Nominal: The pinnacle of power began in the sixth province of Handong.

Chapter 146 Delineating the Scope

After seeing Governor Liu off, Sha Ruijin finally dropped his nonchalant facade.

He tried his best to appear as if nothing was wrong.

But actually, it happened right before Governor Liu arrived.

The investigation team from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection presented Sha Ruijin with a crucial piece of evidence.

When he saw Ni Fugui's name among the investors.

He felt as if all the blood in his body had turned cold.

The project went wrong because of a decision-making error.

If relatives hold shares, then it involves using their official position to seek personal gain.

Sha Ruijin really wanted to make a phone call and give his good-for-nothing brother-in-law a good scolding.

The cold words from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's investigation team brought him back to reality.

"Comrade Ruijin, you also come from the Discipline Inspection Commission, so let's skip the formalities. You know this person better than we do. We hope you can verify the situation as soon as possible and explain it to us clearly."

Every word he spoke was like a knife, cutting into Sha Ruijin's chest.

He could finally be sure that he had fallen into a trap.

Not only did they put a landmine on him, they also wanted to drag the Ni family into the mess and blow them up together.

The Zhao family is ruthless!

"Comrade Ruijin, we all know that you are very strict with yourself. If you have any problems, please bring them up, and we will discuss and solve them together."

Sha Ruijin's face was burning. His career had been smooth sailing all the way, especially when he was the secretary of the discipline inspection commission in another province. He was the one who had to answer questions like this. How could he be sitting obediently like this now, being questioned by others?

After much persuasion, the two leaders of the investigation team were finally seen off.

Sha Ruijin felt exhausted.

He could already guess that it was Tian Guofu who reported the situation to his superiors.

But he had no right to criticize the other party; rather, Tian Guofu was thinking of him.

Sha Ruijin really wanted to call his wife, Ni Hua, and ask her to teach her brother-in-law a lesson.

But he also felt a little guilty.

Call Grandpa Ni?

Sha Ruijin dared not do it again.

In the new year, Sha Ruijin fell into his greatest confusion.

……

Sha Ruijin has been suspended from his post.

At today's Standing Committee meeting, Governor Liu announced this situation.

After all, these powerful and well-connected Standing Committee members concealed the fact that Sha Ruijin had been suspended from his post.

On the contrary, it is disadvantageous.

It would be better to announce openly that Sha Ruijin voluntarily offered to suspend his duties to cooperate with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's investigation.

This made it seem that Sha Ruijin had no major problems and was handling things with ease.

To prevent those with ulterior motives from further muddying the waters.

After Governor Liu proceeded with the Standing Committee's study session as usual,

Let's get straight to the point of this meeting.

Zhu Zhichao was first asked to report on the audit department's investigation into the oil and gas group.

There are obvious problems.

Then, the conversation shifted abruptly, directly mentioning the joint investigation by the Discipline Inspection Commission, the Audit Bureau, the Public Security Bureau, and the Procuratorate into a comprehensive investigation of Huilong Group.

They stated that they had already obtained most of the clues.

After Zhu Zhichao finished speaking.

Governor Liu made a point of observing everyone's expressions.

Having grasped the situation, Governor Liu moved on to the next topic.

Opinions on the handling of relevant units and personnel involved in the eco-resort project.

The project is currently suspended.

However, now that the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has come down, it must bring back a result.

Besides the investigation results from Provincial Party Secretary Sha Ruijin, what they really want is the investigation results on the resort project.

In other words, this time we will definitely investigate Luzhou from top to bottom.

What we need to discuss now is how far we can investigate to.

Tian Guofu spoke first:

"This matter is very serious, and we need to give an explanation to our superiors. Therefore, I propose that we investigate from the project task force all the way up, without any upper limit. No matter who we find in the end, even if it's me, we should report it to the leaders of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for handling."

A moment of silence fell over the meeting room.

Everyone knows in their hearts that this happened because of Sha Ruijin's poor decision-making.

Now, when they say "investigate people," what they really mean is that they're looking for someone to take the blame for Sha Ruijin.

But Tian Guofu was a bit too ruthless.

Although his statement could completely sever ties and demonstrate his frankness.

But if there's no upper limit, things could get really complicated.

It's a statement that completely disregards the lives of others.

Once you've said that, no one else should say anything.

The meeting cannot proceed like this.

Thinking of this, Governor Liu frowned and said:

"Comrade Guofu, how long will this investigation go? Please define a specific scope from the perspective of the Discipline Inspection Commission."

Governor Liu is forcefully demanding that Tian Guofu delineate the scope of the area.

Tian Guofu, feeling helpless, thought it over and over again, and said:

"It is recommended that we start with the head of the special task force in Lüzhou City and thoroughly investigate all relevant department heads and staff involved."

The team leader is Zhang Shuli, the acting mayor of Lüzhou City.

Everyone turned to look at Li Dakang.

Li Dakang noticed the gazes on him. He understood that Sha Ruijin had transferred Zhang Shuli there to facilitate the advancement of the resort project.

Now that something has happened, they want to push Zhang Shuli out first. If this gets out, won't people say that Li Dakang's team has one problem after another?

But now, how can Li Dakang ask to protect Zhang Shuli?

So he could only helplessly say:

"Go ahead and investigate, but be very careful."

Having made his stance clear, Governor Liu then looked at Gao Yuliang and said:

"What is Comrade Yuliang's opinion?"

"I have no objection. The special task force for the Luzhou City project will definitely conduct a thorough investigation," Gao Yuliang said calmly.

"However, I'd like to add that investigations must be conducted in a proper manner. If we adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, Luzhou will be in chaos. We can seek the opinion of the Organization Department on this point."

Gao Yuliang then passed the message to Xia Qing.

Is this asking me to speak on behalf of Kang Le?

Xia Qing was unaware of Gao Yuliang's plans, but since this was a rare opportunity, she said:

"I agree with Secretary Yuliang's opinion. Problems with a project do not mean that everyone on the task force is at fault. In such important projects, those below are simply fulfilling their corresponding obligations. If they have done something practical, it would be unreasonable for us to hold them accountable. If we do not make full use of the fault-tolerance and correction mechanism, it will affect the proper conduct of the work of cadres in Handong."

Gao Yuliang smiled and nodded.

Governor Liu understood that Xia Qing was paving the way for Kang Le, the deputy director of the Land and Resources Bureau.

But Xia Qing's words do make sense. It wouldn't be right to push everyone out just to give an answer to the higher-ups.

"I disagree with Comrade Xia Qing's view."

Li Dakang then spoke up, saying:

"If we're talking about fulfilling one's duties, who hasn't? If we really follow Minister Xia's suggestion, then we don't need to investigate anyone; we can just treat everyone as innocent for fulfilling their duties."

Everyone understood that Li Dakang felt resentful because he felt he hadn't protected Zhang Shuli, while Xia Qing was trying to protect her own people, which was why he spoke up.

Xia Qing replied with a smile:

"Comrade Dakang didn't understand what I meant. It's not enough to just talk about fulfilling one's duties and responsibilities to avoid being held accountable. We need to start with the ledgers, procedures, and records. If all the procedures are complete and in order, then we can't say that this person has a problem. On the contrary, even if he does everything perfectly, he still can't avoid being held accountable."

Li Dakang pursed his lips, not expecting that he had laid the groundwork for Xia Qing. He immediately put down his pen and stopped talking.

Gao Yuliang calmly began to speak:

"Xia Qing makes a good point. I suggest that the Discipline Inspection Commission focus on examining the project records, approval procedures, and processing procedures when investigating the situation."

Governor Liu nodded, and with that, the area was defined.

The special task force conducted a thorough investigation, focusing on the ledgers and records.

Tian Guofu did not raise any objections.

Xia Qing added:

"In addition, I suggest establishing a joint investigation team, led by the Discipline Inspection Commission, with the cooperation of the Organization Department, Audit Department, Finance Department, Housing and Urban-Rural Development Department, Land and Resources Department, and other relevant departments."

At that moment, Gao Yuliang frowned almost imperceptibly.

Then, still smiling, he said:

"I don't think this plan is appropriate. Everyone here knows perfectly well whose fault it is that the project has failed. The Discipline Inspection Commission should handle it, give us a result, and let the comrades from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection take it back. Why involve so many departments? If they really want to investigate, what are they going to investigate?"

He paused, then said:

"I'm afraid there's no need for that."