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

On the morning of July 22nd, Chen Shi had just arrived at his office when his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Ding Yi calling, so he quickly answered.

Section Chief Ding

"Director Chen, the second expert review team is now departing from Yizhou for Chunyang County for assessment. Please prepare accordingly."

"Thank you, Section Chief Ding."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shi checked his watch. It was 9:20. There was only one highway from Yizhou to Chunyang, and it would take about three hours to get there.

Around 12:00, the expert review panel arrived in Chunyang, and someone was assigned to follow them to observe their every move.

As Yang Xiaobo entered the office, Chen Shi called out, "Old Yang, notify the three deputy directors to hold a director's office meeting in the small conference room."

Yang Xiaobo immediately went to inform them.

Chen Shi walked into the conference room with his notebook in hand. Li Zhe was the first to arrive. Seeing that Chen Shi was already waiting, he smiled and nodded at Chen Shi.

Huang Ming followed him in, followed by Wang Zhikai.

Chen Shi didn't waste any words and went straight to the point.

"The second expert review panel departed from Yizhou and arrived in Chunyang around 12:00 noon to begin the assessment. You should not sit in the office; go to your respective jurisdictions to monitor the work and pay attention to the expert review panel's every move."

Yang Xiaobo was taking notes on the meeting. Chen Shi looked at Yang Xiaobo and said, "Director Yang, go to the toll station at 11 o'clock and wait. As soon as the expert review team arrives, immediately notify the three deputy directors to prepare for the assessment."

Time is of the essence. Everyone, go down and assign tasks. Whoever is responsible for a particular area, if any problems arise, will voluntarily resign.

Chen Shi glanced at Huang Ming and the other two: "Meeting adjourned."

Chen Shi returned to his office, and Yang Xiaobo followed him in: "Old Yang, I'm giving you a tough task. Yang Bin has assigned it to you. During this period, you will follow the expert review panel 24 hours a day, keep track of their movements at all times, and take action directly in case of any emergency without reporting to me."

Yang Xiaobo said loudly, "Okay."

Chen Shi coordinated and directed operations from his office, sending the three deputy directors to their respective jurisdictions to oversee the work.

At 11 o'clock, Yang Xiaobo arrived at the toll station in Chen Shi's car and waited. As it approached 12 o'clock, Yang Xiaobo stared intently at every car exiting the toll station.

Yang Bin said, "Director Yang, there are so many cars with Yizhou license plates. How can we determine which one belongs to the expert review panel?"

"The expert review panel won't be traveling in regular cars; they're here for work, and according to regulations, they must travel in commercial vehicles. We just need to keep an eye on the commercial vehicles with Yizhou license plates."

Just to be on the safe side, Yang Xiaobo called the person in charge of the toll station.

"Old Zhao, it's me, Yang Xiaobo."

"Old Yang"

"Old Zhao, the Education Department has sent people to inspect the Education Bureau. Have the staff at the toll station keep an eye on the commercial vehicles with Yizhou license plates. If they are filled with experts and scholars, please call me immediately."

"Okay, I'll tell the staff to keep a close eye on things."

Twenty minutes later, Yang Xiaobo's phone rang, and he quickly answered it.

"Old Zhao"

"Old Yang, there's a van with a Yizhou license plate. There are five people inside, who look like experts and scholars. They should be from the Education Department. The staff are stalling for time. Be prepared to receive them."

Thank you.

After hanging up the phone, the van drove out of the tollbooth. Yang Xiaobo called out, "Stay close, don't get too close, don't let them spot us."

Yang Bin followed from a distance.

Yang Xiaobo called Chen Shi to report that the expert review panel had arrived in Chunyang.

The expert review panel's van stopped at a restaurant, and four people got out. They were all scholars with outstanding demeanor.

Including the driver, there were five people in total, who went into the restaurant.

Yang Xiaobo said, "When they wanted to eat, we went to eat too. These past few days, whatever they did, we did too."

After finishing their meal, the expert review team's van drove towards the Zhongshan Subdistrict Office.

Yang Xiaobo followed them closely, reporting on the expert review panel's movements at any time.

The expert review team inspected the construction progress of three key high schools in the Greater Bay Area. After taking a tour, they drove directly out of the city without stopping and arrived in Huangchang Town at around 3 p.m.

Yang Xiaobo called the principal of Huangchang Town Central School and told him to get ready, as the expert review team had arrived in Huangchang Town and was about to begin the assessment.

Yang Xiaobo and Yang Bin have been living and working in the car for the past few days, following the expert review panel and reporting their movements to Chen Shi at any time.

The expert review panel first spent two days in Huangchang Town, then one day in Fushan Town, one day in Shangying Town, and one day in Heyuan Town.

After returning to the county seat and conducting an inspection for a day, they notified the Education Bureau to hold a symposium.

Chen Shi had already obtained the expert information for the second expert review panel from Ding Yi.

The second expert review panel consists of Ma Xudong as the group leader and Ding Xiaoyong, Wang Ping, and Li Yuan as members.

At 10:00 a.m., a symposium was held in the conference room of the Education Bureau.

Ding Xiaoyong, Wang Ping, and Li Yuan spoke in turn, and Ma Xudong spoke last. He glanced at everyone and solemnly said, "We spent six days investigating in Chunyang County and found many problems. The most prominent problem is that there are too many substitute teachers in rural primary schools, and their quality is low. The Chunyang County Education Bureau must immediately dismiss these substitute teachers..."

Chen Shi took notes of Ma Xudong's speech in his notebook. After Ma Xudong finished speaking, Chen Shi continued: "The weakness of basic education in Chunyang County is mainly due to the lack of qualified teachers. In many rural primary schools, there are more substitute teachers than regular teachers. This problem is not new; it has always existed. The main reason is insufficient funding for education, which cannot support so many regular teachers."

Starting in September, the Education Bureau began to regulate substitute teachers, making the following three adjustments: First, their qualifications and teaching levels will be assessed, and those who do not meet the standards will be dismissed. Second, their salaries will be increased. Substitute teachers currently receive a fixed salary of 500 yuan a month, which is barely enough to eat with the current prices, let alone motivate them to teach well. Starting in September, their salaries will be increased to 1,500 yuan a month to retain experienced teachers.

Third, we need to adjust the proportion of substitute teachers among all teachers. In a rural primary school, substitute teachers should not exceed one-third of the total teaching staff. We need to gradually phase out substitute teachers.

Ma Xudong said in a deep voice, "Director Chen, it's the 21st century already. Can't we just dismiss all the substitute teachers at once? Basic education is crucial. If basic education isn't done well, the three key high schools you've built will be meaningless."

Director Chen should visit rural primary schools more often to see how many children have dropped out of school, how substitute teachers are of low quality and arbitrarily punish students, causing many children to be afraid of going to school.

This problem needs to be solved immediately; otherwise, education in Chunyang County cannot be improved.

Chen Shi replied, "Professor Ma, you have pointed out the crux of the problem. If basic education is not done well, everything else is just a castle in the air."

Chunyang is an impoverished county with a serious fiscal deficit. Running education costs money, and running education well costs even more money.

This year, the Education Bureau's budget is 250 million yuan, but the government only allocated 190 million yuan, leaving a shortfall of 60 million yuan that has yet to be covered.

The issue of substitute teachers can only be resolved gradually. We aim to completely resolve it by 2016, taking four years.