Chapter 137: Let Tang Ye Take a Disciplinary Action?

Guo Zhengting had originally thought that Tang Ye would surely shirk responsibility, at which point he could stand on the moral high ground and give him a good, thorough dressing-down.

But who could have imagined that Tang Ye would be so resolute, single-mindedly considering the problem from the victims' perspective.

However, this was an excellent opportunity to knock Tang Ye down a peg; even though he quite appreciated this young man, when it was time to struggle, one had to struggle to the end!

"Comrade Tang Ye, I understand your feelings. You are a young man with a sense of justice, and I acknowledge that. But you must consider problems more comprehensively. You represent not just yourself, but the position of the Government. This isn't a small sum of tens or hundreds of thousands, but over a hundred million in funds! If you can't give the common people an answer within three days, what do you intend to do?"

"How about you just say it directly—whatever punishment I should receive, I accept it all!"

At the conference table, the expressions of the crowd were quite intriguing; they all stared eagerly at Du Chengfeng, waiting to see his attitude.

One had to know, Tang Ye was a rising political star; just based on his age, plus the connections behind him, it was even possible for him to rise to a Bureau-Level Cadre in the future.

But if he were to receive a disciplinary action, he would certainly be restricted during this three-to-four-year promotion cycle.

Guo Zhengting had not expected Tang Ye to be so tough.

Strictly speaking, this matter had no necessary connection to Tang Ye. If Tang Ye had said a few soft words, he might have let him off. But Du Chengfeng stood behind Tang Ye; once this political game involved the career path of a core figure, it became complicated.

He was currently quite conflicted about his mindset toward Tang Ye; he wanted to knock him down a peg, yet he was afraid of breaking the rules of the game.

However, since Tang Ye dared to be so tough with him, then he shouldn't blame him for not showing mercy—at the very least, he had to make him take a disciplinary action!

Just as Guo Zhengting was pondering how to handle this matter, his phone suddenly vibrated, and a message popped up. His brows furrowed, and a cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"There is one thing I must confirm with you. Has the Deputy Town Mayor of Pinghu Town, Guo Liang, lost contact?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Ye's heart skipped a beat. In fact, he had guessed it long ago; when he received the news of Guo Liang's disappearance last night, he felt it was related to the Hongzhen fundraising fraud. Originally, Guo Zhengting was fretting over not finding a reason to make Tang Ye take the fall, and now it was perfect—with Guo Liang missing, the reason was more than sufficient!

Tang Ye was also depressed inside; why did this kid drop the ball at a critical moment? Could it be that he had misjudged the situation and misidentified the person? He had repeatedly emphasized to Guo Liang before to keep an eye on Hongzhen's movements and absolutely not to startle the snake, but he hadn't expected a mishap to occur anyway!

However, Tang Ye vaguely felt that Guo Liang shouldn't be in cahoots with Hongzhen; after all, that kid's desire for power was much greater than his desire for money.

Seeing Tang Ye remain silent, Guo Zhengting said with a serious face: "I have already sent people to Pinghu to investigate this case. Preliminary clues show that Guo Liang was very close to the developers at Hongzhen, often eating together and frequently appearing in entertainment venues. I remember, Guo Liang was a cadre heavily recommended to the County Party Committee Organization Department by Town Mayor Tang, right?"

In Pinghu Town, Guo Liang had jumped two levels in half a year from Deputy Director of the General Affairs Office; if not for Tang Ye's help, this would have been impossible.

"Comrade Guo Liang was indeed strongly recommended by me to the Organization Department. When he was working on the land requisition and demolition for Aiou Electric, he fought against evil forces and was seriously injured, which is why he was promoted. As for not being able to contact him, I believe there must be a reason; we cannot just slap a label on him simply because he ate a few meals with a developer who had investment potential!"

Guo Zhengting thought to himself that Tang Ye's reaction was fast enough.

"This matter is currently at the center of the storm, and the Deputy Town Mayor of Pinghu Town has suddenly vanished. Rumors are flying everywhere outside, which will surely cause panic among the common people. Comrade Tang Ye, as a core member of the Government team, you must strengthen your control over the team!"

Du Chengfeng tapped the table, and the meeting room instantly quieted down.

"Tang Ye's timely promise to the common people just now was the right thing to do. The victims are anxious now and are just hoping the Government can help them. If we don't make a promise, it's easy for extreme situations to occur; if there are casualties, the situation will be completely out of control. I had Xiao Jin organize the recent complaint documents; several weeks ago, someone reported anonymously that Hongzhen Group was suspected of using high returns to absorb private capital. I even made a note at the time and transferred it to the Letters and Visits Bureau for strict investigation and supervision; you can go check the relevant records!"

The County Party Committee Standing Committee Member, Deputy County Magistrate, and concurrently Public Security Bureau Chief, Qiao Liang, saw his face turn ugly all of a sudden. The County Letters and Calls Bureau was under his jurisdiction.

"The Secretary is right; I did arrange for people to communicate with Hongzhen at the time. It might have startled the snake, which is why Hongzhen suddenly disappeared. But looking at it from another angle, our vigilance was high enough that we didn't let more people suffer."

Du Chengfeng glared at Qiao Liang, thinking to himself, why is this guy still climbing up the pole and gilding his own face?

"Frozen three feet deep, it is not the work of one day. All major problems have signs before they erupt. Now that the matter has happened, we must actively handle it; don't always think about evading responsibility!"

Guo Zhengting frowned and sneered inwardly; Du Chengfeng really had a way—to protect Tang Ye, he was pushing the responsibility to the county level.

Others also sighed inwardly; Du Chengfeng was truly determined to support Tang Ye!

Under Du Chengfeng's pressure, Qiao Liang could only bite the bullet and state his position: "I will cooperate with Comrade Tang Ye to see if we can find a breakthrough as soon as possible, but three days is really too tight!"

"Everyone, rack your brains; if you have any ideas, feel free to suggest them!" Du Chengfeng didn't give Qiao Liang much chance to complain.

Cheng Lin had always wanted to stand up and help Tang Ye, but this matter didn't fall under the jurisdiction of the Organization Department, so she could only wait for an opportunity.

As the Minister of the Organization Department, she knew exactly what Guo Zhengting was planning. When such a mass incident occurred, someone had to stand up and take the blame. If Tang Ye and Chen Zhihua were to receive disciplinary actions, regardless of whether the defrauded money could be recovered, it would count as giving an answer to society.

But for the common people, this was just psychological comfort, and for Tang Ye, his career would suffer a heavy blow.

For Tianling County, and even the entire Hanzhou, they would lose an excellent young cadre who was full of passion, ambition, and ability.

"I think that since such a big thing has happened, we shouldn't just think about who to hold responsible; we must consider it from the standpoint of the common people. If we can't recover the debts, we must have other contingency plans. Even if we can't make up for the losses of the common people, we must do a good job of propaganda and guidance so that the matter doesn't escalate and cause greater losses."

Du Chengfeng thought to himself that Cheng Lin was indeed a female comrade; her consideration of problems was meticulous and far-sighted.

He glanced at the Minister of the County Party Committee Propaganda Department, Hou Ying, and said: "The Propaganda Department should immediately contact the Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department to control public opinion and not let this matter blow up further."

Others also spoke one after another, all playing Tai Chi in line with Du Chengfeng's intentions.

Although Guo Zhengting had launched an attack on Tang Ye, he still admired Du Chengfeng's courage.

This "Class Monitor" was truly someone who wanted to get things done, could get things done, and could successfully get things done!

Du Chengfeng concluded: "Since such an important problem has occurred, we cannot simplify the problem and just think about evading responsibility; we must actively handle it and help the common people recover their losses. Pinghu Town must have had problems with lax supervision and must bear the primary responsibility. The county must mobilize all resources to strive to solve this problem!"

Of the eleven Standing Committee Members attending the meeting, half clearly expressed their support for Du Chengfeng.

Tang Ye thought to himself that the backer he had chosen was reliable enough!

However, three days was really too short; where exactly should he find a breakthrough? "Four chapters delivered today; special benefits will be sent to you soon, so please look forward to it!"