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

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Chunhua, are you... serious?"

"Dad, why would I lie to you? You don't know, when Chen Luo and Tian Guofu arrived in Handong last night, I went to greet them with all my heart. That was giving them enough face."

But... they just ignored me and walked right past me, completely disregarding me.

Speaking of today, at an anti-corruption publicity meeting, I, the secretary, felt like an outsider. Chen Luo stood on the stage giving orders, and the people below were all obediently following him.

Dad, why don't you talk to the higher-ups? Get the supervisory team to leave Handong as soon as possible. It's just a case of museum embezzlement, we in Handong can investigate it ourselves!

We guarantee to get to the bottom of this!

"Chunhua, why don't you bear with it a little longer? After all, Chen Luo and Tian Guofu won't stay in Handong for too long."

"Dad, I can't stand it anymore!"

I've never felt so wronged in my life! And that Lu Yun, he's absolutely infuriating! He's always going against me, constantly eyeing my position as secretary. He's a complete treacherous villain!

"Sigh, I'll give it a try. After all, I've been retired for over ten years, and it's hard to say whether the higher-ups would still be willing to listen to my suggestions. But I can ask your Brother Ma for you."

"Okay, Dad, thank you!"

"No need to thank me, we're father and son. But Chunhua, you've had such a smooth journey. I took care of you before I retired, and your uncles took care of you after I retired. Now your brother Ma has been promoted to Xinjiang Province."

You're not young anymore, you're sixty-two, yet you still don't have a very clear understanding of power struggles and the ways of officialdom.

“Dad, don’t worry. In two years, I’ll be able to get a job like Sha Ruijin. Anyway, it’ll just be a sinecure, so I don’t have to worry about being targeted.”

"Okay, okay, you're right, I'll hang up now."

Originally, Chen Luo's arrival in Handong was not a matter of great concern to anyone except the highest-ranking officials. However, Huo Chunhua did something foolish by having his father publicize Chen Luo's "domineering" behavior.

In Whale City, within just a few hours, Huo Chunhua's father had spread the word about Chen Luo's domineering behavior far and wide.

However, everyone is not stupid and cannot just listen to the Huo family's side of the story, so they basically divided into two viewpoints.

One group felt that Chen Luo was indeed domineering and had too deep a foothold in Handong, which had crossed some red lines. Another group felt that Huo Chunhua was simply a complete waste of talent, having served as secretary for two years and still unable to suppress Chen Luo's influence in Handong.

The highest levels of government have their own considerations regarding these discussions.

In a simple and elegant hall, several chairs were arranged like this, and among the people sitting there, Secretary Li took the lead.

"The Huo family actually feels wronged. Over the years, we have spoiled these veteran comrades too much, taking care of their children and their ideas. Yes, our consistent approach is to listen to the opinions of veteran comrades and learn from their experience."

But shouldn't we differentiate between these kinds of things from now on? We can't listen to every opinion, nor can we turn a blind eye to every request, can we?

As Secretary Li finished speaking, the elderly man sitting above him took over the conversation.

“We really can’t keep indulging him. Is Comrade Chen Luo domineering? To be honest, he is indeed strong-willed, but Huo Chunhua is just a silver spear with a candle on top, all show and no substance.”

No wonder Handong's development momentum has slowed down in the past two years.

“It’s a good thing to be able to discover the problem. When Comrade Chen Luo returns to Whale, we’ll hear his evaluation of Huo Chunhua.”

Putting everything else aside, I believe Comrade Chen Luo's assessment is the most objective.

The group nodded, indicating their agreement to the proposal.

In Handong, Chen Luo had no idea that he had become famous among the higher-ups, but even if he did, he wouldn't care.

What does it matter to him if others are useless?

Wada Kunifu walked along the streets of Jingzhou, looking around. In the two years that had passed, Jingzhou had hardly changed at all; Chen Luo, for one, couldn't see any difference.

As they walked, the two came to an old street.

This is the old urban area of ​​Jingzhou City.

From a distance, Chen Luo and Tian Guofu could see a crowd gathered ahead, but they couldn't quite make out what they were watching through the crowd.

The two, along with their staff, stepped forward and finally managed to squeeze through the crowd to see what was inside.

This is a pork stall, but it looks like it's temporary. The people watching are all local residents, and they're all smiling as they buy meat from the pork stall owner.

"The meat looks like the kind of meat that's fed cooked food in the countryside."

Chen Luo and Tian Guofu glanced at the crowd and were about to leave when a car from the Municipal Market Supervision Bureau drove up, stopped, and five or six staff members got out and forcibly pushed through the crowd.

"Do you have a slaughtering license? Do you have a quarantine certificate?"

The first thing they asked was whether the procedure was compliant.

The pork stall owner was dumbfounded.

He stammered, "Do I need these certificates to slaughter my own pig?"

"Killing it for personal consumption is fine, but selling it is not!"

"I don't know, could you be lenient? Can you not sell it next time?"

Chapter 496 Life and death are all contained in the pen!

Chen Luo and Tian Guofu heard the conversation between the pork stall owner and several market supervision bureau staff members very clearly.

Neither of them stepped forward; they couldn't handle such a matter. However, after thinking for a moment, Chen Luo turned to Tian Guofu and asked, "Secretary Guofu, do you think the problem lies with the policy, its implementation, or the humanity of the people?"

This question left Tian Guofu speechless.

He frowned, thought for a moment, and replied, "Let's just talk about this policy. The starting point for making the policy is good."

The market needs regulation. Although we don't usually buy vegetables at the market, that doesn't mean we are completely unaware of the situation.

Those unscrupulous merchants sell pork as normal slaughtered pork in the market, regardless of whether it's diseased, plagued, or frozen for several years.

Objectively speaking, setting quarantine standards and designating slaughterhouses can effectively curb such situations. However, while the policy's intentions are good, its implementation is fraught with difficulties.

Putting aside other things, can't rural residents also be required to provide quarantine certificates when they slaughter their own pigs?

If rural areas are not required to follow the policy, then the implementation in cities will be compromised and will not be taken seriously.

Furthermore, it does increase costs and waste time; by the time the whole process is completed, even the pigs are starving.

Large-scale slaughter is one thing, but when small-scale vendors do the same, it makes everyone uncomfortable.

Chen Luo nodded. Tian Guofu's words were very tactful, offending no one.

"That makes sense, but we can be more meticulous. I don't really approve of designated slaughterhouses; it's too one-size-fits-all."

Large-scale slaughter is acceptable, but for small-scale operations, the animals can be handled by the slaughterhouse after quarantine. A standard could be established where animals slaughtering three or five or more per day are slaughtered at designated locations, while animals slaughtering only one or two per day only need to be quarantined. The community, township, and village committees could even be responsible for routine test strip quarantine.

For businesses that sell on a small scale over a long period, random inspections can be conducted periodically to ensure food safety without rendering policies ineffective and adding burden to the public.

Tian Guofu listened very carefully and had to admit that Chen Luo's idea was feasible.

"Secretary Chen, I must say, your proposal is very constructive in balancing policy implementation and the convenience of the people!"

Chen Luo rolled her eyes. Was this some kind of forced self-praise?

The two quickly left the old street. Chen Luo and Tian Guofu drove around the entire Jingzhou all afternoon. If there was a problem, it was true!

Luzhou and Jingzhou are not far apart. During Chen Luo's administration, Luzhou's industrial layout was mainly focused on high-end manufacturing with high added value. In order not to compete with Luzhou, Jingzhou set its sights on the tertiary industry, tourism, services, and finance.

However, after Li Dakang retired in the past two years, Jingzhou's strategic layout has completely changed. It also wanted to learn from Luzhou to develop high-precision manufacturing, and continuously introduced talents and technologies, trying to replicate Luzhou's successful experience. The result was disastrous.

This has not only prevented the development of high-tech industries, but has also affected the tertiary sector, resulting in inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of municipal funds. It can only be described as a man-made disaster!

Having reached a conclusion, Chen Luo fell silent.

If it weren't for human error, it would be fine, but now it seems that the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee and Government, and even the Handong Provincial Party Committee and Government, bear responsibility. They were so focused on the struggle that they never considered these industrial layout issues.

Once this matter is brought to the top, Chen Luo knows with his eyes closed that the Hantong Provincial Committee will undergo a major reshuffle.

Before they knew it, it was evening. Back at the hotel, Chen Luo was making notes in his room.

Regardless, in reality, Handong cannot continue this disorderly competition.

Just then, the phone on the table rang.

I picked it up and saw that it was a call from Secretary Li.

"Hey, Secretary Li, it's so late, aren't you resting yet?"

"Is it late? It's only about 8:30 now. You're just spouting platitudes without even checking the time. By the way, let's not talk about this anymore. How does it feel to be back in Handong?"

I've heard that some people, upon returning to Handong, immediately suppressed the current Party Secretary, forming cliques and only listening to one voice—that of you, Secretary Chen.

Upon hearing this, Chen Luo pursed his lips but remained unperturbed.

"Secretary Li, did you hear what that bastard said?"

"Oh? You admit the other party is a bastard? Do you know that after your meeting this morning, Huo Chunhua's father, Huo Qiguang, who has been retired for more than ten years, started spreading rumors that you control Handong?"

"Um, Secretary Li, you've already said it's a rumor, so why bother with it? It's not the first or second time that people have held a grudge and spread rumors behind my back. I'm used to it."

"Alright, enough with the small talk. We've been in Handong for a whole day now. Tell me your impressions of the current leadership team in Handong. Be objective and truthful, understand?"

"Secretary Li, rest assured, there will be absolutely no personal feelings involved."

"Okay, we believe you!"

"Secretary Li, to be honest, I think there are problems with the current leadership of Handong."

Generally speaking, it is quite common for the governor and the party secretary to have conflicts and disagreements. However, this phenomenon is somewhat serious in Handong. The main reason for this is that Handong's economy is too large. Even if someone is incompetent, the organization will still let them reap the rewards once they take the party secretary's position.

The fruit looks so tempting!

The two men were so focused on their power struggle for the Party Secretary position that the entire Handong district was divided into three factions: the neutral faction left over from the previous term, the Party Secretary's faction, and the Governor's faction. I wouldn't say that all these factions neglected the importance of their own work, but in reality, Handong's work was sidelined, and the strategic planning was terrible!

"Alas! It seems the situation is more serious than we thought. Comrade Chen Luo, if you were to make the decision, would you consider changing commanders at the last minute?"

Chen Luo paused for a moment when asked this question.

"Secretary Li, I..."

"Don't be nervous. You are a key link in Handong's economic take-off. Handong's current development is inseparable from your hard work. You have the right to discuss this!"

Chen Luo took a deep breath and then said, "To be honest, from a personal point of view, I would like to remove these people from their posts now. However, from a practical point of view, changing leaders at the last minute is not the best policy. Moving the Party Secretary and the Governor at the same time would have too much of an impact."

Moreover, who can guarantee that the new comrade who takes over won't repeat this vicious cycle?

Therefore, I personally prefer to give them a warning and observe them for a period of time. If they still don't repent, then we'll replace the one with the worse performance. Of course, if both are incorrigible, then we'll have to replace them all!

"Okay, Comrade Chen Luo, I will relay your opinion to the others. While you are here, please observe the situation in Handong for a few more days and give us a comprehensive report when you return."