Chapter 1694: Covet

In Ma Lan's heart at this time, Xijing, the provincial capital of Hexi Province, is like an empty city, with no one to talk to.

The next day, Liu Fen handled the cross-border remittance in the morning. After handling this matter, Ma Lan called Liu Jianguo. The phone was connected for a long time. Before Ma Lan could speak, Liu Jianguo on the phone asked nervously: "What's the matter with calling me?"

Ma Lan was stunned. She didn't know what was going on, so she asked with a smile: "Old Liu, what's wrong with you?"

"Sigh, Xiao Lan, you don't know, a major traffic accident occurred in Xijing City yesterday. Now the provincial party committee and provincial government and the municipal party committee and municipal government are dealing with this matter. Yesterday, a photo of Deputy Secretary Yang of the provincial party committee smiling at the accident scene was put on the Internet by netizens to pick faults. Now there are many things in the province and the city. If you have nothing to do, let's not contact for a while. It is estimated that the land matter will be pushed back a little." Liu Jianguo said.

Ma Lan finally understood, so she said: "Then okay, Old Liu, I won't delay your work. Let's talk when you are busy." She originally wanted to tell Liu Jianguo that the money had been remitted to his son, but now that this happened, she couldn't say anything.

It turned out that Liu Jianguo only learned after receiving the call from the Xijing Municipal Party Committee Secretary and rushing back to the Municipal Party Committee that two hours ago, a major traffic accident occurred on the Xiyan Expressway. The double-decker sleeper bus on the Shaanxi Xi'an-Yan'an Ansai section collided with a methanol tanker and caught fire. Currently, 36 people are confirmed dead and 3 injured. After learning about the accident, the Xijing Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government and the Hexi Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government immediately set up a temporary working group to rush to the accident scene to investigate.

The next day, the first plenary meeting of the accident investigation was held in Hexi Province.

Just after the investigation and handling results of this major accident were announced, a photo of the accident scene on the Internet pushed Deputy Secretary Yang Yongping of the Hexi Provincial Party Committee to the forefront. In the photo, Deputy Secretary Yang Yongping of the Hexi Provincial Party Committee stood by the burnt tanker at the accident scene with a smile on his face. This attitude towards the 36 innocent lives lost at such a major traffic accident scene made netizens across the country extremely angry. After learning that this photo caused a great response on the Internet, the party concerned, Deputy Secretary Yang Yongping of the Hexi Provincial Party Committee, immediately responded positively on the Internet, and his response a few days ago did not completely dispel the doubts of netizens.

Just as the 'Smile Gate' spread wildly on the Internet and set off a huge wave, soon, netizens collected 5 different watches worn by Deputy Secretary Yang on different occasions, and then, in the past few days, netizens retrieved more watches of different styles suspected to be worn by Deputy Secretary Yang Yongping of the Hexi Provincial Party Committee.

Facing new doubts, Yang Yongping, who has a special status, responded again through an interview: "In the past ten years, I have indeed bought five watches. I bought them myself at different periods. They were bought with legal income. I have reported this to the discipline inspection department."

Not long after the interview, netizens collected Yang Yongping's sixth watch, and then netizens posted pictures 'helping Deputy Secretary Yang recall the seventh watch'. Soon, Yang Yongping's 'eighth watch', 'suspected ninth watch', 'legendary tenth watch' and even more watches appeared on the Internet with various event and meeting photos, especially the ninth watch, which was revealed by netizens to be worth more than 200,000.

The founder of a luxury goods website who had disclosed information about Yang Yongping's first five watches on the Internet said that according to experts, the sixth watch is Bulgari, worth 30,000 to 50,000; the seventh is Longines Master Collection, worth 15,000; the eighth is Omega Constellation series, market price 80,000; the ninth, the strap and case are pure gold Rolex Datejust series, market price around 260,000 to 280,000. Because the seventh watch only showed half in the picture, there were different judgments about this watch. A watch magazine analysis said that the seventh watch is not Longines Constellation series, but Rolex Explorer enamel dial, market price 60,000.

As new watches were retrieved by netizens, netizens generally questioned how Yang Yongping could buy so many famous watches with his normal income. Facing more and more doubts, the Hexi Provincial Party Committee attaches great importance to it. After this incident, the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection paid close attention to it and has arranged personnel to investigate. The Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection stated to the outside world that it will investigate the issues involved in the incident in a serious and in-depth manner with a truth-seeking attitude. If there are indeed violations of discipline or corruption, they will be dealt with seriously in accordance with relevant regulations.

In the few days after the Hexi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection made a statement, the investigation into the Yang Yongping incident began. Someone in the province began to covet Yang Yongping's position as deputy secretary, and gradually caused internal fighting among the high-level leaders of the provincial party committee and provincial government. In an era where information dissemination is so open, there are many officials in the Chinese officialdom who have been dismissed because of exposure of discipline violations and corruption on the Internet. Many previous lessons and the huge wave caused by the Yang Yongping incident on the Internet and the pressure of various doubts have made many high-level leaders see that Yang Yongping's situation is not good and it is very likely that he will be dismissed because of this. Once Yang Yongping is dismissed, the competition for this deputy secretary position will mainly unfold between two people. That is Li Changping, deputy minister of the Organization Department supported by the executive vice governor and deputy secretary of the provincial party committee, and Su Qing, minister of the Organization Department. From the normal promotion procedure, naturally, Su Qing, minister of the Organization Department, has a greater chance, but from another aspect, Su Qing, as a woman, has her own gender disadvantages, and coupled with Li Changping's support from Song Jianguo, the executive vice governor and deputy secretary of the provincial party committee, he has a certain advantage in this secret struggle for power.

Because the Hexi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection did not announce any investigation results within a few days after expressing its position, it caused dissatisfaction among netizens across the country. This doubt did not subside with time, but the voice of doubt became louder and louder. In order to quell this negative doubt as soon as possible, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection finally put pressure on the Hexi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, ordering an investigation into Deputy Secretary Yang Yongping of the Hexi Provincial Party Committee as soon as possible.

The pressure from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection forced the attitude of the Hexi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection to make a 180-degree turn, and began to investigate Yang Yongping with a truth-seeking attitude. Li Changping and others at the center of power, after learning that the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection had put pressure on the Hexi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, basically confirmed that Deputy Secretary Yang Yongping of the Hexi Provincial Party Committee would not be able to escape the disaster and would very likely be dismissed because of this matter. In the officialdom, the undercurrent is surging, and everything pays attention to being quick-eyed and quick-handed. As the saying goes, 'He who strikes first gains the advantage', whoever acts earlier can gain the advantage.

Hexi Province is a place with an extremely complex political ecology. The configuration of the provincial party committee did not follow the deployment of the CPC Central Committee after the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee in 2007. The configuration of the provincial party committee did not follow one main and two deputies, that is, the provincial party secretary, the provincial party deputy secretary and governor, and the provincial party secretary in charge of (party and mass), but still followed the configuration of the provincial party committee before 2006 under the special permission of the Central Committee: Provincial Party Secretary, Provincial Party Deputy Secretary and Governor, Provincial Party Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, Provincial Party Deputy Secretary and Executive Vice Governor, Provincial Party Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission. Under these special circumstances, the official career of Yang Yongping, who ranked last in the standing committee deputy secretary, appeared in danger, which caused other 'candidates' to covet this secretary quota.

The reason why Li Changping's relationship with Song Jianguo, the executive vice governor and deputy secretary of the provincial party committee, is not ordinary is largely because they have common hobbies and both like antiques, calligraphy and painting, but Song Jianguo's time to collect antiques, calligraphy and painting is later than Li Changping, and the things collected are not as precious as Li Changping's. He often told Li Changping that he envied the calligraphy of Zhao Mengfu in his collection, which was also the most precious and favorite piece in Li Changping's collection. After learning about the investigation attitude of the provincial party committee towards Deputy Secretary Yang, because of the pressure from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Li Changping returned home, spread out the authentic calligraphy of Zhao Mengfu he loved, carefully, seriously and seriously appreciated it for more than half an hour, and finally bent down, leaned over and kissed it, just like saying goodbye to his most beloved person, with an extremely reluctant mood, carefully rolled up this calligraphy again, put on a gold silk satin protective cover, and then walked out of the house and drove to the home of Executive Vice Governor Song Jianguo.

Li Changping had visited Song Jianguo's home once or twice before, so half an hour later, he arrived at the residential area where Song Jianguo lived. After parking the car, he carried the treasure he loved extremely and arrived at Song Jianguo's door, his face full of smiles, and rang the doorbell.

At this time, Song Jianguo and his wife had finished dinner at home and were sitting in the living room watching the news. Hearing the doorbell, Song Jianguo told his wife to see who it was. Under normal circumstances, people who can find their way to their home must be people they are familiar with. The wife in a bathrobe got up and walked forward, opened the cat's eye and looked out, and saw Li Changping with a face full of smiles, waiting for the door to open.

"Old Song, it's Li Changping, the deputy minister of the Organization Department." Song Jianguo's wife said to Song Jianguo who was smoking and watching the news.

"Li Changping? What is he doing at home at this time?" Song Jianguo said to himself with some doubt, and then said to his wife: "Let him in."

So the wife opened the door. Li Changping, who was waiting outside the door, saw the door open, and his face was full of thicker smiles. Seeing that the person who opened the door was Song Jianguo's wife, Li Changping was stunned for a moment, and then asked with a smile: "Sister-in-law, is Executive Vice Governor Song at home?"

"Come in!" Song Jianguo's wife relied on her status as the wife of the executive vice governor and looked a bit indifferent to Li Changping. After speaking, she turned and walked into the house.

This was not Li Changping's first time visiting Song Jianguo, and he accepted his wife's arrogant, power-tripping attitude with composure. He kept a smile on his face, followed her into Song Jianguo's home, and closed the door behind him. He walked toward the sofa where Song Jianguo was watching the news broadcast without turning his head, and said with a chuckle, "Vice Governor Song is here."

928. Chapter 915: No Business Without Visiting the Three Treasures Hall ===== CHAPTER 1695 =====