Chapter 7: The Turmoil Caused by an Article

The news broadcast by the Dongting County TV station and the experience summary written by the county's agricultural bureau were almost simultaneously seen by the county party secretary, Ren Pingyi. Normally, there would be nothing wrong with this, but it was a bad time now because Ren Pingyi had just launched a publicity campaign in the city party organ newspaper, which was about turning Dongting County into a granary for Sifeng City. The city party secretary, Jiang Ming, and the mayor, Duan Huimin, believed that Dongting County could not become wealthy through agriculture and suggested turning it into a granary while other counties adjusted their agricultural structures. To please the leaders, Ren Pingyi readily agreed and made a public statement in the city party organ newspaper. Therefore, when Ren Pingyi saw the news on the county TV and the materials from the county agricultural bureau, he frowned. At this point, it was inappropriate to do such things, so he casually threw the materials aside.

Next, Wang Jian put a lot of effort into building a vegetable market. The presence of such a market in the town not only invigorated the vegetable market but also boosted the sales of other goods, and overall, it was well-received by the people.

The construction of the vegetable greenhouses was completed, and the farmers planted off-season vegetables, which would be ready for the market in two months. With nothing else to do, Wang Jian wrote down the experience he had gained over the past month, condensed it into a short article, and submitted it to the magazine "Hexi Development Forum" published by the Hexi Provincial Party Committee Research Office.

At this time, the relevant documents about the three rural issues (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers) in Hexi Province were being issued one after another. The comrades at the provincial party committee research office felt that the timing was right and published Wang Jian's article in the magazine. Since Wang Jian wrote the article based on his personal experience, it was much better than the official articles written by ghostwriters, and thus it attracted the attention of some readers. The provincial party secretary, Guo Yongchen, specifically called the comrades at the provincial party committee research office and asked them to publish more articles from grassroots comrades with practical experience and real life, rather than those empty and insubstantial eight-part essays.

Wang Jian could not have imagined that his article would attract the attention of the provincial party leadership, and not just Guo Yongchen, but also the party secretary of Sifeng City, Jiang Ming, noticed it. After reading it, Jiang Ming immediately called Ren Pingyi and said, "What's going on? Didn't we agree to turn Dongting County into a granary? Why are you now adjusting the agricultural structure?"

These words left Ren Pingyi dazed, and he hurriedly asked, "Secretary Jiang, what do you mean?"

"Go and read this issue of the Hexi Development Forum!" Jiang Ming said.

Ren Pingyi put down the phone and hurriedly found the issue of the Hexi Development Forum. He had never thought of looking at such things before, and it took him several tries to find the content about Dongting County. It turned out to be the material submitted by the county agricultural bureau about the agricultural structure adjustment in Xianhe Township. Seeing the author's name, he felt a bit familiar and immediately called Zhang Zeguang.

Zhang Zeguang had appeared on the county TV once and had since been very concerned about the adjustment of the agricultural structure. When Ren Pingyi asked about it, he began to talk enthusiastically. Ren Pingyi interrupted him angrily, "You did it, and I won't blame you, but why are you publicizing it everywhere? It's one thing to publicize it in the county, where the city leaders can't see it, but why did you go to the provincial level? Who is this Wang Jian? He's quite capable, able to publish articles at the provincial level. Now the city leaders are criticizing us. What do you think we should do?"

The situation changed suddenly, and Zhang Zeguang was taken aback. Adjusting the agricultural structure was something the county had always advocated, and in his view, the granary project was pure nonsense. They hadn't even escaped poverty, yet they were supposed to sacrifice themselves to let others develop. How could the city leaders come up with such an idea?

"Secretary Ren, there's nothing wrong with adjusting the agricultural structure, right? What's wrong with increasing farmers' income? What's wrong with publicizing it?" Zhang Zeguang felt that Ren Pingyi was deliberately picking on him and wanted to defend himself.

Ren Pingyi was furious when he saw Zhang Zeguang dare to question him, but he maintained his tone and said, "I didn't say you can't do it, but you did it right after I made a statement to the city party committee. Where does that leave me? Where does that leave the city party committee? Let's put that aside for now. The key is, who told you to publish an article in the provincial party magazine? Who is this Wang Jian?"

Zhang Zeguang now understood that what had made Ren Pingyi angry was an article published in the provincial party magazine, and it mentioned Wang Jian. Could this Wang Jian have caused some trouble again?

"Secretary Ren, I don't quite understand what you mean. Wang Jian is a staff member of the township party office. He was in charge of the agricultural structure adjustment. Did he publish an article in the provincial party magazine?" Zhang Zeguang asked.

Ren Pingyi said angrily, "Not only did he publish it, but the city leaders also saw it and thought we were just going through the motions with the city party committee. What a mess! Your subordinate is causing trouble for the county party committee. I feel that the name Wang Jian sounds familiar. Have I met him before?"

This was indeed Wang Jian causing trouble again. What was wrong with this kid? He didn't report or seek approval and just went ahead and published the article. To say he was capable, he was indeed capable, but why was he always so untimely! Zhang Zeguang thought for a moment and said, "This Wang Jian is the same one who advised Zhao Bingzhi last time."

"Again? Why can't you change? Why did you let this kid cause trouble again? A young upstart, and you can't control him? Make him behave and keep him in the township!" Ren Pingyi didn't expect Wang Jian to be so clever and cause such a mess, making him lose face in front of Jiang Ming.

"Alright, I'll handle it immediately." Zhang Zeguang wanted to tell Ren Pingyi about Wang Jian's relationship with Zhao Bingzhi's niece, and that his article might have been published with the help of his classmate, but he decided not to since Ren Pingyi wasn't on the same side as him.

After hanging up, Zhang Zeguang called Liu Qingshan and reported the matter to him, also telling him about Wang Jian's current situation. Although Liu Qingshan was unhappy that Xianhe Township had caused trouble again, he was more concerned about whether Ren Pingyi would take action against his people. Recently, Ren Pingyi had been in a bad mood, seemingly on purpose, with the aim of adjusting the county and township leadership to change his control over Dongting County. Therefore, he had to be cautious at the slightest sign of trouble. Regarding Wang Jian's situation, Liu Qingshan asked Zhang Zeguang to keep an eye on it and not to act rashly, letting Wang Jian stay in the township party office. Since the matter had already happened, there was no need to offend anyone.

Zhang Zeguang had initially thought of transferring Wang Jian out of the township party office, but after Liu Qingshan's advice, he realized that there was no need to offend Wang Jian. After all, publishing an article was not a mistake, and it might have been submitted to the provincial party leadership by his classmate. It was better to wait and see.

Therefore, when Zhang Zeguang saw Wang Jian again, he not only didn't criticize him but also smiled and praised his article. Wang Jian then realized that his article had been published and hurriedly looked for the recent issue of the magazine among a pile of disorganized publications.

This made Wang Jian ecstatic. In the evening, he called Zhao Yixuan to share the good news, and she was also very happy for him. Publishing an article in that magazine was a significant achievement, as the readers were mostly high-ranking officials and scholars. Although not many people read the articles, they were read by the top leadership. Wang Jian's article had definitely been seen by the provincial party leadership.

A few days later, the provincial party committee held an expanded meeting to specifically study the three rural issues. The top leaders of each city, the provincial party committee members, the vice governors, and the heads of relevant provincial departments all attended the meeting. Guo Yongchen gave an important speech, proposing new requirements for the current three rural issues, emphasizing the need to increase investment in rural areas, strengthen modern agriculture, and adjust the agricultural structure to further increase farmers' income.

During the speech, he shared his views on how to improve the three rural issues. He said, "The key to improving the three rural issues is to have a cadre team that can deeply engage with the grassroots and root themselves in the countryside, studying the problems of rural areas, agriculture, and farmers. The Hexi Development Forum recently published an article by a grassroots cadre named Wang Jian, who wrote a research report on the adjustment of the agricultural structure. Although it doesn't contain profound theories, it is very practical and doesn't contain empty, grandiose, or hollow content, which is quite remarkable. This comrade should be a township leader, right?" At this point, a comrade from the provincial party committee research office interjected, "According to our understanding, he might be a recent university graduate."

Guo Yongchen was interested and asked, "A recent university graduate? But he seems more like an experienced cadre who has worked in the countryside for many years. Comrade Jiang Ming, do you know this comrade? He is from your city."

Jiang Ming felt nervous at this point. He hadn't paid much attention to Wang Jian's name and had just casually called Ren Pingyi. He didn't expect Guo Yongchen to specifically praise him and now ask about him. He didn't know how to answer. If he said he knew, he wasn't very familiar with Wang Jian, and if he said he didn't know, it would be embarrassing.

Seeing Jiang Ming hesitate, Zhao Bingzhi answered for him, "In response to Secretary Guo, Secretary Jiang Ming and I have met this comrade."

"Oh? You both met him?" Guo Yongchen was surprised.

"Yes, when I went to Sifeng City to research poverty alleviation, a young man actively shared his ideas on poverty alleviation with me, leaving a deep impression. Secretary Jiang Ming also praised him highly at the time," Zhao Bingzhi said with a smile.

Jiang Ming suddenly remembered and added, "Provincial Governor Zhao is right. This young man is very ambitious, enthusiastic about his work, and very capable."

Guo Yongchen nodded and said, "So, this young man is very excellent, both capable and hardworking. He is a talent, and the comrades in the organizational department should pay attention to discovering and cultivating him. The future of our cause depends on them!"

The provincial party committee member and minister of organization, Yan Qing, nodded in agreement, and Guo Yongchen continued to discuss the three rural issues.

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End of the chapter.