203: Chapter 203 Winning Hearts and Minds is Paramount

Inside the Deputy Secretary's office on the second floor of the Heishi Town Government.

Zhu Wenhao collected his thoughts.

The situation in Jiangnan Province was shifting rapidly, and undercurrents were surging in Linjiang City, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; grassroots governance in Heishi Town was the foundation upon which he would build his base.

He cast his gaze toward Director Xu Jie, who was sitting on the sofa nearby.

"Director Xu, what did you want to see me about?" Zhu Wenhao asked, cutting to the chase.

Director Xu Jie gathered her thoughts. "Secretary Zhu, I have finished verifying the list for Heishui Village and the associated compensation amounts."

"Furthermore, I have had it compiled into a register." Director Xu Jie handed over the document in her hand.

Zhu Wenhao took the thick document.

He said nothing, laying it flat on the desk and carefully reviewing each page.

The list contained the names of ordinary farmers. These thin pages carried the hopes and livelihoods of the common people.

If the compensation funds could not be distributed, there could be no talk of winning the people's hearts.

Seeing him review it, Director Xu Jie added a remark.

"However, it is quite strange."

Director Xu Jie pointed to the appendix of the register. "I went to the Finance Office to check, and when looking at the details of the allocated funds from that year, something very interesting happened. The key breakdown of the fund transfers has disappeared."

"The accounts only show where the money came from; as for where it went and the channels through which it moved, there are no records left at all."

Director Xu Jie stated the results of her investigation: "I asked the head of the Finance Office, but he couldn't explain anything. There are electronic copies of the details from that year in the computer system, but the paper materials with legal validity—specifically who handled this money and the signatures of the leaders responsible for approval—have all gone missing."

Zhu Wenhao tapped his forehead; whenever accounts are ambiguous, there is bound to be a greedy rat lining their pockets behind the scenes.

"There is no use in us guessing blindly in the office about this matter," Zhu Wenhao concluded.

"The paper may be destroyed, but the trail of the funds will have traces. Go back and have Secretary Chen Jianjun from the Town Commission for Discipline Inspection take some people to investigate."

"If the Discipline Inspection Commission cannot find any clues in the accounts, and it really comes to that, we will have San Qiang from the Town Police Station crack the case." Zhu Wenhao specifically named his choice.

"Leave professional matters to the professionals."

Director Xu Jie nodded. "I will go down and make the arrangements."

Zhu Wenhao closed the register and locked it in the drawer.

"The fiscal rebate next week is the priority," Zhu Wenhao said, outlining the next strategy.

"The County Party Secretary is coming then. I expect Secretary Qiu Dehai will be assigning tasks in the next two days."

"He can take the credit, but the money distributed to the common people must not be short by a single cent. To benefit the region, one must pursue practical results."

At the same time. Linjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau, parking lot.

Ma Jian, the political commissar of the Criminal Investigation Brigade, snuck back to his car.

He looked around vigilantly, confirmed that no one else was moving about, and ducked into the backseat.

The lights in the car were off.

He reached deep into the crevice of the leather seat, fumbled for a moment, and pulled out an old, non-smart mobile phone.

This device did not connect to the internet and was used only for single-line communication.

He quickly organized the information he had just gathered in his mind.

The police had dispatched a SWAT team to intercept the operation to assassinate the three members of the Lin family at the crossroads.

His fingers pressed on the stiff keypad, inputting a text message:

"The assassin did not succeed and has escaped. The remaining two have been arrested."

After finishing the input, he brought up the recipient's number.

As long as he pressed the send button, this intelligence would reach his handler.

However, he had not yet sent the message.

A hand patted his shoulder without warning.

"Old Ma, what are you doing?"

Ma Jian was startled by this sudden action; his heart contracted violently, and he nearly dropped the phone onto the floor of the car.

He looked up and saw who it was.

Captain Chen from the Municipal Inspection Team was standing outside the car door, one hand patting his shoulder, asking, "Political Commissar Ma, what are you doing?"

Ma Jian swallowed. "It's nothing, Old Chen, I just came down to check the car."

He made a clumsy excuse. "When I drove the car over this morning, I felt like the rear right tire was a bit low. I was just about to find a tool to check the tire pressure."

Captain Chen went along with his words, bending down as if to look at the tire.

Just as Ma Jian breathed a sigh of relief, preparing to stuff the backup phone back into the seat crevice.

Captain Chen suddenly made his move.

With a grappling move, his actions crisp and efficient, he twisted Ma Jian's wrist directly.

Ma Jian winced in pain, his fingers splaying open.

Captain Chen took advantage of the moment to snatch the phone from Ma Jian's hand.

"I used to be in the Criminal Investigation Brigade," Captain Chen said, straightening up. "Kid, with that level of counter-reconnaissance, you're still a bit green."

After speaking, Captain Chen shouted toward the shadows behind him. "What are you standing there for? Come over here!"

Several fully armed inspection team members emerged. They stepped forward, twisted Ma Jian's arms behind his back, and subdued him.

Captain Chen looked down at the unsent text message, the text content clear at a glance.

"Old Ma, you have already been locked onto by the Information Brigade," Captain Chen reported the result.

"You left in the middle of the meeting and were already on the surveillance network. Take him away."

He ordered the inspection team members. "Keep the evidence safe; I'm going to report to Director Li."

Captain Chen took the evidentiary phone and walked quickly toward the Bureau Chief's office.

Inside the Bureau Chief's office.

Police Chief Li Jianguo was holding a mobile phone left behind at the scene by Gazi; this was a communication tool recovered by the SWAT team from the items left at the arrest scene.

Captain Chen pushed the door open and handed over the backup phone confiscated from Ma Jian.

Looking at the phone sent by the inspection team, Police Chief Li Jianguo thought for a moment and said, "Secure the evidence first. This phone might be useful."

"I will take it to the Information Brigade later to extract the communication records and encrypted content inside." Police Chief Li Jianguo set the tone for the interrogation.

"Hurry up and have the people from the Criminal Investigation Brigade interrogate him with you. You must make him reveal his handler. Do you understand?"

Captain Chen stood at attention, acknowledged the order, and left.

Police Chief Li Jianguo looked at the phone, picked up the telephone on his desk, and made a call.

Heishi Town, Deputy Secretary's office.

Zhu Wenhao had just finished verifying the list with Director Xu Jie and was conducting the final confirmation of the register.

He received a call from Police Chief Li Jianguo.

After listening to the other party's report on the process of arresting Ma Jian and the discovery of the unsent text message.

Zhu Wenhao's hand holding the pen froze.

He said, "Bureau Chief Li, I think this phone is an opportunity to break the deadlock."

"Right now, the other party's handler doesn't know that we have successfully caught the mole inside the Municipal Public Security Bureau. We can use this phone to continue fishing."

Police Chief Li Jianguo replied on the other end of the line. "I have the same thought. For example, arranging for the other party to come out and meet. As long as they show their heads, we will execute the arrest."

Zhu Wenhao voiced his disagreement.

"No."

"Bureau Chief Li," Zhu Wenhao pointed out the flaw in this plan, "the other party is a very cunning professional criminal. If you do that, he will definitely be suspicious. Suddenly changing the conventional method of contact or rashly proposing an offline meeting—they won't come; instead, they will directly cut off this lead."

Police Chief Li Jianguo asked, "Then what do you want to do?"

Zhu Wenhao picked up the white porcelain cup beside him. The Art of War says, "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting; the next best is to disrupt his alliances." The art of using spies lies in attacking the heart.

"Sowing discord." Zhu Wenhao spat out two words.

"Use Ma Jian's phone to continue sending text messages to that handler. Say that the remaining assassin was caught while fleeing. However, he didn't hold out; he has become an informant for the police."

"Tell the handler that the assassin is cooperating with the police, acting as bait, and preparing to lure out the mastermind."

Zhu Wenhao explained the most critical step. "After sending this message, pull the card out directly and destroy it. Do not have any further response with the other party."

"In this way, you can firmly plant a seed of suspicion in the other party's heart."

"The other party fears betrayal and informing above all else. Turn off the phone left behind at the scene by the assassin. Once they cannot get in touch and have received the warning from the mole, they will inevitably, in their panic, think of eliminating him."

"As long as they fall into chaos and are eager to cover up the truth, they will definitely reveal new flaws. By then, we might have unexpected gains."

This is the essence of the strategy of sowing discord.

Without wasting a single soldier, make the enemy camp kill each other and disintegrate their system of trust.

Police Chief Li Jianguo listened to this deduction on the other end of the line.

"I understand," he replied. "I will execute the sending of the message immediately and stir up these muddy waters."

Zhu Wenhao hung up the phone.

He gathered the organized Heishui Village register and sealed it in a file bag.

Local governance requires real investment, and punishing corruption requires the sharp blade of national law.

But in the confrontation of power struggles, attacking the heart is supreme.