Chapter 1 The Public Referendum

The public referendum ended, and ten days passed in a flash.

It was Monday morning, around 8:30 a.m. Gu Baisun convened his first internal high-level meeting since taking office as the chairman of the stevedores' association. Attendees included representatives from the Elder Council and the heads or acting heads of the sixteen districts.

The stevedores' association headquarters, in the main conference room.

Gu Baisun and Wei Xiangzuo, along with seven or eight members of the Elder Council, walked in from outside in suits and ties.

"Clap clap!"

Thunderous applause echoed in the conference room. Gu Baisun waved to the crowd, smiling as he sat in the main seat. Wei Xiangzuo and the others sat to his right, in the front row.

The applause subsided, and the conference room fell silent. The district heads waited with folded hands for Gu Baisun to speak.

"Today's meeting is a closed-door session, mainly to discuss two issues: first, the future development of the association; second, the restructuring of the senior leadership." Gu Baisun adjusted the microphone and spoke without notes, "Before the meeting begins, let's invite the leaders of the Municipal Workers' Association, who will inevitably have close ties with our association in the future, to visit and guide us."

The district heads were momentarily stunned, then applauded with some surprise.

Outside the door, nearly ten "leaders," including Li Mingsheng's aide, the director of the Municipal Office, Old Liu, as well as Su Tianyu, Da Bai, and Su Tianbei, walked into the conference room together.

Niu Feng then closed the conference room door.

Below the stage, a middle-aged, portly man whispered to Dong Zheng of the Fukuoka district, "Old Li is starting already, reaching out."

"Sooner than we thought," Dong Zheng sighed.

With the door closed, Gu Baisun stood up and introduced the guests to the crowd, "This is Mr. Liu Quan, director of our Municipal Office, currently serving as the chairman of the Municipal Workers' Association; next to him is Su Tianyu, captain of the Seaport District Coast Guard, also serving as the director of the Municipal Workers' Association Office; and these next to him are all familiar faces, Bai Hongbo from the Tongji Society, Su Tianbei..."

After Gu Baisun introduced everyone one by one, applause rang out in the conference room again. Director Liu smiled and waved to everyone, "Recently, many associations in Dragon City have been quite restless, causing many incidents. The city leaders are very concerned about the development direction of our group organizations. As the new chairman of the association, I also need to walk around and understand the actual situation. But everyone, please don't be too formal. We're here mainly for exchange and investigation. Say whatever you need to say at the meeting. There are no outsiders here, so please feel free."

After a very official opening speech, Gu Baisun pointed to his chair and said to Director Liu, "Please, have a seat here!"

"Haha, this is your home field. You sit, you sit!" Liu Quan only sat in the first chair on the left side of the conference table, while Da Bai, Su Tianbei, and others sat next to Liu Quan in turn.

"Come on, Director Su, why don't you sit here with me?" Wei Xiangzuo stood up and asked.

"No, no, I'm just here to learn, just taking notes on the side." Su Tianyu replied with a smile, walking to the sofa in the lounge area and sitting down, "It's fine here, you guys have your meeting, so I don't waste everyone's time."

The sofa area was in the upper right corner of the conference room, behind Gu Baisun, a position where he could observe everyone. The senior members of the stevedores' association looked at Su Tianyu with complex emotions, finally understanding who the protagonist was today. It wasn't Director Liu at all; he had come solely to support this Officer Su.

Everyone took their seats, and the meeting began.

Gu Baisun took the lead in speaking, "The association wants to develop, and it must have the support and care of the municipal units. We have also had in-depth exchanges with the leaders of the Municipal Workers' Association. In the future ten-year development plan, we will closely unite around the municipal leadership team, closely follow municipal policies, and work for the stevedores' association..."

In the first half of the meeting, Gu Baisun's speech was very positive and conveyed two messages to everyone almost nakedly.

First, the internal strife of the stevedores' association was over. The owner had changed, and the Supervisory Committee and the Qingyi Bureau were a thing of the past. From now on, this sky would be surnamed Li.

Second, although it was surnamed Li, the upper echelons had given the stevedores' association a great deal of autonomy. As long as you were obedient, you could still handle your own affairs, and you would certainly not miss out on a series of future policy dividends.

This included municipal subsidies, priority development rights for various harbor industries, and the arms business that everyone tacitly understood. Simply put, as long as it involved harbor-related projects, as long as it was a place that the municipality could govern, the stevedores' association would be given priority.

What is control? Management is only the first level; control is the core! An association of nearly 100,000 people, if you only set rules and regulations for them but cannot bring actual benefits to everyone or improve the living standards of the people below, then why would they listen to you?!

Wouldn't it be better for us to work with Yang Dong? Although he's very weak now, with the garrison backing him, there's still no problem in running some lucrative businesses in private.

Therefore, rules must be given, but also dividends that make everyone willing to obey the rules.

Gu Baisun made it very clear at the meeting that not only the stevedores' association had been "incorporated," but also some associations, led by Lu Feng of the Tongji Society and the Changqing Company, had also been recruited. In the future, the Municipal Workers' Association would no longer be a puppet unit without real power, nor would it need to look at the Supervisory Committee's face. Instead, it would be an important power department that could completely control the direction of the association.

After everyone understood Gu Baisun's meaning, they didn't have any resistance in their hearts, because this was an era where one person sang, and another came on stage. Old Li's team had the energy, weakened the Supervisory Committee, and drove away the Qingyi Bureau. They had just won a game against the garrison, so since the new owner was so strong and willing to share resources with everyone, why not do it?

After Gu Baisun finished talking about the association's development ideas, he announced several major personnel adjustments within the association: "Since we want to develop under the leadership of the municipality, we must have close ties with the upper echelons! After voting by the Elder Council and the senior management of the General Association, I officially announce: Mr. Bai Hongbo has officially joined the stevedores' association as the Minister of Finance; Mr. He Futao has officially joined the stevedores' association as the Minister of Personnel and Organization..."

Of the four new personnel appointments, in addition to Bai Hongbo, the remaining three were members of Old Li's staff. They took over the association's project portfolio, personnel management, and the position of director of the chairman's office.

Before these three people were transferred over, Director Liu personally asked Su Tianyu's attitude. After Su nodded, he formally notified the three to prepare to take office.

After the four major personnel appointments were completed, Gu Baisun turned to look at Su Tianbei, smiling and saying, "Mr. Su Tianbei has also officially joined the stevedores' association. I recommend him to serve as the head of the Xinghe District branch. Everyone is here today, and I suggest we vote now and decide on this matter."

Su Tianbei took the initiative to stand up, bowed slightly, and said politely, "I'm new here, and I hope everyone will take care of me in the future!"

Gu Baisun looked around, "Any objections? If not, let's vote!"

In the sofa area, Su Tianyu was fiddling with his phone, his posture very relaxed, seemingly not listening to any of the content of the meeting.