Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

"Who is Lou Zhenhua? He's a patriot who donated all the shares of the entire Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill to the country free of charge! I personally had people inventory his family's assets back then; there's no such thing as overseas assets or hidden gold!"

Lin Yang was all too aware of these underhanded dealings.

This Wang Qiang clearly wants to take advantage of the economic crackdown to target influential figures like Lou Zhenhua in order to gain political capital and a reputation for being incorruptible.

He completely disregarded Lou Zhenhua's contributions to the country's heavy industry, caring only about his own official position!

"These idiots, they've come to mess with people from my Ministry of Heavy Industry. Do they think I, Lin Yang, am too mild-mannered, or do they think I'm too weak to handle a knife?"

Lin Yang stood up, exuding a chilling and murderous aura.

Lou Zhenhua was not only a model of united front work that he recognized, but also a key figure in the smooth transition of the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. To take action against Lou Zhenhua was to slap him in the face, given his position as Vice Minister of Heavy Industry and Director of the Iron and Steel Bureau!

"Xiao'e, you can stay here with your godmother without worry. I'll take care of your father's affairs."

Lin Yang turned to Xiao Li: "Prepare the car! We're going to the telegraph office!"

Three o'clock in the morning.

Lin Yang didn't go directly to find that so-called Wang Qiang. Dealing with such a clown by personally going to his door to argue would be beneath him.

He wanted to use the most intense artillery fire to directly flatten the mountain behind the enemy!

Lin Yang sat in the confidential room of the telegraph office, picked up the red military dedicated line telephone, and dialed directly to the headquarters of the Fujian Military Region.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

"Hey! Who the hell is calling me in the middle of the night?! Don't they know I have to inspect the artillery positions tomorrow?!"

Li Yunlong's signature furious roar came through the microphone.

Lin Yang smirked coldly: "Old Li, it's me."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone for two seconds, followed by a burst of laughter.

"Yangzi! What brings you to call me? What, the liquor in Beijing isn't good enough, so you want to come to Fujian and drink some sweet potato liquor with me?"

"We'll drink later. Old Li, someone in Beijing has targeted my men." Lin Yang's voice was calm, but it carried an undeniable killing intent.

Li Yunlong's breathing instantly became heavy on the other end of the phone.

"Who the hell has the guts to touch your plate?"

Lin Yang briefly recounted the story of Lou Zhenhua's arrest.

"Old Li, I'm a local civilian cadre now. Although the Ministry of Heavy Industry manages the factories, it doesn't have jurisdiction over those investigation teams. If I go through the proper channels to negotiate, they'll definitely pass the buck and drag it out for ten days or half a month. Lou Zhenhua's health can't withstand that."

"I need the military's power to seize them out of the country under the guise of martial law."

Lin Yang's tone was extremely calm.

"You have many old subordinates in the Beijing Garrison and the public security system. Please handle this matter for me."

"Bullshit! What do you mean, 'I'll help you'? Your business is my business!"

Li Yunlong slammed his hand on the ashtray on the table and smashed it to pieces on the other end of the phone, furious.

"That Lou Bancheng donated so much equipment to our steel mill back then; he was a meritorious person for the country! These ingrates, they want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs after using us, I'll be the first to object!"

"Yangzi, wait ten minutes! I'm calling my old comrades from the Beijing Garrison Command right now! And Old Zhang from the Municipal Public Security Bureau, he's one of the soldiers I trained!"

Li Yunlong roared domineeringly, "Before dawn, I guarantee that bastard Wang Qiang will be kneeling before you and calling you grandpa!"

hang up the phone.

Lin Yang sat down in the chair and lit a cigarette.

He knew that the net had already been cast.

……

Six o'clock in the morning.

Inside a temporary detention center in Dongcheng District.

Wang Qiang was sitting in the interrogation room, drinking hot tea, looking smugly at Lou Zhenhua, who was tied to a tiger bench, soaking wet, and pale-faced.

"Lou Zhenhua, I advise you to confess honestly. Where exactly are your overseas connections and hidden gold?"

Wang Qiang, with his legs crossed, sneered, "Don't think you can escape the people's judgment just because you're a member of the CPPCC. Once you're inside my door, even if you're made of iron, I'll still skin you alive!"

Lou Zhenhua was shivering from the cold, but he still gritted his teeth.

He was a smart man; he knew that if the Lou family admitted to this fabricated charge, they would be completely finished.

"Director Wang... I really didn't hide any gold. Minister Lin Yang knows all about my assets. Aren't you afraid the Ministry of Heavy Industry will investigate if you arrest me?" Lou Zhenhua weakly retorted.

Upon hearing Lin Yang's name, a hint of fear flashed in Wang Qiang's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by arrogance.

"Lin Yang? He's just a steelworks manager, how dare he try to get his hands on my business? If he dares to come here, I'll investigate him too! Let's see if he's also taken bribes from you, this capitalist!"

Wang Qiang slammed his hand on the table arrogantly.

Just then.

"Boom!"

A deafening roar of engines suddenly erupted in the courtyard of the detention center.

Immediately following was the dense, uniform sound of military boots pounding the ground.

"What's going on?" Wang Qiang frowned, about to stand up and go see.

"Bang!"

The heavy iron door to the interrogation room was violently kicked open from the outside. The force of the kick sent the door flying, crashing heavily against the wall.

Wang Qiang was startled, and the teacup in his hand fell to the ground and shattered.

Two rows of fully armed field army soldiers poured into the interrogation room. They were all carrying submachine guns with bayonets fixed, exuding a murderous aura and completely surrounding the room.

Leading the group was an officer with the insignia of a senior colonel slung over his shoulder. His face was cold, and his eyes swept over Wang Qiang like a blade.

"Who...who are you people! This is a key area for handling cases, who let you in!" Although Wang Qiang was scared, he still shouted loudly.

The senior colonel ignored him completely, and instead strode over to the tiger bench, glancing at the weakened Lou Zhenhua.

"Are you Comrade Lou Zhenhua?"

Lou Zhenhua nodded with difficulty.

"Untie it!" the colonel commanded, waving his hand.

Two soldiers immediately stepped forward, swiftly cut the ropes binding Lou Zhenhua, and carefully helped him up.

"You dare to snatch people! This is resisting investigation! I'm going to report you to the higher-ups!" Wang Qiang was anxious and rushed forward to try to stop them.

"Get out of here!"

The senior colonel turned around abruptly and delivered a resounding slap to Wang Qiang's face.

"Snapped!"

The slap was so powerful that it sent Wang Qiang spinning halfway around, two of his back teeth flying out, before he collapsed to the ground.