After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

Everyone looked at Chen Pingfang, waiting for him to speak.

Chen Ping walked over to Ge Hengshan, who was lying on the ground, without even glancing at him, and gave instructions to Zheng Xian behind him.

"Call an ambulance. Also, notify the Economic Crime Investigation Department of the Municipal Public Security Bureau to come and take Chairman Ge away to assist in the investigation. The charges are suspected embezzlement and illegal transfer of assets."

Zheng Xian nodded immediately, took out his phone, and went to the side to make a call.

Two simple sentences can determine a person's fate.

The business owners present witnessed all of this, and a chill ran down their spines.

This young department head is too ruthless.

Chen Ping looked around the room, observing the fearful and uneasy expressions on everyone's faces.

"Do you think you'll be clean just by pushing him out?"

Chen Ping's words thwarted everyone's plans.

A man in his fifties mustered his courage and spoke in a trembling voice.

"Director Chen, we...we were also deceived by him! We are all honest and law-abiding businessmen!"

"Honest and law-abiding?"

Chen Ping repeated the word, then picked up a sewage discharge data report from the pile of materials on the table.

"Hongda Precision Machinery illegally discharged highly concentrated acidic wastewater into the river seventeen times last year. You've been dragging your feet on paying the environmental protection bureau's fines for eight months. Is this something Ge Hengshan forced you to do?"

The man who had spoken immediately turned a deep purplish-red, unable to utter a single word.

Chen Ping picked up another document.

"Sanli Chemical used outdated and obsolete technology to fraudulently obtain 3.2 million yuan in national energy conservation and emission reduction subsidies. Did Ge Hengshan also pocket this money?"

The boss whose name was called almost collapsed, his legs went weak.

Chen Ping released one document after another, revealing the true nature of these people one by one.

With each name read aloud, one person's head droops a little lower.

They finally realized that Chen Ping hadn't come here today to negotiate with them.

He came to settle scores, and he had evidence of each of their crimes.

The atmosphere in the conference room shifted from its previous clamor to a deathly silence. No one dared to utter a sound; fear was etched on their faces.

"According to regulations, at least half of you here will have your factories permanently shut down and the responsible persons handed over to the judiciary."

Chen Ping threw the documents in his hand back onto the table.

"However, the province now has new considerations."

These words rekindled the spirits of everyone who had given up hope.

They looked up, staring nervously at Chen Pingfang.

"If we shut you down directly, tens of thousands of workers will lose their jobs, billions of yuan in bank loans will become bad debts, and the economy of Guangling City will be severely damaged. This is not the situation the province wants to see."

Chen Pingfang slowed down his speech.

"So, I'm giving you another way."

He held up one finger.

"The province will take the lead in establishing a green industry transformation fund. Your companies must invest in the fund according to their respective pollution levels and asset sizes."

"Part of this money will be used to compensate the people and the environment who have suffered losses due to your pollution. The other part will be used as pilot funding to invest in brand new green chemical and new materials projects."

"You can choose to pay in cash, or you can use your land, factory buildings, and equipment as collateral. Once you invest, you will become a shareholder of the fund, and all your past misdeeds, as long as they are not criminal offenses, will be forgiven. After the rectification is completed, you may even have the opportunity to participate in new projects and complete the transformation."

Chen Ping looked at them.

"Of course, you can also choose not to join."

He paused, then added the second half of the sentence.

"Then, the environmental inspection team will move in immediately, the banks will withdraw their loans right away, and the tax authorities will re-examine your accounts from the past five years. You can try to see how many days you can hold out."

The entire conference room was completely silent.

Everyone understood.

This isn't a choice; it's an ultimatum.

They all knew in their hearts that their only way to survive was to pay money to save their lives, to return some of the ill-gotten gains they had made in the past, and in exchange for an uncertain future. Otherwise, it was a dead end, and they would be wiped out completely.

A man wearing gold-rimmed glasses cautiously raised his hand.

"Director Chen, how was the funding ratio calculated?"

This is a question that everyone cares about.

"It's very simple."

Chen Ping turned to Zhou Weiguo, the acting mayor of Guangling City, who had been standing in the corner the whole time, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"Mayor Zhou, you should take the lead and form a joint assessment team composed of people from the environmental protection, tax, and banking sectors. Within three days, you should thoroughly analyze the accounts of every company present here, including their assets and liabilities, historical pollution, and tax evasion, and come up with a detailed investment plan."

He emphasized his words.

"Remember, keep a detailed account; not a single penny can be shortchanged. Anyone who doesn't cooperate will have their property seized on the spot."

"Yes! Yes! I'll take care of it right away!"

Zhou Weiguo nodded repeatedly, his forehead covered in sweat.

He now holds Chen Pingfang in the highest esteem.

He never even dared to imagine such a tough approach, such a ruthless determination to solve the problem at its root.

They subdued a group of troublesome business owners and made them pay for the mess they had created.

That's a brilliant tactic.

Chen Ping didn't look at the business owners again and turned to leave.

As he reached the door, he seemed to remember something, stopped, turned around, and said something to Zheng Xian.

"The 50 million yuan that Ge Hengshan was preparing to remit has been frozen in accordance with the law, in coordination with the public security bureau and the bank. This money will be used as the first seed funding and injected into the special compensation fund for the Chip Spark Project in our Nanzhou Province."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and went out.

The group of entrepreneurs, their faces ashen, were left in the conference room, yet dared not disobey.

Zhou Weiguo was left speechless with shock.

Project Corefire!

He finally understood that Chen Pingfang's grand gesture was ultimately aimed at raising money for that semiconductor project!

This series of actions was intricately linked, truly impressive.

Zhou Weiguo felt a chill run down his spine.

……

The convoy slowly drove away from the Jinshan Chemical Industrial Park.

Chen Ping leaned back in the back seat, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples.

The continuous high level of stress left him somewhat exhausted.

But his mind was still racing, thinking about what to do next.

This money from the chemical industrial park will be just enough to fill the funding gap for the CoreFire Project.

The technology Gu Weizhen brought back and the construction of the EDA ecosystem both required massive financial investment.

This is just the first transaction.

When the car arrived at the entrance of the Guangling Municipal Government, Zhou Weiguo was already waiting there.

He personally opened the car door for Chen Ping, adopting an extremely humble posture.

"Director Chen, thank you so much! You've solved a huge problem for Guangling!"

Chen Ping put down the car and patted him on the shoulder.

"The real trouble isn't over yet; the subsequent assessments and fund recovery are the difficult parts. You have to withstand the pressure."

"Don't worry! I will definitely handle this matter perfectly!" Zhou Weiguo immediately assured him.

He hesitated for a moment, then leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"Director Chen, there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

"explain."

"A classmate of mine who works in the provincial party committee office had dinner with me yesterday and casually mentioned that Director Sun Heming of the Science and Technology Department has been frequently visiting several provincial party committee leaders recently."

Zhou Weiguo's voice lowered even further.

"It seems...it seems like they're lobbying to transfer the technical review authority for the Chipfire Project from your Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to their Ministry of Science and Technology."