At the Pinnacle of Power: My Insider Report Alarms Bigwigs in Beijing's Elite Circle

A week later, Lin Yi convened another meeting of the Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee.

The meeting approved the appointment and removal of nine cadres from the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Municipal Political and Legal System, including two deputy secretaries of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of Zhoucheng District, two deputy directors of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, the head of the Criminal Investigation Detachment, the head of the Traffic Police Detachment, the deputy chief prosecutor of the Municipal Procuratorate, the director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the vice president of the Municipal Court.

These nine people were recommended by the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission to the Organization Department of the Municipal Party Committee. The list was drafted by Ji Ming and Kong Zhao, and they selected all cadres from other places in accordance with Lin Yi's requirements.

These cadres from other places were previously ostracized and suppressed by the local faction, and they were very dissatisfied with the local faction. Now that they have the opportunity to be promoted, they will definitely be loyal to Ji Ming and Kong Zhao, and become the sharp blade for Lin Yi to cut down the local faction in Longzhou!

At the meeting, Ji Ming and Kong Zhao also reported on the inspection work plan and the special action plan for the crackdown on organized crime.

All the units related to Chen Yaodong's Dongsheng Real Estate Company, including the Urban Construction Bureau, Planning Bureau, and Land Bureau, were on the list of units to be inspected.

The campaign plan to crack down on organized crime and gang-related activities aims to severely punish criminal gangs in the sand and gravel, traditional Chinese medicine, vegetable, and transportation sectors, all of which are related to the Chen family.

Both proposals were carefully prepared for the Chen family and were successfully passed at the meeting.

The following day, Lin Yi attended both the inspection work meeting and the special campaign meeting on the fight against organized crime, and put forward requirements for both tasks at the meetings.

That afternoon, the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection dispatched an inspection team to the inspected unit and immediately began its inspection work.

The Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission was not to be outdone. It broadcast reports on the special campaign against organized crime and gang-related activities on television and newspapers, and provided channels for public reporting, including letters, phone calls, and online reporting.

On the second day of the campaign to crack down on organized crime, four key members of the Chen family—Chen Yaohui, Chen Yaojun, Chen Yaotao, and Chen Yaobin—were arrested by the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Chen Yaohui is the boss of the largest sand and gravel plant in Longzhou City, monopolizing the supply of sand and gravel in the city. If any construction project does not use sand and gravel from Chen Yaohui's company, it will be basically impossible to carry out normal construction.

Chen Yaojun is the general manager of Tianyao Transportation Company in Longzhou City. The company monopolizes transportation in Longzhou City, including short- and medium-distance passenger transport and taxis. The government and state-owned enterprises tried to acquire Tianyao Transportation Company but failed.

Chen Yaotao's herbal medicine company monopolized the herbal medicine market in Longzhou, buying herbs from farmers at low prices, exploiting them, and then selling them at high prices after processing. If any farmer dared to sell privately, they would be beaten and have their legs broken.

Chen Yaobin was even more despicable, monopolizing the vegetable market in Longzhou City. He bought vegetables from farmers at low prices and sold them to vegetable vendors at high prices. The vendors then raised the prices even higher and sold them to citizens, who ultimately paid the price.

So much so that a saying circulates in Longzhou: Whether vegetable prices rise or not in Longzhou is not up to the Price Bureau, but up to Chen Yaobin!

Like Chen Yaodong, the four were members of the Yao generation in the Chen family and were also core members, each controlling a field and continuously providing wealth to the Chen family.

Ji Ming and Kong Zhao made thorough preparations before the operation, and their first move was a precise strike against the Chen family, hitting their vital points!

Is the Chen family doomed?

With Lin Yi's swift and decisive action, a question arose in the minds of all the prominent figures in Longzhou City who knew the inside story.

Reason told them that if things continued to develop this way, Lin Yi could really uproot the Chen family.

But reason told them that the Chen family had been entrenched in Longzhou for so many years, with their tentacles reaching into all walks of life and various government agencies throughout the city, and they shouldn't just surrender without a fight.

This is indeed the case.

When the inspection work and the special campaign against organized crime were launched, the core members of the Chen family could no longer sit still.

Two days later.

A secret meeting was held at a private club in Longzhou.

In addition to the Chen clan patriarch and twelve core members, the attendees also included Chen Yang, the mayor and a leading figure of the Longzhou local faction!

"Mayor Chen, the Lin family is determined to drive the Chen family to its doom. We cannot sit idly by and wait for our doom; we must find a way to stop them." At the start of the meeting, the Chen family patriarch, an elderly man in his seventies, spoke first, setting the tone for the meeting.

He used the word "we" in his words to tell Chen Yang: you and we are in the same boat. If the Chen family's boat sinks, you won't be able to continue as mayor.

Chen Yang knew perfectly well what was going on, and frowned as he said, "Old Chen, Lin Yi used the Chenjiazhai drug manufacturing case as a pretext to attract the Central Joint Investigation Team. It's like he has the imperial sword in his hand. Even the provincial leaders don't dare to interfere in Longzhou's affairs. Under these circumstances, even if I wanted to stop Lin Yi, I'm powerless to do so!"

"Killing someone is just a matter of a nod. Since that Lin guy is determined to wipe us out, let's just go all the way and get rid of him!" someone said viciously.

"no!"

The moment the Chen clan member finished speaking, his words were rejected by Chen Yang and several others, including the Chen clan patriarch.

Chen Yang issued a stern warning: "The Hu family of Ninghai once orchestrated a car accident in Ninghai to kill Lin Yi, which resulted in the imprisonment of Wei Haifeng, the Party Secretary of Ninghai City, and Chen Yonghui, the Party Secretary of Ninghai Province. Hu Fei, the former Director of the Ninghai Public Security Bureau, was sentenced to death, and the entire Hu family was implicated, suffering a devastating blow! If the Chen family does something like this, the Chen family will be finished. This is a red line that must not be crossed!"

"The mayor is right. We can't do things that cross the line, otherwise the Chen family will be finished."

Chen Hua, a core member of the Chen clan and the deputy mayor of the municipal government, echoed Chen Yang's words, stopping his clansman from having any suicidal thoughts.

Then, he asked Chen Yang, "Mayor, we won't do anything that crosses the red line, but can we find a way to make that Lin guy hesitate to act, or even force him to step down and get out of Longzhou?"

"I've been thinking about this for the past two days, and it's not like there's no way out. Chen Yaodong's drug production is a minefield, so we can't make a fuss about it. But the other members of the Chen family have all run into trouble, so we can still make a fuss about that. For example, we can get the old, weak, sick, and disabled people from Chenjia Village to gather together and besiege the municipal party committee and government, creating a mass incident!" Chen Yang said with a cold glint in his eyes and a ruthless expression.

He knew that he and the Chen family were in the same boat; once Lin Yi dealt with the Chen family, he would lose his job as mayor.

Under these circumstances, he decided to use the Chen family to create a mass incident. Even if he couldn't oust Lin Yi from power, he wanted to cause trouble for Lin Yi and make him hesitant to act recklessly.

"Mayor, that's a brilliant idea!"

Chen Hua's eyes lit up. He knew that the core issue in this matter lay with Lin Yi. As long as Lin Yi was resolved, all the problems would be solved.

"Mayor Chen, you will be in charge of developing the specific plan, and the Chen family will fully cooperate."

The Chen clan patriarch also spoke up, then addressed the other core members of the clan: "If sacrifice is necessary, the clan will be fully responsible for the future of the person who sacrifices their entire family, and their name will be added to a separate page of the family genealogy!"

The family genealogy should be on a separate page!

Upon hearing the Chen clan patriarch's last words, all the core members of the Chen clan were startled.

For a large family like the Chen clan, having a separate page in the genealogy is an immense honor, and countless clansmen are willing to die for it!

Just as Chen Yang and the Chen family were plotting a counterattack against Lin Yi, Kong Zhao received a report and learned of the matter.

Before the campaign against organized crime began, he selected a group of trusted confidants to monitor the core members of the Chen family.

Upon receiving the report, Kong Zhao immediately called Lin Yi and reported on Mayor Chen Yang's private gathering with core members of the Chen family.

After the report, Kong Zhao stated his judgment: "Secretary, Chen Yang and the others gathered privately, probably intending to cause trouble."

"It looks like they're going to do something desperate. Send someone to keep a close eye on Chenjia Village."

Lin Yi had anticipated this and was not surprised—the Chen family had been deeply rooted in Longzhou for many years and would not easily admit defeat!

Kong Zhao's heart skipped a beat: "Secretary, do you mean that the Chen family is going to use the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled in Chenjia Village to cause trouble?"

"This is one of the few bargaining chips they have left," Lin Yi indirectly gave the answer.

Kong Zhao asked for instructions: "Secretary, in that case, I will arrange for people to keep a close eye on Chenjia Village. If there is any disturbance, we will stop it immediately and suppress it if necessary!"

"No need. The bigger the fire burns, the bigger the commotion becomes, the more advantageous it is for us."

Lin Yi rejected Kong Zhao's suggestion, intending to use a counter-strategy to drag Zhang Dongfeng and Hua Canghai into the mess!