Reborn as a Noble's Son

Then, Ning Shouchang smiled and said, “Zhenbang, you don’t need to be so anxious. Maybe my words were a bit exaggerated. There will definitely be obstacles in your new role, but don’t be too accommodating. As long as you stand your ground and have sound reasoning, Governor Yue Sheng and I can still help you.”

He paused for a moment and then explained, “What I mean is that I want you to be prepared for your future work. Do you understand?”

Nie Zhenbang nodded. Ning Shouchang’s intentions were clear and straightforward. The underlying meaning was simple too. He was articulating that historically and fundamentally, Jiangbei Province belonged to the Li faction’s traditional sphere of influence. Even with frequent cadre changes now, the overall advantage lay with the Li faction. Hence, there would inevitably be some restrictions on his future work, possibly from the provincial or municipal leaders.

Nie Zhenbang then smiled and said, “Uncle Ning, could you give me a brief overview of the situation in both the province and the city?”

Ning Shouchang was pleased with Nie Zhenbang’s response, which had the sense of grasping the point immediately. He pondered for a moment, seemingly contemplating the complex relationships within the province and the city of Liangxi.

Then, Ning Shouchang nodded and said, “Let’s start with the province. The main leaders of the Provincial Committee, Secretary Shen Yanshuo, have opinions about you. Secretary Da Liang and Secretary Dong Min are basically focusing on their own duties. You need to be prepared for this. As for Liangxi City, the relationship between Fan Changsheng and Li Guohua is good. When you get to Liangxi City, it would be useful to connect with Deputy Mayor Zhao Xintian who’s also a Standing Committee member.”

After listening to this, Nie Zhenbang fell into deep thought. As for Shen Yanshuo, there was no need to mention it. He was the leading figure of the Li faction in Jiangbei Province. The Xia case, which involved the Inspection Commission, had made the entire Jiangbei Province quite passive, forcing a deputy governor from the Li family to resign, which was more than annoying. Furthermore, since the Li family and Nie Zhenbang were mortal enemies, it was not surprising that Shen Yanshuo had such an attitude towards Nie Zhenbang.

The situation in Liangxi City was similar to that of New Li City initially. Back then, in New Li City, he was the Party Secretary, Zhou Chen was the Acting Mayor, and Bekri was the Executive Deputy Mayor. Now, he had taken over Zhou Chen’s position, Li Guohua had Bekri’s position. On the contrary, the City Party Committee Secretary Fan Changsheng was in his former position. Now, it all depended on Li Guohua’s choices. Additionally, he had an advantage over Zhou Chen. While Zhou Chen only had a few small fry supporting him in New Li City, he had powerful allies like Chen Le and Yi Jun.

Nie Zhenbang had made a preliminary judgment on these issues before arriving, but what surprised him was that Ning Shouchang had a protege in Liangxi City. This Zhao Xintian must be someone Ning Shouchang trusted.

Then, Nie Zhenbang nodded and said, “Uncle Ning, rest assured. I’m not worried about the situation in Liangxi City. Li Guohua wouldn’t dare to cross the line. He doesn’t have the guts. After all, this round of cadre exchange was decided by the Central Organization Department and the State Council. If the Li family dares to cross the line, they would face the suppression and fury of President Yuan and Premier Yun. Not only Li Guohua, even Shen Yanshuo’s position would be at risk. I am sure that not only will the Li family not play tricks on this matter, Shen Yanshuo will also not agree even if Li Guohua wants to play tricks.”

Upon hearing Nie Zhenbang’s analysis, Ning Shouchang nodded in satisfaction. Indeed, Shen Yanshuo will make sure that Nie Zhenbang is smoothly elected. Although Shen Yanshuo is part of the Li faction, he also had the same symbiotic relationship as himself. This was something that Ning Shouchang deeply understood.

Ning Shouchang said with satisfaction, “Good. I’m pleased with your attitude and awareness. Zhenbang, come to my house for dinner tonight, and head over to the Organization Department tomorrow.”

Nie Zhenbang looked at the time and smiled, “Uncle Ning, there is still time this afternoon. I will finish dealing with the work today and come back to the Provincial Government in the evening. Jiangzhou City always feels empty. I’d better go down earlier, get familiar with the situation, and prepare to start work.”

Usually, if invited to a dinner at the governor’s house, and the arrangements were made by the governor himself, there would likely be no objections. But Ning Shouchang wasn’t narrow-minded. He knew about Nie Zhenbang’s personality from his son, Ning Zhiyuan. Then, he smiled and said, “Ha ha, you’re always on the go. Go ahead.”

Upon leaving the provincial government compound, Nie Zhenbang walked directly towards the Provincial Committee’s compound, which was only about five hundred meters away. It would only take a few minutes to walk there. It was only three o’clock in the afternoon, so there was more than enough time.

The Provincial Committee’s Organization Department, as well as several other departments such as the Publicity Department and the Office Affairs Bureau, all operate within the Office Building of the Provincial Committee.

The Jiangbei Provincial Committee Office Building has nine floors, neither more nor less. It is unknown if the choice to make it a floor higher than the provincial government office building was intentional during design and construction.

Nonetheless, the layout design is similar. The top floor is a meeting room. Shen Yanshuo and others have their offices on the eighth floor. The Organization Department of the Provincial Committee occupies the entire seventh floor, a layout designed specifically for their offices.

Nie Zhenbang quickly found his way to the Minister’s office inside the Jiangbei Provincial Committee’s Organization Department. After taking a deep breath, he knocked on the slightly ajar office door, leaving a slim gap. The door was then fully opened from inside and a young man stepped out. He looked at Nie Zhenbang with a puzzled expression and asked, “May I ask, who are you here to see?”

“Hello, is Minister Yang in? I have been transferred to Jiangbei Province from the Central Disciplinary Commission. My name is Nie Zhenbang,” Nie Zhenbang replied with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the young man quickly comprehended and responded, “Oh, so you’re Mayor Nie. Pleasure to meet you. Mayor Nie, as expected, is indeed ambitious and young. Are you here for your appointment? Would you please wait a moment while I report your arrival?”

A little while later, the young man came out to instruct Nie Zhenbang, “Mayor Nie, Minister Yang is expecting you. Please go in.”

Upon entering, Nie Zhenbang started observing Yang Xingan, who was about sixty years old. Among all the leadership members of the provincial committee, Yang Xingan is one of the older ones. It appears that this might be Yang’s last term unless he gets re-elected to the standing committee at this year’s party representative conference in Jiangbei Province. If not, he would probably be assigned to the provincial committee of the People’s Political Consultative Conference or the People’s Congress.

Yang Xingan is not a tall man, possessing traits typical of people from southern water towns. His most defining features are his thick eyebrows and large eyes, which reflect an impressive aura.

Seeing Nie Zhenbang enter, Yang Xingan was pleased by Nie Zhenbang’s composed demeanor. Yang asked Nie to take a seat on the couch and started talking, “Comrade Zhenbang, you’ve come at the right time. Once Minister Yu has confirmed the final list, we will commence with the public notification of positions and replacements for your group of cadres. Aside from you, everybody else has already left. Now we are just waiting on you.”

Since the “Interim Regulations on the Selection and Appointment of Leading Cadres” were issued two years ago, there is a public notice period for promotion of cadres, which is now in addition to the previously used procedures. Normally, the announcements of appointments and dismissals are published on provincial-level media outlets, along with an oversight complaint phone number from the Organization Department. After a seven-day public notice period, if no one raises objections against the appointee, then the appointment is formally confirmed. This step is essentially a formality which Nie Zhenbang understands but, since Yang Xingan had mentioned it, Nie Zhenbang responded accordingly, “Minister Yang, I sincerely apologize for having been delayed due to handover tasks these past few days. I am ready for the organization’s criticism.”

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Nie Zhenbang felt that his conversation with Yang Xingan was not very harmonious. It was more like a set of routine conversations. It seemed that Yang was not very fond of him.

As expected, after Yang spoke for a while, he summarized by saying, “Comrade Zhenbang, your abilities are recognized and appreciated by the organization. You are good at economic construction and have been tempered for many years in the Central Disciplinary Commission. Your comprehensive qualities are excellent. Your assignment to our cadre team in Jiangbei Province is a credit to our province. I have some things to take care of and will not be able to send you off in person tomorrow. I have entrusted Deputy Minister Luo to accompany you instead. Come here and meet with Deputy Minister Luo at eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Once Nie Zhenbang heard this, he was taken aback. It would have been appropriate and in accordance with usual practices for the Minister of Organization Department to accompany a new mayor to his post. In some cases, even the full-time deputy secretary of the Provincial Committee would do the honor. However, in his case, a Deputy Minister was assigned. The underlying message was worth contemplating. Apart from anything else, it could impact the start of his work. If the cadres of Liangxi City saw this, they might think that their Mayor does not get much importance from the Provincial Committee leaders, inadvertently making it harder for him to carry out his work.

However, Nie Zhenbang understood that it was too late to change things now. This decision might even have involved Shen Yanshuo. So, he promptly responded to Yang Xingan, “Thank you, Minister Yang, for your support of my work. I won’t disturb you further. Tomorrow morning, I will come here to wait for Deputy Minister Luo.”

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