Undercurrents stirred
Liu Fengming and the others were swiftly handed over to the judicial authorities, and the municipal Party committee and government leadership teams returned to their usual rhythm.
In officialdom, however, shifts in the wind were always sensed most keenly.
The assessment team from the municipal Organization Department's Second Cadre Division had barely begun its work before rumors of adjustments to the relevant posts quietly spread through government offices at every level in Jingzhou.
The first place to feel this change was Lin Yanzhou's office. He became busier than before, with a marked increase in calls for appointments and requests for visits.
Two days earlier, the people coming to report to Lin Yanzhou could be counted on one hand. Now, those who should have come in the first place, as well as those who had failed to come immediately, all stopped by under the pretext of "just passing through" or "dropping in to report," striving to offend neither side.
Their reports remained as high-sounding as ever, and their visits lasted just the right amount of time, but there was a little more fear in their words and expressions.
It was not just Lin Yanzhou. The few cadres who had been the first to report to him felt the change most directly.
Luo Yong, deputy director of the Environmental Protection Bureau, had originally ranked near the bottom of the bureau's leadership and overseen a few inconsequential areas. After the director got into trouble, the municipal Party committee had put him in charge, which had already been an unexpected delight. Then word began circulating that the mayor had recommended him to take over as director. He had thought it was merely a rumor, and to avoid any appearance of impropriety, he had not immediately gone to report to Lin Yanzhou.
He had never imagined that, first thing that morning, the head of the municipal Organization Department's Second Cadre Division would personally lead a team to the Environmental Protection Bureau to assess him. More importantly, the assessment procedures went more smoothly than he could have imagined. In the blink of an eye, he was about to have the "acting" removed from his title.
He looked at the long line of people waiting outside his door to report to him. This was something he would never have dared dream of.
He could only repay Lin Yanzhou's kindness through concrete action. Every day, he personally delivered a detailed work briefing, a progress report on the Qingshui River pollution investigation, and a rectification plan to Lin Yanzhou's office. He sought instructions and reported on every detail, however small, taking his execution of orders to the utmost.
The greatest change, however, belonged to Deputy Mayor Wen Zhiyuan.
He had originally ranked sixth among the deputy mayors and overseen science, education, culture, and health. Though these were important areas too, compared with urban development and environmental protection, they ultimately seemed more "prestigious" than "powerful."
In this reshuffle, he not only took over the two portfolios with real power left behind by Liu Fengming-urban development and environmental protection-but Lin Yanzhou also intended to place the Finance Bureau under his supervision.
Most crucially, the heads of all three departments had been personally promoted by Lin Yanzhou. They were far more respectful than the bureau directors under him before, who might go a month or more without reporting to him even once. Every day, after leaving Mayor Lin Yanzhou's office, the three of them invariably came to his office to report, draining his treasured reserve of tea straight to the bottom.
By convention, the Finance Bureau was usually overseen directly by the executive deputy mayor, but Jingzhou's special circumstances had placed it under Ding Yizhen. Once it was subsequently assigned to Wen Zhiyuan, the "power content" of his deputy mayor's post would instantly double.
This also made Wen Zhiyuan third in the municipal government leadership team's ranking, behind only the executive deputy mayor and Ding Yizhen.
This leap in status was directly reflected in his schedule. Department heads seeking to report to him or ask for instructions began lining up as well. Resources that might once have required repeated coordination now seemed to flow much more smoothly. Even the staff around him seemed to walk with more wind in their stride. Their drawers could no longer hold all the fine cigarettes, consigning the days when they might not receive a single pack for several days to history.
But when it came to maximizing the "power content" of a post, no one could match Zhang Yongning.
His proposed appointment as director of the municipal Finance Bureau might have looked like a small step forward, but in reality, he had stepped onto the most dazzling "golden stair" in Jingzhou's officialdom.
The Finance Bureau had long been known as the "purse," and its importance went without saying.
Whoever held this "purse" possessed enormous leverage to influence, or even constrain, other departments in their work.
As such, this position had always been contested by the municipal Party secretary and the mayor. It had to be held by an absolutely trusted confidant of a principal leader.
According to an unwritten convention in Jingzhou, and indeed throughout Handong Province, the municipal Finance Bureau director had always been "first in the first echelon" for promotion to deputy mayor. The real weight of the post's power and its political prospects were far beyond those of other municipal bureau heads.
Zhang Yongning's occupancy of this post first and foremost represented Lin Yanzhou's will, and further demonstrated Lin Yanzhou's ability to control Jingzhou. This brought the "power content" of his position to the very pinnacle a bureau chief could reach. As long as neither he nor Lin Yanzhou made any mistakes, his next promotion was practically nailed to the board.
At that moment, in the mayor's office, all three were eagerly declaring their commitment.
"Mayor, thank you so much for your trust and support! We know how heavy the responsibility on our shoulders is. Please rest assured that we will do everything we can to support the overall work. Within our respective portfolios, we will communicate with you and report promptly and proactively, and resolutely carry out all the city's decisions and arrangements!"
Their declarations meant that, through this move, Lin Yanzhou had strengthened his control and his voice within the municipal government leadership team.
A silent signal spread through Jingzhou's officialdom: this newly arrived Mayor Lin was not merely a "dragon crossing the river" or an "ornament." Those who followed him would "have meat to eat."
Cadres who felt thwarted under the existing structure, saw no hope of advancement, or were not part of Li Dakang's or Ding Yizhen's "inner circle" began entertaining new ideas. They might not dare switch allegiance immediately-nothing was more taboo in officialdom than betrayal without any foundation to stand on-but they began trying to draw closer to Mayor Lin.
Most of the truly powerful, critical departments, however, had deep roots and were bound by countless threads to the system Li Dakang had built over many years.
Though they too showed Lin Yanzhou sufficient respect, they still reported to Li Dakang first and maintained a cautious, wait-and-see approach in their actions.
They knew that, however Jingzhou's distribution of power changed, Secretary Li Dakang's authority remained its most central element.
Lin Yanzhou also knew that among those actively drawing closer to him were people who genuinely wanted to accomplish things and pure opportunists alike, people of outstanding ability and mediocrities alike. His own foundations were not yet secure. He would never rashly take people in on a large scale, much less casually promise them posts.
His strategy was to make broad contact, observe carefully, and employ the best. He listened attentively to reports and set strict demands for work. As for hints and declarations of loyalty, he neither approved nor disapproved, always maintaining an inscrutable distance.
What he needed were people who could truly get things done and step up at critical moments, not a motley crowd that could only wave flags and shout.
The focus of his cultivation remained cadres who already bore his stamp, such as Chen Mo, Wen Zhiyuan, Zhang Yongning, and Luo Yong, while he also kept an eye on cadres like Cheng Du, who had strong professional capabilities and held key posts.
Only by first consolidating the ground he already held and forging a capable, reliable team could he establish an unassailable position.
The municipal Party committee building, Li Dakang's office.
The secretary-general came in to report on recent developments at work and remarked with apparent casualness, "Secretary, things over at the government, over at Mayor Lin's office, seem especially busy lately."
Li Dakang looked up from his documents. "He's newly appointed. Enthusiasm for the work is a good thing. He's leading the response to the Qingshui River pollution incident, so naturally there's a great deal of reporting and coordination to do. As long as it helps get the work done and benefits Jingzhou's development, it's a good thing."
The secretary-general immediately understood. Without another word, he bowed and withdrew.
Li Dakang was not worried. The overall situation in Jingzhou remained under his control.
These slight ripples were even something he welcomed-when the water was too clear, it was harder to make out the fish. He wanted to see who would lose their composure, and what choices each would make.