Nominal: The pinnacle of power began in the sixth province of Handong.

Gao Yuliang walked toward his office and ran into Qi Tongwei on the way.

Qi Tongwei was anxious and ran all the way. When he saw Gao Yuliang coming, he was clearly pleasantly surprised.

"Tongwei, perfect timing, I have something to tell you..."

Gao Yuliang planned to inform Qi Tongwei about Xia Qing's work in investigating sick officials and instructed him to seriously consider conducting a self-examination.

But Qi Tongwei, unusually, interrupted Gao Yuliang, panting heavily as he said:

"Teacher, let's not talk about that now... Zhao Ruilong... he's gone back to Handong..."

Gao Yuliang's expression tightened almost imperceptibly, and he calmly said:

"No rush, tell me slowly. How did you find out about this?"

"He just called me this morning to say he was coming, and I've already asked Cheng Du to pick him up at the airport," Qi Tongwei said, wiping his sweat.

"Teacher, what do you think Zhao Ruilong is back for? Could it be that Old Master Zhao has given some instructions...?"

Gao Yuliang raised his right hand, signaling Qi Tongwei to stop talking.

Then, he opened the lid of his thermos, drank the last sip of tea left after the Standing Committee meeting, and said:

"It's alright, whether he contacts you or me won't affect anything. But remember, don't get involved with anything new, and get rid of the past as much as possible. Be a good police chief and live up to your uniform. However, you've done a very good job lately; it's like the former deputy chief, Qi Tongwei, has returned."

He paused, looked into Qi Tongwei's eyes, and said earnestly:

"Minister Xia, I'm giving you a chance."

Qi Tongwei was taken aback, and his eyes gradually began to shine.

Is Xia Qing giving herself a chance?

Qi Tongwei couldn't believe what he was hearing. Xia Qing had finally seen him? And accepted him?

If we can really get closer to Xia Qing.

The sub-provincial level is no longer a distant dream!

At this time, Qi Tongwei had experienced Li Dakang's framing and Sha Ruijin's suppression.

With Gao Yuliang's guidance, he refocused his attention and concentrated on his work.

Gradually, he rediscovered the feeling he once had.

Because he had noticed the changes in himself, Qi Tongwei felt not only worry and rejection, but also a great deal of fear when facing Zhao Ruilong, who was about to return to Handong.

He feared that Zhao Ruilong would make some demand, forcing him to go back to the past and reconnect with the things he wanted to distance himself from.

Upon hearing Gao Yuliang's words, Qi Tongwei suddenly gained confidence.

It's never too late if Minister Xia is willing to give it a chance.

Thinking of this, Qi Tongwei immediately made a promise to Gao Yuliang:

"Teacher, please rest assured, I will never let you and Minister Xia down!"

Gao Yuliang said with a smile:

"Go."

Qi Tongwei turned and walked away, clenching his fists and waving them in the air as he went, full of fighting spirit.

Gao Yuliang watched Qi Tongwei's retreating figure, a smile still on his face, but the curve of his lips inexplicably revealed a sense of sorrow.

……

At this moment, Xia Qing was assigning tasks to her department.

"The investigation into the three officials will begin by reviewing all the leads we've received so far to determine the direction of the investigation. Afterwards, an investigation team will be established, headed by Minister Lei Yu, to work jointly with the auditing and procuratorial departments."

"In addition, each group should complete its report as soon as possible after the research is completed and submit it to the Policy Research Office for compilation. Minister Chen Hui, please continue to follow up on the talent introduction work."

Several vice ministers were taking notes attentively when Lei Yu asked a question:

"Minister, do we need the police's cooperation?"

Xia Qing smiled and said:

"That's a good question, but we don't need to bring it up ourselves. We need to give them a chance."

Lei Yu didn't quite understand Xia Qing's meaning, but since the top leader had made it clear, he didn't ask any more questions.

After the ministerial meeting ended and the vice ministers left, Xia Qing walked to the window and looked out over the courtyard.

The courtyard was bathed in the warm, gentle autumn sunlight, the golden hues almost blinding.

Xia Qing stroked her chin with her right hand, deep in thought.

With Gao Yuliang's political acumen, he couldn't possibly fail to guess his own intentions.

As long as Gao Yuliang gives Qi Tongwei some pointers, he will stay here and wait for Qi Tongwei to arrive.

This is the police force of Handong.

At this moment, liaison officer Xiao Duan entered the meeting room and reported the situation to Xia Qing:

"Minister, Guangming District and Dafeng Factory have signed a formal demolition agreement, and the shareholders are pressuring Guangming District to approve the land. Yi Xuexi is leading an inspection team to investigate the food court, and the Anti-Corruption Bureau is also investigating the oil and gas group."

Xia Qing processed this information and pondered:

"Hmm, the full-scale anti-corruption campaign is just one step away from completion; this is a preliminary battle. By the way, is the Anti-Corruption Bureau investigating? As I expected, neither Sha Ruijin nor Tian Guofu wanted to be pawns, so they sent Hou Liangping to investigate the oil and gas group."

Xia Qing analyzed the current situation. Sha Ruijin had sent two generals to attack the food city and the oil and gas group at the same time. The Zhao family would not sit idly by and would launch a crazy retaliation once they found an opportunity.

Hou Liangping and Yi Xuexi will be the first to be affected.

The food court incident has now implicated Gao Yuliang.

Will this deputy secretary obstruct the inspection, or will he allow Yi Xuexi to thoroughly investigate the matter?

We can only wait and see.

Now that the Organization Department's investigation is nearing completion and the investigation of corrupt officials is about to begin, Xia Qing is also waiting for his opportunity.

The ongoing anti-corruption campaign will lead to a large number of officials leaving their posts.

Sha Ruijin will not let go of this excellent opportunity to lead the personnel changes.

Xia Qing won't let it go either.

However, Xia Qing's direction was different from Sha Ruijin's.

Xia Qing was eyeing the positions of division-level cadres, which were spread across the grassroots and important front-line posts, making it easy to plan and strategize.

In addition, Xia Qing made achievements as soon as he arrived in Handong, and his background was incredibly strong, giving him extremely high prestige.

It's easy to start the action.

What the provincial party secretary definitely wants is the appointment and removal of department-level cadres, but there is great resistance to it.

After all, the provincial-level positions are the focus of the power struggle among all parties. If Sha Ruijin wants to promote his own people to the position, he must pay an equal price in exchange for such a deal.

Sha Ruijin achieved almost nothing in Handong, was not good at managing the economy, and had little prestige among the provincial party committee members and the four major leadership bodies.

This is also the main reason why Sha Ruijin ordered Hou Liangping and Yi Xuexi to launch an offensive against the Zhao family's two major industries at the same time.

He was really anxious.

Wu Chunlin was uncooperative, and so was Xia Qing.

The deterrent effect of a provincial party secretary who fails to grasp the power of personnel appointments is drastically reduced.

Xia Qing clearly saw that Sha Ruijin's methods had changed from his initial ruthless approach when he first arrived in Handong to his current predicament.

His path is becoming increasingly narrow, and he can hardly find any useful means.

Therefore, Sha Ruijin could only continue down one path: fighting corruption, investigating cases, and arresting people.

In the end, it's easy to get yourself caught up in the struggle.

Xia Qing sighed. He could already see the day when Sha Ruijin would be driven to utter ruin by a single misstep.

The more Sha Ruijin acted this way, the less he should be impatient for quick success.

Everything must be done step by step with caution.

After all, he represented not only the Hantong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, but also the Xia family.