The Official Ladder: I ascend to the pinnacle of power, wielding the power of life and death.

Jiang Yiming is a county leader. Although he does not have personnel authority, he comes from the Organization Department and is said to have a very good relationship with Zhao Zhenlin, the head of the Organization Department.

If he were willing to speak on my behalf, whether it's just a suggestion or a promotion to a deputy director position in a county-level department, I would have a great chance.

"Secretary Chen from the Discipline Inspection Commission will speak to Secretary Lu, and the investigation team should be established in the next couple of days. Be prepared."

Jiang Yiming didn't say much. He had a good impression of Xu Hongfei and had previously recommended him to Lu Hansheng and Zhao Zhenlin, hoping that he would succeed him as deputy secretary of the Party Committee.

But now is not the time when Ma Qiyun was the county party secretary. As long as he recommends, it will not be too difficult to get the position finalized.

Now that Jiang Xuangui is the Party Secretary and Zhang Yuntao is the County Head, he doesn't want to ask Zhang Yuntao for help, so he recommends Xu Hongfei to succeed him, which makes things quite unpredictable.

However, there is still a long time ahead. As long as Xu Hongfei maintains his current work ethic, he will definitely find an opportunity to promote him.

At noon, Lu Hansheng, the Party Secretary of Xigou Township, and Zhao Mingyuan, the Township Head, learned that Jiang Yiming was coming to conduct research, and rushed back immediately after the meeting.

"County Chief Jiang, you're coming to Xigou Township for research, but you didn't even give me a heads-up so I could ask for leave and welcome you in the township."

Lu Hansheng grasped Jiang Yiming's hand warmly.

"Secretary Hansheng, we're old comrades and brothers, so let's not stand on ceremony."

Jiang Yiming laughed and said, "I was originally planning to go back, but you called me and insisted that I stay for dinner no matter what, so I'm waiting for you here."

"We had agreed before that once your affairs were settled, we old brothers would throw a big feast to celebrate with you. Now that everything is settled and you've taken office, it won't have much of an impact on our gathering."

Lu Hansheng laughed and said, "Come on, I've arranged the place. Although the environment is so-so, the food they cook tastes pretty good."

"Alright, then we'll do as Secretary Hansheng says."

Jiang Yiming and Lu Hansheng chatted enthusiastically, but Jiang only nodded to Zhao Mingyuan.

He didn't have much affection for Zhao Mingyuan.

Zhao Mingyuan knew he was not favored by Jiang Yiming, so he could only force a smile and dared not say anything.

"County Chief Jiang, the matter that County Chief Zhang arranged is quite urgent and needs to be handed over before I start work this afternoon. I'm afraid I can't accompany you."

Zhao Mingyuan said, "Secretary Lu, please offer two more toasts to County Chief Jiang on my behalf."

"It's okay, work is important."

Jiang Yiming didn't try to stop them. Without Zhao Mingyuan, they got along much better while eating and drinking.

Two days later, the county discipline inspection commission, the county party committee office's inspection office, the county organization department and other departments jointly established three inspection teams to conduct a review and verification of the forest land restoration project, the village road construction project and the high-standard farmland project.

However, this is a routine operation of the Discipline Inspection Commission, and many people did not pay much attention to it, but those with guilty consciences were still a little worried.

"Dad, I heard that the Discipline Inspection Commission has sent an investigation team to inspect and verify the project. Could there be any problems?"

Jiang Tao said, "In the two townships we are responsible for, the survival rate of seedlings is only 40%. If this is discovered, it will be a big problem."

"Now you know how to worry?"

Jiang Yunhai said with a sullen face, "I told you long ago to spend more money and hire someone with technical expertise to plant them, but you wouldn't listen. As a result, the seedlings you planted were of poor quality and had a low survival rate after transplanting. If I weren't the deputy director of the Forestry Bureau, this matter would have been exposed long ago."

"It's too late to say all this."

Jiang Tao said, "Now that Jiang Yiming is the deputy county head, do you think he might investigate this matter thoroughly and retaliate against us?"

"Probably not. This isn't something we're doing alone. If he wants to target us, he'll offend a whole bunch of people."

Jiang Yunhai thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Jiang Yiming is moving this weekend. He will probably invite Jiang Yongchen. You should contact Jiang Yongchen in advance and go with him to help out."

"I'm not going!"

Jiang Tao flatly refused, saying, "Last year we took the initiative to make peace with him, and they promised to come to our house to pay New Year's greetings. But we waited from January to February and they still didn't come. I've held a grudge about this ever since. Don't expect me to be a lapdog!"

"You're not stupid at all, you're not smart at all!"

Jiang Yunhai said, "You're going to help, not for Jiang Yiming's sake. Does he need someone like you to run errands?"

"You did it for me and for yourself!"

“When Jiang Yiming moves, many people will go to help. If you are there, others will see it and naturally assume that our two families have reconciled. In the future, even if we don’t mention Jiang Yiming’s name, people will still have to think about our relationship with him. Some difficult things will become easier.”

"That's what leveraging momentum is all about!"

Jiang Tao's eyes lit up, and he laughed, "Then can we start some other projects?"

"Don't rush. It's not too late to try to secure projects after I've finished planning."

"Dad, what are you planning?"

Jiang Tao laughed and said, "Tell me about it, I'd like to learn from you."

"What else could it be for? Of course, it's to get closer to Jiang Yiming."

Jiang Yunhai sighed and said, "Jiang Yiming is climbing too fast now. Even if we take the initiative to get closer to him, it's impossible to build a harmonious relationship. So let's create a false impression and make outsiders mistakenly believe that we have a good relationship."

"Well, if we invite Jiang Yiming to dinner, I don't think he'll come. And even if he does, no one will see him."

Jiang Tao said with a troubled expression, "How else can we create this kind of thing?"

"I've already made up my mind: I'll build a tomb and erect a monument for your grandparents!"

Jiang Yunhai said smugly, "For such important family events, whether it's Jiang Yunzhou or Jiang Yiming, no matter how busy they are, they will rush back to participate. And when the officials of Xinping County learn that the Jiang family is repairing the tomb and erecting the monument, they will naturally come to pay their respects."

“I handled the whole thing, so Jiang Yiming and his son naturally had to follow my arrangements and give me face. In this process, we could see the harmonious relationship between our two families. After the matter was over, when we went to those people to do things, they would naturally take Jiang Yiming’s face into consideration.”

"High, it is high!"

Jiang Tao gave a thumbs up and said, "Filial piety is the most important virtue. We Chinese people value filial piety the most. No matter how unwilling Jiang Yiming and his son are, they will still help us get this done."

"Sigh, it's my fault too. I didn't see that Jiang Yiming would amount to anything. Otherwise, if I had stepped in to help him back then, I might be able to benefit from his success now. I wouldn't have had to go to such lengths to try and get ahead of him."

Jiang Yunhai said with some regret.

Jiang Yiming has been busy these past few days, spending his days either attending various meetings or conducting field research in rural areas. His evenings are filled with social engagements.

He had just taken office as deputy county head, and he tried his best to refuse invitations from relatives, friends, township officials, and entrepreneurs with whom he had good relationships, but there were still many he couldn't refuse.

The weekend has finally arrived, but the schedule is packed with work. County leaders basically don't have a concept of weekends.

However, he still managed to squeeze out half a day to move.