Reborn as a Noble’s Son
Chapter 986 - Chapter 986 Chapter 942 Reckless Abandon

Chapter 986: Chapter 942 Reckless Abandon Chapter 986: Chapter 942 Reckless Abandon Nie Zhenbang’s words seemed casual, as if he was joking, lightly touching upon the subject and moving on. Yet, at this moment, Xu Hongzhuan felt a chilling dread. As the Secretary-General of the provincial committee, Xu Hongzhuan was also seasoned and had seen many storms. But now, he was somewhat shocked; it appeared that these people had crossed Nie Zhenbang’s bottom line.

When Nie Zhenbang and his entourage arrived at the base of the provincial committee building, the car was already waiting at the entrance. Hong Feng stepped forward to open the car door.

As soon as he got into the car, Nie Zhenbang wore a serious expression and instructed Dai Fei, “Dai, drive to the Provincial Civil Affairs Guesthouse.”

The civil affairs ministry work group had only stayed for one night at the provincial committee guesthouse. After a brief visit and completing their formalities, they checked into the Civil Affairs Guesthouse.

As a subordinate agency, the Civil Affairs Department dared not be careless or presumptuous, naturally offering the best rooms and the most gracious hospitality.

Despite the generous hospitality, Guo Nansheng of the Civil Affairs Department did not dare to act against the wind. All hospitality was kept within the official limits, with no overstepping.

Yet, what Guo Nansheng had not anticipated was that early this morning, right after he arrived, the other party announced a startling decision–the inspection in Hongcheng had ended, and they would return to Jingcheng today.

At the entrance of the Civil Affairs Guesthouse, Guo Nansheng seemed restless, pacing back and forth, as if to mask his emotions.

At the entrance, upon seeing the lead car, Guo Nansheng immediately went to greet it. He didn’t wait for the car to come to a complete stop before approaching and opening the door, saying with great respect, “Secretary Nie.”

Nie Zhenbang nodded, glanced behind him, saw Liu Yaowen follow, and then said, “Director Guo, has the work group packed and ready to leave?”

Director Guo nodded and said, “When I arrived, Director Zhao and Director Chang were already prepared. Now, I just need to arrange for their transportation to the airport for the noon flight. It’s about time.”

“Be patient, Director Guo. Don’t be nervous. I, Nie Zhenbang, have always been fair in my approach, dealing with the situation, not the person. This time’s issue is not with your Civil Affairs Department, so rest assured. For now, there’s no rush to head there. I think we should first go to the conference room and fully understand the situation,” Nie Zhenbang spoke simply and clearly, revealing a decisive and efficient style throughout.

The Civil Affairs Guesthouse is an industry under the Civil Affairs Department, primarily responsible for hosting conferences within the civil affairs system and facilitating exchanges between counterparts in other provinces and cities. Therefore, its conference facilities, including various meeting rooms and multimedia rooms, were very well-equipped.

Now in a smaller meeting room with everyone seated, Nie Zhenbang opened the conversation, “Director Guo, as the main accompanying member of the work group, can you tell us exactly what happened?”

Guo Nansheng hesitated, his eyes shifting to Liu Yaowen, the responsible leader beside him. Seeing Liu Yaowen’s encouraging look, he nodded and began, “Secretary Nie, leaders, here’s what happened.”

Listening to Guo Nansheng’s account, Nie Zhenbang’s brows furrowed deeply, and his anger grew.

His face darkened as he spoke angrily, “Reckless and arrogant, truly reckless! Do these people really think they are above all, that just because they aren’t part of our system, I can’t control them? I want to see what they are truly made of.”

Continuing, Nie Zhenbang said to Guo Nansheng, “Director Guo, I want to confirm with you the work group only made a cursory inspection of the disaster situations in Hongcheng, Luji City, and Lushan City and gained a preliminary understanding of the social assistance efforts. Is that correct?”

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang needed to cause trouble, and to do so, he had to fully understand the true facts of the matter, without leaving out a single detail. It was necessary. Zhenbang was very clear about the intricacies of the ministries; in fact, not just the ministries, the same applied everywhere, and on the local level, it was referred to as local protectionism. To put it bluntly, every unit tends to be partial to its own people. If Nie Zhenbang were in their position, he probably would do the same. This is called ‘protecting one’s own’. A leader cannot protect their own to the point where they cannot protect their subordinates. In the face of trouble, they are easily taken advantage of by others. Who would then still want to ally themselves with such a leader? It would be impossible. Therefore, if he wanted to make trouble, he needed to understand the situation. Only when one holds the moral high ground does one have room to maneuver.

Guo Nansheng was very aware of Secretary Nie’s intentions. At this time, on such a crucial issue, he dared not tell anything but the truth. He immediately affirmed with conviction, nodding, “Secretary Nie, I guarantee it with my party spirit.”

Saying this, Guo Nansheng continued, “This time, the disaster from the freezing weather in our province mainly affected several cities near Chunan Province. The extensive freezing rain and snow have almost paralyzed the roads there. Additionally, electricity, heating, and civil livelihood have been severely impacted. Preliminary estimates put the disaster losses at least over eight hundred million yuan. However, the opinion from the working group is that, after an overall inspection of Hongjiang’s disaster situation, the situation is stable and in the process of improving. Therefore, this time, the working group has allocated thirty million yuan for civil disaster relief funds. Moreover, the Relief Department believes that the scope of assistance in our province is too broad, indicating an issue with lax auditing boundaries…”

Before he could finish speaking, Nie Zhenbang stood up and spoke in a deep voice, “Enough, that’s all I need to know.”

Without hearing Guo Nansheng’s complete explanation, Nie Zhenbang could guess the rest. Although Nie Zhenbang had never worked in civil affairs, as the head of the government for many years, he understood some aspects of it. In short, they believed that in Hongjiang Province’s city subsistence allowances, rural subsistence support, and social assistance areas, the audits had been a little too lenient and needed to be tightened up, essentially proposing to reduce some funding. In the end, it meant nothing but a reduction in allocations.

Just then, the doors of the meeting room were pushed open from outside, and Director Zhao and Director Chang from the working group walked in one after another. Seeing Nie Zhenbang present, both of their faces revealed a hint of surprise. They said sheepishly, “Secretary Nie is here as well.”

Nie Zhenbang’s expression was dark as he looked at them. At this moment, his disdain for such people was immense. They only cared for their own pleasure, disregarding the livelihood and safety of the people. Such individuals did not deserve to be officials, to be leaders.

He then said sternly, “You two? Don’t you know that when a meeting is in session, you are supposed to wait outside? Has Yu Lizhen not taught you any manners? You show such a lack of decorum. Leave now; I have some questions for you later.”

Yu Lizhen was the Party Secretary and Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. This time in Jingcheng, when he visited the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the man was away inspecting disaster conditions in Chunan and was not at home. But given Nie Zhenbang’s standing, it was not inappropriate to call him by his name, and there was nothing improper about it.

At this, the faces of both men became somewhat unsightly. Neither of them expected Nie Zhenbang to lose his temper publicly and without restraint. After all, they were not subordinates of Nie Zhenbang, and if they stood their ground, it could be embarrassing for Nie Zhenbang.

Yet, at that moment, they both forbore, as Nie Zhenbang’s imposing manner had shaken them.

As they stepped out of the conference room, Nie Zhenbang looked at them and said gravely, “Director Zhao, Director Chang, I heard that both of you have completed your inspection and research work. May I know if you have any thoughts? Additionally, I’d like to inquire why the disaster relief funds for the freezing disaster in our province are only thirty million yuan. On what basis was this decision made?”

When the matter was raised, Director Zhao’s facial expression eased significantly. Discussing internal matters, how much clout could Nie Zhenbang have? He might be the head of the Hongjiang Provincial Committee, but what of it? Surely he could not dictate the specifics of how the Ministry of Civil Affairs should operate?

With that thought, Director Zhao spoke in a tone neither servile nor overbearing, “Secretary Nie talks as if he finds fault with our decision. We naturally have our ways of working. It seems that in this respect, Secretary Nie has no right to intervene.”

Hearing these words, Nie Zhenbang was so infuriated he could only laugh. Misery often comes from those who refuse to take responsibility; it now seemed unnecessary to preserve any dignity for these two men.

He sneered, “Very well, that’s just great. You say I have no right to ask, but let me inquire, you inspect the disaster areas only by passing hastily through Red City, Lushan City, and Luji City where the disaster was mild, spending just one day to cover it. How do you call that an investigation? Ignoring seriously affected Wenchun City and Meiping City, what kind of research is that? Such reckless and audacious conduct, such disregard for the lives and well-being of the people. Is this your way of working, the kind of officials under Yu Lizhen? Very good indeed. This time, I will report this to the authorities above; I’d like to ask Yu Lizhen face to face whether this is how the Ministry of Civil Affairs operates, whether this represents his leadership style.”

Seeing their embarrassment, Nie Zhenbang gestured dismissively, “Comrade Liu Yaowen, please arrange a vehicle for these people to go to the airport at once. Looking at them disgusts me; even seeing them shames me. To place the identity of Party members and officials upon them disgraces all Party members and officials.”

As his words fell, Nie Zhenbang left abruptly. Such boldness and brazen actions were truly unprecedented; although they were not soliciting bribes, their attitude was even more despicable than those who did. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendations and monthly tickets on NovelFire.net. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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