Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

At nine o'clock in the morning, the provincial party committee's conference room was full of people.

Representatives from thirteen cities lined up on both sides, the bottled water on the tables unopened. Sha Ruijin sat in the head seat, a calm smile on his face, a thin meeting agenda beside him.

Chu Pingshan entered the room carrying a thick stack of documents, and his briefcase made a heavy thud when he placed it on the table.

Gao Yuliang arrived half a minute late.

He only brought a folder, followed by Qi Tongwei and Lu Yike. Li Dakang sat in the Jingzhou representative's seat, his face ashen, his arms crossed.

Sha Ruijin tapped the table. "Today is a joint meeting of political and legal affairs officials, and the topic is the stability risks surrounding major projects and audit coordination. Let's get straight to the point."

Chu Pingshan first opened the materials.

"Then let me ask Secretary Gao first. Recently, the political and legal system has been frequently intervening in economic affairs. The Jingzhou Public Security Bureau is conducting cross-city and cross-province investigations of the provincial government's outsourced audit team. Where is the legality in this?"

Many people in the meeting room were looking down at their documents.

Chu Pingshan continued, his tone unhurried yet each sentence authoritative. "The provincial government's re-measurement of major projects is in accordance with the law. But the political and legal system summoning companies for protective questioning and intercepting outsourced data from across provinces—won't this interfere with normal auditing?"

Gao Yuliang didn't interrupt, but simply pushed the folder to Lu Yike.

Lu Yike stood up, her voice clear. "First, the ledgers related to the organized crime checkpoints originated from a case investigated by the Jingzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau and have been filed. Second, the application for protection of the entrepreneurs was submitted by the entrepreneurs themselves and witnessed by the procuratorate. Third, the operation at the Qingling bonded warehouse received a letter of assistance from the public security bureaus of neighboring provinces; the Jingzhou Public Security Bureau did not conduct the operation independently."

As she read each item aloud, she projected a copy onto the large screen.

One red stamp after another appeared.

Several city and prefecture representatives sat up straight.

Someone whispered, "Are all the paperwork complete?"

"The prosecutor's testimony is also present."

"We've received the reply from the neighboring province, but Governor Chu's attack didn't quite hit the mark."

Chu Pingshan paused for a moment as he flipped through the documents.

Sha Ruijin glanced at Gao Yuliang.

Gao Yuliang picked up his teacup, pretending not to have heard anything.

Chu Pingshan presented a different set of materials. "What about the emergency funds allocated by the Jingzhou Municipal Government to the Public Security Bureau? During the special financial review, Comrade Li Dakang bypassed provincial oversight and channeled funds into the Public Security system. How do you explain that?"

Li Dakang's facial muscles tightened.

Given his temperament, he should have started cursing by now.

Gao Yuliang's words from yesterday, "Save it for when it's time to burn," still echoed in his ears. He forced himself to swallow his anger and simply slammed his pen down on the table.

Gao Yuliang put down his teacup.

"Comrade Dakang, don't say anything yet. The money in Jingzhou is for the personal safety protection of entrepreneurs and administrative security expenditures, and it doesn't go into the special fund for political and legal affairs. I support Governor Chu's request to audit the accounts."

Chu Pingshan stared at him. "Secretary Gao supports the audit?"

Gao Yuliang nodded. "Of course I support it. While we're at it, let's also find out why the Coastal Fund came to our door to discuss investing in the company right after it was rated as inefficient by Haiheng."

The meeting room fell silent.

Gao Yuliang looked at Qi Tongwei. "Play the video."

The screen went black.

In the first scene, a checkpoint is set up on a national highway at night. A truck driver is surrounded by several people in fake uniforms, and you can hear them cursing as the camera shakes.

In the second segment, a recording from Jingzhou Enterprises, the brother-in-law of Team Leader Ma clearly says, "Governor Chu only looks at the report and doesn't ask about the process."

In the third scene, at the back door of the club, a provincial government vehicle and Haiheng's financial director appeared one after the other.

In the fourth section, at the Qingling Bonded Warehouse, Zhou Lan stuffed a black shockproof bag into a wooden crate containing import and export instruments.

The screen froze.

The representatives from all thirteen cities changed their expressions.

Representative Lü Zhou was writing furiously with his head down, while Representative Lin Cheng gripped his water bottle so tightly it cracked. In Jingzhou, Li Dakang finally looked up, his gaze seemingly burning through the screen.

Qi Tongwei stood up and submitted the account statement.

"The account of Team Leader Ma's brother-in-law received coordination fees for Haiheng Consulting projects three times. After the funds arrived, the criminal gang that set up roadblocks began to focus on intercepting logistics routes in competing cities. All representatives can see the timeline; the error is no more than forty-eight hours."

Someone gasped.

"What's the point of auditing this?"

"First they suppress the credit rating, then they withdraw capital, then they block logistics—their methods are too shady."

"No wonder businesses in our area have been having so many problems lately."

Chu Pingshan's face darkened.

He closed the document, his voice cutting through the noise of the meeting room. "If the outsourced personnel have violated the law, the provincial government will also demand severe punishment. The fact that a few individuals are profiting from audits does not negate the system of re-testing major projects and eliminating the bottom performers."

This is the sentence that Gao Yuliang and others were referring to.

He looked up at the doorway. "Please invite Team Leader Ma in."

The door opened.

Team Leader Ma's legs were still a little weak when he walked into the meeting room. Yesterday he was sitting in a key position in the Provincial Government's Re-survey Office, but today he was standing in the center of everyone's attention.

Chu Pingshan looked at him, and his expression changed for the first time.

"Team Leader Ma, do you know when you should speak?"

Team Leader Ma's lips trembled slightly.

Qi Tongwei stood half a step behind him, without touching him, and simply placed the witness protection application on the table.

Team Leader Ma gritted his teeth and took out a USB drive from his pocket.

"I know. Haiheng didn't get ordinary audit data; it got a map of high-quality assets across the province. The bottom-ranking elimination rating system would indicate in advance which companies could be pressured to lower prices, which supporting facilities could be divested, and which local governments would be forced to make concessions."

A murmur of discussion erupted in the meeting room.

Lu Yike plugged the USB drive into the isolated computer, and the words "Haizhou Backup" appeared on the screen. Subsequently, a comparison table showing the actual beneficiaries was opened.

Next to the blank number, Coastal Fund, Xinheng Data, and several nested companies appeared.

Gao Yuliang did not look at Chu Pingshan.

He looked at Sha Ruijin.

"Secretary Sha, I have three procedural suggestions. Suspend the bottom-ranking elimination system, conduct a comprehensive review of Haiheng Consulting and its related outsourcing companies, and require all future major projects to undergo political and legal stability risk assessment and joint military-civilian security review before retesting."

Chu Pingshan suddenly looked up.

Gao Yuliang spoke calmly. "I won't comment on the provincial government's initial intentions. If the procedure is broken, fix the procedure first. If there's blood on the handle of a knife, you have to wipe it clean before handing it out."

The meeting room was quiet.

Subsequently, representatives from the thirteen cities began whispering among themselves.

"Let's pause, otherwise who will dare to submit the list?"

"First review the outsourcing company."

"Military and civilian projects should not be left to consulting firms to handle at will."

Li Dakang finally spoke, the words seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth. "Jingzhou supports this. Whoever treats our company like prey, Jingzhou will never let them off the hook."

As Sha Ruijin observed the wind direction in the venue, the smile on his face gradually faded.

He knew that if he continued to pressure Gao Yuliang at this point, it would only push the thirteen cities to the other side.

"Agreed in principle. The provincial government will take the lead, with the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Organization Department, the Discipline Inspection Commission, and other relevant departments conducting a joint review. The bottom-ranking elimination system will be suspended and will be revised before further discussion."