Nominal: The pinnacle of power began in the sixth province of Handong.

After reviewing the proposal twice, Sha Ruijin took off his glasses and said approvingly:

"Minister Xia, this new inspection method is excellent. I even think it should be promoted nationwide as a best practice."

Xia Qing quickly nodded in agreement:

"Thank you for your recognition, Secretary. I do have this idea. Once this group of cadres has been 'unfrozen' enough, I will submit this plan to the Organization Department of the Central Committee."

"I would like to ask you for some guidance now, otherwise this plan cannot be completed."

Sha Ruijin burst out laughing, and the atmosphere in the office immediately became relaxed.

He knew the subtext of Xia Qing's words.

After the new assessment method is submitted, it will also count towards my score.

Once recognized as an advanced experience and promoted nationwide, even the provincial party secretary himself will have a record of achievement.

Xia Qing is offering herself a benefit.

In exchange, I also need to give Xia Qing face in the proposal.

This approach is excellent and in accordance with regulations.

Sha Ruijin's impression of Xia Qing improved.

At the same time, he was prepared in case Xia Qingzhen dared to use Xu Min to force him to sign.

Xia Qing will then suffer the most severe punishment.

The authority of the provincial party secretary cannot be challenged by a mere organization minister.

Even members of the Xia family are not allowed.

Now, Xia Qing has taken the initiative to offer the most suitable solution.

Sha Ruijin also breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, he didn't want to create a rift with the Xia family.

However, Sha Ruijin still couldn't fully accept the idea of ​​signing directly.

In the plan, Xia Qing intends to significantly reduce the scope of the "veto power" exercised by the top leader.

Furthermore, Qi Tongwei was intentionally or unintentionally kept around.

This made Sha Ruijin somewhat dissatisfied.

Qi Tongwei's problem is actually not that complicated.

Sha Ruijin believes that this is the time to suppress the Handong clique and take over the basic political resources of Handong.

Qi Tongwei cannot be promoted to the vice-provincial level.

He can make decisions about any department head.

If you want to remove a deputy provincial governor, you have to submit a request to higher authorities.

That would only cause trouble for yourself.

Unless Gao Yuliang can offer a swap deal equivalent to promoting Qi Tongwei to the same level as vice-provincial governor.

It's obvious that Gao Yuliang can't provide the answer.

Sha Ruijin naturally didn't need to weigh the pros and cons; he simply froze Qi Tongwei's account and then found a time to completely reject the matter, ensuring that the government would never mention it again.

But the situation is different now.

Xia Qing's proposal clearly shows a bias towards protecting Qi Tongwei.

Regardless of Xia Qing's thoughts, Sha Ruijin had to think a few steps further ahead.

Xia Qing is backed by the Xia family, but Xia Qing's protector is different from Gao Yuliang's protector.

It seems we must clarify Qi Tongwei's matter today.

We need to at least figure out Xia Qing's plans.

So, Sha Ruijin stood up, closed the door, looked at Xia Qing, and said seriously:

"Minister Xia, let's have an open and frank discussion today. What are your thoughts on Director Qi's matter?"

Xia Qingzao was prepared.

He knew that Qi Tongwei was an unavoidable topic.

But given the current situation, whether Qi Tongwei is promoted to vice-provincial level is not a pressing matter.

In the eyes of the group in Handong, he was already leaning towards Gao Yuliang, but it was just support, far from being considered as taking sides.

But in reality, with his own support and that of the Xia family, Gao Yuliang is unlikely to be completely defeated by Sha Ruijin in the short term.

The situation in Handong can be stabilized for a short period of time.

This will free up your time and allow you to excel in your primary job.

If at this point, I strongly insist that Qi Tongwei not be removed from the list.

This is tantamount to telling Sha Ruijin that he has completely sided with Gao Yuliang.

That was an extremely dangerous signal.

Xia Qing was well aware that her advantage lay in her family background and her relatively independent and detached political stance.

They are qualified to be in a favorable position, without taking sides, and to leverage external forces to create an environment suitable for themselves to do business and start a career.

Such an advantage will vanish once one actively chooses sides.

He himself would be forced to get involved in the battle in Handong.

That is wrong and foolish.

Therefore, Xia Qing also made up her mind to make a bold decision.

He cleared his throat and said sincerely to Sha Ruijin:

"Secretary Sha, regarding the issue of Director Qi's promotion to vice-provincial level, I propose that Director Qi be removed from these 125 people and temporarily put on hold, but we should not completely rule out the possibility of him being promoted to vice-provincial level."

Sha Ruijin was stunned for a few seconds.

He hadn't expected Xia Qing to make such a proposal.

But it makes perfect sense.

This solution respects Sha Ruijin's main objective of freezing the cadres' records while ensuring that other cadres are not affected and can be unfrozen smoothly.

This is indeed the most suitable solution for the current situation.

What a wonderful Xia Qing.

Sha Ruijin admired Xia Qing's abilities even more.

He couldn't help but wonder who had spread the rumor that Xia Qing knew nothing about organizational work.

It's really a big joke in the world!

Xia Qing's abilities, methods, and way of doing things are simply impeccable.

Sha Ruijin also began to regret that he shouldn't have pressured Xia Qing to side with him.

This person isn't so easy to take down!

Afterwards, Sha Ruijin readily approved the plan and instructed Xia Qing to lead the comrades from the Organization Department to conduct re-examinations in batches and according to different situations, so as to gradually complete the unfreezing of the remaining 124 cadres.

After Xia Qing expressed his determination, Sha Ruijin personally opened the door for him and saw him off.

After Xia Qing walked away, Sha Ruijin closed the office door, sat back down at his desk, and said without turning his head:

What do you think?

As soon as he finished speaking, Tian Guofu strode out of the bedroom behind the office, his face beaming with joy, and said:

"Secretary Sha, this shows that Xia Qing has not sided with Gao Yuliang, and we can still proceed with the most important work as usual."

"You're satisfied with just not taking sides?" Sha Ruijin sneered.

"Xia Qing's refusal to take sides is precisely what makes her the most difficult to deal with."

Tian Guofu was taken aback and said:

"Secretary Sha, what do you mean by this?"

"Xia Qing is very clear about his identity. Although he is a government official from the capital who came to the local area, he has the confidence to not take sides, and he did indeed do so," Sha Ruijin said slowly.

"He made a gesture of leaning towards Gao Yuliang, and also reached an agreement with me on the assessment method. In the end, Gao Yuliang will take advantage of Xia Qing to actively align himself with the Xia family, creating obstacles for us to take over Handong. And I have no reason to hinder Xia Qing, and I even have to give him face and support his subsequent work."

"But Xia Qing can quickly advance her work and achieve results in such a relatively stable environment. This is exactly the situation Xia Qing wants!"

"Furthermore, those cadres who were reinstated all praised Xia Qing for his efficient and decisive work! With such positive feedback spreading, Xia Qing's political image in Handong was firmly established!"

"What a brilliant scheme! I believe that not only I saw through it, but Gao Yuliang was also fully aware of it, but we had no choice; we were even forced to follow Xia Qing's scheme!"

Tian Guofu was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe that Xia Qing could be as miraculous as Sha Ruijin described.

In Tian Guofu's eyes, he and Xia Qing were both officials parachuted from Beijing to local positions—one a secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, the other an organization minister.

In fact, Tian Guofu looked down on Xia Qing, thinking that he was just a rich kid who came to get his resume gilded!

Tian Guofu's mind was completely in turmoil, and he uttered what he thought was a clever remark:

"Secretary Sha, why didn't you sign it just now? Let the cadre stay frozen! That way, we wouldn't have fallen for Xia Qing's trick, would we?"

Sha Ruijin looked at Tian Guofu in disbelief, speechless, as if he were looking at a college student who had just joined the team.

For the first time, this ally made Sarrijin worry about his political future.