Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

As the two chatted, Secretary Nie's passive ability to be a know-it-all was triggered.

"Jiuzhou, you are in a high position at such a young age. You should know that it is lonely at the top."

"If someone is ever sent to a post outside the county, they will at least be the head of a county, in charge of a region, which carries a great responsibility."

I have a few words I'd like to say to you.

"Secretary, please speak," Li Jiuzhou said respectfully.

Secretary Nie nodded slightly:

"To accomplish great things, one must first defeat the enemy in one's own mind."

"It is easy to defeat the bandits in the mountains, but difficult to defeat the bandits in one's heart."

"Sit still and quiet, and you will vanquish the thief of anxiety."

"By giving up, one gains; by defeating the thief of desire."

"Practice in real-world situations to overcome the thief of hesitation."

"With all three thieves defeated, everything can be accomplished!"

After hearing this, Li Jiuzhou scratched the back of his head and revealed a slight smile:

"Secretary, your words are profound. I seem to recall that these are excerpts from Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind?"

Secretary Nie gave Li Jiuzhou an approving look, then nodded:

"That's right, it seems you've really studied a lot and put in a lot of hard work."

Li Jiuzhou chuckled:

"Hehe, Secretary, I understand the道理 (principles/reasons), but the thief of my desires is a bit hard to overcome..."

Secretary Nie raised an eyebrow after hearing this:

Tell me how difficult it is to solve, and I'll analyze it for you.

Li Jiuzhou gave an awkward smile, looking somewhat hesitant:

"This...isn't that inappropriate?"

Secretary Nie was a little unhappy:

"There's nothing wrong with it, hurry up and tell me, I've seen everything."

Seeing this, Li Jiuzhou stopped trying to hide it:

"I'm a lecher, what should I do?"

"Uh..." Secretary Nie was a little uncomfortable after Li Jiuzhou's words. He couldn't very well ask him to give up sex.

Throughout history, very few sages and saints have ever written about abstaining from lust.

The books already say in a grand and proper way that a beautiful lady is sought after by a gentleman. If you're lustful, just be lustful. Why make it so fancy?

Besides, throughout history, as subjects, all we can do is advise emperors to stop being so lustful; what the hell does that have to do with us?

After court, I can go to brothels if I want, or take concubines if I want.

If an emperor were even slightly lustful, he would definitely be criticized!

Secretary Nie smiled wryly:

"Being lustful doesn't mean you have to break your vows, just don't mess around. What era are we living in? We don't follow the old ways anymore, now it's monogamy."

"Speaking of the past, Jiuzhou, how many wives do you think I should have married?"

Li Jiuzhou stroked his chin with considerable interest:

"You must have a principal wife before the emperor; as for how many concubines you take, that's entirely up to you!"

"If this were during the Republic of China era, it would mean taking several concubines. Just thinking about it makes me happy..."

Upon hearing this, Secretary Nie looked filled with regret:

"Damn it, I wish I had been born later..."

Then cheerful laughter filled the office.

Shortly after, Li Jiuzhou came out carrying several packets of tea, still recalling his conversation with Secretary Nie.

Secretary Nie is undoubtedly a man of strong emotions.

He possesses a bold and forthright spirit, a bandit-like air, a scholarly air, and a touch of mystery.

Once you catch Secretary Nie's eye, he'll be able to talk to you about anything.

Of course, this only applies to subordinates; Secretary Nie would not go against Tian Gang and criticize leaders like Minister Wang.

Li Jiuzhou is the only young man I want to talk to more with every time we chat, whether it's to give me some pointers or just to pass the time.

Actually, working in a factory isn't boring.

While we were working, the factory would also broadcast announcements.

It has everything: news, revolutionary songs, policies, and more.

There were also popular songs in this era, such as the revolutionary songs "The East Is Red," "Singing for the Motherland," "The Great Leap Forward: Songs Shake the Mountains and Rivers," and "Socialism Is Good."

As factory workers, almost everyone could join in and yell a few lines.

They even sing a song to boost their morale when starting work in the morning and afternoon.

Therefore, the work of the publicity department is quite busy, with Xu Damao serving as the deputy head of the department with real power.

When the section chief isn't really interested in working, then the tasks of the publicity section will be handed over to the deputy section chiefs.

The Publicity Department currently has three deputy section chiefs: Xu Damao is ranked first, another female comrade is ranked second, and Yang Guangming is ranked third.

The three men each had their own roles and subordinates.

There are always factions, no matter where you are; that's just how it is.

Xu Damao had the most followers on his mountain stronghold, not for any other reason than that he knew how to conduct himself and didn't embezzle any benefits.

Next was Yang Guangming, because his uncle was the factory director, and those who followed him all had ulterior motives and a clear goal: to climb the ranks.

Xu Damao couldn't give them this, nor could the other deputy section chief; only Yang Guangming could.

Moreover, the skills of the publicity department staff are relatively limited; they are mainly good at writing articles and doing publicity.

It's something I wouldn't dare dream of as a cadre, but it's much easier to switch to administration.

Since anyone who can get a job in the propaganda department must at least have a high school diploma.

Anyone who only graduated from junior high school will be met with resistance from everyone; it's like a cotton ball popping out of a gutter.

Of course, if the announcer is highly educated, has good writing skills, and is responsible for writing and reviewing scripts for a long time, while also serving as a publicity officer, they will take the route of "working in place of a manager."

They remain on the worker payroll but receive cadre-level salaries, are allowed to attend political work meetings and participate in document study, and can later be transferred to formal administrative positions and promoted to positions in the Youth League Committee or the Propaganda Department.

Therefore, anyone with a bit of education who wanted to work in the factory would first choose the propaganda department.

Many people with connections to leaders also take this route, and when they are transferred later, they are directly promoted one rank, which is equivalent to getting a "gilded" promotion.

Yang Guangming is the best example. He was promoted to deputy section chief without even needing to be transferred. His background is incredibly strong.

Because at the end of last year, the factory's expansion, recruitment, and cadre promotion were all successfully completed.

At this stage, there will be no large-scale promotions of cadres in the factory.

Everyone was full; being greedy would be counterproductive.

Those newly promoted cadres also enjoyed a good sip of soup later on.

The rain and dew were distributed equally.

The projectionist, whom Deputy Section Chief Xu Damao had been training for more than half a year, has successfully graduated.

Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill now has more than 32,000 employees, including 32 projectionists!

These people will not be going out on missions alone in the future. For the safety of the projectionists, Deputy Section Chief Xu arranged for two people to go with them.

They each carried a pistol for self-defense.

After all, things are very difficult now, and who knows if there will be any roadblocks along the way.

A while ago, the grain trucks transporting goods to the textile factory were intercepted. The drivers and their escorts had two guns, but it was no use. They just intercepted you whenever they wanted.

After all, what you're transporting isn't steel ingots, nor is it timber or building materials; it's grain. If I don't intercept you, who the hell am I supposed to intercept?

They're a bunch of starving people. Don't think they're stupid. They don't kill people; after stopping the car, they throw stones all over the driver's seat.

First, knock the driver and the escort unconscious. If they really die, that's just your bad luck.

Imagine this: at night, a car is driving on a mountain road and it drives straight into a trap. The driver and the person escorting the car will panic.

Before they could react, stones rained down from all directions. At that moment, instead of thinking about how to fight back, they were focused on how to protect their heads.

If I can survive and return to the factory to report back, that would be a great achievement!

For the factory, losing some money is not a big deal, but losing people is unacceptable!

Most importantly, the textile factory's grain transport trucks were intercepted three times in a row, becoming a laughing stock in the entire industry.