Official Career Storm
Chapter 416

Chapter 416: Chapter 416

The next morning.

County Magistrate Hou arrived in the city.

His visit was to see Secretary Lu and Mayor Zheng.

Incidentally, he also planned to visit Director Qin.

One of the reasons for his visit was indeed because he had been disadvantaged under Song Guanchao’s jurisdiction.

Of course, this was just a part of the reason, and a very small part at that.

More importantly, it was because of Dujiang City, the county-level city.

Although Dujiang County had already been upgraded to a county-level city, it still fell under the jurisdiction of Lingjiang City.

There are generally two types of administrative superiors for a county-level city.

One is a prefecture-level city, and the other is direct provincial control.

Any county-level city would hope to be directly governed by the province.

The benefits of being under provincial administration are obvious, such as having relatively higher management authority and autonomy.

Being able to independently formulate local policies and manage social affairs within the jurisdiction, for example.

However, if governed by a city, the corresponding authority is less, and a lot of the time, work must be carried out under the guidance of the City Committee and Municipal Government.

To put it bluntly, if directly governed by the province, Dujiang City and Lingjiang City would be on equal footing.

If directly governed by Lingjiang City, Dujiang City would be subordinate.

The hierarchy in officialdom is strict, with great emphasis on rank and status.

That’s why County Magistrate Hou came.

He aimed to secure Dujiang City’s independence.

Whether he could achieve this depended on his ability to persuade the several leaders in the city.

Logically speaking, Dujiang City was currently receiving a lot of outside investment and was in the midst of an economic surge. It was almost impossible for the city leaders to let go of such a visible achievement.

But, with human effort, nothing is impossible.

As long as the benefits were sufficient, nothing is impossible.

Therefore, County Magistrate Hou’s first visit was not to Secretary Lu but to Mayor Zheng.

Because Mayor Zheng was in charge of the economy.

Municipal Government.

Li Jun knocked on the door and entered, "Mayor Zheng, County Magistrate Hou from Dujiang City would like to see you."

"County Magistrate Hou?" Mayor Zheng frowned. What was he doing here?

Before coming, he didn’t make a phone call but just showed up suddenly.

"Let him in."

"County Magistrate Hou, please come in."

County Magistrate Hou smiled at Li Jun and entered the office.

After Li Jun poured him tea and left,

Mayor Zheng maintained a polite smile, "County Magistrate Hou, what brings you here so unexpectedly?"

County Magistrate Hou said, "I know my visit is quite sudden, without even a phone call. I hope Mayor Zheng won’t mind."

"My trip here, in fact, is also because I have some areas I don’t understand and I wanted to learn from Mayor Zheng."

"With Secretary Tu’s sudden departure, I instantly went from being a county magistrate to acting secretary, and there are many aspects I’m not handling well."

County Magistrate Hou said with a wry smile.

Mayor Zheng couldn’t decipher his true intentions and it wasn’t appropriate to ask directly, so he gave official platitudes as a response.

After a lot of pointless talk, County Magistrate Hou finally stated his purpose, "In Dujiang County, several department heads are nearing retirement age. I don’t know if Mayor Zheng has any suitable candidates."

"Mayor Zheng focuses on the economy, and the people you pick, even if they don’t match your abilities, should surely be more than enough to manage little Dujiang County."

Mayor Zheng understood – this guy was here to offer him a "gift."

The gift was the positions in some municipal departments of Dujiang City.

If it were before, facing such a generous offer from County Magistrate Hou, Mayor Zheng would not have hesitated at all.

After all, it was a good opportunity to cultivate his own people.

Unfortunately,

County Magistrate Hou was about to be sent in.

Therefore, his promise naturally couldn’t be taken seriously.

Unless he could secure his people into those positions within a week, it was just an empty promise, all talk and no substance.

Mayor Zheng said, "County Magistrate Hou might not quite understand my situation. Though I’m the second-in-command in the city, in reality, there aren’t many who are my people."

He gave a wry smile and shook his head, "I’d like to recommend a few people for you, but alas, not one of them is someone I can trust."

"How about this, County Magistrate Hou, you go back for now."

"Dujiang City’s administrative level has just been raised, better to stabilize first. Good things come to those who wait, no rush."

County Magistrate Hou was very surprised, very unexpected.

He chose to ally himself with Mayor Zheng and Secretary Lu, not just because they were the top two leaders in the city.

Nor was it just because they targeted Song Guanchao.

Importantly, the two of them were relatively weak within the standing committee.

He knew all too well that what these two leaders were currently lacking the most, was their own people.

The power in Lingjiang City had long been divvied up cleanly, and these two newcomers had neither the qualification nor the ability to arrange for their own people.

Now, he was providing them with this opportunity in Dujiang City.

Yet he had declined.

Never mind his talk about good things coming to those who wait, about not having trustworthy people.

All bullshit.

Switch to a normal person, encountering such an opportunity, they would be desperate to start putting their own people in place immediately.

Mayor Zheng’s reaction was abnormal, very abnormal!

This was not the reaction an official should have.

County Magistrate Hou subtly nodded, "Mayor Zheng has a point, I was too anxious."

After a few more words, County Magistrate Hou said his goodbyes and left.

He got into his car, lit a cigarette, and thought carefully about what Mayor Zheng had said.

Why exactly had he refused?

After finishing a cigarette, County Magistrate Hou still couldn’t figure it out.

"Go to the City Committee." He leaned back and closed his eyes, feigning sleep.

The municipal government and the City Committee were very close, and after about ten minutes, the car had already stopped.

Worried about running into Secretary Wu, County Magistrate Hou avoided the elevator and took the stairs instead.

"Knock knock."

Secretary Sun knocked on the door, "Secretary Lu, County Magistrate Hou from Dujiang City is here to see you."

Secretary Lu’s reaction was no different from Mayor Zheng’s.

Why had this County Magistrate Hou come?

"Let him in."

Secretary Sun made tea and then left.

Compared to the emotionally expressive Mayor Zheng, Secretary Lu was calmer and more approachable.

But County Magistrate Hou knew that it was these seemingly amiable people like Secretary Lu who were the most difficult to deal with.

After exchanging pleasantries, County Magistrate Hou repeated his earlier words exactly.

After he finished, he watched Secretary Lu closely.

Secretary Lu first showed surprise, his facial expressions signaling to County Magistrate Hou that he was tempted.

But soon, this temptation was suppressed.

It was replaced with an expression of regret.

Regret?

Why would he show an expression of regret?

Although Secretary Lu hadn’t yet spoken, County Magistrate Hou already had a guess about what he would say next.

Likely, he would refuse, just like Mayor Zheng.

"I really can’t think of anyone to recommend right now."

"The most important thing for Dujiang City now is the economy, which requires an official specifically skilled in that area to be competent, and that just happens to be my weak point."

"Why not go and ask Mayor Zheng? Perhaps he has some good candidates to recommend."

"Or, you could also speak with Minister Zhou from the Organization Department, who is in charge of personnel. He is very familiar with officials from various departments in the city."

As expected, refusal...

County Magistrate Hou felt a chill in his heart, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then left the office.

Back in the car, County Magistrate Hou chain-smoked one cigarette after another.

Even he, as obtuse as he might be, realized there was a problem with this situation.

First, it could be ruled out as an issue with Dujiang City.

No leader would pass up such an opportunity that was handed to them on a silver platter.

If the issue wasn’t with Dujiang City, then there could be only one reason.

"Huff~"

County Magistrate Hou exhaled a plume of smoke and came to an answer that sent a shiver down his spine.

The likelihood was, these two leaders’ refusal was because of him, Hou Wen!

The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel

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