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

"He hasn't reported to me yet."

Wei Shanghua said, "I don't care what methods he uses, as long as he can stop people from petitioning and restore stability to Xinping County, everything is negotiable."

"The Party Secretary is right; stability is the prerequisite for development."

Jiang Yiming said, "However, I believe that any decision made by a Party member or cadre must be in the interest of the masses, not for the benefit of a few. We must not adopt short-sighted approaches to handle current matters."

"Since you've said that, you must have received some information."

Wei Shanghua said, "There are only the three of us here, so just tell the truth."

"Secretary, I heard that Secretary Xuan Gui convened a Standing Committee meeting last night to discuss the issues of teachers' salaries and funding for the Cultural Square project. In order to raise so much money, Secretary Xuan Gui adopted two strategies. One was to have large, medium, and small enterprises in Xinping County contribute funds, namely 200,000, 500,000, and 1 million yuan respectively, and have them transfer the money to the Finance Bureau under the guise of investing in the Cultural Square project."

“This incident has caused dissatisfaction among many business owners. Some even planned to join forces with other business owners to file a complaint against Jiang Xuangui in the city. After I learned about this, I reassured them and told them not to go to the city for the time being. I will represent them to report the matter to the city.”

Jiang Yiming said earnestly, "Secretary, if this policy is implemented, it will inevitably cause resentment among investors, seriously damage the investment environment of our city, and have a huge impact on the work of optimizing the business environment in our city."

“It is very difficult to build a trust system, but very easy to destroy it. Once the information gets out, who among the investors in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai would dare to invest in our Xinping County? This is a very short-sighted behavior.”

"Jiang Xuangui is being ridiculous. How could he come up with such a terrible idea?"

Wei Shanghua looked displeased and asked, "You just said he used two strategies, what is the third one?"

"He demanded that the Land and Resources Bureau sell all the plots of land in the southern part of the city within two months, regardless of the price, as long as they were sold. Given the speed of our country's development, housing prices are bound to rise rapidly, making land resources extremely scarce, and prices will naturally rise rapidly as well. Selling so much land at this time will inevitably lead to the loss of state-owned assets. Moreover, considering the location of Xinping County, if the old town reaches its development limit, developing southward is the best way. Once the land is sold, the future development of Xinping County will be severely affected."

Jiang Yiming said, "Although it will not have a significant impact on the county party committee leadership in the last two terms, it will cause great trouble for the subsequent county party committee leadership."

“Yiming is right. When I was working in Xinping County, we discussed the development of the main urban area of ​​Xinping County. Once the old city could no longer bear the population growth, which restricted the development of the city and affected the happiness of the citizens, a new main urban area would be needed. And developing southward is the best way, both in terms of geographical location and land resources. For this reason, I convened a Standing Committee meeting to specifically discuss the issue of those plots of land in the south of the city. In the end, we reached a consensus that those plots of land should not be sold under any circumstances and must be kept in the hands of the government.”

Ma Qiyun said, "Now that Jiang Xuangui has overturned the Standing Committee's decision at the time, I think it was ill-considered."

Wei Shanghua frowned, but he did not express his opinion on the spot, after all, replacing a county or district leader involved a lot of issues.

"Yiming, focus on recovering from your injury. Put the county matters aside for now."

Wei Shanghua said, "Of course, I've kept everything you just said in mind, and I will give your Xinping County issue a serious consideration."

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Secretary."

Jiang Yiming didn't press for details. He had said everything he needed to say, and he believed Wei Shanghua would take it seriously.

Besides, Jiang Xuangui wasn't one of his men, so he didn't need to protect him to the death.

In addition, Jiang Xuangui is not young, so changing his position is not too difficult.

Shortly afterward, Li Chenggui, Deputy Director of the Provincial Public Security Department, Ding Laixi, Deputy Director of the Yiyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, and Luo Zhengyang, Deputy Director of the Xinping County Public Security Bureau, came to visit Jiang Yiming and exchange information on work progress.

"Secretary Wei, I never expected you to come to the capital to visit Comrade Jiang Yiming in person. As your subordinate, I must be very happy."

Yi Seong-gye greeted him with a smile.

"Director Li, I'm sorry to have troubled you."

Wei Shanghua shook hands with him.

“This is what we should do. Our Director Qiu repeatedly instructed me to make sure that the case is thoroughly investigated and that we can give Comrade Jiang Yiming an explanation.”

Li Chenggui said, "Since Secretary Wei has come in person, I will report to you on the progress of our work."

"I'm here to visit Jiang Yiming and catch up on the case's progress. It's not really a report; we're just exchanging information."

Wei Shanghua smiled.

He was the Party Secretary of the city, a full-fledged provincial-level official, which was higher than Li Chenggui, who was a deputy provincial-level official. However, since the other party was from a provincial-level department, he naturally could not be treated with disrespect.

Li Chenggui exchanged pleasantries and then recounted the progress of the investigation: "We arrived in the capital yesterday afternoon. Based on the information provided by Comrade Jiang Yiming, we immediately contacted the Anping County Public Security Bureau. They verbally agreed to cooperate, but in practice, they did not. On many occasions, they even interfered with our work. We have already reported this to their superior department, the Capital Public Security Bureau. We are currently going through the procedures and awaiting their feedback."

"It seems the other party has quite a background."

Wei Shanghua frowned and said, "You should continue to communicate with the Capital Public Security Bureau and try to gain their support. If they are still unwilling to cooperate, you should report to the Provincial Department in a timely manner, and I will also report to the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government."

"Secretary Wei, rest assured, we will keep a close eye on this case and strive to make progress as soon as possible."

"With Director Li personally taking charge, I believe there will definitely be a good result."

Wei Shanghua instructed, "Comrades Wang Laixi and Luo Zhengyang, you must cooperate well with the provincial leaders, follow their instructions, and solve this case as soon as possible to give Secretary Yiming an explanation."

"Don't worry, Secretary, we will definitely cooperate fully with the provincial department leaders."

Wang Laixi and Luo Zhengyang immediately expressed their opinions.

Wei Shanghua had other things to take care of, so he left with Ma Qiyun.

Yi Seong-gye and others continued to wait for news.

Ultimately, however, they were greatly disappointed.

"Director Li, Mayor Lei personally oversaw this matter. According to the investigation, the Anping branch handled it correctly; it was just a common fight. The two offenders have been detained for fifteen days. There is no involvement of organized crime as you claim."

Upon receiving the notification from the Capital City Bureau, Li Chenggui immediately reported to the Provincial Department.

"It seems the other party has a powerful background. You should come back first. I will report to the provincial leaders and then we will talk. However, I don't think it will change the outcome."

Qiu Dacheng said, "Their deputy mayor has already intervened, but there's still no result. So this is the only way. After all, their location is very special, and even if our provincial government intervenes, it might not be effective."