Chapter 3169

Ye Bingsheng was also extremely terrified, because that time Ling Shanshan was made drunk by Cheng Kaibin and nearly lost her virtue to him. Ye Bingsheng had been present as well, making him a sort of accomplice. He felt that if Ling Shanshan were to whisper in Cheng Huangong's ear, his hopes for a promotion would be slim to none.

Consequently, he met with Ling Shanshan in private, fawning over her in every way possible and even offering her money, asking her to put in a good word for him before Cheng Huangong.

However, Ling Shanshan still harbored deep resentment over being made drunk that time. Naturally, she had no good impression of Ye Bingsheng; while she wouldn't go so far as to speak ill of him before Cheng Huangong, she certainly wouldn't speak well of him either.

The next day, she called Su Xinghui and told him about Ye Bingsheng's attempt to lobby for a promotion with Cheng Huangong. She knew that Su Xinghui also had a poor impression of Ye Bingsheng and possessed significant influence; if he could ruin Ye Bingsheng's good fortune, she would consider it a vent for her pent-up anger.

Upon hearing that Ye Bingsheng was lobbying for a promotion, Su Xinghui naturally did not want to see him get his wish. If a person like Ye Bingsheng were to climb higher in his career, it would be no good thing for the Party or the people.

Therefore, he decided to expose the public security system's practice of collecting "monthly pass" fees. If this matter were exposed now, Ye Bingsheng would be finished; not only would a promotion be impossible, but he would also face imprisonment.

This material had been investigated by Liu Qiang, Ren Weidong, and others. Their investigative methods were diverse, the material gathered was detailed, and the evidence was extremely solid—it could be said that the evidence was as firm as a mountain.

Zhao Yichen made a rough calculation: even if not all truck drivers in the city paid the monthly pass fee, if only a portion did—let's say one thousand drivers—and each paid several hundred yuan per month, the amount involved in the case for just one month would be hundreds of thousands.

Over so many years, how massive must this total amount be? The more Zhao Yichen thought about it, the more shocked and furious he became! Fortunately, he had only just taken office; the past had nothing to do with him, and he could still resolve to dig out this malignant tumor.

Su Xinghui said, "Indeed, when I first saw this material, I was also taken aback. Are these people not too daring and reckless? That is why I brought this material to you immediately."

Zhao Yichen said, "This matter must be investigated, and it must be investigated thoroughly. Otherwise, if it drags on, I fear something major will happen."

Su Xinghui said, "I think so too. This abscess must be lanced; otherwise, it will have a very serious negative impact on Baozhou City's economic development."

Collecting monthly pass fees from truck drivers would naturally affect the transportation industry, and affecting the transportation industry would naturally affect economic development. This was a very simple principle, and Zhao Yichen certainly understood it.

Zhao Yichen frowned and said, "With such large-scale collection of monthly pass fees, has the discipline inspection department never received reports on this before? Why is it that only now is someone reporting it?"

Su Xinghui said, "The reasons may be multifaceted. First, those truck drivers may not necessarily be willing to report it, because after paying the monthly pass fee, they can overload, so their net income actually hasn't decreased, and they don't want to stir up trouble. If they report the traffic police, it's uncertain whether the police will be punished, but it is certain that the drivers will face retaliation."

Zhao Yichen nodded in deep agreement. Indeed, if truck drivers report the traffic police, they have many concerns. The previous municipal Party secretary was Shi Fengnian; reporting the police might not have been useful, but regardless of whether it was useful, retaliation from the police was certain. Among those driving trucks, who didn't have some violations? If they were targeted by the traffic police, they would likely have no choice but to change professions.

Furthermore, they paid the monthly pass fee but were able to overload; calculated this way, their net income wouldn't decrease and might even increase, so why would they want to stir up trouble?

Su Xinghui said, "Second, I believe someone may have reported it before, but it likely had no effect, and because there was never any news on this front, no one was willing to report it later. Third, those in the know within the traffic police are all stakeholders, so naturally, they wouldn't be willing to report it either."

Zhao Yichen nodded again. Yes, this possibility was also very high. Someone must have reported it before, but they didn't get any results; on the contrary, the reporter might have been targeted for retaliation. Who would be willing to report it now?

Zhao Yichen asked again, "Then how did you receive the report material now?"

Su Xinghui said, "Perhaps it is because you are the municipal Party secretary now? You have done a lot of work in rectifying official conduct, so you have given them hope."

Su Xinghui's words were quite complimentary to Zhao Yichen, which Zhao Yichen found very gratifying. Zhao Yichen had come to Baozhou hoping to accomplish something, and he cherished his reputation and valued his official standing, so Su Xinghui's words were right up his alley.

Zhao Yichen's expression cleared slightly, but he immediately frowned again and said, "Let's do this: I will call Comrades Ziming, Qirui, Wenyao, and Aimin and ask them to come over so we can discuss this together."

Comrade Ziming was, of course, Mayor Wei Ziming; Comrade Wenyao was Deputy Secretary and Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Tang Wenyao; Comrade Qirui was the full-time municipal Party deputy secretary in charge of Party and mass affairs, Liu Qirui; and Comrade Aimin was the Public Security Bureau and Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary, Gu Aimin.

Now that such a serious incident had occurred, Zhao Yichen naturally had to call them all to discuss it. This was effectively convening a meeting of the Party committee secretaries, and Gu Aimin, who was directly involved, naturally had to attend as well, as the Public Security Bureau was under his purview.

Su Xinghui stood up and said, "Secretary Zhao, then I shall not attend."

Su Xinghui was only a standing committee member and vice mayor; naturally, he was not qualified to attend a meeting of the Party committee secretaries, so he took the initiative to rise and take his leave.

Zhao Yichen pressed his hand down and said, "Sit down, sit down. You should also attend today's meeting as an observer. You received the report material, after all, so you should also express your views."

Su Xinghui had no choice but to sit down. Just as Zhao Yichen was preparing to make the calls, his door was knocked upon. Zhao Yichen said, "Please come in!"

Entering was Zhao Yichen's secretary, Chen Gang, followed by Tang Wenyao. Chen Gang said, "Secretary Zhao, Secretary Tang is here. He says he has an important matter to discuss with you."

Tang Wenyao saw that Su Xinghui was also there and said, "Mayor Su has business with Secretary Zhao? Then you two talk first; I will wait."

Zhao Yichen said, "Comrade Wenyao, it's fine, come in. The matter Comrade Xinghui is discussing with me also concerns you. Come in, and we can all discuss it together."