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

The first meeting of the new county government leadership team was held. The meeting was attended by Zhang Kaizhi, Party Secretary; Chen Shi, Deputy Party Secretary; and Party members Gao Rong, Song Yun, Zhao Xuhe, and Li Hong.

The meeting was chaired by Zhang Kaizhi, and Xu Wen from the Government Office took meeting minutes.

Zhang Kaizhi solemnly said, "This is the first Party Group meeting of the new government. It was supposed to be held much earlier, but Deputy County Heads Chen Shi and Li Hong have just taken office in the county government and are not yet familiar with many tasks. We're giving you a few days to get acquainted with them."

Chen Shi and Li Hong were both Zhang Xiangdong's men. Zhang Kaizhi deliberately referred to Chen Shi as the deputy county head instead of the executive deputy county head, just to remind Chen Shi that he was the head of the county government and that he was the one who made the decisions here.

Zhang Kaizhi continued, "The new leadership team is about to officially begin its work, and I'd like to make some assignments here."

Zhang Kaizhi skipped over Chen Shi and looked at Gao Rong: "Deputy County Head Gao Rong is in charge of the Education Bureau, Administrative Approval Bureau, Industry and Information Technology Bureau, Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Health Bureau, Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, and Health Commission."

Song Yun, the deputy county head, also serves as the director of the Public Security Bureau, overseeing the Public Security Bureau, the Justice Bureau, and the Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau.

Zhao Xu and the deputy county head are in charge of the Agriculture Bureau, Water Resources Bureau, Forestry Bureau, Commerce Bureau, and Culture, Tourism and Radio and Television Bureau.

Deputy County Head Li Hong is in charge of the Veterans Affairs Bureau, the Coal Bureau, the Emergency Management Bureau, the Market Supervision Administration, the Science and Technology Bureau, and the Letters and Visits Bureau.

When Li Hong heard about the departments he was in charge of, he was overwhelmed. What kind of departments were they? If he managed them well, it would be his job, but if something went wrong, it would be a big deal, and he would be the first to be held responsible.

The petition office is constantly plagued by disturbances, and no one wants to take on the cases. The emergency management bureau is sitting on a powder keg. Chunyang County is a major coal-producing county with hundreds of large and small coal mines. If a mine accident occurs, the emergency management bureau will be in trouble.

Li Hong cursed Zhang Kaizhi's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart, thinking he might as well continue to be the top leader of Zhongshan Subdistrict Office.

Looking at Chen Shi, Zhang Kaizhi asked, "What does Zhang Kaizhi mean? He's not letting you, the executive deputy county head, oversee any work?"

Chen Shi remained expressionless, his arms crossed. Fortunately, Zhang Kaizhi was still under the jurisdiction of the county party committee and the top leader, so he wasn't in charge. Otherwise, he, as the second-in-command of the county government, would be out of a job.

Zhang Kaizhi slowly picked up his thermos, took a sip of water, and said slowly, "Deputy County Head Chen Shi is in charge of the Development and Reform Bureau, Grain and Reserves Bureau, National Defense Mobilization Office, Civil Air Defense Office, Civil Affairs Bureau, Finance Bureau, Land and Resources Bureau, Transportation Bureau, Audit Bureau, and Statistics Bureau."

Chen made notes in his notebook, noting that the Transportation Bureau was very important, as he needed to do a lot of preliminary work for the Transportation Bureau to build the expressway.

Zhang Kaizhi glanced at the group and said, "The work you are in charge of will be reported by the government office to the county party committee, and the county party committee will study and approve it."

Anyone who is still unclear about their assigned responsibilities can ask questions now.

Zhang Kaizhi waited a few seconds, and seeing that no one asked a question, he continued, "Whoever is in charge of a department that has an accident is the first person responsible and must bear the corresponding leadership responsibility."

The government's party group meeting lasted for two hours before it adjourned.

Li Hong followed Chen Shi to Chen Shi's office and closed the door behind him: "Zhang Kaizhi deliberately messed with us. When he was in charge of the work, he deliberately put you, the executive deputy county head, last, just to disgust you."

The departments I oversee are all thankless tasks. Doing them well is my duty, but if I don't, I, the deputy county head, will have to go home and farm.

Chen Shi poured Li Hong a glass of water: "County Chief Li, what can you do? He's the head of the county government, he has that power."

"I'm going to see Secretary Zhang. This is no way to divide up the work. He gave all the benefits to Gao Rong and assigned all the bad departments to me. What kind of nonsense is this?"

"Li County Chief, please calm down. We've just arrived at the county government and haven't settled into our positions as deputy county chiefs yet. If you go to Secretary Zhang, he can't really say anything. The county committee manages the people, and the county government manages the affairs. Assigning responsibilities is the prerogative of County Chief Zhang Kaizhi."

Li Hong plopped down on the sofa: "I can only pray that nothing goes wrong in these coal mines, big and small, in Chunyang County. Whether I can stay as deputy county head, and how long I can stay, depends entirely on luck."

Li Hong grumbled for a while before leaving the office.

Chen Shi's phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Xu Ping'an calling.

"Safety"

"Old boss, are you free tonight? We'd like to invite you to dinner. Zhang Hu, Wang Tao, Li Li, Wang Haiyang, and the others have been asking me to come over a few times. You've been promoted, let's have the brothers celebrate for you."

Chen Shi thought for a moment. Xu Ping'an and the others had invited him several times, so he couldn't refuse.

"Okay, let's get together after get off work tonight. It's been a long time since we've all gotten together."

"It's been over half a year since we last got together, and all the brothers miss you. Where should we meet?"

"Old Huang's farmhouse is a quiet place."

Since Liu Youguang went to the Party School for training and became a candidate for vice mayor, fewer leaders and cadres from Chunyang County have been visiting Lao Huang's agritainment business.

Old Huang's farmhouse restaurant still serves the same fish soup as before, but it suddenly doesn't taste as good anymore.

In the afternoon, Huang Ming arrived at Chen Shi's office: "Old boss."

Chen Shi stood up to greet him: "Director Huang, please have a seat."

The two sat down in the reception room. Chen Shi poured tea for Huang Ming, who said, "Old leader, I've come to report to you on my work."

In the first semester final exams for senior high school students, 107 students from No. 6 Middle School scored above 600 in the science stream, with an average score of 447. 32 students scored above 600 in the humanities stream, with an average score of 480.

56 students from No. 1 High School scored over 600 in science subjects, with an average score of 398. 17 students scored over 600 in humanities subjects, with an average score of 401.

Eleven students from No. 7 High School scored over 600 in science, with an average score of 341. Three students from No. 7 High School scored over 600 in humanities, with an average score of 389.

Only one student at No. 8 High School scored over 600 in the science stream, with an average score of 301. No one scored over 600 in the humanities stream, with an average score of 322.

Huang Ming took a sip of tea and continued, "The students at No. 7 Middle School and No. 8 Middle School have similar foundations. After a year of study, the gap widens. He Chunsheng's method can be effective for students with weak foundations."

Huang Ming looked at Chen Shi: "Old leader, please advise whether He Chunsheng should continue to serve as the principal of No. 7 Middle School."

Chen Shi said solemnly, "Director Huang, you are now the head of the Education Bureau, and you have the authority to decide whether He Chunsheng should serve as principal. However, since you asked me, I'll share my opinion: 'The early bird catches the worm.' Students with weak foundations should spend more time studying than those with strong foundations to make up for it."

Truly gifted academic achievers are rare; most are ordinary people. Diligence can compensate for lack of talent; spending time studying will definitely yield results.

Chen Shi's meaning was clear: He Chunsheng's exploitative learning methods were effective, so he should continue to serve as principal and use this group of students as an experiment. The results would be revealed in two years after the college entrance examination.

This method is effective and can be fully implemented in the other three high schools.

Huang Ming nodded. Chen Shi had previously opposed it, wanting to run for executive deputy county head and demanding stability. But things are different now; the Education Bureau needs college entrance examination results.

"Old leader, He Chunsheng will continue to serve as the principal of No. 7 Middle School. He has a big conflict with Executive Vice Principal Hou Weigui. I want to transfer Dong Xuexi to No. 7 Middle School to serve as the executive vice principal. Dong Xuexi is steady and reliable. If Principal He Chunsheng does anything extreme, he can correct him in time."