Era of Magic and Martial Arts-Chapter 217 - 201: I’ve Finished Speaking—Who Approves, Who Opposes?

Qian Huan certainly knew that the performance appraisal system couldn't be mechanically applied, after all, this powerful weapon could truly 'kill', both literally and figuratively.

Especially when this kind of corporate system is transplanted into areas like the Patrol Office, hospitals, or prisons, it's the sort of thing that would make King Yama send you a banner, with the words "Great Merit" embroidered in blood on it.

But Qian Huan didn't care at all for now; for a filial son who listened to his mother, to hell with rationality, he just wanted to do what his mother told him—go mad!

He needed to radically replace the personnel in the prison at the fastest pace, but unfortunately, he couldn't just take a knife and orderly saw off the heads of these people.

Therefore, he needed a reasonable excuse to eliminate them.

Even if the excuse sounded crazy, as long as it could stand even a little bit, it was enough.

So, Qian Huan coldly looked at Zhou Hu, while also glancing at other silent Prison Chiefs, and said mercilessly:

"Yes, I intend to introduce the forced ranking system into the prison."

"The Second Prison's financial situation has always been worrying, relying on subsidies from the Executive Government every year to barely keep afloat."

"The crux behind this is our overly rigid management system, with many people too complacent in their positions, lacking motivation."

"It's time for a change, and this is why the Executive Government entrusted the Second Prison to the company—because they value that Celestial Light Capital can inject new blood and vitality into it, and it's the task the company assigned to me upon my arrival, so I hope everyone can cooperate with my work."

"As for whether the prison is suitable for a forced ranking system, I think it would be worthwhile to give it a try."

"If this move could bring substantial profits to the company and considerable dividends to the Executive Government, then even if some prisoners get harmed in the process, I believe the Executive Government would demonstrate its tolerance and understanding."

"After all, on the production wheel, while creating value, it's inevitable to have normal wear and tear, which is an objective economic development rule."

Zhou Hu looked at Qian Huan with disbelief. Even though he never considered prisoners as people, he shivered at Qian Huan's cruelness.

If this system is implemented, he couldn't imagine how many prisoners would be driven to death by the prison guards; it wouldn't take a year for half the prisoners in the entire prison to die.

He inhaled sharply: "You're crazy, this is a prison, not some corporation, you…"

However, Qian Huan unhesitatingly interrupted Zhou Hu and said icily:

"You're wrong, the times have changed, and the Second Prison is undergoing a share restructure, which will be thoroughly implemented, so the Second Prison is now a company. As a company, it must be profitable, or are you saying, Supervisor Zhou, you don't want the share restructuring of the Second Prison to succeed?"

Qian Huan stood up, leaned forward, and stared coldly at Zhou Hu, with an unabated murderous look in his eyes: "Or are you afraid, afraid of becoming the bottom that gets eliminated?"

Zhou Hu was at a loss for words under the questioning; he really couldn't argue against the Prison Chief and could only look to other Prison Chiefs for help.

The Prison Chiefs exchanged glances, tacitly avoiding Zhou Hu's gaze, none of them willing to speak up.

Had it been before, they would have stood up collectively to oppose, but just now, they had just received a call from above and hadn't had time to digest and process it, let alone collude privately, and they were called to a meeting directly.

In the meeting, Prison Chief Qian Huan, unlike his usual self, was extremely aggressive, this atypical change made them all uneasy and unwilling to be the front-runner.

In short, they had already lost in terms of momentum.

Qian Huan astutely sensed this and thought excitedly: "Turns out what mom said was right, going crazy really works."

Qian Huan's eyes lit up, he wouldn't give these people time to think or collude, instead putting on the majesty of the Prison Chief and said forcefully:

"Great, it seems we've reached a consensus, so let's sign."

"Sign?!!" The Prison Chiefs stared at Qian Huan with wide eyes.

Qian Huan clapped his hands, and immediately, secretarial staff briskly entered the conference room, holding freshly printed copies of the "Second Prison Performance Appraisal Management Guidelines," with the ink not yet dry and handed them out to each Prison Chief.

The Prison Chiefs opened the manual and found that its contents were largely consistent with the points Qian Huan proposed during the meeting.

The core of this appraisal system was revenue generation, placing each prison unit in fierce competition, with a ranking conducted every week to measure their performance.

The units ranked lowest would inevitably face a series of penalties, the details of which were meticulously listed in the document.

The strictest penalty was that if any unit remained at the bottom of the ranking for two consecutive weeks, the main person responsible for that unit's performance would face demotion, and their position would be taken by those with outstanding performance.

Ps: The above rules also apply to subdivisions within each unit.

The Prison Chiefs looked at the penalty details, with sweat subtly forming on their foreheads.

Qian Huan pushed the chair aside, walked slowly behind the first Prison Chief on his right side, slowly withdrew an exquisite pen from his jacket pocket, and handed it over: "Sign."

The latter took the pen, looking solemn, his hand hesitating in uncertainty.

Qian Huan pressed both hands on the other's shoulders, his tone firm and powerful: "Come on, it's just this one pen. After you sign, others still need to use it, don't keep everyone waiting, don't let…"

Qian Huan paused, and said matter-of-factly: "Don't keep the company and the Executive Government waiting, after signing, I will take it to show above, it's our resolution to enhance the profitability of the Second Prison."

The latter gripped the pen tightly, looking down at the eye-catching red words on the document——

"I voluntarily adhere to the Second Prison's assessment management guidelines, actively create profit dividends for the company and the Executive Government…"

Each word was like a branding iron heated to red hot, branding his heart with violent twitches.

He knew once this ink fell, there would be no turning back for him. But if he didn't sign, wouldn't that be tantamount to publicly admitting he was just occupying a position without fulfilling his duties? Perhaps he wouldn't need the forced ranking system; he'd be out first.

He gritted his teeth, signed his name on the document, and then let out a long breath, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, handing the pen to the next Prison Chief.

At this moment, the pressure, like a baton, was passed on to the next Prison Chief.

The next Prison Chief silently cursed the predecessor for not withstanding the pressure. Yet, he could only helplessly imitate the former, signing his name with a heavy heart.

Signing such a thing is like this; once the first person falls, the rest follows like dominoes, unable to stand on their own again.

When the pen reached the fourth Prison Chief, he paused before signing and raised a crucial question:

"In the detailed rules mentioned, is this outstanding performer who replaces them determined by the internal ranking of each division, or..."

Qian Huan smiled slightly, with a bit of inscrutable meaning in his smile, and replied slowly:

"Naturally, a unified ranking across all divisions. Here, every member is treated fairly, devoid of division-specific differences; only the strong advance, and the mediocre retreat, just as our Chief Governor in Zone 9 says—the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility!"

At this moment, an invisible change occurred in the meeting room atmosphere, as if a hidden chasm quietly cracked open in the air. Though invisible, it was tangibly real, isolating each Prison Chief into hostile islands.

They might not be unable to understand this as the Prison Chief's tactic of sowing discord, but they immediately realized that their relationships could never return to the previous "one iron bucket" state; besides, they were never "one iron bucket," but rather harbored their own agendas and calculations.

Now, it was even more impossible. To some extent, they were trapped in a "prisoner's dilemma" manufactured by the Prison Chief.

Qian Huan gathered the signed documents, stacked them together, turned to look at Zhou Hu who was deliberately left out for a while, and said calmly: "Supervisor Zhou is opposed, so won't sign, I understand, so today's meeting ends here, let's adjourn."

"Wait, who said I opposed it? I've always advocated for democracy, since everyone agrees, I naturally will also comply with the Prison Chief's decision."

Zhou Hu's face changed between anger and embarrassment, eventually forcing out a smile more unpleasant than crying.

He snatched the pen from Qian Huan's hand, spread open the document, and quickly signed his name.