Chapter 435: The Large Department System is the Way to Go

For the naturalized citizens, Liu Muzhou’s presence was much stronger than that of other Elders. At this moment, he was buried in reviewing documents.

When Liu Muzhou saw Lu Xuan come in, he didn’t stop his work. He said, “Pour your own tea. I’ll finish this plan first.”

Liu Muzhou and Lu Xuan were very familiar with each other. It could even be said that Lu Xuan was the only high-ranking official of the Senate with whom he was relatively close.

Although he sometimes secretly regretted why Wu De didn’t continue to hold this position—when he was the deputy director of the training department, Wu De had already been transferred to the Planning Commission.

If he had been able to work with Wu De back then, the situation today would be much better. This fatty from southern Jiangsu, Liu Muzhou, was after all only a People’s Commissar, with limited energy—fortunately, his IQ was not too high: fat people are generally easy-going and simple-minded.

Based on the specific situation of this time and the naturalized citizens, he improved and revised the training materials, and achieved very good results after actual use. Liu Muzhou had a good impression of this capable colleague. He had proposed several times to have Lu Xuan transfer his personnel relationship to the Civil Affairs Committee to be the full director, to fully preside over the training of naturalized cadres, instead of being a nominal deputy director, but Lu Xuan had refused for various reasons. Liu Muzhou never figured out what he was thinking. After being rejected several times, he stopped mentioning it. Fortunately, after the training of naturalized cadres had an implementation plan and specific teaching materials, it was entrusted to Fangcaodi for implementation, and it was enough to invite a few Elders who were civil servants to teach.

In fact, this was the reason why Lu Xuan was unwilling to work for the Civil Affairs People’s Committee. Although the training department had the meaning of a “Whampoa Military Academy,” the system of the Senate was completely modern. Cadre personnel matters followed a different line. As the director of the training department, he was theoretically the “principal” of all naturalized cadres, but this teacher-student relationship was of little use. Being a full director there, at most, he would have students all over the world. But it was useless for his ambitions.

Seeing that Liu Muzhou was working, Lu Xuan didn’t answer. He took out a teapot from his own bag. The teapot was not large and looked very ordinary, but it had an inner liner with a filter, similar to the “gongfu” teapots of the original time, but very rare in this time. It should be a custom-made product. Lu Xuan scalded the teapot with boiling water, then took out a tea brick from his bag, scraped off a piece with a tea knife and put it into the teapot. He tested the water temperature again, let the tea leaves expand, poured out the first infusion, and then added water again. After the tea was brewed, he also poured a cup for Liu Muzhou.

Liu Muzhou had long since finished reading the document and was watching Lu Xuan brew tea with great interest. When Lu Xuan was done, Liu Muzhou smiled and said, “You’re really particular. I’m an old tea drinker myself, but I’m not familiar with this thing.”

Liu Muzhou had always been drinking the Longjing tea that Zhao Yingong had brought from Hangzhou.

“This is brick tea that the General Office got from the mainland, specially supplied to the Mongols. It’s a tea brick made by fermentation, hand-kneading, and foot-treading. How can you drink it without scalding it? I see that you usually drink tea like an ox, with a mouthful of tea leaves, without any awareness of being a leader. So I brought it for you. You try it. See if you like it.”

Liu Muzhou said, “Good, good. This thing is said to be good for weight loss. If it’s effective, I’ll have to get a piece and try it.”

“This thing isn’t really valuable, it’s just a lot of work.”

How could Liu Muzhou know Lu Xuan’s thoughts? He went straight to the point. “What do you want to see me about? You’ve been a rare guest here recently! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all your part-time jobs.”

“Not at all, not at all,” Lu Xuan said. “You know about the training department. It’s fine once it’s sorted out. I come once a week to handle official business, and the rest can be done by the naturalized secretaries. I came today mainly to talk to you about the institutional reform…”

“Oh, speaking of which, you also submitted a proposal. I didn’t expect it to cause such a big stir,” Liu Muzhou nodded. “The Law Society came prepared for this, and they’re planning to cut the cake again.”

“That’s natural,” Lu Xuan nodded. “I’m also participating in this grand event. Old Yu is a deputy group leader. He’s too lazy to do it himself and has pushed all the miscellaneous work to me.”

“Then aren’t you practically a member of the group? Any inside information to reveal?” Liu Muzhou’s interest increased significantly.

Inside information, Lu Xuan did have a little. Regarding the systemic reform, the Law Society had already prepared several plans, but this was not the key thing.

“There are several plans. Actually, they don’t have much to do with us. The main thing is that there’s a tendency that I think is not good, which may be detrimental to our department. So I think I should come and give you a heads-up today, so you can be prepared. It will be more passive if we are caught off guard when the news comes out.”

“What is it?” Liu Muzhou’s emotions were indeed stirred up.

“During the group discussion, there was a lot of controversy about the organizational arrangement of naturalized cadres,” Lu Xuan chose his words carefully. “Some people proposed to establish a special department for naturalized cadres, independent from Director Yang’s ‘Human Resources Department,’ and still under the jurisdiction of our department. But a large number of group members want to make this part completely independent and directly under the Executive Committee.”

He watched Liu Muzhou’s face as he spoke. Sure enough, the commissioner’s face turned ugly.

According to the current system, the organization, management, and appointment of naturalized cadres were all under the jurisdiction of the Human Resources Department of the Civil Affairs People’s Committee. The Human Resources Department had three sections: the Cadre Section, the Staff and Worker Section, and the Labor Section—the last section was for managing the native laborers who were not naturalized citizens.

“And that’s not all. There’s another plan to make Director Yang’s Human Resources Department completely independent, to establish a Ministry of Labor, not only taking away the organization department of naturalized cadres, but also separating the management power of ordinary labor from our committee.”

Lu Xuan was telling the truth. These plans were all already in discussion and detailed conception.

Now Liu Muzhou’s eyebrows began to knit together. Lu Xuan was very satisfied with the effect of his words. Who doesn’t like to have more people and more power under them? Although it was a bit inappropriate for the civil affairs department to also be in charge of human resources, it had been this way for these years and there had been no problems. To just cut off a piece of meat from the civil affairs department like this, it would be strange if Liu Muzhou wasn’t upset.

Besides, human resources were the most important resource of the Senate’s regime. With this, Liu Muzhou could claim to be the “First People’s Commissar.” Without this, his power would be reduced by at least a third.

Liu Muzhou picked up his teacup and drank several mouthfuls of brick tea. “It’s hard to drink…” he muttered, putting down the teacup. “This is also to be expected. Human resources are a strategic resource.” His voice was a little helpless, and he seemed unwilling.

“Although it’s expected that the human resources department will be independent, I don’t think it’s necessary according to the large department system,” Lu Xuan said. “From the experience of the old time, the large department system is the general trend. As the leader of the advanced system of this time, there’s no need for us to go back to the old ways. Japan’s large department system is hailed as the best model. Don’t they have a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare? This is a good example…”

“You have a good point,” Liu Muzhou nodded repeatedly. “I think we should also offer our advice.” He looked at Lu Xuan. “This matter is up to you, my friend.”

“This isn’t very appropriate. My main job is at the Great Library…”

“What’s not appropriate? It’s very appropriate,” Liu Muzhou said. “I’ve also thought about it. This institutional reform will inevitably involve the clarification of the functions of various departments. I’ve been looking for a suitable person to do this. After thinking about it, I think you are the most suitable. You will take the lead in the Civil Affairs People’s Committee and come up with a suitable plan—” He stopped Lu Xuan’s refusal. “Although your main job is at the Great Library, you are still the deputy director of the training department of our Civil Affairs People’s Committee, and you are familiar with the situation. Besides, you are also handling specific affairs in this group… From any point of view, you have to take on this burden. I’m not trying to get the benefit of being in a favorable position, but I can’t let an honest person be bullied, right? Hahaha.”

Originally, Liu Muzhou was not very concerned about the institutional reform. The Civil Affairs Committee had many and complicated matters, and he really didn’t have the energy. It was only when Lu Xuan reminded him that the reform might deprive them of the personnel power and labor allocation power of the naturalized citizens that he became a little flustered.

“This burden is too heavy. I’m afraid…”

“Don’t be so modest,” Liu Muzhou said. “We’re old friends. If you hadn’t come to remind me today, I wouldn’t have thought of this. So you must take charge of this matter.”

Liu Muzhou certainly knew that Lu Xuan’s visit today was to seek a position for himself. “With this situation, there will definitely be many new positions after this cleanup. If there’s one you like, I’ll definitely recommend you—it’s a waste of your talent to be an office director at the Great Library.”

Lu Xuan still had a dejected look on his face. He shook his head and said, “Whether there’s a position or not is secondary. But I was targeted by the Cheka as soon as I stood out.”

Seeing Liu Muzhou’s confused look, Lu Xuan told him about the Cheka’s proposal he had seen on the BBS.

Liu Muzhou was not concerned after hearing it. He thought to himself, Lu Xuan, you think too highly of yourself. Not to mention the protective talisman of the sanctity of the Elders, with Yi Fan’s ideal of fighting big tigers, you’re not even a fly. How could he be interested in your little trivial matter? Liu Muzhou also knew about Lu Xuan’s Zhang Family Manor. In his opinion, this trivial matter was not worth mentioning at all. At most, it was a bad lifestyle.

Liu Muzhou walked to Lu Xuan’s side and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t overthink it. They didn’t name names, did they? How can you be sure they’re talking about you? Besides, could you really kill someone for that broken manor? Who would believe it if you said it? If it comes to it, let them investigate. What’s there to hide?!”

Liu Muzhou changed the subject and continued, “We only have over 500 Elders. There are plenty of positions. The key is to do things, to be able to do things, and to get things done. Although you haven’t been famous these past few years, I still know you. If you do things well, you’ll have everything.”

Seeing Liu Muzhou’s sincere expression, Lu Xuan was also very moved and nodded.