The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Not long after Yang Xiaobo left, he brought Pu'er tea to the office, brewed a cup of tea for Chen Shi, and then left.

After Yang Xiaobo left, Guan Ping, the head of the Personnel and Faculty Affairs Department, stood at the door and knocked.

Chen Shi left the door wide open, wanting to see how many people came to report to him that day.

"Come in"

Guan Ping, holding a notebook and smiling, said, "Director Chen, I'm here to report to you."

"Section Chief Guan, please have a seat."

Guan Ping sat down and explained the arrangements for this year's teaching staff. Chen Shi listened but neither agreed nor disagreed, and remained silent.

Guan Ping continued, "Director Chen, there are several township and village primary schools that are severely lacking in teachers. Some schools only have seven or eight teachers in total, and only two or three of them are tenured teachers. The rest are substitute teachers, and their teaching levels vary greatly."

The principal reported that he hoped the bureau could assign more teachers who graduated from regular teacher training colleges to teach in the village school.

Chen Shi had looked into it and found that the salary and benefits for those with and without formal employment status were vastly different.

Replacing all teachers with tenured positions and hiring formally trained, highly educated teachers to teach in rural areas would be far too expensive with government funding alone. The root of all problems lies in money.

Chen Shi thought for a moment and said, "Section Chief Guan, go down and do a survey. How many substitute teachers are there in the whole county? The data must be accurate. Submit it, and we'll discuss it at the Party Committee meeting later. We'll decide whether to increase the number of teachers with official positions, and by how many. We'll come up with a concrete plan, submit it to the county government, and apply for funding."

Guan Ping opened his notebook and made a note: "Director Chen, I'll go down and follow up."

Chen Shi nodded and watched Guan Ping leave.

Just as Guan Ping left, Ren Changlin, the head of the finance department, walked in: "Director Chen, I've come to report to you."

Chen Shi pointed to the sofa: "Section Chief Ren, please sit down."

Ren Changlin was surprised that Chen Shi, who had just arrived, could remember his name.

He sat down and reported on the financial situation, while Chen Shi listened attentively.

"Director Chen, the Education Bureau's budget for this year is 250 million yuan, but the Finance Bureau only allocated 190 million yuan to us, leaving a shortfall of 60 million yuan. This shortfall is huge. In the end, we won't even be able to pay the teachers' salaries. I'm like a skilled cook without rice to cook."

"Director Chen, we need to apply to the county government for funding, at least 2.2 million yuan, to ensure that teachers' salaries are not in arrears."

On his first day in office, Chen Shi encountered two problems: insufficient budget and a lack of highly educated teachers, urgently requiring the addition of teaching staff.

Running an education system costs money, and a lot of money at that. Liu Youguang values ​​education, so we need to apply for funding from him to supplement the teaching staff, reduce the number of substitute teachers, and improve basic education.

"Section Chief Ren, regarding the insufficient expenditure budget, we'll discuss it at the upcoming Party Committee meeting, formulate a feasible plan, submit it to the county government, and apply for funding."

After seeing Ren Changlin off, Chen Shi took a sip of tea. It seemed that it would be difficult to achieve quick results in education.

If basic education is not done well, we must make great efforts to improve the quality of teachers in basic education.

Later, department heads came one after another to report on their work, all hoping to make an impression on the new director and be remembered by him.

When it was time to leave work, Chen Shi stood up, stretched, and thought to himself that work should be done step by step, and that one cannot become fat in one bite.

The first step is to merge township high schools into county towns, develop a plan, and submit it to the county party committee and county government.

Secondly, we need to build three key high schools, which are scheduled to open in September 2013. We need to move quickly, as we only have a little over a year to go.

Then, we should improve the quality of teachers in basic education, gradually eliminate substitute teachers, and send teachers with higher education to teach in rural areas.

Yang Xiaobo entered the office and first made Chen Shi a cup of tea: "Director Chen, as per your request, the driver has been arranged. Please take a look at his personal information."

Chen Shi took the information handed to him by Yang Xiaobo. The man was a burly man in his thirties named Yang Bin. He was a retired soldier and a tank soldier.

Chen Shi took one look at this man and felt a strong liking for him; it was love at first sight. Besides being a driver, he could also work as a bodyguard.

"He's the one."

Yang Xiaobo took out his notebook and wrote it down.

"Director Chen, the dinner will be held at the Hejia Courtyard, starting at six o'clock."

Chen Shi wouldn't concern himself with such trivial matters. The owner of Hejia Courtyard was Yang Xiaobo's cousin, and the Education Bureau would arrange for any events to be held at Hejia Courtyard.

The Hejia Courtyard is basically supported by the Education Bureau, and the annual expenses for the Hejia Courtyard reach one to two million yuan.

Another relative of his ran a trading company, from which the Education Bureau sourced its office equipment and paper.

This company is very large, with annual sales reaching 20 to 30 million yuan. They provide most of the paper and office equipment for schools throughout the county.

Chen Shi took a sip of tea: "I'll be there in a bit."

At six o'clock, Chen Shi, along with Huang Ming and several other bureau leaders, walked out of the office building. Chen Shi recognized Yang Bin at a glance.

Yang Bin recognized Chen Shi and opened the car door: "Director Chen, I am your personal driver, Yang Bin."

Chen Shi glanced at the car's condition; it was the best of the four.

He said to Huang Ming beside him, "Director Huang, come ride in this car with me."

Huang Ming was very low-key. On his first day at the Education Bureau, he greeted everyone with a smile.

"Okay, Director Chen."

The two got into the car. Wang Zhikai and Li Zhe took another car, while the remaining two cars were used by the main leaders of several departments. The deputy leaders had to take taxis themselves.

Chen Shi sat in the car, and Yang Bin drove very steadily without any bumps. He asked, "Yang Bin, what year did you retire from the army?"

"In 06, less than a year after my discharge from the military, I was assigned to the Education Bureau."

Who were you driving for before?

"When I came to the Education Bureau, I wasn't assigned to be a driver for the leaders; I was always assigned to drive on short notice."

Chen Shi needed to observe Yang Bin for a period of time. The people around the leader are very important; they must be trustworthy.

Chen Shi looked at Huang Ming beside him: "Director Huang, you've just arrived at the Education Bureau, what are your thoughts?"

"I haven't worked with the Education Bureau before, so I need to learn about it for a while, organize my thoughts, and then report to Director Chen."

Chen Shi laughed heartily: "Director Huang, we're old friends, don't be shy, just say what's on your mind. Is there a department head reporting to you today?"

"The relevant person in charge of almost every department came to my office to report on their work."

"Which of the relevant department heads have left the deepest impression on you?"

Huang Ming thought for a moment. Ren Changlin, the head of the finance department, was a straightforward person who said what he thought, and Huang Ming had a good impression of him.

However, he said, "This is my first time meeting them, so I don't know them well yet. Overall, I feel that these people in charge are proactive in their work, and they have all reported the problems they encountered."

Chen Shi smiled and nodded. Huang Ming was a secretary by training, and being cautious was his personality trait. He would not jump to conclusions about things he was not sure about.