Reborn as a Noble's Son

But now Luo Guozhong had said it out in public, leaving the leaders of Liangxi City at a loss for words. Seeing Luo Guozhong and Nie Zhenbang had already gotten into the car, Li Guohua’s expression was somewhat gloomy. He was somewhat uncomfortable with this arrangement by Jiangbei Province. The leader of the escort, although not of high rank, was backing Nie Zhenbang, which was not a good sign. Li Guohua did not know that this was due to their own reasons. If Li Guohua knew this, he would probably regret it.

On this side, a hint of playfulness appeared on Zhu Zhuozhen’s face. Looking at it, Liangxi City might not be peaceful. Immediately, Zhu Zhuozhen also said, “Mayor Li, let’s follow.”

In official circles, such helplessness is common due to distinct hierarchical levels. Sometimes, there is no way to handle these small grievances, one can only endure them.

From the border of Liangxi City to the downtown area, a distance of about thirty kilometers, with a guide car sounding its horn leading the way and a police car following behind for escort, all cars in the convoy had their double yellow warning lights on and drove towards downtown Liangxi City majestically.

Half an hour later, the cars drove into the square in front of the office building of the Liangxi City Municipal Party Committee and Government. The office building of the Liangxi City Municipal Party Committee and Government is a very orthodox building, not very large in size, but very high in floors. The entire building is higher than the surrounding terrain. The main entrance has a dozen or so steps extending downwards, with vehicular access on both sides. The cars in the convoy were parked directly underneath the entrance to the office building. The secretaries had already gone up to welcome them, opening the car doors, and Luo Guozhong, Nie Zhenbang, and the leaders who had come to welcome them all got out.

At this moment, the Secretary of the Liangxi Municipal Party Committee, Fan Changsheng, was standing by the entrance. Seeing Luo Guozhong, he immediately went forward to welcome him, smiling as he reached out his hand and said, “Director Luo, welcome.”

Fan Changsheng’s words were also deeply meaningful. Generally, under such circumstances, when Luo Guozhong comes, it means that he brings a cadre. As the party secretary, Fan Changsheng should at least say a few words of thanks. For example, thanking Director Luo for bringing such an excellent cadre to Liangxi City. But Fan Changsheng did not mention Nie Zhenbang at all, which implied a certain amount of disparagement.

Luo Guozhong sneered internally, and then said, “Secretary Fan, you are too polite. Liangxi City is the strongest economic city in our province. With Secretary Fan working around the clock, we naturally have to fully assist Liangxi City in doing a good job.”

With that, Luo Guozhong walked towards the inside of the building.

In that instant, a shadow crossed over Fan Changsheng’s face too. But every bit of this was caught in Nie Zhenbang’s eyes. He sneered inwardly. He wanted to put me in my place here, but instead he got a slap in the face from Luo Guozhong.

Just now, Luo Guozhong’s words were not vague at all. On the surface, it seemed as if he was praising Liangxi City, but in fact, he was mocking Fan Changsheng. Liangxi City is the number one economic city in the province, and you, Fan Changsheng, think you’re so great that you can even disdain someone sent by the provincial party committee. To fully assist Liangxi City in doing a good job, isn’t that saying that the provincial party committee should revolve around Liangxi City? A municipal party secretary, no matter how busy, cannot possibly be working around the clock. Only the premier is described as managing a myriad of daily tasks, how dare you, a municipal party secretary?

Upon entering the Municipal Party Committee office building, on the top floor of the Municipal Party Committee and Government office building, there is a large tiered conference room.

The nearly two-thousand-square-meter meeting room can accommodate fifteen hundred people for meetings at the same time. At this moment, the entire venue had been set up.

Right in front, hanging above the rostrum, was a red banner with the words ‘Leadership Cadre Meeting of Liangxi City’. On the rostrum, the Executive Deputy Minister of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department, Luo Guozhong, sat in the middle. Although Luo Guozhong and Fan Changsheng are of the same rank, Luo Guozhong is part of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department–he has provincial leadership status. With different identities, Luo Guozhong represented the Jiangbei Provincial Party Committee. Naturally, he was sitting here.

To the left was the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee of Liangxi City, and to the right was Nie Zhenbang, the remaining leaders of the Liangxi Municipal Party Committee team were all arranged in order of sequence.

Underneath the stage, various mid-level cadres from the four major departments of the Municipal Committee, Municipal Government, Municipal People’s Congress, and CPPCC, as well as the heads and deputies of various bureaus under the city’s direct authority. Leaders and deputies from the five districts and two counties controlled by Liangxi City. Heads and deputies of each bureau within the five districts, along with the leaders of mid-level departments under the city’s direct authority, were all gathered in the meeting room — hundreds of people in total.

Firstly, under the direction of the moderator, Hu Youquan, the secretary-general of the Liangxi City Committee, the conference began amidst the resounding national anthem.

Thereafter, Hu Youquan addressed the microphone, saying: “Next, I invite Comrade Luo Guozhong, Standing Deputy Minister of the Provincial Committee Organisation Department, to announce the appointment.”

After Hu Youquan spoke, Luo Guozhong also stood up, with the microphone in front of him. Luo Guozhong produced a document and read out loud: “In accordance with the resolution of the Provincial Committee’s Standing Committee, Wu Jiacheng, deputy secretary and mayor of Liangxi City Committee, has been relieved of his duties as the deputy secretary, standing committee and committee member of Liangxi City Committee. The 32nd meeting of the 8th Liangxi People’s Congress Standing Committee approved Wu Jiacheng’s resignation as the Mayor of Liangxi City. Comrade Wu Jiacheng will be assigned other duties.”

Then, after looking around at those present, Luo Guozhong declared again: “The meeting decided to appoint Nie Zhenbang as a member, standing member and deputy secretary of the Liangxi City Committee, and proposes to the Liangxi People’s Congress Standing Committee that Nie Zhenbang be nominated as the Deputy Mayor and Acting Mayor of Liangxi City.”

After announcing the appointment, Luo Guozhong immediately said: “Comrades, Nie Zhenbang has previously served as the Mayor and Party Secretary of Xili City, Xibei Autonomous Region. The economic miracle of Xili City is all down to him. He achieved excellent results during his tenure at the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The central government is appointing such a strong and capable cadre to our Jiangbei Province, to our Liangxi City as a sign of support and affirmation for our work. Next, I invite Comrade Nie Zhenbang to give his inauguration speech.”

Nie Zhenbang was somewhat surprised by this move. Generally speaking, in this kind of procedure, there is an unwritten rule: if there are changes in the Party Secretary, both the new and old secretaries should be present. After the superior organization department leader or superior deputy leader announces the appointment and dismissal resolutions, the predecessor should first express his retirement sentiments, followed by the new secretary’s inauguration declaration.

If it’s the appointment of an acting mayor, generally, after announcing the appointment, the top leader of the place of appointment should first deliver a welcoming speech, followed by the appointment declaration.

However, Luo Guozhong, who was somewhat displeased, had skipped this part of the process for Fan Changsheng. Of course, these are all underlying norms that are not officially recognized, so there isn’t exactly a written rule stipulating whether what Luo Guozhong did was appropriate. There’s definitely no picking out faults with this. It’s just that Fan Changsheng loses some face.

The moment Luo Guozhong called on him to speak, Nie Zhenbang caught a glimpse of some dissatisfaction flashing in Fan Changsheng’s eyes, even though his expression remained calm.

It seems that Luo Guozhong, Fan Changsheng, and Li Guohua are not on the same faction. If they were all part of the Li faction, there wouldn’t have been such a case of family not recognizing family during a crisis. If Nie Zhenbang’s estimation is correct, Luo Guozhong might belong to Wang Daan, the full-time deputy secretary of the Provincial Committee. As the full-time deputy secretary, Wang Daan is in charge of organizational personnel and party group ideological work. Considering Shen Yanshuo’s thoughts, it’s necessary for the Minister of the Organizational Department to make concessions. However, as the responsible leader, the position of a standing deputy minister must be retained; otherwise, Wang Daan, the deputy secretary, will be marginalized. It seems it’s beneficial to take advantage of this in the future.

Having thought of this, Nie Zhenbang also stood up, and after a slight bow to the attendees, he said: “Thank you to the provincial Party Committee leaders and Minister Luo Guozhong. Leaders, comrades, I come to Liangxi City with a mindset and pressure to learn. Our Liangxi City, as the number one economic powerhouse in Jiangbei Province. The city’s annual output value ranks first in the province and third among the nation’s prefecture-level cities. This is the result of the joint efforts of all our leaders and comrades here. However, I am deeply inspired by the achievements of our comrades and I am also willing to accept this challenge. I shall persist in focusing on economic construction, adhering to the four basic principles, pushing forward with reform and opening up. In accordance with the Secretary General’s speech from last year as our guide, I shall contribute to the economic construction of our Liangxi City.”

Nie Zhenbang’s speech contained no bombast, only practicality. At this time, many new leaders like to set a goal stating what they will do after taking office—Nie Zhenbang chose not to.

That’s because the situation in Liangxi City is different from other places. As an economic powerhouse that surpasses the capital city of Jiangzhou and is located on the shores of the Large Lake, it’s close to Hucheng City with an obvious geographical advantage. The cadres here have a high vision. They don’t need that kind of encouraging bombast. A pragmatic attitude is more likely to resonate with these cadres.

After Nie Zhenbang finished his speech and sat down, he noticed the exchange of glances between the Secretary-General of the Municipal Party Committee and Fan Changsheng. Immediately afterward, Hu Youquan announced the end of the meeting. This sudden conclusion made Nie Zhenbang think deeply: Fan Changsheng was not a simple person.

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