Chapter 43: Do You Have Any More Questions?
Others might find it strange, but the Tongji Office is not the most important position in the Economic Department.
The First Section under the Economic Department is responsible for materials fundraising and inbound verification.
The Second Section is responsible for materials allocation and outbound verification. Neither of these sections is less important than the Tongji Office, which manages freight.
Besides these two sections, there is also a General Affairs Section responsible for the overall dispatch of all sections, which is of utmost importance.
Yet Chen Yang doesn’t care about any of these sections at all. What he cares about is freight.
Of course, no one knows yet just how terrifying a person who can completely control optimal transportation efficiency will be.
But Chen Yang believes that soon they will discover the absolute efficiency brought by efficient transportation.
“Secretary Li, come in for a moment.” Chen Yang dialed the inside contact telephone and called Li Ningyu in.
Knock knock knock. Several light knocks sounded, and Li Ningyu pushed open the office door and said: “Director Chen, you wanted to see me?”
Chen Yang sighed and said: “I’ve already notified the consulate about the unfortunate news regarding Director Chu. The consulate’s reply is that Director Chu’s position is no small matter.”
“They need time to find a suitable person to take over his work, so for now, all plans of the Tongji Office will be under my responsibility.”
“Go call the people from the office over. I’ll first assign their respective tasks.”
Li Ningyu was a bit confused. The Tongji Office just manages railway transportation.
Now most passenger transport in Shanghai is concentrated at Shanghai North Station, while freight is mostly concentrated at Shanghai East Station, that is, Maigen Road Station.
Shanghai’s freight routes include short-haul transport from Shanghai East Station to Nanjing North Station, as well as medium-haul transport from Zhejiang Province through Shanghai to Nanjing.
Does a small Tongji Office really need the director to personally manage it?
Most crucially, do you even understand these things?
Although she couldn’t figure out why Chen Yang was so enthusiastic about freight management, she had no right to refuse his request. After curtsying, Li Ningyu hurried downstairs with small steps to notify the people from the Tongji Office to come up.
In less than three minutes, a burst of rapid footsteps sounded, and five men filed in led by Li Ningyu.
The entire Tongji Office has only one director, one deputy director, and five clerks including Feng Jian.
Now that Chu Mingan is dead and Feng Jian has been sent by him to assist Mrs. Chu with Chu Mingan’s funeral arrangements, the office naturally has only five people left.
“Good day, officer.” After lining up, they all slightly bowed to Chen Yang in unison.
Chen Yang waved his hand and said: “Colleagues, first I must inform you of some unfortunate news.”
“Director Chu Mingan was attacked by Revival Society agents on his way to work this morning and died from more than ten stab wounds.”
“Ah.” Everyone immediately showed expressions of disbelief upon hearing this.
Chen Yang paid no attention to their expressions and continued: “Director Chu’s position is very important. It’s not easy to find professional talent like him in a short time.”
“The higher-ups’ decision is for us to hold things together for a while. Work arrangements will be handled by us ourselves for now. If a suitable candidate is found, the superiors will arrange for someone to take over Director Chu’s work as soon as possible.”
“Work arrangements by ourselves? Director Chen, you must be, be, be joking.” Tongji Office Deputy Director Xie Rong knew this was somewhat impolite, but in this situation, he had no choice but to challenge his superior.
Because this was simply too fanciful.
Chu Mingan managed freight coordination, that is, when goods arrive at the station, when to depart, and whether to stop at the next station after departure.
If stopping, how long to stop, and how much time until reaching the destination.
These things require a very professional and experienced transportation officer to coordinate.
Otherwise, major incidents could happen at any time. Vehicles entering the station early might overlap in time with others, leading to accidents.
The worst case is freight vehicles colliding with passenger trains halfway due to poor time planning, causing traffic accidents.
If such a thing happens, every one of these people in the Tongji Office will be in big trouble.
This Director Chen just moves his lips and expects them to take over and arrange things themselves. Who the hell dares to take on this job?
Chen Yang’s expression changed slightly as he looked at Xie Rong and said: “It seems Deputy Director Xie has an opinion on my arrangements?”
Chen Yang’s voice wasn’t loud, but he emphasized the word “deputy.”
Anyone could hear the dissatisfaction in it.
Xie Rong took a breath and said: “Officer Chen, it’s not that I doubt your decision, but freight coordination requires an experienced professional to make decisions.”
“Indeed, the freight dispatch center has its own independent dispatch organization that can pre-arrange our freight routes and times.”
“But freight is different from others; many emergencies can arise at any time, such as railway tracks being sabotaged, storms, heavy rain and other natural disasters, as well as vehicle delays due to various reasons. These require experienced people to handle.”
“If there’s a mistake, goods loss is minor. If lives are lost, we can’t bear the responsibility.”
Chen Yang nodded slightly and looked at Xie Rong: “Deputy Director Xie’s words make a lot of sense.”
“Then it’s settled. I announce that you, Deputy Director Xie, are transferred to the Freight Dispatch Center to monitor at all times whether any accidents occur there.”
“If there’s an accident, report it to the Tongji Office immediately to prevent mishaps.”
Ah.
As soon as Chen Yang spoke, everyone was stunned. This didn’t mean promoting Xie Rong; it meant demoting him all the way to a dispatcher at the Freight Dispatch Center, calling the office if any emergencies arise.
What the hell kind of move is this? If there’s a problem, solve the problem; if you can’t solve the problem, solve the person who raised it?
Chen Yang casually took out a slip, scribbled a transfer order on it, then took out the Economic Department official seal and stamped it.
“Deputy Director Xie, as the saying goes, no work is noble or lowly. Even working at the Freight Dispatch Center, you must do your job well.”
“Approach work with enthusiasm and full vitality. Please take this slip and report to the Freight Dispatch Center right now.”
Xie Rong’s mouth was full of bitterness. He had finally climbed to the position of office deputy director, only to be sent to be a dispatcher.
Moreover, Chen Yang had made it very clear: maintain work enthusiasm and be full of vitality.
That meant no being late or leaving early, or else he could be dealt with at any time. How does this superior turn hostile so quickly?
“Yes, Officer Chen.” Xie Rong didn’t dare argue, took the slip, and turned to leave.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to argue; Xie Rong wasn’t a child. Having already offended his superior, continuing to argue would just pour oil on the fire.
He knew very well that without a professional like Chu Mingan, with this outsider Officer Chen messing around blindly, problems were bound to arise sooner or later.
When the superiors change then, he might even be transferred back. And by his estimate, it wouldn’t take long— at most a month. Their messing around was sure to cause an incident.
He could treat this month as a vacation recuperating at the dispatch center.
Seeing how decisively Xie Rong left, Chen Yang also knew what he was thinking.
He turned to the other four and said: “Does anyone else have any questions?”
The remaining few shook their heads like rattles.
This Tongji Office was like it had run into a ghost: on the first day, the director was hacked to death, and the deputy director was transferred to be a dispatcher.
Could the rest not be afraid of dying?
