Rebirth of the Rising Sun

Compared to Feng Sizhe, who was regarded as the protagonist, he was sitting here openly. He could certainly feel that Ji Quanyong was putting pressure on him, and according to the situation he knew, he was indeed using power to put pressure on him. This can be seen from the list of members of the Standing Committee of the Capital Province.

The central government has been promoting the slogan of "streamlining administration" and reducing the number of government staff. From a big picture perspective, this is to avoid overstaffing and to avoid people passing the buck to each other when things go wrong because there are too many staff members. This policy has had a very good effect across the country, as can be seen from the reduction in the number of deputy secretaries in provinces across the country. However, this policy has not been well implemented in the capital province, as can be seen from a simple number: the number of standing committee members of the provincial party committee in the capital province has reached as many as 15, which is unmatched by any other province in the country.

Sitting in a chair, Feng Sizhe looked at the people in the conference room. The identities, positions, and backgrounds of these people were all in his sight.

SW Secretary Xu Chaoqi is a cadre promoted by Ji Quanyong and a member of the Ji faction.

Deputy Secretary Yu Chunhao was a nail driven into the Capital Province by the Central Government three years ago. He was a cadre promoted by the current Executive Vice President Ke Zhenye and is considered a member of the Ke faction.

Guan Denggui, Chairman of the CPPCC, is an anomaly. He is the oldest among the members of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee. He was originally on the same level as Ji Quanyong. But later, with the rise of the Ji family, his glory was submerged in it, and he was in charge of fewer and fewer things. From what we know, he rarely speaks in the Standing Committee, so he can be considered an anomaly.

The Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Ji Pang Yijun, was a cadre promoted by Ji Quanyong. On the surface, he was also a member of the Ji faction. However, sometimes when facing pressure from the central government, his thoughts would waver. In Feng Sizhe's impression, he was still one of the targets who could be won over.

The Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Tang Jian, is a cadre promoted by Ji Quanyong and a member of the Ji faction.

I won’t say much about Executive Vice Governor Zheng Defu. Like Feng Sizhe, he is an outsider and basically does not have much say in meetings.

The Organization Minister Su Hanmin is a cadre promoted by Ji Quanyong and a member of the Ji faction.

Minister of Propaganda Mou Ximing is a cadre promoted by Ji Quanyong and a member of the Ji faction.

Mei Guolong, Minister of United Front Work, is a cadre promoted by Ji Quanyong and a member of the Ji faction.

Zou Anlin, member of the Standing Committee and vice governor of the province, is a cadre promoted by Ji Quanyong and a member of the Ji faction.

Zheng Qinghe, Secretary General of the Provincial Party Committee, is a cadre promoted by Ji Quanyong and a member of the Ji family.

Yang Dawei, secretary of the Sichuan Municipal Committee, is a cadre promoted by Ji Quanyong and a member of the Ji family.

The commander of the provincial military region, Wo Lingming, was strictly speaking a member of the Lu faction, but due to the special circumstances of the capital province, he rarely participated in political affairs. But it was true that he was Feng Sizhe's enemy.

This is the structure of the members of the Standing Committee of Ducheng Province. Among the fifteen people, ten of them, two-thirds of them, are from the Ji faction. It is no wonder why Ducheng Province is so dominant. In fact, when Ji Quanyong was still the Secretary of SW, the former Director of Guochuan Development Zone of Ducheng Province, Xie Kaiquan, was also a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee. Of course, he was also a member of the Ji faction. Later, because Ji Quanyong gave up the position of Secretary of SW and concentrated on the main meeting of the Provincial People's Congress, Xie Kaiquan had to withdraw from the sequence of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee. The Provincial Committee must have an odd number. In other words, among the fifteen people before, plus the Executive Vice Governor of the Ji faction who was transferred to work in other places, that means that the Ji faction occupies twelve places, which is a full four-fifths.

Feng Sizhe was very surprised about the political environment in the capital province. He knew that in many places, after being in power for a long time, the top leader would be able to cover up the whole situation with one hand, but this was the first time he encountered such a large-scale covering up the whole situation.

After Ji Quanyong sat down, SW Secretary Xu Chaoqi presided over the meeting. First, he announced the decision of the Central Committee and welcomed the arrival of Comrades Feng Sizhe and Zheng Defu. The other members of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee also applauded after Xu Chaoqi finished speaking, but the applause was sparse and made people feel insincere.

Xu Chaoqi also felt that the applause was not loud enough, but he could not say much. Although he was the SW secretary of Ducheng Province, as long as Ji Quanyong was there, he knew that he would not be able to enjoy this position in name only. "Okay, now please let Secretary Ji give us work instructions."

After Xu Chaoqi brought Ji Quanyong out, the applause in the meeting hall obviously changed a lot. It became warm and long-lasting. From this alone, it can be seen that Ji Quanyong's dominant position in the Standing Committee is unquestionable.

Ji Quanyong had been sitting there with his eyes squinted the whole time. Even when Xu Chaoqi was introducing Feng Sizhe and Zheng Defu just now, he was still squinting, not to mention clapping. But now that it was his turn to speak, his eyes slowly opened wide.

"I will mainly talk about two points. One, the Baichuan Building incident. Second, the issue of drought prevention in Nanchuan City. We need to work around these two aspects in the near future. In my opinion, the first thing should be handed over to the provincial government and presided over by Acting Governor Feng, and the second thing should be handed over to Vice Governor Zheng." After having the right to speak, Ji Quanyong only said a few simple words, but as soon as he finished speaking, he was still greeted with warm applause.

"Secretary Ji's words hit the essence of the matter. The central government attaches great importance to the Baichuan Building incident, and we must handle it well. I think it would be best if Acting Governor Feng were to take charge, which also shows the importance our Ducheng Province attaches to this matter. Although Comrade Zheng Defu has just arrived, he has been the deputy mayor of Kyoto for several years after all. I think he should have his own way of dealing with drought prevention. As for Deputy Governor Zheng's temporary work, it should be handed over to Comrade Zou Anlin for now. I think we should do as Secretary Ji said, thank you both for your hard work." After Ji Quanyong finished speaking, Xu Chaoqi focused on this matter again.

After finishing speaking, he turned his gaze to Ji Quanyong, and his meaning was obvious, asking if there was anything else.

Ji Quanyong still had his eyes narrowed, but he nodded his head up and down. Xu Chaoqi immediately understood the meaning and ended today's provincial party committee standing committee meeting with two words: "Dismissed".

The fact that the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee ended so quickly was obviously beyond the expectations of Feng Sizhe and Zheng Defu.

Feng Sizhe believed that the provincial party committee standing committee members in the most populous province in the country had endless things to do, and they had finally gathered everyone together. No matter what, they should talk for a while, exchange ideas, and unify their understandings. But how could the meeting end so quickly? Of course, what he couldn't accept was Xu Chaoqi's attitude towards Ji Quanyong. It is said that the current SW secretary is Xu Chaoqi, but he seems to be a follower. On the contrary, Ji Quanyong, who has already been in the National People's Congress, seems to be the top leader, and even the way others address him has not changed. In this case, doesn't it mean that Ji Quanyong still has the final say in Ducheng Province, and he, the acting governor, has become the third in command?

Of course, Feng Sizhe would be angry. More importantly, as the acting governor, this was his first time attending the Standing Committee. As the head of the provincial government, no one asked for his opinion. Yes, he had just arrived and was not familiar with many tasks, but wasn't this meeting to arrange his work? Let him handle the matter of Baichuan Building, but at least he should be allowed to raise some questions.

Feng Sizhe was very disappointed with this Standing Committee, but he did not say it aloud. He was probably aware that the situation in Capital Province could not be changed in a day or two.

As the executive vice governor, Zheng Defu was full of grievances. As the executive vice governor of a province and the second-in-command of the provincial government, his main management tasks were finance, taxation, supervision, land, human resources, social security and foreign affairs. But now all these powers had been snatched away by the standing committee member and vice governor Zou Anlin, and he himself had to take charge of the anti-drought work. This was simply a disparity between his position and job responsibilities.

Of course, even though he was very angry, Zheng Defu didn't say anything. Perhaps he knew that he had just arrived and didn't know anything, so it would be better for him to wait and see what happened.

Whether they were willing or not, whether they accepted it or not, the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee ended just like that. Ji Quanyong was the first to leave with big strides, followed by SW Secretary Xu Chaoqi. If you look closely, you can even find that Xu Chaoqi deliberately stepped half a step behind Ji Quanyong. From this point of view, it is really hard to tell who is SW Secretary.

Feng Sizhe didn't want to comment on these strange things in the officialdom of Ducheng Province. Or he was not qualified to comment. What he had to do now was to do his job well and sort out the affairs of the provincial government. Only in this way could he push his ideas outward and have the strength to do so.

So, when the Standing Committee ended, he left the meeting room with a calm face. There was another provincial governor's office meeting to be held in the afternoon, and he had to prepare in advance.

Normally, the director of the provincial people's congress does not have a formal office in the provincial party committee. Even if some provinces have one, it is just a signboard. After all, under normal circumstances, the secretary SW must also serve as the director of the provincial people's congress, and this office becomes a show for outsiders. But the incident happened in Ducheng Province, and the situation was completely different. Ji Quanyong not only had his own office in the provincial party committee, but even his office was still the same. The only thing that changed was the signboard outside the door. It used to say "Secretary SW", but now it says "Director of the Provincial People's Congress".