In name only: The land of Handong, I shall rule its fate.

On this day, heroes from Handong gathered together.

Not only did the mischievous Hou Liangping arrive in Handong, but Wu Chunlin also escaped the heavy siege of the capital and successfully took off from the airport in Beiyan Province and landed in Jingzhou, while Yang Wanli returned from Europe in high spirits.

"Secretary Sha, your hand?"

Tong Li had already learned about Sha Ruijin's injury on his way here, but he still twitched his lips when he saw his right hand in a cast.

Why does this gerbil poison seem to make him more irritable as he gets older?

"Tong Li, those local factions in Handong are too unruly! First they blocked my approval process, then they stopped my provincial party committee stipend, and now they're trying to take down Xiao Bai with a match whose outcome was already predetermined!"

"These people are incredibly audacious!"

Sha Ruijin held his confidant's hand and complained.

"I proposed freezing the list of 126 people with the first proposal, but they refused; I wanted to promote Yi Xuexi, but they still refused; now I just want to renovate a basketball court, but they still refuse."

"Can I still be considered a provincial party secretary? Am I still the top leader?"

Tong Li seemed to see a glint of water in Sha Ruijin's eyes.

"Secretary Sha, what did Secretary Tian say?"

Tong Li calmly withdrew his hand, wiping it discreetly, though he admitted to feeling a bit disgusted.

But this is the boss.

The boss who pulled him out of the dark and hopeless county discipline inspection commission became Sha Ruijin's most loyal henchman from that day on.

"Did you catch anything?"

Tong Li asked again.

"No!"

Sha Ruijin said irritably, "This guy is always talking about what he's heard, what others have said. Everyone else in Handong calls him Secretary Three-Talks."

"They can talk about anything, but when you ask for concrete evidence, they have nothing to show for it."

"That's not right either!"

"He did give me a voice recorder a couple of days ago, but it was between a local family in Handong and Ji Changming from the prosecutor's office. What would I need it for!"

Tong Li's eyes gleamed.

"Secretary Sha, be careful, this person isn't on our side."

Tong Li calmly analyzed, "He's been here for more than half a year, and he has the support of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Zhang family. How could he not have any clues? It's probably because he didn't dare to act before you arrived in Handong."

"But Executive Director Lin arrived before you and won over Secretary Li and Qi Tongwei, which probably erased a lot of clues, rendering the evidence he originally possessed useless."

"Even Secretary Gao has begun to distance himself from unstable factors."

Sha Ruijin frowned slightly. "You mean, it's not a good thing that I agreed to transfer Hou Liangping over here?"

"No! It's a good thing!"

Tong Li shook his head again. "Hou Liangping comes from the Supreme People's Procuratorate and has the Zhong family's support. As for his personality, he is arrogant and frivolous, making him the most suitable to be your sharpest weapon."

"but…"

"Investigating Li Dakang... I'm afraid investigating the Zhao family won't go as you wish. In fact, after studying Executive Director Lin's operating procedures, I found that defensiveness isn't in his nature. If Hou Liangping investigates everything, he'll probably only ruin himself in the end, and might even implicate you, Sha Ruijin."

"And the timing of that recording is too coincidental; I feel something is off."

"Lü Liang might have some issues. He was promoted out of nowhere and obtained the recording out of nowhere. Secretary Sha, don't forget that Lü Liang is also a local faction."

"His outstanding achievements in the anti-corruption bureau, which even ruined his health and prevented him from advancing, were largely a result of making way for Comrade Chen Hai. Given your relationship with Chen Yanshi and Chen Hai, the resentment that Lüliang has accumulated over the years will naturally prevent him from being close to us."

"So I guess..."

Tong Li looked at the boss with a solemn expression, "Hou Liangping and Lü Liang's progress is itself a setup, a setup to put you against the local powerful families."

"The local powerful families may not be strong at the top, but they have been operating for decades and their influence has spread to all aspects of Han Dongfang. Once the two sides clash, you, Sha Ruijin, will not be able to deal with it easily. Otherwise, you will be caught in a protracted war of attrition."

"If Executive Director Lin can then focus on developing Handong's economy and boosting GDP growth, you will become his control group."

"Lin Zhiyuan deserves to die!"

After being enlightened by Tong Liquan, Sha Ruijin's mind, which had been clouded since he entered the game, gradually came back to life.

"That's not all."

But Tong Li didn't stop. It was like pouring buckets of cold water over his head. "If you want to investigate Li Dakang, based on the intelligence you collected before, he is almost cold and ruthless. He only cares about progress and economic development. He has very little involvement with external interests and cherishes his reputation very much."

"It is extremely difficult to find a breakthrough in such a person who is almost like an ascetic monk. We must approach him from the side. There are two: one is the endless stream of corrupt officials under Li Dakang, and the other is his wife Ouyang Jing."

"The former is willing to cooperate with the investigation, at most his future will be ruined, it is difficult to really bring him down, so Hou Liangping's focus of the investigation will definitely shift to Ouyang Jing as expected."

"But Ouyang Jing previously worked in the banking system."

"Even a city bank carries enormous risks. If these risks were to explode, it would be a huge bombshell for us right now."

Tong Li meticulously analyzed the situation, and the more he listened, the more alarmed he became about the dear gerbil poison.

Damn it, I just want to seize power and experience the glory of being a regional governor.

The other party actually wanted him dead!

Lin Zhiyuan, how could your heart be so vicious!

Villain!

You're worse than an animal.

Fortunately, Tong Li was transferred here as the chief strategist, otherwise he wouldn't even know how he died.

"Actually, there's no need to fight with Executive Director Lin."

Tong Li paused for a moment and then said, "He's too young."

Yes, they're too young!

Sha Ruijin fell silent. He was fifty-seven this year, and even Tong Li was forty-nine.

"I thought about this problem when I was in Beijing."

Sha Ruijin smiled calmly and said, "Decades of hard work have finally brought me to this mountaintop, where I can enjoy the panoramic view. But before I've even had a chance to appreciate this magnificent landscape, I have to give up the best spot to a junior like Tong Li. Are you willing to accept that, Comrade Tong Li?"

"Anyway, I'm not willing to accept this."

Tong Li nodded.

Whoever reaches this position is an exceptional individual? Why should I be inferior to you? Is the Handong I lead necessarily worse than the one you govern?

There is no first place in literature, but there is a clear second place in martial arts. This principle has never changed!

"Then let's fight for it, let's fight for a lifetime of fame and glory!"

Tong Li spoke coldly, without any intention of dissuading him, "Since Executive Director Lin wants us to deal with the local powerful families, it's enough to show how difficult they are to deal with."

"The Yao, Lin, and Zhao families are entrenched in the political and legal system, including the Wu family, all of whom are closely related to Secretary Gao."

"Secretary, your plan could be further refined."

"By using Hou Liangping to investigate the case, we not only want to make Secretary Gao an absolute roadblock for Executive Director Lin, but also to expose the local family labels and wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

"With the complete collapse of the Hantong political and legal system, even if Executive Director Lin has extraordinary abilities, he will still have to pay the price for the overall situation and eventually leave the stage in disgrace."

Sha Ruijin frowned. "But now the whole of Handong knows that Hou Liangping is someone I and the Supreme People's Procuratorate requested to come..."