The Official Ladder: I ascend to the pinnacle of power, wielding the power of life and death.

"Oh, I forgot that you are the leader directly in charge of the Market Supervision and Management Office, and you know the situation of the large market very well."

Jiang Yiming stared at Li Zhaoliang and said, "Since you seem to know the situation so well, let me ask you, are you aware of these chaotic phenomena in the market?"

"As instructed by Vice Mayor Liu Guoliang, we have been conducting a special rectification campaign in the market for the past few days, and the relevant issues are being investigated and rectified one by one. As the person in charge of the campaign, I am responsible for what happened, but the rectification campaign has just begun. Some of the problems did not form overnight, nor can they be eliminated overnight. Give us some time, and I believe we will be able to improve the order of the market and give citizens a safe and secure consumption environment."

Li Zhaoliang said.

"Now that you have launched a rectification campaign, I will ask you one more time: Does the market engage in any practices such as market manipulation, forced buying and selling, or selling inferior goods as superior ones?"

Jiang Yiming said earnestly.

"Based on our undercover investigation over the past two days, we have indeed found that some merchants are shortchanging customers. However, we have ordered them to rectify the situation after investigation. As for serious illegal activities such as market manipulation, forced buying and selling, and selling inferior goods as superior ones, we have not found any so far. Therefore, we cannot generalize and exaggerate the occurrence of isolated incidents."

Li Zhaoliang responded with a stiff upper lip.

He must withstand the pressure and not easily admit the widespread nature of the problem; otherwise, the city's efforts to rectify the situation here will be further intensified, and his previous rectification actions will be completely negated.

"So you mean the situation here isn't as serious as I just described, or even if it is, it's just an isolated incident?"

Jiang Yiming asked, "If I'm talking about a widespread phenomenon, wouldn't you, as the deputy director in charge of market supervision, be held responsible?"

Li Zhaoliang did not back down and said, "If what you say is true, then it means that I have not done my job well. I am willing to take full responsibility and resign from my current position."

He wasn't worried about Jiang Yiming investigating now. The merchants in the market were all part of a network of relationships that Liu Wang had built over many years, forming a community of shared interests. Any unusual activity would trigger their vigilance, making it difficult for anyone to detect anything amiss. He believed that even if Jiang Yiming investigated on the spot, he would struggle to find any evidence.

"Remember what you just said!"

Jiang Yiming then asked, "Does the market have a conference room?"

Liu Wang quickly stepped forward: "Mayor, I am Liu Wang, the person in charge of the market. There is a conference room on the second floor of the market. I will arrange for people to prepare it immediately."

"No need to prepare anything, just find a seat. We can't stand here for the whole meeting."

Jiang Yiming said.

"Please follow me, esteemed leaders."

Liu Wang led the group up to the second floor, his steps slightly hurried.

Li Zhaoliang and the others followed Jiang Yiming, completely bewildered. They didn't understand what he was up to. He had already made everything clear, so why was there another meeting?

Could it be that he was talking about his mother being illegally detained?

But this matter falls under the jurisdiction of the public security bureau, not the market supervision bureau.

Although everyone was puzzled, no one dared to ask and they all obediently followed behind.

After Jiang Yiming walked in, he sat directly in the main seat and waved his hand, saying, "Sit down, everyone, and wait a few more minutes."

After everyone was seated, the meeting room fell into a brief silence.

Just as everyone was in agony, Jiang Yiming's phone suddenly rang.

"Okay, it's in the conference room on the second floor. Please come up."

After Jiang Yiming finished speaking, he hung up the phone immediately.

Everyone was curious about whose call it was and why they had come at this time.

About two minutes later, Chen Jianing and a group of women dressed as housewives walked in.

Mayor Jiang.

A group of people shouted.

"You have worked hard."

Jiang Yiming stood up, offered his seat, and said, "Please sit down."

Seeing Jiang Yiming give up his seat, the others quickly made way for him, while Liu Wang hurriedly added a chair.

Then everyone sat down together.

"Jianing, please introduce yourself and the other comrades."

Jiang Yiming said.

Although he was the one who asked Li Muyao for the people, he didn't really know their specific identities since he had Chen Jianing take the lead in organizing it.

"Hello everyone, I am Chen Jianing, a reporter from Linjiang City TV Station. These two are my colleagues, and the other two are reporters from the provincial TV station. As required by the Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Department, we split into five groups to conduct undercover investigations of farmers' markets in Jiangcheng City, focusing on verifying issues such as short-weighting and selling inferior goods, which have been strongly complained about by the public. Through our investigation, we discovered that there is systemic fraudulent activity within the Yunsha Agricultural Products Market. Many merchants have been using cheating scales for a long time, and the prices marked on the goods are seriously inconsistent with the actual settlement. Some fresh produce is sold as frozen, while others are secretly switched during weighing using the 'cat-and-cat' trick. Some add ice to the weight of aquatic products to increase their profit, while others use specially made thick black plastic bags as part of the product weight for settlement. Some merchants even tamper with the electronic scales, arbitrarily changing the weight data by simply touching certain buttons. We recorded the entire process on video. According to our investigation, these illegal activities have become a fixed routine and are widespread, with the market management tacitly approving or even condoning them."

Chen Jianing said, "According to our interviews, many citizens reported that they frequently encountered various unpleasant things such as being shortchanged when shopping at the market. They generally reported that complaining to the Industry and Commerce Bureau was of no use, and some were even threatened by merchants after complaining."

“Our team investigated vegetable farmers. According to our investigation, the large market forces farmers to sell their produce to designated vendors at prices lower than the market rate. If they try to sell to other vendors or customers, they are beaten by unidentified individuals. The farmers also reported that the market management shares profits with these designated vendors, forming a monopoly. One elderly farmer we interviewed tearfully said that his vegetables were forcibly bought at low prices, and if he resisted, he would receive threatening phone calls. His doors and windows had also been smashed. Even worse, some law enforcement officers collude with market management personnel, turning a blind eye to complaints, resulting in the problem remaining unresolved for a long time.”

Another reporter showed Jiang Yiming the video footage he had taken at the scene.

These videos were all secretly recorded, but the images clearly demonstrate that the problems they described were not unfounded, but rather long-standing issues.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Jiang Yiming looked around before finally fixing his gaze on Li Zhaoliang, his eyes calm yet carrying immense weight: "Deputy Director Li, what's your opinion on this matter?"

"Mayor, I don't understand why so many illegal activities have occurred. As you know, I can't personally go down to inspect; it's all reports from my subordinates. They keep reporting that the management is orderly and the situation is good, and I've been misled by them. Of course, as the leader in charge, I bear an unshirkable responsibility for oversight. Please give me a chance, Mayor. I will immediately establish a special rectification team to thoroughly investigate the business practices of all merchants in the Yunsha Market, and deal seriously with the managers and illegal merchants involved in accordance with the law and regulations, resolutely severing the chain of interests behind it. At the same time, I will proactively report to the discipline inspection and supervision authorities and accept organizational investigation. If any public officials are found to have shielded or condoned such activities, or engaged in power-for-money transactions, I will not tolerate it."

Li Zhaoliang quickly changed his attitude.

"You just said that if the problems I mentioned really exist, what would you do?"

Jiang Yiming stared intently at Li Zhaoliang.