Chapter 516: Chapter 475 Merchant Zheng Jiawei_1
 

Nie Zhenbang’s statement was both spiteful and venomous. In it, he had laid a huge trap for Shi Yiwu.

According to the regulations of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, the commission at all levels is under the jurisdiction of the Party Committee at the corresponding level and is managed by the higher Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Moreover, the work of the Commission for Discipline Inspection has relative independence. If there are objections to local officials, they can initiate investigations first. Only those cases that need to be filed for review must be reported to the same level Party Committee for discussion and resolution.

This point allowed Qi Siyuan’s investigation of Niu Chao to tread a fine line. Moreover, if Shi Yiwu agreed, it would be tantamount to usurping the power of the Commission for Discipline Inspection. The superior Party Committee and the Commission for Discipline Inspection would not allow this. If it were the case, the power of the Commission for Discipline Inspection to supervise officials would be rendered meaningless. The Commission had been established to limit autocratic power. If the Wanghai City Party Committee took over this power, wouldn’t Wanghai become an independent kingdom, void of any supervision?

When Shi Yiwu heard Nie Zhenbang’s statement, his face darkened, and he sternly said, “Deputy Mayor Nie, what do you mean by this? Are you taking things out of context? Acting petulant?”

Seeing the situation becoming tense, Zhang Zusi also fell into deep thought. If things really escalated and reached the Provincial Committee, it would lead to complications. This incident could be roughly divided into two parts. One part was Huang Liangwen’s matter which had been approved by the Standing Committee. Huang Liangwen’s death had been confirmed as a suicide by the Municipal Public Security Bureau, hence removing any responsibility from the City Commission for Discipline Inspection. The other part was the Commission’s investigation into Niu Chao. While Qi Siyuan has somewhat violated the rules, he was not explicitly wrong. If things got out of hand, the Provincial Commission’s intervention would also be a big problem. Subsequently, Zhang Zusi smiled and said, “Secretary Shi, Secretary Qi, I think we should leave this matter at that.”

The verbal attacks at the standing committee meeting disappeared almost instantly. Liu Sicun’s face didn’t look too good. He had initially thought this was a great opportunity to undermine Qi Siyuan and Nie Zhenbang, but the situation took a sudden turn.

Continuing would have been pointless. Moreover, in his haste, he offended Secretary Shi without intending to. If this matter continued, Shi Yiwu would likely not agree.

“Mayor Nie!” After the meeting, Qi Siyuan unexpectedly called out.

Nie Zhenbang immediately stopped, smiled, and said, “Secretary Siyuan, why don’t we go to my office for a while?”

Inside Nie Zhenbang’s office, just as they sat down, Li Jupeng came in with a cup of tea. Facing his uncle, Li Jupeng dutifully whispered, “Secretary Qi, please have some tea.”

Assessing Qi Siyuan’s demeanor, Nie Zhenbang understood that today’s committee meeting was too dangerous. He could sense that Qi Siyuan was feeling quite shocked.

At this time, Nie Zhenbang could somewhat empathize with Qi Siyuan’s state of mind. Unlike himself, Qi didn’t have a deep political background. If the incident was escalated, while Shi Yiwu and others would not be left unscathed, Qi himself would have to bear considerable responsibility as well. Not to mention, he might lose his position as the Secretary of the Wanghai City Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Nie Zhenbang softened his voice, “Secretary Qi, I didn’t expect Niu Chao to have such strong resistance to questioning. This was my responsibility. I nearly put you in danger.”

Hearing this, Qi Siyuan appeared much calmer. He was satisfied with Nie Zhenbang’s attitude. Qi Siyuan saw why Nie Zhenbang was different from others. He had gradually climbed up from the grassroots level to reach a position where most people would never reach in their entire lives. Qi Siyuan had seen his fair share of betrayal on the political field.

There’s a saying that actors are heartless and prostitutes are unfaithful. If you ask Qi Siyuan, these are individual cases. On the contrary, in politics, heartlessness and ruthlessness are more common. People who were acting friendly towards you in the morning could kick you to the ground in the afternoon and dissociate with you. It was Nie Zhenbang’s kind who were the exceptions.

However, his words were well received by Qi Siyuan. At least, he was not a discarded piece. After pondering for a moment, Qi Siyuan also laughed, “Mayor Nie, saying it like that is not fair. We made that decision together back then. I underestimated the situation.”

He paused for a bit and said solemnly, “However, Mayor Nie, judging from the current situation, it seems that Shi Yiwu and others are already prepared. It is not realistic to continue with the covert investigation. In this regards, I think we should pause for a while.”

As he said these words, Qi Siyuan felt somewhat uneasy at heart. After all, this behavior smacked of running away from the battlefield. Even though his position made him unafraid of Nie Zhenbang, it was still somewhat difficult to save face.

Yet, what Qi Siyuan hadn’t expected was that Nie Zhenbang would reply with a smile, “Qi Secretary, even if you didn’t say it, I would have brought this up. At this point, I think, we cannot act rashly.”

Once Qi Siyuan had gone, Nie Zhenbang returned to his desk. Although on the surface, Nie Zhenbang had agreed to temporarily stop the investigation, this was nothing more than a stop-gap measure. The investigation and work in Wanghai City had to break new ground.

As of now, although he was certain that many leaders were implicated in the Eastern Sea Group case, knowledge alone was not enough. Without any concrete evidence, such hasty assumptions would not hold in front of the Central Leadership. They wouldn’t set up a special investigation just based on Nie Zhenbang’s word. Otherwise, where would the Central Government’s face be? At this moment, Nie Zhenbang needed to obtain sufficient and beneficial evidence. Only then could he persuade the Central Government to set up a special investigation team. This was also why he was so desperate to find some evidence.

However, the sudden death of Huang Liangwen, coupled with Niu Chao’s might, had completely disrupted Nie Zhenbang’s plans. This situation left Nie Zhenbang with an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. At this moment, directly confronting Shi Yiwu wasn’t out of the question, given his family background. Even with the Lin Zhengxing of the Eastern Sea Group having connections everywhere, they couldn’t lay a finger on him.

Selecting this path, however, would give Lin Zhengxing and his group an excuse to attack him. This would lead to a ‘lose-lose’ situation where, most likely, even after bringing down Lin Zhengxing, he himself would not retain his position. Even if Qi Siyuan hadn’t mentioned it, Nie Zhenbang would have brought it up himself.

…

In the following period, Wanghai City seemed exceptionally quiet. Nie Zhenbang’s focus shifted primarily towards the economy.

Currently, in Nie Zhenbang’s view, the economy of Wanghai city was entirely a deformed, morbid growth, one that totally violated the laws of market economics. This was because the entire development of Wanghai was built on the growth of the Eastern Sea Group.

“This area is rather good, with the beaches of Wanghai up front. The terrain is open, with perfect balance between the mountains and waters. I think a large scale real estate development can be established here. Nowadays, the domestic real estate industry is gradually heating up. Wanghai city’s real estate industry also needs to introduce fresh blood, with market competition we can ensure growth.” Nie Zhenbang, accompanied by the leaders of Wanghu District, stood on a beach inside Wanghu District, and spoke his thoughts.

Over time, Nie Zhenbang had conducted a thorough investigation into every aspect of Wanghai City and the resulting discoveries had left him somewhat disheartened. Currently, the entire economy of Wanghai city bore the mark of the Eastern Sea Group.

It was no wonder then, that in the previous life, the closure of the Eastern Sea Group had led to a massive setback in Wanghai city’s economy. It took almost five years to gradually recover.

Nonetheless, now that he was here, he had to gradually change this situation. Although they couldn’t touch the Eastern Sea Group right now, the undercover investigations hadn’t slackened. Nie Zhenbang was very clear that there would always be a chance to get the goods on the Eastern Sea Group. However, Wanghai City could not repeat its past mistakes.

Introducing real estate businesses into Wanghai was Nie Zhenbang’s first step in addressing the economic development of the city. Once this step was achieved, the economy of Wanghai city would gradually become active, enabling it to break free from the influence of the Eastern Sea Group and truly enter a positive cycle.

“Yes, Mayor Nie. We have carried out multiple consultations with professionals regarding the development of this area, and have also initiated preliminary contact with Jiasheng Real Estate and other big-name domestic real estate companies. However, apart from Jiasheng Real Estate, who have shown some interest, the rest seem unimpressed,” Qiu Mingyuan, the secretary of the Wanghu district party committee, said with a smile.

Just then, a group of five to six people walked over from below the beach. The young man in front said with a smile, “Director Wu, our Jiasheng’s intention is to have you reduce the land price a bit. But as a compensation, Jiasheng will build a series of matching safeguard resettlement housing projects during construction. This model isn’t very well-known in Minan, but in Liangxi City, it has yielded impressive results.”

As soon as he heard this, Nie Zhenbang immediately grew curious. He turned to look at the young man leading the group on the beach. Nie Zhenbang couldn’t help but smile, he hadn’t expected Zheng Jiawei of Jiasheng Real Estate to be in WangHai as well.

At this moment, Zheng Jiawei also saw Nie Zhenbang. He hesitated a bit, then walked over towards their group. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to come to qidian.com to vote and recommend. Your support is my biggest motivation.)