Reborn as a Noble's Son-Chapter 757 - 713: Things are Very Strange_1
Chapter 757: Chapter 713: Things are Very Strange_1
“We don’t care, this matter has been dragging on for over half a year. You’ve been evading. This time, the new governor has taken office, you should have no more excuses, we want to see the governor. Regardless, you owe us an explanation!”
“Comrade, why can’t you explain clearly? The issue of your unemployment is within the jurisdiction of Tianfu City. This problem is being urgently studied by the Tianfu City Municipal Committee and government. Jumping levels to petition does not comply with the rules.”
The faint sound of the dialogue was, however, clearly transmitted into Nie Zhenbang’s ears.
Nie Zhenbang frowned. Wasn’t it a coincidence? He encountered petitioners on his first day of official work?
Furthermore, regarding the issue of laid-off workers and enterprise restructuring. Two people came to petition, isn’t this too rational? Moreover, is it so easy to enter and exit this provincial party committee and government compound?
If they were to petition, yesterday, when the leaders of the provincial party committee were all gathered and central leaders were present, wouldn’t the impact be greater and more easily resolved? Why did it have to be today? Nie Zhenbang was pondering this question.
...
At this time, Fang Yuan just happened to walk in from outside the office building. Seeing Fang Yuan, the man in his fifties immediately approached him like finding a lifeline, smilingly said: “Secretary-General, you’ve finally arrived.”
Fang Yuan hasn’t figured out the situation yet. However, he saw Nie Zhenbang standing by the elevator, about to speak.
Unexpectedly, the man also seemed to have noticed Nie Zhenbang, quickened his pace, approached, intentionally showing a flattering expression on his face, and respectfully said: “Governor Nie, hello. I am Li Guisheng, the director of the petition office of the provincial government.”
As soon as these words were said, the two petitioning workers at the side immediately followed like they had found a lifesaver, took a few steps, and knelt on the ground. One of them, about forty years old, dressed in dark blue overalls, had dark skin, and a loyal and honest face. He looked up at Nie Zhenbang, “You are the new governor. Please stand up for more than a thousand laid-off workers from our Red Star Chemical Factory.”
At this moment, it was the peak period for work, the hall was filled with people walking in from outside. Many people stopped to watch this scene.
Seeing the growing crowd around, Fang Yuan spoke out: “What are you all watching? Don’t you need to work? Is there any organizational discipline left?”
With a single sentence, the onlookers voluntarily dispersed. Fang Yuan had been the deputy secretary-general of the government for four years and had served as the secretary-general for two years, everyone in the provincial party committee and government office building knew him. With such a shout, naturally no one would onlook.
At this moment, Nie Zhenbang bent down and personally helped the two workers up, with a smile on his face he said: “Comrades, whatever the matter, you can speak calmly, any difficult issues, reasonable suggestions, and demands can be made. Nowadays, we do not encourage kneeling. You see, your kneeling disrupts our work order. How about we go to my office to talk about it?”
Having said that, Nie Zhenbang’s gaze swept over Li Guisheng. This sharp gaze made Li Guisheng dodge instinctively.
“Comrade Li Guisheng, as the director of the petition office, please join us in my office to discuss this matter.”
This sentence, although it seemed to be an invitation, carried an implicit meaning of refusal.
Watching Nie Zhenbang and his group get into the elevator, the originally noisy hall instantly returned to its normal work order.
At this moment, in Sun Jialuo’s office on the fifteenth floor, Sun Jialuo was standing by the window, and behind him, his secretary Xu Wenhai came up and handed him a cup of tea, whispering, “Boss, Governor Nie just took the two petitioning workers and Director Li into his office.”
Sun Jialuo nodded, his eyes remained fixed outside the window, not turning around, and he opened his mouth to say: “Xiao Xu, you want to ask why I had Li Guisheng arrange this spectacle, don’t you?”
Upon hearing his boss’s words, Xu Wenhai immediately bowed his head and said, “I dare not. I was thinking, Mr. Boss, are you making these arrangements to probe Governor Nie’s foundation?”
Sun Jialuo didn’t respond at this moment. Yes, the unusual petition that occurred today was arranged by him, instructing Li Guisheng. For the people of the Red Star Chemical Factory, a slight hint of hope is enough to attract them like flies. With Li Guisheng’s covert guidance, entering the provincial party committee and government courtyard was not too difficult. They planned to bring this matter up to Nie Zhenbang’s face while he was at work.
As classmates for a month, Sun Jialuo was well aware of Nie Zhenbang’s character. Nie Zhenbang would definitely intervene in such a matter.
However, the issue of the Red Star Chemical Factory was not that simple. This issue had convened an on-site office meeting of the provincial party committee and the provincial government last year. Even Zeng Taiping and Nie Guowei didn’t handle it well. Could Nie Zhenbang do it properly?
Moreover, even if it were handled correctly, what would Zeng Taiping and Tang Bingquan, the Secretary of the Tianfu City Municipal Committee, do? Wouldn’t it make them look incompetent?
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
At this moment, Sun Jialuo didn’t feel he did anything wrong. Nie Zhenbang, you have the ability to be governor, right? Then you should solve this difficult problem.
In fact, Sun Jialuo hadn’t even realized that since Nie Zhenbang took over as Governor of Bashu Province, his heart had not been at peace.
On Nie Zhenbang’s side, after Li Jupeng opened the office door, Nie Zhenbang brought the three people in. After they were seated on the sofa next to the office desk, Nie Zhenbang also sat on the sofa. In this way, it could give people a sense of equal dialogue. If they were seated in front of the office desk, it would inevitably create a sense of estrangement.
At this time, Li Jupeng walked in carrying several cups of tea and handed one to each of the two workers and Li Guisheng. After serving a fresh cup of tea for Nie Zhenbang and closing the room door behind him, he stepped out.
With the teacup in his hand, Nie Zhenbang glanced at the faces of the three people and finally rested his gaze on Li Guisheng, the director of the petitions office. He began slowly, “Director Li, could you explain the ins and outs of the matter?”
At Nie Zhenbang’s words, Li Guisheng dare not slack off. Regardless of the fact that Nie Zhenbang was new to the office, he was still the governor and the second-in-command of the provincial party committee. This was not a case of a local snake overpowering a strong dragon. If the governor was not satisfied, he could easily arrange for him.
The two workers beside him were not in a hurry anymore. As they had already entered the governor’s office, they were no longer afraid they would have nowhere to air their grievances, and naturally listened quietly.
Li Guisheng gathered his thoughts then proceeded, “Governor, this is the situation. The Red Star Chemical Factory was originally a large state-owned central enterprise. In the year 2000, during the enterprise reform, the chemical factory was transferred to the local government. As it was under the jurisdiction of Tianfu City, it was considered a state-owned enterprise managed by Tianfu City.”
Seeing Nie Zhenbang showing no signs of impatience, Li Guisheng continued, “Originally, the performance of the Red Star Chemical Factory was not satisfactory at all. The entire factory had over one thousand and five hundred employees, but the equipment was old and there wasn’t enough innovative capability, the products lacked diversity, and after Tianfu City took over, losses were incurred all along. Furthermore, the factory fell within the city limits and caused serious pollution. Therefore, at the beginning of last year, Tianfu City decided to transfer and auction the whole factory. In the end, a Japanese corporation expressed interest in purchasing it. However, they proposed that all workers must go through an assessment and only five hundred would be retained. The rest would be laid off, with no costs borne by them. When the workers of the Red Star Chemical Factory heard this, they immediately became unwilling.”
As soon as Li Guisheng’s words ended, the leading worker next to him seemed to have something to say but hesitated. However, Nie Zhenbang’s authoritative presence kept him from speaking out.
Upon seeing this, Nie Zhenbang smiled and asked, “Comrade, what’s your name? As a representative of Red Star Factory’s workers, do you have anything you’d like to supplement?”
The man in his forties nodded, seeming a little excited, “Governor, my name is Liu Liansteel. I’m the director of the third workshop in Factory One of Red Star. Director Li’s words were not comprehensive enough.”
At this moment, Liu Liansteel ignored Li Guisheng’s embarrassed look and addressed Nie Zhenbang, “Governor Nie, we are fully aware of the situation at Red Star. We were willing to relocate. After all, we are polluting our own environment. If we were laid off, we wouldn’t disagree. Many have been laid off throughout the country, we won’t be any different. However, there’s no compensation at all. They won’t shoulder any social security or medical insurance. We don’t even get to cash in our years of service. Just sweeping us out the door, we still have to live. Moreover, the factory is so big. The total area of the factory operator is over 600 mu. But it was sold for only one billion yuan. I believe this is selling state assets cheaply. Just the land itself, based on the current land price in Tianfu City, is worth almost one billion yuan. Including the factory buildings and equipment, at least two to three billion yuan. We aren’t asking for much. If the government could sell at this price and give us the price difference to compensate the laid-off workers, we would be entirely satisfied.”
Upon hearing this, Nie Zhenbang’s brows furrowed together. It seems someone is purposely testing him. Concerning Tianfu City’s affairs, a project of one to two billion yuan—if he intervenes—it may upset Tang Bingquan. Without his intervention, people might deem the governor incompetent. This scheme was somewhat vicious. Who was trying to mess with him?
After pondering for a moment, Nie Zhenbang stood up and smiled, “Comrade Old Liu, I am clear about this matter now. As for other things, I don’t know much. However, in a word, laid-off workers will need to support the country and the government and understand the government’s difficulties. This is a given. But the state stipulates that there must be compensation and arrangement for laid-off workers. So, leave your contact information. In these few days, I will visit Red Star factory with the leaders of Tianfu City. What do you think?” (To be continued. If you like this work, I welcome you to cast recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at the starting point (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
