Reborn as a Noble’s Son - Chapter 287
Chapter 287: Chapter 285 The National Congress Commences_1
Nie Zhenbang had a glum look on his face, other municipal committee leadership, various deputy leaders of the municipal government, the first and second leaders of the city’s various departments were all stunned. This was a big deal. The fact that the president of the autonomous regional government came to Xinli City showed how seriously the region was taking this People’s Congress meeting. The reason why it was so important, was most likely rooted in the mayoral election.
However, the performance of the officials of Xinli City was impeccable, all of which were seen by Liu Wenqing. With both himself and Chairman Tieli present, Liu Wenqing was quite pleased with this effect. He was curious about what tricks Xinli City’s People’s Congress representatives might dare to employ.
After saying these things, Liu Wenqing concluded: “Comrades, I believe that the Xinli City Municipal Committee and Government are mindful of the bigger picture. Everyone should go back and mobilize well, and we must ensure the successful convening of the first People’s Congress meeting in Xinli City.”
In the evening
In the old division-grade tower of the Xinli City government compound
Although Nie Zhenbang was promoted to the secretary of the Municipal Committee, he did not move to the Municipal Committee residential area. A new area was being developed near the Municipal Committee and Government offices, not only had office buildings been erected, but a small district of nearly two hundred acres was under construction behind the office buildings. Implementing some measures from the housing reform system, Nie Zhenbang had cancelled the unit distribution.
Adopting a system where property rights belonged to individuals and a part of the funding came from the unit and another part from the individual, this results in higher job satisfaction for municipal committee and government workers and their families. After all, these houses will eventually be their own.
As for Nie Zhenbang and the other municipal committee leaders, of course, they had small villas. Of course, the ownership of these villas still belonged to Xinli City Municipal Committee and Government, just like before.
At this moment, inside Nie Zhenbang’s dormitory in the division-level tower, the room felt somewhat smoky. Nie Zhenbang sat in the main seat of the sofa, Bekri, the executive deputy mayor, Deputy Mayor Li Lin, and Lin Weimin were on the right. To the left were Secretary Chen Le of the Political and Legal Committee, Propaganda Minister Yan Fengjiao, along with Fan Zhenming, Leng Guohua, Tai Jiantao, Wei Chenglin, Yi Jun, Huyan Apo, Wei Qiang and Li Yan. They all moved stools and lounged on the sofa.
In addition to Yan Fengjiao and Li Lin being female, the rest were all grown men, and everyone was smoking. The entire house felt like it was on fire.
The special panda cigarettes provided by Secretary Nie were good ones that money couldn’t buy. Since everyone was here, naturally, they wanted to savor it.
Nie Zhenbang frowned. At this moment, with Tieli personally present and Liu Wenqing stationed in Xinli City before the conference, Liu Wenqing consecutively met with retired senior leaders, old cadres, and received several cadres under the introduction of Zhou Chen. The purpose was abundantly clear. It was to secure a smooth election for Zhou Chen.
Under such circumstances, he must make his position clear. Either to let Zhou Chen be elected or to take down Zhou Chen. Now, all of these people are watching him, and more importantly, his stance will directly affect Bekri’s confidence.
Then, Nie Zhenbang looked around at everyone and said solemnly: “The attention and importance given by the provincial and municipal leaders are also a test for us. But, I think everything should still be based on public opinion. I believe the organization can see the will and sentiment of the 300,000 people in Xinli City.”
Upon Nie Zhenbang’s remark, Chen Le took the lead in expressing his position: “Secretary, please rest assured that I will definitely obey the arrangements of the organization.”
For Chen Le, there wasn’t much pressure, even if Bekri were elected, Chen Le would at most bear a co-responsibility, nothing more.
Seeing that Bekri was still uncertain, Nie Zhenbang said again: “Old White, don’t be so serious. Relax a bit. I believe you are capable enough for the position of mayor.”
As soon as the words came out, the whole place fell silent, but Bekri was very excited. Nie Zhenbang had always been ambiguous all along, which was the reason for Bekri’s hesitation. Everyone knew that opposing the intentions of the provincial and municipal leaders would bear a tremendous responsibility. If Nie Zhenbang does not state his position, Bekri will not dare to make this decision. Now that Nie Zhenbang has said it, Bekri has also been reassured. If anything happens, Nie Zhenbang is sure to take the main responsibility. With Nie Zhenbang taking the lead, Bekri is also willing to take a risk.
Then, Bekri also nodded and said: “Secretary, I will follow your guidance. There are in total three hundred and seventeen representatives of Xinli City People’s Congress. Based on my preliminary calculations, I am confident of securing around a hundred votes.”
Since things were put up on the table, Bekri also gained courage. Those present were Nie Zhenbang’s confidants who had been incorporated into the system after he arrived in Xinli City. Bekri was one of the later ones to join, so he was very clear that he had to clarify his stance.
It looked like Bekri has been planning for a long time. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten the support of so many People’s Congress representatives.
Next to him, Li Lin also said slowly: “I estimate that I can pull in about thirty votes if I start making connections tomorrow.”
At this moment, disregarding other factors, the people under Nie’s leadership were all speaking frankly.
Feng Jiao Yan, Fan Zhenming, and Li Yan were among the last to arrive. However, these three had been frequently visiting the Development Zone and the entirety of Xinli City, especially the former Yun County. All things considered, the three of them could probably garner about fifty or so votes.
At this moment, Lin Weimin also spoke out, “On my end, I could try and get about thirty votes.”
Upon hearing this, Nie Zhenbang stood up, his face somewhat serious. “That’s about it. All in all, we’ve gathered around two hundred and ten votes. Chen Le might also be able to pull in another twenty or thirty votes. Even if there are some overlapping votes, it’s still enough to surpass the majority. This decision is final. In the next two days, you all shouldn’t have any further contact. With Liu Wenqing holding down the fort in Xinli City and Chairman Tieli coming tomorrow, any suspicious movement on our part might give them ammunition against us. We’ll proceed according to this plan. If anything goes wrong, I’ll take the fall.”
Late in the afternoon the next day, Chairman Tieli of the Xibei Autonomous Region finally made his appearance in Xinli City. Liu Wenqing, with Nie Zhenbang at his side, and other leaders of the Xinli City Committee were all waiting by the junction between the Xinli City Development Zone and Ku City.
Under the guidance of a traffic control vehicle from the Bazhou City Public Security Bureau, Chairman Tieli’s car slowly pulled over to the side of the road. Liu Wenqing led the Xinli City group to greet them.
The car window slowly rolled down, and Chairman Tieli, with a stern expression, surveyed the group. He then calmly commanded, “Secretary Wenqing, get in the car. Everyone else, let’s head to the Xinli Hotel.”
Considering that it was already late in the afternoon, and virtually everyone had already gotten off work, Chairman Tieli naturally didn’t demand they head over to the city committee.
At the Xinli Hotel, a banquet had been prepared. As per Nie Zhenbang’s instructions, the banquet was arranged at the standard of 20 yuan per person. Including Chairman Tieli’s entourage, Liu Wenqing’s accompanying leaders, and the leaders of the Xinli City Municipal Committee and Government, a total of twenty tables were set up.
The leaders from Chairman Tieli’s group, the autonomous region, and the city committee were all arranged in private rooms. In Xinli City, only Nie Zhenbang, Zhou Chen, and the chief of the People’s Political Consultative Conference, Huang Wei, had the privilege of staying here. However, they were still seated at the end of the table.
With the presence of high-ranking officials, everyone became very relaxed. After the meal, Chairman Tieli quickly headed off to rest in the small number one courtyard of the city committee’s guest house.
However, at that moment, Chairman Tieli had held consecutive meetings with the Political Consultative Conference’s chief, Acting Mayor Zhou Chen, the deputy director of the Standing Committee of Xili City People’s Congress, and other leaders. The meaning of this was clear: Chairman Tieli had come to lend Zhou Chen his support.
Nie Zhenbang simply smiled at Chairman Tieli’s tactics. In the atmosphere leading up to the election, Chairman Tieli’s actions were, undoubtedly, the correct course of action. However, Chairman Tieli had greatly underestimated his influence in Xinli City.
The next day, at 9 AM, in the Great Hall of the Xinli City Municipal Committee, a large red banner hung over the stage, reading “The First Meeting of the First People’s Congress of Xinli City .”
Chairman Tieli sat upright in the middle of the platform. To his left was the Secretary of the Bazhou City Committee, Liu Wenqing, and to his right was Wu Xiaofei, the Secretary-General of the Autonomous Region Government.
Nie Zhenbang was seated next to Liu Wenqing, and to his right was the Secretary-General of the Bazhou City Committee, Li Qingde. The other leaders of Xinli City were also seated on the platform.
Firstly, among the majestic strains of the national anthem, Chairman Tieli, as the highest ranking official attending the meeting, solemnly declared the opening of the inaugural session of Xinli City’s People’s Congress. The Congress boasted 317 representatives from Xinli City, and 313 of them were in attendance. This complied with the procedures of the People’s Congress.
The Congress followed by electing its presiding committee members. Afterward, as the City Committee Secretary and former mayor, Nie Zhenbang represented the Xinli City Government and made his way to the podium.
First, Nie Zhenbang slightly nodded towards the platform and the audience. Then he declared, “Respected Chairman Tieli of the Autonomous Region, respected Wu Xiaofei, Secretary-General of the Autonomous Region Government, and respected Secretary Liu Wenqing of the Bazhou City Committee. Leaders, comrades, in the past year, the economic construction and development of Xinli City have achieved eye-catching results. In terms of culture, education, healthcare, transportation development, and other areas, there have been dramatic transformations.”
Last year, our city’s GDP growth rate reached 41.2%… this figure, in fact, includes Yun County. In actuality, Xinli’s real growth rate was 95.7%.
Nie Zhenbang’s government work report was unanimously approved and received positive reviews from the representatives present, and the report was unanimously passed after deliberation.
As Nie Zhenbang stepped down, all the representatives knew that now, the highlight of the People’s Congress meeting, was about to begin.
Hello, everyone, I am Cai Jin’s wife. In the past few days, Cai Jin has been visiting various leaders in order to maintain his business establishment. He’s been networking and just got a call at five this afternoon and had to go out again. Therefore, there will be no updates today. He wanted me to apologize to all of you on his behalf. (To be continued. If you like this story, please show your support by voting and subscribing on qidian.com.
Your support is my greatest motivation.)
