Volume 1: Director of Public Security Chapter 44 Who Are You?

  Ma Weiguo's office was extremely depressing.

  Ma Weiguo has just fired a shot, and the county public security bureau actually rejected his instruction to take all hooligans in custody out for a mass parade to showcase the victory of severe crackdown, which made him extremely angry and felt that Lu Zhong was opposing him.

  By the green hanging orchid, on the long sandy beach, Lu Zhong silently drank tea water, maintaining silence in the face of Ma Weiguo's roar.

  Liu Baojun, the secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, also suffered from being called by Ma Weiguo to listen to his lecture. Sitting beside Lu Zhong, Liu Baojun frowned tightly.

  The municipal party committee's organization department has sent a team for inspection. It is estimated that when the inspection team returns, it will be the time for the city to make adjustments to the leadership of Guangning County Party Committee.

  The rectification of the Guangning Municipal Party Committee is gradually coming to an end. According to relevant documents from the Central and Provincial Party Committees, one of the main purposes of this rectification is to change the situation where the first-in-command of each level of party committee has the final say, and further embody the democratic centralism principle of the Standing Committee in each level of party committee.

  In simple terms, it is necessary to expand the members of the party committee at all levels. For example, the provincial party committee has issued a document requiring that the number of standing committee members of the municipal and county (district) party committees throughout the province shall not be less than seven.

  Guangning County currently has five standing committee members, and according to the provincial party committee's document, it should add two more standing committee members.

  In Wushan, some brother county leadership teams have made adjustments. The secretary of the political and legal committee who was not previously a member of the Standing Committee usually became the beneficiary of this adjustment.

  But Liu Baojun, however, apparently cannot see this hope.

  Qiu Secretary's current position is precarious, and looking at Ma Weiguo's increasingly powerful performance, it seems that he has already made up his mind. After the municipal party committee's investigation, he may be able to replace Qiu Dahu and take over as the county party committee's number one leader.

  Ma Weiguo has become the county party secretary, does he still want to enter the Standing Committee? Although the appointment of the Standing Committee is decided by the municipal party committee, it must also refer to the opinion of the first-in-command.

  Liu Baojun let out a deep sigh in his heart, turned his head and glanced at Lu Zhong with a sideways glance. Had the two of them become sworn brothers?

  Ma Weiguo gradually suppressed his anger, picked up the teacup and took a few sips, saying: "You guys! I don't know what you're thinking? Lu Zhong, tell me, why can't those hooligans be paraded in the streets? What's wrong with you, do you want to go against me? You don't distinguish between public and private affairs, do you? Do you think that just because you are the director of the Public Security Bureau, I won't be able to do anything to you?"

  Lu Zhong still didn't make a sound, many words, even if spoken, Ma Weiguo wouldn't understand.

  Watching Lu Zhong's silent resistance, Ma Weiguo's eyebrows furrowed tighter and tighter, apparently, he was really angry. At this time, the office door was lightly knocked on.

  Ma Weiguo's voice slowed down and said, "Come in."

  A bespectacled clerk walked in from outside, holding a newspaper and placed it on Ma Weiguo's desk, saying: "Secretary Ma, today's People's Daily has just arrived, Secretary Qiu asked me to deliver it."

  "People's Daily", also brought by Qiu Da and specially sent, Ma Weiguo knew that there must be a deep meaning in it. He nodded and turned his head to look at Lu Zheng, saying: "You go back first, make a profound self-examination, and convey it to all the cadres."

  "Secretary Ma, Secretary Qiu hopes you can take a look at this newspaper right away." The bespectacled clerk, however, didn't leave and urged Ma Weiguo.

  Ma Weiguo slightly furrowed his brow. Although Wen Xiao Gao, who wore glasses and was the confidential secretary of Ju Dahai, he himself had never been in a situation where he needed to be instructed by him.

  "You go out and tell Secretary Qiu that I read the newspaper every day, so he doesn't have to worry about it." Ma Weiguo replied indifferently.

  "Is it?" Xiao Gao smiled slightly, nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him.

  Ma Weiguo's eyes flashed and he picked up a copy of People's Daily.

  Liu Baojun's heart immediately gave Xiao Gao a cold sweat, these little secretaries, some people really don't know the height of the sky and the thickness of the earth, in the future, I'm afraid some will suffer.

  Soon, Liu Baojun found that Ma Weiguo's expression was somewhat wrong.

  After a while, Ma Weiguo waved his hand expressionlessly and said, "You can go back first." His eyes were fixed on Liu Baojun and Lu Zhong, as if trying to get a good look at the two people in front of him.

  Liu Baojun felt a chill in his heart, but seeing Lu Zhong stand up, he also hastily stood up and followed behind Lu Zhong as they walked out of Ma Weiguo's office.

  Liu Baojun, although a deputy county-level cadre, has never held real power and usually acts as a sandwich cookie, suffering from both sides. Many times, he is not even as confident as Lu Zhong.

  Outside the office, Xiao Gao was waiting, and when he saw them coming out, he smiled and said: "Secretary Liu, Director Lu, congratulations! The spring breeze of reform is blowing everywhere, and you two are about to become the model for our Guangning!"

  Liu Baojun smiled and didn't say anything, although he wasn't quite clear about it either.

  Xiao Gao smiled and said: "It's just right that you two are here, it saves me from running around. Secretary Qiu wants to see you."

  Lu Zhong nodded slightly, he had roughly guessed what was going on.

  Liu Baojun was worried and anxious in his heart. Qiu Dahe had never been on good terms with him, and they rarely communicated privately, but he didn't know what to do when called upon?

  Qiu Dawei's office and Ma Weiguo's office are two different styles, although there are also more new-style furniture such as sofa beds and marble coffee tables, the portraits of great men pointing to the mountains and rivers on the walls and the half-body sculptures of great men on the bookshelves make people feel like they have come to the red years of the Cultural Revolution.

  When he saw Liu Baojun and Lu Zhongjin coming in, Qiu Dajiang burst out laughing and said: "Great! Zhejiang has a Bu Xingsheng, Hebei has a Zhang Shengli, our Guangning has Liu Baojun and Lu Zhongjin, great, great!"

  Jiū jiù, Qiú Dà hé cái pāi pāi nǎo mén, xiào dào: "nǐmen pà dōu bù zhī dào ba."

  Translation:

  Immediately, Qiu Da and Cai patted their foreheads, laughing and saying: "You're all probably unaware of this."

  Secretary Xiao Gao was very quick-witted and hastily handed over two copies of today's People's Daily to Liu Baojun and Lu Zhong, it seems that Qiu Da and Chong he are not unreasonable.

  Lu Zhong opened the newspaper, which still smelled of ink, and quickly found an article titled "Breaking with the Old and Ushering in the New - Reflections on the Renovation of the Guangning County Government Guesthouse" on page 4. In this article, which had been edited, the renovation of the guesthouse was highly praised, and phrases such as "the customer is God" and "the market economy tests success or failure", which Liu Baojun had learned from Lu Zhong, were quoted and explained. The article not only praised Vice County Magistrate Liu Baojun for leading the renovation but also mentioned Lu Zhong, Director of the Guangning County Public Security Bureau, who had contributed suggestions and ideas, highlighting his status as a war hero and saying that "war heroes can also be pioneers in the tide of reform". It called on officials from all departments to learn from Lu Zhong and contribute to the great cause of reform.

  Qiu Dahe laughed and said: "It turns out that we have a university student from the School of Journalism at Tsinghua University in Guangning, I've always heard about the county's reform and opening up, and brought his classmates to observe and find news. The manuscript they wrote was originally just for the school newspaper, but unexpectedly it was selected by the party newspaper! Bao Jun, Lu Zheng, you guys are really bringing glory to Guangning!"

  In an article in the party newspaper citing Peking University's publication "Social News", although only mentioning Qiu Dafu and one sentence, it was said that this reform received strong support from Guangning County Party Secretary and County Governor Qiu Dafu, but this sentence is enough, after all, Qiu Dafu holds both party and government power, how can the reform of such a public institution proceed smoothly without his approval?

  People's Daily has always been the mouthpiece of the party and a weathervane for policies. In recent years, it has been enthusiastic about creating momentum for reform, such as Zhejiang's Bu Xinsheng, who is a typical figure in breaking the iron rice bowl; Hebei's Zhang Shengli was the first to contract out factory management. Now, with great fanfare, it is praising Guangning County's recruitment and employment system reform, which will surely open up opportunities for reforms in many profitable enterprises across the country that rely on full government funding.

  This is not something that any small reporter can decide on a whim, it's possible that the editor-in-chief is someone from the Central Propaganda Department or the State Council Research Office, and has certainly caught the eye of some central-level leader.

  This is simply a windfall, and Qiu Da has no reason not to be excited.

  Lu Zhong was somewhat helpless, he had asked Xiao Guang to write a news draft about the county's recruitment reform, but hadn't told him to mention his own name. Now, it seemed that the Public Security Bureau chief was making suggestions for the reform, which was really too much.

  As for the transition from "Social News" to "People's Daily", Lu Zhong more or less exerted some force behind the scenes, and asked his sister to help out a bit. However, being selected was still due to the trend of the times; the article just happened to cater to the tastes of certain people who held the power of public opinion.

  Liu Baojun was still dazed, and it wasn't until he walked out of Qiao Dahai's office that he suddenly asked Lu Zhong: "You say, what's going on here?"

  Lu Zhong shook his head and said, "Who knows?"

  On the other side of the office, Ma Weiguo was holding a newspaper and looking at it over and over again, his face getting uglier and uglier.