When Zhou Yuming introduced Lu Weimin to Shen Zili's office, he was surprised to find that Shen Zili was already chatting casually and even warmly with Lu Weimin. This greatly surprised Zhou Yuming, especially after he learned that Lu Weimin had dined with Shen Zili the previous night and had a good conversation afterward. Zhou Yuming immediately began to look at Lu Weimin with new respect.
Shen Zili was not easy to deal with; the previous secretary was not entirely satisfied, so the county party committee office had to be very careful in choosing the second secretary. At one point, they even tried to pass the responsibility to the county government office, but the county government office refused, citing that the county party committee office had been handling the matter from the beginning and insisted that it was more appropriate for the county party committee office to select the person.
Although Shen Zili was soon to return to the provincial capital, it was still about half a year away, and it would be inappropriate not to find him a temporary secretary for this period. With Lu Weimin's emergence, Xu Xiaochun took the opportunity to appoint him to the position.
Zhou Yuming did not expect this college graduate to be so adept at handling situations, managing to become so familiar with Shen Zili in just one night. He could sense that Shen Zili spoke of Lu Weimin with a tone of considerable appreciation, which made Zhou Yuming wonder if Lu Weimin had some significant background or connections.
However, when Xu Xiaochun briefed him, he did not mention anything else, only directly naming Lu Weimin to stay in the county party committee office as Shen Zili's secretary. Thus, Zhou Yuming knew nothing about any other connections.
After this incident, Zhou Yuming realized that Lu Weimin was not a simple character and that he would need to carefully consider how to understand this rather unique individual.
Lu Weimin believed he had quickly adapted to his role, thanks to the twenty years of experience from his future life and his recent efforts to adapt. He also carefully analyzed the situation of his new "boss"—Shen Zili. Originally, Shen Zili was a deputy division-level cadre in the Provincial Party Committee Publicity Department, later dispatched to the Linyang Regional Publicity Department as deputy minister, and then quickly dispatched to the Nantan County Party Committee as deputy secretary, and was elected as vice-county magistrate at the beginning of last year.
According to the usual practice in Changjiang, the dispatch period for cadres is generally one to two years. Shen Zili was dispatched at the beginning of 1989, so he would return to the Provincial Party Committee Publicity Department at the beginning of 1991. If things went well, he could secure a full division-level position in a department of the Provincial Party Committee Publicity Department.
However, there were rumors that Shen Zili had a close relationship with Shang Quanzhi, the regional commissioner of Linyang. After the vice-county magistrate of Nantan County was reassigned to the People's Congress due to age, it was said that Shang Quanzhi nominated Shen Zili, who was not originally on the list of candidates, to become the vice-county magistrate of Nantan County, and he was successfully elected.
Many people questioned whether the regional committee's decision was well-considered, especially since Shen Zili's one-year dispatch period was about to end, and it was not appropriate for a dispatched cadre to take on a position like vice-county magistrate, which required specific responsibilities. However, these doubts were only expressed at lower levels and did not influence the higher-level decision-making.
No one would question why the regional committee chose Shen Zili as the vice-county magistrate, especially with the rumors of his close relationship with Shang Quanzhi, which made the matter even more sensitive.
Nantan County is a typical hilly agricultural county with a population of over 1.2 million. Apart from the urban area, there are eight traditional districts, with only a few thousand urban residents, mostly government officials and their families.
The county town of Nantan has only four traditional old streets, plus a county hospital located outside the eastern end of East Street and a high school two kilometers outside the western end of West Street. There is not much to see in the entire county town. However, the Lingxi Pond in the southern suburbs is quite large, with beautiful scenery and well-preserved vegetation, which is the origin of the county's name.
The eight traditional districts are divided into the southern four districts and the northern four districts, with the urban area located at the junction of the southern and northern four districts, in the middle of the county.
In his previous life, Lu Weimin was assigned to Dongbei Township, which belongs to the eastern part of the southern four districts. The entire eastern part of the southern four districts has a population of 150,000, with five townships, including Dongbei Township, Erdaoya Township, Huoshan Township, and Xinhe Township.
Shen Zili attended a meeting on agricultural production and grain procurement in the region.
In recent years, the atmosphere at grain procurement meetings has not been good, especially as grain procurement has become a major challenge for all levels of party and government. Despite consecutive years of bumper harvests and the lowest grain protection prices nationwide, the grain departments still lack sufficient funds for procurement. The funds allocated by the state are far from enough to purchase the grain from farmers, so local governments have no choice but to issue IOUs.
However, the government does not accept IOUs when collecting agricultural taxes and unified levies, which greatly exacerbates farmers' resistance to paying these taxes, leading to tense relations between local officials and the public. Every year, the issue of collecting agricultural taxes and unified levies becomes the core problem that all levels of party and government must focus on, almost overshadowing everything else.
The ability to collect agricultural taxes and the extent of collection have become the most critical indicators for the county party committee and government to evaluate the performance of the districts and townships.
Although Nantan is a hilly county, its terrain is much lower and gentler compared to the northern counties of Linyang Region, typical of the eastern Changjiang hilly area. The altitude ranges from 300 to 600 meters, with mostly gentle slopes and shallow hills, with little variation. Most of the area is a major producer of dry crops, while some plains and well-irrigated areas are the main rice-producing regions.
Lu Weimin had a good understanding of Shen Zili's work style. In the morning, they visited two townships in the northern four districts—Shigu Town and Shiqiao Township—and in the afternoon, they planned to visit Liangju Township in Matou District.
These townships are the main grain-producing areas of Nantan. This year, another bumper harvest is expected, but the funding for grain procurement is tight, both at the regional and county levels. Another wave of IOUs seems inevitable, and the farmers are already complaining.
Lunch was a simple meal at the Shiqiao Township government canteen, and in this regard, Shen Zili was very easy to please.
Since he did not drink, Shen Zili's diet was very simple: a bowl of rice, one dish, and one soup. Lu Weimin found it very suitable to work with such a leader. He did not like the style of having elaborate banquets, and this straightforward approach to meals was a relief for him, at least avoiding an hour or more of pointless drinking.