Power and Wealth

Afternoon.

Office, small conference room.

The second County Party Committee meeting of the month is about to convene.

In addition to the county committee office staff arranging the meeting room, Dong Xuebing is the first county leader to arrive. After entering the room, he sits at his designated seat, holding a thermos cup from his office. Dong Xuebing leisurely drinks tea, calming his thoughts and moistening his throat.

One sip…

Two sips…

Three sips…

Why moisten the throat? There might be a battle later, and he must be prepared.

Dong Xuebing is currently the main "firepower" in the Jiang faction. Jiang Fangfang's personality doesn't need to be mentioned. It's hard to imagine her getting into a heated argument with someone, and it's unlikely to happen in this lifetime. As for Pu An and Jian Xiangrong, who manage their respective departments, many decisions and votes involve them, but they rarely have a say. They are not particularly talkative people. As for Chu Peng, the Political and Legal Committee secretary whose wife was recently saved by Dong Xuebing, Dong Xuebing doesn't know much about Old Chu's situation. It seems he has sided with Jiang Fangfang, but after all the twists and turns, Dong Xuebing is not sure how much Chu Peng will contribute. So, despite the apparent rise of the Jiang faction with more senior leaders joining, almost all of the roles in the Party Committee's bombardment and debate are played by Dong Xuebing alone.

No choice.

Who asks Dong Xuebing to be so eloquent?

After waiting for a while, people gradually entered the meeting room.

"Oh, Mayor Dong, so early?" Pu An arrived first.

"Yeah, came a bit early." Dong Xuebing chuckled.

Pu An sniffed, "What tea are you drinking? It smells so good? Just the aroma of good tea."

"What good tea?" Organization Department Minister Liao Haiwei also entered the meeting room, looking very relaxed.

Pu An laughed and said to Dong Xuebing, "Old Liao is a tea enthusiast. You must protect your tea leaves when mentioning tea in front of him."

Dong Xuebing said, "Mao Jian, perhaps, I don't know, just drinking randomly."

Liao Haiwei moved his nose and made a deep "Hmm," "It should be West Lake Longjing, the finest kind. Good tea, good tea."

A susceptible nose.

He hasn't tasted it yet.

Pu An laughed, "I was just saying."

Dong Xuebing said casually, "Director Liao if you like it, I'll have my secretary get you half a catty later."

"Don't, half a catty is too much." Liao Haiwei was not polite either. "Just give me one or two taels. I'll also get you some good tea leaves later; I can't take advantage of you."

In the past few Party Committee meetings, Dong Xuebing and many leaders from the Meng faction were "scolded" into a mess, almost tearing their faces each time, except for Deputy Secretary Zhang Wanshui, who had a significant conflict with Dong Xuebing, and other Meng faction leaders could still exchange a few words privately with Dong Xuebing. They could get along on the surface, make jokes, and even have a meal together without significant problems. This was the norm in government offices. Because they belonged to different factions, they couldn't cut off all communication in private.

Later, Chu Peng also arrived. "Secretary Chu is here?" Dong Xuebing said.

Chu Peng looked at him, "Heard that your office has moved to the Investment Promotion Bureau? Are you working as a receptionist at the front desk? Is that true?"

Publicity Department Minister Cheng Fuguang added, "Hehe, I heard about it too, Mayor Dong. You're doing everything yourself, right?"

There haven't even been any interviews by the TV station. Doing political shows by yourself is meaningless. Cheng Fuguang is in the propaganda field, so he naturally thinks of these things first. There was also a slight hint of sarcasm in his words.

Dong Xuebing said, "There is such a thing, but there's no other way. Our Investment Publicity Bureau has few people. Only four of us are from the director to the office clerk. I have to go when there's a promotional event in the city. Director Cheng, we can't compare with you. I heard that your Publicity Department has many people. How about lending me a few temporarily?"

Cheng Fuguang quickly said, "No, we are short of people, too." In the government, connections can be borrowed, but people are not something that can be borrowed casually. There is no such process. Dong Xuebing’s sentence made Cheng Fuguang go back to his seat. Cheng Fuguang knew he couldn't argue with this guy. Who knows what the following sentence would be if he accepted this sentence? If the following sentence continued to escalate and provoke him, Cheng Fuguang didn't know what offensive words Dong Xuebing was waiting to say. Cheng Fuguang stopped talking to Dong Xuebing and started chatting with Liao Haiwei. Everyone had long experienced Dong Xuebing's infamous big mouth.

One by one, people arrived.

The last to come in were naturally Meng Rui and Jiang Fangfang.

Meng Rui's first words upon entering were directed at Chu Peng. Walking past him, he asked, "Old Chu, how is your wife's health?"ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ɴovelꜰɪre.ɴet

Chu Peng replied, "She's about to have the stitches removed. She's recovering well."

Meng Rui nodded slightly, "That's good," and then sat at the top.

Dong Xuebing glanced at Secretary Meng Rui and continued to sip his tea.

Secretary Meng's secretary, Zhang Feng, was the last to close the door. He handed out a stack of documents individually, containing the agenda for today's meeting.

Secretary Meng cleared his throat, "Let's begin." Everyone immediately straightened up, and their spirits lifted.

Initially, the meeting covered routine matters, mainly assessing the execution of various plans and programs formulated by the county at the beginning of the year. There were also readings of documents and ideological instructions from the province and city, interpreting policies. There was little disagreement, and it was a dull meeting lasting more than an hour. Most of the time, Secretary Meng and County Mayor Jiang gave speeches, which was tedious. Dong Xuebing was nearly falling asleep, sipping tea with a dazed look; he didn't even have a chance to engage in verbal battles.

Around three pm, a topic related to Dong Xuebing finally emerged.

"Next, let's talk about investment promotion," Secretary Meng turned to the next page of the meeting documents. "The city's investment promotion conference is in four days. Mayor Dong, how is your side preparing?"

Dong Xuebing put down his teacup, "We are actively preparing."

Secretary Meng looked at him, "For this investment promotion conference, how confident are you in attracting investment?"

Dong Xuebing had previously assured Jiang Fangfang with complete confidence. However, when the Party secretary asked, he unexpectedly replied, "We have no confidence."

Secretary Meng frowned, "No confidence?"

Zhang Wanshui fired the first shot. Due to the incident where Dong Xuebing disrupted his son's wedding, he had a grudge against Dong Xuebing. "Investment promotion falls under your jurisdiction, and if you have no confidence, how can the people below work? This is not a matter of confidence; it's an issue of attitude and ideology."

Dong Xuebing was not polite to him either, staring at him and saying, "Secretary Zhang if I give your department only four people and allocate fifty thousand, do you have the confidence to show me something? That's not confidence; that's blindness! If there's a problem with my attitude and ideology, I wouldn't have moved my office to the Investment Promotion Bureau today. With only four people, we are so busy that we can't find our way around. No one answered the phone, and I even had to work as a receptionist at the front desk! I have done what I should do, and I have done what I can. I want to hear where the problem lies in my attitude and ideology."

Zhang Wanshui was about to curse. Damn, you always have something to say!

Dong Xuebing's eloquence was not just about using foul language and cursing; his strength lay in countering any accusation and even standing on the moral high ground, making it difficult for others to find faults and respond.

"No money, no people," Dong Xuebing shrugged, looking at Secretary Meng. "Secretary Meng, now I'm a skilled cook without rice."

Everyone could tell that Dong Xuebing was hinting at the need for policy support by complaining about being poor.

Cheng Fuguang said, "The Investment Promotion Department has never achieved outstanding results. The organization certainly needs streamlining, and four people are not few. You…"

Dong Xuebing interrupted, "Are four people not few? Minister Cheng, is four people enough for you even without your Publicity Department, just your direct-owned TV station? A station director, a producer, a reporter, and an anchor. Can those four people produce a news program for me to learn from? Achievements? Even if the Investment Promotion Bureau has not attracted much investment in previous years, our advertising revenue, excluding operating costs, is comparable to your TV station, right?"

Cheng Fuguang said, "The nature of our work is fundamentally different. Our television station primarily serves political purposes, while you…"

"How is it different?" Dong Xuebing looked at him and said, "Both serve the people. Why is your Publicity Department considered more noble than our Investment Promotion Bureau?"

Cheng Fuguang retorted, "I didn't say we are noble!"

"Why does any unit from your Publicity Department have so many more people than our Investment Promotion Bureau?" Dong Xuebing began to stir up trouble.

As the Publicity Department head, Cheng Fuguang had a good level of speech; without a prepared speech, he could speak for half an hour without repetition. He was good at talking. After all, it was his profession. However, facing someone like Dong Xuebing, who disregarded reason and confused concepts, Cheng Fuguang was also distressed. He couldn't clarify many principles, and in the end, Dong Xuebing even managed to entangle him, making it seem like Cheng Fuguang was in the wrong. The two argued for a long time, and Cheng Fuguang did not get a word. He was exhausted and angry every time he spoke to Dong Xuebing; each conversation made him feel like he had been twisted around Dong Xuebing's finger.

Having successfully argued with two people in a row, Dong Xuebing was dominant. He took the opportunity to address everyone, "Everyone, the situation at our Investment Promotion Bureau should be clear to all. Without an independent office building, funds, and personnel, not to mention competing with the Education Bureau or Health Bureau, we can't even compare with the Cultural Bureau. I also want confidence in attracting more investment at this city's investment promotion conference, but the objective conditions exist. I have no way."

Secretary Meng said, "The county is short of money, and every department lacks funds."

Dong Xuebing said, "Lack of money is a small matter. When funds are tight, we can split one penny into two halves to spend. But the main issue is the shortage of personnel."