In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 36 Transfer
The action was quite decisive.

Lu Zhao gave a cold smile, but it vanished in an instant, making it seem as if he was pleased.

Without Lü Jinshan's support, the training staff officer would be relegated to a dead-end position, and this transfer order clearly intends to exclude him from the front-line post.

The good news is that I've been promoted to captain, which means an improvement in both rank and power.

You'll get an extra 500 yuan in salary and an extra free life supplement.

In terms of rank, he can serve as a company commander, and his command range has been increased from a maximum of 60 people to 120 people at the company level.

Regarding the promotion of officers, Lu Zhao had a second-class merit award that was being held up by Lü Jinshan and wouldn't be completed until the end of the year. Now that he has been promoted to captain, Lu Zhao can apply for expedited promotion to officers by the end of the year.

Originally, Lu Zhao was supposed to wait another year, or at the latest the year after, before he could be promoted.

This is also what Lü Jinshan least wants to see; everything in the Federation is governed by rules. Once Lu Zhao is promoted, there is absolutely no way he can suppress him.

Just as he can only transfer Lu Zhao to a lateral position now, his only hope is probably to keep himself firmly in the position of training staff officer.

But it's too late.

Internal power cannot be converted into authority, and the effectiveness of a command is not determined by a stamp.

His position as training staff officer was nominal, but the junior officers held real power.
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Station Master's Office.

Lu Zhao stood outside the door and knocked three times, neither too loud nor too soft. He heard a "Come in" from inside, and then he pushed the door open and entered the room.

Behind the large desk, Lü Jinshan was engrossed in a stack of documents, his expression focused.

Lu Zhao chuckled inwardly. Border station affairs were complicated, but most of them were handled by the deputy station chief in charge and officers at all levels. There was no need for the station chief to personally handle everything.

Having spent four years at the border post, he had long seen through Lü Jinshan's lazy and indolent style of governance.

He dumps all the specific tasks and hard work on his subordinates, while he sits back and enjoys the fruits of others' labor, only making his presence felt when he needs to sign his name or claim credit.

He stood at attention and saluted, saying, "Lu Zhaofeng has been transferred to the Training Section as a staff officer. I request instructions on when to report for duty."

"Ah."

Lu Jinshan continued processing the documents without even looking up.

Lu Zhao stood five steps away, standing straight, for half an hour.

On the contrary, Lü Jinshan couldn't continue acting; his neck ached as he lowered his head. He glanced at Lu Zhao, who stood as straight as a pine tree, and their eyes met. Lü Jinshan immediately looked away awkwardly.

From the day Lu Zhao accepted the order without hesitation, Lü Jinshan developed a strange fear and hatred towards him.

I saw in Lu Zhao the spirit and vigor of that vibrant era from decades ago.

"Captain Lu, congratulations on your promotion."

Lu Jinshan put down his pen and said with a forced smile, "You've been at the Ant Ridge Border Station for four years now, haven't you?"

Lu Zhao did not answer, but stared at him silently.

He could only show basic respect when it came to following the rules, but he didn't go so far as to feign or pander to the other party.

"With your educational background, you shouldn't normally be able to stay at our border station. Do you know why you're still just a platoon leader?"

Lu Jinshan's smile gradually faded. Without waiting for Lu Zhao's reply, he continued, "If it weren't for Marquis Chen, someone like you wouldn't get anywhere. Being an official isn't an exam; many things can't be written down."

This was the first time Lü Jinshan and Lu Zhao had a falling out.

In the past, no matter what happened, the other party would never bring it up in public, and never once said that they wanted to suppress Lu Zhao, or even criticize him.

In public, Lu Jinshan has always been highly praised by Lu Zhao, but only recently have criticisms begun to emerge.

Because he panicked.

Lu Zhao was certain of this: when someone who always smiles while hiding a knife suddenly becomes tough, it's often when he's at his weakest. "I can promote you, but you and Zhang Like must shut up. I know what you're doing, and I have ways to deal with you."

"But we don't have any deep-seated hatred, so there's no need to make things so tense."

Lu Jinshan's cold and hard expression softened, and he adopted a friendly demeanor once again.

He reached out and took the document, stamped it, and said, "I can promote you, and then help you apply for a field officer promotion at the end of the year. With your qualifications and merits, it will be easy for you to be promoted to major next year."

Lu Zhao took the document handed to him and looked up at the round face.

He seemed to regard what he deserved as a blessing.

Lu Jinshan asked again, "What do you think, Captain Lu?"

He couldn't keep suppressing Lu Zhao forever. At the earliest, Lu Zhao would leave the border station by the end of next year, or at the latest the year after, and would probably be assigned to some low-level government office to sit on the bench.

Why not do a favor...?

Lu Zhao said, "My promotion was decided by the Federation, not by you personally."

After saying that, he turned and left, without observing the change in Lü Jinshan's expression, and naturally did not care whether he was angry or not.

They simply strode away without lingering at all.

Now, the roles of offense and defense have reversed.

Passing through the lobby on the first floor, the corridor behind you leads to the somewhat old office building of the duty squadron.

Before Lu Zhao even got close, he saw a group of soldiers gathered together in the distance, all of them his reinforced platoon.

In the center of the crowd, Liu Qiang was standing stiffly opposite an officer, seemingly arguing about something.

"What's going on?" Lu Zhao's calm voice was not loud, but it was extremely penetrating.

Everyone turned their heads to look, and then the crowd parted in a flash, all eyes focused on him.

When Liu Qiang saw Lu Zhao approaching, he immediately felt reassured. He pointed to the short-browed officer opposite him and said, "Brother Lu, he's bringing people to move your things from your office. He says you've been transferred."

"One should be worthy of one's position."

Lu Zhao gave a reprimand, then turned his gaze to the officer arguing with Liu Qiang.

He recognized the man; he was Lü Jinshan's top henchman, Liang Fei, the former training staff officer.

Their main job was to develop training plans and assess troops, and for the past four years, they had been finding all sorts of ways to torment Lu Zhao. When Lu Zhao first arrived at the border station, they used their authority to assign him a lot of training and the most arduous posts.

Later, after he became the platoon leader of the reinforced platoon and had his own directly subordinate company, Liang Fei, unable to deal with him openly, started resorting to underhanded tactics.

When formulating the training plan for the platoon, the reinforced platoon was deliberately assigned an intensity far exceeding the norm.

However, this unexpectedly gave Lu Zhao the opportunity to unite the team as one. Under his leadership, the platoon's internal unity strengthened with each completed assessment, eventually forming an unbreakable bond.

Even Zhang Like couldn't get a word in edgewise in the reinforced platoon now; it was Lu Zhao's foundation at the border station.

Under Lu Zhao's gaze, Liang Fei's arrogant demeanor gradually faded, and he unconsciously lowered his head.

He said, "Platoon Leader Lu, this was decided by the Ministry of Personnel."

“I did receive the transfer order,” Lu Zhao said, pulling out the documents. “But the formal handover procedures haven’t been completed yet. You’re already in a hurry to clean up my office? Is Staff Officer Liang so eager to contribute to the border defense cause?”

Liu Qiang added, "Sir, he also wants us to revise the flood control plan, saying our work arrangements are inadequate. But it's already June, and the pre-set observation posts are all in place, how can we make changes?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhao frowned and said, "Go back and complete the handover procedures before coming to see me again."

Liang Fei was a bully who preyed on the weak and feared the strong, so he didn't confront Lu Zhao directly and left.

(End of this chapter)