Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Film Projection Team Needs Reform
Wang Dashan was very efficient; in less than two weeks, he sent the first draft of the article to the steel rolling mill's publicity department. After review by the leadership, they praised the steel rolling mill without offering any suggestions for revision and returned it to the original department.
Wang Dashan's high efficiency, however, also highlighted the problems with the steel rolling mill's operations.
It turned out that Comrade Wu Dingbo's earlier suggestion to increase the number of projectionists had been handed over to the personnel section of the Organization Department for research and staffing. However, none of the several proposals put forward by the Organization Department received approval from the leadership.
Initially, the personnel department's plan was to recruit another projectionist or apprentice. This would bring the steel mill's projection team to three people. Based on the logic that the steel mill's projection team could operate on its own before, with just Xu Damao, they could purchase some more equipment and the three people could simultaneously project at three different locations.
Xu Damao had a good relationship with Li Hui, the deputy head of the personnel department. Having received the news beforehand, he immediately went to see Gao Jin. If the personnel department operated like this, Xu Damao would become a complete wage earner, and this team leader position would be even worse than when he was working alone. At least back then, he didn't have to travel so far.
Gao Jin was also unhappy when he heard this. He had originally planned to add more manpower, but now all he had done was add an apprentice. So he went to report to Minister Ma Xiangqian.
"Minister, our propaganda department has worked hard and made some achievements this time. However, I heard that the personnel department wants our two meritorious members to go to Hebei to show movies. This won't do."
We can't let the better we do things, the more we get bullied.
Putting everything else aside, Gao Jin is quite protective of his department's interests and dares to advocate for them with his superiors. The problem is with some department heads who readily accept tasks pushed onto them by other departments or leaders, playing the good guy while leaving their subordinates to work overtime to complete them.
"Old Gao, you're exaggerating. When are you going to send your people to Hebei to show movies? Besides, the personnel department's plan hasn't been submitted to the meeting yet. I know your opinions, and I'll bring them up."
Ma Xiangqian was also quite dissatisfied with the personnel department's plan, and now he was taking advantage of the publicity department's position to suppress the personnel department.
The Personnel Department and the Cadre Department, one responsible for the positions and promotions of ordinary employees and the other for the positions and promotions of cadres, are arguably the two most powerful departments in the steel rolling mill. They are people who speak directly to the factory director and sometimes neither is willing to back down to the director.
Ye Jiaqiang, the head of the personnel department, never expected that such a simple matter would result in a severe reprimand from Ma Xiangqian, who accused him of lacking perspective, political acumen, and strategic thinking.
So he went to Deputy Secretary Fang Shanwei and explained the situation.
"Xiao Ye, you need to be careful about this matter. Increasing the number of projectionists and improving the service capacity of our factory's projection team is a decision made jointly by the factory director and the party secretary, so we must do it well."
Not only do we need to provide an explanation to outsiders, but we also need to convince everyone internally. Could you try communicating more with the publicity department, especially the film screening team, to see what their needs are? They'll be the ones handling things in the future, and they'll know best.
Fang Shanwei was giving Ye Jiaqiang some pointers. The reason Fang Shanwei specifically mentioned the film screening team was mainly because of the result of Xu Damao's special visit to him.
Yes, Xu Damao visited several leaders individually, including Section Chief Gao Jin, Organization Minister Ma Xiangqian, Deputy Secretary Fang Shanwei, and Secretary Wu Dingbo. Bringing local specialties, Xu Damao began his evening door-knocking spree.
Normal social interactions are normal in any era. Of course, people who openly accept gifts without restraint, like Li Xuewu later on, are rare.
Xu Damao was unaware of the backgrounds of the people he was visiting, so he could only test the waters with local specialties on his first visit.
This restructuring of the film screening group can be seen as a significant opportunity or challenge for Xu Damao. If the restructuring goes well, the screening group will be stronger and more efficient, and Xu Damao will be able to travel to the countryside less often; if the restructuring goes poorly, he might really have to show films closer to the Hebei border.
First, they went to Gao Jin's house. Gao Jin was most surprised to see Xu Damao arrive. He understood this was an opportunity, but as a section chief, his words carried little weight in this matter, yet Xu Damao still came.
"Section Chief, I've been working under you for a long time, and my idea is actually very simple. That is, I want to do our film screening team's work better and serve more people. Of course, it would be even better if I could also develop myself."
Xu Damao frankly told his direct supervisor that he wanted to advance his career. This time, Xu Damao's biggest wish was to be transferred to a cadre position.
"Da Mao, I always felt you weren't as simple as you seem. Wanting to improve is normal, and I support that. But on this matter, I can only offer some encouragement. When the organization department asks for my opinion, I'll put in a good word for you, but there's nothing else I can do."
With this statement, Xu Damao's trip wasn't in vain; at least it let him know he wanted to improve. Otherwise, if he really had a chance to be recommended by the department, Xu Damao would have had absolutely no chance.
As for the claim of being powerless, Xu Damao knew that given their current simple working relationship, this was all the other party could do. They were not relatives or friends; no one would use their own connections and networks to help him.
Organization Minister Ma Xiangqian and Deputy Secretary Fang Shanwei were not at all surprised to see Xu Damao. At their level, it was common for them to have visitors at home.
"Da Mao is good, a real talent." "Don't worry, Da Mao, the organization won't forget you."
Their words were more official, but they also hinted at the possibility of supporting Xu Damao. As Xu Damao's superiors, supporting their subordinates was their duty, but the extent of that support would vary depending on the circumstances.
When Wu Dingbo arrived, the other party was surprised by Xu Damao's visit. Perhaps they didn't expect such a lowly soldier to dare to wait at the door of a high-ranking leader.
“Secretary, didn’t you mention during our last meal that our film screening team needs to strengthen its work and better serve the cultural needs of the people? I’ve been thinking about it these past few days, but I still don’t have many ideas, so I came directly to ask you for advice.”
Xu Damao came up with a lame excuse, but that was enough to get the gist of it.
"Oh. It seems you, Xu Damao, have really thought about it. Why don't you tell me what your thoughts are?"
Wu Dingbo did not expose Xu Damao.
“Secretary, this is what I think. Our steel rolling mill going to the countryside to show movies is both our responsibility and a sign of the organization’s trust in us.”
Since we're showing movies, we can't just finish the screenings and call it a day. We need to integrate it with our propaganda work, using Party building to drive rural cultural development.
"Tell me more about it."
"I was thinking that, firstly, when we show movies, we can take the opportunity to promote the latest policies of our Party. For example, we can read the latest newspaper to the villagers each time we go out, because many people are still very out of touch with the outside world."
Secondly, we can leverage the advantages of our steel rolling mill to train technical personnel for rural areas or grassroots governments. It's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. For example, we can train people in simple machining and maintenance.
third,··"
Xu Damao shared some poverty alleviation methods from later generations, adapting them to the current reality, regardless of whether they were applicable or not.
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