310: Chapter 310 Qin Yuanshan's End

Team Leader Chen Heming's voice landed like a giant boulder crashing onto the snow outside the Heishi Town Government.

On the whiteboard, the financial statement rustled at its paper edges. Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan stood frozen in place, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he could not utter a single word.

He had originally intended to use the authority of the work team from The Capital to nail Zhu Wenhao to the pillar of malpractice, but who knew this fire would burn himself instead.

Secretary Lu Guoliang, standing to the side, stepped forward. "Team Leader Chen Heming is right. That Heishi Town can lay its accounts out in the sun is a concrete implementation of the Qingjiang County Party Committee's repeated emphasis on grassroots financial transparency."

This display of Tai Chi was smooth; Secretary Lu Guoliang easily claimed half the credit for Heishi Town.

Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui, who had remained silent until now, shifted his gaze away from the whiteboard. He glanced at Secretary Lu Guoliang, then looked at Zhu Wenhao.

As a Deputy Secretary of the Capital Political and Legal Affairs Commission, his trip south carried the considerations of the Zhou family. Team Leader Chen Heming of the Discipline Inspection Commission might only care about the account books, but he could not let this governance play in Jiangnan Province proceed too smoothly.

"The intention behind making the accounts public is good," Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui said in an even tone. "However, grassroots governance is not just addition and subtraction on an abacus. Zhu Wenhao, I heard that Heishui Village recently had a vicious incident involving knives due to village elections? It almost escalated into a clan armed conflict. If one seeks superficial transparency at the cost of destroying grassroots stability, then the measure of the law has lost its accuracy."

Avoiding the economic accounts, he pointed directly to the stability accounts. With a light touch, Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui handed a label of "disrupting stability" to Zhu Wenhao.

A glimmer of hope reignited in Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan's dim eyes.

Standing in the eye of the storm, Zhu Wenhao did not rush to refute. He cast his gaze toward the street in the distance. Merchants on South Street were unloading goods, and common folk carried freshly bought vegetables; the atmosphere of everyday life rushed toward him.

"Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui's instruction hits the nail on the head," Zhu Wenhao said, facing this ministerial-level official directly. "Stability overrides everything, but stability cannot be maintained by covering up the lid. The violence in Heishui Village was the desperate struggle of clan bullies who have entrenched themselves for years, now that their interests have been touched."

Zhu Wenhao withdrew his gaze and looked at Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui. "We did not deploy large-scale police force to suppress it by force; instead, we laid out the rotten accounts of those parasites embezzling from the Red and White Council before the entire village. Once the common people saw the accounts clearly, they spontaneously swept the bullies out the door. Extracting a festering sore inevitably brings pain, but only by completely cutting out the hidden disease can we achieve long-term stability."

He paused briefly. "The governance of the world lies in the hearts of the people. When the common people have food to eat and a place to seek justice, that is the most solid stability for Heishi Town."

Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui looked at the young man before him. These words were not only logically rigorous but also shouldered the great cause of "serving the people," leaving him, a Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, with no way to attack. To refute further would be to stand on the opposite side of public opinion.

Team Leader Chen Heming, who had been listening from the side, nodded slightly, a touch more approval in his eyes.

"It's windy outside. Team Leader Chen Heming, Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui, let's go to the conference room to review the materials." County Mayor Gu Mingchuan spoke up at the perfect moment, guiding everyone toward the office building.

The crowd began to move. Zhu Wenhao slowed his pace, deliberately falling to the back of the group. Director Xu Jie took several supplementary materials from an officer and walked side-by-side with him.

"Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui won't stop here," Director Xu Jie analyzed. "Since he couldn't find any flaws in our account books, he will definitely look for other allies."

"The enemy of an enemy is his ally," Zhu Wenhao said, stepping onto the stairs.

The two stepped into the office building, and crisp footsteps echoed in the corridor.

In the large conference room on the second floor, the heating was sufficient. Team Leader Chen Heming sat at the head of the table, and Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui sat beside him. Secretary Lu Guoliang, County Mayor Gu Mingchuan, and Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan sat below them. Zhu Wenhao and Town Mayor Liu Wenxuan sat at the reporting table.

County Mayor Gu Mingchuan opened his documents, preparing to proceed with the county-wide work report according to the procedure.

"There's no need to read those set phrases," Team Leader Chen Heming waved his hand and placed a black, old notebook on the table. He pulled a document from his briefcase; it was a copy of an anonymous whistleblowing letter.

"This letter was submitted to the case management office of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection a few days ago. It alleges that Heishi Town engaged in benefit transfers during the mining industry restructuring." Team Leader Chen Heming's gaze swept across the room. "I just looked at the whiteboard outside and the audit report issued by a third party in Jingjiang City. The accounts are very solid and stand up to scrutiny. The work team will not accept such baseless, speculative anonymous letters."

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang's heart, which had been hanging in his throat, finally settled down.

Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan sat in his chair, feeling as if all his strength had been drained away. His final trump card had been lightly overturned by someone right in front of the entire county's cadres.

Team Leader Chen Heming flipped the anonymous letter face down on the table and pulled another kraft paper file bag from the bottom of his briefcase.

The file bag was not sealed. Team Leader Chen Heming opened it and pulled out a stack of yellowed photocopies. The air in the conference room suddenly became heavy.

"The accounts for Heishi Town are clear," Team Leader Chen Heming said, his gaze passing over the others and landing precisely on Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan. "Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan, since we are in Qingjiang County, let's take a look at an old account from Liuhe Town fifteen years ago."

Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan felt his scalp tingle, and his breathing stopped instantly. Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui's hand, holding his teacup, paused slightly. He keenly sensed that what Team Leader Chen Heming said next would change the power landscape of Qingjiang County.

Team Leader Chen Heming pushed a copy of a final settlement list to the center of the table.

"The Liuhe Town Yuejin Reservoir project." Team Leader Chen Heming pierced directly into Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan's defense line. "The construction materials were falsified, and anti-seepage materials were replaced with inferior bricks and stones. The whereabouts of the 200,000 yuan balance are unknown." He tapped his knuckles on the signature line of the photocopy. "On this joint acceptance and final settlement sheet, the signatory is you, Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan."

Secretary Lu Guoliang's expression changed. He had only known that the County Commission for Discipline Inspection was investigating old accounts, but he hadn't expected that Zhu Wenhao had already provided the evidence to Team Leader Chen Heming through Principal Zhou's channels!

County Mayor Gu Mingchuan sat in his seat, his back straight.

"Group... Team Leader Chen Heming." Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan dug his hands tightly into his thighs, trying to keep his composure. "That is an old matter from fifteen years ago... The water conservancy bureau and the supervision party signed off at the time. I was only performing the final procedure as the Town Party Secretary, and I was not aware of the specific material procurement."

"Not aware?" Team Leader Chen Heming sneered. He took a small digital voice recorder from the file bag and placed it on the table.

This digital voice recorder was the key evidence obtained from Wang San during the investigation into the underground bank.

"Inside this, there is a recording of a conversation between you and Wang San, the coordinator of the reservoir project back then. In the recording, you personally admitted to the fact that this 200,000 yuan was misappropriated for other uses." Team Leader Chen Heming leaned forward, enunciating every word. "Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan, this money was not used for the people's livelihood; instead, it became capital for the underground bank to issue usurious loans. You sucked the blood of the common people to raise your own black evil forces."

The evidence was as solid as a mountain; it was a fatal blow.

Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan looked at the digital voice recorder, his entire body seeming as if a bone had been pulled out, and he slumped in his chair. He knew it was over. Once the destination of this money was officially determined, the chains of interest behind him would be uprooted.

Deputy Secretary Zhou Rui sat to the side, without speaking to intervene.

"Have the comrades from the Qingjiang County Commission for Discipline Inspection arrived?" Team Leader Chen Heming did not look at Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan again.

The door of the conference room was pushed open. Secretary Pang Jianguo entered with four discipline inspection cadres, their expressions solemn.

"Comrade Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan, please cooperate with the organization's investigation." Secretary Pang Jianguo walked up to Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan and presented the detention decision.

Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan did not resist and was held up on both sides by two discipline inspection cadres. When he passed by Zhu Wenhao, his eyes were hollow. He had calculated everything, yet he hadn't expected that Zhu Wenhao's blade would not bother to tangle with him at the County Party Committee Standing Committee meeting, but instead would fall directly from The Capital.

The conference room was so quiet that a falling needle could be heard.

Team Leader Chen Heming returned the materials to the file bag. This inspection, concluding with the thunderous removal of a County Party Committee Deputy Secretary, completely shocked the officialdom of Qingjiang County.

After the meeting, Secretary Lu Guoliang and County Mayor Gu Mingchuan saw the work team out.

Zhu Wenhao stood by the window in the corridor, watching the Coaster drive slowly out of the compound downstairs.

Director Xu Jie walked to his side. "Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan has fallen. County Mayor Gu Mingchuan can now take full control of the situation in Qingjiang County."

"Pulling out the radish brings out the mud," Zhu Wenhao said, his gaze profound. "Now that Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan is in, to save his own life, he will definitely bite out more people."

Just at this moment, Zhu Wenhao's private mobile phone vibrated.