Chapter 394: Chapter 381: Shocking the whole city_1
As Lei Dingguo’s voice fell, Nie Zhenbang, with a smile on his face, stepped onto the stage. First, he bowed slightly towards the presidium, then to the entire auditorium, bowing his gratitude to all the People’s Congress representatives present.

This act was met with thunderous applause. Li Guohua’s expression was very displeased, his face ashen. It was not easy to orchestrate the ticket-skipping incident, but it was dissolved by Ning Shouchang without shape. It’s predictable that there will be disagreements between Fan Changsheng and himself. Moreover, it’s possible that Fan Changsheng and Nie Zhenbang would join forces; after all, fundamentally, Fan Changsheng should belong to Shen Yanshuo’s direct line.

If the ticket skipping had been successful, whether Fan Changsheng would become the secretary of the Municipal Party Committee wouldn’t have mattered to Li Guohua. One reason was that he was not the chief of the Municipal Party Committee and thus had less responsibility to bear; another reason was that he was taken care of by the Li family, so Li Guohua would not have any troubles. But what about Fan Changsheng’s wellbeing? Does that matter to Li Guohua?

However, since the ticket skipping failed, Li Guohua is now in a precarious situation. Fan Changsheng is not a fool, he would certainly understand the crux of the matter. Nevertheless, knowing that someone is out to harm him, even if he’s only an indirect victim, is unacceptable.

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang had a touch of a calm smile on his face, the mannerism of a winner. Li Guohua had lost everything, and Nie Zhenbang had no reason not to be happy. Li Guohua had always been calm and refined, with an elegant demeanor. But now, he had finally been pestered to the point of being irrational by Nie Zhenbang, and this in itself was a victory.

Nie Zhenbang had no notes in his hands. This speech was going to be extemporaneous, further earning him the respect of others. Not everyone could give an extemporaneous speech and stick to the theme, giving an outstanding performance required a wealth of knowledge and was a testament to one’s ability.

Even though no one knew what Nie Zhenbang’s speech would entail, his courage was admired by all. The People’s Congress representatives in attendance all applauded him, encouraging his daring.

Nie Zhenbang bowed again, and then said, “Honorable Governor Ning Shouchang, Secretary Fan Changsheng, comrades, first of all, I would like to thank the 1,862 People’s Congress Representatives of Liangxi City for their trust and support. Honestly, I was very reluctant to become the mayor of Liangxi City.”

These words instantly left many of the congress representatives dumbfounded, agape in surprise. As for the city leaders like Ning Shouchang, however, they took his words in stride, exhibiting the calm demeanor leaders are expected to have.

Nie Zhenbang then followed up with a cool smile, “Why was I reluctant? Because the economic development in our Liangxi City is simply too good. Out of the five districts and two cities within our jurisdiction, three are listed as part of the country’s top 100 economically powerful counties. Our city’s total GDP ranks first in the province, even surpassing Jiangzhou City. That a prefecture-level city could surpass a provincial capital is unique to our Jiangbei Province and our city Liangxi.”

His words were full of praise. Everyone likes to hear praises about their children’s accomplishments, no matter how small or big. Likewise, everyone likes to hear someone lauding their hometown. Therefore, Nie Zhenbang’s words strongly resonated with the congress representatives present.

“On hearing this, you might wonder, with such a great economic environment, why wouldn’t I want to accept the post? Because, the better the economy of a place is, the harder it is to make political achievements. If you’re in an impoverished place like New Li City, then those accomplishments look very conspicuous. However, in Liangxi City, they would not.”

This statement, said in jest, added a humorous flavor to Nie Zhenbang’s speech, which immediately gained him much more approval amongst the audience.

Nie Zhenbang then continued, “That’s why I was greatly reluctant but also apprehensive on assuming this post. I thank all six million citizens of the city for their trust and support. This is both my pressure and motivation. I will be humble and diligent, dedicated at work, hoping to leave something meaningful for the people, and for Liangxi during my tenure…”

After that, Nie Zhenbang’s speech became even more exciting, filled with a variety of exquisite words that all aligned with the speech’s current topic. This fully demonstrated Nie Zhenbang’s profound literacy. In the end, as Nie Zhenbang concluded in an orthodox manner, all the People’s Congress representatives present stood up and gave him rapturous applause.

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang had won over everyone present. Even if someone questioned Nie Zhenbang’s election at this point, no one would believe them.

After the meeting adjourned, Ning Shouchang attended the group discussions of People’s Congress representative delegations from Zisha City and Yanling City the next day. In Zisha City, a proposal was made to modernize and industrialize the traditional industry of Zisha teaware, which received high praise from Ning Shouchang.

In this regard, Ning Shouchang was anything but conservative, not at all cushioning the impact simply because Ning Zhiyuan was his son. Fan Changsheng and Nie Zhenbang also participated in the group discussions from several districts.

The next morning, Ning Shouchang left Liangxi City amidst the farewell of all the leading members of the Liangxi City Committee. With that, the People’s Congress meeting in Liangxi City concluded smoothly.

…

City Committee Office Building

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang stood at the office door of Fan Changsheng, knocked on the door. The door opened, and Fan Changsheng’s secretary, Wang Mingxuan, stood up enthusiastically. “Mayor Nie is here, please come in.”

Entering the room again, Nie Zhenbang’s feeling was somewhat different from before. He smiled and said, “Secretary Wang, you seem busy.”

Just as his voice fell, the office door opened from inside. Fan Changsheng stood at the door, smiling broadly. Seeing Nie Zhenbang, he was very enthusiastic. “Mayor Zhenbang is here, please come in.” He also instructed Wang Mingxuan “Wang, when Mayor Zhenbang comes in the future, there will be no need to notify, just let him in.”

Compared with the past, Fan Changsheng’s change after the People’s Congress was very significant. Nie Zhenbang smiled in his heart but didn’t say it out. At the People’s Congress, Fan Changsheng was tricked by Li Guohua. No one would accept such a thing, let alone a proud person like Fan Changsheng.

Walking into the office, Fan Changsheng personally poured a cup of water for Nie Zhenbang. Then he sat on his chair, smiled lightly and said, “Mayor Zhenbang, are you here for the matter of Qingfang City?”

Nie Zhenbang smiled and said, “Secretary Fan, the disciplinary inspection team of the city is squatting at the Spinning Group. I think there will be no big moves in half a month. This time I mainly have some personnel matters, and I want to talk and discuss with Secretary Fan.”

Having said that, Nie Zhenbang took out a stack of documents from his bag and handed them to Fan Changsheng, then casually sat down.

This year is the restructuring year of the county and city People’s Congress. The respective officers of all departments directly under the city have also reached the key period of adjustment. As the mayor, Nie Zhenbang naturally has to undertake this major task.

Hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Fan Changsheng’s face became serious. Although because of Li Guohua’s rash actions, the relationship between Fan Changsheng and Nie Zhenbang had been much eased. However, once the critical issue of personnel assignments was involved, Fan Changsheng began to pay attention.

Taking the documents from Nie Zhenbang, Fan Changsheng was taken aback on opening them. Including the Planning Commission, the Economic Commission, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and other city departments, there were a total of twenty city bureau-level administrative heads who received nominations. Except for a few who were not adjusted, all the others were newcomers. Nie Zhenbang was making a big move.

Among them, what caught Fan Changsheng’s attention most were Nie Zhenbang’s people. Aside from Xiong Wei who had already been transferred to act as the district head of Xishan District, others such as Liu Qingquan, Ni Kezhi, and Tan Miaozhen had minor changes to their positions. For instance, Liu Qingquan was promoted to be the executive deputy director of the Finance Bureau, Ni Kezhi was transferred from the Veterans Bureau to the Personnel Bureau to replace Tan Miaozhen’s position as the bureau chief. Tan Miaozhen was transferred to be the director of the Land and Resources Bureau. Other positions were evenly distributed among the several standing committee members of the City Committee. There were three people for Deputy Secretary Zhu Zhuozhen, Lei Dingguo and Huang Jiang had two people each, and there were few cadre who really were capable and talented, such as the nominated director of the Foreign Investment Bureau Guo Taibo, the nominated director of the Planning Commission Zhang Lifeng, and the nominated director of the Agriculture Bureau Huang Genbao.

In addition, his own proteges occupied many important positions in this round. For instance, for the position of director of the Finance Bureau, the candidate nominated by Nie Zhenbang was Ren Yong, the current Deputy District Head of Liangjiang District. Everyone knew that Ren Yong was his own man.

After looking over the entire adjustment plan, Fan Changsheng also fell into deep thought. What does Nie Zhenbang mean with this move? Is he trying to share interests equally? Judging from the total adjustment, among members of the City Committee standing committee, except for Huang Junshan and Li Guohua who did not gain tangible benefits, all other leaders received some benefits to a lesser or greater degree. But he got the lion’s share.

Hurting himself to benefit others? Fan Changsheng immediately vetoed this idea. Although Nie Zhenbang was not a vicious person, he definitely would not be a good person either. In such a cruel political struggle, Nie Zhenbang was able to rise smoothly. While his background was an important factor, his own strength was also an unignorable factor. Such a person would never let others take advantage.

With this thought, Fan Changsheng seemed to see some clues. He was a bit surprised. Nie Zhenbang played his hand cleverly. If he had arranged only his own people, regardless of whether Nie Zhenbang had so many people at hand, even if he did, other standing committee members would not agree. But now with equal sharing of interests, everyone was happy and no one would object. Only Li Guohua and Huang Junshan wouldn’t be able to make waves. On the other hand, this plan was proposed by Nie Zhenbang. It was unanimously approved with no alterations. The impact this would have on Nie Zhenbang was huge.

At this moment, Fan Changsheng also put away his contempt for Nie Zhenbang. After hesitating for a while, Fan Changsheng also made a decision. He smiled and said, “Mayor Zhenbang, this proposal is very good. All aspects are taken into consideration, and the ability of cadres themselves is fully considered. I think it can be discussed and approved at this standing committee meeting.”

Fan Changsheng hesitated for a while before choosing to support. The matter at the People’s Congress and his relationship with Li Guohua were very tense. Now Fan Changsheng needed to repair his relationship with Nie Zhenbang, and he had to make some concessions. Moreover, he got the biggest benefits, so he naturally had no reason did not refuse.

Soon, with Fan Changsheng’s support, Nie Zhenbang gained the approval of Huang Jiang, Zhu Zhuozhen, and Lei Dingguo. At the standing committee meeting of the City Committee, Nie Zhenbang’s proposal to nominate twenty city bureau leaders was unanimously approved and immediately caused a huge sensation throughout the city. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to the starting point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)