Middle School, staff of the Hetai Education Bureau, Deputy Director, Director, Deputy Mayor of Hetai County, Deputy Mayor of Lunshuo County and so on. He is very experienced in politics and has remarkable abilities. All things considered, Zhang Chubin seems quite suitable for the position of County Party Secretary.”

After a pause, Fang Gushan introduced the information of Wu Zhixiong and the current mayor of Hetai County, but everyone knew clearly that the mayor of Hetai County was just a side-role. The main candidates were Zhang Chubin and Wu Zhixiong, with Zhang Chubin being the most important.

As soon as the words fell, Cheng Xinhua also said, “Comrade Zhang Chubin is very good. I think it would be appropriate for him to take up the post of Secretary of Li County Party Committee. Also, Lv Qiuliang, the current secretary of the Ta County Party Committee, is of age to retire. I suggest we consider letting Comrade Wu Zhixiong take his place.”

In fact, all of these things had already been negotiated in advance. It’s clear to all standing committee members that this was a compromise between Ding Aiguo and Liu Wenqing. Ding Aiguo gave up his control over Li County, but his people also received equivalent positions.

Following this, there were no surprises in the statements made. Apart from Zhao Weihong who voted against Wu Zhixiong as the secretary of Ta County Party Committee, this agenda smoothly passed.

Meanwhile, the incumbent committee member and deputy governor of Ta County, Xie Yi, was appointed to Li County to take over the position of Deputy Secretary of Li County Party Committee, effectively replacing Zhang Chubin’s position.

This time, Cheng Xinhua hit the jackpot. As the saying goes, when the snipe and clam grapple, the fisherman profits. In this case, Cheng Xinhua was the fisherman.

However, the following dispute on the selection of the county governor led to a stalemate in the Standing Committee. Liu Wenqing became a bystander at this point. His ultimate goal in Li County had already been achieved, and there weren’t any other candidates, so he didn’t really care.

But, Ma Yunfang, who was nominated by Zhao Weihong, was jointly opposed by Cheng Xinhua and Ding Aiguo. Cheng Xinhua’s concern was that if Zhao Weihong’s person became County Governor, it would certainly affect Nie Zhenbang. Since Li Yifeng had asked him to take care of Nie Zhenbang, Cheng Xinhua was naturally opposed.

As for Ding Aiguo, his reasons are simpler. In the matter of Wu Zhixiong, Ding Aiguo paid a price—the position of the Director of the Construction Bureau, and even let Cheng Xinhua get the position of Deputy Secretary of Li County. This account, Ding Aiguo charged to Zhao Weihong. Of course, if he had a chance in the future, Ding Aiguo would naturally seek Cheng Xinhua. But at this point, Zhao Weihong became the target of the attack. Since you wouldn’t let my people go up, then your people, Zhao Weihong, shouldn’t either.

For a time, the entire Standing Committee seemed like a debate meeting, with different groups arguing. Seeing this, Liu Wenqing hammered the table and said, “Quiet down. Are we having a debate? We’re all seasoned cadres. How are we any different from common townsfolk? Isn’t there any basic discipline and principles? Since there is a deadlock. I propose a candidate. I personally think that the current committee member and deputy governor of Li County, Comrade Nie Zhenbang, seems quite suitable!”

As soon as the words fell, the meeting room instantly fell silent.