Nominal: The Handong Game, the Energy System's Counterattack

Director Qian of the Finance Bureau and Director Wang of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau were both in a bad mood after being called out by Wu Xiongfei.

They can pool their resources and come up with the money, but there are so many people at this meeting today.

Wu Xiongfei has already made it very clear: if you want to pay, then go ahead.

Let's see how they explain themselves to the mayor during the year-end audit.

If we really had to pay the money as Li Dakang demanded, Mayor Wu would later punish us.

They've investigated, how will they explain it?

If Li Dakang can take responsibility for the matter himself, that would be fine, since it's a decision made by the municipal party committee.

But these people have worked with Li Dakang for so many years.

In matters like this, getting Li Dakang to sign anything is completely impossible.

Furthermore, Wu Xiongfei brought up Ding Yizhen and Zhao Donglai, which made them tremble with fear and feel a chill down their spines.

It seems Mayor Wu was right; Li Dakang has a good reputation.

From Jinshan County to Lincheng, and then to Jingzhou City, many of the lower-level officials have gotten into trouble.

But this Secretary Dakang seems to always be unscathed.

From a conspiracy theory perspective, one could argue that Li Dakang's success today is built on the bones of countless others.

That's how we got to where we are today—by stepping on the ruined political futures of countless cadres and over piles of bones.

In the past, they didn't dare to oppose it too much.

After all, the former provincial party secretary was Zhao Lichun, and Li Dakang was his former secretary. The higher-ups might give Li Dakang some face.

But things are different now; the provincial party secretary is the newly appointed Sha Ruijin.

Without the old Party Secretary backing him, if something really happens to Li Dakang, can he withstand it?

The key point is that Mayor Wu has already used the word "audit".

He was blatantly telling them that if they actually did as Li Dakang asked, Wu Xiongfei had a knife in his hand.

Previously, Mayor Wu didn't handle things, so they could easily gloss over these matters.

But Wu Xiongfei's performance at the meeting today speaks volumes.

From today onwards, the mayor of Jingzhou City may no longer be just a figurehead.

If he really had the knife of an auditor, they would all be paralyzed with fear.

These people finally realized that things might be about to change in Jingzhou.

No one knows how much accountability risk is hidden behind Li Dakang's seemingly prudent decision.

If something really goes wrong, Li Dakang will definitely be fine, since he only gives orders verbally and doesn't actually issue any written approvals.

Those who coordinate funds from other sources are in for a rough time.

"Secretary Li... I think Mayor Wu's words make a lot of sense. Why don't you issue a document on behalf of the Municipal Party Committee so that I can make overall arrangements?"

Director Qian of the Finance Bureau had been called in for a heart-to-heart talk by Wu Xiongfei some time ago, and he was already somewhat dissatisfied with Li Dakang's constant requests for favors.

Now that Wu Xiongfei has spoken out, it's clear that he has no choice but to remain silent under these circumstances.

When the year-end audit comes, Wu Xiongfei will try to get rid of Director Qian, and he'll be dead for good.

With Director Qian's statement, Director Wang of the Housing and Construction Bureau also looked at Li Dakang expectantly.

"Secretary Li, the matter of Dafeng Factory really has nothing to do with our housing and construction department."

"Also, the Shanshui Group makes money, they can't possibly..."

Director Wang had always followed Li Dakang's lead, but seeing Zhao Donglai being taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission...

Before Ding Yizhen fled, he always claimed that he was the reincarnation of Li Dakang.

Li Dakang always made everyone cooperate in everything he did.

After he fled, Li Dakang always claimed that Ding Yizhen had ruined his reputation, and all the problems with the Guangmingfeng project were blamed on Ding Yizhen.

Ding Yizhen, Zhao Donglai, and Li Dakang were Li's number one and number two henchmen in Jingzhou City.

When trouble came up, Li Dakang showed no mercy whatsoever and turned around to smear them.

If something happens to him, the director of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, will he also be trampled to death by Li Dakang?

Director Qian and Director Wang spoke up, and the others nodded in agreement.

Li Dakang's face was dark, and his dead fish eyes swept over everyone, plunging the entire conference room into silence once again.

After all, he was Li Dakang, who had long held considerable power in Jingzhou City. If he were to suddenly step forward, these people would indeed be somewhat intimidated.

Li Dakang suppressed everyone's commotion and sat there like a stone statue.

However, the fact that his hand was still on the table, pressing the documents to the side, indicated that Li Dakang was not at peace.

At that moment, Wu Xiongfei was still chasing after him.

"Secretary Li, the allocation of large sums of fiscal funds falls under the category of 'major issues requiring significant investment,' and must be collectively studied and decided upon by the Standing Committee of the Party Committee."

"No one—not a single leading cadre—is allowed to directly issue funding allocation quotas at ad-hoc meetings."

"You approved the allocation of 45 million in resettlement funds at this meeting today."

"Skipping the Standing Committee, skipping the Municipal People's Congress, and skipping the Government Executive Meeting constitutes personal arbitrariness and seriously violates the democratic decision-making system."

"You just said, 'Give everyone a week; if the money isn't there, resign.'"

"Using one's position to threaten subordinates and exert pressure constitutes an abuse of power and illegal pressure on officials."

"Everyone here is a leading cadre cultivated by the Party for many years. You have the power to appoint people, but you can't just remove whoever you want."

"Because you were held accountable for carrying out illegal orders, Secretary Li, do you still have any sense of discipline or the principle of democratic centralism?"

A deathly silence.

The Director Qian who had just spoken had a thin layer of sweat on his palms.

Sun Liancheng lowered his head, but his slightly trembling eyelashes betrayed the shock in his heart.

He and Zhao Dehan had previously reported to Wu Xiongfei.

Wu Xiongfei was very polite to him and Zhao Dehan, saying that they would look after each other if anything happened in Jingzhou City.

After the news from the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee came out, he knew that Wu Xiongfei would take some action.

But unexpectedly, at this very meeting to handle the aftermath of the January 16 Incident, he so bravely confronted Li Dakang.

He really didn't know Wu Xiongfei was so capable.

He glanced at Zhao Dehan beside him, but Zhao Dehan had a faint smile on his face as he looked at Wu Xiongfei, appearing quite relaxed.

The deputy mayors looked at each other, none of them daring to utter a sound.

Upon hearing this even more severe criticism, Li Dakang remained expressionless.

However, his eyes were churning with too much—anger, shock, and a kind of stifling feeling he hadn't experienced in many years, a feeling he couldn't refute.

It's not that he doesn't understand these procedures and legal provisions; having reached this position, he knows exactly what he should and shouldn't do.

However, his long-term smooth sailing and his habit of making decisions unilaterally after gaining power made him subconsciously overlook these things.

All he knew was maintaining stability, cutting through the Gordian knot, and that in Jingzhou, Li Dakang's word was law.

He never cared about the budget approval process, whether special funds could be misappropriated, or the procedural requirements of "major issues, major decisions, and major personnel appointments".

In his view, these rules were imposed on others, not on Li Dakang himself.

However, right today, Wu Xiongfei keeps accusing Li Dakang of various things.