Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

Three black vans bearing provincial government passes were parked straight in the center of the main building of the Luzhou Municipal Party Committee compound.

The car door opened, and seven or eight auditing specialists in suits filed out, each carrying a heavy metal briefcase.

The head of the audit team, surnamed Ma, was a trusted lieutenant that Chu Pingshan had brought from the coast, and was known for his ruthless approach to auditing accounts.

He straightened his tie, strode into the office building, ignoring even the polite greetings from the director of the municipal party committee office, and headed straight for the top-floor conference room.

Inside the meeting room.

He Xia was bare-faced today, wearing a plain dark business suit, with her long hair simply tied back.

She was standing next to the water dispenser, personally filling a paper cup with hot water.

"Team Leader Ma, you must have had a long journey."

"The accounts in Luzhou have all been compiled and are now ready for review by the experts."

He Xia carried over two cups of hot water and placed them on the table in front of Team Leader Ma, showing extreme cooperation.

Team Leader Ma opened his notebook, didn't touch the glass of water, leaned back, and maintained a very composed demeanor.

"Secretary He, Governor Chu wants absolute transparency."

"We don't look at your prepared reports; those things are unreliable."

"Please grant full access to the core servers of Phase I and Phase II of the New Energy Industrial Park. We need to directly download the original capital flow records and foreign investment access filings."

He Xia nodded and stepped aside to give up the main seat.

"No problem, the people from the Municipal Party Committee's Information Section are outside, and their access has been fully granted. Please feel free to proceed."

Team Leader Ma gave a wink to several of his subordinates.

Two technicians immediately stepped forward, connected the equipment they brought to the conference room's intranet port, and began typing rapidly on the keyboard.

Team Leader Ma picked up his paper cup, took a sip of water, and felt quite pleased with himself.

Before he arrived, he thought this female secretary with a military background would be difficult to deal with, and he was even prepared to deal with being forcibly expelled.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Governor Chu's reputation was established, the other party immediately surrendered without even uttering a sound.

The progress bar had just popped up on the computer screen, less than three seconds ago.

A piercing alarm suddenly blared in the conference room.

The original blue screen turned completely blood red, and a huge sixty-second countdown was frantically jumping in the center of the screen.

Two technicians frantically tried to unplug the data cable, only to find that the keyboard and mouse were completely locked, and they couldn't even force a shutdown.

"What happened?"

Team Leader Ma stood up and questioned loudly.

The technician was sweating profusely and took his hands off the keyboard.

"Team leader, we've encountered a military-grade countermeasure firewall!"

"Our device has been reverse-targeted and its physical address is being tracked!"

He Xia walked back to her seat at a leisurely pace, took out a document with a red stamp from the folder, and pushed it across the table.

"Team Leader Ma, I'm so sorry."

"The second phase of the industrial park just introduced a military-civilian integration project from Huari Heavy Industry last month."

"The core data inside involves parameters of a new generation of military chassis, which are classified as Level 2 secrets of the theater command."

"According to the confidentiality regulations, if any non-military terminal attempts to read the data illegally, the system will automatically lock and format the external device after sixty seconds."

"To access this information, you need a special authorization letter from the military."

Team Leader Ma looked at the document, his face turning pale and then flushed.

This isn't cooperating with the investigation; it's like they've dug a pit for them to jump into!

He picked up his phone, strode outside the meeting room, and dialed the provincial government's hotline.

Provincial Government, Office of the Acting Governor.

Chu Pingshan sat behind his desk, listening to the report on the other end of the phone, his fingers tapping twice on the table.

"Using someone else's name to make a big deal out of nothing."

Chu Pingshan spoke in a flat tone, without any inflection.

"Although Huari Heavy Industry has a military background, its investments in local areas will ultimately be subject to local audits."

"She's using the military's name to pressure the provincial government's procedures."

"Governor, shall we evacuate now?"

"Withdraw what?"

"Since she wants military authorization, then let's follow the proper procedures."

Chu Pingshan hung up the phone, opened a drawer, took out a special letterhead with the provincial government letterhead, and unscrewed the pen.

He wrote a lengthy and earnest official letter, emphasizing the compliance of local economic development and the provincial government's responsibility for supervising the flow of funds for major projects.

After finishing writing, he solemnly affixed the acting governor's personal seal at the end.

"Send this official letter to the Headquarters of the Handong Military Region, and send a copy to the Political Department of the Military Region."

Chu Pingshan handed the official letter to his secretary.

"I don't believe Shen Zhong would dare to openly defy the provincial government's legitimate auditing rights for the sake of a local project."

Once this official letter is sent out, Shen Zhong will be in a passive position.

If the declassification is approved, the provincial government will completely see through Luzhou's true intentions.

Refusing to declassify is tantamount to the military arbitrarily interfering in local government affairs, and Chu Pingshan can take the case to the Supreme Court at any time.

Command Center of the Handong Military Region.

Shen Zhong looked at the fax document that had just been received on the big screen and tapped his finger on the desktop.

Zhou Weiguo stood to the side, looking at the official letter, and stroked his chin.

"Commander, this Chu Pingshan really won't shed a tear until he sees the coffin."

"Should we send someone to Luzhou and remove that audit team from the list?"

Shen Zhong waved his hand.

"Chu Pingshan is a smart man."

"This official letter is impeccably written; every word and sentence emphasizes rules and the overall situation."

"He's forcing us to take a stand."

Shen Zhong placed his hands on the command platform.

His battlefield intuition from his past life told him that using brute force against such a purely rule-based player would only give others ammunition to criticize him.

Since the other party is going to play dirty tricks within the rules, then let's use higher-level rules to launch a direct attack.

"Pack up the electronic version of this official letter."

Shen Zhong turned to look at the communications officer.

"Attach a confidentiality level description of the military radar chassis involved in the Luzhou New Energy Project, and submit it directly to the General Office of the Central Military Commission via an encrypted dedicated line, and forward it to Elder Xu."

"For example, the Handong Provincial Government requested a local audit of classified military-civilian integration projects and asked for instructions from higher authorities."

Zhou Weiguo paused for a moment, then grinned.

This is like kicking the ball directly to the top floor.

Chu Pingshan used the provincial government's rules to pressure the Handong Military Region, while Shen Zhong used the Central Military Commission's rules to pressure Chu Pingshan.

Half an hour later.

Office of the Acting Governor of Handong Province.

The fax machine hummed as it operated, spitting out a red-headed document with a gold wheat ear watermark.

The secretary, holding the documents in both hands, walked quickly to the desk, barely daring to breathe.

"Governor, the military region has replied."

"However... it was sent directly from headquarters."

Chu Pingshan stopped reviewing the documents and took the fax paper.

There were no lengthy, official documents on the paper, only a single, emotionless line of text, carrying an unquestionable sense of authoritarian oppression.

"This matter concerns the bottom line of national defense preparedness, and the audit project is to be terminated immediately. If there are any objections, please have the Acting Governor personally go to Beijing to make a special review to the Central Military Commission."