My dream connects to three thousand years later.

Chapter 159 A Move Made Casually (Fourth Update)

3pm.

Inside the office of the Third District Police Inspectorate Captain.

Secretary Zhang was dressed in a sharp suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and had a gentle smile on his face. He had a refined and scholarly air about him and was clearly a typical intellectual and scholar.

"Hello, Mr. Zhang." Chu Zhu stepped forward and shook the hand that Secretary Zhang extended.

"Director Chu, you are truly young and promising." Secretary Zhang's smile was as bright as ever, but she was also somewhat shaken inside.

Even before Huo Qiming issued the order, he had heard of Chu Zhu... After all, this woman was notorious for allegedly orchestrating the legalization of gangs in the shantytown redevelopment area...

Yes, the formation of a labor union—in the Great Qian Dynasty, before those sensitive ideas emerged, the official high command mostly viewed Chu Zhu as an unprecedentedly powerful leader of a massive gang that had unified the entire shantytown redevelopment area.

This view is not only held by the authorities, but also by the suppressed factory owners and even the demonic forces.

Therefore, even when they encounter problems, they rarely want to eliminate the union itself, but rather to eliminate the union's die-hard leaders so that they can infiltrate and control the union.

In their eyes, the new gang that Chu Zhu created, called the 'Union,' was simply more orderly, more reasonable, and more humane...

This at most suggests that Chu Zhu, as the new generation's godfather of the urban redevelopment area's underworld, is a better person. As for anything else... what does that prove?
Could it be that they want to rebel? Is that even possible? Throughout history, there have been rebellions by righteous sects, rebellions by demonic sects, peasant rebellions... but we've never heard of gangs rebelling!

Secretary Zhang used to look down on Chu Zhu, thinking he was a gangster and not respectable.
However, the whole process of turning a gangster into a legitimate member of the gang really stunned him... or rather, not just him, but everyone who knew the inside story was stunned!

Putting aside the sheer difficulty of bringing the shantytown redevelopment area into the mainstream... simply put, the successful implementation of this matter brought Lu Zhizheng immense prestige in the First District... In other words, this matter not only greatly helped Chu Zhu, but also greatly helped that deputy governor!
Cooperation benefits both sides... This kind of resource integration! This kind of networking ability! And the fact that this matter was actually accomplished... This deeply shocked everyone who knew the inside story...

After the trade union in the shantytown redevelopment area was peacefully and smoothly transformed into a management department, even the former leader spoke out about it.

If the shantytown renovation area's institutions operate smoothly for two years, he will personally report to the capital to commend Lu Zhizheng.

Although this wasn't a promise from the former governor that Lu Jin would be the next governor of Jinghai City... even the former governor didn't have this authority. Only the emperor in the capital could make that decision... but this undoubtedly added a huge bargaining chip for Governor Lu!

In a sense, if the other candidates cannot produce even more outstanding achievements in a few years, and if Lu Jin does not make any major mistakes in the future—

In the capital, it's highly likely that the government won't refuse the old regime's request in the future! They will choose the talent that the old regime admires.

After all, the fact that the old ruling family had been able to stay here for decades was enough to prove just how much the capital trusted them.

Generally speaking, a local leader rarely serves in one place for more than ten years... After more than ten years, they have the potential to cultivate a powerful and uncontrollable faction in the local area! The fact that they can remain entrenched for so long can only mean that the emperor believes that even if the old ruler has built up influence in the local area, this power is still within the emperor's control!
The emperor trusted the loyalty of the old ruler!

As the secretary of the Commander-in-Chief Huo's Corps, and also a superhuman, Secretary Zhang possessed an alarmingly vast amount of intelligence...

Because he knew so much, he was very clear that Lu Zhizheng's high spirits were largely due to the person in front of him.

Not to mention, this time it seems... even Captain Huo is looking at him differently!
The combination of all these factors is truly terrifying...

It's not remarkable to start from scratch and build such a empire in a shantytown redevelopment area. But to be able to act recklessly and stir up huge waves in the unfathomable depths of politics—that's true genius!

“My name is Zhang Xuyi, you can just call me Lao Zhang! Of course, you can also call me Secretary Zhang.” Secretary Zhang paused slightly and then pointed to another silent, burly man beside him.

His muscles were frighteningly swollen, his arms even thicker than his thighs. With each breath, the blood vessels in his exposed muscles trembled slightly.

"This is Yang Youqian, Deputy Captain Yang! Originally... well, because there were some problems with the Second Special Operations Brigade, he was promoted to deputy captain! If there aren't any major issues in the future..." Secretary Zhang shrugged, not finishing his sentence, but his meaning was clear...

Unsurprisingly, he will soon become the next captain of the Second Special Operations Brigade.

"Mr. Zhu, hello!" Yang Youqian stepped forward, bowed slightly, and respectfully shook Chu Zhu's hand.

“…Hmm?” Secretary Zhang was taken aback, realizing that Yang Youqian’s attitude was off, and asked in surprise, “You know Director Chu? Wait, you didn’t call him Mr. Chu… Mr. Zhu?” Secretary Zhang keenly realized that the other party’s use of first name instead of surname seemed to have some specific meaning.

"Secretary Zhang, you don't know, I lived in the shantytown redevelopment area of ​​the Second District until I was four years old!" Yang Youqian said with a sigh. The reason he had such a rustic name was because his parents were ordinary workers with little education who only wanted to get rich.

“Although my parents died young, and I left the shantytown a long time ago, it’s still my hometown!” Yang Youqian looked at Chu Zhu, his voice sincere and earnest. “I’ve tried to change things, but I couldn’t! But you did what I wanted to do. So…”

Although strictly speaking, because Chu Zhu integrated the shantytown renovation area too late, he did not do Yang Youqian any favor in this regard... but Chu Zhu's actions still made him willing to call him Mr. Zhu from the bottom of his heart.

Of course, besides that, there's another thing that's hard to say: he was able to get to this position, and even seemed to be getting through the transition period and becoming the captain, all thanks to Chu Zhu—after all, this guy wiped out the vice-captains and captains in one fell swoop!
Originally, he thought the credit belonged to Li Kang... but on the way here, Li Kang had specifically pulled him aside and explained in detail that Chu Zhu was the one in charge.

The meaning is very clear: if you want to be grateful, be grateful to Chu Zhu! He disdains to take advantage of this favor.

"It's what I should do." Chu Zhu's expression remained calm. He naturally recognized Yang Youqian, and had even anticipated that Yang Youqian would likely be promoted. After all, he was previously the number three figure in the Second District Special Forces!
This was also a move he had casually made earlier.

In the past, on the main timeline, he made countless similar moves, some unsuccessful and some successful.

This has even become a habit for him! Many times, even if there's no reason to make such a move, he'll still do it casually.

After all, who knows when we might need it in the future?

Now this is exactly what we need!
Secretary Zhang glanced at Chu Zhu for a while, then at Yang Youqian, and after a long silence, he suddenly gave a bitter laugh.

"Before Director Huo came, he repeatedly instructed me to coordinate well with you and the Second District Special Operations Team to prevent the Second District's captain and deputy captain from being dismissed because of you... so that the people there would have a problem with you and wouldn't cooperate with you. But now it seems that I might not have come at all!"

"What are you talking about!" Chu Zhu chuckled. "If it weren't for Secretary Zhang, I wouldn't have dared to so brazenly search for Qi Heng! By the way, Secretary Zhang, you must be a cultivator, right? And what is your specific cultivation level...?"

"Indeed, a cultivator!" Secretary Zhang pushed up his glasses, but did not mention his specific cultivation level.

Yang Youqian blinked and quickly added a pointless remark, "I guess you could call myself a body cultivator!"

"...I can tell." Chu Zhu glanced discreetly at Yang Youqian's bulging muscles, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly remarked, "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it seems like most of the people who come from our shantytown redevelopment area are physical cultivators, and the pollution is also quite..."

Yang Youqian is like that, and so is Guan Fei!
“There’s nothing we can do about it!” Yang Youqian shook his head, his voice carrying the indifference and numbness he had long since grown accustomed to, and said, “We people from the shantytown redevelopment area have cheap lives! If we don’t fight, how can we possibly compete with those pampered government-sponsored graduates?”

For body cultivators, the threshold is infinitely lower than for immortal cultivators!

Moreover, as long as you dare to take the risk, grit your teeth and endure the threat of high concentrations of pollution for a short period of time, and truly withstand it, you can really become stronger...

Furthermore, as long as you can find official channels and are willing to sign an agreement to donate your 'corpse' to the authorities after a failure... even if you don't have a single penny, the authorities are willing to pay for your medicine and cultivation resources!

If you lose, you'll naturally have to give your 'corpse' to the government to pay off your debts. As for winning... well, you can join the government and slowly pay off your debts! Yang Youqian joined the Military Commandery because of this policy, and it took him five years to pay off his loan...

Of course, it is precisely for this reason that those who emerged from the shantytown redevelopment area and successfully transformed into extraordinary individuals, joining the Commandery... while not the mainstream, are not so rare as to be few and far between...

The atmosphere at the scene became heavy for a moment.

"Alright!" Secretary Zhang was a shrewd person. Realizing that something was amiss, she immediately interrupted and changed the subject. "Director Chu, let's go first... I'll still call you Mr. Chu from now on! It'll be more intimate that way."

After all, Yang Youqian is already calling him Mr. Zhu, while he keeps calling him Director, which inevitably feels a bit out of place...

Secretary Zhang suppressed the thoughts surfacing in his mind and said with a smile, "Mr. Chu, let Captain Yang take you to the Second District Police Station to meet your temporary subordinates..."

“No need for that!” Chu Zhu refused directly. He gave Secretary Zhang a deep look, a strange smile on his face. “For now, the three of us are enough.”

“Also, if we really make contact with the Second District Special Forces now and reveal the whole plan,” Chu Zhu paused slightly and chuckled, “I’m afraid the intelligence I have will be rendered useless… Qi Heng will probably have to flee Jinghai City overnight.”

(End of this chapter)