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

"Be more specific."

Shen Zhong held the phone, his voice devoid of any emotion, but the temperature in the living room changed somewhat because of this call.

He Xia stopped packing her luggage and stood quietly to the side.

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Weiguo tried his best to suppress his excitement and reported the investigation results at a rapid pace.

"Report to the boss! The sand quarry is located behind Baima Mountain in the western suburbs of Jingzhou, right next to the Baima River. It covers a very large area, estimated to be over a hundred acres."

They only work at night, stopping during the day, and are covered by huge dust nets, appearing as a barren wasteland from above, making them very well hidden.

"There are more than 20 vessels at work, all of which are large modified sand dredgers. They can hollow out a small hill in one night."

The excavated sand and gravel are transported directly via the Baima River waterway or hauled away by convoys of heavy trucks, flowing to various construction sites in Jingzhou.

"The damage to the local environment is devastating. The entire back slope of Baima Mountain has been hollowed out, the vegetation on both sides of the river has basically died, and soil erosion is very serious."

Zhou Weiguo paused for a moment, then continued to release key information.

"The actual controller of this sand quarry is called Fatty Wang. He is one of the people Liu Xinjian trusts the most and has been with Liu Xinjian for more than ten years."

Even when Liu Xinjian was still Zhao Lichun's secretary, this Fatty Wang was his "front man."

As he listened intently, a clear network of relationships was already forming in his mind.

"Boss, this is the most crucial part!" Zhou Weiguo lowered his voice, but his excitement was impossible to hide. "Our people managed to infiltrate and estimate that the illicit income this sand quarry provides to Liu Xinjian each year is a terrifying figure!"

"A conservative estimate is no less than 50 million annually!"

This money was the core capital that enabled Liu Xinjian to navigate the complexities of Handong and maintain his vast network of relationships. It was also the source of funds for his extravagant lifestyle.

State-owned enterprise executives provided protection and their cronies, businessmen, to handle the front-line operations, accumulating wealth through predatory and illegal businesses.

Shen Zhong made a judgment in his mind.

This model is a textbook example of collusion between officials and businessmen. Liu Xinjian is not the first to do this, nor will he be the last.

Send me the address coordinates.

"yes!"

The phone hangs up.

He Xia looked at him with a worried expression.

The combination of information—fifty million in illicit income and a former chief secretary to a provincial party secretary—made her feel like she was facing a ferocious beast.

Before she could speak, Shen Zhong had already taken his phone and walked into the study.

He opened the black military laptop and entered the password.

The screen lit up, and a high-precision military map of Handong Province was displayed.

He entered the precise coordinates sent by Zhou Weiguo.

The map zoomed in rapidly, and a red dot flashed in the Baima Mountain area on the western outskirts of Jingzhou.

Next to the red dot, a thin blue line meanders by.

Baima River.

Heavy fingers slid across the touchpad, bringing up the military markings for the river channel.

Handong Province War Preparedness Plan - Category D Appendix - Waterway Transportation

A line of small text appeared on the screen: Baima River, a Level III military transport support waterway.

It is of a very low grade and is basically not used in normal times. It only exists as a backup transport line in wartime plans.

However, its nature is military control.

The heavy fingertip lightly tapped the screen.

It is it.

A perfect reason.

A reason for intervening with overwhelming force, leaving no local department with any right to interfere.

He picked up the phone and dialed Zhou Weiguo again.

"The second task."

"Boss, please speak!"

"Immediately go to the area around the Baima River sand quarry, take a series of photos, and produce a graphic report. Highlight the damage that sand mining has caused to the river channel and embankments, as well as the potential threat it poses to the smooth flow of water."

"receive!"

Zhou Weiguo, on the other end of the phone, gasped for breath, then roared with all his might, "Yes! Mission accomplished!"

After hanging up the phone, Shen Zhong began typing on his laptop.

He ignored the cumbersome administrative document formats and instead drafted an action application document directly.

His expression was focused, his fingers steadily tapping on the keyboard, as if he were not writing a document, but planning a precise surgical operation.

Every word and phrase has been carefully considered.

He Xia stood behind him, looking at the military terms on the screen that she didn't quite understand, her heart filled with a mixture of unease and shock.

She really didn't expect Shen Zhong to be so direct, planning to use the military to deal with a local state-owned enterprise executive.

"Is this... really okay?" she couldn't help but ask, "Using the military to deal with... a sand quarry?"

Shen Zhong did not stop what he was doing.

"How do you think Hou Liangping got in?" he asked without turning his head.

He Xia was taken aback.

"He forcibly entered the residence of a military family member and insulted a meritorious soldier. Therefore, the military procuratorate can legitimately remove him from the Supreme People's Procuratorate. This is the rule."

"Now, Liu Xinjian's illegal sand mining site is affecting the safety of the river channel for military transportation. Therefore, it is also in accordance with the rules for the military to come forward to investigate and clean it up."

Shen Zhong stopped tapping, turned his chair around, and looked at her.

"You can't deal with them using the administrative rules you're familiar with. You have to use my rules."

"The most important rule in my system is that the procedure must be impeccable and the reason must be perfectly plausible. We must make them suffer this huge loss and have them swallow their pride and accept it without uttering a single word."

He turned the screen towards He Xia.

At the very top of the document, he bolded and enlarged a title line.

Application Regarding the Newly Appointed Military-Wearing Standing Committee Member's Advance Familiarization with the Defense Zone and the Survey and Clearance of Illegal Operating Sites That May Affect Military Transportation

Shen Zhong smiled, encrypted the document, found the number that was always pinned to the top of his contacts, and clicked send.

In the attachment information, he only filled in two words: "Report".

After finishing all this, he closed his laptop, stood up, and pulled He Xia out of the study.

"Alright, the rest is not something we need to worry about."

He sat back down on the sofa, picked up the documents he hadn't finished reading, as if the phone call and the document were just trivial matters.

He Xia's heart, however, could not find peace no matter what.

She looked at her husband's calm profile, the phrase "Use my rules" echoing repeatedly in her mind.

She knew that things might really be changing in Handong.

Less than five minutes.

The black, encrypted phone on the coffee table gave a short vibration.

There was no ringtone, only a brief screen light up.

A new message.

Shen Zhong picked it up and opened it.

The message contained no text, only a picture.

It is a screenshot of a recently issued internal military transfer order.

A red banner, a bright red seal.

The content is very simple:

The following order is hereby given: the 3rd Company (full strength) of the 1st Battalion of the Engineer Regiment of the Handong Provincial Military Region shall carry out the task of reconnaissance and obstacle clearing in the defense zone.