In name only: I will break the chess game in Handong

"I don't know the specific details, but according to the information, the provincial government's party group meeting yesterday was about the approval of fiscal funds and the division of responsibilities."

The approval of the fiscal funds was proposed by Comrade Dagong and Comrade Qi Quansheng regarding the funds needed for the centralized management of small vendors in various parts of Handong, amounting to only a few hundred million yuan.

However, Governor Jianjun refused to approve it, so Comrade Dagong argued with Governor Jianjun, and the result was...

"Just because of this?"

Chen Luo was stunned. What was there to stop or not stop? A few hundred million yuan was nothing to the provincial government. Why would they stop the money?

"Of course not, there's also the division of labor."

Recently, Comrade Yun Haifeng has concurrently served as Vice Governor, and Governor Jianjun plans to take this opportunity to further adjust the division of responsibilities within the provincial government. This is what has truly shaken Comrade Dagong and his ilk, even to the point of direct confrontation.

"That makes sense."

"Yes, but the fact that this hasn't been made public means that the provincial government doesn't want to make a big deal out of it. Let's just treat it as entertainment."

The two chatted for a few more minutes, about trivial matters, and ten minutes later Chen Luo left Gao Yuliang's office and returned to the Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

Friday morning!

At 9:30 a.m., Chen Luo arrived at the Provincial Procuratorate on time to inspect its work. At the main gate, Ji Changming, the chief procurator of the Provincial Procuratorate, remained calm until he saw Chen Luo's car drive in. Only then did a smile appear on his face.

He strode forward and, before Ji Changming could open the car door, Chen Luo pushed open the back door and got out himself.

Looking at Ji Changming, Chen Luo maintained a gentle tone, "Comrade Changming, I'm sorry to have kept you and your comrades waiting."

Ji Changming smiled and shook his head, then shook hands with Chen Luo and said, "Secretary Chen, we just came downstairs."

Chen Luo nodded, then shook hands with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lin Guoping, and also with Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Chief Prosecutor of Jingzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate Zhong Xiaoai.

"Comrade Xiao Ai, are you settling in well at the procuratorate?"

Chen Luo's face remained expressionless, while Zhong Xiaoai nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern, Secretary Chen. My work at the procuratorate is going smoothly."

Chen Luo didn't respond. Asking wasn't out of concern, but for work purposes. Zhong Zhengguo's only condition for early retirement was that the organization not make things difficult for his daughter. Chen Luo and the others were all rule-abiding citizens, and regardless of whether it was insincere or not, they had to be polite.

"Comrade Changming, I think Comrade Xiao Ai is pregnant, isn't she?"

Chen Luo ignored Zhong Xiaoai's words and instead became curious about her large pregnant belly.

I'm four or five months pregnant, and it's normal for my pregnancy to be showing.

Upon hearing this, Ji Changming quickly explained, "Secretary Chen, although Comrade Xiao Ai is single, she has explained to me about the child. It is with her ex-husband, Comrade Hou Liangping."

Chen Luo was somewhat skeptical; things were in complete chaos during that period, and who knew whose it was?

It doesn't matter whose it is, as long as it belongs to Zhong Xiaoai, that's enough.

Seeing Zhong Xiaoai still smiling, Chen Luo's last trace of curiosity vanished.

As with any normal inspection, Chen Luo didn't try anything new. Ji Changming did a good job at the procuratorate. The only pity was that he was about to retire.

"Comrade Changming, you have about a month left before retirement. Do you have any recommendations for the next chief prosecutor?"

Walking down the corridor, Chen Luo and Ji Changming chatted casually. For Chen Luo, this question was just a formality, and Ji Changming understood this as well.

“Secretary Chen, the most suitable person to succeed me right now is Comrade Lin Guoping. He is also a veteran of the political and legal system and is very familiar with the work of the procuratorate. In fact, he has handled most of the work in the past two years. If the organization considers Comrade Guoping, I think the work of the procuratorate will be transitioned smoothly!”

Chen Luo nodded in agreement but did not give a specific response. After all, it was a deputy provincial-level position, and there was a specific quota for each person. Whether Lin Guoping could be promoted depended not only on Handong but also on the Supreme People's Procuratorate!

"It's alright, Comrade Changming. Just make your recommendation to the Supreme People's Procuratorate as usual. Our provincial party committee also respects the organization's opinion."

This statement was essentially meaningless. The work inspection lasted for three hours. After the lunch break, at 2:40 p.m., a meeting of the Standing Committee was held in the small conference room of the Hantong Provincial Party Committee building.

Chen Luo already knew about the agenda for this meeting yesterday. One of the topics was the issue of rectifying corruption among village secretaries and branch secretaries, which Chen Luo raised with Secretary Yu Liang in person yesterday.

One is the feasibility report analysis on the street vendor economy proposed by Zhao Dagong of the provincial government, and the other is the need to vote on the candidates for the Party Secretary and Mayor of Guangming District.

"Secretary Chen, what's the situation in Beiyue?"

As soon as Chen Luo sat down, Li Dakang took the lead in asking questions. At this moment, Sha Ruijin and Zhou Jianjun had not yet arrived, so everyone was quite relaxed.

As soon as the question was raised, everyone looked at Chen Luo.

"The situation in Beiyue is naturally incomparable to that in Handong, but there are some problems that exist in everyone, such as the supervision of village party secretaries. Handong needs to work hard to rectify this aspect!"

Tigers must be hunted, and flies must be swatted too!

Otherwise, with flies buzzing everywhere, we might be able to sleep, but the common people won't.

“I agree with this! According to the information currently available to our provincial discipline inspection commission, cases of village secretaries and other staff members deceiving their superiors and concealing the truth are very common. The reason is that ordinary people do not understand the policies and are unaware of their own rights.”

It's absolutely necessary to rectify the practices of village officials!

After Tian Guofu finished speaking, Wu Chunlin took over the conversation.

“That’s true, but the workload is just too huge. We have tens of thousands of village cadres in Handong. We can’t possibly go down and investigate every single one of them, can we?”

"This isn't simple. Let the local discipline inspection commission investigate!"

"What about the discounts offered by local discipline inspection commissions?"

"Then let's first set up a few investigation teams, open the windows of the local discipline inspection commissions, and let the sunlight shine on them!"

Tian Guofu concluded with this statement, which immediately commanded respect from everyone: those who would turn a knife against you are ruthless.

Who should the sunlight shine on first?

Just then, Sha Ruijin's voice came from the doorway, and then Sha Ruijin and Zhou Jianjun walked into the conference room.

Seeing that no one responded, Sha Ruijin did not feel embarrassed. He sat down in his seat and began to chair the meeting.

Chapter 279 A Rhyme in Officialdom: The Determination to Crack Down

"Comrade Guofu, I just heard you say 'Let the sunshine shine on whom'? Is this topic related to the meeting's content?"

Sha Ruijin asked with a smile, and Tian Guofu didn't hide anything and directly recounted the discussion that everyone had just had.

Upon hearing this, Sha Ruijin nodded.

"Let's continue. The first topic is Comrade Chen Luo's proposal on rectifying rural cadres. I think this is an issue that needs to be taken seriously."

After all, flies can be really annoying sometimes!

"Comrade Guofu, please continue!"

Following Sha Ruijin's instructions, Tian Guofu continued, "The situation at the provincial discipline inspection commission is still quite good, but the work of the discipline inspection commissions at the prefecture and city levels is clearly unsatisfactory. The reason is that these problems have been deeply ingrained for too long!"

Everyone talks about interpersonal relationships and social dynamics, but it's one thing for some of our cadres under the Discipline Inspection Commission not to investigate and supervise comrades in other agencies.

There were even instances of them drinking with other government officials every few days, and some were even worse, calling each other brothers.

As the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, I've long wanted to implement major reforms to the discipline inspection departments at the prefecture, city, and county levels!

Upon hearing this, Wu Chunlin echoed his own opinion.

"The issue of cadres drinking alcohol is also a major problem. Some comrades are very picky about their food. They can't get used to drinking anything other than 53-proof soy sauce, and then they won't do their jobs."

There are also those who use drinking capacity as a measure of ability, and there's still a saying about it circulating online.

What? Those who can drink baijiu (Chinese liquor) but drink beer instead—we can't have those kinds of comrades; those who can drink half a jin (250ml) but drink eight liang (400ml)—we need to cultivate those kinds of comrades…

Listen to this, everyone! What kind of work ethic is this?!

After Wu Chunlin finished speaking, Chen Luo and others followed suit.

"Drinking is one aspect, but other issues should not be underestimated. There was a joke about this in a county under Luzhou some time ago: some cadres don't care about their work. In the morning they are busy with their cars, at noon they are busy with their plates, in the afternoon they are busy with their mahjong tables, and in the evening they are busy with their skirts!"

How many such fourth-level cadres are there in Handong? I think the number is quite high! But how many cases has the local discipline inspection commission handled? Secretary Guo Fu knows this better than anyone.

Tian Guofu sighed.

"I am ashamed! Take my year in Handong for example. Although our anti-corruption work in Handong has been quite good, and we have taken down several officials at the provincial level, it was basically the provincial discipline inspection commission that did the work. The local discipline inspection commission has not really done its job properly. As the secretary of the discipline inspection commission, I should apologize to the provincial party committee!"

Others who didn't usually discuss this joined in the discussion, exposing some of the prevailing practices in the Han Dong officialdom.

Sha Ruijin was very satisfied with the result.

"Ahem, the problems that comrades have just mentioned are all objectively real. If there are problems, we must solve them. But how do we solve them? Just like what Comrade Guofu said when I came in, let the sunshine shine into the Discipline Inspection Commission first!"

I propose that the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection take the lead, and various government departments should select a group of cadres to form several joint investigation teams to conduct inspections in the discipline inspection departments of cities, counties, and various government departments, and strive to rectify the discipline inspection departments of cities and counties within three months!

All disciplinary committee staff who lack strong principles and low work enthusiasm will be dismissed!

Some are being transferred, others are being dismissed. Some people think they have an "iron rice bowl" and act recklessly, but that won't do!

Tian Guofu couldn't be happier to do this. He had long wanted to clean up some of the corrupt officials in the municipal and county discipline inspection commissions, but since it was a matter of great importance, he couldn't do things recklessly.

Now that the will of the entire province is united, it is overwhelming!

"I agree with Secretary Sha's proposal!"

As for the officials seconded from government agencies, I recommend those from the Provincial Public Security Department, the Provincial Procuratorate, the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission's Supervision Office, and the Publicity Department to join the investigation team!

"Many hands make light work, so what do you all think of Comrade Guofu's suggestion?"

Sha Ruijin smiled with narrowed eyes, and everyone nodded.

"Then it's settled. Comrade Guofu, you will personally oversee the implementation of this matter. You must ensure that the discipline inspection commissions at all levels in Handong undergo a complete transformation within three months. After three months, we need to see the results of the discipline inspection commissions' efforts to rectify the official atmosphere in Handong!"

"No problem, Secretary Sha!"

With one issue resolved, another was about to begin. Zhao Dagong had already moved closer to the microphone, and sure enough, Sha Ruijin soon announced the second topic.

"The second topic is the report on the suggestions made by Comrades Qi Quansheng and Dagong regarding the regulation of street vendors."

After Sha Ruijin finished speaking, he looked at Zhou Jianjun beside him with great interest. This issue had caused quite a stir at the provincial government the day before yesterday!

"Secretary Ruijin, Secretary Yuliang, comrades, the reason why Comrade Qi Quansheng and I put forward this report on the regulation of street vendors is very simple: not every ordinary person can have a decent job, and cities are not factories; they need a sense of life and the warmth of human interaction."

Previously, the urban management bureau's attitude towards vendors was to drive them away, but this is not acceptable. Creating a civilized city is not simply a matter of one-size-fits-all measures, but rather requires humane enforcement and regulation.

Originally, I didn't plan to bring this proposal to the provincial party committee meeting, but at the provincial government party group meeting the day before yesterday, Governor Jianjun was not very supportive, and even said that I, Zhao Dagong, was seeking personal gain.

That's a bit hurtful, but even if the provincial government meeting doesn't approve it, Comrade Qi Quansheng and I won't give up. The millions of vendors in Handong need us to speak up for them!

As expected, Zhou Jianjun's face darkened as soon as he said this. When did he ever say he wouldn't speak up for ordinary merchants and common people?

He just disagreed with the budget...

Upon realizing this, Zhou Jianjun's composure crumbled instantly.

"Comrade Dagong! When did I say I wouldn't speak up for the people? You need to provide evidence when you speak. I just temporarily disagree with spending hundreds of millions to set up some kind of centralized night market or street vendor economy. Does that have anything to do with speaking out?"

“Governor Jianjun, you see, you still don’t have the magnanimity that a governor should have. I haven’t even finished speaking yet. You didn’t say it directly, but you won’t even approve the funding. You won’t approve hundreds of millions for regulating vendors, but you just waved your hand and gave the urban management department a budget of over a billion yuan.”