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

The election in Chunyang County was held at 9:7 a.m. on July 11. At 7 p.m. on July 10, Zhang Xiangdong met with Director Gao Qiang in his office.

Gao Qiang arrived at Zhang Xiangdong's office. Zhang Xiangdong stood up to greet him with a smile: "Director Gao, please have a seat."

The two sat down in the reception room. Xu Mo poured tea for Gao Qiang and Zhang Xiangdong, then left the office and closed the door behind him.

Zhang Xiangdong asked, "Director Gao, are all the attendees here?"

"Of the 301 attendees, 297 were present. Four people were absent due to health reasons."

Zhang Xiangdong looked at Gao Qiang: "Director Gao, the election of the county government leadership team must be taken very seriously. We must implement the instructions of the municipal party committee and ensure that no unexpected incidents occur among the candidates."

Gao Qiang said, "Secretary Zhang, rest assured, everything was arranged in advance, there won't be any problems."

"We must resolutely crack down on election bribery, and deal with any signs of it promptly," Zhang Xiangdong said solemnly.

"Secretary Zhang, in accordance with the instructions of the municipal and county party committees, any candidates found to have engaged in bribery during the election process will be dealt with promptly and without leniency."

Zhang Xiangdong nodded. As the county party secretary, he had to ensure that the election was conducted according to the candidates determined by the municipal party committee, and there could be no unexpected events.

If an unexpected election occurs, the municipal party committee leaders will believe that the county party secretary lacks control over the county and will consider replacing him.

At 8:30 p.m., after the attendees finished their dinner, they rested at the county guesthouse. Zhang Kaizhi, along with candidates Chen Shi, Gao Rong, Song Yun, Zhao Xuhe, and Li Hong, visited and extended their regards to the attendees.

They visited every single room and extended their regards to every participant.

It was already 10:30 when I came out of the guesthouse.

Chen Shi was now calm, without the tension he had felt before. He was the only candidate for executive deputy county head, with no competitors, so he was in a sure thing.

When I got home, I lay down and fell asleep immediately. I slept very well. I got up at seven in the morning, ran around the neighborhood, and felt refreshed. I took a shower, changed my clothes, and went to the county government canteen for breakfast.

At 8:30, Chen Shi arrived at the leaders' lounge and waited. Li Hong came over and shook hands with Chen Shi.

"Director Chen, you're here quite early."

"Secretary Li, you arrived even earlier than me."

The two chatted casually, and one after another, leaders walked in. Gao Rong came in, glanced at Chen Shi, who used to be his subordinate. Today, after the election, the deputy county head was ranked ahead of him, which made Gao Rong very unhappy.

Gao Rong is fifty years old this year. He can't go any further, and his political life is about to end. He is very unwilling to accept this.

He sat alone to one side, ignoring everyone. Each term in the county government is five years; by the time the next term comes, he'll be fifty-five, past the age for promotion.

Before retirement, it would be good if I could get a position at the level of a full-fledged department head.

The conference started promptly at 9:30 a.m. County Party Secretary Zhang Xiangdong delivered an important speech lasting half an hour, and Zhang Kaizhi gave the government work report, which lasted for more than two hours and did not end until 12:30 p.m.

The congress resumed at 3 p.m. to review the county government's work report. The congress lasted three days, with the election of a new county government leadership on the third day.

Acting County Head Zhang Kaizhi was elected County Head with a unanimous vote, while Chen Shi received 280 votes and 17 abstentions, and was elected Executive Deputy County Head.

Gao Rong received 270 votes and 27 abstentions, and was elected as the deputy county head.

Song Yun received 270 votes and 27 abstentions, and was elected as the deputy county head.

Zhao Xuhe received 270 votes and 27 abstentions, and was elected as the deputy county head.

Li Hong received 270 votes and 27 abstentions, and was elected as the deputy county head.

The newly elected county government leadership team, led by Zhang Kaizhi, met with the attendees and delivered their inaugural speeches.

The conference concluded successfully.

The leadership team of the county government has been determined, and the leadership team of the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee has also been determined.

County Party Secretary Zhang Xiangdong, County Party Deputy Secretary and County Head Zhang Kaizhi, County Party Deputy Secretary Qin Xiaoming, Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Ma Chunlan, Organization Minister Huang Xin, Publicity Minister Li Jianlin, Political and Legal Affairs Secretary Xu Sanduo, County Party Committee Office Director Huang Kun, Executive Deputy County Head Chen Shi, Chengnan Subdistrict Office Party Committee Secretary Zhao Xiongcai, and Deputy County Head Gao Rong.

Gao Rong was able to join the Standing Committee because Zhang Kaizhi recommended him to Zhu Ming, the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee. Of the 11 seats on the Standing Committee, only two were held by Zhang Kaizhi's people: Li Jianlin, the propaganda minister, and Gao Rong, the deputy county head. If they wanted to have a voice on the Standing Committee, they had to bring in the centrists.

Chen Shi took office as the executive deputy county head, and the leadership team of the Education Bureau was also adjusted.

Huang Ming took over as director and party secretary, Li Zhe became executive deputy director, Yang Xiaobo was ranked first among deputy directors, and Yang Xiong, the principal of Chunyang No.1 Middle School, was promoted to deputy director.

The principal of Chunyang No.1 Middle School is now being replaced by Jiang Yiqiu, the executive vice principal.

Jiang Yiqiu's dream soon became a reality, leaving her completely stunned. All she wanted was to be the principal, to be in charge of her own little corner of the school.

On his first day in office, Chen Shi had only one idea: to build a highway connecting Heyuan Town, Shangying Town, Fushan Town, Huangchang Town, and Laoyan Town.

Fushan Town, Huangchang Town, and Laoyan Town are too far from the county seat. Fushan Town is 60 kilometers from the county seat, a secondary highway that takes two hours. The curves are too steep, making it impossible to drive fast. In winter, heavy fog reduces visibility to extremely low levels, resulting in more than a dozen fatal traffic accidents every year.

Huangchang Town is 85 kilometers from the county seat and takes two and a half hours. Laoyan Town is the farthest from the county seat, 110 kilometers away and takes more than three hours.

Chen Shi spent the morning in his office reading government documents, and in the afternoon he came to Zhang Xiangdong to report on his work.

After reporting on his work, Zhang Xiangdong asked, "What are your thoughts on the work you're responsible for?"

Chen Shi had prepared in advance: "Secretary, I am the executive deputy county head, assisting the county head in managing the overall work of the county government, including people's livelihood and social security, natural resources and urban construction, economic supervision, and other key areas. We will focus on these."

Zhang Xiangdong nodded: "County Chief Zhang submitted the work assignments of you deputy county chiefs for the county party committee to review and approve. The work you, as the executive deputy county chief, are responsible for is not as important as that of Deputy County Chief Gao Rong. It seems that County Chief Zhang has a lot of opinions about you."

Chen Shi continued, "Secretary, Zhang Kaizhi has a lot of opinions about me, but actually he has a lot of opinions about you. Gao Rong was recommended by Zhang Kaizhi to join the Standing Committee. He wants to use Gao Rong to suppress me, the executive deputy county head."

"The county committee has rearranged the responsibilities of you deputy county heads. Now that you've entered the core of the county leadership, you need to be careful about your words and actions, and not give others any leverage against you."

Chen Shi quickly replied, "Thank you for the reminder, Secretary. I will always be mindful of my words and actions."

Chen Shi left Zhang Xiangdong's office and returned to his own office in the county government.

Xu Wen, the director of the government office, walked in with a smile: "County Chief Chen, what are your requirements for a driver? I will arrange for the logistics department to select a full-time driver for you."

"Director Xu, could you please transfer Yang Bin from the Education Bureau's Party and Government Office to the Government Office? He's always been my driver at the Education Bureau. I'll need some time to adjust to a different driver."

Xu Wen took out his notebook and wrote it down.

"County Chief Chen, I've arranged for Comrade Yang Bin to be transferred to the government office." Xu Wen looked at Chen Shi: "County Chief Chen, a meeting of the new leadership team will be held tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM in conference room 1203."

Chen Shi nodded, indicating that he understood, and Xu Wen smiled and left.