Chapter 18 The convening of the county party committee standing committee meeting

  Facing Yan Bengli's intimidation, Ye Pingyu tried his best to calm down and endure it silently. He walked to the office desk, took out an invoice from the drawer, and as soon as he did, Yan Bengli immediately walked up to him, snatched the invoice away, and said: "Alright, this has nothing to do with you anymore, I'll go find Old Zheng!"

  After finishing speaking, Yan Bengli swaggered away. Looking at Yan Bengli's arrogant departure, Ye Pingyu clenched his fists and stared at him as he left. If it weren't for considering that he had just arrived in the countryside and as a young cadre, he needed to pay attention to some influences, he really wanted to run over and kick this old man to the ground!

  He restrained himself and sat there, Ye Pingyu thought again, this old man must have found Old Zheng last night, and came over today to bypass him and let Old Zheng sign directly.

  After a while, Old Zheng came back from outside with the receipt in his hand, which was exactly Yan Bengli's. Ye Pingyu walked up and said: "Director Zheng, Yan Bengli's receipt was just taken away by him."

  Old Zheng glanced at Ye Pingyu and nodded without saying much, "It's none of your business now, you go ahead with what you're doing. If there's anything else in the future, I'll arrange for you to do it."

  As soon as Ye Pingyu saw Lao Zheng's attitude, he was certain that Yan Bengli had bought him off. This old Zheng, who usually seemed very upright, turned out to be no better than this!

  In the next few days, Ye Pingyu was so angry about the audit that he couldn't sleep. He knew that Yan Bengli had done something wrong, but he couldn't do anything about it. After the audit was over, the old man continued to act as if nothing had happened, and when they met again, he didn't even bother to acknowledge him. This matter was important, but not very important. As long as Lao Zheng was taken care of, his role could be ignored. The other station masters also thought of ways to avoid him after learning about the situation, rendering the newly obtained audit power useless and no one took it seriously anymore.

  Liang Jun felt extremely pleased and looked down on him with disdain, secretly sneering to himself. He thought that just because Ye Pingyu had gained power didn't mean he could do whatever he wanted. If he couldn't use it properly, he would be ousted in no time. The one who really knew how to wield power was him, not Ye Pingyu!

  Two days later, Yang Leyi came to the countryside to find Ye Pingyu and said that the banner had been made. He asked when he would send it to the leaders of the region. After seeing him, Ye Pingyu thought for a moment and went to find Cao Dafu, who had said he wanted to go together, and asked if he could go.

  Cao Dafu was busy with the adjustment of the team at this time, and the county would hold a standing committee meeting to study this matter tomorrow. As soon as he heard about it, he immediately said: "Xiao Ye, you first contact the leaders of the region, wait for a few days and we will go together, don't rush this matter!"

  As soon as Cao Dafu showed this attitude, Ye Pingyu came down and told Yang Leyi about the situation. Yang Leyi naturally listened to the villagers and then went back. The banner was first placed with him, and then he thought of calling Han Yuanqing to tell him about it.

  On the second day, Donglin County indeed held a county party committee meeting. The attendees included: County Party Secretary Gui Qixiang, County Deputy Party Secretary Zhang Mingshun, County Deputy Party Secretary Guo Minghai, County Deputy Party Secretary Chen Qili, County Committee Member and Organization Department Head Yang Long, County Committee Member and Propaganda Department Head Teng Qing, County Committee Member and Office Director Cui Xinhua, County Committee Member and Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Liu Zhixin, County Committee Member and Politics and Law Commission Secretary Du Tao, County Committee Member and People's Armed Police Political Commissar Zhao Linjun, and County Committee Member and Vice County Mayor Gao Yusheng. There were eleven people in total; if the county mayor had been present, there would have been twelve committee members.

  At that time, except for the county magistrate and the executive vice-county magistrate, other vice-county magistrates were not included in the county party committee.

  Guī Qǐxiáng is a relatively capable county party secretary, but due to his overly rigid work style, he has clashed with two consecutive county magistrates. After the last magistrate was transferred out, the regional authorities have been slow to appoint a new one according to Guī's wishes. Although Zhāng Míngshùn is now very anxious, it's still useless; everything depends on the opinions of the regional authorities.

  It can't wait until Zhang Mingshun takes office as county magistrate to convene the Standing Committee meeting to study the team problem of Cao Lingzi Township, so under the initiative of Gui Qixiang, this county Party committee standing committee meeting was convened to determine the team problem of Cao Lingzi.

  Before that, Gui Qixiang convened a secretary's office meeting, but failed to reach a unanimous opinion. Zhang Mingshun's suggestion was to let Wu Zhenquan take over as the head of Caolingzi Township, and Cao Dafu be promoted to township party secretary. However, Guo Minghai and Chen Qili opposed this approach because according to seniority, Zhao Yuangong was the third-in-command in the township and also a cadre sent from the county party committee office. This time, after Cao Dafu's smooth promotion, it should have been Zhao Yuangong's turn to take over as head of Caolingzi Township, and Wu Zhenquan's direct promotion to township head would disrupt this seniority-based arrangement.

  The two of them gave sufficient reasons, on the surface it seemed like they were sympathizing with Zhao Yuangong, but in reality both Gui Qixiang and Zhang Mingshun knew that Zhao Yuangong had once served as Guo Minghai's secretary, now that he had this opportunity, he would definitely fight for Zhao Yuangong, while Chen Qili had always been on good terms with Guo Minghai, naturally speaking in line with Guo Minghai's opinion, and saying so did not violate the relevant principles, it was a very normal thing to prioritize based on seniority.

  Guo and Chen, of course, are inclined to Zhang Mingshun's opinion. Guo and Chen do not listen to everything like Zhang Mingshun does. They are both old-timers as deputy secretaries of the county party committee. Zhang Mingshun actually belongs to the latecomers and was promoted by Gui Qixiang after he came to Donglin County. In terms of qualifications, Zhang Mingshun should be ranked behind Guo and Chen. Therefore, Guo and Chen are very dissatisfied with Gui Qixiang's approach of promoting people out of turn and winning over people's hearts. Now, in this matter, the two will not agree with this approach.

  Yang Long attended the secretary's office meeting as the head of the Organization Department, but he did not speak. He only introduced the relevant situation. Although Gui Qixiang was the county party secretary, he and Zhang Mingshun were facing a joint attack from Guo and Chen, and they didn't have much advantage because according to the Party Constitution, the relationship between the secretary and the standing committee members is not a superior-subordinate relationship but a peer-to-peer relationship. The county party committee should implement collective leadership, unless other standing committee members are unwilling to contradict the secretary due to their own considerations, then the secretary will have the final say.

  Since Guo and Chen explicitly opposed Wu Zhenquan's direct promotion to village head, the appointment of Lao Zheng and Zhao Yuangong could not be studied further, and the secretary's office meeting ended in vain.

  If the secretary's office meeting cannot solve it, then we can only go to the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee has many personnel, and the decisions passed have legal effect. After all, the secretary's office meeting is not a formal decision-making body. Only after going through the deliberation of the Standing Committee can the personnel adjustment order be formally issued.

  The county party committee standing committee meeting room is in a room on the second floor west of the county party committee office building, and after the standing committee members received the meeting notice, they came to the meeting room one after another.

  Because Guī Qǐxiáng strongly opposed smoking during the Standing Committee meeting, after everyone arrived, except for County People's Armed Department Political Commissar Zhao Linjun who lit a cigarette and took a few puffs, others endured it and did not dare to be criticized by Guī Qǐxiáng because of this matter.

  Zhao Linjun had a strong smoking habit, and during meetings he didn't have much to say, so he would sit there feeling anxious and restless. He couldn't help but want to pull out a cigarette, light it with a match, and start smoking. As soon as Gui Qisheng saw this, he immediately stopped him. However, every time they had a meeting, Zhao Linjun would commit this same mistake. Seeing that Gui Qisheng was unhappy, Zhao Linjun told him that if he wasn't allowed to smoke inside, then he would go outside to smoke, and the Standing Committee meeting might as well not let him attend.

  As soon as he saw him like this, Gui Qixiang was also helpless. This nicotine addiction is like a poison addiction. Even if he is the county party secretary, he can't stop people from smoking!

  So Zhao Linjun became a special case in the conference room, he was the only one who could smoke, others were not allowed to smoke. Because his cigarette smoke was very strong, other non-smoking comrades kept their distance from him. The young female head of the county propaganda department, Tong Qing, sat far away from him and constantly waved her hand to dispel the thick smoke that floated in front of her eyes.

  Gui Qixiang finally walked in, and as soon as he did, he caught a whiff of cigarette smoke. He furrowed his brow but didn't say anything. Zhao Linjun saw the look on his face and deliberately took a long drag, blowing out a ring of smoke with an air of "the more you frown, the more I'll smoke, see what you can do about it".

  After County Committee Office Director Cui Xinhua opened all the windows, Gui Qixiang sat down, placing the teacup and documents in his hand on the table. Then, with a flick of his body, he let the secretary take his clothes to one side and sat down majestically in the central chair.

  Glancing around the conference room, Gui Qixiang spoke up: "There's a problem with the leadership team in Caolingzi Township. Township Party Secretary Yang Maojun has been taken away for investigation, and Director of the Party and Government Office Niu Zhencai has also fallen into trouble. The leadership team in Caolingzi Township is suddenly short two positions. Today, we will focus on studying the adjustment of the Caolingzi Township leadership team. Additionally, there are some higher-level documents that need to be communicated. First, Minister Yang Long will introduce the basic situation regarding the adjustment of the Caolingzi Township leadership team."

  Gu Xiang first stated the basic content of today's meeting, setting the tone for the conference. After finishing speaking, he looked at Yang Long, who then picked up a document and read: "According to Secretary Gu's instructions, our organizational department conducted an analysis and investigation of the leadership team in Cao Lingzi Township. Based on our investigation and analysis, we now propose a basic adjustment plan for Cao Lingzi Township. The position of township party secretary will be taken over by the current township head, Cao Daifu. There are two candidates for the position of township head: Zhao Yuangong, deputy party secretary, and Wu Zhenquan, executive vice township head. Whoever is promoted will leave a vacancy in the position of executive vice township head or deputy party secretary. The organizational department suggests that Zheng Zhishun, a deputy section-level cadre from Cao Lingzi Township, take over this position. Additionally, the organizational department recommends that Ye Pingyu, a cadre from the party and government office of Cao Lingzi Township, take over the position of director of the party and government office. That's the situation, please study it!"

  Yang Long finished introducing the situation, and the other standing committee members sat there thinking for a while, pondering the matter before expressing their opinions.