Chapter 274: Cutting In Line
The next morning, Secretary Ma Shiqi came to pick up Gu Yansheng for work.
The scenery on Yihe Road is quite nice, with an overall environment that is very picturesque, and various villas each with their own charm.
Now, whether it is Ma Shiqi’s house, Minister Zhou’s house, or Gu Yansheng’s house, they are all in this area, not far from each other, making communication very convenient.
“Minister, the office has been cleaned up, the furniture has all been replaced with brand new ones, the things that Wen Zongyao used before were either thrown into the warehouse or taken away by him himself.”
“Good.”
Having been in Nanjing for so many days, apart from having to go to the ministry twice to show his face and let the people there know that a change of regime is coming and to recognize this new minister, Gu Yansheng basically never went to the Judicial Administration Department in his daily routine.
Before today, Dean Wen Zongyao of the Judicial Yuan was still the minister of the Ministry of Justice, and since it was his office, Gu Yansheng had no place to sit if he went there.
By today, things were really different; Wen Zongyao had already gone to work at the Judicial Yuan, and he, as the minister, was now fully legitimate.
“No trouble occurred, right?”
“Wen Zongyao didn’t come yesterday. I discussed it with his secretary; his things were sent by car to the Judicial Yuan, handled with care, and no mishaps occurred.”
“Mm, currently, up and down the Judicial Administration Department are all Wen Zongyao’s people, and it is also Liang Hongzhi’s base. Based on the agreement reached at the Qingdao Conference, everyone is still getting along harmoniously now, maintaining a posture of striving together for peaceful nation building.
But the Wang Faction’s people will definitely take power, and Liang Hongzhi is unwilling to hand over power either, leading to various internal strife, which is something that will inevitably happen in secret.
Our Judicial Administration Department, aside from Wen Zongyao who is the only dean besides Liang Hongzhi himself, needs to be watched closely at ordinary times to prevent him from digging pits or burying landmines for us.”
What needed to be admonished, Gu Yansheng still had to admonish.
Cleaning up the Judicial Administration Department was something he had to do; it was his personal demand, as well as the Wang Faction’s settling of old scores against Liang Hongzhi for wanting to assassinate Wang Ni back then, and even more so the new power’s reckoning with the old power.
Gu Yansheng now had his position here and had to do this; the cleaned-up Judicial Administration Department pointed its sword at various places, which also fit Minister Zhou’s desire to control Jiangsu, Anhui, and even North China.
But if they made moves, Liang Hongzhi’s people would not sit idly by either, and conflicts were definitely inevitable.
“I will keep a close eye on it.”
After Ma Shiqi said that, he took out a document bag from his briefcase and handed it over. “This is the information I sent people to investigate.”
Ma Shiqi had done some preparatory work, having his subordinates come over earlier, so it could be put to use at this time.
Gu Yansheng took it and looked at it while saying.
“Executive Vice Minister, Hu Rengtai, a Jiangsu person. In his early years, he was a student sent to Japan for study abroad at public expense by Nanyang Public School. After working, he served as consul in Nagasaki, Japan, so he has a Japanese background.
Based on this, it can be inferred that he should know a few people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Military Department, but now it has been many years since he worked in Japan, so it’s hard to say if those Japanese from back then are still in power; even if some are, the relationship is probably just average.
He has held positions in Chiang Kai-shek’s National Government, in the Ministry of Communications, and even earlier in the Beiyang Government.
Overall, he is an old-school figure, and quite old in age. When he was recruited back then, it was probably the Japanese and Liang Hongzhi who valued his connections.
He has two sons and one daughter at home.”
“The other one is the Political Vice Minister, Xue Dianzeng, also a Jiangsu person, graduated from Saint John’s University, studied law in the United States, and previously served as the chief judge of the Suzhou court under Chiang Kai-shek’s government, so he should be very familiar with practical affairs.
His family has industry in Suzhou, and the industry is not small.”
One studied in Japan, one in the United States; some who studied abroad wanted change, while some became traitors.
Gu Yansheng listened to the introduction while flipping through the resumes of these two in the car.
The main generals under him were these two vice ministers; of course, the actual position names were one Political Vice Minister and one Executive Vice Minister.
According to the division of labor, the Executive Vice Minister mainly handles internal department affairs, focusing on daily administration and department work, which is what Hu Rengtai does.
The Political Vice Minister is theoretically the minister’s confidant, responsible for explaining policies externally and attending meetings with various departments.
In such a large government, various meetings are inevitable, and this Political Vice Minister is essentially the minister’s stand-in; for meetings that the minister doesn’t have time for but are high-level, it is more appropriate for this vice minister to attend, which is Xue Dianzeng’s job.
The two vice ministers, one external, one internal.
Further down are the persons in charge of conventional departments like the Civil Affairs Division, Criminal Affairs Division, General Affairs Office, etc.
Anyway, none of them are his own people.
Logically speaking, a position like Political Vice Minister must be filled by his own people; otherwise, when attending various meetings and conveying various opinions, it’s inevitable to have one’s own little thoughts, easily leading to deception of superiors and subordinates, but there’s no way around it now—Gu Yansheng has no one available; it’s just such a mess.
The situation still looks quite severe.
But actually, it’s not bad.
The car arrived at the Judicial Administration Department building.
“Minister.”
Getting out of the car and walking, along the way there were people standing still and bowing in greeting, emphasizing careful and prudent.
Gu Yansheng occasionally nodded slightly in acknowledgment, making people feel like a spring breeze.
Arriving at the office door, Liu Xiaolou stood up and bowed in welcome. “Good morning, Minister.”
Opening the door, Gu Yansheng raised an eyebrow; what he saw was similar to the setup in the Shanghai office, and he couldn’t help laughing: “You all moved Shanghai here.”
Liu Xiaolou introduced: “Afraid you wouldn’t be used to it, so I discussed it with Secretary Ma and first arranged it according to the Shanghai layout. The furniture was also custom-ordered in exactly the same style as in Shanghai. You try it; if anywhere is unsatisfactory, I will change it immediately.”
“No need, this is fine as is.” Gu Yansheng had little demand for these things; as long as they were clean and met daily needs, it was good. He picked up the brewed coffee on the desk and took a sip. “Any arrangements this morning?”
Liu Xiaolou immediately said: “This morning is the ministry’s regular meeting. Since it is your first time formally hosting it, all department chief officials have been notified to attend, and they should all be in the meeting room by now.”
“Good, then let’s have the meeting first.” Gu Yansheng also needed to deal with them and strode in.
“Minister, there is one more thing.” Liu Xiaolou quickly followed and said softly: “Someone came to the Secretariat this morning to join, bringing a letter of introduction from Dean Chen. The division chief of the Secretariat mentioned it to me and asked me to check with you about how to arrange this position.”
“Dean Chen? Chen Gongbo?” Gu Yansheng paused in his steps, somewhat surprised.
Liu Xiaolou nodded.
“Heh.” Gu Yansheng sneered; it had just opened, and Chen Gongbo was already extending his hand here.
Logically speaking, the Legislative Yuan did have ties with the Judicial Administration Department; both were in the legal field, so placing one person wasn’t impossible. Gu Yansheng thought about it; there was no need to be petty about this—it was just one position, and with so many outsiders already, one more didn’t matter.
“Does he have any specific requests himself?”
Liu Xiaolou shook his head. “Not explicitly stated so far. He said a secretarial position would be fine, but the Secretariat mainly handles high-level affairs of the Ministry of Justice, so once in the Secretariat, he will definitely have contact with the ministry’s major matters.”
Liu Xiaolou stopped there; once the secretary knew about the matter, Chen Gongbo would too.
“What is his name?”
“Li Shiyu.”
“Has the file arrived?”
“It has.”
“Bring it for me to see.”
“Yes.”
Gu Yansheng was not in a hurry to have the meeting; he was mainly curious. Previously, he hadn’t heard of this figure among the people from Chongqing. For Chen Gongbo to send out this Li Shiyu as a spy, there must be some trust in his abilities.
Where did he come from?
Liu Xiaolou soon brought the documents.
Gu Yansheng opened the file bag and pulled out the file.
Li Shiyu entered the Northeastern Army Xi’an Suppression Headquarters Fourth Division in 1933 or 1934, served as prosecutor at the Tianjin Higher Court in 1937, and came here last year to attend the Sixth Congress, where he was also elected as a legislative member.
No wonder; it turned out he was a latecomer.
Gu Yansheng pondered slightly; for this Li Shiyu to be spotted by Chen Gongbo and become a legislative member despite being a latecomer, he definitely had real skills.
In terms of handling people and affairs, he was undoubtedly an expert.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
The office telephone rang.
“Hello.”
“Yansheng, it’s Chen Gongbo.”
“Dean Chen, haha, I was just talking about you. My subordinate told me you recommended someone over, named something like Li Shiyu.”
“Yes, that’s why I’m calling—to recommend this person to you. When I was chatting idly with Mr. Wang, we talked about problems at the Judicial Administration Department. Liang Hongzhi has deep roots in Nanjing, you’re new to the post, and there are many things to handle. Mr. Wang is worried that Liang Hongzhi’s people might create obstacles for you, so he asked me to keep an eye out.
I said how could I keep an eye; the Legislative Yuan and the Judicial Yuan are two separate branches, so I can’t offer much real help, and besides, I don’t know about your Judicial Administration Department’s affairs, so I have no way to intervene, right?
But then I thought of this Li Shiyu—he has good ability, diverse experience, worked in a court, which matches your side professionally. You don’t have many people to use right now, so temporarily assigning him to be your helper should work, so I arranged for him to come over and assist you.”
“I see, that’s great then; I’m short on staff right now.” Gu Yansheng laughed happily. “Thank you, Dean Chen, for the help.”
“Why say these things among our own people.” Chen Gongbo’s tone was very casual. “Just use him as you see fit; if he’s good, keep him; if not, send him back to me.”
“Anyone recommended by Dean Chen is definitely good; I will make the best use of his talent.”
“Good, then I won’t disturb you; I guess you’ll be in meetings all day today?”
“Hahahaha.”
After chatting a few sentences, he hung up the phone, and Gu Yansheng slightly restrained his smile.
He thought for a moment and looked at Liu Xiaolou. “Which department’s chief official position is vacant?”
Liu Xiaolou thought and shook his head. “No department chief official positions are vacant now; even deputy positions are rarely vacant. Consider a deputy?”
Gu Yansheng smiled, took a sip of coffee, put down the cup, and walked out. “Dean Chen personally called; Li Shiyu is also a legislative member himself. A deputy? You’re not giving enough face to Dean Chen.”
Moreover, Chen Gongbo had invoked Mr. Wang’s name; it would be hard to justify not giving face.
Liu Xiaolou pouted reluctantly and followed behind. “Then what level?”
“At least a real-power division chief, or simply a director.”
“Those positions won’t be easy to take.”
Liu Xiaolou now had a judgment of the ministry’s situation; those posts were all in the old minister’s hands.
Was he going to fire people right away?
“Go to the meeting first.”
In the meeting room, everyone had been waiting a long time.
On the first day of the new minister taking position, they had to give the necessary face to avoid giving Gu Yansheng any faults to pick on or reasons to flare up.
But the gentleman’s agreement had already been made clear now.
“No matter what this Gu Yansheng says, handle what is easy to handle; for what is not easy or cannot be handled, just uniformly don’t do it. Understood?”
The one speaking was Executive Vice Minister Hu Rengtai; he had the deepest seniority here.
“Don’t worry, Vice Minister Hu. He is just someone who has been working a few years; what does he know about government?
All talk no action; once here, there are plenty of ways to let him know what is hard to handle.”
“I say, the Wang Faction is too nepotistic, letting such a young man be minister. He has only eaten a few grains of salt; Hu Lao, you should be the one as minister—that would be appropriate. What does he know?”
.
“Keep your voices down; people will be here soon.”
“Cough cough.” The spy at the door immediately made a sound.
Soon the door opened.
Gu Yansheng arrived at the large meeting room and glanced around; it was already full, and the chatting people instantly fell silent.
“Minister.” They stood up one by one, saying in unison.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Gu Yansheng walked to the main seat with a smile, looking at each one; expressions were either steady or smiling, and the formalities seemed very harmonious.
The atmosphere was good.
Gu Yansheng said amiably: “Please sit. The new government has been established—happy? Happy!
This is a brand new beginning, but all things are hard at the start.
The country is now in war and chaos; our generation’s goal is to achieve unification and declare to the world, in a brand new posture, China’s rise in East Asia.
Whether for China or for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a sound judicial system is the way to long-term stability and prosperity of the nation.
And we are the builders and guardians of the system.
So, gentlemen, the task is heavy and the road is long.
The first thing we must do is unify the national judicial system.
Let businessmen conduct business according to law, citizens abide by the law, residents live and work in peace, and all act under one set of laws and regulations, with clear laws and everything governed by law.
Director Liao of the Legal Affairs Division.
“Here.” Director Liao raised his hand slightly.
Gu Yansheng nodded slightly. “Next, the Legal Affairs Division’s work is to liaise with the Legislative Yuan and Judicial Yuan, carefully review and discuss existing laws and regulations; remove those that are outdated, update those that need replacement, and quickly produce a complete version to implement in all areas. Any problems?”
“No problem; I will advance it immediately.” Director Liao nodded readily.
Gu Yansheng acknowledged with a hum. “Good if no problem. In one month, I want to see the unified version; in two months, I want all areas to fully implement the new laws and regulations.”
“One month?” Director Liao’s eyes widened. “Minister, this… one month is probably not enough; the time is too tight. Just reading the laws and regulations would take a month, let alone discussion; it definitely can’t be done.
I’m not shirking; it’s really impossible. The laws and regulations are so thick; don’t believe me—ask them; it definitely can’t be done.
