Rebirth of the Rising Sun

"Some say... some say Mayor Song went to the province to accept an investigation by the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. Others say Mayor Song was caught by the police for soliciting prostitution in the province. Still others say Mayor Song ran away because he felt the limelight was bad. In short, there are all kinds of rumors." Di Quan reported the matter as quietly as possible.

Although Di Quan's voice was not loud, it still aroused Liu Wenhua's anger. "What? What are these people saying? Who told them that? Di Quan, go check for me. Find out who said these words first. If you find out, I will punish him and fire him from his post."

At this moment, Liu Wenhua was furious. Originally, Song Dexiang's disappearance had already made him very angry, and now someone started to spread rumors so quickly, how could he not be angry? Thinking that Liu Changsong was still in the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Song Dexiang was missing again, he should do something at this moment, otherwise the people below would think that he was an easy-to-bully mayor.

Di Quan didn't dare to say anything and quickly retreated. But after retreating, he regretted telling Liu Wenhua what he had just said, because for something like this, how could you ask him to investigate? The staff of the municipal government are all monkeys, and they are monkeys if they have a stick stuck in their buttocks. It is very difficult to investigate them. At least, as the secretary general of the municipal government, he will definitely not be able to find out anything. Forget it, it's better not to do anything. I think after a long time, the mayor should forget about this matter.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The political situation in Haibei City became confusing because Liu Changsong was detained by the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection. Then news came from the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection that Song Dexiang had accepted bribes as the Northwest Regional Director of Tangsheng Bank and was now under investigation by the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. As soon as this matter was announced, it immediately caused an uproar among the Municipal Standing Committee members and senior municipal officials.

Mayor Liu Wenhua was the one who was relatively calm after hearing the news. He had actually expected that something must have happened to Song Dexiang when he went to the province. The key was the size of the problem and whether it was related to the economic accounts of the Haibei Municipal Government. When he heard that Song Dexiang was under investigation for taking bribes, his mentality became much better. He picked up the phone and called Ding Qiang to find out the reason.

"Director Ding, what do you mean?" Liu Wenhua asked in a counter-questioning tone as soon as the phone was connected.

Only then did Liu Wenhua realize that Ding Qiang was not such a simple person at all. The young masters from Kyoto were indeed different from ordinary people. One could not deal with them in the same way as with ordinary people, otherwise he would be sold out and have to count money for them.

"Haha, it's Mayor Liu. What's the matter? You've heard about Comrade Song Dexiang's matter. Haha, you think you can get rid of me with 10 million? You underestimate me too much." Ding Qiang was not hurried or nervous at all when he received Liu Wenhua's call. The reason was of course that although his position was not as high as the other party's, he was not under the other party's control. Especially since Ding Qiang had people and background behind him, he naturally would not take Liu Wenhua seriously.

"Then how much do you want? Just name your name. As long as you tell me the number and then release Song Dexiang, everything will be easy to talk about." After losing Song Dexiang, Liu Wenhua realized that his position in the municipal government was already somewhat unstable. In order to stabilize the situation, he had to get Song Dexiang out first.

"Okay." Ding Qiang was not polite and said very frankly, "If you ask the central government to do something for you in Kyoto, you have to take a 30% kickback. I think I have to take this amount anyway. Otherwise, why would I go to so much trouble to help you?"

Thirty million, this is the amount Ding Qiang wants. Hearing this number, Liu Wenhua just gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll do as you say, but I want a condition..."

"No problem. The money will first go to my personal account, and then the money and people you want will be sent to you. What do you think?" Ding Qiang still spoke in a joking tone.

"What? Pay first?" Upon hearing Ding Qiang's harsh request, Liu Wenhua couldn't help but want to hit him, but when he thought about his own weakness, he held back his anger and said, "Okay, everything will be done as you say." After that, he hung up the phone angrily, and at the same time, a smile appeared on his face. He picked up a recorder from the side of the phone and laughed sinisterly. This time, he had a record of his conversation with Ding Qiang. This was Ding Qiang asking for a bribe from him. If one day, this tape was exposed, Ding Qiang would not be in a good situation, even though he had such a strong father. This was also important evidence that he and Ding Qiang were on the same boat, and it could definitely be used as a card at a critical moment.

On the other end of the phone, Ding Qiang also laughed, and then said to Wu Guangrong, the director of the Third Inspection Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, who was standing next to him, "Director Wu, you have to testify for all of this. I am only doing this according to your request and to cooperate with the investigation. Don't sell me out later."

"Don't worry, Comrade Ding Qiang, we will testify for you." Wu Guangrong nodded to the two Commission for Discipline Inspection staff behind him while saying this. The three of them were witnesses, proving that Ding Qiang chose this method to cooperate with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in handling the case. Although this method has the intention of tempting the other party to make mistakes, it is the only way now. Special measures are required in special times. The Ninth National Congress will be held soon. Now the national government needs to be calm. All major and special cases must wait until after the meeting to make a decision. For this reason, Wu Guangrong and his team asked for instructions from the higher-ups before making this temporary suspension.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

While Liu Wenhua was preparing the 30 million, Feng Sizhe was paying close attention to the Ninth National Congress.

In early March after 1998, the Ninth National People's Congress, which attracted national attention, was officially convened. After half a month of the meeting, the candidates for some important leadership positions were finally decided.

Among them, some of the people who caught Feng Sizhe's attention had advanced to the next level just as he had expected.

General Zhao Mingyuan was elected as a member of the Military Commission, and he was promoted from the head of the PLA General Logistics Department to the director of the General Political Department. Finally, the Zhao family had its first vice-state-level leader. Bao Jingguo succeeded Comrade Lu Guofan as the Premier of the State Council, Duan Jianghe was promoted from the deputy secretary of the Jingyang Municipal Party Committee to the mayor, and Miao Yunfeng was promoted to the executive vice minister of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. . . . .

These are all good things for Feng Sizhe. At the same time, the Lu family, the Wen family and other families also got a share of the pie at this National People's Congress, and they have very advantageous roles in many positions. Of course, these are not things that Feng Sizhe can change now. At present, his status and position are not enough to have any influence on the central government's decision. Everything still needs to move forward step by step according to the pace of history.

The Ninth Congress finally ended, and Feng Sizhe could finally strike at the parasites in the Haibei Municipal Government. During this time, Liu Wenhua also made efforts to raise 30 million yuan in funds, ready to redeem Song Dexiang and get the 100 million yuan that would allow him to turn a passive situation into an active one.

Without Liu Changsong in the Municipal Finance Bureau, it really took Liu Wenhua a lot of effort to collect the 30 million. Except for a part of the money which was his own, the rest was borrowed in order to temporarily ease the situation. However, he did not know that he was step by step falling into the trap set for him by Feng Sizhe.

After Liu Wenhua collected 30 million, he transferred the money to the account according to the agreement with Ding Qiang. But what followed was not Song Dexiang's immediate return, but another call from Ding Qiang.

"Haha, Mayor Liu is trustworthy. That's good."

"Okay, Director Ding, I have done everything as required. Shouldn't you also transfer the money to the account and release the person?" Liu Wenhua only now felt how terrifying Ding Qiang was. It was said that the young masters in Kyoto were dandy and easy to deal with, but he only now realized that each of them was a ruthless person. Which one of them was easy to deal with?

"Haha, of course we should do this, but you have to know that even the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has intervened in Vice Mayor Song's case. How can this be solved with just one sentence from me? So... hehe, give me some time, give me some time. In addition, there is the matter of the 100 million yuan in funds that we agreed to. Now the head office is conducting an audit, so the money cannot be credited quickly. You still have to wait."

Ding Qiang's rogue behavior finally aroused Liu Wenhua's anger, "You..."

"I will do my best to help you. Okay, that's it. I still have some things to deal with here. We'll talk later." Ding Qiang hung up the phone without waiting for Liu Wenhua to get angry.

Hearing the beeping sound coming from the phone, Liu Wenhua slumped back into his chair. Only then did he realize that he had been fooled by Ding Qiang. Not only did he fail to get the money back, he also failed to rescue the person, and he also lost another 30 million. It was a huge loss. Fortunately...

Just as Liu Wenhua was sitting in a daze, Di Quan walked into his office. "Mayor, I just found out a piece of news. It turns out that Feng Sizhe was Director Ding Qiang's boss when he was in Kyoto. It was Feng Sizhe who first helped to establish Shenzhou Tangsheng Bank. There have been reports about this in the newspapers, but we..."

What Di Quan wanted to say was that their vision was always limited to the small place of Haibei, and they did not look far ahead, so they did not realize these basic things.