Chapter 1629 - The Appointment
He ate lunch at the Trading Post Restaurant, then went straight back to Bairencastle. Liu Xiang first stopped by the Senator Apartment District. Although he was rarely in Lingao, like rooms in the Kremlin, he still occupied a set of apartments.
No one had lived there for a long time. Though the General Office's service staff cleaned and aired the place out weekly, it was not ready for immediate occupancy. So Guo Ling'er and their daughter remained at the guesthouse; only the luggage had been brought over.
Liu Xiang surveyed the apartment he had never actually lived in. The furniture was complete, but daily necessities like pots and pans were lacking. Apart from the things brought back from Qiongshan, some items still needed purchasing, and the place required a thorough deep-clean... The General Office had already arranged all of this.
He had already thought it through. When he left for Guangzhou, it would be better to leave his family in Lingao. Once Guangzhou was "liberated," his workload would surely increase tenfold—a hundredfold, even. Bringing his wife and child would be profoundly inconvenient, and they would only divide his attention. Moreover, without his adorable daughter around, he might seize the opportunity to address the matter of a second secretary...
After sorting out family matters, he went immediately to the Organization Department to report.
Ming Lang studied the Director Liu sitting before him and felt deeply conflicted. According to organizational principles, the Organization Department should have the greatest say in personnel appointments. But when it came to the class of "Senators," many of those principles had been torn to shreds. In particular, his Organization Department possessed no actual management authority over naturalized citizen cadres—those fell under the Civil Affairs Department's Human Resources Division.
The result was that his Organization Department, just like in the old timeline, had become a department that merely went through the motions.
The practice of "Organization Department expresses intent, Senators actively apply, vertical departments directly appoint, regional heads invite personnel" had already become convention. Applied specifically to Liu Xiang: he was nominally just "returning to the capital to report on work." His replacement in the Qiongshan County Office was merely a "deputy acting as manager." Though there was already an "appointment intent" for the Guangzhou Prefecture position, it still required confirming his personal wishes before initiating the public announcement process.
The resolution for armed occupation of the Pearl River Delta region had passed only in the last week. The original plan had been the unappealing "underground government" model. Never mind the full allocation mode, capital relocation, picking the peaches... these topics endlessly debated on the forums had been intimidating enough.
Guangzhou was about to become the most prosperous and flourishing region under Senate rule, but its work difficulty would probably also surpass any other directly controlled territory. Plenty of people fancied becoming lords of their own domain, but most were still unwilling to do this pioneer-ox kind of work.
After the intent to organize the Guangzhou local government was made public, responses had been sparse. Some who wanted to go were obviously unqualified. Ming Lang had subsequently held conversations with several Senators whose conditions seemed more suitable, but everyone who received the offer declined outright. Tragically, the Organization Department was powerless to do anything about it.
Ming Lang got straight to the point: "Regarding the matter of adjusting your work position that the Organization Department proposed—how is your consideration going?"
"I accept the organization's arrangement." Liu Xiang nodded. Since he was going, he might as well agree straightforwardly.
Ming Lang visibly relaxed. He said nothing, just stood and shook Liu Xiang's hand.
"Then congratulations."
"The burden on my shoulders is heavy." Though he had decided to take the Guangzhou position, now that the job was actually his, he still felt the weight pressing down.
"You needn't worry about that. Guangzhou is different from other county seats. It's the first major city under our rule, and the support provided will reflect that. Policies will definitely be adjusted as well."
"The new Guangzhou City Government—will it manage only Guangzhou City itself, or will it include the subordinate counties?"
"Currently, it includes the subordinate counties. But your work focus should be on the two attached counties of Nanhai and Panyu in Guangzhou Prefecture City." Ming Lang added, "I can give you the inside scoop. The Executive Committee's current thinking on local administrative institutions is that provincial governments will manage counties directly. So once the situation stabilizes, Guangzhou will be listed as a separate municipality."
"That's good. Looking at the materials, Guangzhou Prefecture has fifteen counties and one sub-prefecture below it. Even subtracting the attached counties, that's still fourteen county-level units. Too heavy a burden."
"You don't have to worry about that aspect. The Executive Committee has already instructed our department to arrange sufficient Senator cadres for you." Ming Lang produced a Draft Organizational Outline for the Guangzhou City Temporary Administration Commission. "You can take a look first."
"Is this finalized?" Liu Xiang asked.
"No. As the highest administrative official in Guangzhou, you may express views on personnel. If you insist that a certain Senator cannot be appointed, it's not impossible to consider. Secretary of State Ma's instruction is that 'the first task of the leadership team is to maintain unity.'"
Liu Xiang opened the folder. In the draft, "vertical departments" covering judicial, taxation, police, political security, and so on either already had names listed or were annotated "to be separately selected by the Organization Department." His eyes passed over these names. Some people he recognized; some he did not. But since there were only so many people in the Senate, he knew a thing or two about each person's situation.
"What about these positions without specific appointments?"
"As chief administrator, you may recommend candidates. Of course, whether to use them still requires Organization Department approval, and the person must also be willing..."
Liu Xiang hurried to the key question: "What about the people from the original Guangzhou Station? Can they continue working in the new team?"
"Same principle as above." Ming Lang added, "Guo Yi is not included. He has another assignment."
As expected. Liu Xiang nodded. Still, he wanted to argue the point: "Guo Yi is our number-one agent in Guangzhou. Won't his departure shake the confidence of our business partners..."
"With your Guangzhou City Government to vouch for them, it should be fine." Ming Lang said, "Frankly, his continued tenure would be uncomfortable for him and would also hinder your ability to carry out work."
Guo Yi had been in charge of the old Guangzhou Station. Now, with a new leader above him, he probably would not feel at ease. As they say, "the first task of the leadership team is unity."
"Alright. Honestly, I think he's more suited to this than I am..."
"He has repeatedly requested not to continue as head of the Guangzhou Station." Ming Lang said, "As for the other Senators, I'm not sure if they'll definitely agree to stay on. Tell me your specific retention requirements, and I'll speak with them one by one."
"One last question. How will we be fed financially? Is it stirring the ladle in one pot, or each raising their own child?"
"This hasn't been finalized yet. For now, it's still the full allocation mode—"
"Damn..." Liu Xiang could not help muttering. This bizarre full-allocation system had been costing him dearly. It practically forced him to "run to the ministries." For administrative leaders who did not seek advancement, this way of muddling through was effortless and carefree. But while it might work for a tiny place with fewer than ten thousand people like Changhua, it was deeply unsuitable for a major county like Qiongshan—let alone the future Guangzhou City.
"Rest assured. After the Third General Congress, a new fiscal and taxation system will definitely be established; we won't continue with full allocation." Ming Lang said, "The Finance and Economy sector and the State Council have met several times. They're still hashing out the specifics."
"That's good. Otherwise, if even building bridges and paving roads requires central allocation, that's just too inconvenient." Liu Xiang nodded repeatedly. "Thank you for your trouble."
"Not at all. You're the one bravely shouldering a heavy responsibility here."
Coming out of the Organization Department, he returned home and quickly switched on his computer, browsing the posts on the forum. First, to see how the winds were blowing; second, to check out recent hot topics.
Apart from some posts that intentionally or unintentionally revealed too much, there was actually quite a lot of good material on the forum—especially the quirky threads. After all, in this world the transmigrators were the greatest prophets, and with minimal interference in Europe, their prophet credentials appeared even more impressive. Liu Xiang found one such post in a showing-off thread by someone from the Colonial Trade Department:
"João, Duke of Braganza—known as 'John the Restorer'—married Luisa de Guzmán, eldest daughter of Juan Manuel Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno, the 8th Duke of Medina Sidonia of Spain, in 1633. Of course, our Colonial Trade Department wouldn't miss it. Even if we couldn't attend in person, the gifts had to arrive. I just wonder, when that exquisite sealed gift box finally reached the Duke's hands after a year of crawling through Jesuit channels, what expression he wore upon opening it and reading: 'And congratulations on the birth of little Prince Teodósio.' The mysterious Australians of the Far East—are they prophets or devils? Is the helping hand they extend God's guidance or the devil's temptation? Getting João IV to launch the Portuguese independence movement ahead of schedule will be the first flap of our wings in Europe..."
Reading this, Liu Xiang could not help but chuckle. Si Kaide's side has it rough too! Hmm... foreign trade... let me look... ah, found it.
"Although our main export commodities have already made a name in Europe, the transportation strategy of our main trading partners is 'halfway' trade. That is, purchasing the raw materials we need from East African and Indian colonies, exchanging goods, then stockpiling our industrial products in Ceylon (Portuguese-Dutch contested), Goa (Portuguese), Mombasa (Portuguese); the Spaniards stockpile in Manila, waiting for ships from the Americas..."
"The great Murad IV of the Ottomans is fighting fiercely with Shah Safi of the Safavids in the Basra-Baghdad region and has the upper hand. The successor to Abbas the Great is performing quite poorly. Historically, by 1639, he would suffer a complete defeat and cede Mesopotamia... Therefore, British purchasing in Basra has been significantly affected..."
Looking at it this way, the anticipated shipping capacity bottleneck is about to materialize! Seems like my tea clipper was launched at just the right time! However, given this international situation—plus the Thirty Years' War raging in mainland Europe—couldn't the industrial side also develop some export models of munitions? At minimum, we could help Europe phase out all those old matchlock muskets. If the Nanyang-style rifle is too advanced, I wonder if the flintlocks manufactured in Foshan would be suitable?
(End of Chapter)