Chapter Thirteen: The County Magistrate's Secretary

  As the Spring Festival approached, Zhang Qingyun's transfer to the county party committee office finally had a clear direction. At the end of January, Liu Qing represented the organization and talked to him, during which Zhang Qingyun also finally felt the subtlety of the county party committee office.

  Throughout the conversation, Liu Qing was neither hot nor cold, with a completely official tone. However, Zhang Qingyun was not easy to deal with either, and she answered calmly without revealing anything, also not being caught off guard by Liu Qing.

  After talking with Liu Qing, the next one was crucial. Because next he had to see Li Gang. He clearly knew the importance of this meeting, so on the day when Li Gang asked him to talk, he arrived at the county party committee compound very early.

  "Good morning, Director Lai! Zhang Qingyun reporting for duty." Zhang Qingyun knocked on the door of Director Lai's office and said respectfully.

  "Is Little Zhang here? Alright, alright, sit down! I'm still a lone commander now, so make yourself at home!" Lijiang looked very spirited today, with a smile all over his face.

  Zhang Qingyun sat respectfully on the side seat of the sofa in the office, waiting respectfully for Li Gang's lecture.

  "I've read the report you helped Lizi Ping Township with, it's really good! Secretary Wan and Minister Li Yong both think highly of you. Minister Li even recommended you first, and as it happens, I'm short one secretary, so here you are, just in time." said Lei Gang with a warm smile.

  "This is all the leaders' kindness, to be honest, I'm so excited to be able to serve as your secretary, I promise not to disappoint the leaders' trust." Zhang Qingyun said cautiously.

  Li Gang burst out laughing and said, "Personally, I have high hopes for you. I hope you can put your words into action. By the way, since you're not familiar with our schedule yet, this afternoon we have a Standing Committee meeting, and you'll be attending as a non-voting delegate!"

  Zhang Qingyun was taken aback, the formal appointment letter had not even been issued yet, how could he take office so quickly?

  Lijiang seemed to have seen through Zhang Qingyun's mind and thought to himself, "This young man is really cautious and has a strong organizational perspective!"

  "Xiao Zhang, take a look at this! And these materials, get familiar with the situation first!" Lei Gang said, handing Zhang Qingyun a folder.

  Zhang Qingyun took over the file folder, flipped it open and saw that the first document was his appointment letter: "According to the county standing committee's discussion and decision: Comrade Zhang Qingyun is hereby appointed as Deputy Director of the County Party Committee Office, in charge of letters and visits and secrecy bureau work..."

  Continuing to flip through, Zhang Qingyun saw his own job responsibilities and some situations in the county party committee office.

  "I'm in charge of letters and visits as well as confidentiality work?" Zhang Qingyun thought to herself, "It seems that this deputy director position is probably the most powerless one."

  Looking further back, Zhang Qingyun also thoroughly understood the structure of the county party committee office. The director of the office, Liu Qing, concurrently served as the secretary of the county party committee secretary, and another deputy director, Lei Ming, was in charge of supervision and document secrecy, and also concurrently served as Wu De's secretary.

  The main responsibility of the county party committee office is to supervise and implement the major decisions of the county party committee. Now, it's turned out that the three deputy directors of the county party committee office have divided into three factions, how can they coordinate and handle government affairs? This is clearly a case of each doing their own thing!

  "Xiao Zhang, personally I have always attached great importance to the promotion of young cadres. However, promoting and appointing young cadres has always been a sensitive topic in our party, and many comrades within the party have differing opinions on this issue, so it's very difficult to carry out work in this area!" Li Gang said with a serious tone.

  Zhang Qingyun's mind was racing, Lijiang seemed to be hinting at himself, he had paid a lot for his own rise to power, what he said might be true, after all, personnel rights were not in his hands, and being able to enter the county committee was also a result of some compromise.

  As soon as he thought of Li Gang letting him see these things so quickly, Zhang Qingyun suddenly understood his meaning. He wanted him to take a stand. As soon as this thought occurred to him, he hastily said:

  "Director Li, don't worry, you yourself are an outstanding young cadre. On the issue of young cadres, you have the most say. Although leaders' opinions on this matter may seem divided on the surface, I think most of them are open-minded." Zhang Qingyun said, knowing that simply showing loyalty by patting his chest was not enough. Li Gang wanted him to help come up with a strategy, and the best way to show loyalty was to help him successfully break the ice and control the situation.

  "Oh? I really didn't notice this problem you mentioned, can you elaborate?" Lijiang said with interest.

  Zhang Qingyun smiled and said, "As for our Yongping County, in terms of cultivating and promoting young cadres, we have always been ahead of other counties. The promotion of Yan Shan Deputy Township Head Wang Qiutong Comrade and Forestry Bureau Deputy Director Lin Guozhi Comrade were all personally approved by Secretary Huang."

  Besides, the promotion of Qinghe Town's Party Secretary Wu Zhiqiang and Deputy Party Secretary Guo Dongming was also strongly supported by Vice County Mayor Wu. So from this perspective, on the issue of young cadres, our county leaders have relatively small differences. Director Li, what do you think?

  "Haha, haha, haha." With a loud and clear laughter, his gaze towards Zhang Qingyun changed instantly.

  Zhang Qingyun's words not only hit Huang Songshan and Wu Dezhong's weak points, but also indirectly helped Li Gang clear his mind. More importantly, through this statement, he thoroughly drew a line between himself and Huang Songshan as well as Wu Dezhong. This is a very clever way to show loyalty. Zhang Qingyun was essentially telling Li Gang: "I, Zhang Qingyun, am now your man." Can you say that Li Gang wouldn't be delighted?

  Zhang Qingyun knew that in official circles, the most taboo thing is to have one's feet on several boats. If you don't want to be an official, then don't be one. Once you become an official, you must learn to line up. Someone who tries to cut in everywhere will often die a miserable death.

  In the officialdom of Yongping, Lijiang is not yet standing firm, but as the saying goes: "Make friends with people before they become famous." (Roughly means that when interacting with others, it's best to make a move before they become prominent.) When Lijiang really becomes powerful, without any qualifications or background, what chance will he have?

  "It's easy to add flowers to brocade, but it's hard to send charcoal in snowy weather. However, if anyone wants to make a name for themselves, they must learn how to cleverly 'send charcoal in snowy weather', otherwise, you will be destined to be mediocre."

  Of course, Zhang Qingyun chose Lijiang also because he saw the potential of Lijiang. Although Lijiang was passive again, now he has at least two advantages. First, he is the county magistrate, nominally the second-in-command, and can do anything with a good reputation, which is not like Wu De's martial arts. Second, Lijiang must have a background, and his background is not shallow, this point is especially important.

  Because, this means that even if Lei Gang didn't stand firm at Yongping Station this time, it's just a small setback in his political career. As long as he stands firm himself, making a comeback will be just around the corner. After all, patience is key in official circles!

  "Xiao Zhang, I was right about you after all! You're a formidable young man! Come take a look at this. This is the schedule for New Year's Day that Director Liu arranged for me. What do you think?" said Li Gang.

  Zhang Qingyun respectfully took the schedule from Li Gang's hand, roughly looked at it, and frowned. The schedule arranged by Liu Qing was mainly for visiting and condoling old cadres, difficult groups, and widowed elderly people, which was basically reasonable.

  But Zhang Qingyun knew that Lijiang showing this to her must have had a purpose and it wasn't just for her to follow along.

  "County Magistrate Li, I think there is still a lot of work to be done by the government before the festival. As for specific arrangements, it's still necessary for leaders to discuss and coordinate the division of labor, so I won't make any suggestions."

  However, there are a few pieces of work that are more important. One is the Spring Festival transportation work. Our county is a large one and the northwest region has many mountains, so the Spring Festival transportation work has always been a major problem. This work must be done well.

  The second is that during the Spring Festival, many comrades in various departments of the county cannot rest, such as the Public Security Bureau, Forestry Bureau, Water and Electricity Bureau, etc. all need to be on duty.

  To ensure social stability during the Spring Festival, normal water and electricity supply, normal transportation, let the people have a happy Spring Festival, many comrades need to make sacrifices, overall planning of this work is also a key point.

  "So in this regard, we still need county leaders to take the lead and get everyone moving together to complete it." Zhang Qingyun said seriously.