Chapter 685

Facing Yun Shuo's questioning, Du Wenlong replied with righteous words: "I am naturally familiar with the Work Regulations. Under normal circumstances, cases are indeed handled by the Discipline Inspection Committee of the corresponding level, but in certain special situations—such as when a case has a major impact within the jurisdiction, or involves multiple lower‑level disciplinary inspection and supervision departments, making the investigation more difficult—if the higher‑level Discipline Inspection Committee deems it necessary, it may be handled at a higher level."

The Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee suspects that certain leaders in Qing City are "protective umbrellas" for corrupt elements, therefore it is handling the matter at a higher level—legally and compliantly, beyond doubt! If you have any objections, you may report them to the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee or the higher‑level Discipline Inspection Committee!

Yun Shuo could no longer suppress the fury in his heart; his eyes widened, the veins on his forehead bulged, and he shouted sternly: "Du Wenlong, don't go too far! Do you really think I am scared of you? Give you a bit of sunshine and you want to dazzle? Give you three points of color and you still want to open a dye workshop? This is a grassland; provoke me and you won't be able to walk with a sack!"

Hearing this, Du Wenlong showed no fear at all; instead, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing a contemptuous smile, and he disdainfully said, "Stop bluffing here. If you have the skill, you can come at me! I actually want to see how you intend to make me 'walk with a sack'?"

I of course know this is a grassland, and I know even better that this is the realm of the Party and the realm of the people!

However, there are some people who disregard law and discipline, act tyrannically, are arrogant and overbearing, think themselves invincible, treating the grassland as their private domain, committing crimes and acting wilfully all day, continuously eroding the people's wealth through various vile means, plundering the common folk's assets—truly the epitome of extreme wrongdoing!

Do they not know that everything in this world follows a cycle of cause and effect, that while people act, Heaven watches, and within three feet above one's head there are deities; it is not that retribution will not come, only that the time has not yet arrived! I firmly believe that justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent, and those who commit such myriad evils will certainly not escape the severe punishment of Party discipline and state law!

"You… just because of this, are you even fit to be a Discipline Inspection Committee secretary?" Yun Shuo, unable to contain his anger, felt that Du Wenlong was even less qualified than himself!

Seeing Yun Shuo clench his fists, Du Wenlong taunted, "What? Still want to make a move? Come, I'll see you through to the end!" Coming from a grassroots background, he would never cower before these playboys; if Yun Shuo dared to strike, Du Wenlong didn't mind becoming the first pair of Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee members to fight.

Facing Du Wenlong's such arrogant attitude, Yun Shuo ultimately lacked the courage, saying, "Simply unreasonable!" Then he brushed his sleeves aside and left to report the matter to the "parents"!

For a disgrace like this, the two would certainly never speak of it; the incident would simply dissipate like smoke. The grassland's cadres and masses would never know that officials like them also have heated, red‑faced arguments, moments where they almost "roll up their sleeves and fight"; if it got out, it would become the hottest topic on the grassland and even the whole country.

On February 20, the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee's supervision website issued a notice: the directors and secretaries of five top‑tier Grade‑III hospitals were both arrested.

The director and secretary are separate positions, originally able to check each other, but because no one could check the two of them, they often acted independently, looking out for one another: "You don't hinder me, I don't hinder you." Thus, being arrested together was, in a way, different paths leading to the same end.

On February 21, three hospitals in Yike City collapsed in a manner of falling from grace; three senior leaders were investigated, and 22 managers and medical staff were taken away by the Discipline Inspection Committee.

On February 22, the director, secretary, and head of the General Affairs Department of Haiwu City People's Hospital were suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and underwent disciplinary review and supervisory investigation.

Just one day later, six more officials from that hospital—the head of the Pharmacy Department, the head of the Science and Education Department, and the heads of the Equipment Department—were again taken away by the Discipline Inspection Committee.

……

Starting in early March, the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee focused on curbing illegal purchase of medical equipment, issuing oversized prescriptions, excessive use of consumables and drugs, taking "commissions", accepting "rebates", receiving "red envelopes", and fraudulently colluding internally and externally to cheat insurance. It began a second round of detention measures on target personnel, and batch after batch of hospital leaders fell one after another before the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee's scrutiny.

These corrupt elements are accustomed to a life of luxury; by the time the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee takes them away, they are already disoriented. Upon reaching the designated location, they can't even handle a few moves before they start spilling answers like beans from a bamboo tube. Consequently, case after case emerged in succession, and more and more people were taken away by the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee.

The number of people arrested kept increasing; even after pulling a large number of disciplinary inspection cadres from various cities and counties, the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee still found itself unable to keep up.

The deterrent effect has been achieved; medical anti‑corruption has entered its second phase. The Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee issued a notice to the entire province's medical sector, urging personnel who have violated discipline and law in the health field to voluntarily explain the issues within a deadline.

The notice specifies that, to effectively resolve problems harming the public's interests and to embody the principles of "leniency combined with severity, differentiated treatment" and "lenient self‑inspection, strict scrutiny when investigated," it now urges personnel in the medical and health system who have violated discipline and law to voluntarily explain the issues within a set time limit:

By the end of March, any personnel who voluntarily disclose the facts of their violations, relinquish illicit gains, recover state economic losses, report others, actively assist disciplinary inspection and supervisory organs in investigating other violators, and conduct a thorough self‑examination, will, depending on the severity, be dealt with leniently or exempted from punishment according to discipline and law.

Anyone who, within the stipulated deadline, refuses to voluntarily disclose violations, resists organizational review, will be investigated and dealt with severely and without leniency; units or individuals that shelter violators will be held accountable according to discipline and law.

The public and cadres are encouraged to report violations by medical and health officials and public servants exercising authority; the disciplinary inspection and supervisory organs will keep the source of information and the content of reports strictly confidential.

Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee secretary Du Wenlong, in his speech, demanded that the meeting's spirit be swiftly conveyed, ensuring that every person in the province's medical and health sector knows and understands it.

Within three days of the notice's issuance, a total of 315 staff at Qing City's public hospitals voluntarily explained disciplinary issues, handing over red envelopes, gifts and cash amounting to over 65 million yuan.

Wuda City People's Hospital was uprooted; from the director down to heads of key departments were detained by the Discipline Inspection Committee on the same day, and 175 staff voluntarily surrendered illicit gains totaling 11.25 million yuan.

A single hair's pull set the whole body in motion; in less than two days, the entire Wuda City saw 497 medical personnel voluntarily turn themselves in.

This province‑wide medical "great purge" intensified, igniting a blazing fire of anti‑corruption on the grassland's medical front; a total of 13 521 people voluntarily disclosed issues, surrendering roughly 2 billion yuan in illicit income, leaving the entire medical community stunned, the Provincial Party Committee and provincial government speechless, and the province's cadres and masses shocked.

Since the start of medical anti‑corruption, the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee's lights stay on every night; everyone works overtime, wishing female cadres could be used as male cadres and male cadres as beasts of burden. Even at this intensity, the workload remains unmanageable, with thousands of cases queued and tens of thousands of people to handle.

Having no choice, Du Wenlong had to go to the Provincial Party Committee to seek help from Lu Fan; he knew his subordinates were overworked, many on the brink of collapse, and that continuing this way would lead to trouble.

After hearing Du Wenlong's difficulties, Lu Fan pondered for a long time and said, "Resolutely deepening the anti‑corruption struggle and simultaneously advancing the inevitable requirements that officials must not dare to be corrupt, must not be able to be corrupt, and must not want to be corrupt is an effective way to cut off the profit chain of 'being hunted' and of willingly 'being hunted,' and to dismantle the network of power‑money transactions. We must uphold a policy of no prohibited zones, full coverage, Zero Tolerance, and maintain strong deterrence, high pressure, and long‑term shock."

However, it cannot be denied that in the anti‑corruption struggle, there may be some collateral damage, causing innocent ordinary medical staff to suffer injustice. Grassroots medical workers silently devote themselves daily, but due to system loopholes or insufficient information, they may have taken a small benefit and been mistakenly implicated in corrupt acts.

Ordinary medical staff are the backbone of the medical system; they work hard for patients and have made great contributions to the development of medicine. In the anti‑corruption struggle, it is essential to delineate the line between corrupt elements and ordinary medical staff, ensuring the latter do not suffer undeserved injustice.

My view is that as long as they admit the mistake and return the illegal gains, they can be dealt with leniently or not punished, but it is necessary to strengthen integrity education to prevent future repeat offenses.

Du Wenlong nodded and said, "I mean the same thing; if we dismiss over ten thousand people, the grassland's medical system will collapse. If we strictly follow the regulations, it will certainly dampen their work enthusiasm."

In fact, the industry is rotten, not the people. Everyone reaches out; if someone doesn't, they are treated as an outlier, constantly marginalized, which makes life difficult.

Lu Fan nodded in agreement and said, "Therefore, to solve corruption in the medical field, we need to establish a tighter supervision mechanism and legal framework, intensify the crackdown on corrupt acts. At the same time, improve transparency of the medical system, disclose decision‑making processes and related information, strengthen public oversight, and fundamentally eradicate the breeding of corruption; this is the top priority for the next stage of medical reform."

Du Wenlong, based on the clues we currently have, can we take Yun Shuo down?

Du Wenlong thought for a moment and said, "Give me a bit more time; some directors have not yet 'opened up,' and the evidence chain is still incomplete. I plan to move against the Vice Mayor in charge of health in Qing City, the director of the Health and Wellness Committee, and the head of the Medical Insurance Bureau. As long as we take down these three, Yun Shuo definitely won't escape! Brother Lu, you don't know, that damn dog ran into my office barking wildly, I even wanted to beat him!"

Lu Fan was amused and laughed, "Fighting is absolutely out of the question; it's too shameful! When you go personally to 'take him down,' you'll vent that anger. I didn't know you two still have this grudge! You didn't say anything too extreme, did you?"

Du Wenlong replied, "I didn't say it outright, but I hinted at him; the words were indeed harsh. However, I've provoked him enough, and I reckon in the next few days they won't be able to hold it in, maybe plotting some scheme!"

Lu Fan disdainfully said, "We are the army of justice, acting justly, with the support of higher authorities and the people of the whole province. They are meat on the chopping board; no conspiracy can stir up a wave! Rest assured, act boldly; we're not afraid of anyone jumping out, only afraid they'll act like ostriches."