Chapter 2773

The police he brought did not allow any argument; like wolves and tigers, they handcuffed Yang Hu and the others behind their backs and stuffed them into the police car. Yang Hu panicked and shouted loudly, "Director Ren, Director Ren, what is the meaning of this?"

Ren Weidong couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him. Seeing his subordinates stuff everyone into the police car, he also sat in the front row of the police car and had the driver drive back to the county bureau.

The news that the Sheshan Gold Mine had beaten a reporter immediately shocked the Yinshan County Committee. Yinshan County Committee Secretary Ma Changeng, County Magistrate Xing Guodong, and other leaders immediately went to the hospital to visit the beaten reporter, Wang Guoqing.

Wang Guoqing was in his thirties and had been a reporter for more than ten years. He had previously worked at the Yanbei Daily and later came to work at the city newspaper affiliated with this Yanbei Daily. He had published many weighty reports and could be considered a famous reporter in Yanbei Province.

This time, Wang Guoqing, who had been beaten into a coma at the Sheshan Gold Mine and had woken up after emergency treatment, was extremely angry. In the hospital bed in the cadre ward, he declared to the County Committee Secretary Ma Changeng, County Magistrate Xing Guodong, and others who came to visit that he would definitely make Yinshan County pay the price.

Ma Changeng was very flustered. He naturally had heard of this Wang Guoqing's reputation. This Wang Guoqing had indeed published many influential reports, and the city newspaper he worked for could also be considered one of the very influential newspapers in Yanbei Province. If Wang Guoqing reported this matter, he would really be in big trouble.

Because the pollution of the gold and silver mines in Yinshan County had been exposed, Yinshan County was already overwhelmed. If such a thing as beating a reporter happened again, Yinshan County would really be in the spotlight, and if things went wrong, it would become famous nationwide. However, this reputation would not be a good one, but a bad one; Yinshan County would definitely become notorious.

And he, Ma Changeng, as the County Committee Secretary of Yinshan County, would have no other outcome but to be dismissed in disgrace.

Ma Changeng immediately cursed the owner of the Sheshan Gold Mine in his heart. However, the urgent matter at this moment was still to calm Wang Guoqing's anger. How to calm it? Only with money.

Ma Changeng immediately apologized to Wang Guoqing with a very sincere attitude, saying that he would definitely severely punish the perpetrators who beat people and compensate Reporter Wang for his mental distress.

However, Wang Guoqing was still very angry, saying that since he became a reporter, he had never encountered such an outrageous thing. He had already stated his identity as a reporter, but those people still beat him as soon as they saw him, until he was beaten into a coma.

He said he would definitely make Yinshan County pay the price. He also said he knew a certain leader at the provincial level, and if that leader knew that such a shocking incident had happened in Yinshan County, he would definitely be furious.

Seeing Wang Guoqing so agitated and completely unable to communicate, Ma Changeng could only let him rest well and said he would come to visit Wang Guoqing again tomorrow.

Ma Changeng then led the county leaders out of the ward. Outside the ward, Ma Changeng pulled Xing Guodong into an empty ward and said to Xing Guodong, "County Magistrate, what do you think should be done about this?"

Xing Guodong said, "I think these gold and silver mines all need to be suspended for rectification, and the perpetrators who beat people must also be severely punished. Only then can we show the attitude of our Yinshan County Committee."

Ma Changeng said, "Suspension for rectification is a later step. The urgent matter now is to appease this reporter. If this matter is really published in the newspaper, we will all be responsible. Do you have any good ideas?"

Xing Guodong said, "Anyway, first of all, we must severely punish the perpetrators who beat people, and give Reporter Wang the best treatment. Perhaps this can make him calm down."

Ma Changeng nodded and said, "This is definitely necessary. I think we should let the Sheshan Gold Mine pay more for medical expenses, nutrition expenses, and mental distress compensation. Only then can Reporter Wang possibly calm his anger."

Xing Guodong said, "Is that good?"

Ma Changeng said, "What's not good about it? It's not the county paying, it's the gold mine paying. They beat people, shouldn't they pay? Let them pay more money, and it can be considered as letting them learn a lesson."

Xing Guodong said, "But is Reporter Wang willing to accept it? I'm afraid he won't accept the money and insists on reporting it."

Ma Changeng sneered and said, "I can tell at a glance that he will definitely accept it. Otherwise, why keep emphasizing which leader he knows? That's raising the price. As long as we pay more money, he will definitely accept it."

Xing Guodong had to admit that Ma Changeng's eye for people was quite good. That reporter named Wang Guoqing indeed looked like he was raising the price; he was probably someone who wanted money. Otherwise, with so many dark secrets in Yanbei Province, he hadn't seen him report many.

Xing Guodong had seen many reporters like Wang Guoqing. He used to work in the policy research office and had to deal with the media.

Some reporters specifically focused on such negative news. When they saw such news appearing somewhere, they would go to interview. After interviewing, they would bargain with the local government or the exposed unit and get a hefty hush money. If the hush money was not given, he would report it.

Today, Wang Guoqing's performance was a bit abnormal; he looked like such a reporter.

Xing Guodong said, "Alright then, as long as the Sheshan Gold Mine is willing to pay."

Ma Changeng then called the propaganda minister in and asked him to call Reporter Li, Wang Guoqing's companion, and they discussed the hush money. Of course, he would not say it directly as hush money; he would just say it was to let the Sheshan Gold Mine pay more medical expenses, nutrition expenses, and mental distress compensation to Reporter Wang. Of course, Reporter Li would also have a hard-work fee.

Reporter Li also put on airs at first, but after a round of verbal sparring, he finally loosened up and said he would discuss it with Reporter Wang and then give Secretary Ma an answer.

Xing Guodong said he wanted to go to the Public Security Bureau to see how those gold mine security guards were being handled. Ma Changeng didn't say anything and let him go. He knew that Xing Guodong didn't want to step into this muddy water, but this matter still had to be discussed with Xing Guodong, after all, he was the county magistrate.

Now that the idea had been decided, let him go if he wanted to. Ma Changeng knew that he couldn't keep him even if he wanted to; Xing Guodong was destined not to be on the same path as them.

But he was also not afraid that Xing Guodong would make any trouble, because now everyone was on the same boat in Yinshan; if it sank, they would all sink together.

After Wang Guoqing and Reporter Li discussed it alone for a while, they finally set a price. They demanded 200,000 yuan as medical expenses, nutrition expenses, and mental distress compensation. In addition, they wanted the perpetrators who beat people to be severely punished.

Hearing this price, Ma Changeng let out a long sigh of relief and agreed without hesitation, which made Reporter Li regret it for a long time. If he had known that Secretary Ma would agree so readily, he would have asked for more.

For Ma Changeng, 200,000 was nothing. Anyway, it was the Sheshan Gold Mine paying. This Sheshan Gold Mine was opened by the nephew of the County People's Congress Director Fan Shisheng and had nothing to do with him, Ma Changeng. And for the Sheshan Gold Mine, taking out 200,000 was simply too easy; their annual profit was probably tens of millions.

However, Reporter Li subsequently found another opportunity to make money, which was that Ma Changeng entrusted them to write a positive report for Yinshan County, saying that the post on the internet was purely a rumor and not true, and that the gold and silver mines in Yinshan County were doing quite well in environmental protection.

Ma Changeng said that if they wrote this report well, the writing fee would not be small, which made Reporter Li's heart beat faster.

However, Reporter Li also knew that this writing fee was not easy to earn, because this post had already spread widely on the internet, and many mainstream media had already reported it, and they had also been to the scene to see it. The situation written in the post was basically true. Could they open their eyes and tell lies?

If they wrote this report, and other reporters also came to Yinshan County for interviews and investigations, they would be ruined in the reporter circle.

However, since this writing fee was not easy to earn, it was conceivable that this writing fee would definitely be a huge amount, which made Reporter Li's breathing involuntarily become a bit rapid.

However, he didn't have the final say in this matter. His fame was not as great as Wang Guoqing's, so this report could only be written by Wang Guoqing. Since it was written by Wang Guoqing, then this matter had to be decided by Wang Guoqing.

Therefore, Reporter Li said, "Secretary Ma, I have to discuss this matter with Director Wang. I can't make the decision alone."

Ma Changeng said, "This is as it should be. You can discuss it as much as you want, and just let me know when you've discussed it."

Reporter Li then entered the ward and discussed it with Wang Guoqing again. Wang Guoqing's appetite was obviously even bigger than Reporter Li had imagined. He didn't think at all that this writing fee shouldn't be earned. He offered a high price and let Reporter Li go and tell Ma Changeng.

When Ma Changeng heard Reporter Li offer 500,000, he just pondered for a moment and then nodded to agree to this price. Anyway, this money was still to be paid by the Sheshan Gold Mine. Who let their security guards have itchy hands and beat this reporter? ===== CHAPTER 2775 =====