Reborn as a Noble's Son-Chapter 965 - 921 Secretary Candidate

Chapter 965: Chapter 921: Secretary Candidate

Chapter 965 -921: Secretary Candidate

After talking for a few more sentences, Li Wei Ran stood up, understandingly. As a high-ranking official and the chief of the Provincial Committee, Nie Zhenbang undoubtedly had a lot of matters to deal with. Even though he had just taken office, there were plenty of issues awaiting his attention. The selection of his driver and security personnel, secretary, and even healthcare staff were all urgent matters that needed resolution.

Today, having discussed these matters with Secretary Nie to this extent had essentially achieved the anticipated goal, and Li Wei Ran was quite satisfied. Smiling, he said, “Secretary, you must be busy, so I won’t disturb you any further.”

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Nie Zhenbang also stood up and personally escorted Li Wei Ran to the door, which was not an act of pretense on his part. For Nie Zhenbang, who was still at the beginning of his tenure in Hongjiang River, it was critical to have the support of the local people to make headway. Only then could he anticipate success. If he were to be arrogant and look down on everything, it would be the greatest harm to himself.

By doing so, Li Wei Ran could feel the goodwill that Nie Zhenbang showed. After closing the door, Nie Zhenbang returned to his desk, and at that moment, he truly began examining the materials on his desk.

The choice of secretary was a significant issue—the competence of the secretary directly determined the effectiveness of a leader’s work. A good secretary could act as the leader’s eyes and ears and, when needed, serve as a mouthpiece or a megaphone for the leader.

However, if a bad, morally questionable secretary were chosen, it would be nothing short of a disaster for the leader. Given the nature of the secretary’s job, and the fact that they spent most of their time with the leader, managing all aspects of their daily life and being privy to many secrets, there were no trivial affairs around the leader. The selection of a secretary was a matter to which every leader paid the utmost attention, with great caution and seriousness.

Take, for example, Comrade Qiao Yiren—Liang Yuan had followed him since the time he was at the provincial and ministerial level, and as for Comrade Shen Xiuchao’s secretary Huang Yunshan, the association began even earlier, when he was serving a leader at the departmental and bureau level.

This time, Xu Hongzhuan had presented three candidates for selection. Nie Zhenbang did not push aside the first one to look at the second—such tricks were commonplace within the system and no longer surprising. Therefore, Nie Zhenbang did not deliberately play along but instead started to review from the first candidate, beginning from the top.

The first candidate seemed quite impressive in appearance. At the age of thirty, he had worked in the secretarial section of the Provincial Committee Office for many years, mainly as a text secretary. His writing skills were unquestionably excellent, and he met all the required conditions quite well.

Upon examining the second candidate, Nie Zhenbang was somewhat surprised—a twenty-three-year-old young man made his brows furrow immediately. What was Xu Hongzhuan doing? Wasn’t this too perfunctory? Everyone was aware of what it meant to be the secretary of the Provincial Committee; choosing such a young person came with doubts about their composure.

Shaking his head, Nie Zhenbang set the file aside and turned to the third, which caught his attention. The candidate’s name was Hong Feng, a name that was quite interesting as it gave the impression of flood peaks during flood control efforts. What intrigued Nie Zhenbang about Hong Feng was his experience. At twenty-eight years of age, Hong Feng was neither too young nor too old—the age was just right. Academically, Hong Feng had a master’s degree, which indicated that even if he started his undergraduate studies early, he would be 25 upon finishing three years of master’s after four years of bachelor’s, under normal circumstances.

Nie Zhenbang’s gaze continued downward, and upon seeing Hong Feng’s educational background, he smiled knowingly. Indeed, his guess was not wrong—Hong Feng had graduated at the age of 25.

In terms of work experience, Hong Feng’s past caught Nie Zhenbang in contemplation; this person had experience serving as a secretary to a leader. Moreover, this individual had worked for his predecessor, Comrade Zhang Tianyue. This made Nie Zhenbang very curious. Could it be that because Zhang Tianyue had suffered a sudden stroke, he hadn’t arranged a position for Hong Feng? If that were the case, Hong Feng had been quite unlucky; even though serving as a secretary earned him a higher rank, being in the Provincial Committee Office—a place like the Provincial Committee—a vice-departmental level rank really meant nothing. In essence, Hong Feng was still a junior secretary.

At that thought, Nie Zhenbang picked up the internal line telephone on the desk. Regarding this, Nie Zhenbang wanted to hear Xu Hongzhuan’s reasoning.

The matter was odd in every aspect; having previously served as a leader’s secretary, Hong Feng was generally not the type of person suitable to be recommended to a successor leader. As the General Secretary of the Provincial Committee, Xu Hongzhuan could not possibly be unaware of this.

After a pause, Xu Hongzhuan’s respectful voice came through the phone, “Secretary, you were looking for me?”

“Yes, Secretary-General Xu, there’s something I’d like to inquire about with you. Can you come to my office now?” Nie Zhenbang’s words were quite authoritative.

In negotiating such delicacies, Nie Zhenbang handled it very well. He wanted to show that he was approachable, but he couldn’t do so without any bottom line. The requisite dignity and authority were essential and had to be maintained.

As a leader, besides a moderate closeness with his subordinates, he also needed to maintain a moderate distance. This was the way of governance.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Hongzhuan became serious. Secretary Nie’s call made Xu Hongzhuan somewhat nervous. Just now, on the phone, Secretary Nie had called him “Secretary-General Xu,” and this change of address made Xu Hongzhuan worry. Could it mean that Secretary Nie was not entirely satisfied with the selected candidate for the secretary position?

With this thought, Xu Hongzhuan didn’t dare to take it lightly.

Xu Hongzhuan’s office was not on the seventh floor but on the third floor, where the Provincial Party Committee Office was located. Usually, Xu Hongzhuan preferred taking the stairs instead of the elevator, as he felt that by doing so, he could observe the situation on each floor and gain an in-depth understanding of the leadership’s work state and the general situation. However, this time, Xu Hongzhuan broke the routine and took the elevator directly to the seventh floor.

As soon as he entered the office, Xu Hongzhuan spoke up, “Secretary, you were looking for me.”

Nie Zhenbang nodded, gestured for Xu Hongzhuan to sit down on the chair in front of him, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Xu Hongzhuan, “Secretary-General, tell me about Comrade Hong Feng’s situation.”

At this request, Xu Hongzhuan was momentarily stunned and felt uneasy. Including Hong Feng’s materials in the nomination list had been after careful consideration and struggle. Xu Hongzhuan was not oblivious to the taboos involved, but at this moment, it was hard for him to explain his position. He nodded and asked, “Secretary, what would you like to know?”

“Well, we don’t need to go into the other details. I think you can start from when Comrade Hong Feng became the secretary to Comrade Zhang Tianyue,” Nie Zhenbang got straight to the point, which was no taboo in this case, as he had come specifically for this matter.

Xu Hongzhuan organized his thoughts and then replied, “Yes, to start with Comrade Hong Feng becoming Secretary Zhang Tianyue’s secretary, we have to go back six months. Previously, after Secretary Zhang Tianyue’s former secretary was transferred to serve as the District Head of Yuanzhou City, Yuandong District, Secretary Zhang Tianyue was looking for a new secretary. I recommended several candidates, but I don’t know what happened. That time, Secretary Zhang Tianyue was very satisfied with a report written by Comrade Hong Feng and afterwards, he immediately transferred Hong Feng over to serve as his secretary. This lasted until Secretary Zhang Tianyue fell ill, which was about four months ago.”

Hearing this, Nie Zhenbang was moved. It seemed that Hong Feng was just an unfortunate victim of Zhang Tianyue’s undeserved troubles. In this light, it was understandable why Zhang Tianyue hadn’t made arrangements for him.

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang fell into thought and then suddenly looked up, “Comrade Hongzhuan, over the past two months when Comrade Zhang Tianyue fell ill, right?”

As the topic turned to Zhang Tianyue’s illness, Xu Hongzhuan appeared somewhat embarrassed and nodded, “Secretary, you are correct. Two months ago, Comrade Zhang Tianyue’s health started to decline. At that time, some comrades in the province had their thoughts and reactions; it was quite a significant commotion and everyone was in a bad mood. Comrade Zhang Tianyue took some opinions to heart and that’s when he became bedridden. Ever since, he has been on complete rest, until after Comrade Zhang Tianyue suffered a stroke. Comrade Hong Feng then returned to the Secretary Department and is now working there as a text secretary.”

Nie Zhenbang was somewhat moved by this. In others’ eyes, Hong Feng might not be suitable, but Nie Zhenbang had no such concerns. Previously, when he was in WangHai, his strong support for Yi Chang was a vivid example.

Nie Zhenbang never shunned these matters. A predecessor’s post was a predecessor’s post, after all, nothing more. If the leader whom the person used to follow was still in office here, Nie Zhenbang wouldn’t consider employing him. But since that person was gone, using such a secretary was no different from starting with a blank slate.

What intrigued Nie Zhenbang about Hong Feng was his resume: firstly, he had a high level of education and a broad vision. Secondly, having served as a senior secretary in the provincial committee, he could quickly adapt to the work. Being new to the area, if he had to wait for a newcomer to adjust to the secretary’s work, he didn’t have the time for that. Thirdly, Hong Feng had experienced both the highs and lows of his role. A senior provincial committee secretary, overnight, experienced a drastic status drop when his leader fell ill. After the stroke, Hong Feng’s status dropped even more. It was a rare experience that could push someone to achieve a state of neither arrogance in victory nor discouragement in defeat. Often, many secretaries can’t reach this state when they first take on the role.

Thinking this over, Nie Zhenbang had already made up his mind. Smiling, he said, “Comrade Hongzhuan, I think we should have Hong Feng come over. I would like to meet him personally.”(