Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 435

As for "Dinia," her slightly improved impression of her suddenly worsened again. Sure enough, this Ronan and the other "Ronan" were the same kind of people, neither of them were good.

Let's return to Ronan's perspective.

"Then what should I do?" Zhao Jun asked impatiently.

"Actually, this is not the time for you, Chairman, to show your skills. Right now, we are just agreeing on an organizational structure framework. No one else is objecting. Just stay calm and don't say anything. As long as they see that you are calm, they will stop delaying."

"The real show begins after that. Before the new personnel changes are finalized, some people will be arrested through the procuratorate under the pretext of dealing with the aftermath of the previous rebellion. Then there will be a trial. In this process, you will be the most crucial person and undoubtedly the protagonist."

"To put it bluntly, even if Chairman wants to use insects or those ambitious individuals, it would be best to get them out of jail while they are still there, rather than engaging in some private deals and then using your current position as Chairman to shamelessly protect them."

“If you rescue someone from prison, that’s a favor, and you’ve also truly got hold of their weakness. If someone makes a deal with you, that’s just a deal. They could turn against you at any time. And what can you do then?”

Ronan then delivered another insightful remark that Zhao Jun found truly profound.

"Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!" Zhao Jun could hardly contain himself and slapped the table in approval.

Head to the table.

As Ambrina sipped her soup, she couldn't help but think to herself that this child hadn't been fooled enough times.

Isabel chewed up all the bones of the braised pigeon.

Dinia still thought to herself, they were all no good. Ronan wasn't, and neither was this young man surnamed Zhao. They were all obviously scoundrels who loved intrigue and scheming.

Over here, Zhao Jun took a deep breath. If he didn't have to continue the meeting in the afternoon, he would have been tempted to order a bottle of wine and have a couple of drinks with Ronan.

He genuinely enjoyed Ronan teaching him the art of political maneuvering.

It can only be said that a happy childhood can heal a lifetime, while an unhappy childhood requires a lifetime to heal.

When he was a child, he was a prince, but suddenly he became some kind of prince, and his name and generation changed. It was all a conspiracy. After he came to Guangdong, he was tricked several more times.

When people are defeated by something, they subconsciously feel that it is the key to victory.

After witnessing Chen Zuolin's skill, and then meeting Ronan, whose skill was even more impressive, he became completely fascinated by it.

Ronan's assessment of this was simply, no, three words: hopeless.

Chapter 1013 Promotion is guaranteed, seniority is not considered, and if you can't beat someone, you can join?

After finishing their meal, Ronan and his two tables didn't leave, leaving only their two tables in the small restaurant.

These small restaurants do decent business, but not too good either.

Because the customers are employees with decent salaries who "have to" put on a respectable facade, there aren't actually many of them.

To paraphrase Ronan's original timeline, there aren't many "petit bourgeois" people who come to "eat at the business district restaurant."

The customer flow is far less than that of some lower-end eateries, because many small vendors who are permanent residents or come regularly to do business, as well as artisans with unique skills, will choose the lower-end eateries, simply to save money.

In this era, ordinary people generally don't eat out.

Those with a higher social standing and wealthier tend to go to nicer restaurants.

As for the truly powerful and wealthy, such as the members of the committee, they don't go to restaurants for proper gatherings. They either hold private banquets at their own homes or temporarily book a garden and hire a team of chefs who don't work in the public to host the feast.

Regardless of East or West, no matter how good a restaurant is, it is ultimately just a place for ordinary people to eat.

“Sir, I have another question,” Zhao Jun said, using a more intimate form of address. “Why must the liquidation operation be stalled between the reorganization and the expanded meeting?”

This question also caught the attention of "Dinia." If it were Didi Bendi, she certainly wouldn't be curious, because she understood that this "Dinia" had spent a large part of her life "hunting down" another "Ronan" and had little experience as a high-ranking official.

"Because once this opportunity is gone, it won't come again. After the expanded meeting, we can no longer appoint or dismiss people arbitrarily."

"To be specific, if someone gets promoted, it means a kind of affirmation in the Seris officialdom. Since it's an affirmation, you can't delve into their past mistakes and use them as a reason to remove them from their post. This is an unspoken rule in the Seris officialdom right now, am I right?"

That's the current rule. Ronan can break through it to a limited extent, but he can't overturn it completely, at least not now.

"Secondly, and more importantly, what standards do you think should be used to promote someone in officialdom in order to gain public approval and maintain stability?"

Ronan raised a question.

Zhao Jun thought for a moment, then hesitantly and tentatively replied, "Ability?"

"No, it's background, connections, qualifications, age, and even appearance."

Ronan said this.

What? Zhao Junyong, as a prince, a beneficiary of the imperial system, and an exploiter who reaps without sowing, was stunned.

"Dinia" was also surprised for a moment, but quickly calmed down. Yes, this was exactly what Ronan, that corrupt official, would say. There was nothing strange about it.

"You seem to not understand, so let me put it in a way that's very easy for you to understand. In a family, if the eldest son is an extraordinary being, but he's not very good at it, and there are several other sons who are also extraordinary being, but they are all quite capable, then should the eldest son be chosen as the heir, or the most capable son?"

Ronan gave an analogy.

Zhao Jun answered without hesitation, "Of course, we should establish the legitimate heir. Although he is a little short, there is no dispute about whether he is the legitimate heir or not. As for establishing the virtuous heir, there is no standard for whether he is virtuous or not. Wouldn't the other group start fighting immediately?"

"That's exactly the point. If you say that promoting someone is based on their ability, can you really define what ability is? Isn't it just a matter of whether the leader says they have it or not? Nobody will be satisfied with that. But background, seniority, and age are all very clear things that can be compared and distinguished."

"This is unfair, it's rubbish, but it's an acceptable kind of unfairness."

"Of course, it's another matter if leaders use certain methods to create a good background for those they favor and boost their seniority."

"Often, the only solution is to set up an unfair rule that most people can accept, and then try to make up for it with one's own willfulness, instead of trying to promote the so-called principle of fairness. As a result, people will not accept each other and things will eventually get chaotic."

"I've said what I needed to say. These two points combined are why we chose to conduct the purge between the two meetings. At this time, we can hold onto the mistakes and also talk about our abilities. If we do this later, we will face greater resistance."

Ronan gave the final summary.

Zhao Jun felt as if he had suddenly understood something.

Sure enough, being with Teacher Luo always helps me improve my skills.

After the Q&A session, the group paid their bill and left, returning to the meeting location.

Ronan and his group arrived at the venue last; the other committee members seemed to have been waiting for quite some time.

After a short break, a new round of discussions began.

During lunch, Ronan successfully won over Zhao Jun, his incompetent teammate.

The others didn't come away empty-handed during lunch either.

Several of them realized a very easily overlooked pitfall in Ronan's draft: it contained too much material.

There was so much that they couldn't possibly process it all internally.

It's necessary to bring in outsiders. Undoubtedly, bring in other foreigners from Ronan's ranks? Impossible. Bring in enough people from Guangxi? That's just asking for trouble. Conduct selection exams and then recruit people? Bringing in new people is not much different from bringing in some people from Guangxi.

Should we simply oppose it and then demand a reduction in staffing?

Ha, if this kind of news gets out, anyone who proposes reducing staff will become a public enemy.

It's important to understand that Guangdong has a population of several million, including tens of thousands of extraordinary individuals. Although these individuals receive government subsidies, are those subsidies as appealing as government stipends? However, not all of these tens of thousands of people can enjoy government stipends.

Blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents; the hatred of killing one's father is irreconcilable.

Before Ronan and his group arrived, some committee members had raised these issues, and the group had a brief discussion about them.

The answer is that there is no good way, only bad and worse choices.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Ronan asked curiously.

"Mr. Luo, isn't this system a bit too big? The finances can't handle it." Someone bravely raised this point, but he didn't dare to say it too explicitly.

"Ah, you mean we should reduce the size of the organization?" Ronan asked rhetorically.

"No, I absolutely did not mean that," the other party immediately denied.

Ronan sat down. "Gentlemen, let's stop with the small talk and get back to the details of the organizational structure. How about we discuss each detail one by one?"

At this moment, Ronan remained unhurried, and Zhao Jun, having received Ronan's "education," was also unhurried.

In the morning, a group of committee members who were trying to stall for time and get Ronan anxious had their plans completely fall apart, and were even starting to get anxious themselves.

After these two clashes, discussions about organizational structure began to normalize.

Ronan once again took control of the meeting's pace.

During the discussions on the details, some people realized that they had to agree to Ronan's idea of ​​"purging the inside" in order to get Ronan to agree to their idea of ​​reducing the number of outsiders.

Ronan, who originally had no leverage, forced them into a compromise deal by fabricating this draft bill out of thin air.

We're a bit outmatched. How about we consider joining?

Being an official isn't shameful.

Chapter 1014 "Either Turn or Go Down": Four Types of People, Pretending to Go Mad

After that, it was basically just a formality.

The following day, the basic organizational structure was finalized, with only minor streamlining of various departments based on Ronan's original framework.

At the same time, a brand-new system was added, namely "either transfer or demotion" and "retention pending capital removal".

The so-called "either transfer or demotion" means that newcomers who enter a department through an exam will not have a formal position for the time being. They will have to go through a two-year probationary period. Only a few of them will be able to stay in the department, become formal officials, and obtain a formal position. The others can only apply to work in subordinate branches.

To put it bluntly, even if you pass the exam and get into a certain unit, after two years, only a few people can stay in that unit, while the others have to go to the county or even the township where it is located.

At that point, you'll need to produce results to be promoted.

However, this kind of grassroots experience will definitely be an advantage when competing with others in the future.

At least Ronan will make this an advantage.

The so-called "staying until demobilization" means that if you don't want to leave, you can stay and work for another five years, and you will automatically become a permanent employee and get a formal position. However, these five years will not count as seniority or working experience, and you will not receive normal benefits, only a living allowance.

Furthermore, insisting on staying would be seen as "lacking a heart for the country and its people," automatically placing one rank lower on the official career path.

Such a system is acceptable to both parties.

Under such a system, Guangdong has effectively curbed the speed at which outsiders have encroached on their power base, and for the time being, it can be guaranteed that the committee has people from Guangdong at the top level and those from Guangdong at the middle level.

As for Ronan, it's unacceptable that at a time when everyone needs to work together, a group of freeloaders would come in, corrupting the atmosphere and creating financial pressure.

The first phase of the reorganization meeting concluded faster than expected.

There's no rush to proceed with the second phase.

Because the next step is to eliminate the bad guys.

At this point, there were four types of people on the committee.

The first type is those who remain steadfast in their positions. They understand their irreplaceable importance within the organization, both now and for a long time to come. Take Pei Jinghai, for example. He is not an exceptionally skilled naval commander, and he has few generals closely associated with him or many soldiers. If he were to fall, the naval combat power would appear to suffer little loss, but in reality, it would be a different story. Once he falls, a new leader would have to be chosen, and the losses from the struggle between these factions would be substantial.

The second type believes that they are very capable and irreplaceable, and that they are also very upright, often speaking out for justice and presenting facts and reasoning with superiors, which is evident to all.

How could someone like me be purged? Are the authorities blind?

Therefore, such people will choose not to take precautions, and may even secretly decide to speak up for some innocent people when the time comes.

This kind of person is very naive. However, in the history of both the East and the West, the internal purges of ruling groups have always involved such people. Being upright, especially upright to the point of reasoning with superiors in public, can sometimes be a death sentence.

The third type is those who are unsure of the situation and whether they will face consequences. They can't say they're completely innocent, but they also don't seem to have any serious problems. As experienced politicians, they know that the best way to prove their innocence is to prove others are corrupt.

Never mind all that, let's pick a few to report first.

The fourth type is those who have done a lot of bad things. This is not actually very serious, after all, how many committee members haven't done bad things? The key is that they outwardly comply with the committee's instructions but inwardly defy them, and even "use others' positions to seek personal gain," which is a standard cancer in the team.

They were harboring a self-deceiving mentality that they would pursue personal gain now, let things fade away in time, and then give back to the organization later. They never expected Ronan to be so decisive and take a hard line now.

They were quite certain they were on the purge list.

When people are in dire straits, they usually have only two reactions.

One option is to beg for mercy. It's not that they don't know that begging for mercy is mostly useless, but rather that fear has overwhelmed their reason.

Another approach is to fight desperately. Fear, after shattering reason, turns into madness. If I can't have it easy, then no one else can either.

Soon, various people within the committee began to take action.

Both the first and second types of people are very calm.

The third type of person starts writing their complaint materials, preparing to send them to the procuratorate, which hasn't been officially established yet.

The targets of the whistleblowing were all their business partners.

There's no other way; they can't produce concrete evidence against others, so they have to target their "good brother."

Fortunately, Ronan's action was merely a purge, not a formal revolt. Otherwise, it would likely have turned into a dramatic scene of a son publicly criticizing his father. A formal revolt was truly unnecessary, because once it becomes a political movement, those most affected would actually be the lower classes.

The fourth type of people, who are aware that they are on the list, are partly preparing to take the route of becoming wives.

Instead of going directly to Ambrina, the wives' circle is not a large whole, but a loose network of relationships formed by many small circles. Their wives don't know Ambrina either, but they can find a way to get someone to make the connection.

The other group, however, is willing to take risks.