Chapter 23: The War Without Gunsmoke

  The county party committee attaches great importance to the problems that have arisen in the election of mountain and township party representatives. The investigation team, led by Yao Zhifei, deputy director of the county party committee's organization department in charge of grassroots party building, and Ma Lin, deputy secretary of the county discipline inspection commission, arrived at Shanhe Township on the second morning.

  The small conference room of the mountain and township government became a temporary office for the investigation team. Township government staff were constantly being called in for questioning, while other leaders' offices were wide open but no one went in to report on their work. Familiar faces coming and going from the township government would only nod at each other, as the autumn wind picked up, blowing down a few leaves with a hint of killing intent, creating an atmosphere of ominous silence.

  Wang Liben sat in the office, looking relatively natural, but his occasionally furrowed brow and frequently lifted cup still betrayed his anxiety and tension.

  Although he had made many arrangements before the investigation team arrived, Ma Bu Yun, the most important person, was also well arranged, and it should not be a problem to frame Lu Zheng Dong. Liang Hui Tian also quietly handled it, so that he did not have the opportunity to meet with the people from the investigation team. The cadres of each village were also notified, and the people who were going to be interviewed by the investigation team were also carefully arranged. These people may not necessarily speak well of him, but they also dare not speak ill of him.

  Although Secretary Lin scolded him severely, he thought that he should be able to get through this ordeal.

  But the investigation team really came, and as they saw the township government personnel being called in for questioning one by one, and two other groups went to the village to investigate, Wang Liben's heart still felt a bit uneasy, and as the investigation team found more and more people, his unease grew stronger...

  Wang Liben was nervous in the office, while Lu Zhengdong followed Xiao Yongnian to the small conference room where the investigation team was located. He was about to be questioned by the investigation team, but he wasn't too tense.

  Although the planner of this matter was him, Lu Zhengdong believed that Luo Jinming followed his strategy and made very careful moves, almost impossible to grasp any substantial handle. Even if he caught a glimpse of Luo Jinming's tail, he had already set up several firewalls between him and Luo Jinming, so Lu Zhengdong wasn't worried about being implicated in this matter.

  What he has done so far is just the beginning, and that's why he can be so calm now. But this calmness doesn't mean he thinks everything will be alright from now on. He remains highly vigilant. Getting rid of Wang Liben was just the start; now it's time to see bloodshed.

  The officialdom is like a battlefield, although there is no gunsmoke, but the cruelty and the battlefield are not different. One careless move, that is to lose everything. This truth Lu Zhengdong summed up through bloody lessons.

  Lu Zhengdong entered the house, and several people inside were very serious. Yao Zhifei was the first to speak up and said:

  "Comrade Lu Zhengdong, you are mainly here to verify the situation of this election. Please report truthfully to the organization."

  As he spoke, he introduced the identities of several people in the house to him again.

  Yao Zhi Fei exchanged a few pleasantries with him before suddenly changing the subject and saying:

  "I represent the organization and have a conversation with you, this conversation will be recorded. As a leading cadre and party member, you must be loyal to the organization and answer questions honestly."

  Lu Zhengdong nodded:

  "I guarantee every single word is true."

  "Why did you bring up the issue of repairing roads and expanding factories before the party conference? Please discuss this thoroughly..."

  "In fact, I have always had the idea of repairing roads, especially after the Yang Yuqing incident, this idea has become even stronger. Although the final result of the Yang Yuqing incident was unexpected, the fact that ordinary people could take advantage of this opportunity to make trouble shows that they are extremely dissatisfied with the work in our township, which means that our work has deviated greatly from the right track. If we continue like this, it will eventually lead to real trouble, and the consequences are unbearable. At that time, not only our township but even the county will be very passive... As a grassroots cadre on the front line, I feel the resentment of ordinary people especially deeply."

  Repairing the road is a move that kills two birds with one stone, which can not only alleviate the current serious tension between the mountain and the countryside, but also help solve the long-standing problem of difficult collection of taxes.

  As for the expansion of the factory, it is also to further increase the financial income of the township, so that both legs can walk together, and thus fundamentally solve the problem of the township's financial income. As the deputy head of the township in charge of finance, if I do not propose ways to improve and promote work under suitable conditions, it would be a dereliction of duty.

  "As for the suggestion to pay the long-overdue bonuses and subsidies to township cadres and staff, I am in charge of finance and trade. The reason for the delay is that my previous work was not done properly, and the township did not have the money to solve it. Now that we have the money and the conditions are ripe, I naturally want to bring it up. As for why this was brought up before the party representative election, it's simply because at this time the township happens to have a large income..."

  The next few questions were all very simple ones, and after a perfunctory Q&A session that was as fleeting as a dragonfly touching water, Yao Zhifei suddenly asked: "What do you think of this election?"

  Lu Zhengdong knew that the real problem had arrived, Lu Zhengdong hesitated for a moment and said:

  "Unexpected yet reasonable."

  Lu Zhengdong's answer made Yao Zhifei somewhat unexpected, and he hesitated for a moment before saying:

  "Well, then tell me how it's beyond expectation but reasonable."

  "It was unexpected that Wang Secretary lost the election, and it's reasonable to say that the work in the countryside wasn't done well. The masses below have a lot of opinions about the countryside, and as the number one leader, Wang Secretary is naturally also the focus of the contradictions."

  Lu Zhengdong did not evade Wang Liben, but still spoke very euphemistically.

  One of the several deputy secretaries of the Discipline Inspection Commission who had been silent all along suddenly spoke up:

  "Comrade Lu Zhengdong, aren't you speaking out of turn? We've already understood the situation. Don't you have some grudge against Secretary Wang?"

  Lu Zhengdong shook his head:

  "Secretary Wang is my superior, I work under his leadership, I respect him, but in the work, there are different opinions, I will reserve them, however, the decision of the Party Committee, I am unconditionally and firmly implementing it, so it's not that there is a knot in my heart, just on the way and method of working, indeed there are some differences, this is a fact."

  Wang Liben knew him well, this was something that everyone in the countryside knew about, and denying it would be of no use.

  Ma Lin didn't stop there and continued to press on with his questioning:

  "Comrade Lu Zhengdong, I'm talking to you today, and I suppose you also know the reason why. You did something in this election, and we've already grasped a lot of the situation. You're still young, and there's still a long way to go. As long as you correct your mistakes, you can still be a good comrade. The organization will continue to trust you if you make amends. Please talk about it seriously."

  "Director Yao, Secretary Ma, although Wang and I have differences in our work, but on major issues of right and wrong, I am still clear, and the problem you mentioned does not exist."

  "Comrade Lu Zhengdong, don't harbor any illusions. If we didn't have a grasp of the actual situation, would we be having this conversation with you, a leading cadre? It's better for you to take the initiative!"

  Lu Zhengdong suddenly understood what was going on...