Chapter 1056: with translation of chapter title

In the evening Su Yang called Zhou Ruohan and briefly explained his situation. Although Zhou Ruohan's tone was very calm, in fact her eye sockets had already turned red.

If it weren't for the two elders keeping a close watch on her, she would have flown over already.

"Then you should rest properly; if it really isn't possible, you can also come back to Jingcheng, where the conditions are better in every way."

Su Yang said: "Do you think I'm that kind of delicate person? Not at all. Besides, although I don't have any major issues now, I am still a cadre in the county, so I can't just leave my post without authorization."

"I heard Zhang Jiangbo was taken away for investigation; although there aren't any serious problems, he might still have to take responsibility for everything, but the final handling hasn't been decided yet. How is it in Jingcheng? Dad previously said those matters in their province were being roasted over a fire—have they been settled now?"

Zhou Ruohan said: "Grandfather and grandmother went to see the senior leader, and precisely because they met the senior leader, some matters have encountered a major turning point. Your side should be fine, but Dad's side probably won't be easily resolved, because I heard some news today."

""This time, a deputy head of the Publicity Department was taken away for investigation, and the work of the Environmental Protection Bureau was heavily criticized. Just before you called me, another piece of gossip emerged: the top official of a certain directly‑administered city might be forced into early retirement."

When Su Yang heard the first half, he still felt quite pleased and relieved.

"Didn't you want to use me as a fulcrum to lever the whole situation? All of a sudden you hit me with such a high‑level departmental investigation, and now it's turned out that the slap lands on your own face, doesn't it?"

Now thinking about it, the old comrades are still pretty tough; if this happened to others they probably couldn't bear it. But the fact that the two elders personally intervened shows how serious this situation is.

But upon hearing the last sentence, he immediately felt the situation was dire: "How could something like this happen all of a sudden? Normally, leaders of a directly‑administered city decide only when their term ends. Is it the southwestern one or...?"

Zhou Ruohan said: "It's that southwestern one. However, this kind of thing wouldn't be announced so early; at the earliest it would be at the beginning of this year or during the next year's two sessions."

Su Yang felt even more shocked; normally, at this level, ordinary problems wouldn't affect anything at all, and if a truly major problem did arise, it would already be common knowledge.

Now it seems they chose the most dignified way—to step down gracefully—so many things can be let go.

But that person is such a heavyweight figure—Old Zhou wouldn't... Moreover, personnel matters at Old Zhou's level, even if announced only at the beginning of next year, would basically have to be decided now; it couldn't be as simple as ordinary people imagine.

He hurriedly asked: "How is Dad? Will he not be implicated this time?"

Zhou Ruohan's tone was low: "For now it's still unclear; I heard the leaders held a meeting over this matter, but no result has come out yet. Dad went back to Jiangnan Province early this morning; he was in a rush, so I didn't have a chance to ask, but I have a feeling things aren't good."

"If you think about it, you'll understand: they've expended such a huge cost, so Dad's hope of coming out unscathed this time is probably in vain."

"Also, I'll just tell you this: don't go ask Dad; I expect he won't tell you either. According to him, you just need to do your own job well—don't worry about his affairs, don't ask, don't even think about them. Such matters can't be discussed in private either; I suspect the outcome will be known soon."

In the days that followed, Su Yang continued to lie in bed recuperating; visitors came one after another, and setting aside other things, the health supplements, nutrients, and various gifts sent his way had already piled up in the hallway.

Su Yang simply had Jiao Qiang give all those gifts and such to the other hospitalized patients in the hospital who were in worse condition.

One week later, Su Yang was preparing to leave the hospital; the investigation and handling results of this incident finally came out—some were as he expected, others left him stunned.

County Magistrate Zhao Nanxing was expelled from public office and handed over to the judicial authorities for messing around with male‑female relations, corruption and bribery involving huge sums.

Executive Vice County Magistrate Jiang Tao engaged in improper male‑female relations, maintained improper relationships with multiple people, used his power to amass wealth, and his huge income could not be explained; he was expelled from public office and turned over to the judicial authorities.

Qi Guohui, almost the same.

Finally there was Hou Junlai, who was also double‑expelled and handed over to the judicial authorities, but it is said that Hou Junlai, having surrendered voluntarily and with a good attitude, may receive a more lenient sentence when the time comes.

Next, about twenty or thirty deputy section‑level cadres were all dealt with; the first to be hit was Ma Su, whose punishment was especially clear: messing around with male‑female relations, forming cliques, organizing collusion of improper interest groups, and corruption involving huge sums—he was expelled from public office and transferred to the judicial authorities.

Most of the other section‑level cadres were simply removed from office, the lightest penalty being a major demerit. Especially in the hard‑hit area Guantan Gou Zhen, almost the entire force was wiped out, with only a very few people not implicated.

What surprised him was that Yang Kang also couldn't escape this time, receiving a major demerit directly. Yang Kang's case is rather unjust: although he is the Party Committee Secretary of Guantan Gou Zhen and the nominal first‑responsibility person, when he arrived these problems had already been formed and were entrenched; he just couldn't resolve them in time, so this penalty amounts to a disaster he didn't cause.

Finally, County Party Committee Secretary Zhang Jiangbo also received a major demerit, and there is talk that Zhang Jiangbo is very likely to be transferred at year‑end. If that's true, then Zhang Jiangbo would be coming in arrogantly and leaving in disgrace.

Included among them is himself, who was also removed from office, but fortunately he didn't receive any warning or demerit.

For a while the whole county was in an uproar, with the vast majority feeling that Su Yang didn't deserve this, because in their view he had made huge contributions to the county's development.

Although this investigation by the Discipline Inspection Commission turned up no problems, he was still removed from office—a blow as heavy as a bolt from the blue for those cadres in the county who genuinely wanted to do practical work. After finally getting a good leader who could serve the common people, he was dismissed just like that.

However, Su Yang wasn't surprised by his own punishment, because involving him means it's not just something the municipal level can decide on its own; there is likely also input from the provincial level.

Sure enough, before he had even finished digesting this news, a call came in from Municipal Party Committee Secretary Zhaikai.