Guangming District's Five-Member Group Meeting

A few minutes later, familiar footsteps sounded outside the door. The liaison opened it and stepped aside to let Chen Mo in.

"District Mayor Sun." Chen Mo entered again, the same courteous smile on his face, but with an added measure of wariness in his eyes.

He was clearly surprised and on his guard at this second unexpected summons.

"District Mayor Chen, please sit." Sun Liancheng's tone held less of its earlier formality and distance.

He personally made Chen Mo a cup of tea. "After you left, Secretary Ding called to say there would be a secretary's office meeting at three this afternoon. I thought I should speak with you again. After all, with the meeting coming up this afternoon, communicating certain things beforehand is better than being caught off guard at the table."

He did not beat around the bush, but went straight to the point.

He explained to Chen Mo the intention behind Ding Yizhen's call for a secretaries' coordination meeting to urgently discuss the division of responsibilities among the deputy district mayors, along with the potential maneuvering involved in turning personal wishes into an organizational decision.

"Secretary Yizhen is very efficient, and he is acting out of responsibility toward the work. I will firmly comply with whatever duties the district Party leadership group assigns me," Chen Mo replied after Sun Liancheng finished.

Looking at Chen Mo, Sun Liancheng continued, "This shows how much importance the district Party committee attaches to building the government leadership team. It's just that adjustments to responsibilities should, in principle, be decided directly by the district Party leadership group. Taking this straight to a secretaries' meeting suggests Secretary Ding already has some well-developed ideas."

"District Mayor Chen, you are young and capable, so you will presumably be entrusted with important responsibilities. But you may also have to take on more challenging areas of work. When it comes to the specific division of duties, you must put the overall situation first. This represents the district Party committee's intentions."

As sharp as Chen Mo was, he immediately heard the note beneath the words.

Ding Yizhen intended to get ahead of everyone and set the tone, assigning him departments with little money or influence. Sun Liancheng was making it clear that these were the district Party committee's intentions, and he could only obey. You can't blame me.

"Thank you for the warning, District Mayor Sun."

Chen Mo's expression grew more solemn. "I've only just arrived and am still unfamiliar with the situation. I will follow all organizational arrangements. Whether it's a difficult task or an entirely new field, it's an opportunity to gain experience. It's just..."

He looked Sun Liancheng straight in the eye. "As you said this morning, government work depends on everyone pulling together, from top to bottom. Only then can we live up to the city's expectations, especially Mayor Lin's high hopes for Guangming District."

"Yes. Only by working together can we get things done." Sun Liancheng nodded.

"Mayor Lin acts swiftly and decisively and values practical results. He pays particular attention to progress on key projects such as shantytown redevelopment and livelihood protection. The city is deeply committed, and our implementation down here has to keep pace."

At that point, he stopped, leaving the hint where it stood.

Sun Liancheng had clearly explained the risks, hinted at his own position, and passed along the information. All he could do now was pray that Chen Mo understood the words beneath his words.

Chen Mo understood perfectly. Sun Liancheng was reminding him that he had to immediately report Ding Yizhen's unusual eagerness to seize control of the situation to Mayor Lin Yanzhou, who stood behind him.

Chen Mo rose. "Rest assured, District Mayor Sun. I've taken everything you said to heart. I know what to do."

Sun Liancheng said nothing more. He merely extended his hand and shook Chen Mo's firmly once again.

Next, it would depend on what move Ding Yizhen made, and just how Mayor Lin Yanzhou would respond.

At three that afternoon, in Guangming District Party Secretary Ding Yizhen's office, the office space clearly exceeded the prescribed standard. However, an oval conference table stood to one side, allowing that portion to count as meeting-room space and keeping people from talking.

The small secretaries' coordination meeting began on time.

Ding Yizhen, a member of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee, deputy mayor, and district Party secretary, sat at the head of the conference table. District Mayor Sun Liancheng, the deputy Party secretary, the discipline inspection commission secretary, and the organization department director sat two to each side.

Ding Yizhen set the tone from the outset. "Comrade Chen Mo's arrival has injected fresh vitality into our team. To enable him to put his strengths to use as soon as possible, and to ensure an efficient handover of work throughout the district, today we'll briefly discuss adjustments to the government leadership team's responsibilities and form a preliminary opinion. We can follow the prescribed procedures afterward."

With almost no preamble, he signaled the organization department director to read out a draft adjustment plan prepared in advance.

Sure enough, the draft placed all the core departments previously overseen by the executive deputy district mayor-the district development and reform commission, finance bureau, housing and urban-rural development bureau, financial administration bureau, and Guangming Peak Project Office-under Ding Yizhen's own direct liaison, under the fine-sounding label of "strengthening the district Party committee's overall coordination of economic work."

Chen Mo, meanwhile, was assigned science, education, culture, health, civil affairs, public petitions and stability maintenance, and one particularly delicate department: the district audit bureau.

This draft division of responsibilities was truly sinister in its intent.

It completely cut Chen Mo off from Guangming District's true center of power.

Outside economic work and major projects, he would hold the title of executive deputy district mayor without any substantive levers.

Audit bureaus were normally directly overseen by district mayors, with executive deputy district mayors assisting. Publicly proposing to place the audit bureau under him now looked more like a trap: it appeared to grant him supervisory authority, but actually put him in a position where he could easily offend people or even draw fire upon himself. If he truly tried to investigate anything, he would inevitably touch a tangled network of interests and find himself unable to move an inch. It would also prevent Sun Liancheng and Chen Mo from joining forces by provoking internal conflict.

When the organization department director finished reading, a brief silence fell over the office.

Everyone looked toward Sun Liancheng. By convention, as district mayor, he had to state his position first.

Ding Yizhen turned to Sun Liancheng with a smile. "Comrade Liancheng, you're the second-in-command. Why don't you give us your views first?"

Sun Liancheng set down his teacup.

"Secretary Yizhen and the organization department have indeed been very thoughtful. Comrade Chen Mo is young and has come down from the city administration. Having him work on science, education, culture, health, and livelihood protection while he first familiarizes himself with the district is indeed a fairly prudent approach."

Ding Yizhen's smile broadened, seemingly quite pleased that Sun Liancheng "knew his place."

But Sun Liancheng had not finished. His tone shifted. "However, Comrade Chen Mo is, after all, a young cadre the city is making a priority of cultivating. Mayor Lin and Minister Pan personally accompanied him here, so their expectations of him must be high."

"Restricting him to these areas may not allow him to fully exercise his abilities, and I fear it could also disappoint the high expectations of the municipal Party committee and government."

"I also have two tentative ideas for everyone's consideration."

His gaze swept across the other standing committee members present before finally settling on Ding Yizhen's face.

"As for the district Party committee directly overseeing specific government departments, particularly core institutions such as finance and development and reform, that does not stand up legally. It is inconsistent with the principles our Party has always emphasized: 'division of responsibilities between Party and government' and 'law-based administration.'"

"Leaving aside whether this complies with procedure, it could easily give our superiors, or even the outside world, a poor impression-that Guangming District's operating mechanisms are insufficiently standardized and that its political environment has flaws. That would harm our district's overall image."

He paused briefly to let the weight of those words settle before continuing.

"As for the audit bureau, under the relevant audit regulations, I am already the person primarily responsible for audit work as the head of the district government."

"Directly overseeing it is my duty, one I cannot shirk. Having Comrade Chen Mo assist me would both fit the executive deputy district mayor's role in overseeing day-to-day work and genuinely help ease the pressure on me."

"So I suggest making some minor adjustments to the draft to bring it further into compliance and make it more conducive to our work."

"My thought is this: could we put Comrade Chen Mo specifically in charge of shantytown redevelopment throughout the district, and have him oversee the district housing and urban-rural development bureau, finance bureau, and development and reform commission for that purpose?"

"There are three reasons. First, shantytown redevelopment is a key undertaking receiving the closest attention from the municipal Party committee and government, particularly Mayor Lin Yanzhou. The municipal government has formed a special working group for it, headed by Mayor Lin.

"This work carries strong political significance and a heavy workload. It must be led and driven hard by a capable comrade with drive. Comrade Chen Mo is the ideal choice. He served as Mayor Lin's secretary and assisted Mayor Lin in scientifically planning shantytown redevelopment projects in Menxia, where the results stunned the entire country. No one could be better suited to take charge."

"Second, shantytown redevelopment involves enormous amounts of funding allocation and project construction. Giving him direct oversight of development and reform, finance, and housing and urban-rural development would facilitate overall coordination, improve efficiency, and avoid the departmental buck-passing and procedural bottlenecks that may have arisen in past work."

"Third, this adjustment would allow a new comrade to quickly enter the core work and shoulder important responsibilities without weakening the district Party committee's overall macro-level coordination of economic work in the slightest. Secretary Yizhen, you could still steer the overall direction through mechanisms such as the leading group and standing committee."

"This way, the division of responsibilities would comply with the rules, ensure efficient progress on the city's key undertaking, and allow Comrade Chen Mo's talents to be fully utilized. It would kill several birds with one stone, while also relieving the rest of us of considerable pressure from specific tasks."

Sun Liancheng's words were needles hidden in silk.

First, he had partially endorsed the draft, giving Ding Yizhen face. Then he had invoked the high expectations of Lin Yanzhou and the municipal Party committee's organization department, taking the high ground in principle.

Finally, he had proposed a concrete adjustment that was difficult to refute, handing Chen Mo the politically sound but headache-inducing task of shantytown redevelopment.

This gave Chen Mo an opening into the core work while fully conforming to the city's requirements, making it difficult for Ding Yizhen to refuse openly.

A barely perceptible flicker of displeasure crossed Ding Yizhen's eyes.

He truly had not expected Sun Liancheng to dare voice such explicit objections today, with every sentence occupying the high ground of law and procedure.

However, his wariness of the new mayor behind Chen Mo kept him from issuing a forceful veto on the spot.

"Comrade Liancheng has indeed considered this thoroughly. You're looking at it from a very high level." Ding Yizhen gave a laugh. His tone sounded thoroughly approving, but he deftly steered the subject elsewhere.

The organization department director beside him immediately took the hint and picked up the conversation:

"The importance of shantytown redevelopment is beyond question. However, this work covers a vast scope and volume, with many historical problems left unresolved and exceptionally complex circumstances. Comrade Chen Mo has only just arrived and is still unfamiliar with the district. Would placing such a heavy burden on him all at once be rushing for results? We must take care of our young cadres."

Deputy District Party Secretary Xu Heping immediately echoed him. "Comrade Yanping makes a fair point. Cadres must be cultivated step by step. Too heavy a burden would instead harm a young comrade's growth. If it affected the major undertaking of shantytown redevelopment, the losses would outweigh the gains. In principle, I agree with Secretary Yizhen. Prudence comes first."

He shifted his tone, attempting to find a balance. "However, considering that shantytown redevelopment is, after all, the number-one undertaking Mayor Lin is personally overseeing, and that Comrade Chen Mo previously worked in the municipal government, his understanding of Mayor Lin's approach and requirements must be deeper than ours. Putting him in charge of the special redevelopment work would ensure the city's directives are implemented precisely without immediately plunging him into an overly sprawling mass of affairs. I think that would be appropriate."

The discipline inspection commission secretary stated his position succinctly. "This proposal accords with our personnel policy and practical needs. I agree with Secretary Xu's suggestion."

The subtle shift in the meeting's prevailing wind made Sun Liancheng realize that Ding Yizhen had come prepared.

If he continued insisting that Chen Mo oversee development and reform, housing and urban-rural development, and finance, not only would he struggle to achieve his aim, but he would appear overbearing and disrupt the atmosphere of the meeting.

He quickly weighed the pros and cons and decided to retreat in order to advance, pragmatically securing the most critical foothold first.

"Since all the leaders feel I'm pulling up seedlings to help them grow and worry that a young comrade would be under too much pressure, I accept that opinion." Sun Liancheng remained modest, going with the current. "But since everyone agrees to put Comrade Chen Mo in charge of the special shantytown redevelopment work, I suggest placing the district housing and urban-rural development bureau directly under his oversight."

"The core implementing department for shantytown redevelopment is the housing and urban-rural development bureau. Having the comrade leading redevelopment oversee that bureau is a basic guarantee that directives can flow smoothly and work efficiency can improve. As the saying goes, 'If you want the horse to run, you have to let it eat grass.' We can't make him responsible for the projects while leaving him unable to direct the most critical implementing department. That would be indefensible in terms of reason, fairness, or the work itself."

At this point, Ding Yizhen knew that forcibly depriving Chen Mo of authority over the housing and urban-rural development bureau would thoroughly infuriate Lin Yanzhou behind him. He quit while he was ahead:

"Comrade Liancheng is right. Work must produce practical results. Then it's settled: Comrade Liancheng, you will take overall charge of shantytown redevelopment, with Comrade Chen Mo assisting you as executive deputy district mayor and directly overseeing the district housing and urban-rural development bureau. This will both draw on an experienced comrade's ability to grasp the overall situation and allow a new comrade to gain experience on the front lines. I think that's very good."

He immediately reemphasized the arrangements protecting his core interests. "As for the other responsibilities, we will follow the draft. I will maintain direct liaison with the development and reform commission, finance bureau, and major projects office. This isn't because I cling to power. I am the commander-in-chief of the Guangming Peak Project, and that project accounts for one-third of the entire city's GDP. It is the 'Jingzhou No. 1' undertaking personally overseen by Secretary Dakang. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. Having me coordinate it directly as district Party secretary and project commander-in-chief ensures the greatest efficiency and the clearest accountability."

Then, to demonstrate his fairness, he added:

"Of course, Comrade Liancheng's point about procedure is also very important. Let's have Deputy District Mayor Zhang Yanming serve as deputy commander of the Guangming Peak Project Headquarters and oversee the departments mentioned above on my behalf, reporting directly to me. This will strengthen the leadership, reflect collective decision-making, and comply with statutory procedures."

Sun Liancheng knew this was the best result he could secure for now. He immediately quit while he was ahead and nodded. "I agree with Secretary Yizhen's arrangements."

After the meeting, Ding Yizhen sat in his office, his expression dark.

Sun Liancheng's unusual behavior today had given him a whiff of danger. He picked up his phone, hesitated briefly, and dialed Li Dakang's number.

"Secretary, there's a situation I need to report to you."

Meanwhile, Sun Liancheng returned to his own office, shut the door, and let out a long breath. In this first round, he had barely managed to pry open a crack for Chen Mo.

Difficult though it had been, he had taken the first step.

And his actions today also meant that he himself had formally stepped onto the opposing side from Ding Yizhen, and even the forces behind him.