Zhang Wen's name

Office of the Provincial Party Secretary.

"Hey, Ruijin, Gao Yuliang is being transferred. We held a meeting a couple of days ago to discuss cadres in X Province. The highest leader made it clear that he no longer trusts the officials in X Province. Such a large-scale corruption incident actually occurred under their leadership. The documents for their transfer will be issued immediately."

"Dad, Gao Yuliang has been warned by the higher-ups. He concealed his marital status from the organization. To put it bluntly, that's disloyalty to the organization; to put it mildly, it's deceiving the organization. How can someone like him be promoted again? How can that be allowed?"

"Ruijin, who do you think you are to dare question the proposal of the Kyoto chief? Don't say things like that again, I'm afraid the walls may be overhearing."

"Dad, I apologize. I was just too agitated after hearing it. I hate Gao Yuliang to the core. He's always been against me, and what's worse, he's very eloquent. Every time we meet at the Standing Committee meeting, he manages to corner me and leave me completely humiliated."

"Ruijin, you were too hasty back then. If you had stabilized these cadres as soon as you arrived, focused on developing the economy, and then dealt with them later, Zhang Wen wouldn't have been involved. Look at you now, you're not even as good as Li Dakang, the director of the Municipal Children's Palace, at least he has more money and less work."

"Dad, it's too late to say anything now. All I do every day is stamp and sign documents. Even the provincial party secretary-general only comes to report to me when he has something to do. I feel like a concubine who has been banished to the cold palace."

"Dad, is there any way you can get me transferred? I feel like if I stay here any longer, I'll have to go study astronomy. Do you know what kind of life I've been living lately? All I do is sign documents every day, and I can't get involved in any decisions made by the provincial government."

"Ruijin, what are you thinking? If I transfer you to X province, do you think you can handle it? You can't even handle things in a major economic province, so you'll be even less capable in a poor one."

"Dad, I don't agree with that. Although I'm not good at developing the economy, I'm good at fighting corruption. Didn't X province just discover corruption problems? I feel like going there would be a good fit for my expertise."

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhenjiang laughed in anger.

"Ruijin, let me ask you a question. What is the job of the provincial party secretary?"

"Dad, why are you asking me that? Isn't the provincial party secretary responsible for developing the economy, controlling the overall situation of the province, and managing party and government officials?"

"Ruijin, look at these three points. Which one have you achieved? Let me start with the first one: economic development. Have you developed it well?"

Sha Ruijin said weakly, "Dad, the situation in Handong is too complicated, so I haven't been able to develop the economy well."

"Ruijin, if you haven't developed well, then you haven't developed well. There's no need to make excuses. If you make a mistake, you have to admit it and accept the consequences. And you haven't done either of the latter two things. Do you think I would dare to report you to the higher-ups?"

"Dad, this is all Liu Zhenghua's fault. He's always thinking about retiring and handing over all the work to Zhang Wen. That's why Zhang Wen has turned out like this."

"Ruijin, have you ever considered that it might be your own problem? You're the top leader, and you have powerful backers, so why don't those cadres gravitate towards you? Why do they all gravitate towards Zhang Wen, who was the executive vice governor at the time?"

"Dad, I tried to win these people over. They all said they would absolutely obey my leadership. But when the Standing Committee meeting came and it was time to vote, they all voted for Zhang Wen."

"Ruijin, it's all your dad's fault. I protected you too much. Your promotions have been too smooth. It's good for you to suffer a little."

"Ruijin, you must remember this. When you're in charge of a place, you can be incompetent, but you must know how to develop and how to use people. Look at Governor Liu, he does this very well. Although he doesn't understand development very well, he respects talent."

"Okay, Dad, I'll keep that in mind. Dad, I have a question for you. Now that Gao Yuliang is gone, there's a vacancy. Do you think I have a chance to promote someone?"

"I don't know the answer to this question either. The higher-ups are discussing it too. They say Gao Yuliang has been in this position for too long and they need to replace him with a different local official to balance things out. I feel it's highly likely that a cadre from another region will be parachuted in. Anyway, no matter who becomes the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, as the top leader, you need to maintain unity."

"Okay, Dad."