Chapter 134: Down Horse Prestige (2)

  Since Zhou Wenfu and Gong Chunshan tacitly cooperated to take down the former county head Cheng Aiguo, Zhou Wenfu suddenly discovered that Gong Chunshan's ambition was even greater than Cheng Aiguo. At first, Cheng Aiguo only wanted to increase anti-corruption efforts, but this inadvertently infringed on his own interests. However, after Gong Chunshan took over as acting county head and presided over routine work, Zhou Wenfu found that the real wolf in sheep's clothing was actually Gong Chunshan. Since he took over as acting county head, the Gong Chunshan who used to respect his opinions disappeared, replaced by a more arrogant and power-hungry version of himself, which was exactly what Zhou Wenfu did not want to see.

  However, he did not speak. As the county party secretary, maintaining stability is an important indicator of his governing ability. If Xishan County had just driven away Cheng Aiguo and immediately welcomed another internal struggle, his governing ability would be doubted by the superior leaders, which was an undesirable result for Zhou Wenfu who wanted to go further. Moreover, the candidate for county magistrate had not been determined at that time, so he was waiting, waiting for the new county magistrate to take office and see how the other party performed.

  Next, Zhou Wenfu introduced Dong Daguang and Liu Fei to other officials present, including Zhang Qunshu, Vice County Governor Zhao Haijun, Vice County Governor Zhang Yaowu, Vice County Governor Wang Jicun, Vice County Governor Li Bing, as well as the main leaders of various bureaus such as the Safety Supervision Bureau and the Water Conservancy Bureau. However, after a round of introductions, Liu Fei furrowed his brow and asked with a smile: "Secretary Zhou, it seems I haven't seen the Executive Vice County Governor?"

  Zhou Wenfu's expression changed slightly, and he smiled: "I heard from the secretary that he went to the countryside for inspection with Zhang Yongchang, director of the Finance Bureau, Fu Zhenbo, director of the Public Security Bureau, and Yang Xuecheng, director of the Urban Construction Bureau."

  Liu Fei's face turned red with rage when he heard this, although he had already read the materials and knew that Vice County Magistrate Gongsun Changshan had been eyeing the county magistrate position for a long time, even to the point of forcing out the previous county magistrate Cheng Aiguo. However, he hadn't expected him to have such a big opinion about himself and react so fiercely on his first day in office! It was truly arrogant. But after four years of tempering under Governor Jiang's wing, Liu Fei's originally explosive temper had been subdued greatly. He only smiled faintly, suppressing the surging anger in his heart, saying: "Oh, Vice County Magistrate Gongsun seems to care a lot about the lives of rural people. I'll have to communicate with him more often in the future."

  Dong Daquan had been observing Liu Fei's expression all along, and he had long known that Gong Chunshan would definitely be very dissatisfied with Liu Fei's arrival. However, he did not expect his reaction to be so extreme, actually giving Liu Fei a warning on the first day of his appointment. Although this warning was for Liu Fei, Dong Daquan also felt uncomfortable in his heart, thinking that as the third-in-command of the municipal party committee organization department, he had come down to be a deputy county head, and yet Gong Chunshan didn't even welcome him, which made him lose face.

  Looking at Dong Daquan's back as he walked away, Zhou Wenfu sneered in his heart: Hmph, Gong Chunshan, you're not awesome, are you? This time, you've offended the third-in-command of the Organization Department. You'll have a good time later on. Although Dong Daquan was only the third-in-command of the county committee, he was a strong contender for the next head of the Organization Department. The current head of the Organization Department, Guo Youli, had already served two terms and would likely be replaced after the upcoming people's congress. Sun Binghe, the executive vice-minister, was already 58 years old and would either retire or go to the Political Consultative Conference or the People's Congress to enjoy his retirement after this term. Therefore, Dong Daquan, although only the third-in-command of the municipal committee's Organization Department, had a high chance of becoming the next head of the Organization Department if everything went smoothly.

  In the extremely luxurious conference room of Xishan County, a brief welcoming ceremony was held. Liu Fei said in his speech: "Fellow colleagues, I came to Xishan County to do practical things. If there is any offense in the future, please forgive me. My governing policy has only four words - people-oriented. That's all I have to say. Thank you everyone."

  Liu Fei's words were brief, but they caused everyone present to change color. Zhou Wenfu was also shocked, although everyone usually talked about putting the people first and doing practical things, seeking truth from facts. However, when it came to actual implementation, it was completely a case of "the horse's lips not matching the donkey's mouth". Everyone's purpose in handling affairs had only one goal: fame and profit, as well as promotion and wealth. How many people truly did practical things? At least Zhou Wenfu himself felt that he hadn't fully achieved this point. However, he was even more aware that Gong Chunshan did worse than him; otherwise, it wouldn't have been his turn to become the county party secretary. The other five deputy county heads and bureau chiefs present had different expressions: some were worried, while others were happy. But up until now, no one believed that this young 24-year-old county head could truly achieve this goal. They had all been in the West Mountain County officialdom for a long time, and they understood the situation here extremely clearly. The relationships within were complex and intertwined; it wasn't something that could be solved with just a few words.

  After attending Liu Fei's welcoming ceremony, Dong Daquan politely declined the invitation of Zhou Wenfu and Liu Fei, and did not even have lunch before taking a car back to Hengyang City, expressing his dissatisfaction with Deputy County Magistrate Gong Chunshan in this extreme way.

  Zhou Wenfu also left afterwards.

  After Zhou Wenfu left, everyone stood up and looked at Liu Fei, waiting for him to leave first. This is an unspoken rule in the officialdom: when the leader doesn't leave, no one dares to leave easily, otherwise it would be disrespecting the leader.

  However, Liu Fei smiled and said: "Everyone, please wait a moment. Today, we'll take this opportunity to hold a work meeting."

  At this moment, everyone was stunned. Everyone stared at this young new county magistrate.

  All I saw was Liu Fei sitting there as stable as Mount Tai, with a calm and composed demeanor, and a faint smile on his face.

  Although there were 50- or 60-year-old men present, no one would dare to challenge Liu Fei in this setting. Even if his age might be that of the son of many people present, what matters in official circles is not age but position. If your position is high, even if you are very young, you are still superior; if you don't obey, then just wait to be taken down!

  So everyone sat back in their seats, silent and waiting, observing how the young county magistrate Liu Fei would convene his first working meeting after taking office.

  Liu Fei sat on the high platform, looking at the crowd below, with a heroic spirit in his heart. The feeling of being able to see everything at a glance made him feel very comfortable! It was a feeling of being high above, and this was the charm of being an official, right? But this feeling only lasted for a moment, as the incident involving Xiao Bao, the little shepherd who was only over 10 years old, that he encountered on his way here today had left him extremely saddened. This was also the main reason why he had hastily convened the first government work meeting today. As his gaze swept across the room, he could see the expressions of everyone below, and Liu Fei could feel that many people were doubting his ability to do the job, and even saw ridicule and disdain in some people's eyes. They must think he was too impatient, too impulsive, but just wait and see! Today, I'll fire the first shot of my tenure as county head! Liu Fei cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention to himself, and slowly began to speak: "Colleagues, perhaps you will decide that I am too rash, too hasty. But today, I must convene this meeting. The core issue of this meeting is how to strengthen the comprehensive quality of government personnel. Perhaps everyone thinks they are civil servants with high quality, but on my way here today, I personally saw and felt that our government personnel have huge problems in terms of comprehensive quality. Which deputy county head is in charge of the poverty alleviation office?"

  Downstairs, a man in his fifties with a sturdy build stood up, his face somewhat solemn. He was Li Bing, the deputy county head of Xishan County, responsible for agriculture, water conservancy, forestry, poverty alleviation, agricultural development, civil affairs, and ethnic and religious affairs. He had not expected that the young county head's first speech on his first day in office would target his own area of responsibility. Thinking back to Liu Fei's theme earlier, he felt a sense of foreboding. Under the gaze of everyone present, he reluctantly stood up and said: "County Head Liu, I am Li Bing, the deputy county head in charge of poverty alleviation work."

  Liu Fei's gaze fell on this man in his 50s, and coincidentally, the deputy county head's gaze also came over, with the two people's gazes meeting in mid-air.

  Liu Fei found that Li Bing, the deputy county magistrate, had a serious expression but was not flustered at all. His eyes were very clear and he went straight to the point: "County Magistrate Li, please immediately contact the relevant leaders of the poverty alleviation office to verify what happened on the way back from Hengyang City this morning." After finishing speaking, Liu Fei looked at his watch and said: "It's now 11:40. Twenty minutes should be enough, right? We'll all wait here for a while, and then County Magistrate Li will explain everything to us."

  As soon as Liu Fei's words fell, the atmosphere on the scene immediately became tense.

  Many people stared tightly at Liu Fei, who didn't know what this young county magistrate was selling in his gourd. What had happened that made him make such a big fuss? Why did he have to get Li Bing to solve it on the spot?

  At this time, everyone could feel that the young county magistrate on the rostrum had an extremely angry expression on his face, just like a volcano that was about to erupt at any moment.

  Is this what they call "three fires when a new official takes office"?

  At this time, the little shepherd boy had already returned home with the money. When his father saw the money in his hand, he was extremely shocked. When he heard that the uncle who gave the boy the money was also an official, the middle-aged farmer, with a face full of vicissitudes, muttered to himself while holding the thick stack of money: "Official? What is an official after all? This one is an official, that one is an official... what exactly is an official? Who knows? It seems like Xishan County is going to change its ways. Are we finally going to make it through the tough times? I hope Little Treasure encounters more officials like this."

  Yu Xiaobao and Yu Dabao never thought that while they were having lunch, a storm was brewing in the county government conference room within Xishan County!