Reborn as a Noble's Son

Chapter 699: Chapter 655 Meeting_1

The “San Gong Office” is a temporary task force-like department directly under the leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Of course, it does not rule out that this department will later become a formal department.

Just like the National Petty Cash Review Task Force years ago, after two years of petty cash reviews, it now has a formal establishment and falls under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance.

Now, the office location for the San Gong Office has been set up on the side of the State Council office building. Today, the San Gong Office was officially established, but Nie Zhenbang still hasn’t visited. Upon thinking about this, Nie Zhenbang smiles and says: “It wouldn’t hurt to go and take a look. Have all the staff members of the San Gong Office arrived yet?”

Wang Haojun didn’t dare to delay in response to Nie Zhenbang’s words. Wang Haojun is very clear and understands his position. Although he has entered the San Gong Office, Wang Haojun’s position is rather awkward. His rank is only below that of a director, two deputy directors, and a member of the disciplinary committee. He is also considered one of the five members of the San Gong Office. Yet, when it comes to real power, Wang Haojun is probably less influential than the various department heads below. @@novelbin@@

As the secretary-general of the San Gong Office, he is the steward of the office. He is responsible for coordinating the nationwide inspection activities of the San Gong Office and his responsibilities are immense.

However, it is just a role of a chief steward. As secretary-general, if he doesn’t maintain a good relationship with the top-level directors, Wang Haojun’s days won’t be easy. Therefore, in front of Nie Zhenbang, Wang Haojun has no pride at all, his posture is very low and his mentality very humble.

...

Hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Wang Haojun immediately nods and smiles, saying: “Director Nie, please this way.”

The official car of the San Gong Office is the most ordinary Volkswagen Jetta. The car costs a few tens of thousands, which is a completely different concept from the government-owned cars in various places that easily reach two to three hundred thousand. Even with explicit rules stating that official cars can only use vehicles under 150,000, there are still a number of local governments beating around the bush. For instance, originally buying a BMW SUV, yet swapping the logo for a domestic knockoff car.

The distance from the Great Hall to the State Council is not far. In less than five minutes, the car has driven into the courtyard of the State Council. On the third floor on the right side of the State Council building, one entire side, a total of thirty offices, all belong to the San Gong Office’s office area.

At the entrance of the third-floor lobby, hanging on the side of the corridor, is a sign from the unveiling ceremony that reads: “Huaxia Republic ‘San Gong’ Expenditure Supervision and Inspection Office”.

Walking down the corridor, the style of the entire office area is simple and clean. Snow-white walls, light yellow wooden doors, everything is very modest.

Wang Haojun, half a step behind Nie Zhenbang, follows on his left, explaining: “Director, the entire office area has been temporarily vacated by the State Council Office. With regard to decoration, everything is decorated according to the overall style of the State Council Office building. Our San Gong Office, has been allocated a total of thirty offices. Of these, there are five separate offices for yourself, two Deputy Directors, a Discipline Inspection Team Leader, and myself. In addition, the Personnel Department, Logistics Department, Finance Department, and Legal Department each occupy two offices, while the Liaison Department occupies one office, and the remaining sixteen offices are divided among the five supervision departments of the San Gong Office. Each department has three offices, and one extra office has been set aside to serve as our meeting room. This is the general distribution plan.”

Nie Zhenbang’s office is at the very end of the corridor. This is basically a common practice, also considered an unspoken rule within the system. Generally, a leader’s office is located at the edge. This has two advantages: one, when the leader comes to work, they pass by each department, giving them the opportunity to observe their colleagues’ working statuses and even detect any changes in their thinking. The other advantage is its tranquility and mystery, conveying a sense of authority to subordinates.

Upon opening the office door, there’s a small office space of about six square meters. Naturally, this is the area for the secretary. There’s a door at the side leading to a larger office at approximately twenty square meters. Although the place is small, it is complete with a bookshelf and a desk.

“Director, as you know, the size of an office here in Jingcheng…” Wang Haojun says with an awkward smile and begins to explain.

Nie Zhenbang’s office covers less than thirty square meters, which is indeed slightly smaller for someone at the deputy-ministerial level. In comparison to regional offices, which are usually fifty to sixty square meters, and even up to hundreds of square meters, there’s no competition.

However, Wang Haojun continues: “But Director Nie, if you have any requirements for the office decor, feel free to let us know. Our San Gong Office has been allocated a good amount of office funds.”

Nie Zhenbang waves his hand and smiles: “There’s no need. The funds allocated to the San Gong Office have specific uses. These offices have just been renovated and there’s absolutely no need for another round of renovations.”

“With that,” Nie Zhenbang turned to Li Jupeng and said, “Jupeng, hang the piece of calligraphy written by the General Secretary on this wall. There’s no need to change anything else.”

In saying this, Nie Zhenbang had given it careful consideration. On the one hand, the Three Public Expenditures Office was responsible for monitoring national public expenditures, so it needed to set an example. Furthermore, this set a precedent which meant that the subordinates, especially the other deputies, would not propose any refurbishment. For a new department, others would naturally follow the lead of the, now established, senior official.

Li Jupeng acted quickly and got a hammer and a nail from the logistics department to hang the General Secretary’s hand-written calligraphy on the wall.

Looking at the four large characters ‘Live with Purpose’, Wang Haojun felt a sense of emotion. Director Nie was truly extraordinary. An inscription from the General Secretary, specifically for someone, was not a common occurrence. This was proof of Director Nie’s status in the eyes of the General Secretary. It seemed that his own strategy was quite correct.

While he was pondering this, Nie Zhenbang asked, “Secretary General Wang, have the other party group leaders of the Three Public Expenditures Office arrived yet?”

“Director, yesterday, Deputy Directors Chen and Li, as well as Group Leader Gao have all reported in. They attended the meeting this morning. They are not here at the moment, but they should all be here tomorrow morning,” Wang Haojun replied immediately.

Nie Zhenbang was somewhat satisfied with this response. The Three Public Expenditures Office was a newly established department, but Secretary General Wang Haojun was performing his job well. This showed that Wang Haojun’s capability was quite good. Having such a competent director was beneficial for the future work of the Three Public Expenditures Office. Nie Zhenbang then instructed, “Secretary General Wang, arrange to inform the other comrades that we will hold a brief meeting at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. Now that we are officially established, we must carry out our duties and start work as soon as possible so as not to disappoint the Party’s and the country’s expectations.”

…

At eight o’clock in the morning, just when work was starting, Nie Zhenbang was already sitting in his office. Today was the first day of work for the Three Public Expenditures Office after its establishment. The entire office, including the leaders and ordinary staff, was composed of sixty-five persons.

The staff of the Three Public Expenditures Office was made up of the best and brightest from the Supervision Department, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Supreme Procuratorate. Everyone who came here was the backbone of their respective units, which fully demonstrated the central government’s recognition and support for the Three Public Expenditures Office.

At this moment, all eyes in the Three Public Expenditures Office were on the conference room because the first meeting of the office on its first official day of work would directly influence the future direction of the office.

“Director, it’s about time,” Li Jupeng entered from outside at twenty-eight past eight and said to Nie Zhenbang.

Almost on the dot, Nie Zhenbang was the last to enter the meeting room. Behind him, Li Jupeng, carrying a cup of tea, closed the conference room door. As the meeting recorder, Li Jupeng sat by the door. The other four members of the office team were already seated at the oval conference table.

Nie Zhenbang looked around and was slightly taken aback to see Gao Wei present.

At that moment, Gao Wei raised his head and nodded at Nie Zhenbang, a tacit understanding passing between them.

Nie Zhenbang took his seat and looked at the others. Chen Bo, the rising political star nurtured by the Chen family, was known in Jingcheng alongside Guo Bo, formerly the CPPCC Chairman from the Guo family, as the “Twin Buo of Jingcheng.” His reputation was hardly unearned. The fact that the Chen family had arranged for Chen Bo to be in the Three Public Expenditures Office spoke volumes about the importance he held within the family.

The other deputy director, Li Guobing, was a member of the Li family, the same generation as Li Guohua, although he was from a collateral line. This went to show that the Li family had started to decline after several confrontations with the Nie and Yang families, with no suitable direct descendants to carry on the family line.

After clearing his throat and sweeping his gaze over everyone, Nie Zhenbang said in a deep voice, “Comrades, this is our first meeting since the establishment of the Three Public Expenditures Office. Although some of us know each other, it’s our first time working together as a team. Let’s start with a round of introductions. Further, the main purpose of today’s meeting is to discuss how the Three Public Expenditures Office should proceed with our work. In this first meeting, let’s speak freely.”(