Special forces soldier demobilization: Starting from the county government compound, a meteoric rise

Liu Ming stood on the podium.

There were no flowers, no applause, and he didn't even adjust the microphone height. He rested his hands on the edge of the table, leaning slightly forward—a highly aggressive posture, like a lone wolf guarding a mountaintop, overlooking its territory.

Fifty pairs of eyes were fixed on him from below the stage.

Some were indifferent, some were sarcastic, and some were worried.

Zhao Ruilong stood to the side, a contemptuous smile on his lips—the victor's final act of "forgiveness" towards the loser. He even took out a lighter, twirling it between his fingers, making a crisp "ding, ding" sound, as if counting down the days until Liu Ming's "embarrassment."

"Just now, Zhao Ruilong said a lot."

Liu Ming spoke up.

His voice was steady, without the slightest hint of tension, as if he were chatting with an old friend.

"He mentioned 'resources,' 'connections,' and 'convenience.' I must say, they're very tempting. For everyone here, these things are indeed lubricants for a successful career."

Zhao Ruilong's smile deepened. "You're smart enough to know what's good for you."

"but."

Liu Ming's tone suddenly changed, and her eyes instantly became sharp as knives, piercing the hearts of the audience.

"Why are we here at the Party School?"

"Is it to use this as a springboard to make connections with powerful figures so they can get promoted and make a fortune back home? Or is it to form cliques and build a network of mutual protection?"

"If it's for these reasons..."

Liu Ming shook her head, a sneer curling at the corner of her lips.

"Then I think that everyone's perspective is rather narrow."

"You!" Zhao Ruilong's smile froze instantly, and he almost dropped the lighter in his hand.

The atmosphere in the audience froze, and many people's faces turned grim. These words were too harsh; it was practically a public slap in the face.

Don't be so quick to get angry.

Liu Ming didn't give them a chance to retaliate. He turned around, picked up the chalk, and wrote four large characters on the blackboard behind him with flowing strokes.

— A zero-sum game.

"Jiangnan Province today appears prosperous and thriving, but in reality, it is fraught with crises."

Liu Ming threw down the chalk, dusted off his hands, and his voice became deep and resonant.

"The heavy industrial base in the north is facing the growing pains of transformation, while foreign trade exports in the south are facing severe challenges from the international situation. The profits of our once-proud traditional manufacturing industry have been squeezed to the extreme."

"Everyone's grabbing the cake."

"The county competes with the city, and the city competes with the province. They fight tooth and nail for a single project; they falsify and inflate data for a mere tenth of a percent of GDP growth."

"This is what Zhao Ruilong called 'resources'."

Liu Ming pointed at Zhao Ruilong, her eyes cold.

"All he can offer you is a tiny bit more cream on that increasingly smaller cake. But does that solve the fundamental problem?"

"cannot!"

Liu Ming's voice suddenly rose to a high pitch, like a resounding bell, making everyone's eardrums buzz.

"As division-level cadres, as regional leaders, or as the backbone of a department, if we only focus on the existing resources and only think about how to get a share through connections, where is the future of Jiangnan Province?"

"Our generation's mission is not to divide the cake."

"Instead... we're making the cake bigger!"

He began to walk down from the podium and into the middle of the students.

At this moment, he was no longer a young student, but rather a mentor giving a lecture, a wise man who understood the current situation.

"I come from Ningzhou High-tech Zone."

"Three months ago, it was a desolate, unfinished building, a forgotten corner. But now, it is the engine of the province's economy."

"What did they rely on? Connections? Background?"

"No."

Liu Ming stopped in front of a county head from a poor mountainous area, looking at his weathered face.

"It relies on **incremental thinking**."

"It's about having the audacity to 'overtake on a curve' and creating something from nothing; it's about using the logic of 'industry chain integration' to turn lead into gold!"

"The class monitor we need is not a 'public relations manager' who only knows how to hand out benefits and organize social events."

"Instead, he should be a guide who can lead everyone out of the well and let them see the vast world outside!"

"What we should be discussing is not who knows which department head or how many approvals can be granted."

"Instead, we should be discussing how to develop distinctive industrial clusters in your county, how to improve efficiency through digital reforms in your bureau, and how to break through the current predicament!"

Liu Ming's voice grew increasingly impassioned, each word like a bullet, striking precisely into the depths of these cadres' souls.

Although they are worldly-wise and shrewd.

But who wouldn't have ambitions to sit in this position? Who wouldn't want to accomplish something extraordinary during their tenure?

However, this fire is usually extinguished by the cold water of reality.

And now, Liu Ming has reignited this fire!

"Dear students."

Liu Ming walked back to the podium, placed her hands on the table, her eyes blazing, exuding an aura of authority.

"I am running for class monitor, and I do not promise you any personal benefits. I also do not have any powerful connections to help you get official positions."

"But I can promise you one thing."

"In the next three months, I will share all my experiences and lessons learned in Ningzhou High-tech Zone, as well as all my thoughts on macroeconomics and grassroots governance, without reservation."

"I will turn this classroom into a true 'melting pot' of ideas."

"We can argue until we're red in the face over a plan, and we can stay up all night working on a single piece of data."

"But I promise."

"When we walk out of this school gate three months later."

"What you're taking away is definitely more than just a graduation certificate."

"It is a... dragon-slaying technique, powerful enough to change the fate of your territory!"

"I've finished speaking."

"Choose me or him, it's up to you."

Liu Ming nodded slightly, turned around, and walked off the podium.

The entire lecture hall fell into a deathly silence.

There was no applause.

There was no discussion.

Everyone was stunned.

That kind of dimensional reduction attack from the level of thinking left them feeling deeply shocked and... ashamed.

Compared to Liu Ming's words, Zhao Ruilong's previous "bold pronouncements" and so-called "benefits" seemed as vulgar as those of a nouveau riche.

"Smack."

A crisp round of applause broke the silence.

It was Zhang Dapao sitting in the corner. He was so excited that his face was flushed, and his palms were red from clapping.

Followed by.

"Slap, slap, slap..."

The county head from the impoverished county stood up and clapped vigorously.

The section chief from the Provincial Department of Transportation stood up.

The female minister who had remained neutral also stood up.

The applause surged like a tide, growing louder and louder until it finally coalesced into a deafening thunderclap that nearly blew the roof off the classroom!

That is recognition of the strong.

That is respect for wisdom.

Zhao Ruilong stood to the side, his face as pale as paper, his body as stiff as a stone.

Looking at those "classmates" who had just been smiling at him but were now clapping wildly for Liu Ming, he felt a burning pain on his face.

He lost.

We lost completely.

Faced with absolute strength and vision, his supposedly impressive "background" is as fragile as a joke.

"Great! Brilliant! Absolutely fantastic!"

The class teacher, Han Zhengyang, also stood up, his eyes full of admiration. He had presided over so many sessions of the training program for young and middle-aged cadres, and this was the first time he had heard a speech with such depth, insight, and spirit.

"Now, let's begin voting."

Staff members distributed ballots.

Five minutes later.

The vote counting begins.

"Liu Ming, one vote."

"Liu Ming, one vote."

"Liu Ming..."

As the vote counter's voice rang out again and again, the tally marks under "Liu Ming's" name on the blackboard grew more and more numerous, densely packed.

Under Zhao Ruilong's name, the page was completely empty, so clean it was glaring.

Even those who received shopping cards from Zhao Ruilong last night did not hesitate to circle Liu Ming's name at this moment.

Shopping cards can be accepted secretly, but electing a class monitor is a matter of whether one can learn real skills and one's future; nobody is stupid about that.

The last ticket was used up.

Looking at the statistics, Han Zhengyang took a deep breath and announced loudly:

"Class One of the Young and Middle-aged Cadres, with a total of fifty members, all of whom are present."

"Liu Ming, you've received... fifty votes!"

"Unanimously elected!"

boom--!

Another burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted in the classroom.

Zhang Dapao jumped up excitedly and grabbed Liu Ming's shoulder: "Awesome! Bro! A unanimous vote! Even Zhao Ruilong himself voted for you? Hahahaha!"

Liu Ming glanced at Zhao Ruilong, who was standing not far away, his face ashen and clutching a worthless ticket.

In fact, Zhao Ruilong abstained from voting.

But that doesn't matter anymore.

Importantly, from this moment on, this circle, which brings together the elites of the entire province, has been completely branded with "Liu Ming's" mark.

He won.

They got off to a flying start.

And they also won this ladder leading to higher places...