157: Chapter 157 A Call from the County Discipline Inspection Commission

Secretary Qiu Dehai hung up the phone.

The receiver fell back onto the cradle with a dull thud.

He stared at the desktop, lost in thought for a while.

With Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan agreeing to let the County Commission for Discipline Inspection take over Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's case, half the pressure on him had been lifted.

He had to clean up the messy accounts regarding Heishui Village before the County Commission for Discipline Inspection arrived.

He pressed the intercom button.

"Have the Town People's Congress Chairman come to my office."

The Town People's Congress Chairman, Zhang Jianming, was the incumbent.

A few years ago, when he served as the Executive Deputy Town Mayor, he was the one in charge of town finances.

The land acquisition compensation for Heishui Village and the transaction records of the stone quarry were all disbursed and processed through his hands.

When he pushed the door open, the Town People's Congress Chairman's face was pale.

He had heard about Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's arrest from his seventh uncle in the clan earlier that morning.

"Close the door tightly."

Secretary Qiu Dehai didn't waste any time and got straight to the point.

Two minutes later.

After settling things with the Town People's Congress Chairman, Secretary Qiu Dehai dialed Town Mayor Luo Xingbang's number.

"Town Mayor Luo, I need to check in with you on something."

Secretary Qiu Dehai leaned back in his chair.

"You should make arrangements for Executive Deputy Town Mayor Old Qian to take two Town Government officers to the Finance Office to audit the accounts."

"Since the end of the year is approaching, let's get our accounts in order early this year to lay a good foundation for next year's fiscal budget."

On the other end of the line, Town Mayor Luo Xingbang held the receiver without immediately responding.

Secretary Qiu Dehai had always only handled personnel and major project approvals; he never bothered with the actual auditing work.

"Especially the various subsidies and land acquisition compensation funds allocated to Heishui Village over the past few years."

Secretary Qiu Dehai raised his voice.

"Those are the priority objects of the audit; there can be no mistakes."

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang stared at the teacup on his desk.

The news of Village Secretary Zhang Dahai being arrested overnight had already spread throughout the Town Government compound.

Laying a foundation for next year was just a pretext; destroying the original ledgers was the real goal.

"Understood, Secretary, I've got it."

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang replied promptly.

"I will definitely complete the task. I'll have Old Qian take people over there right now."

He immediately added.

"I will personally oversee it to ensure there are no issues."

Hanging up the call.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang leaned back in his leather chair, took off his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Auditing the old accounts of Heishui Village and having Old Qian touch the ledgers.

If the accounts were altered or destroyed, he, as the Town Mayor, would be the first to be held responsible if the authorities investigated later.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang pressed the phone and asked his liaison, Xiao Li, to come in.

"Xiao Li, go arrange for two people to accompany Deputy Town Mayor Qian to the Finance Office to handle some matters."

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang wiped his lenses with a velvet cloth.

"Understood." Xiao Li nodded.

"Wait."

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang put his glasses back on.

"Include your childhood friend, Zhang Rui, the one who returned after serving in the military and used to be a scout."

He deliberately lowered his voice.

"Tell him to be sharp. While Old Qian and the others are auditing in the front, Zhang Rui should be in the shadows, recording every detail of the records and raw data regarding Heishui Village's financial transactions from back then for me."

"Find an opportunity to secretly copy the key original materials."

Xiao Li swallowed hard.

"Also." Town Mayor Luo Xingbang picked up his teacup and blew away the foam.

"If you discover that Old Qian is privately altering data or destroying vouchers, have Zhang Rui find a way to record it. Do you understand?"

Xiao Li nodded solemnly.

"Don't worry, Town Mayor, Zhang Rui is quick and agile; there won't be any mistakes."

After Xiao Li left, Town Mayor Luo Xingbang took a sip from his teacup.

Since he had to fill the hole, he needed to keep some trump cards for self-protection.

In the Deputy Secretary's office, the doors and windows were tightly shut.

Police Chief Zhao Gang and Secretary Chen Jianjun sat in the guest seats.

Zhu Wenhao sat upright behind his desk, reviewing the briefing on the table.

"There has been progress in the current situation."

Police Chief Zhao Gang got straight to the point.

"According to Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's wife's confession, we conducted a surprise search of another property of Village Secretary Zhang Dahai's in town this morning. In a secret compartment under the chicken coop in the backyard, we recovered a large sum of cash and some valuables."

He picked up his paper cup and took a sip of water to moisten his throat.

"However, we encountered resistance when we went to the County Public Security Bureau to get the search warrant this morning."

"The person in charge at the County Bureau was evasive and really didn't want to issue it to me."

Secretary Chen Jianjun scoffed coldly.

"The county is trying to protect their own and is suppressing the case to prevent it from being handled."

"I didn't waste words with them." Police Chief Zhao Gang put down the paper cup.

"I directly slapped the supervision directive from the Provincial Anti-Gang Office on the table. When that group saw the header, they didn't dare say a word and honestly stamped it for me."

He shifted his tone and got to the core.

"However, the ledger recording the human relationships and favors that Liu Meijiao confessed about was not found."

"I suspect that before he was caught, Village Secretary Zhang Dahai handed it over to Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi."

Zhu Wenhao closed the briefing and tapped his knuckles on the desk.

"A cunning rabbit has three burrows."

"Village Secretary Zhang Dahai is not a fanatic; since he handed over the ledger, it was to keep a life-saving talisman for himself."

He looked at Secretary Chen Jianjun.

"Continue to increase the intensity of the interrogation of Village Secretary Zhang Dahai and find out the whereabouts of the ledger."

Zhu Wenhao's gaze turned stern.

"One more thing."

"All the illicit money and gold bars confiscated. I will emphasize this again, Secretary Chen, no matter who comes to ask for them—whether from the Town Government or the county—don't give them a single cent."

"Just say they are core physical evidence, and deposit all the money into the Discipline Inspection Commission's special account and freeze it."

Secretary Chen Jianjun nodded heavily.

"Understood. Special funds to be deposited in a special account; I will push back against anyone who tries to interfere."

Just then.

The phone in Secretary Chen Jianjun's pocket rang urgently.

He glanced at the screen, showed it to Zhu Wenhao, and pressed the answer button.

"Secretary Tian, this is Secretary Chen Jianjun."

On the other end of the line, the voice of Deputy Secretary Tian Wenguang from the Qingjiang County Commission for Discipline Inspection was steady.

"Comrade Chen Jianjun, I heard there has been quite a stir in Heishi Town these past few days. Your Town Commission for Discipline Inspection, in conjunction with the Police Station, arrested Village Secretary Zhang Dahai of Heishui Village?"

"Yes, Secretary Tian." Secretary Chen Jianjun replied.

"I was just preparing to report the preliminary case details to the County Commission for Discipline Inspection."

"No need to report." Deputy Secretary Tian Wenguang cut him off directly.

"Due to the gravity of the case and the complexity of the funds involved and personnel relationships, the Town Commission for Discipline Inspection has limited investigative capabilities."

"The Standing Committee of the County Commission for Discipline Inspection just met, and we plan to take over this case entirely."

There was silence for half a second on this end of the line.

"Pack up the case files. In the next two days, the county will send a special investigation team down to take over from you. That is all."

With two beeps, the call was cut off.

Secretary Chen Jianjun held his phone, his face turning somewhat pale.

He turned to look at Zhu Wenhao behind the desk.

"Secretary Zhu, it was a call from Secretary Tian of the County Commission for Discipline Inspection. They want to forcibly interrogate him and take over both Village Secretary Zhang Dahai and the case files."

Police Chief Zhao Gang slapped his thigh.

"This is open robbery! Once the person is in their hands, how much truth will be left when he comes back? This case will be ruined!"

Zhu Wenhao showed no sign of panic.

He picked up the white porcelain teacup and took a shallow sip.

"It's fine, don't be afraid."

He set the teacup down, the porcelain bottom touching the desktop.

"The Art of War says, when the enemy moves, we move. They are in such a hurry to jump out and snatch the person, which just proves that this strike of ours has precisely and accurately hit their sore spot."

Zhu Wenhao stood up, walked to the window with his hands behind his back, and looked down at the Town Government compound.

"However, passively taking a beating has never been a good strategy to break the stalemate. When others make a move, we cannot just focus on parrying."

He turned around, his eyes clear.

"Since the County Commission for Discipline Inspection is so free and wants to share the pressure for Heishi Town, then it is only polite to reciprocate."

"This afternoon, I will personally go to Qingjiang County."

"And find some work for them to do."