Chapter 675: Vicious Incident in Runfeng Village!

Liang Yuan is fifty-five years old this year and has worked in the Coal Bureau his entire life; he can be considered an "old hand" in the workplace.

The past ten years were a golden age for the development of the coal industry, yet Dayu County failed to take advantage of this trend to achieve any transformation, which is something Tang Ye has never been able to understand.

To find the crux of the matter, Tang Ye first found clues in the labor market, followed the trail to the Sales Company, and then snuck in to conduct an undercover investigation for half a month.

The answer finally came to light: it all had to do with the Coal Bureau's inaction and adherence to outdated practices.

As the official in charge, Liang Yuan naturally had to bear the primary responsibility.

Tang Ye observed Liang Yuan calmly: the man's cuffs were deliberately positioned to cover the expensive watch on his wrist, he wore a pair of polished, high-end leather shoes, a faint scent of men's cologne drifted from him, and his eyes revealed a certain confidence and sophistication typical of someone in the business world.

At first glance, he looked more like a successful entrepreneur mingling in the business world than a public servant.

Tang Ye pointed to the seat opposite him and said politely, "Director Liang, please sit!"

Liang Yuan sat down across from Tang Ye, his face piled with a smile as he said, "County Magistrate Tang, thank you for being willing to spare the time to see me. I would like to report on our work: this year's fiscal budget for the Coal Bureau has increased slightly compared to last year, but it is still somewhat stretched."

"In addition, the Coal Bureau oversees quite a few enterprises, and these enterprises are currently not operating very well; they would like to apply for appropriate tax reductions and exemptions to alleviate some of the pressure."

Tang Ye smiled faintly, his words carrying a hint of mockery: "The Coal Bureau is now recognized as a 'good unit' in Dayu County; your benefits and compensation are already higher than other units. If you are still crying poverty, wouldn't that mean other units have no way to survive?"

"As for tax policy, according to my understanding, the concessions already granted are generous enough."

"Compared to other places, our county has already sacrificed quite a bit of profit, yet the market situation is only getting worse. We really need to reflect on the problems here."

Liang Yuan was slightly stunned, not expecting Tang Ye to directly reject his request—it was just as Qiao Lin had said, this new County Magistrate was indeed difficult to deal with.

He gave a sheepish laugh, attempting to defend himself: "County Magistrate Tang, you might not be very familiar with the situation in our county yet. Our county is a nationally designated poverty-stricken county; there aren't many enterprises willing to come and invest in the first place, and attracting investment is extremely difficult. If we don't offer some good policies, we simply can't retain these enterprises!"

Tang Ye did not intend to get entangled with him on the tax issue and changed the subject: "The day I took office, I encountered someone blocking my car at the entrance of the County Government. At the time, Minister Fang of the Municipal Organization Department specifically instructed me to investigate this matter thoroughly. According to my understanding, it has to do with the coal mine bidding, right?"

Liang Yuan froze for a moment, then calmly explained: "I was just about to report this matter to you. The person who blocked the road is named Lu Guiping; he previously contracted a small coal mine in the county. A few years later, when the village re-tendered the coal mine, he failed to win the bid. He was unhappy about it and has been pestering us about this matter ever since."

Fortunately, Tang Ye had personally visited that small coal mine before, otherwise, he might have been fooled by Liang Yuan's words today.

He asked calmly: "Is that so? But how is it that I heard the ownership structure of that coal mine is very complex, and there are quite a few people within the system holding shares in it?"

Liang Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he was shocked, but he immediately denied it flatly: "County Magistrate Tang, you must not believe those rumors! There is absolutely no such thing!"

In fact, Tang Ye was only testing him; although Liang Yuan covered it up well, he could clearly detect the panic and emotional fluctuations in the man's tone.

Tang Ye suddenly fell silent, and Liang Yuan panicked.

"County Magistrate Tang, regarding Lu Guiping's issue, we will certainly handle it properly in the future. The reason he didn't get the coal mine operating rights back then was mainly because his qualifications were not up to standard, and the mine's safety measures were not in place. We arranged for people to urge him to rectify the situation several times, but he never followed the requirements."

Tang Ye followed his lead and asked: "According to what you say, have the safety measures for this coal mine now been fully rectified?"

Liang Yuan immediately patted his chest to guarantee: "Absolutely no problem! Whether it's routine inspections or surprise spot checks, it can completely withstand scrutiny!"

Just then, the landline on Tang Ye's desk suddenly rang.

He picked up the receiver, and a hurried voice came from the other end: "County Magistrate Tang, this is Chu Weiming from the Emergency Management Bureau! We just received an emergency report that a vicious incident has occurred in Runfeng Village—a villager has tied explosives to his body and has taken several village officials in Runfeng Village hostage!"

"Why would this villager do such a thing?" Tang Ye frowned, his tone full of confusion.

Chu Weiming spoke at a rapid pace, explaining the situation concisely:

"The villager is Lu Guiping, who came to petition a few days ago!"

"He previously contracted a coal mine in Runfeng Village and invested a lot of capital to purchase equipment. Later, when the contract expired, he failed to win the bid and lost the operating rights, after which he kept petitioning."

"Today, the Party Branch Secretary took several village officials to his home to do some ideological work, but unexpectedly, Lu Guiping suddenly lost control of his emotions, tied up all the village officials, and strapped crude explosives used for mining to his own body, threatening to perish together with them!"

"I understand! You first find a way to stabilize his emotions, do not escalate the conflict, I am heading over immediately!" Tang Ye instructed in a deep voice.

After hanging up the phone, Tang Ye glared fiercely at Liang Yuan and slammed the table in anger: "Lu Guiping has explosives tied to his body and is threatening to perish with the village officials of Runfeng Village! Is this what you call 'will handle it properly'?!"

Liang Yuan was also startled to hear that Lu Guiping had actually caused such a scene; beads of sweat the size of peas instantly broke out on his forehead, and he was still trying to shirk responsibility:

"This Lu Guiping is a madman! He should be forcibly sent to a mental hospital for treatment, so he stops harming society outside!"

Seeing that things had reached this point and Liang Yuan was still pushing all the blame onto Lu Guiping, Tang Ye felt completely helpless.

As the saying goes, "Officials force the people to rebel"!

If Lu Guiping hadn't been driven to a dead end, how could he have done something so extreme?

Tang Ye didn't waste any more words with Liang Yuan and immediately called his Liaison Officer, Ma Ran, his tone urgent: "Arrange a car immediately, I am going to Runfeng Village!"

"Understood, County Magistrate Tang, I will contact the motorcade right away!" Ma Ran replied decisively.

A moment later, Ma Ran walked into the office to report: "County Magistrate Tang, the car is ready and waiting downstairs."

Tang Ye nodded, stood up, and walked straight out, ignoring Liang Yuan.

Liang Yuan was left in the office, and it took him a while to recover; he rushed downstairs and shouted urgently to the driver: "Drive fast! Go to Runfeng Village! Hurry!"

As soon as he got in the car, Liang Yuan immediately dialed Gao Feng's number, and as soon as it connected, he couldn't help but curse: "Damn it! I told you to handle Lu Guiping's matter, how did you cause such a huge mess for me?!"

Gao Feng had long known about Lu Guiping hijacking the village officials, and his tone was full of grievance and panic:

"Director Liang, I didn't expect him to be a madman either! I just wanted to scare him a little so he would stop making trouble, but I didn't expect him to have gotten wind of it early, sending his wife, children, and parents away. Now he's the only one left, and he's tied up explosives and taken the village officials hostage... What do you think we should do now?"

"How would I know what to do!"

Liang Yuan was so angry that he was furious and cut off the call directly.

He knew better than anyone: once public safety was involved, the nature of the matter was completely different.

At this moment, he had only one thought.

Praying that Lu Guiping would not be impulsive, otherwise, no one would be able to contain the fallout.

At the same time, County Party Secretary Ou Xiye also received the news and called Tang Ye immediately.

"Secretary Ou, I am already on my way to Runfeng Village." Tang Ye spoke first to explain the situation.

"County Magistrate Tang, the impact of this incident is too vicious; you must do everything in your power to resolve the matter properly, there must absolutely be no loss of life!" Ou Xiye's tone was exceptionally serious, full of unquestionable instructions.

"Rest assured, I will do my utmost to handle it well." Tang Ye promised solemnly.

According to the division of labor, as the Executive Deputy County Magistrate, Tang Ye was in charge of work safety and emergency management.

Therefore, when encountering such a sudden vicious incident, he should naturally take the lead and be at the forefront.

Of course, he could have used "just arrived in Dayu County and unfamiliar with the situation" as an excuse to push this matter to other colleagues to handle, but Tang Ye did not do so!

Because of this sense of responsibility he carried, Ou Xiye gave Tang Ye a high score in his heart.