Nominal: Starting with an entrance exam for a PhD in Economics at Peking University

Lin Long'an smiled and shook his head: "Don't spread this around, things haven't settled yet."

The secretary nodded quickly.

-

Three days later, Qi Tongwei, in his capacity as acting governor, presided over another executive meeting of the provincial government.

The meeting room was on the third floor of the provincial government building. It had an oval table that could seat about twenty people. Qi Tongwei sat at the head of the table, with Lin Long'an to his left. The other vice governors were seated in order of their rank, and the heads of the relevant departments and bureaus sat on chairs around the perimeter.

An agenda with six items was laid out in front of Qi Tongwei. He glanced at it and tapped the table.

"Let's begin. The first item is a report from the Provincial Development and Reform Commission on the progress of key projects in the first half of the year."

Director Zhou of the National Development and Reform Commission stood up, walked to the podium, opened his materials, and began his report. His voice was soft, with the steady, methodical rhythm typical of old government officials, and numbers streamed out one after another. Fixed asset investment, infrastructure investment, private investment, industrial investment... every figure had a source, and every analysis had a basis.

Qi Tongwei listened without interrupting. He leaned back in his chair, drawing something on a piece of paper with his pen, occasionally glancing up at Lao Zhou, his expression unreadable.

When Lao Zhou got to the section on "Main Problems and Difficulties", Qi Tongwei said, "Wait a minute."

The meeting room fell silent.

Old Zhou stopped and looked at him.

Qi Tongwei raised his head, his gaze falling on Lao Zhou's face. He showed no emotion, but asked very detailed questions: "You just said that the commencement rate of key projects in three cities is less than 60%. Which three cities? Which specific projects are they? At what stage are they stuck?"

Old Zhou paused for a moment, flipped through a few pages of materials, and found that section: "It's about Lincheng, Lüzhou, and Hannan District. Lincheng mainly has two transportation projects, and the preliminary procedures haven't been completed yet; Lüzhou has three industrial projects, and the land quotas haven't been secured; Hannan District has five shantytown renovation projects, and the funds haven't been in place."

After listening, Qi Tongwei did not speak immediately. He opened a document in front of him, turned to a certain page, glanced at it, and then closed it.

"For those two transportation projects in Lincheng, at which level are the preliminary procedures stalled? At the provincial or municipal level?"

"It's stuck in the city. The approval process at the Lincheng City Transportation Bureau is too slow."

Have you communicated with them?

"We've communicated with them. Lincheng City said they don't have enough manpower and their approval process can't keep up."

Qi Tongwei frowned slightly. He picked up his pen, wrote a word on the agenda in front of him, and then looked up.

"The Lincheng City Transportation Bureau has an authorized staff of 87, but there are 82 actually in operation, meaning there are five vacancies." His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear. "You say they're short-staffed, with only five vacancies? Can that affect the approval process for two key projects? Go back and verify with them again whether they're genuinely short-staffed or if someone is just making excuses. Report back after you've verified everything."

A layer of fine sweat appeared on Lao Zhou's forehead as he nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I'll take care of it when I get back."

"Also," Qi Tongwei continued, "regarding the land quotas for those three projects in Luzhou, you mentioned they were submitted to the Provincial Department of Natural Resources, but haven't been approved after two months. I looked into it later—the approval documents were sent to the Provincial Government Office last Wednesday, but I had them returned. It's because the land area reported by the Luzhou Economic Development Zone differs by nine percent from the figures in the project approval documents they previously submitted to the Provincial Development and Reform Commission. Go back and coordinate with Luzhou to reconcile the figures before coming back."

Old Zhou nodded again, this time without saying much, and took the materials back to his seat.

Qi Tongwei looked down and wrote a word on the agenda, then looked up and said, "Next item."

The second item on the agenda was a report from the Provincial Department of Transportation on the province-wide expressway network toll collection system upgrade plan. Director Sun of the Department of Transportation personally presented the plan for nearly twenty minutes, detailing its background, objectives, technical approach, and funding arrangements.

After listening, Qi Tongwei leaned back in his chair, twirled his pen a couple of times, and then asked a question: "What is the budget for this plan?"

"Preliminary estimate: 420 million."

"Where does the funding come from?"

"The Provincial Department of Transportation raises part of the funds itself, applies for subsidies from the provincial finance department, and solves the remaining part through market-based financing."

What percentage of financing is from the market?

"About forty percent."

"Has a financing plan been developed?"

Old Sun hesitated for a moment: "It's not completely settled yet; we're still in talks with several banks."

Qi Tongwei looked at him, his tone calm but carrying an undeniable pressure: "You wrote 'under discussion' in your report, which means it's still in the initial stage, with no substantial progress. Right?"

Old Sun nodded with difficulty: "Yes...yes."

Qi Tongwei twirled his pen twice, then said, "Of the 420 million yuan project, 40% needs to be financed through market mechanisms, which is 88 million yuan. You haven't even come up with a financing plan, yet you're reporting it to the provincial government's executive meeting. How am I supposed to approve it?"

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

Old Sun's expression changed, and he opened his mouth as if to explain something, but Qi Tongwei did not give him the chance.

“It’s not that I’m not approving this project. I know it’s necessary. But go back and solidify your financing plan first. You need specific banks, specific credit lines, and specific sources of repayment. Don’t try to fool me with the words ‘under negotiation.’ Next item.”

Old Sun blushed, picked up the materials, and sat back down. Lin Long'an, sitting next to him, glanced at him, shook his head slightly, and said nothing.

For the subsequent topics, Qi Tongwei continued his usual style—fast, accurate, and direct. His questions were all to the point; good answers were passed over immediately, vague answers were followed up with probing questions, and perfunctory answers were bluntly rebuked. By the time the fifth topic was discussed, it was already past noon.

Qi Tongwei glanced at his watch: "There's one more thing. We'll eat after that."

The sixth item on the agenda was a report from the Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) on the reform and restructuring plan for provincial state-owned enterprises. Mr. Qian, the director of the SASAC, stepped onto the podium, holding a thick stack of documents, his expression very serious.

Old Qian gave a nearly 30-minute report, explaining the background, guiding principles, main content, and implementation steps of the plan. The core of the plan was to reorganize and integrate the 15 provincial state-owned enterprises into 6, involving total assets of over 200 billion yuan and nearly 100,000 employees.

After listening, Qi Tongwei opened the proposal, read it from beginning to end, and then looked up.

"This plan is an improvement over the first draft we submitted last time," he said. "But I still have a few questions."

Old Qian straightened up.

"First, how should the leadership teams of the six restructured companies be structured? Should they be appointed by the organization or selected through market mechanisms? The plan doesn't specify. You should coordinate with the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department and finalize this matter as soon as possible. The leadership team is crucial for corporate restructuring. If the leadership team isn't well-structured, even the best plan is just empty talk."

"Second, the issue of employee resettlement. The plan says 'properly resettled in accordance with laws and regulations,' but those eight words are too vague. One hundred thousand employees is no small number. The resettlement plan needs to be specific to each person, to the amount of money, and to the timeline. Go back and refine it further. When you submit it next month, I want to see concrete results."

"Third, and most importantly, who will be responsible for the operating performance of these six companies after the restructuring? The plan states that the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) will fulfill its responsibilities as an investor, but how will this responsibility be fulfilled? Will it be to manage assets or capital? If this positioning is not clear, the restructuring will still follow the old path."

Old Qian was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Governor Qi, the third question may require a decision at a higher level."

Qi Tongwei glanced at him but didn't make things difficult for him: "Alright, I'll report this issue to Secretary Sha later. But you need to get back to work on the first two issues. Produce the second draft within a month."

Sweat beaded on Lao Qian's forehead as he nodded repeatedly.

Qi Tongwei looked around and tapped the table: "Today's agenda is all set. I'll say a few words in conclusion."

Everyone in the room looked up at him.

“During my time at the provincial government, I’ve noticed a problem—some comrades have gotten into the habit of reporting problems upwards, waiting for the leaders to make decisions and come up with solutions. Their reports are getting thicker and thicker, but they’re getting more and more timid. They don’t make decisions when they should, they don’t coordinate when they should, and they don’t take responsibility when they should. They push everything to the province, and the provincial government pushes everything to me.”

His voice was not loud, but it was clear and carried a heavy weight.

"I'm making this clear: from now on, any requests, reports, or proposals submitted to me should not contain issues that you can coordinate or resolve yourself. Only come to me if you can't solve them. Don't just pile everything on my desk. Who are you going to show all this stuff of documents that are just a way to shirk responsibility? I'm not a document administrator."

"The figures in the materials must be accurate, the analysis must be thorough, and the recommendations must be actionable. We should no longer submit those vague and ambiguous documents to the executive meetings. If we do, they will just be returned, and it will not look good for anyone."

No one speaks.

"Alright, meeting adjourned. Time to eat."

After Qi Tongwei finished speaking, he closed the folder in front of him and stood up. Lin Long'an and Zhao Xinjiang also stood up, and the other vice governors and bureau chiefs also stood up one after another. The meeting room was filled with the sounds of chairs being pulled out and documents being packed up.

Qi Tongwei, carrying a thermos, walked leisurely out of the conference room. Liao Qingyuan followed behind, carrying a stack of documents.

Upon arriving at his office, Qi Tongwei said to Liao Qingyuan, "This afternoon, contact Secretary Dakang and ask him to come to the provincial government to give me a report on the progress of the Guangming Peak project."

Liao Qingyuan laughed and said, "Secretary Dakang probably can't get away. The newly appointed Secretary of the Jingzhou Discipline Inspection Commission, Yi Xuexi, took office today, and there's a city-wide meeting of leading cadres in Jingzhou this afternoon."

Qi Tongwei paused for a moment: "Is it just today that you're taking office? Then let's do it tomorrow morning!"

Chapter 198 Reunion of Old Friends

The city-wide meeting of leading cadres to announce Yi Xuexi's appointment as Secretary of the Jingzhou Discipline Inspection Commission was scheduled for 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

The lecture hall of the Jingzhou Municipal Party School was packed. More than three hundred people were present, including deputy-department-level officials from Jingzhou, secretaries of the discipline inspection commissions of various districts and counties, heads of discipline inspection departments directly under the municipal government, and all staff members of the municipal discipline inspection commission. The air conditioning in the lecture hall was on full blast, but as more and more people entered, the air became stuffy and hot. Some people quietly loosened their collars, while others used document bags as fans.

A red banner with white lettering read "Jingzhou City Leading Cadres Conference" hung above the stage. Four people sat on the stage: Wu Chunlin, Minister of the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department; Li Dakang, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee; Zheng Hong, Mayor; Liu Zhiyuan, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee; and Yi Xuexi, the newly appointed Secretary of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection.

This lineup is higher than that of regular cadre appointments.

Normally, when a municipal discipline inspection commission secretary takes office—even in a provincial capital—it's sufficient for a deputy minister from the provincial organization department to escort him. But today, Wu Chunlin has come in person, which carries different weight.

This is a signal that the Provincial Party Committee attaches great importance to the work of the Jingzhou Discipline Inspection Commission.

It was precisely because Wu Chunlin wanted to personally escort the new leader to his post, and because he had other work arrangements in the morning, that the meeting of leading cadres was held in the afternoon.

Li Dakang sat on the platform, a nameplate in front of him, his expression serious, his gaze fixed straight ahead. Today he wore a dark gray suit, a white shirt, and a navy blue tie, looking sharp and energetic.

No one could tell that he had barely slept a wink last night.

The meeting began at 2:00 PM sharp.

The meeting was chaired by Liu Zhiyuan, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee. He first introduced the attending leaders, and then invited Wu Chunlin to speak. Wu Chunlin's voice was not loud, but carried the composure and sense of propriety characteristic of an organization cadre, and he spoke calmly and unhurriedly.

"According to the decision of the Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Yi Xuexi will serve as a member of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee, a member of the Standing Committee, and Secretary of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection. Comrade Yi Xuexi is politically steadfast and principled. He has been trained in multiple positions and is familiar with the situation at the grassroots level. During his tenure as acting mayor of Lüzhou, he dared to take responsibility and confront difficulties head-on, achieving remarkable results. The Provincial Party Committee believes that Comrade Yi Xuexi is suitable to serve as Secretary of the Jingzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the audience.

"Jingzhou is the provincial capital and holds a particularly important position in the overall work of the province. The discipline inspection and supervision work in Jingzhou is related to the purification of the political environment of the provincial capital and the implementation of the decisions and plans of the provincial party committee. We hope that after Comrade Yi Xuexi takes office, he will quickly familiarize himself with the situation, assume his role, and perform his duties in accordance with regulations, discipline, and law, so as to promote the high-quality development of discipline inspection and supervision work in Jingzhou. We also hope that the comrades of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection will actively support Comrade Yi Xuexi's work and work together to ensure that the work of building a clean and honest party and combating corruption in Jingzhou is carried out effectively."

The speech was short, just over ten minutes. It was clearly structured, its tone unequivocal, and covered all the key points—Yi Xuexi's resume, responsibilities, abilities, and the importance of the Jingzhou Discipline Inspection Commission's work. The audience listened attentively; some jotted down notes, some stared blankly at the stage, and some scrutinized Yi Xuexi.

After Wu Chunlin finished speaking, Liu Zhiyuan invited Li Dakang to speak.

Li Dakang didn't bring a speech. He moved the microphone closer to him, leaned forward slightly, and scanned the audience. His gaze was heavy, as if it had weight, and those whose eyes were swept over him unconsciously sat up straighter.

"Comrades," his voice was not loud, but clear, with Li Dakang's characteristic decisiveness, "today's meeting is to send off Comrade Yi Xuexi to his post. I have three things to say."

"First, Comrade Yi Xuexi was my old squad leader more than 20 years ago. When I was the county head of Jinshan County, he was the county party secretary. Back then, we built roads together. He was at the forefront, and I was pushing from behind. Once the road was completed, the villagers of Jinshan County no longer had to walk on muddy roads to get to the city. I know his ability, character, and sense of responsibility."

Someone in the audience stirred slightly. Li Dakang used the term "old squad leader" in public, a very intimate way of addressing Yi Xuexi. It was both an affirmation of Yi Xuexi's past achievements and a signal to everyone—this is someone I can trust.

"Secondly, Jingzhou is the provincial capital, and the responsibility for discipline inspection and supervision is significant. In recent years, the majority of cadres in Jingzhou have been good, but some problems have also emerged. Everyone knows about the cases of Zhang Shuli, and before that, Chen Qingquan and Ding Yizhen. The provincial party committee's dispatch of Comrade Yi Xuexi demonstrates its high regard for Jingzhou. We hope that Comrade Yi Xuexi will work diligently, and the municipal party committee will resolutely support the discipline inspection commission in performing its duties in accordance with regulations, discipline, and law. No matter who is involved, we will investigate to the end and never tolerate any wrongdoing."

The words were spoken rather bluntly. The discipline inspection cadres in the audience straightened up slightly. The six words, "No matter who is involved," carried considerable weight coming from the municipal party secretary. Especially at this critical juncture, when Zhang Shuli had just been taken away and morale within the discipline inspection system was wavering, these words were both a statement of support and a reassurance.

"Third," Li Dakang paused, his tone softening slightly, "I hope that all Party organizations and the discipline inspection and supervision system at all levels in the city will fully support Comrade Yi Xuexi's work. The Discipline Inspection Commission is not an isolated island, and discipline inspection and supervision work is not just the responsibility of the Discipline Inspection Commission alone, but the common responsibility of all Party organizations at all levels in the city. Everyone should work together with one mind and one goal to maintain and build a good political environment in Jingzhou."

He finished speaking, in less than five minutes. His speech was concise and to the point, without a single superfluous word.

Applause erupted from the audience. Li Dakang didn't clap along; he picked up his water glass, took a sip, and his gaze fell on the documents on the table.

Next, Easy Learning will make a statement.

Yi Xuexi stood up, bowed slightly to the audience, then sat down and moved the microphone closer. He was still wearing his gray jacket, his hair was short and stiff, and his face was stern.

“Respected Minister Wu, Secretary Li, comrades,” his voice was not loud but very clear: “I fully support and resolutely obey the decision of the Provincial Party Committee. From Lüzhou to Jingzhou, from the Municipal Government to the Discipline Inspection Commission, my position has changed, but my responsibility has not changed—I am working for the Party and serving the people.”

"Jingzhou is the provincial capital, holding an important position and facing complex circumstances. The work of discipline inspection and supervision is of great responsibility and glorious mission. Before I came here, Secretary Tian Guofu of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection spoke with me specifically and put forward clear requirements for me. Secretary Sha Ruijin of the Provincial Party Committee also gave important instructions on the discipline inspection and supervision work in Jingzhou at the Standing Committee meeting. I would like to make a statement here—I will definitely follow the requirements of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, and the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee, perform my duties diligently, enforce discipline impartially, and live up to the trust of the organization and the expectations of my comrades."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the audience.

"Discipline inspection and supervision organs are the Party's discipline force. To forge iron, one must be strong oneself. I will take the lead in abiding by Party discipline and national laws, in maintaining integrity and self-discipline, and in accepting supervision. All discipline inspection and supervision cadres in the city should also demand higher standards and stricter discipline of themselves, and be loyal, clean, and responsible. Whatever I require others to do, I will do first; whatever I forbid others to do, I will resolutely refrain from doing. Please supervise me."