Chapter 629

Sleepless tonight, it's not just the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee and these 26 corrupt individuals; the entire senior leadership of the judicial system has fallen into panic. Although the Discipline Inspection Committee's operation was uniformly coordinated by Du Wenlong and was secret, the people carrying it out were still cadres of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee, so leaks and tip-offs were inevitable; moreover, Provincial Governor Luo Shiyu even participated in the Secretary's Office.

At 2 a. m., Executive Deputy Provincial Governor Gu Yunhao immediately received the news and summoned Provincial Political and Legal Committee Secretary Yang Jiale and Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee Yun Zhangsheng to his home to discuss countermeasures.

After Yun Zhangsheng entered the door, he asked, "Governor, my second elder brother hasn't arrived yet?"

Gu Yunhao said with a grim face: "He's been receiving guests again today and drank to the point he can't get up. Zhangsheng, what's the situation with the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee? Why did they suddenly take such a big action? Didn't you get any advance notice?"

"Ah!" Yun Zhangsheng sighed and said: "Since Lu Fan took office, he hasn't assigned me a single task; Du Wenlong and Lin Changping were both transferred in by him ahead of time, and I'm now sidelined—I have no idea what they want to do. However, I have a relatively clear understanding of the recent operation: 26 individuals at the level of division chief and above in the Provincial Prison Administration Bureau have been placed under custody, including the director and deputy director; essentially the whole leadership team is finished."

Yang Jiale lamented: "Lu Fan has only just arrived, yet he's making such a big fuss—could it really be just to vent anger for his wife, taking private revenge under the guise of public duty?"

"Childish!" Gu Yunhao said: "He's the youngest provincial deputy party secretary in the country—do you really think his vision and tolerance are that limited? The Prison Administration Bureau is trivial; I worry he'll next draw the conflict into the Provincial Judicial Department, and even spread it through the Judicial Department to the entire political and legal system."

"What?" Yang Jiale immediately became unsettled, hurriedly saying: "Governor, surely not? Could he be targeting me?"

"Not you, but the grasslands—the difference lies in which field he strikes first! Zhangsheng, can you control the investigators?"

Yun Zhangsheng thought and replied: "Sixty to seventy percent is no problem, but some people don't know what's good for them—for example, the Supervision Division One, which was formerly headed by Lu Yao as division chief; I expect they'll all gravitate toward Lu Fan. Moreover, Du Wenlong and Lin Changping, after taking office, have also won over some people."

Gu Yunhao nodded and said: "As expected, Lu Yao is Lu Fan's sister. Zhangsheng, try to grasp every move of the task force as much as possible; this case must be limited to the Judicial Department, and if signs of losing control appear, necessary measures can be taken." Saying this, a stern and ruthless aura that made one's hair stand on end showed between his brows.

"Understood, Governor."

Gu Yunhao added: "Jiale, settle your affairs and manage your people well; the situation is no longer the same, the broader environment has changed, and Lu Fan's arrival in the grasslands is definitely not simple. Ah, let's be steady—'the wind fills the tower before the mountain rain comes.'"

……

July 27, after the staff of the Provincial Prison Administration Bureau went to work, they were surprised to find that most of the leadership hadn't come in, only Deputy Director Niu Niuzhi had arrived as usual.

The situation was somewhat bizarre, and everyone was discussing it.

At 9 a. m., the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee's document was issued to the Judicial Department and the Prison Administration Bureau; everyone who saw it was dumbstruck, faces full of disbelief.

After approval by the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission's Supervision Department launched an investigation into serious violations of discipline and law by the Director of the Provincial Prison Administration Bureau, Bao Lin. The investigation found that Bao Lin had lost his ideals and beliefs, abandoned his original mission, disregarded the spirit of the Eight Regulations, illegally accepted gifts and cash; his greed swelled, he acted wantonly, used public power for private gain, and pursued personal interests through his position……

An investigation was also launched into serious violations of discipline and law by the Deputy Director of the Provincial Prison Administration Bureau, Chen Zhi……

An investigation was launched into serious violations of discipline and law by the Director of the Prison Administration Division……

……

"It is simply shocking," involving a total of 26 people, basically netting the entire leadership of the Prison Administration Bureau. Such an 'extraordinary' incident has never occurred in the history of the grasslands. In an instant, the entire judicial system was shocked, and many leading cadres immediately fell into panic, especially those linked to the Prison Administration Bureau.

At over 10 a. m., Provincial Party Committee Secretary-General He Yuanhang brought a cadre adjustment plan to Lu Fan's office for reporting.

He Yuanhang meant to adjust the Director of the Provincial Party Committee Inspection Room to become Deputy Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee, adjust the Director of the Comprehensive Division Two to become Director of the Inspection Room, and appoint Cheng Haohao as Director of the Comprehensive Division Two.

Lu Fan had no objection, instructing He Yuanhang and the Organization Department to liaise. As long as Cheng Haohao's position is settled, that's enough; Lu Fan currently lacks the bandwidth to handle other matters, and the most important thing is that he has no usable personnel at hand.

At this moment, at the Integrity Education Base, the interrogation of the 26 cadres of the Prison Administration Bureau had already lasted over twelve hours. In the deep night, with all sounds hushed, they truly felt how bright the stars were at 1 a. m., how quiet the night was at 2 a. m., and how chilly the cold air was at 3 a. m. —an experience they would never forget.

The interrogators had already gone through three shifts, and even those who were 'timid as mice' had broken psychologically and started to confess. In the stifling, almost suffocating 'soft cell,' facing the investigators' step-by-step tightening icy assault, few could withstand such immense pressure.

These past few days, Lu Fan proactively visited the Provincial People's Congress, the Provincial Government, and the Provincial CPPCC, arranged meetings with some divisions he oversees, and, following procedure, announced his presence as deputy party secretary.

Du Wenlong was responsible for 'external operations,' coordinating the Provincial Prison Administration Bureau case, while Lin Changping handled 'internal blade,' beginning to investigate the 'termites' inside the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee; after the special rectification launched on August 1, they would carry out 'targeted blasting' to achieve immediate effect.

July 28, Lu Fan went to Jiuyuan City for research, making his first grassroots appearance. Municipal Party Secretary Huang Ketao and Mayor Yuan Zhijun accompanied him throughout.

Choosing Jiuyuan as the first stop was based on two reasons: first, Jiuyuan is the largest city on the grasslands and the province's biggest industrial city, famed as the 'Grassland Steel City' and 'Capital of Rare Earths'; second, Mayor Yuan Zhijun of the grasslands is an inter-regional exchange cadre, and Lu Fan wanted to observe whether he could be used.

Lu Fan's entourage went deep into the production line of Jiuyuan's Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park, from intelligent production equipment to intelligent transmission chain workstations, then to the wind turbine final assembly posts; as he walked and observed, he earnestly inquired about the companies' intelligent manufacturing, technological R&D, and industrial cluster construction.

Municipal Party Secretary Huang Ketao gave a detailed introduction of Jiuyuan's plan to build 'one headquarters, five centers,' saying that Jiuyuan would fully leverage the advantages of the entire new-energy industry's technology and equipment, focusing on technological high-endization, industrial clustering, and application scenario-based development, accelerating scientific and technological innovation in new-energy equipment manufacturing and industrial cluster construction, and striving to contribute to the development of the grasslands' new-energy industry.

After carefully listening to the report, Lu Fan fully affirmed Jiuyuan's industrial cluster, hoping that Jiuyuan would strengthen innovation leadership, technological breakthroughs, and application scenario demonstrations, fully leverage the advantages of leading 'chain-head' enterprises, forge new productive forces in the new-energy sector, continue to deepen efforts, grow bigger and stronger, and help the grasslands' new-energy industry achieve high-quality development.

After the research ended, Lu Fan stayed at Jiuyuan Hotel.

After dinner, Lu Fan separately received Municipal Party Secretary Huang Ketao and Mayor Yuan Zhijun in his room.

The conversation with Huang Kexian lasted only a few minutes, purely perfunctory—after all, he is the municipal party secretary, and Lu Fan had to give him that face.

Around 8 p. m., Cheng Haohao brought Mayor Yuan Zhijun to Lu Fan's room.

Yuan Zhijun said respectfully: "Secretary, I'm here to report on work."

Lu Fan showed a faint smile and said: "Zhijun, have a seat and talk. Jiuyuan City, as the province's second-largest city, possesses abundant resources and a favorable geographical position, once extremely prosperous. But in recent years, population loss has been severe; the former 'big brother' of the grasslands saw its GDP shrink by 30%, one-quarter of above-scale industrial enterprises incurred losses, the economy gradually waned, and its total GDP was successively surpassed by Yike City and Qingcheng City, demoting it to a fourth-tier city."

I looked at the finance department's tables: from January to July this year, your 'industrial heartland of the grasslands' achieved only 12.2 billion yuan in general public budget revenue for the whole city, down about 10% year-on-year. Some economic indicators' rankings nationwide and province-wide have also clearly declined; Jiuyuan faces a pressing situation with a pacesetter ahead and pursuers behind, and its development is far from satisfactory!

Yuan Zhijun's face showed shame as he said: "What the secretary criticized is true—Jiuyuan no longer enjoys its former prosperity, fiscal revenues and expenditures are imbalanced, and agricultural and enterprise tax revenues show a severe decline. I have summarized that Jiuyuan's economy mainly suffers from the following problems:"

Industrial structure problem: Jiuyuan's economy mainly relies on resource-based industries such as steel and energy. These sectors are affected by environmental policies, market demand, and other factors, facing overcapacity and falling prices.

Population structure problem: Jiuyuan's population is largely concentrated among the elderly and non-local hukou holders, while the loss of young people is severe, making talent recruitment difficult, which leads to weak local market demand and limits economic development.

Infrastructure problem: Jiuyuan's infrastructure construction is insufficiently sound, imposing certain constraints on urban development.

These problems are the actual challenges Jiuyuan faces in its economic development; they need to be addressed through comprehensive measures and sustained effort, and moreover require strong support from the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government.

Lu Fan nodded and said: "The causes of economic decline are manifold; could corruption be among them? Your city's CPPCC chairman, Zhang Ming, embezzled over one hundred million yuan, yet I see hardly anyone implicated—was he truly without accomplices, is the anti-corruption effort not thorough, or is someone shielding and condoning him? What is the political ecosystem like in Jiuyuan?"

Faced with this sudden inquiry, Yuan Zhijun was somewhat at a loss, not knowing how to respond.

But he immediately realized the gravity of the issue, as the saying goes: 'I don't fear leaders speaking in riddles; I fear them laying their hearts bare.' In this situation, he must take a stand, otherwise he likely won't have a future.