The Beautiful County Magistrate
Chapter 143: Counterattacking Zhang Kuisan!

Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Counterattacking Zhang Kuisan!

Xu Qianli was the Government Office Director, and he was fully qualified to attend the Jiang City County Government executive meetings.

No one could say a word against his insistence on attending the meeting.

Once he took his seat, the meeting continued.

Soon, Xu Qianli had grasped the content of the meeting.

Broadly speaking, Lan Qianrong believed that the heavy rain was likely to cause flooding and disasters, and it was necessary to find ways to prevent it in advance and prepare countermeasures.

She planned to mobilize Jiang City civil servants, to move to the front line of flood prevention, and to guard against the potential disasters with utmost vigilance.

Zhang Kuisan thought Lan Qianrong was making a big deal out of nothing. It rains every year, doesn’t it? Just because the rain is a bit heavier today, does it really mean a disaster will occur?

Due to a bit of worry, to mobilize all the county’s civil servants to leave their main jobs to prevent floods, that’s really inappropriate.

Tao Zekai, the Director of Jiang City Water Resources Bureau, supported Zhang Kuisan’s opinion.

He believed that Jiang City’s flood prevention system was very well established, having withstood the test of the rainy season for many years, and there would not be any problems today.

Apart from Tao Zekai, almost all members present supported Zhang Kuisan’s view, believing Lan Qianrong was overreacting.

Some even sarcastically suggested she was trying to make a big splash as a new official.

Once Xu Qianli was informed of the situation, Zhang Kuisan said, "Director Xu, what’s your opinion on this matter?"

All of a sudden, everyone’s gaze focused back on Xu Qianli.

Everyone knew that this guy was no pushover.

After Lan Qianrong had arrived in Jiang City, he had hidden in the hospital for several days, which certainly wasn’t just about recovering from injuries; he must have been planning something big.

Now that he had come to work, he was surely about to make his move, but nobody knew what he was going to do.

The most anticipant of all was undoubtedly Zhang Kuisan; he wanted to see what kind of countermeasure Xu Qianli, the kid, would use against him.

Facing everyone’s gaze, Xu Qianli frankly said, "Regarding flood prevention and disaster relief, I’m an amateur and it’s not appropriate for me to comment. Why don’t we just follow Vice County Magistrate Zhang’s suggestions?"

This...

Such a response from Xu Qianli stunned everyone.

Wasn’t he Lan Qianrong’s man? Why, after stewing in the hospital for several days, did he come out supporting Zhang Kuisan right off the bat? What kind of game was he playing?

Sun Yan said, "Director Xu, even though you’re an outsider of flood prevention and disaster relief, you must have some opinion, right? Or do you actually agree with Vice County Magistrate Zhang’s proposal and think he’s correct?"

Sun Yan was also bewildered. As far as she knew, Xu Qianli and Zhang Kuisan were sworn enemies, so why would he support Zhang Kuisan?

This situation just didn’t make any sense.

"Since Deputy County Magistrate Sun has asked me to speak, then I will. Let me say a few words," he said.

"Everyone, the doctor told me I was injured and it’s better for me to lie down more, so please don’t take offense, haha."

Xu Qianli crudely propped his two legs up on the office desk, took out a cigarette, lit it, and began to speak while engulfing and exhaling smoke.

"Vice County Magistrate Sun, anyone with eyes can see that here in the County Government, County Magistrate Lan has just arrived and is unable to assert any authority. Whether she is right or wrong doesn’t even matter, because she simply can’t get anything passed at the executive meeting."

"Having one more person support County Magistrate Lan is useless. Rather than that, we might as well listen to Vice County Magistrate Zhang. Let’s pretend nothing is happening—those who should work will work, those who slack off will slack off, those who should leave will leave, and continue playing mahjong. Just take care of your own business."

"As for flood prevention and disaster relief, isn’t Director Tao guaranteeing it? He said that there would be no issues with this heavy rain, that there wouldn’t be any chaos."

"If something does go wrong, let him take responsibility. If he needs to be dismissed, then dismiss him; if he needs to be fired, fire him; if he needs to be executed, then execute him. We won’t be implicated."

"Director Tao, am I right?"

Having been called out publicly by Xu Qianli, Director of Water Resources Tao Zekai’s face turned extremely ugly, and sweat broke out from his forehead incessantly.

He did want to nod, but how could he dare? After all, he knew that this rain was torrential, and in case something did happen, could he shoulder that responsibility?

After much consideration, Tao Zekai reluctantly spoke, "Actually, I think County Magistrate Lan makes a lot of sense. This year’s rainy season started much earlier than in previous years, and the rainfall is much heavier and more intense. This is a great test for our Jiang City’s flood prevention facilities. Whether we can remain unscathed as in previous years is an unknown. We should be alert now and take some precautionary measures."

Ignoring Zhang Kuisan’s warning gaze, Tao Zekai changed his stance. After all, the rain was falling too hard, too frightening, something he hadn’t seen for many years.

With the rain pouring so heavily, if chaos ensued, while others might be fine, he, as the Director of Water Resources, would be the primary person responsible, and he would surely be doomed. So now he couldn’t care about Zhang Kuisan.

Tao Zekai’s change of tone made everyone’s heart skip a beat.

What a move by Xu Qianli, hiding in the hospital for several days, and upon returning, so boldly causing the most crucial person at the meeting to shift stances instantly.

Although Tao Zekai was not as high in position and power as Lan Qianrong, Zhang Kuisan, and others, this meeting was about discussing flood prevention work, and his opinion as the head of the Water Resources Bureau was extremely important, even decisive, and not to be overlooked.

Xu Qianli was truly formidable; it was hard not to admire his tactics.

Zhang Kuisan remained composed on the surface, but beneath the table, his fist was clenched tight.

He thought he had securely controlled the County Government and all the county bureaus and had utterly marginalized Lan Qianrong, that damned woman. This executive meeting was supposed to be a severe lesson for Lan Qianrong, to make her stumble greatly and suffer public humiliation.

Unexpectedly, Xu Qianli, the spoiler, came out and muddied the waters, making the situation unclear.

No, he couldn’t let things go Xu Qianli’s way. Zhang Kuisan gave another signalling glance; Li Weiguo immediately stood up, citing the heavy workload at the Public Security Bureau and the inability to spare police forces as a reason to oppose Lan Qianrong’s proposal, continuing to sing the opposite tune.

Many leaders from the county bureaus echoed Li Weiguo.

Faced with such a situation, Xu Qianli simply shifted his gaze toward Lan Qianrong.

"County Magistrate Lan, in my opinion, much of the government’s work needs to be discussed and decided at the executive meeting."

"But for special circumstances, such as today’s sudden torrential rain that requires deployment for flood prevention and disaster relief work, you can completely bypass the executive meeting and issue orders directly in the name of the County Magistrate."

"Director Tao of the Water Resources Bureau believes that this rainfall is likely to cause disasters. With the situation so pressing and no time to delay, instead of wasting time on an executive meeting discussion, you might as well directly issue the order. Swiftly notify all units to deploy to key flood prevention areas for protection."

"Of course, whether the units are willing to execute the order is up to them."

"If they comply, all the better. If not, record it down. Should any problem arise, hold them accountable!"

Saying this, Xu Qianli swept his gaze around with a smile that was not quite a smile.

So you all banded together to try to marginalize Lan Qianrong, huh? You wanted to slap Lan Qianrong hard in the face during today’s executive meeting. Well, I want to see if you can still look good!