261: Chapter 261 The Phone Call from Secretary Li Li of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection

Outside the Town Government gates.

Dozens of merchants, villagers, and construction workers packed the entrance tightly.

Director Xu Jie stood by the whiteboard, holding a black marker in her hand.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang stood on the steps holding the ledger, facing a sea of eyes fixed upon him.

His throat felt dry.

For a town mayor to personally read the ledger to the common people in public was a first in the history of Heishi Town.

"Three days ago. Purchased thirty tons of cement, unit price three hundred and twenty. Totaling nine thousand six hundred." Town Mayor Luo Xingbang read aloud.

Director Xu Jie turned and wrote the numbers on the whiteboard.

"Receipt number, 307." Town Mayor Luo Xingbang added.

The foreman walked up, clutching a crumpled delivery note, checked it once, and turned to the crowd.

"That's right! Thirty tons of cement, all poured into the potholes on South Street!" the foreman shouted. "The note matches!"

The murmurs in the crowd quieted down a bit.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang turned the page.

"Four days ago. Excavator rental fees, three machines, calculated by work hours. Totaling eight thousand four hundred."

"Advance payment for Old Sun's follow-up medical treatment, one thousand two hundred."

Item by item, cent by cent.

There were no obscure categories, no ambiguous destinations.

Liu Zhiqiang Liu Zhiqiang stood to the side with a stack of original invoices in his hand; if anyone had questions, he handed the invoices directly to them to inspect.

A middle-aged man stepped out from among the merchants—this was Boss Wang, who owned a building materials store on South Street; he had originally come to demand an explanation as well.

He took the invoices, examined them carefully twice, and returned them to Liu Zhiqiang Liu Zhiqiang.

Boss Wang turned around.

"Fellow villagers," Boss Wang said in a resonant voice, "I've checked. These accounts are clean, and the price for the sand and gravel is even lower than the market rate. The Town Government hasn't moved a single cent of our money!"

A moment of silence fell over the crowd.

The resentment that had been building up found no outlet before this whiteboard filled with numbers.

What the common people had always wanted was just clarity.

A villager shouted: "Then why did the city say it wasn't compliant? Why did they freeze the account?"

Zhu Wenhao walked out from behind Town Mayor Luo Xingbang.

"What is the 'rules'?"

"Is keeping the common people from seeing the accounts what you call 'rules'?"

He pointed to the whiteboard.

"The money is for repairing the road in front of your houses. You chose the people to supervise, and you check the numbers on this whiteboard every day. Not a single cent can run into someone else's pocket."

"The Municipal Finance Bureau sent a letter saying what we are doing is risky." Zhu Wenhao paused. "The risk they speak of is the fear that the common people will see the accounts too clearly, leaving no room for certain people to manipulate things."

The crowd was silent.

"I tell you all. The tripartite supervision is to prevent South Street from having shoddy construction again, and to prevent another Executive Vice Mayor Qian Dayong."

"This rule, once established in Heishi Town, will not be changed."

Zhu Wenhao looked at the foreman and the materials supplier.

"The money in the account is only temporarily blocked by the city's official document; the County Government is already coordinating."

Zhu Wenhao walked down the steps.

"For every day the South Street road is delayed, everyone's business is affected for a day. Whether to repair this road, whether to supply materials, you decide for yourselves."

Old Li, the materials supplier, stood in the crowd and stepped forward.

"Secretary Zhu! With your word, and the accounts on this whiteboard, I, Old Li, trust you!"

Old Li patted his chest.

"I will continue to supply materials! I won't press for payment; we'll settle up after the city's restrictions are lifted!"

The foreman waved his hand: "Brothers, back to the site! Get back to work!"

The crowd dispersed, no longer blocking the gate. Instead, several merchants stayed behind, taking the initiative to help move the whiteboard into the courtyard.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang stood on the steps, watching the dispersing crowd.

In the past, when encountering mass incidents, they would always call the police to clear the scene, and the more they suppressed it, the more chaotic it became.

Today, just one ledger was enough to make the common people compliant.

Zhu Wenhao turned and glanced at Town Mayor Luo Xingbang.

"Town Mayor Luo, the common people are not a problem."

Zhu Wenhao climbed the steps, leaving behind a single sentence.

"Letting the common people see the accounts is washing the hands of the cadres."

Qingjiang County Government.

County Mayor Gu Mingchuan sat in the County Mayor's office, the official letter issued by the Municipal Finance Bureau placed at his side.

Director of the County Finance Bureau, Zhang Wei, stood in front of the desk, sweat visible on his forehead.

"County Mayor Gu, the wording in the Municipal Public Security Bureau's letter is extremely severe." Zhang Wei explained. "It says the supervision subject of the Heishi Town special account is unclear and requires our County Bureau to immediately freeze the account to cooperate with compliance reviews. If we refuse to act and the city blames us, our County Bureau cannot bear this responsibility."

County Mayor Gu Mingchuan threw the official letter onto the desk.

"Freeze?"

"The Heishi Town account has the filings of the County Commission for Discipline Inspection and the County Audit Bureau, and it has the signatures of the mass representatives. Which part is not compliant? Which part violates financial discipline?"

Zhang Wei stammered: "The Municipal Public Security Bureau's meaning is that the mass representatives do not have administrative status and cannot participate in the approval of special funds."

"Nonsense!"

County Mayor Gu Mingchuan slammed his hand on the desk.

"It is only natural for the masses to supervise the government's spending! When did that become a compliance risk?"

He stood up and paced the office.

This was the city changing tactics, wanting to cut off Zhu Wenhao's financial power at the source.

Once the account was frozen, the hearts of the people that Heishi Town had just gathered would collapse.

Zhu Wenhao was holding the line down below; if he, County Mayor Gu Mingchuan, couldn't even protect an account in the county, this alliance would become a joke.

"Director Zhang." County Mayor Gu Mingchuan stopped his pace.

"The Municipal Public Security Bureau sent a letter, so we will reply."

County Mayor Gu Mingchuan gave the instruction.

"Gather people from the County Government Office, the Finance Bureau, and the Justice Bureau, and draft a reply immediately."

Zhang Wei was shocked: "County Mayor Gu, you want to refute the Municipal Public Security Bureau?"

"Not only refute, but refute with reason and evidence." County Mayor Gu Mingchuan sat back in his chair. "List the charter of Heishi Town's tripartite supervision, including the mechanisms to prevent corruption, one by one. Explain that this is a pilot innovation of Qingjiang County to prevent grassroots financial risks."

Zhang Wei wiped his sweat: "But, if the Municipal Public Security Bureau forces it down..."

"Send a copy of the reply to the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, another copy to the Municipal Audit Bureau, and also to the Municipal Party Committee Office."

County Mayor Gu Mingchuan looked at Zhang Wei.

"Didn't the Municipal Finance Bureau say there is a risk? Then let the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Municipal Audit Bureau judge it together. Let's see who is afraid of having the account, which lays the books out in the sunlight, audited!"

Zhang Wei accepted the order and retreated to organize the drafting of the reply.

County Mayor Gu Mingchuan picked up his private mobile phone and dialed Zhu Wenhao's number.

"Wenhao, the official letter from the Municipal Finance Bureau has arrived. I've had people draft a reply, directly copying the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Audit Bureau, to bring the matter out into the open."

"County Mayor, this move of yours is pulling the firewood from under the cauldron, cutting off their thoughts of operating in the dark." Zhu Wenhao's voice was steady.

"However," Zhu Wenhao suggested, "add one line to the reply."

"What to add?"

"Add a sentence: 'Forcibly freezing a legitimate livelihood account, causing the South Street emergency repair project to stall, is highly likely to trigger large-scale public petitions and mass incidents. Please clarify the relevant stability maintenance responsibilities, Municipal Public Security Bureau.'"

County Mayor Gu Mingchuan's eyes lit up.

Stability maintenance is the bottom line. If the Municipal Finance Bureau dares to take on this responsibility and things go wrong, the head of the bureau will have to pack up and leave.

"Good, I'll add that right now."

Hanging up the phone, County Mayor Gu Mingchuan picked up a pen and wrote down the sentence on a draft sheet.

Linjiang City.

Deputy Director of the Municipal Finance Bureau, Ge Qing, sat in a wide leather chair, holding a teacup.

The landline on the desk rang.

He picked it up, and a familiar female voice came from the other end of the line.

"Deputy Director Ge, this is Secretary Li Li."

Ge Qing's heart skipped a beat. Secretary Li Li of the Discipline Inspection Commission?

He had Mayor Su Changming supporting him from behind and was a hot candidate for the next Auditor General, but whether he could get the position depended heavily on the Discipline Inspection Commission. He had to be respectful to this Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission.

"Secretary Li Li, what can I do for you?" Ge Qing put on his official tone.

"I heard the Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a letter to Qingjiang County to freeze the account." Secretary Li Li went straight to the point.

"This is the bureau's routine business scheduling to prevent financial risks." Ge Qing replied.

"Risks certainly need to be prevented." Secretary Li Li's voice was crisp. "However, I just looked at the materials copied by Qingjiang County. Every expenditure in the Heishi Town account is under the supervision of the masses."

She paused for half a second.

"Deputy Director Ge, freezing a legal and compliant livelihood account, causing the project to stall—when the audit department goes down to check the historical arrears in the future, if it is found that the local area suffered significant losses due to the freezing of funds, how does the Municipal Finance Bureau plan to claim responsibility?"

The hand holding the receiver tightened.

He heard the deep meaning in her words; Secretary Li Li was warning him.

"Chairman Lin, this is a collective decision by the bureau..."

"I'm just giving you a reminder, behave yourself."

The call was hung up.

Ge Qing put down the receiver, his face ashen.

He picked up the document on the table and got up to walk toward the Director's office.

Municipal Finance Bureau, Director's office.

Director Wang looked at the reply submitted by Qingjiang County, his expression uncertain.

Copying the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Municipal Audit Bureau, and the Municipal Party Committee Office—Qingjiang County was clearly determined to fight back hard.

Ge Qing pushed the door open and entered.

"Director Wang, Secretary Li Li just called me." Ge Qing reported in a low voice. "She used accountability to pressure us."

Director Wang rubbed his temples.

The task entrusted by Mayor Su Changming was thought to be a sure thing, but who knew that Qingjiang County would not only refuse to cooperate but also blow the matter up to be the talk of the town.

"We cannot freeze it." Director Wang made up his mind. "If we continue to suppress it, the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection will take action, and this fire will burn onto our Finance Bureau."

"Then how do we explain it to the Mayor?"

"Change the rhetoric." Director Wang picked up a pen. "Withdraw the freezing suggestion, issue a supplementary notice, and require Heishi Town to submit a 'Report on Standardizing Account Management Rectification' within three days. Save face for the Mayor, and find a way out for ourselves."

Heishi Town.

Afternoon.

At the South Street emergency repair site, machines were roaring.

Director Xu Jie took a fax document and walked into the Deputy Secretary's office.

"Secretary Zhu, the supplementary notice from the Municipal Finance Bureau has arrived." Director Xu Jie placed the document on the desk. "The freezing requirement has been revoked and changed to rectification within a time limit."

Zhu Wenhao didn't look at the document; he picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"Ask Town Mayor Luo to hold an on-site meeting and tell this news to the merchants and common people on South Street."

Director Xu Jie accepted the order and went out.

Before long, a simple podium was set up in the open space outside the Town Government's large conference room.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang stood in the center of the stage, holding the revocation letter from the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Zhu Wenhao sat on a chair to the side of the stage, watching quietly.

"Fellow villagers!" Town Mayor Luo Xingbang raised the document in his hand. "The city has verified it! Our account is legal and compliant! Funding will continue to be allocated! The South Street road will not stop for a single day!"

Warm cheers erupted from the audience.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang listened to the applause, and his confidence grew stronger.

He seized the momentum and shouted: "The money of Heishi Town should first repair the roads under the feet of the common people! No one is allowed to touch it!"

Applause was like thunder.

Zhu Wenhao sat in the side seat, looking at Town Mayor Luo Xingbang on the stage, and nodded slightly.

Pushing Town Mayor Luo Xingbang to the front and letting him taste the sweetness of the people's hearts is the only way he will be willing to bear the thunder in front.