The Power Holder

The Power Holder is a long officialdom novel by Qidian writer 13579 (real name Xiang Yifen), first serialized on Qidian and published in print by Taihai Publishing House in 2012 as the first volume of a series. The story begins in the early 1990s: the protagonist Han Dong, carrying memories of a previous life, returns to his youth. Born into a family with deep roots, he does not rest on its laurels but starts his official career as director of the Statistics Bureau of Fuyi County, Rongzhou City, Sichuan Province—a post others regard as a "clear-water yamen" with no real power. At the bureau he faces open challenge from deputy director Huang Song, and with thunderous measures he straightens out bureau affairs and establishes the authority of the top leader; he then seizes an opportunity, and several reform articles that bluntly expose current abuses cause a stir in the province. County Party Secretary Huang comes to regard him as a capable favorite, and Han uses the momentum to push through the replacement of the county public security chief, gaining a firm foothold in a complex personnel landscape. As he rises, he goes through a head-on clash at a town Party committee meeting and is assigned in a crisis to take over a deeply troubled industrial park management committee, advancing administrative reform amid tangled interests. The book uses specific events—statistics bureau reform, cadre appointments and removals, industrial park rectification—as threads, rendering the games, compromises, and advances of local governance in fine detail; the protagonist holds to the political philosophy of "broad vision, great courage, large heart" and the creed that "an official who does not stand up for the people might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes." This volume covers the opening stage of Han Dong's career and is the foundation of the whole series.