(Tomorrow at 3am, seeking likes and collections)

  The party and government meeting started at 9 o'clock. Director Huang Xinliang of the Party and Government Office came over in advance to remind Shen Huai to go to the conference room on the second floor together.

  Du Jian and He Qing were already seated in the conference room.

  Perhaps it was Du Jian who presided over the meeting in person, and no one dared to slack off. There were already more than a dozen people seated inside. Before Shen Huai pushed open the door and entered, all of them looked up at him with different expressions.

  "This is the new Secretary Shen," Du Jian had been buried in looking at documents, and now he raised his head, glanced at Shen Hua, tapped his hand on the table, as if reminding others to look at him while speaking. "Director Huang, introduce everyone to Secretary Shen; also, remind Secretary Shen that from now on, whenever I attend a meeting, everyone needs to arrive one minute early, this is an old rule established long ago."

  Du Jian's words were so inflammatory that it seemed like a spark could set off a firework and blow the whole conference room up.

  He Qingci smiled in her heart as she listened to Du Jian's words: The incident of smashing the cup this morning had already spread, and now giving a warning was somewhat late, and also somewhat urgent...

  He didn't follow Du Jianzhen to introduce Shen Huai to Huang Xinliang, but instead stood up with a smile and patted the chair beside him, saying: "Secretary Shen, please sit here." He then turned his head to look at the people in the conference room and said: "Secretary Shen is a high-caliber talent who returned from studying in France. He was a lecturer at the Provincial Economic Academy for two years and has great knowledge. Later, he was transferred to Donghua to work and is one of the rare high-level intellectuals that our poor and remote county has been able to recruit. The municipal organization department and the county have both recommended Secretary Shen to take charge of the economy in Meixi. In recent years, Meixi's economic growth has slowed down a bit, and I, like Secretary Du, look forward to Secretary Shen leading Meixi's economy to create a new landscape..."

  Those who watch the excitement are not afraid of trouble, and He Qing's words made Du Jian's face even more difficult to look at.

  He Qing pointed out one by one and introduced Shen Hua to the main cadres in the town and the people in charge of the work.

  Because Du Jian opened the meeting and set the tone, and the noise of smashing cups in the morning was not small either. Everyone nodded to Shen Hua after being introduced, but no one came over to shake hands with him.

  Half an hour later, Huang Xinliang sent a piece of paper to Shen Hua, which simply listed the topics to be discussed today.

  Shen Huai only had time to roughly glance over the agenda, not understanding it deeply. The first half of the party-political meeting was almost irrelevant to him, and he sat with his eyes narrowed next to He Qing's side, listening to others discuss.

  He Qing Society didn't say much, occasionally inserting a few words. When discussing the debt issue of a village joint-stock brick kiln, He Qing Society suggested that the finance department send someone to help check the accounts, but Du Jian directly interrupted him: "You don't understand this matter, let Deputy Mayor Huang take charge of it directly..."

  Seeing He Qing's old face being put there, Shen Huai secretly said: As soon as he came over, he would stab Du Jian, and it was indeed correct. Otherwise, he would become a soft persimmon, and not only would Du Jian trample and pinch him, but the few dogs around him would also bite over without any scruples.

  The meeting went on to the second half, which was a discussion of Shen Hua's division of labor and personnel adjustments at the steel plant.

  "Mei Creek Steel Plant has not made progress in the past two years, and its operations are still in trouble. I have to take most of the responsibility," Du Jian's face looked very unsightly, even though he didn't want to bring up this topic, but couldn't help it, and when speaking, his eyes didn't look at Shen Huai sitting next to He Qing.

  "I have submitted a request to the county to resign as the director of Meixi Steel Factory, and the county has agreed in principle. They recommended that Secretary Shen take over my position as the director of Meixi Steel Factory. Secretary Shen is an overseas returnee student, although he's a bit young, but being young has its advantages, at least he has enthusiasm; although he lacks practical work experience, he has knowledge. I believe he can manage the steel factory even better. Next, I hope everyone will accept my resignation as the director of Meixi Steel Factory and appoint Secretary Shen as the new director..."

  "The Meixi Steel Plant has indeed seen a decline in profits over the past two years, but Secretary Du can't be held solely responsible," someone stood up to defend him. "In the past two years, the city has not provided any support for township enterprises. The loans that Meixi Steel Plant received are less than one-fifth of what it used to get. Without funding, there's no way to upgrade technology or expand production scale, and costs can't be reduced. Secretary Du has gone gray from running around to secure loans; if others still try to shift the blame onto him, that would be unfair..."

  "Is this Huang Xiaokuo, the head of Huang Town?" Shen Huai asked He Qing in a low voice.

  He Qing nodded slightly.

  Shen Huai opened the notebook that had been pressed under his hand, inside which was a list of government personnel given to him by Huang Xinliang that morning. He had checked off the name "Huang Xiaokuai". Looking back at Huang Xiaokuai's enthusiastic performance in the first half of the meeting and the several departments he was in charge of, anyone with discerning eyes could tell that he was Du Jian's trusted confidant.

  Deputy Mayor Huang Xiaokui's words did not stop, and Director of Finance Department Han Xingquan cleared his throat to speak:

  "The country has made Huaihai Province the first pilot for the division of tax revenue in the past two years. In the past, value-added tax was allocated to local governments, and when enterprises were having difficulties, they could request a reduction or exemption from taxes, so at least they could make ends meet. After the division of tax revenue, most of the value-added tax went to the central government. The products produced have not even been sold yet, and it's still unknown whether they will be profitable, but the central government directly takes away 13% of the tax. If you say that market conditions are good, then it's understandable for the central government to take away 13% of the tax, but when market conditions are bad, not only does the central government not return some of the previously collected taxes, but there is also no reduction or exemption at all. I'm not saying that Secretary Shen is incompetent, objective difficulties are in front of us, and I think whoever takes over will have no way to manage the steel factory well..."

  "Secretary Shen returned from studying abroad and also had experience teaching at a university, I think Secretary Shen's academic work is no problem, but the management of the steel plant is complex, Secretary Shen has no experience, was the county's recommendation a bit hasty......" Someone else stood up to be Du Jian's gunner against Shen Hua.

  Shen Huai sat there motionless:

  Du Jian, isn't it a bit late to counterattack now? Is the safety of the people behind Secretary Wu Haifeng of the Municipal Party Committee more important, or is the will of Secretary Wu Haifeng and County Party Committee Secretary Tao Jixing more important, or is your will as the party secretary of Du town more important?

  Even if Du Jian had the guts to disobey Tao Ji Xing's will, Shen Huai thought that at most he would have to wait another month for Tao Ji Xing to transfer Du Jian away.

  Indeed, Du Jian still did not dare to disobey the will of County Party Secretary Tao Jixing at this time. He knew what would happen if he went against the organization's intentions, but he was not a soft persimmon that could be easily pinched. By having so many people stand up and sing a discordant note, he wanted Shen Hua to know that even if Shen Hua became the steel plant manager as he wished, Du Jian could still remove him from office through party and government meetings.

  The meeting was held until the end, and it seemed that Du Jian asked everyone to pass the appointment of Shen Hua Steel Plant's factory director.

  Finally, Du Jian said: "Add a topic temporarily. Recently, there have been cases of steel plant workers participating in fights in the town. The security and protection work of the steel plant needs to be strengthened. I propose to remove Wang Gang's position as deputy captain of the joint defense team and appoint him as the director of the iron and steel security department. In addition, for future party and government meetings, we should invite relevant personnel to participate in collective decision-making according to different topics. For example, if a topic is related to the steel plant, apart from Secretary Shen representing the steel plant, other deputy factory directors should also be invited to participate in decision-making..."

  Shen Huan just smiled coldly at Du Jian's words, thinking that if he didn't thoroughly crush this guy, the matter wouldn't be settled yet.

  Donghua promoted the party-government joint conference system in subordinate towns, with the aim of preventing town officials from abusing their power. Unexpectedly, it became a tool for Du Jian to undermine others.

  If the personnel appointments of all sizes in the iron and steel plant need to be discussed and approved by the party-government meeting, the larger affairs of the iron and steel plant also need to be discussed by the party-government meeting. Even if Shen Hua becomes the factory director as he wishes, he will only be a nominal figurehead. The actual power of the iron and steel plant will still be in Du Jian's hands.

  Is this the purpose of Wu Haifeng and Tao Jixing, to push him forward as a scapegoat, while they continue to suck blood from the steel factory? Or is it just that Du Jian personally does not want to give up power?

  "I reserve my opinion, now from top to bottom, all are emphasizing the need to strengthen corporate autonomy, and the manager's responsibility system has been proposed for many years. Mei Xi Town does not need to turn back the clock." He Qing She kept a distance from Shen Huai, but with Du Jian, he was hoping to hide behind and watch the good show of Shen Huai and Du Jian fighting each other, but if Shen Huai had already set up Du Jian on the first day, what fun would be left?

  "Reform and opening up is like crossing the river by feeling for stones, what we emphasize now may not necessarily be correct, and the previous methods are not necessarily completely wrong. The key is that we must be brave enough to correct mistakes. In the operation of the steel plant, in fact, we have made some mistakes, but it is precisely so, we must be even more brave to correct them." Du Jian said in a calm tone, looking at He Qing with a gloomy gaze, then shifted his line of sight to Shen Hua's body, "Mayor He has reserved his opinion; Secretary Shen, what about you?"

  "What about the meeting minutes?" Shen Hui looked up at Huang Xinliang, who was in charge of taking the meeting minutes, and stretched out his hand to take a look.

  Huang Xinliang reluctantly handed over the meeting minutes, Shen Hua flipped through the book to the front page, pointing at the record book and staring at Huang Xinliang, who was Du Jian's confidant, and asked: "The steel plant is in today's operational difficulties, Secretary Du also admitted that he should take most of the responsibility, why isn't this recorded? Do you still have Secretary Du in your eyes, do you still hear his words in your ears?"

  Shen Huai immediately tossed the meeting minutes back in front of Huang Xinliang without hesitation.

  As soon as Shen Huai said this, many people's ears were buzzing: the cards have been turned over! This kid is too arrogant, can one sentence on record really bring down Du Jian?

  "Write down every single word I say," Du Jian's face turned pale with rage, his pent-up anger still unable to be vented, and his finger pointing at Huang Xinliang to take notes was trembling. "If there's a problem in the future, I, Du Jian, will take responsibility."

  He Qing Society looked at the face of Huang Xinliang, the director of the Party and Government Office, which had turned green, and then looked at other participants who were present, they all fell silent and dared not speak again. He thought that Shen Hua's goal was still to beat the dog to show the dog.

  He Qing initially thought Shen Huai was an arrogant and unyielding person, but now she's starting to think that Shen Huai might have already decided to take a tough stance against Du Jian.

  "Since Secretary Du has said so, I'll just reserve my opinion then." Shen Huai responded coldly, not even looking at Du Jian. He knew that he couldn't stop Du Jian from implementing his intentions through the party and government meetings now, and it would be a waste of breath to oppose him, but his stance absolutely could not soften.

  If even a group of township officials can't be defeated, how can we talk about giving the Song family another chance? That would simply be slapping the Song family in the face.