Reborn as a Noble's Son

The document finally arrived at Nie Zhenbang’s desk, reading the few large characters annotated by Shi Hongbo on the document: “Please review, Mayor Zhenbang.” Nie Zhenbang couldn’t help but chuckle.

Shi Hongbo was certainly capable, but he was also too smooth. He could have made a final decision as the mayor in charge of this matter, yet he pushed it to Nie Zhenbang. Thus, Nie Zhenbang took his pen and made a note on the side: ‘Respect the decision of the Textile Group shareholders’ meeting. Agree with the Textile Group’s plan. Signed, Nie Zhenbang.’

He set the document aside and picked up another one. Just then, Yi Jun walked in, holding a document, which he put on the desk, and said, “Mayor, this is the material sent from the municipal party committee’s office. Please review some of the issues to be discussed at the routine standing committee meeting tomorrow morning.”

He took the documents and Yi Jun exited the room. The entire document was only two pages long with the front detailing some abstract matters, like learning from Comrade Shen Yanshuo’s speech at the sixth meeting of the Provincial Party Committee, comprehensively advancing the process of a well-off society in Liangxi City, and so on. Nie Zhenbang roughly reviewed the content and flipped the page. But upon seeing the second page, his brow furrowed. The first issue was about Huang Junshan’s retirement, the second, surprisingly, was about the personnel discussion on promoting Lu Wu, the District Secretary of Guicheng District, to the position of deputy department-level cadre of the Municipal Party Committee.

Nie Zhenbang didn’t expect Fan Changsheng to move so quickly, forcing Huang Junshan into retirement. If Huang Junshan were to retire before any incident occurred, following the convention, Lei Dingguo would have to back down. If he didn’t, the responsibility and pressure Lei Dingguo would have to bear would be much greater, since it would involve breaking national, not just Liangxi City’s, conventions. Under such pressure, Lei Dingguo would have no choice but to back down.

The second issue was even more apparent, it was directly targeting him. The position of deputy department-level cadre may sound prestigious, but everyone knew it was nothing more than a position to idle around in until retirement. Even though the rank was high, the real power was vastly different from that of a department-level official in Guicheng District. Moreover, after this, Lu Wu’s career was essentially at its end.

What’s more important is that Lu Wu’s existence was related to his plans for the reconstruction of the old city. This was the vital point. He could be certain that Fan Changsheng must have heard some rumors, otherwise, he wouldn’t have made such a perfectly targeted move.

Nie Zhenbang immediately picked up the phone and dialed: “Mayor Xintian, do you have time tonight? Could we get together? Right, invite Secretary Lei and Comrade Kaibao as well.”

…

The regular standing committee meeting was held as scheduled in the small meeting room of the Liangxi City Committee the next morning. At this moment, all the standing committee members had different mindsets.

Huang Junshan lost his former demeanor, his eyes flashed with vengeance and resentment when he saw Lei Dingguo.

Fan Changsheng sat at the head of the oval conference table, with Nie Zhenbang on his left and Zhu Zhuozhen on his right. Nie Zhenbang and Zhu Zhuozhen were sitting directly opposite each other.

After a moment of contemplation, Fan Changsheng cleared his throat and said loudly, “Comrades, recently, a lot of things have happened in Liangxi City. These events have made national, even international headlines. This standing committee meeting has the fullest attendance so far. At the sixth meeting of the provincial party committee, Secretary Yanshuo emphasized again that we should seize the current opportunity to actively attract foreign investment and be innovative under the favorable current circumstances. As the city with the strongest economy in our province, Liangxi City must put attracting investment first. We need to liberate our thoughts, go out, bring in, and I believe, we can consider linking investment attraction to performance evaluation. This would increase the enthusiasm of the majority of leading cadres.”

After a long speech, Fan Changsheng took a sip of his tea and continued, “This time, we mainly discuss two matters. Firstly, Minister Huang from the organizational department came to me and asked for early retirement. I know Minister Huang well; he is diligent and law-abiding, very disciplined, and principled, such cadres are rare. However, considering his health, I understand his desire to retire early. Considering that Minister Huang is under the provincial jurisdiction, I suggest that the municipal party committee should discuss this first, formulate a resolution, and then report it to the organizational department of the Provincial Party Committee.”