Chapter 61: Think Seriously
The next morning, Hu Jiao was waiting downstairs of Minister Ning early, had breakfast with the minister, and repeatedly asked the leader to stay for another day to guide the work and calm the situation.
Ning Jiakai and his party had already packed up the things they had received last night. Those "local specialties" made all the entourage smile happily, with gentle and pleasant smiles on their faces.
Before getting in the car, Ning Jiakai patted Hu Jiao on the shoulder and spoke earnestly, "The suggestions I gave you yesterday were just suggestions. It was mainly because I didn't understand the situation of the comrades below. Don't take it to heart. Okay, you go and get busy. I have to hurry back. Come up when you have time and we'll meet again!"
Hu Jiao's face was full of respect. "I will definitely implement the minister's instructions seriously."
Ning Jiakai waved his hand and said, "No more talking, no more talking. Just do as you wish!" After that, he patted Hu Jiao heavily. These were not polite words.
Hu Jiao was not at all proud. He guessed that Ning Jiakai had communicated with someone last night and received instructions.
After seeing Ning Jiakai off, Hu Jiao arrived at the Sanmei County Committee for the second time under the guidance of Tao Shilin.
Since Sanmei County is close to Nanhu Lake and has a relatively flat terrain, and Nanhu Lake is ten kilometers to the northeast, the county has a suitable climate, lush flowers and plants, and little temperature difference between the four seasons. Now it is late autumn, so wearing a shirt is enough.
After coming down yesterday, Hu Jiao only made a brief speech in the conference room and had no time to go to the office. Then there was another banquet.
The county party committee and government are both located in Sanmei Square in the center of the county. The shape of Sanmei Square is based on the three-leaf plum tree. In the middle is a circular fountain with three petals spread out, corresponding to the county party committee, county government, and the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference respectively.
Three main roads extend from Sanmei Square, dividing the county into three major areas.
Chen Yongzheng followed behind Hu Jiao. The Organization Department had an independent three-story building in the county party committee compound, right behind the county party committee office building. On the opposite side was a parking lot, and behind the office building was the secretary's office building.
As Hu Jiao walked, he sighed in his heart, even so, this is still the poorest county in the province.
Is it possible to avoid corruption?
Recalling the small villa I lived in yesterday, it is bigger than my own main-floor residence in Nanhu.
Tao Shilin led Hu Jiao into the secretary's office building. As soon as Hu Jiao stepped into the glass door on the first floor, he stopped. There were two staircases on the left and right, and a carpeted staircase in the middle.
Hu Jiao pointed at the stairs and looked at Tao Shilin, who hurriedly explained, "It was the request of the previous secretary... The middle one is for the secretary, the left one is for the party and mass secretary, and the right one is for the economic secretary."
Hu Jiao raised his eyebrows, "What about the propaganda secretary?"
Tao Shilin's face was a little embarrassed, "The propaganda secretary is in the building."
Hu Jiao walked around the small hall on the first floor with his hands behind his back. It was obvious that the previous secretary must have been to the provincial party committee, and the decoration and environment here fully demonstrated that this place had been built and put into use not long ago.
Hu Jiao pointed at the staircase and asked again, "Can this staircase reach all the offices?"
"There are only three floors here, and one staircase leads to each floor."
Hu Jiao nodded and said "oh" to show that he understood. In this way, when the secretary called people together, they had to go up the stairs again. It was a bureaucratic style. After thinking for a while, he asked again, "Secretary Anping and Secretary Wuqin are here?"
Tao Shilin said, "Secretary Cheng is here, and Secretary Wu... is the propaganda secretary, and is in the building."
Hu Jiao smiled and said, "Lead the way, let's take a look around first."
Sun Lin fell behind by half a body length and followed him up the stairs. He walked past the straight building in front and turned a corner. He felt as if a new light had appeared after a dark period. Compared with the solemn and simple environment below, this place was simply magnificent.
A large crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling, the staircase begins to turn and spiral upward, the walls are covered with wall wool for sound insulation, and imitations of famous paintings are hung from time to time.
When Hu Jiao walked to the doorplate of "Secretary's Office", he was already shocked.
He had also heard about Sanmei's case, but it was never as real as being there in person.
The door frame was embossed with a national flag pattern, which contrasted with the two carved European-style doors. It did have some cultural elements combining Chinese and Western elements. Tao Shilin pushed the door open first, and was greeted by a screen with a marble and mahogany frame.
There is a large fish tank in the middle of the screen, which houses several golden arowanas that are about a foot long. Beyond the screen is the secretary's office, and from the side of the secretary's office is a partitioned Chinese courtyard window pane, which can be pushed open to reveal the secretary's desk.
There are big characters "Serve the People" written on the back, which are obviously copied from the leader's handwriting. On both sides of the spacious and imposing desk are bookcases in the style of Ming and Qing Dynasties.
After Hu Jiao entered, he looked around and it seemed that the predecessor's style was more inclined towards the Ming and Qing dynasties, and was quite literary.
Tao Shilin walked to the desk and pressed a button. The bookcase opened automatically, and there was a whole new world inside!
Tao Shilin pointed at Ming Qinglin's large red-lacquered bed with carved patterns and smiled dryly, "This is the secretary's lounge, and the other side is the sauna room."
Hu Jiao entered the sauna room to take a look, and secretly shook his head. This was not a secretary's office at all, it was clearly a villa of the landlord's house.
An extra-large wooden bathing tub and a small wooden house.
The more Hu Jiao watched, the more he wanted to laugh. "Dry steaming or wet steaming?"
"Wet steam."
Hu Jiao turned around and walked out. He walked straight to the sliding partition, looked back again, and looked at the big words "Serve the People". "Director Sun, I'm afraid I can't serve the people in this environment. You can consider changing this. It's connected to the small tricks at the back. When leaders come down in the future, we can just receive them and increase the reception scale of our Sanmei County. You call Secretary Cheng, and we'll go to the building in front to take a look."
Tao Shilin agreed and picked up the landline on the secretary's desk to dial the number. As soon as the call was connected, he was afraid that the other party would call him secretary, so he hurriedly introduced himself, "Secretary Cheng, I am Xiao Sun from the office. Secretary Hu wants you to go with him to the office building in front."
After Cheng Anping agreed, Tao Shilin waited for him to hang up before reporting to Hu Jiao who was waiting on the side.
Hu Jiao nodded and went downstairs first.
Just as I walked down, Cheng Anping also arrived, and the two of them walked down the stairs one after the other.
Cheng Anping is from Nanhu, 43 years old, deputy head of Linhu District, with a rather stern face and a serious expression. After the incident of Sanmei's cadre team, he took the lead in taking charge of the work, arriving several months earlier than Hu Jiao.
As the deputy district mayor of Nanhu, he certainly knew Hu Jiao's identity and background. After yesterday's welcome party, he knew that Sanmei's real work was about to begin.
"Secretary, what instructions do you have?"
Hu Jiao looked at the knife-like lines on the corners of the other person's mouth, and at this moment, he pulled the arc reluctantly, thinking that this was a rigid person. "Oh, I just looked at the office, and I felt a little uneasy. Besides, there are only you and me in this whole building, it's too deserted. Let's go check out the building in front, it has nine floors, let's go and squeeze in with everyone else."
Cheng Anping nodded vigorously. "I thought about this before the secretary came. Working here is indeed not flexible enough. It's just right to free up the space and give it to the office for reception."
As the two talked as they walked, Hu Jiao noticed that Cheng Anping walked out of the door sideways, and then naturally fell half a body length behind.
In the county party committee office building, the first floor is usually the petition office and reception room, the second floor is the inspection office, the third floor is the general affairs section, the fourth floor is the secretariat section, the fifth floor is the propaganda department, the sixth floor is the united front department, the seventh floor is the discipline inspection commission, the eighth is the political research office, and the ninth floor has the county party committee's large and small meeting rooms.
"Let's not take the elevator. Let's go visit our comrades. Call Secretary Wu down. We can go together."
Wu Qin is also 43 years old. She previously worked as the deputy director of the Propaganda Department in Nanshi District. She is a little fat, has an ordinary appearance, and has fine freckles on her face.
No one opposed Hu Jiao's proposal, so the group, under the introduction of Tao Shilin, began to visit the county party committee office on the first day of work, going up one floor at a time.
Hu Jiao shook hands with every staff member of the county party committee, even the drivers of the car team. He did not express his opinion on anyone's work, but just nodded and responded with "Hello," "Hello, comrades," and "Thank you for your hard work."
Then they went straight to the ninth floor. Cheng Ping'an looked normal. Hu Jiao looked behind him and saw that the three deputy directors of the county party committee office had arrived. He pointed to the small conference room and said, "It's better to do it today than to wait for a day. Let's chat and take a rest."
Tao Shilin asked the staff to open the door, make tea and serve water. Hu Jiao asked the three deputy directors to stay, and the others went down to work first.
No one spoke. Everyone was prepared. They took out their pens and notebooks. Hu Jiao gently moved the teacup away. The others immediately focused their attention. "Just now, Director Sun took me to see the former secretary's office... Hehe, to be honest, I was a little shocked. I am young and inexperienced. It is not an exaggeration to say that I was terrified to come to Sanmei to work. Therefore, I have no confidence and courage to work there. Secretary Ping An, is that what you mean?"
Cheng Ping'an nodded, his chin slightly retracted, much like a boxer's offensive and defensive expression, his eyes shot through his sharp black eyebrows, giving people a sense of oppression, "The secretary is right, leaders cannot be divorced from the masses, and even more so cannot take the lead in seeking special treatment. On the way here just now, the secretary has already instructed to transform the office building at the back into a reception center. In the future, when leaders from the provincial and municipal levels come here, we can fill in the gaps and have flexibility in handling the situation."
Hu Jiao looked at Wu Qin, who nodded and smiled gently, like an aunt next door, "I have no objection."
Seeing that the two did not object, Hu Jiao began to consult again, "Then we must also consider the new office as soon as possible. The two secretaries have just looked at it. Secretary Ping An, where do you choose?"
Cheng Ping'an probably had a plan in mind. "On the sixth floor, I'll squeeze in with the comrades from the United Front Work Department. We can use their internal meeting room. There's no need to decorate it. We can just move the desks in."
"Where's Secretary Wu?"
Wu Qin had the same expression and the same tone, "I don't need to move. I'm used to it."
Hu Jiao nodded, "Okay, I'll be on the seventh floor. Let the comrades from the Discipline Inspection Commission supervise me to prevent me from making mistakes." Several people smiled kindly, and Hu Jiao continued, "Also vacate a room on the eighth floor. There's no need to renovate it. Just move the desks over there. I'll trouble the comrades in the office to work overtime and try to get it done this afternoon. Any questions?"
Tao Shilin was sharp-eyed and was about to speak, but when he saw Wu Qin open her mouth, he quickly stopped and looked straight at Deputy Secretary Wu without moving his pen.
Wu Qin nodded, "Secretary, I'm afraid there's not enough space on the seventh floor. There are many comrades in the Discipline Inspection Commission. Do you think we can ask the comrades in the office to think of a solution? The second, third and fourth floors are too empty. We can integrate them and free up one floor. That should be no problem, right?"
Tao Shilin and the other two nodded repeatedly. He was in charge of logistics, so this matter was of course his responsibility. "No problem, we'll vacate the second floor and let the comrades from the Discipline Inspection Commission move down."
Hu Jiao thought about the structure of the county party committee office building, and then suggested, "How about this, let's split the secretarial section on the fourth floor. Some of them go to the eighth floor to share with the Policy Research Office, and some go to the second floor. The General Affairs Section also goes to the second floor, the Inspectorate uses half of the third floor, and the rest belongs to the Commission for Discipline Inspection. Secretary Cheng doesn't need to squeeze on the sixth floor. We can all stay on the seventh floor and change it into five secretaries' offices, which is more than enough. Besides, County Chief Shi has left one room vacant, so we can make a small meeting room. We can drink tea and discuss things when we have nothing to do."
Tao Shilin wrote quickly. He knew that this was the final solution, so he wrote it down word for word . Hu Jiao looked at Cheng Anping and Wu Qin, and neither of them expressed any objection.
"Director Sun, hurry up and do it. I'll go to the townships in the next two days. Secretary Anping is not in a hurry to move. Is a week enough?"
Seeing Hu Jiao asking, Tao Shilin thought about it quickly and answered affirmatively, "It's enough."
Hu Jiao smiled and nodded, "Okay, you guys go down and get busy first."
Another deputy director stood up to refill the water for the three people and asked Hu Jiao softly, "Secretary Hu, do you want someone to take notes?"
Hu Jiao shook his head. He clearly saw that while the deputy director was asking for instructions from him, he looked at Cheng Anping and said, "No need. Go and get back to work."
After the door of the conference room was closed, Hu Jiao slowly smiled, "On my first day at work, I can only squat in the conference room. Haha, it's okay. You two are my predecessors and have rich grassroots work experience. If I have any shortcomings or deficiencies in my future work, you two must not stand idly by."
Wu Qin looked at Cheng Anping very naturally. Although they were both deputy secretaries, she had a very accurate grasp of the order of priority. Before Hu Jiao came, Cheng Anping had always been in charge of the work of the county party committee, so it was natural that he would be the second to speak now.
Cheng Anping remained calm, not moved by Hu Jiao's modesty at all. "Secretary Wu and I came here a while in advance. We were just outposts, barely maintaining the operation of the various departments of the county party committee. We have been looking forward to the secretary's arrival. From today on, we have you as our backbone, and we can slowly carry out our work. After understanding the situation during this period of time, you should be able to be a qualified advisor."
Hu Jiao laughed. "Secretary Anping is too modest. If you hadn't stepped in ahead of time, I'm afraid the entire county committee would be in a mess now. Sanmei's corruption case has had a very bad impact, and the entire team can basically be said to be rotten. This is the first time that Xinhua has seen such a situation since liberation. Therefore, the important task of the county committee in the next period of time is to quell the aftermath of corruption, focus on building a clean and honest party style, strengthen theoretical and ideological learning, and rebuild the image of party members and cadres. This mainly depends on the two of you, especially Secretary Anping. According to the actual situation of Sanmei's party members and cadres, come up with a plan as soon as possible and formulate a long-term mechanism. Secretary Wu will preside over the propaganda work and cooperate with Secretary Anping's work."
The two deputy secretaries wrote quickly. After Hu Jiao finished speaking, they stopped writing. Cheng Anping said, "Okay, I'll give you the plan for your review after we move into the new office next week."
Wu Qin still smiled gently, "Once Secretary Anping's plan comes out, we will come up with a publicity plan within three days."
Hu Jiao nodded and reached out to look at his watch, which basically meant that the conversation was over.
But Cheng Anping did not move. Wu Qin, who had wanted to stand up, also sat up steadily. Cheng Anping seemed to be in meditation, with two straight lines at the corners of his mouth drooping down. He said slowly, "Secretary, many departments have not had a top leader, which has resulted in most administrative work being unable to connect, especially in the areas of public security and finance. What do you think... should we study this as soon as possible?"
Hu Jiao didn't respond right away. He looked at Wu Qin, who also nodded, "Indeed, the situation is not optimistic. During this period, the cadres below are generally emotional, and some even have resentment."
Hu Jiao nodded calmly, "Okay, Secretary Anping will urge the Organization Department to submit a cadre inspection report for discussion as soon as possible. Anything else?"
Cheng Anping stood up and said slowly, "Not for now."
Hu Jiao smiled, "Okay. That's it."
The two men didn't move. Hu Jiao slowly stood up and opened the door of the conference room first.
He stopped, then slowly turned around and leaned to one side, looking like he was thinking hard. The two people behind him stopped immediately. Hu Jiao frowned and said, "Well, Secretary Cheng, would you like to think about it again?"
Cheng Anping looked at Hu Jiao in some confusion.
Hu Jiao tilted his chin, still thinking, "Do you think about it seriously?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Hu Jiao gently tapped his forehead. "I just suddenly remembered that you seemed to have said something. How come I forgot it all of a sudden? You mentioned something..."
Cheng Anping also frowned, "No more... Oh, did I tell you about reporting my recent work? I wanted to report my work to you, but I didn't find an office, so I put it aside for the time being."
Hu Jiao shook his head, sighed with some regret, pointed at his forehead and smiled bitterly, "I'm young, but I forget things quickly. Things have been happening a lot lately. I remember things when I'm not paying attention, but when I'm distracted, I forget everything I really need to remember in the blink of an eye!"
Wu Qin's eyelids blinked rapidly a few times. "Oh, maybe it's because of the pressure?"
Hu Jiao nodded, "It's possible! Alas, the work nowadays is not easy... Secretary Anping, you go first!"
Cheng Anping had a blank expression on his face. He nodded politely to Hu Jiao and then walked past him. After he had taken two steps, Hu Jiao let out another "Hey".
Cheng Anping turned around in a hurry. Hu Jiao blinked and said, "Secretary Anping, think about it again! Think about it seriously!"
For the first time, Wu Qin lowered her head, turned sideways, and her face turned slightly red.
