I proved immortality through the imperial examination.

Chapter 100
"What a thief!"

Su Suiran gritted her teeth, "You think you can swallow this huge amount of profit in one gulp?"

Suddenly, he became excited again.

If Xue Xiang were to be overthrown and this wasteland were to be taken over, then his own future, and the entire Su family's future...

He had only been fantasizing for a moment when his face turned bright red.

"Governor."

Su Suiran looked up and saw Chu Zhao, Chen Tong, and Jin Guang all there.

None of the three concealed the fact that Xue Xiangqian had come to persuade them.

Su Suiran chuckled and said, "Little Xue has run out of tricks. Today, let's settle this matter."

………………

The news that the main government office was about to hold a meeting of the Temple of Imperial Seals spread instantly throughout all the government offices in Suiyang Town.

Although Su Suiran convened a high-level meeting upon his arrival, the Zhangyin Temple meeting has not been held for almost a year.

At this level of meeting, especially with the arrival of the newly appointed Prefect Su, everyone knew that important decisions were bound to be made.

In Suiyang Town today, anyone who isn't blind knows where the core point of contention lies.

It is certain that Suiyang Ferry will have the upper hand.

This time, the meeting at Zhangyin Temple was expanded to the level of deputy director, making an unprecedentedly large-scale event.

There was less than an hour to arrange meeting preparations.

Deputy Director Huang of the Thirteenth Office, who was in charge of internal affairs, was extremely busy. He was criticizing everything and ordering his clerks to quickly open the main meeting hall and begin cleaning.

Seeing that these people were clumsy, he didn't hesitate to activate his own spiritual power and sweep away the dust everywhere.

It was a great effort to clean the main council hall before the adults from each room entered.

The main council chamber is over 200 square meters. In broad daylight, the mermaid teardrops emit a pure white light, illuminating every detail of the chamber.

In the very center stood an oval-shaped meeting table, and six worn-out armchairs bore witness to the passage of time.

Around the outer edge of the ceremonial table, there was a row of chairs with backs.

The room leaders and deputy room leaders who arrived first took their seats in these chairs with backrests.

In the northwest corner, there was a long table where Huang Shang, the old clerk in charge of taking notes, had arrived early.

The old gentleman should be enjoying his retirement, but for the sake of his salary, he has been reluctant to retire and has long since stopped managing affairs.

Upon hearing that a meeting of the Zhangyin Temple was to be held today, the old gentleman jumped out of bed at home and rushed over, snatching this lucrative job, much to the dismay of the clerks who secretly cursed him.

However, Mr. Huang couldn't care less about these things.

The meetings at Zhangyin Temple are not held lightly. Once a meeting is convened, minutes must be taken and submitted to Yunmeng City for archiving.

Mr. Huang felt it was necessary to let the younger generation of Jiufenshan witness his sixty years of skill in small regular script.

The scheduled meeting time was 3:45 PM.

The deputy directors and directors rarely attend meetings at this level, so they arrived early, whispering and discussing amongst themselves.

At 2:45 PM, Deputy Town Magistrate Yan Guangming, Director of the First Office and Head of the Seal Chen Tong, and Director of the Second Office and Head of the Seal Jin Guang arrived together.

All the room leaders and deputy room leaders stood up and bowed.

After returning the greetings, the three sat down in the armchairs behind the oval table.

The murmurs in the room fell silent, replaced by intense, admiring stares.

Especially the section chiefs, all of them hoped that they could also take on the role of head.

Normally, when the room leaders, including Chen Tong, the head of Room 1, and Jin Guang, the head of Room 2, are together with the other room leaders, they are basically treated as equals.

At this moment, Chen Tong and Jin Guang sat in the inner circle, a black box containing fragments of the seal placed beside them. Their dazzling glory as the seal holders now filled all the room leaders with envy.

A moment later, Chu Zhao and Xue Xiang arrived.

Everyone greeted each other again.

Sitting in the corner, Wang Anshi stared at Xue Xiang from afar, his heart filled with bitterness.

Only he knew what Xue Xiang had sacrificed for Suiyang Ferry, and only he knew who had single-handedly created the glory of Suiyang Ferry today.

Unfortunately, when it comes to right and wrong within government offices, people always only consider their own stance.

He secretly made up his mind that as soon as Su Suiran took control of Suiyang Ferry, he would immediately resign.

The most important people always arrive late, and Su Suiran exemplified this perfectly.

He made his entrance amidst great anticipation, and gracefully walked to the central chair at the oval table.

After everyone bowed to him, he calmly returned the bow, his old-fashioned bureaucrat composure flowing like a warm spring.

To be fair, he used to look down on the magistrate of a town.

After getting used to it, the unyielding demeanor of the Marquis of Baili made him feel that his ups and downs in the officialdom of Jiufen Mountain had all sunk into the gutter.

After a melodious chime sounded, the meeting at Zhangyin Temple officially began.

Su Suiran was an old-fashioned bureaucrat, and attending council meetings was one of his specialties.

He firmly grasped the pace of the meeting, recounting achievements, raising expectations, and summarizing lessons learned.

The most explicit part of the nearly half-hour speech was the proposal to increase everyone's welfare.

He also very graciously attributed the credit for the financial surplus to Xue Xiang, specifically praising Xue Xiang's contributions at Suiyang Ferry.

But then he changed the subject and mentioned the need to form a new Suiyangdu law enforcement patrol team, arguing that since Suiyangdu prospered, many things have become complicated and many emergencies have occurred.

Most ordinary police officers are uneducated and lack the ability to handle complex situations, so it is necessary to bring in fresh blood and recruit educated people to join the police force.

It was also proposed that a special police patrol team be established at Suiyang Ferry.

Upon hearing this, everyone present glanced at Xue Xiang, seemingly unintentionally. The old gentleman, however, appeared not to hear, twirling a charcoal pencil in his hand as if it were a spinning wheel.

Su Suiran glanced at Xue Xiang out of the corner of her eye, smiled slightly, and continued, "Nowadays, Suiyang Ferry is thriving in all industries and has many complex affairs. The Suiyang Ferry Administration Office, established by the Eleventh and Seventh Offices, is no longer able to take care of all the affairs of Suiyang Ferry."

I propose the establishment of a new Supplementary Office, specifically responsible for the administration of Suiyang Ferry, and the new Suiyang Ferry Patrol Team should also be placed under the jurisdiction of the new Supplementary Office.

This decree shall personally serve as the head of the Supplementary Office, and all the officials in charge of seals shall serve as deputy heads, to jointly plan all matters related to Suiyang Ferry.

What do you all think?

Xue Xiang said loudly, "What Magistrate Su said is absolutely right. The Suiyang Ferry Administration Office is indeed insufficient to support the development of Suiyang Ferry, but the establishment of a new supplementary office in Suiyang Town is not very meaningful."

"How about we report this to Yunmeng City and have them establish a higher-level branch office to oversee all matters related to Suiyang Ferry?"

Su Suiran was taken aback. He had expected Xue Xiang to be unwilling to accept this, but he hadn't expected the guy to have such a dirty trick up his sleeve.

He was determined to snatch food from Xue Xiang's bowl, and he was unwilling to let someone else take away the food he hadn't even gotten his hands on yet.

"Why bother Yunmeng with such a trivial matter?"

"That's right, we can handle it ourselves."

"This is inappropriate. Director Xue's suggestion is not appropriate."

Chen Tong, Jin Guang, and Chu Zhao all voiced their opposition.

Su Suiran smiled and looked down at Xue Xiang, thinking to himself, "He's still a young man. No matter how capable he is, he's not mature enough."

"Since everyone agrees to establish a supplementary office, I will not insist on this matter. However, I think it would be better for me to serve as the head of the supplementary office."

(End of this chapter)