Chapter 2088

During the period shortly after the Spring Festival, the political atmosphere in Jiangyou Province suddenly became tense; the fuse was, of course, the protest by Chen Changqiao and others unfurling banners at the gate of the provincial government.

After this protest, Jiang Fangping, the top leader of the Provincial Party Committee, in order to warn Provincial Governor Ke Zhifang, seized this opportunity to send an investigation team to investigate Su Xinghui.

Of course, this proposal was not directly put forward by Jiang Fangping; as the Provincial Party Committee Secretary, he, of course, wouldn't do such a graceless thing, but the person who put forward the proposal was also Jiang Fangping's person; he wanted everyone to know that he was going to warn Ke Zhifang and that he was the boss of Jiangyou Province.

In fact, this move by Jiang Fangping was still a bit risky; although he was the boss of Jiangyou Province, Provincial Governor Ke Zhifang also came with the spirit of the central government and was a rare strong provincial governor in the history of Jiangyou Province; when these two tigers fight, one must be injured.

However, Jiang Fangping was indeed forced into a corner because Ke Zhifang was too strong; he came to Jiangyou Province with strong vigor, and some of his measures could be said to be aggressive; if Jiang Fangping didn't take action again, his foundation would be loosened by Ke Zhifang.

Taking action against Su Xinghui was just right; although Su Xinghui was only an acting county magistrate, he could be said to be Ke Zhifang's vanguard; some of his measures in Chongjin County even made the whole province look sideways; even a mayor or a vice-provincial governor might not be able to do the things he did.

However, his rank was not high enough, so taking action against him wouldn't hurt Ke Zhifang's muscles and bones, and it could be considered leaving some face for Ke Zhifang; after all, Jiang Fangping didn't want to fight a decisive battle with Ke Zhifang and drive him out of Jiangyou Province; he just wanted to warn Ke Zhifang not to be so aggressive.

Therefore, this investigation team, although it was only an investigation into an acting county magistrate, attracted the attention of the whole province; everyone wanted to see whether Secretary Jiang would prove his status as the boss this time or whether Ke Zhifang would successfully challenge Secretary Jiang.

Su Xinghui, this small county magistrate, once again became a weight that could press down a thousand catties.

Under the gaze of the whole provincial officialdom, the investigation team sent by the Provincial Party Committee arrived in Chongjin County.

The leader of this Provincial Party Committee investigation team was Pang Xingjie, the deputy director of the Provincial Party Committee Office, who also had another identity, which was Jiang Fangping's secretary.

Investigating an acting county magistrate, they sent the Provincial Party Committee Secretary's secretary; this rank was high enough; more importantly, this arrangement showed the degree of Jiang Fangping's attention to this matter; he must control this matter in his own hands.

If he sent others to Chongjin County, he thought it would be difficult to exclude interference; only his own secretary could he trust.

Pang Xingjie was around forty years old and had been Jiang Fangping's secretary for two or three years; he was very careful and cautious in front of Jiang Fangping and also handled things fairly effectively; therefore, he was deeply trusted by Jiang Fangping, but in front of others, he was the hot and popular second-in-command of Jiangyou Province.

Therefore, when the investigation team arrived in Chengshui City, City Party Committee Secretary Huang Weiran led the city leaders to set up a welcome banquet for the investigation team; Huang Weiran was fine, but the other city leaders did their best to curry favor with Pang Xingjie at the wine table, putting on a subordinate posture in front of Pang Xingjie.

Pang Xingjie was careful and cautious in front of Jiang Fangping, but when he came out to handle things, he changed his appearance again; for the flattery of these local leaders, he took it for granted and enjoyed their compliments with peace of mind.

Of course, he also had reasons to do so because the implicit power in his hands was too great; to a certain extent, he could use many of the Provincial Party Committee Secretary's powers; he lived carefully and cautiously in front of the Provincial Party Committee Secretary every day, living like a grandson; when he went outside, couldn't he live more freely? That would be too stifling, right?

In fact, many leaders' secretaries were such two-faced people, acting low and small in front of leaders and arrogant and domineering outside, especially those with great energy like Pang Xingjie; in Jiangyou Province, except for a few provincial leaders, he was afraid of no one, and when he went outside, his style was even bigger than the leaders'.

Although Pang Xingjie's style was big, his mouth was still quite tight; he wouldn't speak casually, let alone express any opinions on Su Xinghui's matter, which disappointed the few city leaders who wanted to inquire about the news.

After eating, Huang Weiran opened a luxury suite for Pang Xingjie at the City Party Committee Guesthouse, where he talked with Pang Xingjie alone for a while in this suite.

For others, Pang Xingjie could put on airs, but for Huang Weiran, Pang Xingjie couldn't put on too many airs because Huang Weiran was, after all, the top leader of Chengshui City, and his age was almost sixty; he was an old-fashioned leader at the department level and a frontier official of this Jiangyou Province; even Jiang Fangping respected Huang Weiran fairly well.

Huang Weiran said: "Director Pang, you've worked hard this time; our Chengshui City has poor conditions, so don't mind it."

Pang Xingjie smiled and said: "Secretary Huang is too polite; who said Chengshui City has poor conditions? The swan meat you have here cannot be eaten anywhere else."

Huang Weiran chuckled and said: "Director Pang, as long as you like eating it; these swans are only available in winter and will fly away next month; if you want to eat them again, you'll have to wait until the end of this year."

Pang Xingjie said: "Speaking of which, your Chengshui City is really a treasure land; even swans fly here; as the saying goes, don't phoenixes not land in treasure lands?"

The two chatted casually for a few sentences, and Huang Weiran asked: "Director Pang, for this investigation, can you give me, your brother, a solid bottom line? The election is next month."

Pang Xingjie, of course, understood Huang Weiran's meaning; the election was next month; although Su Xinghui was being investigated now, Su Xinghui was still the only candidate for Chongjin County Magistrate; Huang Weiran, of course, had to ask clearly about the regulations for this election.

What he mainly wanted to ask was Jiang Fangping's meaning; for this investigation, to what extent did Jiang Fangping want to investigate? This related to their election arrangements; should they let Su Xinghui get elected, or should they not let him get elected?

This matter was indeed difficult for the local party committee to handle; as the only candidate for Chongjin County Magistrate, if Su Xinghui was not elected as county magistrate, it would be a serious political incident, relating to how the local party committee's control was.

But now even the Provincial Party Committee Secretary had sent his own big secretary to investigate Su Xinghui, which made it difficult for them; if they let Su Xinghui get elected, would they offend Jiang Fangping?

If they couldn't figure out the leader's intention and acted rashly, it might cause a big mess.

Of course, they couldn't directly ask the leader about such things, but it was okay to ask the leader's secretary about such things; therefore, Huang Weiran asked Pang Xingjie directly.

For Pang Xingjie, Huang Weiran couldn't beat around the bush; after all, his rank was higher than Pang Xingjie's, and his status was also fairly important; he asked directly, which showed closeness, and Pang Xingjie was also willing to reveal some leader intentions to such frontier officials, which showed his importance in front of the leader and could also sell a favor to Huang Weiran.