The replacement of Chenzhou's leadership proceeded step by step. Yang Xiangqian was quite excited thinking that he might be promoted to Deputy Mayor. At the meeting where the new mayor took office, the Municipal Committee announced some new personnel appointments. When Yang Xiangqian heard the reading of "According to the decision of the Zhili Ministry, Comrade Yang Xiangqian is removed from the post of Deputy Director of the Labor Bureau," his whole body tensed up.

However, there was no follow-up. What was announced afterwards were all appointments and removals of other cadres. That is to say, Yang Xiangqian was removed from office. When leaving the conference room, Yang Xiangqian saw many people looking at him, so he raised his head and went straight to his office. He was already a cadre under investigation; what else was there to be afraid of?

Returning to the office, Yang Xiangqian prepared to hand over his work. Before he had cleaned up one-third of his desk, a call came from the Organization Department, asking Yang Xiangqian to report to the Organization Department immediately. Half an hour later, Yang Xiangqian finished evaluating his work as Deputy Director of the Labor Bureau.

After listening to Yang Xiangqian's self-evaluation, the Minister of the Municipal Organization Department couldn't help but wonder if Yang Xiangqian was really able to align with the central thinking or was too good at steering according to the wind. However, based on the consistent evaluation of Yang Xiangqian, the Organization Department Minister felt that perhaps it was both.

After finishing his self-evaluation, Yang Xiangqian also felt relieved of the pressure in his heart. The inspection tour to the local areas gave Yang Xiangqian many new feelings. Especially in terms of balancing tension and relaxation, Yang Xiangqian felt that his previous view of Wu Lingpu was indeed a bit excessive. In terms of basic water conservancy construction, although Wu Lingpu himself was a radical, Chenzhou could indeed afford such high-intensity labor mobilization. It was precisely this high-intensity mobilization that completed a large amount of infrastructure construction in Chenzhou City in a very short time. If Wu Lingpu had immediately stopped high-intensity mobilization and fully switched to recuperation, he would have received a very high evaluation.

But Wu Lingpu's level was obviously not that high. The achievements made before only made Wu Lingpu more convinced that his direction was right. That was why he was decisively replaced.

As for why he was removed from office, Yang Xiangqian felt it was probably because his own level was not high enough either. It's easy to be wise after the event, but during the work, Yang Xiangqian was also confused. Although he felt something was wrong, he couldn't really figure out what was wrong. When he should have expressed opposition, he naturally hesitated and dared not really express his stance.

"Comrade Yang Xiangqian. You go back today first. The Organization Department will notify you of specific work arrangements later."

Hearing the Organization Department's statement, Yang Xiangqian didn't dawdle, stood up, and said goodbye. Just as he returned to the office, the Director of the Office appeared at the door, called Yang Xiangqian out, and said, "The Secretary wants you to see him immediately."

Yang Xiangqian didn't understand what the Municipal Party Secretary wanted to do. The Secretary had said before that Yang Xiangqian might serve as Deputy Mayor. Was this to explain his statement?

Seeing Yang Xiangqian arrive, the Municipal Party Secretary immediately ended the conversation with the Director of the Agriculture Bureau and went to the small office next door with Yang Xiangqian alone. Closing the door and sitting opposite Yang Xiangqian, the Municipal Party Secretary asked, "Director Yang, do you think you have the ability to lead the work of a city?"

Yang Xiangqian thought of a possibility in a moment, but such a possibility was really a bit too ups and downs, so he could only say vaguely, "What does this mean?"

"I want to ask for your opinion. For example, Hebi City, do you think you are capable of undertaking it?"

Hebi was an economically backward area in the Directly Administered Province, but despite the poor economy, the Mayor of Hebi and the Mayor of Chenzhou were both mayors, with no difference in administrative rank. Yang Xiangqian felt his ability was probably insufficient, so he frankly expressed his view, "I think my current ability is insufficient to lead the work of a city."

"Then what about Deputy Mayor?"

"I will do my best."

"What if it's a Deputy Mayor of a city like Kaifeng?" The Municipal Party Secretary continued to ask.

Yang Xiangqian felt both surprised and happy. Becoming the Deputy Mayor of Chenzhou was already a heavy responsibility Yang Xiangqian could imagine, but Chenzhou was nothing compared to Kaifeng. Kaifeng is an ancient capital and has long served as the provincial capital of Henan; it is a famous city and the economic center of Henan. Even though Zhengzhou was chosen as the new capital and Henan was directly administered, Kaifeng was still regarded as a big city almost equal to the capital. Many people even believed that if the problem of the suspended river could be solved, Kaifeng would likely become the capital again.

The contrast between Kaifeng and Chenzhou was about the same as the contrast between Chenzhou and Hebi. Also being a Deputy Mayor, the Deputy Mayor of Kaifeng could only be compared with the Deputy Mayor of Luoyang in the Directly Administered Province.

Since there was such an opportunity, Yang Xiangqian suppressed his inner excitement and answered decisively, "I am willing to obey the organization's arrangement."

The Zhili Ministry acted very quickly. Half a month later, Yang Xiangqian officially took office as the Executive Deputy Mayor of Kaifeng City. At the government work meeting, Yang Xiangqian listened to the meeting content without saying a word. It could be heard that Wu Lingpu's accident had greatly shocked the members of the Kaifeng government, and they cared very much about whether there had been radical actions in the past. The issues mentioned were all in this regard.

When the Municipal Committee members finished expressing their views, it was the newcomer Yang Xiangqian's turn. Yang Xiangqian answered frankly, "I just arrived in Kaifeng; it is not appropriate for me to speak."

This reason was fine, but the Municipal Party Secretary didn't mean to let Yang Xiangqian off. "Mayor Yang, everyone knows what you said. Everyone also knows that your work in Chenzhou was excellent. With your experience in Chenzhou, give us your views. It will also give us more perspectives."

"Yes. This record will be noted; Mayor Yang doesn't need to worry," the Mayor also persuaded.

Yang Xiangqian had no choice but to say, "Chenzhou's experience is that going too far is as bad as not going far enough. After completing the infrastructure construction that should be completed, they still thought the past method could continue. Chenzhou's infrastructure construction has completed 100% of the planned arrangement, which is the basis for adjustment. I think the Zhili Ministry requires Kaifeng to complete the task volume in the plan, and just switch to a new stage after completion."

Since He Rui established the Siping government in 1915, completing the prescribed tasks has been the basic requirement for officials. So after listening to Yang Xiangqian's speech, the members of the Kaifeng municipal government felt that the level of this transferred deputy mayor was not bad. After Wu Lingpu was removed from office, the documents and circulars of the Zhili Ministry during this period all emphasized deep understanding of policies. Looking at his resume, Yang Xiangqian belonged to the few cadres in Chenzhou whose official careers were not affected and who were promoted. It can be seen that Yang Xiangqian's current view is regarded as relatively close to the view of the Zhili Ministry.

Both the Municipal Party Secretary and the Mayor felt that letting Yang Xiangqian speak this time was valuable. They were indeed worried before whether the Zhili Ministry would overcorrect. Now they were roughly certain that the Zhili Ministry would not do so for the time being. To put it more bluntly, the work achievements of Kaifeng City so far would not be ignored because of Wu Lingpu's matter.

In half a month, Yang Xiangqian had become familiar with the work in Kaifeng. Although Kaifeng couldn't compare with the capital, it was indeed one of the essences of Henan. Just from education, in 1912, Henan educators like Lin Boxiang founded the Henan Preparatory School for Study in Europe and America on the site of the Qing Dynasty Kaifeng Examination Hall; in 1923, when the Beiyang government increased universities on a large scale, it was expanded into Henan University. In more than ten years, these schools educated many talents, making Kaifeng a gathering place for humanities in Henan.

With such historical heritage, the level of Kaifeng government personnel was also good. At the agricultural work meeting attended by Deputy Mayor Yang Xiangqian, the Kaifeng Agriculture Bureau frankly stated, "The progress of domestication of double-cropping crops has not reached the ideal state, so only small-scale trial planting can be carried out."

If it were when Wu Lingpu was the Mayor of Chenzhou (Zhoukou), such a report would definitely have been severely criticized. Yang Xiangqian looked at other main members of the Municipal Committee and found no one was angry. The Director of the Agriculture Bureau also continued to report calmly on this situation, "Currently, the results of soil improvement experiments are unsatisfactory, and the improvement experiments of barren land have also not achieved the expected results. Based on the above changes, only small-scale experiments of double cropping can be carried out first."

Seeing the municipal government's judgment on this matter was quite steady, Yang Xiangqian felt much more relaxed in his heart. In principle, everyone knew that planting two seasons a year yields more than planting one season. But planting two seasons a year, crops will absorb a large amount of nutrients in the soil during growth.

Cadres like Wu Lingpu had incomplete knowledge systems. Although civil servants in the He Rui government received continuous training, striving to let civil servants possess a complete knowledge system. But the knowledge systems of agricultural society and industrial society are inherently different. For the same understanding of nutrients, the understanding of industrialized society not only includes nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium but also includes the carbon content in the soil.

The carbon required for plant growth does not come entirely from carbon dioxide in the air but also needs to be obtained from the soil through plant roots. This carbon must also be 'water-soluble carbon'. Plants are scarce in deserts not only because of water shortage but also because of carbon shortage. In the Northeast with fertile black soil, grain and plants grow very well. Because the 'black' in the black soil is a large amount of humus layer, which contains a large amount of carbon for plants to absorb.

The Municipal Committee indeed didn't need to research deeper agricultural technologies, but it needed to know such 'basic common sense'. With such basic common sense, the judgments made would not be outrageous. If it were cadres 'lacking common sense' like Wu Lingpu, they would naturally act crudely. Because common sense in the industrial age and common sense in the agricultural age are completely different things. Copying the cognition of the agricultural age, thinking that the agricultural age and the industrial age are just a 'quantitative superposition', would definitely lead to a different understanding of central policies.

In the second half of the meeting, after agricultural issues were basically determined, discussion on industrial issues began. When it was Yang Xiangqian's turn to speak, recalling the economic data of Kaifeng City, Yang Xiangqian said, "How many jobs can Kaifeng create next year, and are there any industries suitable for current Kaifeng? I think we should investigate more on the spot. Maybe the space for these jobs lies at the grassroots level."

"How many jobs can the grassroots create? Only industry can create employment population now." The Mayor said in a peaceful tone. But these words were quite blunt.

Yang Xiangqian didn't refute. With the level of the Kaifeng Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, if there was any employment space that could be tapped, they would have tried their best long ago. Yang Xiangqian didn't mean to underestimate the members of the Municipal Committee. But the state investment was just that much. Even if Kaifeng was such an important region, it was impossible to create a large number of jobs relying solely on Kaifeng.

Seeing the comrades of the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government staring at him, Yang Xiangqian said, "I want to go to the grassroots to investigate. Maybe there will be no progress after the investigation, but at least one thing can be confirmed: there is no employment space in the countryside."

Without investigation, there is no right to speak; this approach was fine. But Yang Xiangqian doing this indeed meant betting everything. The main members of the Kaifeng municipal government did not stop him, and even expressed support. An official who could be favored by the Zhili Ministry presumably always had some extraordinary points. What if Yang Xiangqian's investigation really yielded results?

"When does Mayor Yang plan to set off?" the Municipal Party Secretary asked.

"I will submit an investigation outline to the Municipal Committee as soon as possible." Yang Xiangqian answered decisively. If the investigation had no purpose, it would be better not to go.

"This report doesn't need to go to the meeting," the Municipal Party Secretary made a decision.

This decision made Yang Xiangqian very comfortable. The Secretary's words showed goodwill; at least in this investigation, the Secretary expressed a supportive attitude. With the Secretary's support, the investigation could be basically confirmed to be fine.