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

After a week of tireless investigation, the police finally identified key members of various gangs.

Under intense propaganda and high-profile pressure, some core members of the gang voluntarily surrendered.

However, a considerable number of gang members still harbored illusions and resisted to the end.

On September 7, with the strong support of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Xichuan County mobilized a large number of police officers to conduct a comprehensive search of all bathhouses, KTVs, sauna clubs, underground casinos, dance halls and other places in the county, and arrested relevant gang members.

Working through the night, all officers apprehended 61 key criminals, 239 gang members, 58 prostitutes, and 106 gamblers and clients. They seized 27 firearms, 1007 rounds of ammunition, and 16 kilograms of drugs.

Unfortunately, Wang Yaodong and Hu Zi, the leaders of the Nangang Society, have fled and have not been found to this day.

The next key focus will be on interrogating the arrested personnel, sorting out clues, and pursuing the fugitive suspects.

At the same time, the task force cracking down on illegal mining has also made some progress.

A total of 32 illegal mining activities were discovered, including 13 unlicensed illegal mining activities. 19 people in charge were arrested, 210 excavators used in the crimes were seized, 152 ore transport vehicles were seized, 596 illegal mining wells were shut down, and more than 4000 tons of mineral products were confiscated.

The task force categorized the violations according to their different types, initiating investigations where necessary and imposing administrative penalties where appropriate.

Whether it's illegal mining or involvement in organized crime, no one can survive for long without the backing of officials.

As a result, dozens of officials, both high and low-ranking, were summoned for questioning by the disciplinary committee. Some went and returned, while others never came back.

On September 11, the director of the Xichuan County Mineral Resources Bureau was placed under investigation by the Discipline Inspection Commission.

On September 7, two deputy directors of the Xichuan County Mineral Resources Bureau, Xing Dayun, deputy secretary of the Nangang Town Party Committee and director of the Nangang Town Police Station, and seven village party secretaries were placed under investigation by the Discipline Inspection Commission.

On September 5, Li Mingqian, deputy director of the county people's congress, was placed under investigation by the municipal discipline inspection commission. Five other officials, including Guo Hong, deputy president of the county people's court, Zhao Jin, deputy chief prosecutor of the county procuratorate, and Sun Hongju, deputy director of the county public security bureau, were also taken away by the discipline inspection commission.

The entire Xichuan County was gripped by fear.

All sorts of rumors are flying around, some saying that a certain official has been arrested, others saying that this official has been arrested.

As the saying goes in officialdom: it's not important who you look at, it's important who you can't see. It's not important who doesn't show up, it's interesting if someone never shows up.

If someone doesn't show up, they are very likely to be arrested by the disciplinary committee.

In order to prove that they had not been arrested, the officials who were rumored to have been arrested frequently went to the countryside and participated in public activities.

Gao Zhenliang, a member of the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee and Secretary of the County Political and Legal Affairs Commission, is one of them. He has recently been scheduled to conduct a lot more research and investigation work.

Although she wears a bright smile at various events, she is actually like a cat on a hot tin roof in private, anxiously pacing around.

He went to County Head Huang Shaohua's office several times to inquire about the situation, but he couldn't get any information out of him.

Gao Zhenliang had no choice but to knock on the door of Jiang Yiming's office, the county party secretary.

"Secretary, I have something I want to report to you."

Gao Zhenliang is much more polite than before.

"Secretary Zhenliang, what's the matter? Sit down and let's talk."

Jiang Yiming personally poured water for Gao Zhenliang, which calmed him down considerably.

If the Discipline Inspection Commission really had evidence of his crimes, Jiang Yiming wouldn't have been so polite to him.

"I heard that the recent special operation has achieved fruitful results under the wise guidance of the Party Secretary. This is truly gratifying."

Gao Zhenliang apologized, saying, "As the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Xichuan County, I never imagined that there were so many illegal cases in Xichuan County. I am not qualified as the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission. Please give me more criticism and guidance."

“Secretary Zhenliang, I have to say something to you about this. Sun Changjun, a villager from Yaogou Village, reported the situation to the county government many times, and the county government knew about it. Later, his family of three was burned to death with gasoline, but the perpetrator was only convicted of a personal grudge and sentenced to only thirteen years. This is a serious trampling on the spirit of the rule of law.”

"Moreover, there are other hidden stories behind this matter."

“Secretary, I bear some responsibility for this matter, but I was also kept in the dark. It was the investigators who distorted the truth, which led to my misjudgment of the matter.”

Gao Zhenliang defended himself, saying, "If I had known there was a grievance behind this, I would never have let them go. These are three lives lost! Who is so vicious as to treat them so cruelly? Secretary, I heard that the staff handling Sun Changjun's case have all been placed under investigation. Have they confessed who instigated this?"

"Why are you asking about this?"

Jiang Yiming inquired.

"I really want to know who was so vicious as to kill three ordinary people back then."

Gao Zhenliang said, "Besides, as the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, it's normal for me to have some understanding of the case."

"Secretary Zhenliang, do you really not know who's behind this?"

Jiang Yiming's eyes sharpened as he suddenly stared at Gao Zhenliang.

Gao Zhenliang couldn't help but tremble slightly. After only a second of hesitation, he forced a smile and said, "If I knew who it was, I would have arranged for a reinvestigation and arrested him long ago. I wouldn't have let him get away with it until now."

"I knew it! Any cadre with a conscience wouldn't let the mastermind behind this get away with it. If Secretary Zhenliang knew, how could he possibly remain indifferent? Wouldn't that make him no different from an animal?"

“The secretary is right.”

Gao Zhenliang said, "Secretary, I have another request today. As the secretary of the county's Political and Legal Affairs Commission, it is a bit unreasonable that I cannot join the 'anti-gang and anti-crime' task force. This has never happened anywhere else."

“Secretary Zhenliang, don’t overthink it. Neither you nor Director Yongguang were included in the special task force. It was the city’s requirement to do so. The city believes that with such a big problem in our county, there must be a protective umbrella in the public security, procuratorate, court and judicial system. In order to avoid local cadres interfering with the handling of the case, the main members of the special task force are all from the city.”

Jiang Yiming asked, "Is there anything else?"

"That's all, then I won't disturb the secretary's work any longer."

Seeing that he had not found out the situation, Gao Zhenliang could only leave dejectedly.

Then Tang Zhichao came in to report: "Secretary, I just ran into Gao Zhenliang."

"Yes, he just left my office, probably trying to find out some information. Looks like he's getting restless."

Jiang Yiming said, "I hope the Discipline Inspection Commission will make a breakthrough soon."

"By the way, County Chief Zhichao, how's your coordination with Linjiang City going? Have you confirmed the exact arrival times for Chief Engineers Jiang Dongjun and Jia Shengyuan?"

"The coordination has been completed. The two chief engineers will lead their teams over next Monday. However, in order to speed up the process, they will split into two groups for the research. Chief Engineer Jia Shengyuan will go to Yiyang City, and Chief Engineer Jiang Dongjun will go to Linjiang City."

"Okay, make the necessary preparations and receive the chief engineer with the highest level of hospitality."

Jiang Yiming gave a few instructions, then called Mayor Gao Yanzong to report the situation.