83: Chapter 83 Principal Zhou's Theory Class

At 2:30 PM, the door to the lecture hall on the third floor of the Provincial Party School's comprehensive building was pushed open.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming walked onto the podium, clutching two thick document bags.

This was a major theory class.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming placed the document bags on the lectern and opened his lesson plan.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the thirty students in the lecture hall one by one.

Finally, his gaze settled on the upright figure sitting right in the middle of the front row.

Zhu Wenhao.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming remembered this young man.

During the last Jiangnan Province civil service recruitment interview, he had served as the chief examiner and witnessed firsthand that extremely crude collusion to suppress scores in the exam room.

Afterward, he specifically requested to review Zhu Wenhao's written exam paper. That essay was written with such vigor and depth; he was a rare and promising talent.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming had even been genuinely furious, going personally to the Provincial Organization Department to report the issue, intending to seek justice for this young man he had never met before.

It wasn't until the admission list was announced and he saw that Zhu Wenhao had been hired by the Linjiang Municipal Organization Department that he finally let out a sigh of relief.

At the opening ceremony, he had heard Zhu Wenhao's discourse on the asset securitization of Qingjiang County clearly from the audience.

The logic was rigorous, and the methods were seasoned.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming pulled back his thoughts, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote several large characters on the blackboard.

This class was about the principles of Marxist philosophy and their extended application in modern administrative management.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming's theoretical knowledge was extremely solid.

He lectured without notes, ranging from the duality of commodities and the law of value in "Das Kapital" to the mutual transformation of principal and secondary contradictions in "On Contradiction."

He could effortlessly cite excerpts and core ideas from various classic works.

In the class of thirty people, different scenes played out among the students below.

Post-lunch drowsiness began to spread through the classroom.

Class Monitor Liu Yu leaned against the back of his chair, his head tilted back, his eyelids fighting each other.

Lei Zhenzi toyed with the metal lighter in his hand, his mind completely off the class.

Liu Ruobing sat up straight, taking notes diligently.

Sitting in the back, Zhou Xu opened his black notebook and pulled out his fountain pen.

Lei Zhenzi's distraction and Class Monitor Liu Yu's dozing were all recorded by him, stroke by stroke, in the notebook.

This was a rule set by the class committee, and Zhou Xu, as the organization committee member, strictly enforced it.

These records were the underlying data for the weekly Friday evaluations and served as the direct basis for assessing performance upon graduation.

Zhu Wenhao sat in the front row, his back straight.

In his mind, the imperial statecraft of the sixty years of the Great Ming was colliding and merging intensely with this set of modern theories.

The political maneuvers in "Zizhi Tongjian" and the concepts of law, methodology, and power in "Han Feizi" emphasized the way of governing subordinates and maintaining checks and balances.

Modern theories, however, focused more on the objective laws of development, class analysis, and the transformation of contradictions.

When Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming spoke about the importance of the united front, he quoted a famous saying by a great leader: "Make more friends, and make fewer enemies."

This was identical to the ancient imperial strategies of befriending distant states while attacking those nearby, and dividing and dismantling enemies, but with a broader perspective and more flexible application.

A few days ago in Linjiang City, his promotion of Old Sun and the recruitment of Wu Dehai and Section Chief Li were exactly the practice of this theory.

Using interests as a bond and rules as a framework, he pulled all usable people onto his chariot.

Conversely, look at Secretary Tian Limin and Mayor Su Changming, who only cared about keeping everything for themselves and forming small cliques; in the end, they would only push potential allies to the opposite side.

A lonely ruler cannot go far.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming paused his lecture to take a sip of water.

He picked up the chalk, turned around, and wrote a line of cursive script on the left side of the blackboard.

"The means by which an enlightened ruler controls his ministers are merely two handles. The two handles are punishment and favor."

After writing it, Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming turned around.

"Where does this quote come from? Who can discuss their understanding of it in the context of current grassroots organizational management?"

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming threw out the question.

The classroom was silent.

The dozing students all woke up, lowering their heads one after another to avoid his gaze from the podium.

Liu Ruobing flipped through her phone, trying to find relevant information. Study Committee Member Cao Rui also searched quickly in his mind, but couldn't find a clue.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming watched the reaction below without rushing them.

"Zhu Wenhao, you answer."

He called his name directly.

Zhu Wenhao stood up without looking at any materials.

"This sentence is from 'Han Feizi: Two Handles.' Punishment refers to penalties, representing discipline and deterrence; favor refers to rewards, representing incentives and grace. The Legalists believed that a monarch controls his ministers by relying on these two sharp weapons."

Zhu Wenhao shifted his tone to enter the modern context.

"Setting aside the historical limitations of ancient monarchical autocracy and extracting its core logic to apply it to current grassroots organizational management, this is 'combining strict management with deep care.'"

"When we implement various administrative directives and manage the cadre team, if there are only regulations and severe punishments, the team will lose its vitality, and cadres will choose to do nothing to avoid making mistakes."

"If there are only promotions and rewards without an accountability mechanism, it will breed privilege and corruption."

"Rewards and punishments must be clear, and power and responsibility must be equal. Using clear assessment indicators as 'punishment' and fair promotion channels as 'favor,' neither can be lacking; only then can we build a combat-capable team."

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming did not interrupt, and after listening, he took the lead in applauding.

Applause rang out in the lecture hall.

"Well said!" Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming gave a very high evaluation.

He looked at the whole class of students and began to lecture: "As reserve talents selected by your respective units, you will all be people who will govern a region or shoulder heavy responsibilities in the future. Don't just stare at the business documents at hand or spend all day pondering those superficial rituals of welcoming and seeing off guests."

"You must know history and understand history. Reading history can make one wise; only by knowing the past can one judge the present."

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming reached out and pointed at Zhu Wenhao.

"You should learn from the branch secretary. You need to have some ink in your belly, have historical depth when looking at problems, and not just open your mouths with dry clichés and slogans."

Next, Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming gave an instruction to Zhu Wenhao.

"Zhu Wenhao, as the party branch secretary, you should take the lead in carrying out reading activities in the class. Organize regular discussions to raise everyone's theoretical level. Young people should read more and read good books."

"Understood, Principal Zhou. After class, the class committee will draft a specific plan for the reading activities," Zhu Wenhao replied.

Before long, the bell for the end of class rang on time.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming put his lesson plan into his document bag without announcing the end of class.

"I'll leave a thought question after class."

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming tapped the blackboard twice. "Combining with the 'On Contradiction' discussed today, discuss the main obstacles faced by industrial upgrading in your respective regions and propose two suggestions for breaking the deadlock."

"Before 8:00 AM tomorrow, Study Committee Member Cao Rui is responsible for collecting the assignments and handing them to my office. I want to read them one by one."

After packing his things and walking to the classroom door, Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming stopped and turned to look at the thirty people in the class.

"There is one thing I must declare in advance."

"Do not think about finding someone to act as a ghostwriter for you. Ghostwritten materials have no soul when read. In the classes over the next few days, I will ask random questions based on the content of the assignments you hand in."

"Whoever wrote it knows it in their heart. If you want to muddle through, you'd better dispel that idea early."

After saying this, Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming turned and left the classroom.

Inside the classroom, the atmosphere relaxed.

Class Monitor Liu Yu threw his pen onto the table in frustration.

Writing argumentative essays and also proposing countermeasures based on reality—he usually found someone else to write this kind of work, and he would just submit it himself.

Now that he wasn't allowed to find a ghostwriter and had to face random questions, it was equivalent to roasting him over a fire.

Lei Zhenzi walked over, patted Class Monitor Liu Yu on the shoulder, and the two complained in low voices.

Zhou Xu closed the black notebook and clipped his fountain pen onto his shirt pocket.

Zhu Wenhao tidied up his desk, and Study Committee Member Cao Rui walked over from the side.

"Secretary, the deadline for this assignment is tight. I will post a notice in the class group shortly, stipulating that both the electronic and paper versions must be submitted to me by 7:30 tomorrow morning; those who are late will have their weekly assessment points deducted," Study Committee Member Cao Rui asked for instructions on the execution standards.

"Study Committee Member, follow the rules," Zhu Wenhao said as he organized his documents. "Enforce the discipline; there is no need to be sentimental."

Study Committee Member Cao Rui nodded and left.

Liu Ruobing walked over with her lecture notes. "Do you need my help drafting the plan for the reading activities? When I was in the Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Department, I wrote many such activity proposals."

"Then I will trouble you to produce a first draft, and we can go over it at the class committee meeting," Zhu Wenhao did not refuse, assigning the task and making the best use of everyone.

Walking out of the teaching building, a gust of autumn wind blew by.

Zhu Wenhao walked toward the dormitory area.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming's actions today, while seemingly a spur to young cadres, were actually another form of screening.

Handover and inheritance require assessing not only the ruthlessness of one's methods but also one's overall perspective and theoretical literacy.

Returning to the dormitory, Zhou Xu was already sitting in front of the computer, starting to look up information.

Zhu Wenhao pulled out his chair, sat down, and opened his laptop.

He placed his hands on the keyboard.

An article about the growing pains of the local economy and breaking through the cocoon began to take shape on the screen.