Nominal: Who isn't a son-in-law?

Everyone else in the conference room stared at him, dumbfounded. Brilliant! Truly courageous!

"I..." Li Dakang was interrupted after saying only one word.

A woman stepped forward.

"Secretary Sun, sit down. What kind of talk is this?"

Propaganda Minister Liu Wenyu frowned. She was promoted by Li Dakang, so naturally she had to speak up for him.

"Regarding the issue of address, how Secretary Li addresses Elder Chen depends on the occasion and the situation. Sweeping Elder Chen's letter into the trash can must mean he was very angry about the issues Elder Chen raised."

"It's normal to get agitated for a moment. This is because I'm frustrated with some people's shortcomings. Calling him 'Old Chen' is out of respect for veteran comrades. What do you mean by flattery? According to you, who here can escape unscathed?"

"Don't exaggerate anything. Even works by artists are often misinterpreted and commented on by readers. We need to look at things objectively!"

"Furthermore, regarding Ding Yizhen, it's a fact that he was in charge of the Guangming Peak project at the time. Such a massive undertaking, worth hundreds of billions, could it be easily altered?"

"It wasn't that Secretary Dakang didn't want to take action against him at the time; he wanted to proceed slowly, thoroughly investigate the issues, and only act when he was confident of success. Otherwise, if he were suddenly removed from his post, could District Chief Sun Liancheng have kept the developers in check?"

*Slap*

After listening, Sun Haiping slammed his hand on the table, leaned forward, and pointed at Liu Wenyu.

"You're talking nonsense!"

"Oh, so you mean if a cadre has problems, but he's in charge of a project, we can just ignore him for now, and then come here to get yelled at after everyone's gone?"

Sun Haiping spread his hands, looked at everyone,

"If that's the case, what's the point of having our Political and Legal Affairs Commission? What's the point of having the Discipline Inspection Commission? We might as well just issue arrest warrants and offer rewards every day, and then we won't have to do any work..."

Cough cough

Mayor Ye Qian of Jingzhou coughed twice, and Sun Haiping stopped talking, then sat down and picked up his water glass to drink.

In the main seat, Li Dakang's face was ashen, and his eyes seemed capable of killing.

"Let me say a few words,"

Organization Minister Hua Xingfu began,

Everyone looked at him. This organization minister had always been a transparent person; he did whatever Li Dakang said.

"Regarding the issue of some cadres, such as sending flowers and plants as gifts, and going to places like the Mountain and Water Manor for drinking, these situations are indeed not good. However, we need to look at it objectively. For example, those flowers and plants were bought by cadres at the flower and bird market. They didn't cost tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan. With their salaries, they could afford to buy them. Moreover, they didn't give them to officials in office; they gave them to retired veteran cadre Mr. Chen."

"Everyone knows Mr. Chen's character; he's honest and upright, sold his house and now rents a place to live. So, for these people to send him flowers and plants, isn't that, to some extent, a sign of respect and affection for this retired cadre? It has absolutely nothing to do with bribery. What could a retired cadre like him possibly do? Besides, I heard from Chief Prosecutor Ji that Mr. Chen raised this issue immediately."

"Furthermore, everyone knows about their frequenting of places like Shanshui Manor for meals and drinks. We can't exactly take developers to rural farmhouses to invest, can we? Is that realistic? They might run away halfway there, and the investment would be out of the question. Regarding Ding Yizhen, he did make significant contributions to the Guangmingfeng project, but we don't have the keen eyes to know he's like this behind the scenes."

"Isn't that just talking nonsense too?"

Sun Haiping jumped up again. "Oh, so when Secretary Sha doesn't come, these cadres don't respect retired cadres. But when Secretary Sha comes and visits Comrade Chen Yanshi's home, everyone starts respecting the retired cadres. What kind of logic is that? If Secretary Sha visits any of his staff members' homes, does your Organization Department have to show respect too, write a report to promote them three ranks? If he goes to a mountain, does he have to ask the Writers' Association to write an article or a poem to be engraved on a stone? And submit a 5A rating?"

Hua Xingfu blushed, "You've misunderstood me!"

"I'm distorting your story, Feng!"

Sun Haiping picked up his water glass to drink, but it was empty, so he put it on the table. Seeing this, Zhang Shuli, who was next to him, picked up his glass and went to get some water. "Comrade Haiping, please continue."

"What these officials who sent flowers and foliage are thinking, they know it all, and you know it too!"

"Furthermore, regarding the food and drinks at Shanshui Manor, yes, you have a point—things can't be discussed over drinks. But I'd like to ask, if someone reports a problem to us, shouldn't our Political and Legal Affairs Commission and the Discipline Inspection Commission investigate? If it's a moral issue, we should hold a meeting to criticize and educate them; if it's a disciplinary issue, we should investigate thoroughly and punish accordingly, issuing a public notice. Is there anything wrong with that? Can't we just brush it off with 'the overall situation is important'? And then we get blamed after something goes wrong? We won't take that blame!"

"If the Guangming Peak project, worth hundreds of billions, had fallen through because of you, could you bear that responsibility?" Liu Wenyu asked.

"Our Jingzhou City is huge, with 6.8 million people and so many cadres. Is Ding Yizhen the only one we can use? Can't we find someone else? He's indulging in eating and drinking, and all the work is done by District Chief Sun Liancheng. Isn't this mess now in District Chief Sun's hands?"

As Sun Haiping spoke, he pointed at Liu Wenyu, "The issues of morality and discipline are my and Secretary Zhang's dereliction of duty, but you, as the propaganda minister, are even more derelict in your duties! How have you done your propaganda work? Have you done a good job with the annual conference propaganda and ideological propaganda? If you had done a good job, how could this kind of thing have happened?"

*Slap*

"People's thoughts are not fixed. Just because we promote something doesn't mean they will do it. If we could just hold a meeting, give some publicity, and that would be the job done, what would we need you and the Discipline Inspection Commission for?" Liu Wenyu slammed his hand on the table, his fat face trembling.

"right."

Hua nodded happily.

"What about you, Feng?"

Sun Haiping turned to the Organization Minister, "How did Ding Yizhen get promoted? How did some other cadres get promoted? How did you, the Organization Minister, conduct your due diligence? Let me tell you, you didn't even bother to properly investigate some of the cadres. You never took the problems we raised seriously. Secretary Li just called on someone, and you eagerly put their name on the list. The Standing Committee just raised their hand, and they were officially appointed. When something goes wrong, you make us take the blame and get scolded. Bah!"

Sun Haiping spat out a mouthful of saliva, which landed on the table in front of Hua Xingfu, and the people next to him immediately moved away.

"Ahem, Comrade Haiping, be mindful of your behavior." Ye Qian's lips twitched, and he gestured for him to stop.

"Is what you're reporting a problem? It's just baseless speculation. If we can take this seriously, then we wouldn't have to work if someone said a few words." Hua Xingfu's anger surged.

"So you mean you're going to ignore all the minor issues and not listen to the people's suggestions?" Zhang Shuli came over after getting some water. "Comrade Haiping, have a drink."

"Thanks."

"Do we have to wait until small problems become big problems, and firecrackers become powder kegs, before we pay the price? And then we'll still have to take the blame? Bah!" Zhang Shuli spat, this time with a lot of force, and it landed on him.

Beside Hua Xingfu, the United Front Minister stood up, pulled up a chair and sat down some distance away, while kicking Hua Xingfu, saying, "Why don't you dare to fight him?"

"What are you doing? This is a meeting!"

Hua Xingfu pulled out a piece of paper with a disgusted expression.

"Let me correct you. As Secretary Li just said, this is a democratic life meeting, which is to discuss problems and make self-criticisms!" Sun Haiping said calmly while drinking water.

"Have you finished speaking?"

Li Dakang spoke, looking expressionlessly at Sun Haiping and Zhang Shuli.

*Slap*

He slammed his hand on the table, then pointed at the two of them and said:

"I am the Party Secretary of Jingzhou, not you. The 6.8 million people of Jingzhou need to eat, survive, develop, and find employment. I am the primary person responsible. The responsibility for Jingzhou's three districts and eleven counties rests on my shoulders, not yours! The development of Jingzhou is not for you to dictate!"

"Then I will also tell Secretary Li that I am the Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of Jingzhou City. The political and legal system of the three districts and eleven counties of Jingzhou is on my shoulders, and I am also the person in charge." Sun Haiping looked at him.

"The Discipline Inspection Commission, me too." Zhang Shuli nodded.

"I also want to correct Secretary Li on one point. Of the three districts and eleven counties in Jingzhou, I will take on the responsibilities of the government, while you will coordinate the Party Committee. Of course, if you want to take on all the responsibilities, I can submit my resignation," Mayor Ye Qian said calmly.

"Okay, okay!"