143: Chapter 143 Anti-Corruption Warning Conference

In the large conference room of the Town Government.

Dozens of town-level agency cadres and village secretaries were scattered along the long tables, the buzzing sound of their chatter filling the entire space.

The heavy wooden door was pushed open.

The noise subsided immediately.

Everyone stopped talking in unison, their gazes shifting toward the entrance.

Led by Director Zhou Mei of the Party and Government Office, Zhu Wenhao crossed the threshold and walked with a steady pace toward the center of the podium.

Deputy Town Mayor Liu Yong was already seated on the left. He unscrewed the lid of his stainless steel thermos, blew away the foam on the water's surface, and did not stand up to welcome him.

To the right, Town Peoples Congress Chairman Zhang Jianming Zhang Jianming was looking down, flipping through the meeting materials in front of him, his signature pen scribbling aimlessly on the pages.

Zhu Wenhao reached the main seat, pulled out the chair, and sat down calmly.

Liu Yong put down his thermos and tapped the microphone twice.

"Comrades, let the meeting begin."

Liu Yong spoke his opening remarks with a thick local accent.

"Secretary Qiu has business today. Entrusted by Secretary Qiu, today's town-wide anti-corruption education meeting for party members and cadres will be presided over and addressed by the newly appointed Deputy Secretary Zhu Yuntong. Let us welcome him."

Scattered applause broke out.

Perfunctory and listless.

Grassroots cadres had the sharpest eyes; a twenty-four-year-old parachute candidate assigned to the most thankless, treacherous posts, and with Secretary Qiu not even showing his face—the group below was crystal clear about the cold shoulder and the deliberate sidelining at play.

Zhu Wenhao did not pick up the speech draft that Director Zhou Mei had placed on the table in advance, but instead began to speak.

"Anti-corruption education is talked about every year and discussed every month."

Zhu Wenhao spoke, his voice echoing through the sound system, unhurried and steady.

"On stage, we read notices; off stage, we copy notes. But once we walk out this door, people take what they want and obstruct what they choose."

"What is the point of holding such perfunctory meetings?"

The movements of several cadres in the front row stopped.

No one had expected the new official's 'three fires' to burn so directly, without even bothering to gloss over the most basic bureaucratic formalities.

"A few hours ago, twenty or thirty villagers from Heishui Village surrounded the Town Government courtyard. They unfurled banners and blocked the door to voice their grievances."

Zhu Wenhao swept his gaze across the room.

"Most of you here were working upstairs at the time. Looking out from the windows, you must have seen it very clearly."

Village Secretary Zhang Dahai of Heishui Village was picking his teeth while leaning against his chair back. Upon hearing this, his hand holding the toothpick froze, and his spine straightened involuntarily.

"The essence of governance lies first in rectifying names."

Zhu Wenhao tapped his knuckles on the tabletop twice.

"When the common people stir up trouble, it is nothing more than their interests being harmed. I opened the doors of the conference room and let them speak and write for themselves."

"Out of the eight thousand yuan in land acquisition compensation per mu, only fifteen hundred reached the hands of the villagers."

"Where did the six thousand five hundred yuan difference go?"

His voice rose.

"Did it go into the unified account of the town's finances?"

"Or did it end up in the private pockets of some agricultural machinery cooperative?"

"Or perhaps, did it turn into the fine wine and meat on the table of some clan elder?"

Liu Yong picked up his thermos and used the act of drinking water to hide the expression on his face.

This young man was actually tearing open the most taboo financial loopholes right in front of all the town's cadres.

"'The greatest peril in the world is when people believe there is peace and no trouble, while in reality, there are unforeseen anxieties.'"

Zhu Wenhao quoted an ancient text to expose the chaotic state of Heishi Town.

"The town's overall situation is stable—that is the report written for the County Committee. In private, the clan establishes its own rules to conduct village affairs, and mining trucks bypass regulations by driving along the old river embankment in the middle of the night."

"Is this what you all call peace and no trouble?"

Zhu Wenhao stood up.

He took a black folder from his briefcase, held it up, and slammed it heavily onto the table.

"This folder contains the compensation fund flow registration form with the fingerprints of the Heishui Village villagers."

Zhu Wenhao looked down at the entire room.

"I came to Heishi Town to be in charge of Party building, politics and law, and petition handling. As for your private dealings, social networking, and nepotism, I will not interfere."

"But when it comes to the operation of public power, whoever uses national law to repay clan favors or uses public money to fill private pockets..."

His hand pressed firmly on the folder.

"I will pursue this account to the end."

Only ragged breathing remained in the conference hall.

Zhang Dahai quietly stubbed out his half-smoked cigarette under his shoe, a thin layer of sweat seeping onto his forehead.

Zhang Jianming flipped through the meeting materials from start to finish without reading a single page.

"Meeting adjourned."

Zhu Wenhao pushed back his chair, said nothing more, turned around, walked off the podium, and stepped out the door.

Returning to the Deputy Secretary's office.

Director Zhou Mei followed him in with a thermos and refilled Zhu Wenhao's cup with hot water.

"Secretary Zhu, I fear this speech of yours will invite criticism."

Perhaps moved by the warning meeting, or perhaps thinking of her own husband, Director Zhou Mei spoke up.

"Many people in the town are implicated in the accounts of Heishui Village. By showing your cards in public, they will band together for self-preservation, and future work will face heavy resistance."

Zhu Wenhao's heart stirred slightly.

"You cannot build without breaking."

"If I don't flip this table, they will hide underneath it forever and play tai chi with me."

"The water in Heishi Town is not a question of whether it is clear or not; it has already become stagnant."

He put down his teacup.

"I will throw a stone into it, create a whirlpool, and just see what kind of ghosts are hiding at the bottom."

The wooden door was knocked.

Police Chief Zhao Gang walked in wearing casual clothes.

Director Zhou Mei tactfully retreated and closed the door tightly behind her.

Police Chief Zhao Gang pulled out the guest chair, took a hand-drawn sketch from his inner coat pocket, and spread it out on the coffee table.

"Zhu Wenhao, San Qiang has figured out the outline of Heishui Village's background."

Police Chief Zhao Gang pointed to the circular distribution map on the paper.

"The Zhang Clan is the major surname, accounting for seventy percent of the village's population. Within this seventy percent, it is further divided into the First Branch, Second Branch, and Third Branch."

Police Chief Zhao Gang's finger tapped on the center position.

"The First Branch is in charge, led by the clan elder, Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi, and the Village Secretary Zhang Dahai is his nephew. The profitable stone quarries and outsourced transport fleets in the village are all firmly in the hands of the First Branch."

"The Second and Third Branches have many people, but they only get some infertile fields near the mountains and don't get a drop of profit."

"Uneven distribution of benefits will inevitably lead to grudges."

Zhu Wenhao looked at the sketch. "Who is in charge of the Second Branch?"

"Zhang Yuanhang."

Police Chief Zhao Gang reported the name.

"This man is a veteran who served as a conscript for a few years. After retiring, he opened a small grocery store at the entrance of the village. Three years ago, he wanted to contract a piece of wasteland at the east end of the village for farming. He had even raised the money, but in the end, Zhang Dahai said one word and allocated the land to a boss from another village, taking a kickback from it."

"Because of this, Zhang Yuanhang and the people from the Second Branch got into a fight with Zhang Dahai at the village committee. Later, the town intervened to suppress it, and this grudge has become deep-seated."

"A veteran, with blood and guts, who is being squeezed out."

Zhu Wenhao decided on the candidate.

"He will be the pawn in our 'Decree to Extend Favors'."

"Tomorrow, change into casual clothes."

Zhu Wenhao issued the order.

"Go to his grocery store and buy a pack of cigarettes. Don't mention the compensation money; just make small talk, ask him about his old unit when he was a soldier, and chat about the village's harvest."

"Probe his true colors and see if that unyielding soldier's spirit still remains in his bones."

Police Chief Zhao Gang put away the sketch: "Understood. To catch fish, you have to spread bait; you can't rush to pull the rod."

Heishi Town was swallowed by thick darkness.

On the main street without streetlights, a row of dazzling headlights tore through the night. These were seven or eight heavy coal trucks, their cargo beds raised to double the height, the tires causing the road surface to deform slightly under the weight.

The roar of engines echoed through the empty streets, and they drove unscrupulously toward the old river embankment in the south of the town.

Zhu Wenhao stood in front of the office window, looking down at this massive fleet.

What was being transported was not just coal, but the massive mountain of interests weighing down on the heads of the people of Heishi Town.

The overloaded trucks damaged the country roads, and the coal dust raised ruined the farmland. But as long as that network of interests was still operating, the traffic police's tickets would never be stuck to the windshields of these trucks.

The fleet of mining trucks outside the window had already gone far away, leaving only scattered coal slag and lingering exhaust fumes on the ground.

Zhu Wenhao turned off the office's overhead light.

In the darkness, he took out a piece of white paper and, relying on his memory, drew the power structure map of Heishi Town on it.

Secretary Qiu Dehai, Town Mayor Luo Xingbang.

Town Peoples Congress Chairman Zhang Jianming Zhang Jianming, Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi, Heishi Mining.

Four names, one industry, connected by lines from beginning to end.

Next to the name of Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi, he wrote the three characters for Zhang Yuanhang.

Below Heishi Mining, he drew a heavy horizontal line.

Governing a country is like cooking a small fish; to break the deadlock, one must use a sharp knife.

Zhu Wenhao folded the white paper and tucked it into his inner pocket. He pushed open the office door and stepped into the corridor.