Chapter 867: Please be more rigorous, I ask you

Hou Junlai's cold, piercing gaze immediately locked onto Qi Guohui.

He said: "Secretary Qi, you must take responsibility for your words and actions. You said that officials in some townships all have this problem; please give examples and provide evidence. Otherwise, you are slandering, you are framing our township officials—if this gets out, how will the lower-level officials work?"

Qi Guohui was left speechless for a moment. He had just been rushing to help Zhao Nanxing save face; this time, even if he couldn't advance, he couldn't be dragged down, otherwise their faces would be trampled and thrown on the ground.

However, he unexpectedly faced the most severe questioning. The key is that this kind of question is essentially unanswerable; as the Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary, they know perfectly well whether the lower-level officials have problems.

You, a newly appointed Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary, haven't even sorted out the units under your charge, yet you jump out to produce evidence that other township officials have violated laws and disciplines—you're basically lifting a rock only to drop it on your own foot.

For a moment, his face turned livid, he stiffened his neck and said: "Secretary Hou, why make such a big deal out of this? I'm just giving an example."

Hou Junlai said solemnly: "Discipline Inspection Commission work demands high discipline and seriousness, because a slight mistake can ruin an official's political future."

"Without solid evidence or with uncertain evidence, we cannot arbitrarily draw such conclusions about our officials; this is highly irresponsible."

"We are all comrades on the same team; I think there's no need to pretend mutual respect just for the sake of face—if there's a problem, we should point it out."

"So I hope Secretary Qi will be more rigorous in future meetings: no investigation, no speaking rights; don't just improvise, don't speak up on a whim to speak well of others, and certainly don't just slap your thigh and decide to ruin the futures of our township officials."

His words were extremely weighty, more damaging than pointing at someone's nose and insulting their national essence.

Qi Guohui's face flushed red; he pointed at Hou Junlai, unable to speak for a long time. Leaving aside that he had exposed a loophole, simply put, given that everyone has some justification, comrades like him who work in government agencies fundamentally cannot compare with those who rose from the grassroots, especially in the power struggles on the Standing Committee.

Qi Guohui got off to a bad start and was still refuted to the point of losing helmet and armor; this caused Jiang Tao and Yang Kang, who had originally wanted to speak up, to also fall silent.

At this moment, Su Yang said: "Although I don't work in organizational affairs, I also know that we cannot indulge officials, nor should we promote and protect them just because they are veteran comrades. Although I also respect the contributions of veteran comrades, we should prioritize observing discipline and the law; since they have made mistakes, they should bear the responsibility for their own errors."

"Promoting someone while they are ill is something the organization cannot tolerate; our Lieshan County cannot withstand any further turmoil, so if an investigation is needed, investigate; if suspension is needed, suspend."

"As the county's leadership team, we have the responsibility and duty to supervise every official; of course, we also need to set an example and take the lead. Moreover, the Discipline Inspection Commission has its independence and special nature; I think we don't need to interfere. Secretary Hou is merely following convention by reporting at the Standing Committee meeting—in fact, even without reporting, an investigation could be launched, or we could summon the Discipline Inspection Commission for questioning."

Zhao Nanxing's face grew even uglier, yet he couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal; he merely cursed Yao Daya's ancestors eighteen generations over in his heart.

"You old bastard, your butt is covered in so much shit; at this critical juncture, you still don't know to restrain yourself. With that, you still lick a dog's face, hoping I'll recommend you as vice chair of the People's Congress—you might as well roll as far away as possible."

He could only suppress his anger and say: "Fine, then let's leave it at that. Regarding Comrade Yao Daya, if an investigation is needed, investigate; but when implementing the relevant evidence at the school, there must be no personal subjective bias. If there's nothing else, today's meeting ends here."

However, by this point, a leader like him who lacks absolute authority cannot control the situation at all.

Zhou Yanru said calmly: "County Mayor Zhao, comrades, I also truly didn't expect Comrade Yao Daya to have such a situation. Everyone knows that once a official slated for promotion encounters such a problem, they basically can no longer be considered for the vice chair of the People's Congress discussion list."

"According to the list previously brewed by the Organization Department, aside from Comrade Yao Daya, only Comrade Mo Tai remains. Following the organization's relevant procedures, in this situation Comrade Mo Tai is the sole promotion candidate."

"So the Organization Department should hold the talks it needs to hold, make the public announcements it needs to make, and still that old saying: veteran comrades have worked diligently in our county for many years, whether they have merit or just hardship, as long as they haven't violated laws or disciplines, they certainly deserve to be taken care of."

"If any comrade thinks this is inappropriate, I will personally submit the personnel issues discussed at our Standing Committee meeting to the Municipal Party Committee's Organization Department."

"Although this doesn't follow organizational procedure, in my view sometimes special cases require special handling. We can't just violate organizational regulations because our county's situation is special. I've said all this; I don't know if anyone has anything to add."

Su Yang gave a thumbs-up in his heart: truly, it's the veteran comrades—after saying all that, who would dare to stand up and oppose? Moreover, this indeed conforms to organizational procedure; no one can find fault with it.

Back then he had planned that, if Li Lingyu's appointment hadn't come down yet, and Zhao Nanxing also wanted to rely on their numerical advantage to force it through, then he would pull out this killer move.

But he didn't expect that, in today's situation, Hou Junlai would still resolutely wield this sword. Theoretically, it's true that for veteran comrades about to reach retirement age, one wouldn't normally resort to major force; even if there are problems, one would usually turn a blind eye.

However, Yao Daya is indeed somewhat arrogant; even without this matter, his drinking alcohol and playing mahjong on the job, as well as taking the lead in violating the county's document spirit, would already be enough to warrant suspension and reflection. This also serves as a warning to those other restless individuals.

After the Standing Committee meeting adjourned, Zhao Nanxing, furious, directly smashed the teacup that his secretary had just brewed for him.

Ma Su originally went in to inquire about the situation; seeing this state, he knew things were serious. He spoke gently: "Leader, did something go wrong at the meeting? Don't worry about that—you're still the backbone of our county; no matter what, there's always a chance to turn things around."

Only then did Zhao Nanxing regain his composure, then he waved his hand, letting his secretary leave.

"Just now at the Standing Committee meeting, there were indeed some unexpected incidents; originally Yao Daya's case should have been fine, but it ended up being targeted by Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Hou, and they have already gathered direct evidence of his embezzlement, illicit sexual relations, and drinking alcohol and playing cards on the job."

"Such a person, fully aware of their many problems, still dares to come to me asking me to speak for them—truly lacking any self-awareness. Call them right now and tell them to turn themselves in to the Discipline Inspection Commission."