98: Chapter 98 A calculated strategy to set the record straight

He opened his mouth, emitting a few meaningless syllables from his throat, but he couldn't piece together a complete defense.

Minister Xiao Dingyu's calm, flat question carried the weight of a Provincial Party Committee member.

How could he answer that?

Giving a zero was equivalent to negating the top-secret internal reference personally approved by Secretary Lao Liguo; that was a grave error.

Giving a high score would be slapping his own face, admitting that his previous obstruction was purely an act of personal retaliation.

It was a dead end.

"Can't answer?"

Minister Xiao Dingyu placed the photocopy back on the desktop and tapped the paper with his finger.

"If you can't even gauge the true value of a report, this is no longer just a matter of work attitude."

Minister Xiao Dingyu turned his head and looked at the Dean of Academic Affairs.

"Director Song Ping."

"Reassign Deputy Director Gao Jianguo's position."

"The Provincial Party School is a place for cultivating young cadres; I don't think he is suitable to continue working in this position."

With one word, the matter was settled. Director Song Ping stood there, somewhat stunned.

For the past few years, although Minister Xiao Dingyu had concurrently served as the principal of the Provincial Party School, he rarely involved himself in the daily management of the school.

Coupled with the fact that Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming was a pure academic who avoided administrative infighting, the daily structure within the Provincial Party School had remained in a state of laissez-faire.

Today, this top leader had directly bypassed the tedious procedures and stripped a deputy division-level cadre of his position.

Director Song Ping rarely saw such ruthless, thunderous tactics.

"Director Song Ping, didn't you hear what I just said?"

Minister Xiao Dingyu looked at him, his tone cooling.

Director Song Ping nodded hurriedly, "Understood, Minister Xiao, the Academic Affairs Office will implement the position change immediately after the meeting."

Instructor Gao Jianguo panicked.

Without the real power of the deputy director position, his life would be completely over.

"Minister Xiao, please listen to my explanation; I was just following the standard evaluation process…"

Minister Xiao Dingyu waved his hand impatiently.

The rest of Instructor Gao Jianguo's words were stuck in his throat.

He understood the ruthlessness behind that gesture.

Under absolute suppression, a discarded pawn didn't even deserve the qualification to argue.

With a gray face, he dragged his feet and retreated out of the side door of the lecture hall.

Order was restored in the room.

Minister Xiao Dingyu picked up the practical course assessment form from the table and filled in an extremely high score after the name of Zhu Wenhao.

"Director Song Ping, the daily management model of the Spark Class needs to change from now on."

"Implement self-governance."

"All daily actions will be the responsibility of the Class Committee. This includes grading for every instance of daily performance, and even the first draft of the final graduation evaluation, all led by the Class Committee. Of course, the individual assessments of Class Committee members will still be overseen by the school."

"This is a brand new attempt by the Provincial Organization Department at a training model for young cadres."

Minister Xiao Dingyu set the tone.

"Since we want to cultivate them into leadership material, we must let them learn early how to exercise power amidst collective checks and balances. You can't raise capable cadres who can shoulder responsibilities in a greenhouse."

Director Song Ping took the assessment form with both hands and agreed repeatedly.

Minister Xiao Dingyu picked up his teacup to moisten his throat, "Director Song, Principal Zhou's burden is too heavy."

Minister Xiao Dingyu looked at him, "You should prepare to take over the position of Vice Principal in the next step. I work at the Provincial Party Committee daily and have little time to come to the Party School. You need to share more of the burden for Principal Zhou and help him manage the affairs of the Party School well."

Vice Principal—this pie falling from the sky shattered all his previous hesitation.

"Thank you for the organization's trust! I will definitely fully cooperate with Principal Zhou's work!"

Director Song Ping's voice was loud and clear, and his declaration was swift.

"Alright, today's assessment meeting ends here."

Minister Xiao Dingyu stood up and waved at Zhu Wenhao.

"Zhu Wenhao, come with me for a moment. The rest of the students, you are dismissed."

After speaking, Minister Xiao Dingyu, accompanied by Principal Zhou and Director Song Ping, took the lead and left the lecture hall.

Zhu Wenhao did not rush to follow Minister Xiao's pace, but instead turned around and looked at Study Committee Member Cao Rui.

"Study Committee Member."

"You arrange the discipline and lead the team back to the classroom. Then announce the dismissal."

Study Committee Member Cao Rui immediately stood up.

"From now on, our class will implement comprehensive self-governance."

Zhu Wenhao continued to issue instructions.

"All assessment data will be placed on the Class Committee. You, as the Study Committee Member, must shoulder even greater responsibility. Establish the rules firmly."

Study Committee Member Cao Rui nodded heavily: "Don't worry, Secretary, I will never let this mess become chaotic."

Zhu Wenhao shifted his gaze and exchanged looks with Zhou Xu and Shen Zhe respectively.

Without any extra verbal instructions, just by this one calm exchange of glances, the alliance of interests reached a consensus in silence.

From beginning to end, Zhu Wenhao didn't even look at Class Monitor.

This was effectively sidelining him.

In front of the whole class, the Party Branch Secretary directly distributed the scheduling power after the meeting to the Study Committee Member, Organization Committee Member, and the Life Committee Member.

Zhu Wenhao turned around and walked out of the door with a calm gait, following Minister Xiao's pace.

Inside the lecture hall, the crowd began to move.

Study Committee Member Cao Rui walked to the front of the aisle, methodically directing the students in each row to leave in an orderly manner.

Zhou Xu held the black notebook and stood at the rear exit to check the number of people.

Shen Zhe was checking if there were any documents left on the seats.

The three class committee members cooperated tacitly, organizing the group in an orderly fashion.

Class Monitor sat in his original seat; at this moment, he couldn't even find room to interject.

Power is never a title written on paper, but rather who the people below actually listen to.

Lei Zhenzi walked over, his face so gloomy that water could drip from it.

"Brother Yu."

Lei Zhenzi lowered his voice, "This kid now has the backing of the Provincial Organization Department Minister; what are we going to do?"

Class Monitor gritted his teeth. He, the eldest grandson of Liu Family, had actually been forced into a corner where he had no presence by a petty official from Linjiang City.

"Let's go."

Class Monitor squeezed a few words through his teeth.

He stood up, took Lei Zhenzi and a few other provincial-level descendants who were always on good terms with him, and clearly separated themselves from the main group, walking away quickly through another security exit.

On the other side, on the tree-lined path of the Provincial Party School.

Zhu Wenhao trailed Minister Xiao Dingyu by half a step, and the two strolled towards the outside of the school.

"Zhu Wenhao."

Minister Xiao Dingyu slowed his pace, "In the past few days, the water in the provincial capital has become increasingly unsettled."

"Secretary Lao has overcome all opposition, and the framework for the Anti-Gang Office has finally been set up."

"But this hand of cards is not being played smoothly."

"Secretary Lei Zhen volunteered and personally took on the position of Director of the provincial Anti-Gang Office."

"Several temporary agencies have been set up under the Anti-Gang Office, and personnel from within the Political and Legal Affairs Commission are interspersed among the heads of each agency."

Minister Xiao Dingyu shook his head, "Although Director Qi Shan got the title of Deputy Director as he wished, around him are several other deputy directors sent by the Procuratorate, the Court, and the Discipline Inspection Commission. All parties are involved."

Multi-headed management, mutual checks and balances.

"This is inevitable."

Zhu Wenhao stepped over a withered leaf.

"The Art of War says, those who are skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by the enemy. Secretary Lei Zhen has held control of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission for many years; that is his base. He couldn't stop the establishment of the Anti-Gang Office, so he simply went with the flow."

Zhu Wenhao analyzed the underlying logic of this layout.

"He hangs the title of Director on himself, which is justified. After all, the provincial political and legal work, in terms of hierarchy, must be carried out under the unified leadership of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission. He has this legal basis."

"What's interesting is that the other side timed the difference extremely precisely."

"The resolution for Director Qi Shan to be appointed as Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission has just passed the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee. It is currently going through the organizational public notice period. During this period, he cannot concurrently hold the position of Director in the capacity of Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission."

"The other side firmly grasped this timing. If they sent an ordinary deputy of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission to the Anti-Gang Office, they wouldn't be able to suppress the momentum of the Public Security Department head at all. To stabilize the situation, Secretary Lei Zhen had to enter the fray himself."

Zhu Wenhao did not stop walking.

"Minister Xiao Dingyu. To be able to force the person playing chess behind the scenes to come to the front stage and fight in person."

"We have already won half of this game."

Minister Xiao Dingyu stopped and turned to look at the young man beside him.

Most people would feel frustrated when facing such a complex situation.

But in Zhu Wenhao's perspective, he only saw the flaws exposed in the enemy's layout.

"The situation has been stirred up by them. What are your thoughts?"

Minister Xiao Dingyu asked.

"The provincial Anti-Gang Office, in the end, is just a temporarily established agency."

"The core positioning of such an agency lies in 'leading the overall situation, coordinating and planning, and supervising implementation.' The real power is not in the hands of the Director sitting in the office holding meetings."

"It lies in the special supervision groups that go down to handle cases."

"The special supervision groups are the true sharp edge of this blade. As long as we seize the position of the group leader, the direction of the entire case will be in our hands."

Minister Xiao Dingyu pondered the feasibility of this proposal.

"You mean, let Director Qi Shan fight for the position of leader of this supervision group?"

"Not only fight for it, but do it openly and uprightly."

Zhu Wenhao continued to deduce.

"At the first internal work meeting of the Anti-Gang Office, let Director Qi Shan take the initiative to speak and request to serve as the first leader of the supervision group."

"To block others' mouths, ask the deputy director sent by the Discipline Inspection Commission to serve as the deputy leader of the supervision group. Public Security and the Discipline Inspection Commission jointly handling the case is impeccable in terms of procedure."

"As long as Director Qi Shan leads the team down, and fills the backbone list of the supervision group with the capable forces of the Public Security Department. No one will be able to overturn the case of the Jiangnan Red Star Machinery Factory."

Minister Xiao Dingyu raised a concern: "Secretary Lei Zhen is now the Director of the Anti-Gang Office. What if he forcibly opposes Director Qi Shan going to the grassroots level to handle the case at the meeting?"

"He cannot oppose it."

"The case of the Jiangnan Red Star Machinery Factory is written very clearly in the internal reference; the actual manipulator behind it is Lei Dong of Shengyuan Holdings. This person is involved in Secretary Lei Zhen's family relationships. Even if the bloodline is distant, they are still related."

"This is the momentum we must utilize."

Zhu Wenhao laid out this overt scheme.

"At the meeting, Director Qi Shan only needs to raise a banner. Just say that leading the team to investigate the Jiangnan Red Star Machinery Factory personally this time is to 'set the record straight' for Secretary Lei Zhen, and to use detailed investigation results to shatter the rumors from the outside world that are smearing Secretary Lei Zhen's reputation."

"Package the investigation as an act of loyalty to clear the superior's grievances."

"Within the system, one must avoid suspicion. Faced with this 'righteous' proposal, would Secretary Lei Zhen dare to vote against it at the meeting? If he says even half a word of 'no', it would confirm that he is shielding his own relatives. To protect his own reputation, he not only cannot oppose it, but must also raise both hands in favor in front of everyone, and express strong support for the work of the supervision group."

The softest things in the world override the hardest things in the world.

Use the enemy's rules to bind the enemy's hands and feet.

Minister Xiao Dingyu listened to this analysis that peeled back the layers.

After a brief moment of astonishment, a burst of hearty laughter erupted from his chest.

"What a 'set the record straight' for him! A proper overt scheme!"

"Putting you in this Spark Class at the Party School is truly a waste of talent. This method of using strength against strength is even more ruthless than those old hands who have spent half their lives in the government offices."

Outside the school, Minister Xiao Dingyu's car was already parked steadily at the steps.

The secretary opened the rear car door and stood to the side waiting.

"I will contact Director Qi Shan now."

Minister Xiao Dingyu restrained his smile and regained the dignity of a minister.

"Give him the bottom line of this plan and let him sing this drama well at the meeting."

Minister Xiao Dingyu bent down and sat in the car.

The car window lowered, and he took one last look at Zhu Wenhao.

"On the side of the Spark Class, you grasp the scale yourself. When you graduate, hand in an answer sheet that can be presented."

The car window slowly rose, the black Hongqi car started steadily and drove away from the Party School.

Zhu Wenhao stood in place, watching the official car go away.