Chapter 33

Chapter 25: Playing the Old Fox

In Tiamaxiang, Yang Zixuan spent a whole day surveying most of the villages in the township. The situation was not optimistic, similar to Damu Village.

In the evening, he rushed back to the Tiamaxiang government office and first reported the handling of the Tiamaxiang dispute to the Party Secretary of the city, Lin Pei.

"The officials in Tiamaxiang are so bold, imposing so many taxes! Even a head tax? How daring, it's like we've regressed to the old society!" Lin Pei was greatly shocked and couldn't help but slam his hand on the table.

However, Lin Pei was also secretly alarmed. He was still young and wanted to advance to a provincial-level official, which would allow him to stand firm in the Lin family. If the Tiamaxiang incident was mishandled today, it could have extremely negative consequences, affecting his governance of Daming City.

"Good job, young man! However, in the future, it's best to report such matters to the main leaders of the municipal party committee first. Fortunately, it was handled properly; otherwise, the consequences would be too severe for you to bear!" Lin Pei's voice became more severe towards the end.

Yang Zixuan had been waiting for this. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Sunan, you sit there like a fisherman, while I work myself to death. I must give you a taste of it."

"Secretary Lin, I thought Secretary Sunan had already reported to you, so I didn't report to the city and rushed to Tiamaxiang in the rain! The news of the Tiamaxiang dispute was also passed to me by the county party committee office." Yang Zixuan's tone was surprised.

Lin Pei was taken aback. What is Sunan up to?

However, Lin Pei had also worked at the grassroots level of the county government and was familiar with various small tactics. After a moment of thought, Lin Pei understood the crux of the matter. Sunan deliberately did not report, hoping that Yang Zixuan would mess things up, lose his position, and then he could reshuffle the county government.

This Sunan is really bold! Does he really think that just because he is the former deputy minister of the Luo Fu Province Organization Department's secretary, he can look down on me? Lin Pei's face remained calm, but he had a bad impression of Sunan.

"Regardless of whether the county party committee reported or not, when encountering such sudden mass incidents, you must first report to the main leaders of the municipal party committee, do you understand?" Lin Pei's voice softened. "The party and government leaders of Tiamaxiang must be strictly investigated. These corrupt elements in the party and government must not be tolerated; they will only harm the people!"

While Yang Zixuan was on the phone with Sunan, Sunan was still tending to the flowers in the flower bed.

"Secretary Sunan, this is the township head of Tiamaxiang, Liu Jian, who has come to report his work." The speaker was none other than the former organization minister and current propaganda minister, Wang Dongming.

Wang Dongming was at home making medicine for his wife when he suddenly saw Liu Jian enter with a large bag of supplements.

Liu Jian was promoted by Wang Dongming when he was the organization minister. Liu Jian knew that Wang Dongming would not directly accept money, so during holidays and other occasions, he would always send some gifts to Wang Dongming's home.

Today, Liu Jian brought several packs of valuable Northeastern herbs to nourish his wife, which would cost at least a thousand or two on the market.

Liu Jian placed the gifts and tearfully begged Wang Dongming to save him.

Wang Dongming said he couldn't protect him, but Secretary Sunan could. Wang Dongming, a seasoned official, had already thought of a series of excuses for Liu Jian to use when visiting Sunan to escape responsibility.

Sunan was slightly surprised and turned to look at Wang Dongming with a smile. "Dongming, is it Liu Jian? Please sit down."

"Dongming, how is your sister-in-law? Has she gotten better?"

"Much better, thank you for your concern, Secretary."

Sunan nodded. "That's good, that's good."

Sunan absolutely needed to win over Wang Dongming, a standing committee member. Although Wang Dongming was implicated in the previous Xu Li case and was protected to the position of propaganda minister by Mayor Tang Lu, as a veteran local official in Hongshui County and having served as the organization minister for many years, he had personally promoted many township and county officials, making his influence deeply rooted in Hongshui County.

To establish a foothold in the county party committee, Sunan first needed to win over Wang Dongming.

Moreover, Wang Dongming's political stance would not align with Lin Pei, and he had old grievances with Yang Zixuan. Therefore, he either had to stand alone and be marginalized or join forces with Sunan to have a chance of turning the tide.

It could be said that Sunan's rapid control of the situation in the county party committee was also due to Wang Dongming's strong support and cooperation.

Looking at Liu Jian, Sunan knew he was definitely another official promoted by Wang Dongming.

"Liu Jian, how is the situation in Tiamaxiang now?" Sunan's tone was calm, but he was actually very nervous, eager to know how Yang Zixuan had handled the situation in Tiamaxiang, as there had been no news from the county government.

Liu Jian briefly recounted the situation and how Yang Zixuan had handled it.

Sunan fell silent for a moment. It seemed that Yang Zixuan was indeed a formidable opponent, easily resolving such a dispute.

"Why aren't you assisting County Chief Yang in Tiamaxiang, but instead came to the county?" Sunan remained calm.

"With County Chief Yang there, the situation is basically under control. And there are some matters I want to personally explain to the county party committee." Liu Jian's spirits lifted as he began to recite the excuses Wang Dongming had prepared for him. "The main reason for the Tiamaxiang dispute is the tax issue. This was actually out of necessity. Secretary Wu Xiong decided to build a new township government building a few years ago, which was financed by a bank loan. The bank has been pressing harder in recent years, and the party committee then approved the imposition of various taxes, including the head tax, leading to widespread public discontent, which finally erupted like a flood!"

"Rubbish!" Sunan slammed his hand on the table. "Where is Wu Xiong now? Why hasn't he appeared to handle the situation after such a long dispute?"

"I heard that he fell ill on the day of the dispute and has been at home recuperating for the past few days!"

Sunan paced back and forth, then looked up. "Alright, go back for now. When County Chief Yang returns, we will immediately convene a standing committee meeting to discuss the issue of Comrade Wu Xiong. The party discipline will be handled according to the party discipline regulations by the disciplinary committee."

Sunan knew that Liu Jian was the first township-level leader to support him in Hongshui County. He couldn't let him down to gradually win over other观望中的干部.

Of course, Sunan didn't believe that Liu Jian was completely clean and problem-free; it was just a matter of the extent of the issues. With Wu Xiong as the scapegoat, things would be much easier to handle.

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End of Chapter 25