Chapter Seventeen: Dusk in Qingzhou

  The largest non-governmental extension of Western capitalist countries, with the function of serving social ideology as its main function, is the news media such as radio stations, television stations, newspapers and magazines at all levels. Every word and action must be closely centered around the central work of the party committee and government, timely and accurately conveying the party's and government's lines, guidelines, policies, laws and regulations to the broad masses of people, playing a correct role in guiding public opinion, creating a good propaganda atmosphere, and truly becoming the throat and tongue of communication between the party committee and government and the masses.

  What is a whispering tongue?

  Carrying out the will of our superiors, disseminating policies, influencing public opinion, strengthening norms, and maintaining stability.

  ！

  Wei Chenfeng, as a member of the municipal party committee and head of the propaganda department, is responsible for specific propaganda work. This time, he unilaterally created and influenced public opinion, setting aside the municipal party committee, and used public opinion to pressure the investigation team including Xu Fuyuan, completely violating the function of official media as a mouthpiece, and suddenly pushed himself to the forefront of the storm.

  But for him personally, this risk was necessary. The Qinghua Factory case was an internal cause, and Wei Wang's arrest was an external cause, even more so, Wei Wang had evidence of his corruption and bribery in hand, so he had to take a desperate gamble, and had to launch a fierce counterattack. In the officialdom, sometimes taking a step back not only cannot make you feel carefree, but also may make it impossible for you to turn over again.

  After receiving Wei Chenfeng's phone call, Zhou Yuanting fell silent for a long time before finally nodding in agreement to let him take action. However, publishing a few editorials and organizing some discussions can't be said to have violated any major principles. It's just a probe into Xu Fuyuan's bottom line and layout. Whether it's to flush out the snake or test the waters, it's better than doing nothing and waiting stupidly for others to put a knife to our throat.

  Wei Chenfeng obtained Zhou Yuanting's consent, as if he had taken a reassuring pill, and resolutely let go of his boldness. Although the investigation team has entered Qingzhou, the main leaders of the province have not yet clearly expressed their attitude. This ambiguous attitude shows that there are differences at the top level, and with differences, there is room for maneuver. As long as it doesn't stir up trouble in the province, on this land of Qingzhou, even if Xu Fuyan's reputation has been severely damaged by public opinion, he can still do nothing about himself.

  The Standing Committee, what he says doesn't count!

  So this time, the Standing Committee was suddenly convened. The Zhou faction gathered together to discuss all night and came up with two conclusions: one is that the investigation team had made significant progress, Xu Fuyan wanted to report the news at the Standing Committee meeting, and it's also possible that he wanted to make an arrest to assert his authority. From ancient times to the present, arresting people during meetings has been the best way to paralyze the enemy and disarm them; one is because public opinion had deviated from his plan, and he needed to set things right, adjust Wei Chenfeng's job arrangement.

  But if it's the first one, Xu Fuyan is unlikely to have such great courage, and besides, there has been no news from that side, it's impossible to suddenly reach the level of municipal party committee standing member; As for the second point, the possibility is very high, but what makes Zhou Xiyun and others puzzled is that Xu Fuyan came to Qingzhou for half a year, and in the standing committee meeting, he only got the title of "hand-raising secretary", nothing else. Even if today is different from the past, with the support of Yang Guangsheng, Niu Guoqiang, Feng Wenxue and Liu Hongjian, there are only five votes in the standing committee meeting, which can't occupy an advantageous position at all, no matter how high the hand is raised, it won't change anything, just self-inflicted humiliation!

  Everyone was puzzled for a night, and at this time, they suddenly heard Xu Fuyan mention the issue of public opinion, and their hearts were shocked.

  Wei Chenfeng sneered in his heart. In the Standing Committee, everything was fake, only votes were real. He didn't believe that Xu Fuyuan had a way to overthrow him.

  "The editorial in Qingzhou Daily, I read it. The author's writing skills are quite good, but..." Xu Fuyan put his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly. His deep, cold eyes scanned the crowd slowly, stopping at Zhou Yutian for a moment before finally settling on Wei Chenfeng's face. He suddenly slammed his hand on the table and shouted: "He is making sweeping generalizations and taking things out of context! What is Qinghua Factory? It involves the future and families of over 3,000 workers, it involves the overall situation of Qingzhou's reform and opening up, and it even involves the face of us here today and the 6 million people of Qingzhou! One careless move could push us to the edge of a cliff. In this matter, no matter how careful we are, it's not enough! A journalist, how much material did he research? How many people did he interview? Did he do any investigation or research? Just speculation and nonsense. He wrote an article without thinking, knowing that it would cause us so much trouble. Minister Wei, is this the kind of lack of discipline and organization in your propaganda department? Is the five-examination system of Qingzhou Daily just a formality?"

  This was Xu Fuyan's first thunderous outburst since his arrival in Qingzhou, and it left the entire conference room stunned. The usual committee members who were used to seeing Xu Fuyan with a smile on his face, nodding in agreement, and raising their hands in approval were all caught off guard. It was not unusual for people in official circles to have multiple faces, but what was surprising was that Xu Fuyan had such an outburst, and if it didn't achieve its intended purpose, the rumors would be a fatal blow to his already weak prestige.

  But looking at his facial expressions, where is the calm and composed demeanor of a superior person? It seems that everyone has overthought this, and Xu Fuyan's mind is probably already in chaos!

  Throwing a tantrum can't control the Standing Committee!

  Zhou Yuanting glanced at Wei Chenfeng with a faint gaze, and Wei Chenfeng immediately understood, saying: "The editorial in the Qingzhou Daily was written by a young lecturer from the Qing Normal Institute as a special guest. He has always had unique insights on current events and hot issues, and his comments are profound and well-received by the public. Therefore, this time, during the review process, there may not have been specific analysis of specific problems, and an empiricist error was made; On the other hand, the newspaper's editors lacked a grasp of the overall situation in Qingzhou and were insensitive to political events. They did not anticipate the severity of the problem, which led to this incident. I have seriously criticized them and ordered them to rectify the situation through internal organizational discussions and make a profound examination."

  These words are like a slap in the face, facing the leader's questioning, not only did they not honestly admit their mistakes, but instead pushed all the problems down to the lower levels with clear and logical arguments, even saying that a thorough investigation is the ultimate punishment.

  The attitude is so bad, if it were those otaku from later generations, they would definitely only think of two words: awesome!

  Throughout the country, there are propaganda ministers who dare to speak to the municipal party secretary in this tone, but Wei Chenfeng is absolutely not one of them.

  Xu Fuyan suddenly calmed down. His face didn't show any change in expression. As the municipal party secretary, he couldn't afford to lose his dignity by continuing to argue with Wei Chenfeng. Niu Guoqiang knew it was time for him to intervene and cleared his throat, saying: "I suggest that this lecturer should suspend classes first, and the Discipline Inspection Commission can intervene to investigate whether there are any underlying reasons. Is he being manipulated by someone or has other purposes?"

  King Lin furrowed his brow, rubbing the tea cup: "It's just an article, a bookworm's outburst of criticism, no need to make a big deal out of it.

  Feng Wenxue laughed and said: "Old Wang, you don't understand this. Bookworms are real, can a fool write such an article? I agree with Secretary Niu's opinion."

  Liu Hongjian said: "That's right, take a look, no problem is the best, if there is a problem, it's also good to solve it in time and avoid being passive again."

  Sun Ning, the vice mayor in charge of education, seeing everyone's eyes focused on himself, put down the documents he had been flipping through and said: "Qing Shi is a provincial-level institution, it's feasible to make suggestions, but administrative orders to suspend classes are beyond our level."

  It seems that the Zhou faction has gained the upper hand in this debate, but in reality, the Xu faction has successfully used its power to dissolve Wei Chenfeng's sophistry. Knowing that he can no longer delay, before Zhou Yuanting reacts and possibly finds a way to stop the vote, he waved his hand and said: "Apart from newspapers, there are also radio stations, television stations and other media outlets. The case of Qinghua Factory has not yet been concluded, but they have hastily issued biased statements, completely disregarding the good situation of unity and stability in Qingzhou. The party's style and discipline have been severely damaged. In light of this, I think Comrade Wei Chenfeng is no longer suitable to serve as Minister of Propaganda, responsible for propaganda work. Secretary Feng has a solid theoretical foundation, is skilled at handling complex problems, and has sufficient control and understanding of the overall situation to cope with the current situation. I propose that Comrade Wei Chenfeng be relieved of his duties as Minister of Propaganda, no longer in charge of propaganda, spiritual civilization construction, news, publishing, and work related to the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Association of Social Sciences. The specific division of labor will be discussed later.

  Comrade Feng temporarily takes charge of propaganda work, does a good job in guiding public opinion and media publicity during the investigation team's stay in Qingzhou, and seriously deals with some troublemakers. Carry out self-examination and self-correction activities within the industry to ensure stability in Qingzhou.

  Although he had been prepared, Wei Chenfeng's heart still skipped a beat when he heard the proposal. His fingers were tightly clenched together, his knuckles turning pale from the force, and he involuntarily looked towards Zhou Yuanting.

  "Secretary Xu, Minister Wei's work in the propaganda department over the years has been effective and has received praise and recognition from the province and other brother cities. We should look at cadres dialectically, not generalize from one aspect, nor take things out of context, making a big deal out of a small mistake, killing them with one blow. Qingzhou has a saying: 'The more you do, the more mistakes you make; if you don't do anything, you won't make any mistakes.' If we go on like this, who will dare to take action and serve the people? Zhou Yuanting had already fallen out with Xu Fuyan. When speaking, he naturally wouldn't be polite, and directly retorted with Xu Fuyan's previous words. Xu Fuyan smiled coldly and said: 'Although I haven't been in Qingzhou for long, I've also heard how the common people describe the municipal party committee and government - what's called 'dogs carrying water', 'cats burning pots', 'rabbits washing their hands', 'mice opening doors'... laughing to death! The capable rise, the mediocre fall, and those who can't even do that should be removed from office, so the common people won't curse them behind their backs!"

  These words pierced people's hearts, and everyone felt embarrassed, feeling that they had lost face. Xu Fuyan continued:

  "Mayor Zhou has a different opinion, let's vote by show of hands then. The minority will follow the majority. Those who agree with my proposal, please raise your hands!"

  First was Niu Guoqiang, followed by Feng Wenxue, then Liu Hongjian. Yang Guangsheng, who had been taking meeting minutes, stopped writing and raised his right hand. Chen Fei, the political commissar of the Qingzhou Military Sub-district attending the meeting, abstained as expected.

  The atmosphere in the venue had reached a boiling point. Zhou Yuanting suddenly felt a pang of unease, a sense of danger that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Beside him, Bai Changqian slowly raised his hand from his seat.

  The evening mist is blue, the state is blue, and the river is hazy. From now on, I will throw away my past, trample on the green moss, and change to a new day and month. The chess pieces are arranged in a subtle pattern, saying that the beauty of the shell is not the same as before.