The Beautiful County Magistrate
Chapter 569: Mother-in-Law Asserts Her Authority!

Chapter 569: Chapter 569: Mother-in-Law Asserts Her Authority!

It was the height of summer, and school was out for the summer break. Ding Meixin hadn’t seen Xu Qianli for two days and missed him terribly, so she hurried over to see him.

Today she was dressed a bit prettily, a touch sexy even, which made Xu Qianli momentarily lose his composure, and the two got hot and heavy right there in the office.

Unexpectedly, Lan Qianrong burst in and caught them in the act.

Ding Meixin was now beyond embarrassed, wishing she could just crawl into a hole.

Xu Qianli, with a sheepish grin, chuckled dryly as he quickly got dressed. "Leader, what brings you here so suddenly? Is there something wrong?"

Lan Qianrong was also quite embarrassed, cleared her throat, and got down to business.

"I just received a message. Zhang Dongyang has removed you from your position, relieving you of your duties as Deputy County Magistrate and Party Secretary of Qingshan Town."

"That was a merciless move, targeting you directly. What are you thinking?" she asked.

Xu Qianli replied, "I anticipated he would do something like this. That guy caused nothing but trouble as soon as he came to Jiang City, as if he wanted to stir up chaos. I’ve been thwarting him, so it’s no surprise he’s upset and removed me from my post. But if he thinks he can control the Jiang City officialdom with this move, he’s dreaming!"

Lan Qianrong responded, "Stop talking nonsense and focus on the issue at hand. Your removal is like losing my right hand, making things very difficult for me. Do you have any ideas on how to resolve the current predicament?"

Having an opponent wasn’t the problem, even if Zhang Dongyang wielded the "Imperial Sword" given to him by the city. Lan Qianrong wasn’t scared.

But his incessant meddling was troublesome. With growing unease among the officials in Jiang City, how could work progress, and how could the city’s economy develop?

Regardless, a solution had to be found to restrain Zhang Dongyang, to at least deter him from causing trouble for a while.

She had no ideas at the moment and hoped Xu Qianli had a plan.

Xu Qianli had been thinking about this issue for some time.

"Actually, solving this is simple."

"The reason Zhang Dongyang dares to stir things up in Jiang City is because of the ’Imperial Sword’ given to him by the city, which allows him to make key personnel decisions at will."

"With that authority in his hands, he can appoint and dismiss anyone in Jiang City except you, which is why he could take me down so easily, and why he previously kicked out Secretary Fan."

"If he didn’t have that kind of power, do you think he would still be able to stir up trouble in Jiang City?"

Once Xu Qianli put it that way, Lan Qianrong nodded.

Indeed, without that authority, Zhang Dongyang would be like a tiger without its teeth and claws, posing no real threat.

But stripping Zhang Dongyang of his teeth and claws didn’t seem like an easy task.

Lan Qianrong said, "Ever since Secretary Zou was put under investigation, the City Committee hasn’t chosen a new City Secretary. Lu Xingtian almost holds sole sway over the city. That’s why he dares to give Zhang Dongyang the ’Imperial Sword,’ letting him run wild in Jiang City. To retake the ’Imperial Sword’ from Zhang Dongyang, we can’t avoid dealing with the city. Do you have a strategy to break through this situation?"

Xu Qianli replied, "Leader, you might not be aware, but Zhang Dongyang and Lu Xingtian actually went to the province yesterday to smear our reputation. That’s probably why he dared to remove me today. Since they dared to go to the province to malign us, why don’t we also take that route?"

Upon hearing this, Lan Qianrong mulled it over, and it did seem like a viable strategy.

Zhang Dongyang, wielding the power of personnel appointments and dismissals, was causing chaos in Jiang City, clearly breaching protocol. So why not go to the province and report him for disrupting the bureaucratic ecology and hindering Jiang City’s economic development?

Having made up her mind, Lan Qianrong said, "If I go to the province, which departments should I visit?"

Xu Qianli replied, "The Provincial Committee and the Provincial Organization Department. I’ve already given them a heads-up, guaranteeing you’ll come away with something."

The Provincial Party Secretary Ji Qingyun was to be her future father-in-law.

The position of Provincial Organization Minister was concurrently held by Zeng Guangyu, the Deputy Party Secretary of the Provincial Committee and, more importantly, a close family connection.

Xu Qianli had already notified them, so as long as Lan Qianrong made the trip, she was sure to gain something.

You, Zhang Dongyang, rely on the relationships within the City to stir up trouble in Jiang City, and even ran to the province to tattle on me and Lan Qianrong with slander. Well, I’m going to show you just how solid my relationships are within the province, and make you realize that I, Xu Qianli, am not someone you can dismiss at will!

Lan Qianrong said, "Alright, I’ll make a trip to the provincial capital and hope for some good news."

Lan Qianrong was one to act immediately upon deciding. She made a phone call and summoned Fan Hua, who had previously been removed from office by Zhang Dongyang, to accompany her to the provincial capital.

In the afternoon, the two arrived in the capital and made their visits to the Provincial Organization Department and the Provincial Committee Building, reporting on the current issues in Jiang City.

Upon learning about the situation on the political stage of Jiang City, Zeng Guangyu, the Vice Secretary, flew into a towering rage, personally calling the City Organization Department in Zhongzhou City and berating Zhao Mei for granting Zhang Dongyang, the new County Party Secretary, such extensive powers of appointment and removal.

Zhang Dongyang was an outsider transferred in. Upon his arrival in Jiang City, he gained the power to appoint and remove all officials, which was a precedent that absolutely could not be set.

Otherwise, if every new leading official in various cities and counties followed suit, wouldn’t the local officialdom become a complete chaos, and how would Longhai Province’s economy continue to develop?

The authority over significant personnel appointments and removals in Jiang City had to be reclaimed by the City Organization Department and the Jiang City County Organization Department!

Moreover, the Provincial Committee issued a communique, specifically commending Jiang City Magistrate Lan Qianrong and Deputy County Magistrate Xu Qianli, among others, for their accomplishments in the past few months in Jiang City, affirming their performance.

Xu Qianli had just been removed from office by Zhang Dongyang, and with this commendation from the Provincial Committee, even a fool could see that the Provincial Committee was supporting Xu Qianli.

Zhang Dongyang panicked and hastily rescinded his decision to remove Xu Qianli from office.

The City also sent people to Jiang City, revoking Zhang Dongyang’s authority over important personnel appointments and removals in the city.

With Zeng Guangyu, the Vice Secretary, likely to become the new Governor after next year’s elections, who among the cities and counties below would dare not show her respect?

When she became angry and issued work directives, no one in Zhongzhou City or Jiang City dared to disobey.

Fan Hua, who had been dismissed by Zhang Dongyang, was also reinstated to his original position.

The whole storm quickly dissipated into nothing.

Zhang Dongyang, who seemed unstoppable when he first took up his post, exuding an air of invincibility, ended up losing miserably.

Officials big and small in the Jiang City bureaucracy secretly rejoiced in their luck for not siding with Zhang Dongyang; otherwise, they truly would have been doomed now.

From now on, Zhang Dongyang would be a toothless tiger, posing no immediate threat to Xu Qianli and Lan Qianrong.

Zeng Changyun, Ding Biao, and Tao Zekai were the three biggest losers during this period, having already been expelled from their posts with no chance for regret.

Witnessing the formidable Xu Qianli, many were secretly speculating that Zhang Dongyang would soon follow in Fu Guotai’s footsteps and beat a hasty and embarrassed retreat.