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

"Secretary, I'm so sorry to disturb your rest."

Liang Yongguang said, "There is something I need to report to you."

"Tell me what's going on."

"Regarding the case of the disappearance of Zhang Laosan's son in Zhangzhai Village, Dongtian Town, after receiving the task, we immediately sent people to investigate and quickly found the whereabouts of Zhang Laosan's son, Zhang Zhixue."

Liang Yongguang stated, "Zhang Zhixue was sent to Yiyang City Mental Hospital. According to Article 30 of my country's Mental Health Law, hospitalization for mental disorders is based on the principle of voluntariness. Hospitalization can only be enforced if 'an act has already endangered the safety of others, or there is a danger to the safety of others,' and if the patient or their guardian disagrees, they can request a re-diagnosis and evaluation. Clearly, Zhang Zhixue's parents, as his guardians, were unaware that their son had been sent to a mental hospital."

"Mental hospital?"

Jiang Yiming frowned and said, "You must find out exactly who dared to send a normal person to a mental hospital!"

"Our people have made a preliminary investigation and found that the person was sent to the mental hospital by the village and the town police station together."

Liang Yongguang said, "We are arranging for relevant personnel to conduct a medical evaluation of Zhang Zhixue, and at the same time, we are taking Zhang Zhixue's parents to Yiyang City to complete the relevant procedures for their son."

“However, while we were handling this case, Zhang Zhixue’s friends also learned that Zhang Zhixue was being held in a mental hospital. His friends contacted the media and prepared to expose this matter, so I immediately reported it to you.”

"You arrange for someone to keep Zhang Zhixue's friends calm for now. I'll have the publicity department intervene as soon as possible to minimize the impact of this matter."

Jiang Yiming immediately gave instructions.

Although it was a true story, as the county party secretary, he had to consider the image of Xichuan County.

Once this matter is exposed, it will inevitably damage the credibility and image of the Xichuan County government. This will have a significant impact on the development of tourism and investment attraction in Xichuan County.

"Minister Fengying, there is an urgent matter that requires the intervention of the Publicity Department."

After calling Jiang Fengying, the head of the publicity department, Jiang Yiming briefly recounted the situation, saying, "Use all available resources to ensure this matter remains undisclosed. Also, contact Dongtian Town and have them send friends and relatives who are close to Zhang Laosan to persuade him. Make promises to them: first, severely punish those responsible; second, provide compensation to Zhang Zhixue. But under no circumstances should you use coercion or complicate matters."

"Yes, Secretary, I will arrange for people to handle this immediately and do my best to complete this task."

Jiang Fengying also knew the importance of this matter, and subsequently sent a deputy minister to handle it.

The next morning, Jiang Yiming received a report from Jiang Fengying.

"Secretary, after our task force arrived in Yiyang City, we communicated with them, but the effect was not significant. According to their feedback, Zhang Zhixue's parents initially agreed not to accept media interviews or expose the matter to the public. However, the moment Zhang Zhixue's parents saw their son, they immediately changed their minds."

“Zhang Zhixue’s parents said that their son was not fat to begin with, but after being locked up for more than ten days, he lost 20 pounds and became skin and bones. They are determined to expose this and seek justice for their son.”

"Keep working and do your best."

Although Jiang Yiming wanted to suppress the matter, he could understand the feelings of Zhang Zhixue's family.

A perfectly healthy person was sent to a mental hospital and lost 20 pounds; it's hard for anyone to accept.

"Li Feng, notify the Standing Committee members who are at home to attend the meeting in the small conference room at 9:00 sharp. Also, tell Director Liang to attend the meeting and give a brief report on the Zhang Zhixue matter."

Jiang Yiming made the arrangements.

We must be prepared to deal with such serious incidents, otherwise we will be in a very passive position.

"Okay, Secretary."

Wang Lifeng immediately called to inform them.

At nine o'clock, all members of the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee, as well as Liang Yongguang, the Deputy County Head and Director of the Public Security Bureau, arrived at the conference room.

"Everyone's here, let's begin."

Jiang Yiming said, "Yesterday, I led a team to Dongtian Town to receive petitioners. Some villagers reported that there were major problems with the demolition compensation involved in the road construction. One of the villagers, named Zhang Laosan, reported to higher authorities that town and village officials were extorting money and embezzling state funds in order to get his compensation. His son was arrested for helping to write the complaint letter and has not been found since."

"Upon learning of this situation, I immediately convened a meeting and arranged for the county discipline inspection commission to lead a special investigation team to verify the relevant matters. Currently, each investigation team has proactively gone to various townships to conduct investigations. There has also been new progress regarding the whereabouts of Zhang Laosan's son, Zhang Zhixue."

"Director Yongguang will report on the specific details."

"Distinguished leaders, in accordance with the spirit of yesterday's meeting, the county public security department, following the division of responsibilities, immediately assigned capable personnel to join the special task force. The police officers, adhering to strict work standards, conducted in-depth investigations and uncovered clues, successfully locating Zhang Zhixue. He was sent to the municipal mental hospital by village secretary Zhang Youtian, deputy director of the town police station Shao Qiang, and others..."

Liang Yongguang gave a brief report on the whole matter.

"As you all have heard, some officials in Dongtian Town have acted recklessly, sending a normal person to a mental hospital. It's utterly absurd and outrageous!"

Jiang Yiming said, "We have located Zhang Zhixue and are processing his discharge from the hospital. However, according to feedback, Zhang Zhixue's friends have contacted the media and are preparing to expose this matter."

“Even we ourselves think this is absurd. If it were to be exposed, it would inevitably generate a lot of negative news, which would have a significant impact on the credibility of our county’s government and our ability to attract investment. Therefore, we must take active measures to prevent the matter from being exposed.”

"I have already arranged for colleagues from the publicity department to handle the situation, and the current situation is not optimistic. We need to prepare response measures after the matter is exposed."

“Secretary, now that we know Zhang Zhixue and his group have contacted the media, we should take decisive measures to prevent this matter from being exposed.”

Gao Zhenliang, secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, said, "When necessary, appropriate measures can be taken."

"I agree with Secretary Zhenliang's opinion. The recent televised questioning has finally built up a certain amount of good reputation. Once it is exposed, it will have a great impact on the image of our county's government."

“I agree with Secretary Zhenliang’s opinion. Our county is vigorously developing the tourism industry and is at a critical stage of attracting investment. Once this matter is exposed, it will definitely have a great impact on these two issues. Especially the tourism industry, if tourists have a bad impression of a city, they will avoid traveling there. Moreover, this is a personal crisis caused by some officials, so ordinary people are even more sensitive and concerned.”

Meng Chunsheng, Yang Zhengtao, Jiang Fengying, and others successively voiced their opinions.

Everyone was in complete agreement and supported taking special measures to prevent the matter from being exposed.

Jiang Yiming knew that they were acting in the best interests of Xichuan County, but they were willing to sacrifice, or even infringe, the rights of Zhang Zhixue and others.

"To address this issue, we must first address the problems within ourselves."

Jiang Yiming said, "Such a big thing happened in Dongtian Town. The Party Secretary and the Mayor both bear leadership responsibility. I propose that Huang Baotian, the Party Secretary of Dongtian Town, and Cai Qing, the Mayor, be dismissed from their posts, and that Zheng Weibang, the Deputy Party Secretary, Shao Qiang, the Deputy Director of the Police Station, and other relevant personnel involved in the case be investigated."

"Any issues related to demolition compensation will be investigated and dealt with strictly and swiftly. Those who should be dismissed will be dismissed, and those who should be held accountable will be held accountable. If the compensation has not been paid in full, it will be paid immediately after verification."

"As for the exposure issue involved in Zhang Zhixue's case, we need to do more work to try to calm this matter down. After all, the location is Yiyang City, not Xichuan County. If it is not handled properly, it will not only fail to calm the situation but will also ignite public opinion."

Previously, in some places, in an attempt to cover up existing problems, journalists were subjected to forced searches and even detentions, which were subsequently exposed and attracted nationwide attention.