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

At 2:30 p.m., Liang Yongguang, the county public security bureau chief, arrived at Jiang Yiming's office, led by Tang Zhichao.

"County Chief, Director Liang has arrived."

Tang Zhichao introduced, "Director Liang, this is our newly appointed County Head Jiang Yiming."

"Director Liang, I've finally seen your true colors."

Jiang Yiming took the initiative to walk over and shake hands with him.

Liang Yongguang was tall and strong, with sharp eyes and deep wrinkles on his forehead.

"County Chief Jiang, I also look forward to meeting you."

With steady steps, Liang Yongguang shook hands with Jiang Yiming and said without a smile, "I came to report to you as soon as I got back."

"Then let's sit down and have a good talk."

Jiang Yiming invited Liang Yongguang to take a seat.

After pouring water for the two of them, Tang Zhichao left the office.

"County Chief Jiang, I know you're very busy, and so am I. There's a ton of stuff at the bureau waiting for me to get back, so I'll just give you a brief report."

Liang Yongguang said, "Our bureau is seriously short of funds. Please, County Head, grant us more funding."

Jiang Yiming waited a while, and seeing that the other party stopped speaking, asked in confusion, "Is that all?"

"What else would you like to hear?"

Liang Yongguang countered with a question.

Jiang Yiming narrowed his eyes slightly. It seemed that Director Liang had a prejudice against him!

"Since that's all, you can leave now."

Jiang Yiming stood up, returned to his desk, and looked down at the documents.

Now it was Liang Yongguang's turn to worry.

"County Chief Jiang, you should at least give me a response to what I just reported, shouldn't you?"

"No approval!"

Jiang Yiming said without looking up, "This year's budget is 20 percent less than last year's."

"What? Less than last year?"

Liang Yongguang immediately objected: "County Chief Jiang, last year many of our officers didn't receive their autumn/winter uniforms and had to go to work in worn-out old-fashioned uniforms. If the budget is reduced again this year, we'll have to go to work naked!"

"Then you should give a proper report."

Jiang Yiming said with a stern face, "I don't even know the basic situation of the county public security bureau. How can I approve funding for you?"

"Didn't I already hand over the report to you?"

"If you don't want to report, turn left as you leave."

Jiang Yiming didn't tolerate this police chief at all.

On the first meeting, regardless of the other person's background or thoughts, he had to intimidate them, otherwise they would be difficult to manage later.

"Alright, alright, if you want to hear it, then I'll read it to you."

Having no other choice, Liang Yongguang quickly took out his prepared text and read it aloud.

"Looking back on the past year, our county's Public Security Bureau, through the joint efforts of all its officers, actively fulfilled its responsibilities and made significant contributions to maintaining social order and stability and ensuring the people's peaceful and prosperous lives. Especially in maintaining social stability, we consistently adhered to a people-centered approach, prioritizing the maintenance of social order and stability. Through measures such as strengthening patrols and prevention, cracking down on crime, and resolving conflicts and disputes, the county's public security situation has been effectively improved. A total of 141 criminal cases were solved throughout the year, and 197 criminal suspects were apprehended, effectively deterring the arrogance of criminals..."

"Stop reading these aloud, and tell me about the problems in your bureau."

Jiang Yiming interrupted Liang Yongguang.

"Although we have made some achievements in the past year, there are still some problems and shortcomings. First, the professional skills and service awareness of some officers need to be improved; second, team building needs to be further strengthened, especially in the training of young officers."

Liang Yongguang said, "The report is finished."

"The two issues you just mentioned are indeed your problems and shortcomings, but you haven't written down the deeper issues."

Jiang Yiming said, "Do you know why I'm cutting your funding?"

Liang Yongguang shook his head; he also wanted to know the reason.

“The fees that your officers have received under various pretexts are more than enough to cover the shortfall in funding.”

"County Chief Jiang, aren't you going a bit too far with what you're saying?"

Liang Yongguang was extremely protective of his subordinates; he treated the county public security bureau as his own home, and the officers as his brothers and sisters.

Jiang Yiming said there were bad people among the police officers, which meant his brothers and sisters were bad, so naturally he was unhappy!

"If you don't want to provide funding, just say so. There's no need to slander our officers!"

Liang Yongguang said, "I admit that there are a very few problems among our officers, but they are only isolated cases. Our bureau is also strengthening its internal rectification and will seriously investigate and punish such scoundrels."

"I will be the first to object to using isolated cases to smear our police force!"

"Director Liang, you treat them like brothers, but they may not treat you like a brother."

Jiang Yiming said, "Of course, I also hope that you are the one who gets deceived, rather than someone who goes along with it."

"Didn't you say I was slandering you? Here are the findings of the investigation; you can verify them one by one."

Jiang Yiming took a report out of the drawer and threw it on the table.

This is the situation he had someone investigate.

On his first visit to Xichuan County, he encountered a police officer like Li Yong. He didn't believe this was an isolated case, so he ordered a preliminary investigation.

Some police officers were found to have violated laws and regulations.

"Oh, right, I only had people investigate the situation in Daxing Subdistrict and Zhaowan Township. One is the county government seat, and the other is a township under its jurisdiction. These two should be somewhat representative."

Jiang Yiming said, "If there are so many problems in just two townships, I don't believe that other townships are without any problems!"

As Liang Yongguang reviewed the investigation, the first thing he noticed was Jiang Yiming's personal experience.

Looking at the process described above, Liang Yongguang found it hard to believe.

"That bastard Li Yong, he extorted a thousand yuan from you?"

"Do you think I would fabricate stories to frame him?"

Jiang Yiming countered with a question.

“County Chief Jiang, I know there are some problems within our bureau, but I didn’t expect them to be this serious. As the head of the Public Security Bureau, I have neglected my duties. I will come back to apologize to you after I have dealt with this matter.”

Liang Yongguang naturally couldn't bring up the issue of funding again, and strode away.

The two of them were quite loud, and Liang Yongguang left Jiang Yiming's office in a very aggressive manner.

This led many people to believe that Jiang Yiming and Liang Yongguang of the county public security bureau were at odds.

"County Chief, did Liang Yongguang get into an argument with you?"

Tang Zhichao came in and advised, "He's just stubborn, there's no need for you to get angry with him."

"Whether I'm angry or not is not important; what I value more is his competence and character."

Jiang Yiming said, "If he is incompetent, there is no need for him to stay. I will work with Secretary Niu to suggest to the city that he be transferred away from here."

The next day at nine o'clock, in the county committee auditorium.

Leaders of the "four major bodies" (county-level Party committee, county ...

Niu Baogen sat on the platform with a smile on his face, ready to give a mobilization speech.