The Standing Committee meetings, as everyone knows, are where major decisions are made. After all, this is an important meeting, considered a grand event in Daxi City.

However, the major decisions made at the grand event were actually decided in smaller meetings beforehand. Privately, the Party Secretary and Mayor had already communicated and exchanged opinions, with outcomes that were more or less certain.

So, there's an unwritten rule in officialdom: real decisions are made in small meetings, while grand events decide on minor issues.

For instance, upcoming adjustments within Daxi City, which are significant matters, are all decided in small meetings in advance. They just need to be mentioned and approved in the Standing Committee meetings as a formality, which is also a kind of ceremonial practice.

Once personnel adjustments are decided in advance, there are generally no changes, unless in the case of intense leadership rivalries, where the compromise reached beforehand becomes renegotiated at the Standing Committee. Of course, such occurrences are relatively rare.

At today's Standing Committee meeting in Daxi City, each member gave a speech on the learning of documents and spirit, which is also part of the ceremonial practice.

In fact, the main content of the documents or the related spirit doesn't need to be researched or discussed—those who understand, understand.

Thus, what the committee members said in their speeches isn't important. What matters is that they must speak. Even if it's just reciting the content of documents and spirit from printed materials, it counts.

Only after such ceremonial practices can the publicity office claim that the members enthusiastically discussed such and such documents and spirit.

After the speeches, major matters like personnel appointments were swiftly completed. Then, resolutions about holding Party congresses in the autumn were also quickly concluded.

Finally, as the entire meeting was about to end, the Party Secretary still initiated a challenging task.

It wouldn't be called a challenging task, but calling it that wouldn't be unjustified.

Because the Party Secretary of Daxi City has quite good relationships, being only 38 years old, quite young. Without certain background and propulsion, it's impossible to become the Party Secretary of an important county-level city at such an age and enter the Huayang Municipal Standing Committee, a high-level deputy department role.

This Party Secretary is named Xiang Mingdong, and his family is quite influential in Huayang City, akin to the Zhang Family's influence in Yangzhou.

At the same time, Xiang Mingdong himself is also the secretary and son-in-law of the current permanent Deputy Province leader.

That's how officialdom is; to excel at a young age, you really need connections and background. Either you are born well, you marry well, or ultimately cling to the right powerful figure in officialdom.

Take Liu Zhizhong for example—purely grassroots, not born well, but married well enough, and ultimately, clung to the right powerful figure!

Xiang Mingdong directly addressed Liu Zhizhong: "Comrade Zhizhong, after the routine grassroots immersion and inspection tours, as the city's executive vice mayor, do you have any summaries or prospects regarding our city's economic situation and its future?"

As soon as he said this, the sycophantic committee members chimed in.

First was Mayor Guan Xun, who is a staunch lackey of Xiang Mingdong, having climbed up through flattery.

Guan Xun, at 40 years old, stayed back two grades during his studies and was a classmate of Xiang Mingdong from junior high to university.

All these years, he has been holding onto Xiang Mingdong as his patron and has done quite well!

Now, with Xiang Mingdong as the Party Secretary, he became the Mayor, and then...