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

Ma Qiyun's predecessor as county party secretary was Zhang Zhengping, who is now the vice mayor of Yiyang City and a deputy provincial-level official.

Neither Jiang Yiming nor Du Zhengqiang are qualified to investigate such officials, nor can they investigate them.

They never expected that this case would involve so many people.

"Don't write down what you just said. Just pretend you didn't hear it, and don't tell anyone."

Du Zhengqiang gave his instructions and then left with Jiang Yiming.

The two needed to find a quiet place to discuss their options; if a deputy mayor was involved, things would escalate.

"Secretary Yiming, what's your opinion on this matter?"

"I have a feeling that this matter may actually be related to Mayor Zhang."

Jiang Yiming made this judgment for two reasons.

Firstly, it would be difficult for Shen Jian to cover up this deficit on his own and keep it from being exposed for a long time. If city leaders intervened, this bad debt would indeed be difficult to expose.

Secondly, he had contact with Zhang Zhengping. At the time, Su Huaizhang, who was then the deputy secretary of the county party committee, took him to a dinner party. The dinner party was convened by Sun Mingda and included not only Liao Xiandong and other officials from Xinping County, but also Zhang Zhengping, the deputy mayor of Yiyang City.

At that time, Zhang Zhengping was aggressive and very rude to him.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Since Zhang Zhengping can get so close to Sun Mingda and others, he must not be a good person.

"I'm feeling it too."

Du Zhengqiang said, "When I worked at the Municipal Bureau, I heard about some of Zhang Zhengping's deeds. He is a very controversial person. Otherwise, he wouldn't have served as the vice mayor for five or six years and still not been able to enter the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee."

"If Zhang Zhengping is really involved, this matter needs to be handled with caution, otherwise, with his interference, many of our previous efforts will be in vain."

“I agree with you, so when we investigate Shen Jian, we should detain him in a different location, interrogate him in a different location, and do it secretly to avoid a lot of trouble.”

Jiang Yiming said, "Although Zhang Zhengping has been away from Xinping County for five or six years, his influence is still there. Many people were promoted by him. In addition, he is now the vice mayor. If he gives the order, many people will still be willing to serve him."

"If we were to investigate Shen Jian in Xinping County, I'm afraid that before the investigation could even begin, someone would start interfering."

"I agree with you, but where would be a suitable place to detain them?"

Du Zhengqiang was somewhat troubled.

Mingyang District.

Jiang Yiming explained, "I have a very good relationship with Long Shaolin, the Party Secretary of Mingyang District, and he is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee. Even if the news leaks and Zhang Zhengping and others know that Shen Jian is being held in Mingyang District, it will be useless for them to exert pressure."

"And Tang Guangyong, the director of the Mingyang District Public Security Bureau, and I have a very good relationship. If people are placed with him, not only can their safety be guaranteed, but they can also be interrogated without interference."

"Okay, then we'll do it your way."

Du Zhengqiang said, "I will immediately follow the procedures and escort Shen Jian to Mingyang District."

"Okay, I'll handle things in Mingyang District. Let's not report this to Secretary Xuan Gui and County Head Yun Tao yet, to avoid any unforeseen complications."

After agreeing on the plan, the two began to act separately.

Jiang Yiming first called Long Shaolin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and Secretary of the Mingyang District Party Committee.

"Brother Yiming, what brings you to think of me?"

"Brother Long, I have a favor to ask."

"Tell me quickly, is there anything Brother Yiming can't handle?"

Long Shaolin was in a good mood today and joked with Jiang Yiming.

"Brother Long, if you keep saying that, don't blame me for not taking care of you next time we drink."

"Alright, alright, my good brother, what's wrong? If I can do it, I'll definitely get it done for you."

Long Shaolin immediately begged for mercy.

Although he had a good alcohol tolerance, compared to Jiang Yiming, he was nothing.

Therefore, in order to avoid further trouble, he had no choice but to beg for mercy.

"You've probably heard about the bank robbery here. It's made some progress. Based on the current investigation, it's not a simple robbery. It's very likely a pre-planned robbery to cover up the fact that some party members and cadres were embezzling and accepting bribes."

"Based on the information we have, it is very likely that Zhang Zhengping, the vice mayor of Yiyang City, is involved. In order to avoid interference with the investigation, we plan to send the key figure to your Yangming District for detention and interrogation. We hope Brother Long can help us out."

"This is no small favor, and it might offend Mayor Zhang. If it were someone else who made the offer, I would have to think about it, but if it's Brother Jiang who made it, I will definitely agree."

Long Shaolin laughed and said, "Take your tea and come to my place more often. I'm a city leader now, so you should come and curry favor with me."

“This case is too complicated and has taken up a lot of my energy. Once this is resolved, I will definitely go to the city to thank you properly.”

After Jiang Yiming and Long Shaolin reached an agreement, Jiang called Tang Guangyong.

Tang Guangyong's current status is absolutely inseparable from Jiang Yiming's help.

Upon hearing that Jiang Yiming was asking for his help, he agreed without hesitation.

Soon, Shen Jian, the head of the Xinping County branch of the Agricultural Bank of China, was secretly escorted to Mingyang District.

Meanwhile, Wan Wenbing's interrogation of the man in black who assassinated Zhang Jun also made substantial progress.

"According to the interrogation, the man in black is named Wang Yuan, a local of Xinping County, and was also the gunman in the '12.11' bank robbery."

Wan Wenbing reported: "According to the investigation, Wang Yuan used to run errands for someone nicknamed 'Baldy.' Baldy is a fierce general in the Sun family."

According to Wang Yuan's confession, it was Shen Jian, the president of the Agricultural Bank, who approached the Sun family, wanting their help. So they introduced Wang Yuan to them to do the dirty work for Shen Jian.

"Shen Jian gave Wang Yuan 200,000 yuan and asked him to find the robbers and get the job done. Wang Yuan then contacted three robbers in Dongchuan County. Wang Yuan had a past relationship with them. So the three robbers trusted Wang Yuan very much. They discussed that Wang Yuan would be responsible for finding out about the bank's cash storage situation and acting as a lookout, while the other three robbers would be responsible for robbing and killing the bank employees."

"After the deed was done, Wang Yuan would take 20%, and the remaining 80% would be divided among the three of them. After the plan was finalized, the robbery was carried out."

Jiang Yiming nodded: "Does the last robber's account match Wang Yuan's?"

"The robber also confessed, just as Wang Yuan said, which can form a closed loop of evidence."

"The current evidence is sufficient to convict Shen Jian, but it will be difficult to convict Xu Hui and other involved personnel."

Jiang Yiming said, "We still need to increase the intensity of the investigation and strengthen the interrogation of Shen Jian. We can appropriately reveal the current progress to Shen Jian to break his willpower."

“Xu Hui and Baldy are very close, so we can start with him.”

Du Zhengqiang said, "In addition, I will send more people to review the previous cases of Kaiyuan Police Station and find out the problems."

"Director Zhengqiang's idea is excellent."

Jiang Yiming said, "I suggest we connect with the procuratorate, the court, and the petition office to find cases of interference by Xu Hui, especially the petition office. Those who have been treated unfairly will definitely petition at the petition office. You can start from this point and you might get some unexpected results."

"I will speak with the petition office, the procuratorate, and the court to get their cooperation in your investigation."

"Great, with Secretary Yiming's strong support, we have even more confidence in handling the case."

Du Zhengqiang then led his men back to continue investigating the case.

Back in the office, Zhao Zhenlin, the head of the Organization Department, came in with a list of changes to the principals of various schools to report on the work.

"Secretary Yiming, based on the instructions of Secretary Xuangui and County Head Yuntao, I have drafted a list. The list with one line is the one selected by Secretary Xuangui, and the list with two lines is the one selected by County Head Yuntao. The rest are lists recommended by some members of the Standing Committee and departments such as the Education Bureau."

Jiang Yiming glanced at the positions of principals at No. 3 Middle School. Besides Li Hengchen's younger brother, there was also someone recommended by Jiang Xuangui.

The position of principal of No. 2 Middle School was filled by someone recommended by County Magistrate Zhang Yuntao.

Zhang Yuntao also recommended people for the other two school positions.

Therefore, Jiang Yiming crossed out Li Hengchen's younger brother from the position of principal of No. 3 Middle School and wrote him after the position of principal of No. 2 Middle School.

Jiang Yiming circled the other two people recommended by Zhang Yuntao.

The others remained untouched.

"Alright, after you make the changes, I'll go and report to County Chief Yuntao and Secretary Xuangui to finalize the personnel as soon as possible, so they don't have to keep coming to my office every day."

"Ok."

After Zhao Zhenlin arranged for someone to revise the list, he sent it over again.

Jiang Yiming took the list and went to find Zhang Yuntao first.

“County Chief Yuntao, this personnel adjustment is quite significant, but the number of positions is limited, and we need to take all aspects into consideration. You have reserved two positions, and as for the three people you recommended, it is up to you to decide which one to take.”

Jiang Yiming reported.

Zhang Yuntao glanced at the list. He recommended three people, not expecting them all to be selected. He had no objection to keeping two.

After obtaining Zhang Yuntao's consent, Jiang Yiming went to see Jiang Xuangui.

Jiang Xuangui was quite satisfied to see that Jiang Yiming had allocated a spot to Zhang Yuntao but hadn't touched his own. Therefore, he agreed to the plan.

With both key leaders agreeing, the list is unlikely to be changed; all that's left is to convene a standing committee meeting and go through the formalities.

Just before he was about to leave work, Jiang Yiming received a call from Chen Wei.

"Brother Wei, are you going to invite me for drinks? I've been too busy these past few days, I don't have time to drink."

Jiang Yiming politely declined.

When Chen Wei has free time, he invites him to get together. They sit together, chat, and drink, which is a way to relax.

"Secretary Yiming, you've guessed wrong this time. It's not me who invited you, but the beautiful Ms. Chen."

Chen Wei laughed and said, "Of course, I didn't invite you on her behalf. I just heard the news and wanted to get some information from you so I wouldn't be like a fool at the dinner later, knowing nothing. I heard Director Chen Yajing is leaving?"

Yes, that's true.

Jiang Yiming had received this news beforehand, since her transfer required the approval of the county's organization department.

Chen Yajing is currently a section-level cadre, so Zhao Zhenlin would definitely have to report this personnel transfer to her.

In fact, Chen Yajing had invited him to dinner specifically for this matter, but he was busy at the time and the gathering did not take place.

"I'm going to the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department soon."

"No wonder."

Chen Wei said, "Hey, if he went to the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department, he would have a bright future."

“I knew she had connections before, but I didn’t expect them to be this powerful, that she could be directly transferred to the Organization Department.”

"I wish I were five years younger."

"So what if he's five years younger?"

Jiang Yiming inquired.

"If I were five years younger, I could pursue Director Chen Yajing. If I could latch onto such a powerful figure, I could avoid decades of hard work—no, I mean several generations could avoid decades of hard work."

Chen Wei shook his head: "It's a pity I'm much older than her, otherwise, with my dashing and debonair appearance, winning her over would definitely be no problem."

"I'll remember that sentence. Next time I see my sister-in-law, I'll repeat it to her."

"Damn it, Secretary Yiming, can't you do something right? This is just nonsense."

Chen Wei quickly said, "My twin brother took the phone just now. He said it had nothing to do with me."

"It's too late to back out now. You'd better think of a way to shut me up."

"Next time you come, I'll bring out my treasured Wuliangye to treat you, okay?"

Chen Wei said, "However, Secretary Yiming, it's a pity you didn't seize the opportunity. You're handsome and capable. If you had pursued Chen Yajing, I think you would definitely have succeeded."