Chapter Thirty-Four: A Clash of Swords

  At 9:00 sharp, Tang Guoqiang walked into the county party committee standing committee meeting room. In the four months since he took office as secretary of the county party committee, he felt more confident than ever before, with a sense of control over everything that was very pleasant. He smiled and stepped into the meeting room with a steady pace. As he entered the meeting room, he glanced around and saw that nearly ten standing committee members were already seated in a circle around the conference table, each with their nameplate behind them, apparently all present. Looking back, Hu Secretary and Ye Zhenran were sitting in the outer circle against the wall, both of whom were attending this meeting as non-voting delegates.

  The county party committee standing committee is the highest decision-making body of a county, and only members of the standing committee have the right to express their opinions on each agenda item and vote at meetings. According to the needs of the agenda, non-standing committee leaders often attend the meeting as consultants, and the secretary of the county party committee secretary is generally responsible for recording each meeting.

  But for a deputy county head like Ye Zhen to attend the county standing committee meeting is quite rare, so when the standing committee members entered the conference room and saw Ye Zhen seated there, most of them looked puzzled.

  Tang Guoqiang sat down calmly, picked up his teacup and took a sip, then swept his gaze over the faces of the Standing Committee members. As for the other ten Standing Committee members in Changjia County, after four months of in-depth understanding, he had already grasped their situation clearly.

  Everyone has quieted down, Tang Guoqiang spoke up: "Comrades, today's county committee standing committee meeting has two agendas. The first is to discuss the economic zone tax preferential policy submitted by the Mashixiang Party Committee, and the second is about the adjustment of leaders from the County Public Security Bureau, Finance Bureau, Urban Construction Bureau, etc. Let's take them one by one. First, let's discuss the tax preferential policy for Mashixiang Economic Zone. Please ask Vice Mayor Ye Zhenran, who is in charge of economic zone work in Mashixiang Township, to introduce the situation."

  County Magistrate Yin and Deputy Secretary Yu Junbiao exchanged a glance when Tang Guoqiang mentioned the adjustment of three important county bureau positions, exchanging some kind of information. In order to coordinate interests, they had discussed candidates with Tang Guoqiang several times in advance, but failed to reach an agreement, so they could only submit it to the Standing Committee for voting. Of course, each of these three most important positions has two or three candidates, representing the interests of all parties. Whether it is Secretary Tang or County Magistrate Yin, these three positions are crucial and cannot be compromised, and today they have to make a final decision.

  Other standing committee members also looked serious after hearing the two topics, they knew that these two topics were too sensitive. The tax preferential policy of the Mashixiang Economic Zone was said to be opposed by County Magistrate Yin, and as for Secretary Tang's attitude, just look at Ye Zhenran who was attending the meeting, without saying that everyone understood, a struggle was inevitable. And the second topic even touched the core interests of the local forces led by County Magistrate Yin, this dragon-tiger battle had no room for maneuver. The standing committee members thought: Secretary Tang's determination to discuss at this time, did he already have a grasp? Looking at County Magistrate Yin's face, it seemed very calm, did they reach some kind of agreement? It is worth noting that in the past, on certain topics, both sides had different opinions and had conflicts, but ultimately both sides retreated and maintained a relative balance because they did not touch the fundamental interests. However, this time's personnel arrangement involved three most important county bureaus, neither side had room for retreat...

  For a moment, everyone was silently calculating in their hearts...

  Ye Ziran spoke after being named by Tang Secretary, saying the words he had prepared in advance. He elaborated on the purpose of the economic zone's tax preferential policies, the objects that enjoy the policies, the specific measures and prospects for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, especially technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, and the short-term and mid-to-long-term benefits expected.

  Tang Guoqiang took over the topic after Ye Ziran's introduction and said: "The economic small zone tax preferential policy proposed by the Mashixiang Party Committee has a pioneering spirit. The party constitution adopted at the 13th National Congress of our party stipulates that our party's current task is to take economic construction as the center, adhere to the four basic principles, and adhere to reform and opening up as the central and two basic points. Our economic reform does not have a ready-made model, and we need every party member, especially leading cadres, to contribute their wisdom and make economic construction a success. Once Mashixiang's policy is implemented, it will inevitably attract a large amount of private capital to invest and start businesses in Mashixiang and Changja County, which will be very beneficial for supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and revitalizing the economy. I suggest that we take Mashixiang Economic Small Zone's tax preferential policy as a pilot project and try it out in Mashixiang first, and then promote it to all economic small zones and economic development zones in the county after its success. Please discuss this with your comrades."

  Tang Guoqiang was always the last to speak at the Standing Committee meeting, but today he broke with convention and spoke first, his tone full of confidence, leaving other members of the Standing Committee secretly surprised. Was it because Ye Zhenran was his trusted aide that he feared opposition from other members, so he strongly supported him from the start? If so, then Secretary Tang is a bit too concerned about saving face... after all, political struggles don't care about face-saving.

  As expected, Yin Xianchang spoke out firmly against it.

  "The tax preferential measure proposed by the Party Committee of Ma Shi Township is detrimental to national taxation," said Yin County Magistrate, defining it at the beginning. He swept his eyes across the meeting room and continued: "Such a large-scale tax concession benefits mainly private enterprises, which is encouraging capitalism and weakening our country's economic competitiveness based on public ownership. I oppose it."

  County Deputy Secretary Yu Junbiao has always been an ally of County Mayor Yin, after County Mayor Yin finished speaking, slowly and deliberately took a sip of tea, then said: "I agree with County Mayor Yin's opinion, the main body of tax incentives is mainly small and medium-sized enterprises with private economy, which collides with the current national governance and rectification of township enterprises, it is not suitable to launch at this time."

  According to the ranking of county committee members, next was a speech by Lin Beihai, deputy secretary of the county committee and secretary of the discipline inspection commission. His speech was very brief: "I support Secretary Tang's opinion, agree that this policy should be piloted in Mashixiang Economic Zone, and I believe this pilot will be successful."

  It's done.

  Propaganda Minister Wu Xiaoping is a veteran county standing committee member with a relatively high ranking, and it's likely her turn to speak next. Originally a moderate, County Magistrate Yin spent countless efforts and made many promises in exchange for her support during this round of personnel adjustments at the standing committee meeting.

  She said: "I am doing propaganda work and support what Yu Secretary said. Now is not the time to push out this policy."

  Tang Guoqiang looked at her calmly after she finished speaking. Yin Xianzhang smiled slightly, picked up his teacup and took a sip after Wu Xiaoping finished speaking, appearing very calm. He silently calculated in his mind that there were eleven members of the county party committee, Lin Beihua, Huang Wenrong, and Shang Zhiyuan were all Tang's people, occupying four votes; Yu Junbiao, Ma Tiancheng, and He Guoping were his allies, also occupying four votes; now with Wu Xiaoping's vote, he had five votes in hand. The other two were fence-sitters, even if they didn't support him, they would abstain. As long as Tang Guoqiang couldn't gain the upper hand, he wouldn't be able to make adjustments to these three important county bureaus, and his obstruction would be successful.

  Next, Minister of the Organization Department Huang Wenrong's speech was as expected: "Economic reform does not have a ready-made path to follow. Comrade Deng Xiaoping often taught us that we should be bold and take bigger steps. I think this tax preferential policy is like what Director Ye introduced, it can support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, and private economy is a good supplement to state-owned economy. I express my support."

  Still even at 3-3.

  It was Vice County Magistrate Ma Tiancheng's turn.

  As Tang Guoqiang expected, Ma Tiancheng's speech fell to the ground. He said: "As a deputy county head, I fully support good ideas and measures in economic construction. The tax preferential policy of Mashitown is worth trying out. If it succeeds, I suggest promoting it throughout the county."

  As soon as this was said, Yin County Magistrate and Yu Secretary both fixed their eyes on him, their faces slightly changing color.

  After Ma Tiancheng's speech, Shang Zhiyuan, Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee and Director of the Public Security Bureau, said: "I agree with Secretary Tang's opinion, this policy is very good."

  Next should be the speech of Zhang Sanqiang, the director of the county party committee office. The position of director of the county party committee office is equivalent to the county party committee's general manager, and due to work relationships, he has the most contact with the county party secretary, and to some extent, he is the county party secretary's mouthpiece. Historically, this position has always been held by someone close to the county party secretary, but Zhang Sanqiang is a middle-of-the-road person. The reason is simple: although he is the director of the county party committee office, he is also a local person and has a close relationship with the local forces. County Magistrate Yin and Secretary Yu have both pulled him very tightly. Since taking office four months ago, Tang Secretary has maintained an unbiased attitude, but he also understands that this is temporary, and if things continue like this, both Tang Secretary and County Magistrate Yin will lose patience with him. Sure enough, last week when attending a meeting in the city, Vice Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee Gu Songlin specifically called him out for a scolding, and he understood that if things continued like this, it would be difficult to keep his position as director of the county party committee office. At this moment, seeing that Executive Vice County Magistrate Ma Tiancheng had also spoken in support of Tang Secretary, he no longer hesitated.

  Since it's been decided to lean towards Secretary Tang, let's do it thoroughly, so as not to have Mayor Yin and Secretary Yu come again to persuade him. He cleared his throat, spoke briefly but forcefully, leaving Mayor Yin feeling like he'd fallen into an ice cave: "I firmly support Secretary Tang."

  6:3, more than half already.

  It's all over! From now on, Changjia County will be a different place! Mayor Yin only felt a chill run down his spine, and his brain temporarily lost its thinking ability, to the point where he didn't even hear what Deputy Mayor He Guoping and Armed Forces Minister Xu Bang said afterwards. It wasn't until Secretary Tang spoke again that he had some reaction.

  Tang Guoqiang is a stable person and will not show his emotions, but with his wisdom, at this moment he should certainly pursue the remaining enemies to the end.

  Strike the iron while it is hot.

  He said: "Good, after the Standing Committee voted, most comrades agreed that the tax preferential policy should be piloted in Ma Shi Township Economic Zone. Director Ye, you go back and discuss with Qin Dayong and Li Jun immediately on how to implement this policy as soon as possible and do a good job. You can go first." After Ye Ziran left the meeting room, Tang Guoqiang continued: "Next, we will start the second agenda item, regarding the adjustment of the Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau, the Director of the Finance Bureau, and the Director of the Urban Construction Bureau. First, please ask Comrade Huang Wenrong, Minister of Organization, to recommend candidates..."

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  I recommend to everyone a good friend's work, "Super Vegetable Vendor" by Pan Huoyu, which is written very vividly and is worth reading.