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

"To support the local people in growing grapes, our government invested over a million yuan to purchase cement poles and gave them away for free. But some bastards, who are not ethical, actually tried to take advantage of this. They cut corners on the cement poles, resulting in poles that are very easy to break."

Jiang Yiming said angrily, "After the farmers get their hands on it, it will break in two or three years. When they have to replace the pole, it will cost even more."

"Secretary Baogen, I propose that this matter be thoroughly investigated, and that the relevant personnel be severely punished for their violations of rules and regulations, so as to give the people an explanation!"

"Is this happening?"

Niu Baogen frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "We definitely need to investigate. The day after tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve, and everyone will be celebrating the Spring Festival. The staff won't be in the mood for investigation."

"Let's arrange for someone to investigate this matter thoroughly after the holiday."

“Secretary, time waits for no one. Every extra day we wait, more inferior poles will be produced. In order to save time, the people will bury the poles as soon as they receive them. Every day we delay our investigation, we will waste a lot of manpower and resources.”

Jiang Yiming said, "Moreover, this matter concerns the government's credibility and image. We must conduct a thorough investigation and hold those responsible accountable in order to restore the government's image."

"I understand what you mean. I will arrange for someone to investigate after the holiday."

After Niu Baogen finished speaking, he turned up the volume of the radio.

Jiang Yiming naturally understood that the other party meant to kick him out.

He had no choice but to leave.

After returning to the office, he called Wang Lifeng.

"Notify all townships that cement poles will no longer be distributed and will be distributed after the Spring Festival."

If the cement poles are distributed later, the people will have no poles to bury, thus avoiding a waste of labor.

Otherwise, if the farmers bury the poles in the ground, even if qualified poles are redistributed later, pulling out the substandard poles will be a considerable undertaking.

Pulling out a pole is much more strenuous than burying one!

After making the arrangements, Jiang Yiming prepared to go back and pack his things. He would return to Yiyang City with his mother and wife early the next morning.

The family planned to spend the Spring Festival in Yiyang City, but before that, they had to go to Xinping County to pay respects to their ancestors.

Therefore, you need to go back a day early.

Jiang Yiming quickly tidied up and headed downstairs.

I happened to run into Niu Baogen, who was also on his way home from get off work.

Jiang Yiming and Niu Baogen were both from out of town, and their houses were both in the county committee family housing complex behind the county committee compound.

After exchanging a few simple pleasantries, the two walked together toward the family dormitory building.

"County Chief Yiming, you need to stay calm about the cement poles."

Niu Baogen, trying to make conversation, said, "It's good for young cadres to be energetic and ambitious, but they can't rush to deal with things when problems arise. They need to consider the actual situation more comprehensively."

"As leading cadres, whenever we issue an order, our subordinates have to run themselves ragged to carry it out. If we were to issue an order for an investigation today, wouldn't those comrades be unable to enjoy their holiday in peace?"

"Therefore, as a leader, you need to consider all aspects and think more about your subordinates. Only in this way can they like you, respect you, and support you."

Jiang Yiming disagreed, saying that some minor matters could be delayed and put aside until a suitable time was reached for investigation.

But when it comes to matters that directly affect the interests of ordinary people, every day that is delayed will result in further losses for them.

Only by handling the situation promptly can we minimize the losses suffered by ordinary people.

However, Jiang Yiming did not refute it, as arguing with Niu Baogen about this was pointless.

Since we can't change his mind anyway, why waste our breath?

As the two were talking, they had just turned a corner when a group of people who looked like farmers rushed over and surrounded them instantly.

Niu Baogen was startled and asked with a dark face, "What are you doing?"

"We need to find the Party Secretary and demand an explanation."

One of the leaders said, "Secretary Niu, would you be willing to listen to a few words from us commoners?"

"You've come to the wrong place. You should go to the Petition Office; that's where it should be handled. Why are you coming to me directly?"

Seeing that the other party was speaking politely, Niu Baogen started speaking in official jargon: "If everyone were as unruly as you, coming directly to me for every little thing, I, as the county party secretary, wouldn't be able to finish dealing with it even if I didn't sleep."

"Alright, move aside. Go directly to the petition office, and they will help you resolve this."

"Want to leave? Secretary Niu, you're asking for a free lunch after you've done your business. There's no such thing as a free lunch."

"That's right, this whole thing started because of you, so we're here to talk to you."

"Those people at the petition office are just passing the buck; they can't solve anything. If we're going to come to you, you have to give us an explanation."

The group of people completely blocked Niu Baogen's way.

"It started because of me? Tell me what happened."

Seeing that he couldn't leave, Niu Baogen could only ask why.

"You called on the entire county to plant grapes and vegetables on TV, saying you'd give away cement poles for free, so we responded to your call and actively cleared land to prepare for planting grapes. But when it came time to collect the grape poles, you insisted we pay for transportation. We had no choice but to pay, and the cement poles that arrived were of substandard quality; they broke at the slightest touch. Aren't you just trying to harm us?"

"That's right. We had already buried the pole, but when we were tying the wire to it, the pole broke. We had to get it out, and it was very difficult to remove the broken pole."

"Since the government is calling on us to grow grapes, they shouldn't be trying to fool us with such inferior products, making us waste our effort and money."

The group said angrily.

"Is this what you're talking about?"

Niu Baogen breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Although it was my words at the mobilization meeting, the government has been leading and promoting this matter from beginning to end."

He then pointed to Jiang Yiming beside him and said, "That is, County Chief Jiang Yiming. If you have anything to report, you can go directly to him."

Niu Baogen wanted to shift the blame, but the people didn't believe him.

"Who are you trying to fool? You were the one speaking on TV, rallying us, and now you're shifting the blame onto others. You're so irresponsible!"

"We're not going to anyone else, we're going to you. Find a way to solve this for us right now, or we won't let you go."

The group pushed and shoved each other.

"I'll resolve this. After the Spring Festival, I'll immediately arrange for someone to investigate and I'll definitely give you justice."

Niu Baogen quickly expressed his opinion.

The people, however, became even more dissatisfied.

"What? Wait until after the Spring Festival? That's another ten days or so. Why don't you wait until the May Day holiday to deal with it?"

"You officials have no time to celebrate the festival when the matter isn't resolved. You're really too carefree."

“If you had even a shred of responsibility, you would have kept the people’s affairs in mind. But what you did was only think about celebrating the festival and not care about the lives of the people.”

These people had been traveling all day and were already full of anger. Today they wanted a good promise, but Niu Baogen used the same words he used to fool Jiang Yiming to deceive the people.

The common people were naturally unwilling, and even more annoyed.

Some people got agitated and started shoving Niu Baogen.

The atmosphere on the scene suddenly became tense.