The Prologue (1)
I became the mayor of the provincial capital city
Yan Yuanping, the secretary, is going to be appointed as the deputy director of the Provincial People's Congress, and it's an open secret that I, Yu Yang, the mayor of this city, will take over as the secretary of the Municipal Party Committee. This is a normal thought process. When the secretary of the Municipal Party Committee leaves, the mayor naturally takes over the vacant position. Moreover, the provincial party leadership has already given me a reassurance, promising that I will take over as the secretary of the Municipal Party Committee.
However, the strangeness of politics lies in this: the more public and transparent things are, the more impossible they become; the more outsiders think something is set in stone, the less likely it is to happen. Only core figures within the circle understand the principles and secrets behind such matters.
After a winter and spring, an authoritative document flew in with fine weather, informing the leaders of Yangming City that Comrade Yu Yang had been appointed as Vice Mayor and Acting Mayor of Q City People's Government in Q Province due to work needs, after research by the Provincial Party Committee. At the same time, Comrade Yu Yang was removed from his position as Mayor of Yangming City People's Government... However, to truly take up the position of Mayor of Q City People's Government, one would still have to wait for the election by the Q City People's Congress.
Similarly, as mayors, similarly a level, one is in the provincial capital of Q province, Q city, and the other is in the northern border of Q province, Yanming, the difference in weight is obvious. Although I did not have the honor to serve as the Secretary of the Yanming Municipal Party Committee, being able to sit on the mayor's chair of the provincial capital is indeed a sight to behold for my peers.
Q City has jurisdiction over four counties and four districts. In terms of land area and population, it is not larger than the Swan City where I am currently located, but Q City's economic strength is equivalent to seven and a half Swan Cities. In layman's terms, Q City is rich. Currently, its comprehensive strength ranks 20th among the top 100 cities in the country.
The four counties under the jurisdiction of Q city are Fuzhou, Jixi, Pingxiang and He County. These four counties are very active and have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. In modern terms, they are not ordinary people, but rather the kind of people who dare to think, speak and act.
In the early 1980s, when they were all counties and had not yet been changed to cities, a folk ditty circulated among the common people in Q Province: Fuzhou relies on cheating, Ji'an relies on trickery, Pingxiang relies on banquets, and He County relies on borrowing.
Of course, the officials cannot agree with this kind of folk song made by the common people. These common people are just common people, they are not in a position to understand the difficulties of being an official, and they only see the glorious side of things. Although their views have pointed out many problems, they also show bias and shallowness. In fact, during the initial stage of socialism, what is called the first pot of gold in the market economy, most entrepreneurs rely on this kind of unregulated method to survive. It's the initial stage, can you expect a primary school student to understand the rules that only a university student can understand? These several counties under Q city are actually quite clever, they know how to seize opportunities, just like taking an irregular bus, if you miss this one, it's hard to say when the next one will come, or maybe there won't be a next one; or maybe the next bus will change its route, and waiting is useless. This is called reality, or practice. It's a complex body of country, province, city, and county, very mysterious. Many university professors may not be able to grasp this professional technique. However, Q city's Fu County, Ji County, Ping County, and He County understand this profession, they all caught the early bus, should say they seized the opportunity. In just a few years, Fu County, Ji County, and Ping County were successively withdrawn as counties and established as cities! Only He County was left behind. He County's foundation was too poor, it was originally a nationally designated poverty-stricken county, some hard indicators were far from meeting the requirements for changing from a county to a city, so it couldn't be changed. After a period of struggle, He County had removed the "poverty-stricken county" hat in recent years and basically met the requirements for changing into a city, but at that time, the higher-ups had tightened their grip on this matter, making it more difficult, and in principle, no longer approved such reports to change counties into cities. It's also He County's bad luck, when they caught up with the opportunity, the conditions were not met, and when the conditions were met, the bus had stopped operating! However, it is said that the people of He County are not discouraged, their reason is that the higher-ups said in principle no longer approve changing counties into cities, but it's not an absolute no. Moreover, even if they really don't approve now, there will be opportunities in the future, after all, things are always changing, so they are still working on this matter. Although He County is still called a county, its comprehensive strength has increased significantly compared to before. Especially economic strength, more importantly, the spiritual outlook and ideological consciousness of the four cities and counties have undergone subtle changes, which the common people can see, they are advancing with the times, changing their previous mistakes and ways of doing things. Maybe this is why Q city has again spread a new folk song made by the common people: Fu City relies on cleverness, Ji City relies on experience, Ping City relies on tourism, He County relies on scientific research.
Now, Fuzhou and Jixi have both become one of the top 100 counties (cities) in terms of comprehensive strength nationwide. Pingzhou and Hexian are also among the best in Q Province. The reason for this achievement is that the leaders of these places understand economics and have a high level of expertise. Now, I am going to take office in Q City, leading so many talented people. If I'm not capable myself, how can I gain their respect? Thinking about this, there's a sense of pressure on my mind. Moreover, Q City is the provincial capital, located at the throat of Q Province, playing a crucial role. As the mayor of this city, I am performing under the watchful eyes of many superiors. If I perform well, leaders will notice; if I don't, they'll also see it clearly.
Not like before in Tian Gao Emperor Far Swan City...
Thinking of these, a kind of worry surged up. However, I still persuaded myself that if I want to make progress and get promoted, I shouldn't be afraid of the wolf in front and the tiger behind. I weighed myself and found that I'm still young and have time, so I'll face the challenges head-on. Is there any brightness without shadows in the world? Is there any journey without risk?
