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

The oppressive silence hung heavy in the 54-square-meter office, like dark clouds descending.

"Xiao Bai, don't stand, sit down."

Sha Ruijin spoke up.

Now that the office is full of family members, there's no need to be reserved; standing there alone only makes him more upset.

"Okay, Secretary."

Xiao Bai wasn't as serious as he appeared; in fact, he was a little happy. It was good that the provincial government system was in trouble. He hadn't forgotten that his professional ailments were exposed by Lin Zhiyuan and his group.

"Secretary Sha, isn't this exactly what we wanted to see—the provincial government faction suffering a severe blow?"

Xiao Bai asked directly.

Since there were only three people present, it was impossible for Secretary Sha and Secretary-General Tong Li to leak what he said.

madness!

The words had barely left his lips.

Sha Ruijin and Tong Li shouted angrily in unison. Tong Li, in particular, looked at Xiao Bai with cold eyes, asking if he didn't understand the concept of changing times and lacked any foresight in assessing the development of things. No wonder he was still only able to work as a secretary for his boss at his age.

Being the top leader sounds impressive, but as one gets older, it becomes a double-edged sword.

But this was, after all, someone close to the boss. The boss could reprimand him, but he couldn't. He explained, "Comrade Ping An, you need to understand one thing: at the Standing Committee meeting in Handong, the provincial government holds an absolute dominant position."

"If they want revenge, they can make it so that we can't do anything."

"So Secretary Sha and I set our goal from the beginning: not to attack a particular key cadre, but to undermine the influence of the entire provincial government, and certainly not to use their children to forcibly remove a good cadre. This is called fighting without breaking apart."

"The real struggle is never about life and death, but about who can seize the power of discourse."

"Your thinking isn't fighting, it's starting a war! A full-scale war!"

"The premise for starting a war is that the forces are evenly matched or even have an advantage. In our current situation, initiating a war would be like an egg hitting a rock."

The voice was stern and cold, carrying a certain irresistible will.

Xiaobai apologized repeatedly.

Sha Ruijin fell silent upon hearing this. Well, for a long time after he first arrived in Handong, his thoughts seemed to be no different from Xiaobai's, especially after experiencing one blow after another. But now he realized that his perspective was too narrow.

Lin Zhiyuan's provincial government faction always raises the issue high but then lets it fall gently; if it were a real fight to the death, he would probably be dead by now.

Fortunately, during the Luzhou attack...

I went to the front line to take command as soon as possible, which led to my in-depth conversation with Lin Zhiyuan.

Lin Zhiyuan may be annoying, but... his character and conduct are impeccable. To sum him up in two words: reliable and honest.

Lin Zhiyuan personally went to Chuzhou and Lüzhou, and both managed to quell the situation in a short period of time. In contrast, Jiangdong, which he and Tong Li were dealing with, was gradually sliding towards the precipice of being out of control.

"Secretary Sha, I must apologize to you regarding the Jiangdong matter. The program team's undercover investigation was seriously flawed in direction and depth, failing to accurately diagnose the problem or prescribe the right remedy. This is a serious mistake on my part as the commander."

Tong Li bowed his head in self-reflection.

But Sha Ruijin didn't respond. He knew very well that his trusted general wasn't like Li Dakang, who was prone to self-criticism; timely correction was his style.

As expected, Tong Li continued, "Our original definition of the Jiangdong case was that it was a typical case in which Qian Laizhi, as the leader and Cao Minde, colluded with Si Tianyu and other criminal gangs to wantonly trample on the judiciary by using the political and legal system. In the incident, the provincial political and legal committee, the municipal government, and the municipal discipline inspection commission were seriously derelict in their supervisory duties and even showed favoritism. Furthermore, Liu Ruian, the only son of Governor Liu, had a relationship with interest groups, which further protected Jiangdong at the provincial level, turning it into another independent kingdom like Chuzhou."

"We can then investigate the faults of the provincial government, the provincial discipline inspection commission, and the provincial political and legal committee, thereby striking at the influence of the provincial government system and buying valuable space and time for our development."

"But now that Governor Liu and the provincial government have made a tough decision to express their stance to higher authorities and demonstrate their determination to eliminate illegal forces, they have instead pushed us to the brink of danger."

"The only thing we can do now, and the thing we must focus our efforts on first, is to gather all our strength to cooperate with Secretary Gao, the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Provincial Procuratorate, and the Public Security Department on the front lines to eliminate the remaining evils, root out the real masterminds behind the scenes, and demonstrate our clear attitude of doing practical work rather than seeking struggle."

Tong Li paused slightly, a look of shame on his face, "But in doing so, we would lose our opportunity for development and might also lose the initiative in handling the incident."

It's alright!

Sha Ruijin waved his hand decisively, "As for Liu Ruian... his initiative to come to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, it must be because he was set up and drawn into a deep-seated conflict of interests, and had no choice but to do so."

"These methods..."

I really don't like it.

As middle and senior-level cadres in an organization, who among us didn't sacrifice our own families for the greater good when we were young, and who have often neglected the upbringing of our relatives, especially our children? Therefore, many cadres at the same level would rather have mediocre children than have them go astray.

Besides, he already had a disobedient son.

If they can scheme against Liu Changsheng today, can they force Sha Ruijin to submit tomorrow by taking his son hostage?

This is absolutely unacceptable!

"The provincial party committee has done its utmost to coordinate and ensure that frontline cadres can investigate thoroughly without any obstruction from the rear."

Sha Ruijin slammed his left hand on the table in anger, his voice firm, "Xiao Bai, go and notify the heads of each department."

"Okay, Secretary Sha."

Xiao Bai quickly left the office.

Tong Li stood up to say goodbye and make amends for his work mistake, but after leaving his seat, he glanced at the closed office door, his brows furrowed and his throat bobbing, as if he was hesitating about something.

"Tong Li, given our relationship, there's nothing we can't say?"

Sha Ruijin noticed the conflict on his confidant's face and his gaze also fell on the direction of the office door.

"Secretary Bai, he..."

Tong Li was still hesitant. It was true that Bai Ping'an was a confidant, but wasn't he also a close confidant? Perhaps even closer.

"Xiao Bai's judgment and abilities are a bit lacking, but he..."

Sha Ruijin had a helpless smile on his face. Xiao Bai's level was not suitable for the complicated environment of Handong, but there was nothing he could do. He really didn't dare to recommend a new secretary.

But the conversation ended halfway through.

Tong Li interrupted him directly:

"Boss, what I want to ask is, is Bai Ping'an really trustworthy?"

Provincial Procuratorate, Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Cough!

Hou Liang usually coughs violently from time to time. As expected, the night's research and coordination aggravated his old injury, which had not yet fully healed.

But now…

His eyes were fixed on the note personally delivered by Fang Denggao from the provincial government, with company names and individual names flashing across his dark pupils.

again and again.

A flash of inspiration struck me.

His gaze suddenly fixed on a name, and he abruptly stood up, roaring at Lü Liang beside him, "Inspector Lü, investigate! Investigate this person!"