Reborn as a Noble's Son

Seeing Nie Zhenbang’s stunned expression, Liu Wenqing felt both envious and annoyed. Deputy Prime Minister Tao had personally proposed to meet him. This was a great honor.

Though it’s probable that Nie Zhenbang’s background might even be higher than Deputy Prime Minister Tao. Usually, the people he meets may even be much higher than Deputy Prime Minister Tao. But, after all, those are private occasions. Different from the situation now.

“Hurry up and get ready. Don’t make a fool of me in front of Deputy Prime Minister Tao.” Liu Wenqing slapped Nie Zhenbang with a laugh.

At this moment, in Liu Wenqing’s feeling, Nie Zhenbang was like her own younger generation child. Nie Zhenbang also started laughing and adjusted his clothing, then followed.

The No.1 courtyard of the Li County Party Committee guesthouse. Because of Deputy Prime Minister Tao’s visit, the entire courtyard was cleaned and tidied up, and the evergreen trees inside the courtyard were also finely trimmed.

When Nie Zhenbang and Liu Wenqing arrived here, there were still quite a few people standing outside the courtyard. Seeing Nie Zhenbang coming, many people showed envious looks.

Several guards from the Forbidden City Security Bureau stood at the entrance of the house. After Nie Zhenbang came in, Jiang Zhenquan also walked out of the house.

Seeing Nie Zhenbang, Jiang Zhenquan also smiled and walked up to him: “Nie, you have done a great job in the Li County Development Zone. Give a good report this time when you go in.”

Nie Zhenbang nodded and walked into the living room. At this moment, a guard standing by the entrance of the living room had already come up.

The security for national leaders is very strict. It’s a bit easier for general provincial and ministerial level officials to meet. But for meetings of Nie Zhenbang’s level, the procedures are more complicated.

Nie Zhenbang was well aware of these procedures, and as soon as he entered the door, he raised both hands to indicate that he had nothing dangerous on him.

At this time, Deputy Prime Minister Tao’s secretary, Huang Yuansheng, came over and said with a smile, “No need to check. Anyone else can be checked, but Zhenbang doesn’t need to be.”

As Deputy Prime Minister Tao’s secretary, Huang Yuansheng was well aware of Nie Zhenbang’s background. The grandson of Elder Nie, and the adopted grandson of Elder Nan. Just with these identities, Nie Zhenbang is not a dangerous person.

Under Huang Yuansheng’s guidance, Nie Zhenbang entered the study next door. He had been in this house quite a few times, and indeed he was much more familiar with it than Deputy Prime Minister Tao.

The study, about thirty square meters, had a desk in the middle. Behind it, a row of bookshelves, and in front of the desk, a set of sofa and coffee table.

When Nie Zhenbang walked in and Huang Yuansheng closed the door, Deputy Prime Minister Tao put down his glasses and said with a smile, “Zhenbang, the economic data of Li County really is shocking. Despite the harsh natural conditions in the Northwest Region, such results can still be achieved, which fully demonstrates your ability.”

With that, Deputy Prime Minister Tao personally poured a glass of water for Nie Zhenbang, sat down on the sofa, and continued, “Zhenbang, this time I came here under the direction of Secretary Yuan Kangan and Prime Minister Yun Bo. The main purpose is to solicit your personal views.”

Hearing this, Nie Zhenbang was also taken aback, a mandate from Secretary Yuan Kangan and Prime Minister Yun Bo? Could it be that the central government is preparing to make another move? Thinking of this, Nie Zhenbang fell into thought, since it was a proposal made by these two leaders, both grandparents must already know, and neither of them have informed him. This suggests they are in agreement or rather, they also hope to let him decide. Immediately, Nie Zhenbang nodded and said, “Deputy Prime Minister Tao, I personally am firmly committed to the organization’s arrangement.”

Hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Deputy Prime Minister Tao also chuckled, waved his hand and said, “Zhenbang, don’t be so formal. There are no outsiders here, you can just call me Uncle Tao.”

Speaking of it, Deputy Prime Minister Tao paused for a moment before slowly saying, “Starting from last year, the Central Government has put forth a brand new issue concerning current economic development and reform and opening-up — the strategy of sustainable development. This is new to us. At present, this concept is still being explored, both domestically and internationally. There’s no specific experience for us to draw on. Therefore, according to Secretary Yuan’s idea, we should select a few places within China for pilot studies. This time, Lixian has come into the Central Government’s view.”

Pausing for a moment, Deputy Prime Minister Tao continued, “On the selection of candidates for the reform pilot, Prime Minister Yun Bo’s intention is to have you take on this role. To this end, the Prime Minister even specifically discussed with your grandfather. Elder Nie’s opinion was to respect your own will. So, Prime Minister Yun Bo sent me over to ask you in person about your intentions.”

National policy. This is not something that can be decided in a short period of time; it pertains to the overall development and planning of the country. It is a massive system project. The central leaders are always very cautious in formulating and implementing national policies. It’s not like in Lixian, where Nie Zhenbang can address whatever issues arise, come up with any scheme he wants, consider it one day and implement it the next. National policy is no child’s play. Changes have widespread implications. If the orders change overnight, the credibility of the country will be lost.

The strategy of sustainable development. This concept was first proposed by me when I visited Elder Nan’s house during last year’s New Year. Now, after a year of data investigation and scientific argumentation, the state has officially implemented this policy. This is a normal progression.

The policy of sustainable development was proposed by myself. If I can be part of the pilot study, it would be most appropriate. After all, Nie Zhenbang can confidently say that, in terms of understanding of these matters, nobody within the country can surpass me.

Immediately, Nie Zhenbang then readily nodded and said, “Uncle Tao, I am willing to contribute to the development of our country. I will also give my all to do a decent job in the pilot work of sustainable development and set a good example for all the local governments in the country.”

Hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, a flash of admiration appeared on Deputy Prime Minister Tao’s face. Indeed, the third son of the Nie family has not fallen short of his reputation. He’s no less capable than my own nephew. It seems that there will be a battle between them in the future. No, it should be said that the competition has already begun.

Deputy Prime Minister Tao, from the perspective of factions, belongs to the Li family, and not Li Hua’s family which belongs to the military lineage. This Li family, belongs to the government lineage. Elder Li was a central leader back in the day. Although he has retired now, the Li family has deep roots. Throughout the government system, their protégés and former officials are everywhere. They are far stronger than the Zhou family.

However, as for this matter, the fledgling politicians are still in their growing period. What will happen in the future still depends on them. Suppressing one side to uphold their own fledgling politicians at this time is not something Deputy Prime Minister Tao would dare to do, and even his father-in-law, Elder Li, wouldn’t dare to. This could cause public outrage.

Next, Deputy Prime Minister Tao laughed and said, “I knew, Zhenbang, that this would be your attitude. When I was leaving, Prime Minister Yun Bo mentioned that you, Nie Zhenbang, would definitely agree without hesitation. It appears that this is indeed the case.”

Pausing for a moment, Deputy Prime Minister Tao continued, “Zhenbang, it is commendable that you are brave enough to bear this responsibility. However, if Lixian is designated as a reform experimental area, the scale of Lixian is still a bit too small. The area is enough, but the population is slightly lacking.”

Hearing this, Nie Zhenbang’s heartbeat accelerated. It seemed that this time, in addition to Zhang Chubin reaping benefits, there would also be a huge leap on his side as well.

At this moment, Deputy Prime Minister Tao looked at Nie Zhenbang, who was expressionless and seemed to be genuinely listening. Tao admired him in his heart. As the saying goes, one can judge a person by their appearance. Nie Zhenbang’s performance was undoubtedly excellent. Subsequently, Deputy Prime Minister Tao went on to say, “After thorough consideration and balancing, Prime Minister Yun Bo has decided to incorporate the nearby Yun County and the three towns of Dafeng, Red Flag, and Chetai, which are close to Lixian in Ku City. This will accumulate a total area of 110,000 square kilometers and a population of 170,000 people into Lixian, which will be renamed as New Li City. In this way, the total area of Lixian will reach 170,000 square kilometers, and the total population will exceed 340,000.”

Nie Zhenbang nodded. This adjustment by the Central Government also has its own considerations. The scale of Lixian is still small. If Lixian alone is used as a reform experimental area, it would be a bit too simplistic. Increasing the area and population would make the reform experiment on the strategy of sustainable development in the newly expanded Li City of greater reference significance.

Deputy Prime Minister Tao, after pausing a bit, continued, “The administrative level of the new Li City is temporarily set as a sub-bureau level unit. The financial affairs will be managed by the Xibei Autonomous Region, and the administrative affairs will be managed by Bazhou City. This time, it’s up to you.”

This huge decision by the Central Government to upgrade Lixian to a sub-bureau level city was something Nie Zhenbang had not expected at all. If it falls under the jurisdiction of Bazhou, then he would undoubtedly have to concurrently hold the position of a member of the Bazhou City Committee.

The achievements of Lixian are right here, backed by solid data. Regardless of who comes to inspect, there’s no doubt about it. There’s no falsification involved, so naturally, there’s nothing to verify.

Deputy Prime Minister Tao left the next afternoon, leaving behind a national economic and technological development zone sign for Nie Zhenbang. This is the first of its kind in the Northwest Region. You have to know that at this time, Urumqi Development Zone is only a provincial-level economic and technological development zone.

At the same time, the actions of the party committee of the Xibei Autonomous Region were also very swift. On the third day after Deputy Prime Minister Tao’s departure, the Regional Party Committee Government issued a document to abolish the administrative divisions of Yun County. Yun County was entirely incorporated into Lixian, along with the three towns of Dafeng, Shengli, and Chetai from Ku City. The county-level administrative unit of Lixian was abolished and Xinli City was established. The Bazhou City Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee appointed Nie Zhenbang as a member of the Bazhou City Municipal Party Committee, a standing committee member, Secretary of Xinli City Municipal Party Committee, and concurrently as Mayor of Xinli City People’s Government. His rank is at a sub-bureau level.