Nominal: Starting with an entrance exam for a PhD in Economics at Peking University

But since the top leader has already arrived, it's still necessary to exchange the necessary pleasantries.

Sha Ruijin didn't mind; he still had to give him that much face.

Everyone took their seats.

The most powerful group of people in Handong Province gathered together at this moment.

Sha Ruijin sat down, glanced around, and got straight to the point: "I've made some preparations for today's Standing Committee meeting. I've gone down to the grassroots level and done some research."

He smiled slightly, looking at everyone with a half-smile: "The research is over, and then we run into the January 16th Incident. For the first time, our Handong Province has been broadcast live to the whole world about a mass incident."

The room fell silent immediately.

Some people wore fake smiles, some looked serious, and some lowered their heads slightly, their faces expressionless.

Sha Ruijin's smile faded, and his voice lowered: "I don't know what everyone thinks, but I feel ashamed and embarrassed."

Li Dakang looked embarrassed and took the initiative to speak: "Secretary Sha, our Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government should apologize to you and the Provincial Government."

Gao Yuliang just said that he and the provincial party committee cannot interfere with the work of the procuratorate at will, but now Li Dakang is directly referring to the provincial party committee as Sha Ruijin.

Sha Ruijin pressed his palm down slightly, interrupting him: "Comrade Dakang, don't rush to make a self-criticism. We already discussed this matter at the last online Standing Committee meeting, so we won't bring it up again this time."

He paused, then changed the subject: "At this Standing Committee meeting, I would like to hold a special case analysis meeting."

He turned to Bai Jingwen and said, "Secretary Bai, please send out the materials."

Bai Jingwen quickly distributed the prepared materials.

Qi Tongwei took the materials, flipped through them, and a thought struck him slightly.

It turned out to be the case of Zhao Dehan, a "petty official with enormous corruption".

He pondered to himself.

Every move made at the first meeting after taking office by the top leader is significant.

In his previous life, Sha Ruijin invited Chen Yanshi to give a Party lecture. It wasn't a simple historical review, but a meticulously planned political maneuver that primarily achieved three objectives:

First, it establishes political orthodoxy and personal authority—Chen Yanshi, as a "living fossil" of revolutionary history, tells stories such as "carrying explosive packs is a privilege of Communist Party members," which closely bind Sha Ruijin's political power with revolutionary orthodoxy and popular character, endowing him with irrefutable legitimacy and moral height.

Secondly, it broke the existing political ecology—that Party lesson itself was a political signal. By reviewing pure revolutionary ideals, it subtly criticized and challenged the existing corrupt ecology of factionalism and collusion between officials and businessmen in Handong Province, paving the way for subsequent actions.

Third, unifying thoughts and testing reactions—the Party class sets a topic and emotional tone that all participants must respect, and Sha Ruijin can also use this opportunity to observe the reactions of key figures such as Li Dakang and Gao Yuliang, and probe the attitudes of all parties.

In this life, Chen Yanshi made Sha Ruijin suffer a great loss, so he will definitely not let him steal the limelight again.

Therefore, Sha Ruijin carefully chose the Zhao Dehan case as a breakthrough point.

Choosing Chen Yanshi is a moderate approach, while choosing a specific case is a more radical one.

In his previous life, Sha Ruijin did not have a rival like Qi Tongwei who could subtly rival him, nor was he criticized by his superiors because of the 116 Incident, so he could be more at ease.

Now, he no longer has that mindset or confidence.

In fact, in Handong, the Ding Yizhen case is more appropriate than the Zhao Dehan case.

However, given that Gao Yuliang and Qi Tongwei were subtly joining forces, he didn't want to provoke Li Dakang any further.

This is also why Li Dakang was interrupted when he was about to give a self-criticism.

It's important to understand that the January 16 Incident was far more serious than the one in his previous life, and it had already affected his superiors' evaluation of him. Yet, he still downplayed it.

This is the basic quality of a mature politician—it's pointless to vent emotions about what has already happened.

His harsh criticism of Li Dakang at the meeting may have embarrassed Li Dakang, but would it change anything? Would it make his superiors retract their evaluation of him?

No. On the contrary, it might completely push Li Dakang to the opposite side.

Since we're not going to target Li Dakang, we might as well go all the way and be a good Samaritan.

Therefore, he directly prevented Li Dakang from writing a self-criticism and even avoided mentioning Ding Yizhen in the case.

However, he also reserved the right to pursue the matter further.

If he observes that Li Dakang's reaction at the meeting is not in his favor, he will immediately shift the focus from Zhao Dehan to Ding Yizhen—after all, it was Ding Yizhen who first bribed Zhao Dehan and dragged him down.

Qi Tongwei opened the materials; they were quite well-prepared.

In addition to written materials, there are also photos of huge amounts of cash displayed on an entire wall of Zhao Dehan's villa bedroom.

Although those present were all high-ranking officials with extensive experience, and some had handled projects with funds ten or even a hundred times greater than the amount Zhao Dehan had embezzled, those were just numbers on documents.

No one had ever seen such a large sum of cash piled up on a wall before.

For a moment, everyone marveled and whispered among themselves.

This is also one of the reasons why Sha Ruijin chose this case – its visual impact.

After everyone had discussed it for a while, Sha Ruijin spoke up: "Comrades, this is shocking. A mere division-level cadre, who has only been in office for four or five years, has embezzled more than 200 million yuan. That's equivalent to embezzling 100,000 yuan every day."

He paused, his voice turning somber: “Where there is corruption, there is perversion of justice. With officials like this in power, how can the people trust us? This ‘wall of cash’ not only reflects the ugly face of a corrupt official, but also sharply questions our entire power operation system. Today, we are not bystanders, but must put ourselves into it, put our responsibilities into it, and put the work of Handong into it.”

His gaze shifted and landed on Gao Yuliang: "Secretary Yuliang, you are the secretary of the political and legal system and are also in charge of cadre education. Why don't you share your thoughts first?"

This requires Gao Yuliang to be the first to express his opinion.

Gao Yuliang's face showed deep sorrow, but his tone was calm and composed:

"Secretary Sha's point is very insightful. The Zhao Dehan case is indeed a mirror. From a political and legal perspective, this case exposes the complete loss of ideals and beliefs among some cadres, who have distorted the power entrusted to them by the people into a tool for personal gain."

He paused, then continued, “I believe the root cause lies in the lack of oversight—peer oversight is too weak, and oversight from higher levels is too distant. In particular, daily oversight of key positions and those with ‘small positions but enormous power’ is merely a formality. Our Handong political and legal system must learn from this and strengthen the investigation of corruption risks, especially in key areas such as approval and law enforcement.”

Finally, he changed the subject: "Of course, when cadres have problems, the responsibility of the Organization Department and the Discipline Inspection Commission to oversee them is also worth considering."

Professor Gao maintained his usual style—possessing a solid theoretical foundation and adept at shifting the topic.

"Individual cadres" – an attempt to limit the problem to the individual level and avoid affecting the system.

“Lack of oversight” – This directs the problem to the institutional and technical levels, providing an “objective reason” for potential systemic problems.

"Supervision at the same level is too lenient, and supervision from higher levels is too distant"—this is a very clever official statement, sounding like self-criticism while simultaneously apportioning responsibility. Who are the "peers"? And who are the "higher-level" officials? Anyone can identify themselves in this situation, and anyone can remain aloof.

Finally, mentioning "the Organization Department and the Discipline Inspection Commission" subtly shifts the pressure to Wu Chunlin, the Minister of the Organization Department, and Tian Guofu, the Secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission, while offering a slight counterattack on the defensive and diverting the firepower.

Tian Guofu shook his head slightly, while Wu Chunlin remained expressionless.

After all, the Zhao Dehan case does not involve the Discipline Inspection Commission and the Organization Department of Handong, so interfering rashly would only make one appear guilty.

Sha Ruijin nodded, offering no comment, and continued to name names: "Comrade Yuliang has deeply reflected on the supervisory mechanism. Comrade Dakang, you are the municipal party secretary, the top local official. If a cadre like Zhao Dehan appeared under your command, how would you view it? How can we prevent the tragedy of 'capable officials' turning into 'giant corrupt officials'?"

That's a pretty harsh question.

This immediately brings to mind Ding Yizhen, one of Li Dakang's subordinates who recently fled, creating a strong psychological suggestion. The phrase "capable official turned corrupt official" precisely hits Li Dakang's weakness—he had always valued "capable officials" like Ding Yizhen, only to have them fall from grace.

Li Dakang leaned forward slightly, spoke faster than usual, and seemed somewhat agitated:

"Secretary Sha, that's a good question! It's heartbreaking! First and foremost, it's heartbreaking! Cadres like Zhao Dehan are termites to the cause of the Party and the people, and they must be resolutely eliminated!"

He paused, his voice softening slightly: "But I think it can't be simply attributed to personal greed. It reflects a harsh reality—power that loses the 'sunlight' will inevitably mold and deteriorate! Many so-called 'minor officials' hold real power over projects, land, and funds, yet their offices have become black boxes where the sun can't shine."

“During my tenure in Lincheng and Jingzhou, I have always emphasized open and transparent decision-making. However, I must also admit that under the pressure of development, I sometimes placed too much emphasis on the execution and initiative of cadres, and did not pay enough attention to the details and intensity of daily supervision and warning education. This is my responsibility.”

He raised his voice: "Next, we must put power in a cage of regulations, and this cage must be electrified and transparent!"

First, state that you will "resolutely eliminate" them – this is politically correct and a clear line must be drawn.

"Power without sunlight"—this phrase steers the discussion towards the relatively safe topic of "openness and transparency," thus avoiding the core issue of oversight in personnel selection.

"Development pressure" and "emphasis on execution" are euphemistic defenses for their potential tendency to "prioritize business over supervision."

"Not paying enough attention to details"—this acknowledges leadership responsibility, but it's a matter of "work methods," not a fundamental error.

Ding Yizhen's affair was public knowledge, and Li Dakang was using this opportunity to exonerate himself. His language was passionate, and on the surface, he appeared to be deeply self-reflecting, but in reality, he was trying to create an image of himself as a "reformer who dared to take responsibility but also admitted his shortcomings."

Master.

Sha Ruijin nodded and continued calling out names one by one.

When it was Tian Guofu's turn, the provincial discipline inspection commission secretary's answer was somewhat sharp:

“Secretary Sha, I’d like to add something as well. The vitality of a system lies in its implementation. Often, our systems are perfect, but the supervision from higher levels is ‘high temperature and high pressure,’ while in some places and departments below, it becomes ‘normal temperature and normal pressure,’ or even ‘low temperature and low pressure.’ Policies and regulations are hot, but their implementation is lukewarm or cold.”

He looked around, his tone meaningful: "Where does this 'chill' come from? It's often not the system itself, but the environment and human relationships in which the system is implemented. In some places, the network of relationships is too dense, and the 'unspoken rules' of making requests and passing notes overshadow the 'explicit rules' written in black and white, causing the supervisory board to be raised high but lowered lightly."

This is a very direct statement, almost naming names.

But Gao Yuliang remained calm, looked at Tian Guofu, and nodded slightly with a smile.

shrewdness.

The other speakers were more conventional. Wu Chunlin, Qi Tongwei, Governor Liu, and others simply offered a few words of commentary within the scope of their respective duties, neither particularly noteworthy nor unremarkable.

The Standing Committee meeting is not a debate.

For proposals that are irrelevant to oneself, lengthy discussions will only lead to mistakes.

The first meeting of the top leader sets the tone.

When Qi Tongwei took office in Daokou County, his first task was to have all the members of the Standing Committee and the heads of county bureaus and townships write suggestions on economic development, thus demonstrating that his focus was on economic construction.

The fact that Sha Ruijin chose this topic for the first Standing Committee meeting clearly indicates that the focus of the work is on personnel adjustments and anti-corruption.

Compared to his previous life where he invited Chen Yanshi to give a Party lecture and used Party building as a pretext, Sha Ruijin in this life is much more direct and blatant.

After everyone had finished speaking, Sha Ruijin's gaze swept across the entire room, his tone calm yet carrying a hint of pressure:

"Comrade Dakang mentioned 'sunshine' and 'responsibility,' while Comrade Yuliang emphasized 'supervision' and 'gatekeeping.' They both hit the nail on the head, but I feel they weren't quite thorough enough."

He leaned forward, his voice lowering: "Zhao Dehan wasn't just hiding money, but a complete 'two-faced' character! He rode a bicycle and ate noodles with soybean paste during the day, and then spent his nights surrounded by banknotes. Didn't his comrades and superiors notice anything amiss? Or is it that in certain political climates, people have become accustomed to 'seeing but not saying,' and even regard cadres who can disguise themselves and amass wealth as 'capable people'?"

His gaze slowly swept across everyone's face: "Does our political environment, to some extent, provide fertile ground for such 'two-faced people' to thrive? This is a question that all of us here should think about carefully in the quiet of the night."

The room was completely silent.

Sha Ruijin changed the subject, his tone suddenly becoming lighter: "Do we have such cadres in Handong? I think we do."

He smiled and told a story he had heard during his research trip: a director of a science and technology bureau did not know any academicians in the province, but he knew the nicknames of female cadres in the mountainous areas who were somewhat attractive.

The crowd burst into laughter, and the atmosphere eased slightly.

Without Qi Tongwei's famous "digging" scene in this life, it's impossible to bring up the current Public Security Bureau Chief Xiao Gangyu by giving gifts to Chen Yanshi.

But at this Standing Committee meeting, Sha Ruijin's target was Gao Yuliang and Li Dakang, two generals of the "Zhao Family Gang," so how could he let them go easily?

Sure enough, Tian Guofu laughed and said, "I've heard of cadres like that too. Take Xiao Gangyu, the current director of the Public Security Bureau, for example. There's a well-known anecdote about him."

These words immediately created a subtle atmosphere in the meeting room.