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

Chapter 98 Democratic Life Meeting

Monday was the day the democratic life meeting was held.

The Standing Committee members either walked or took a car.

They all gathered at Building No. 1 in the provincial party committee compound.

When the Standing Committee members saw each other, they greeted each other and shook hands.

Gao Yuliang walked slowly, holding his thermos.

He saw Li Dakang ahead, thought for a moment, then walked up to him and greeted him with a smile:

"Secretary Dakang."

Li Dakang turned around and saw Gao Yuliang. His serious face immediately broke into a smile, and he reached out his hand, saying:

"Secretary Yuliang, it's been a long time!"

The two shook hands, and Gao Yuliang said:

"Secretary Dakang, please go easy on me at today's democratic life meeting."

Li Dakang said repeatedly:

"Not at all, I'm hoping Secretary Yuliang will give us some extra help. But we're both representatives of the underachieving students who have to give reports, so we can only pray that the class monitor won't be too harsh on us, haha!"

"Haha, Secretary Dakang's words are quite interesting! Please!"

"please!"

Gao Yuliang and Li Dakang politely declined each other's offer to go first.

All of this was observed by Sha Ruijin, who was waiting in the conference room.

He silently observed the Standing Committee members attending the meeting, noting who they communicated with and who they befriended.

They don't say a word to each other, and don't even want to have anything to do with each other.

These are all small details before the meeting.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a voice outside said, "Please wait a moment."

Xia Qing jogged all the way and finally managed to squeeze into the elevator.

Inside the elevator, the Standing Committee members looked at Xia Qing and all took the initiative to show friendly expressions.

Tian Guofu even joked:

"Oh dear, I forgot, Minister Xia is also at this democratic life meeting! Look at you, you just got your results, who dares to criticize you today? You're probably the only one who'll have the chance to tear us to shreds!"

Everyone laughed, and Xia Qing also smiled and said:

"Secretary Guofu, you're teasing me again! I haven't been in Handong long, so I know myself pretty well. Let's focus on self-criticism today!"

Tian Guofu laughed heartily, and Governor Liu, standing beside him, also joked:

"I think Minister Xia won't say much today, but when he does, it'll definitely be effective! After all, his achievements are remarkable! Haha!"

The crowd burst into laughter again.

Upon entering the meeting room, the Standing Committee members took their seats one after another, chatting and laughing, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

Sha Ruijin watched all this calmly; he knew it was the calm before the storm.

After the conference room door closed.

Sha Ruijin tapped the table with his pen to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said:

"Comrades, I proposed this democratic life meeting today. Looking at the timeline, there are less than two months left until the end of the year, and I, as the newly appointed secretary, have been in Handong for more than half a year. However, there has never been an opportunity to sit down with you all so happily and talk about what has happened, what we have experienced, and what we have felt this past year. I know you are all very busy, and I also want to understand you all better, and I want you all to understand each other better. Therefore, in today's democratic life meeting, besides making good use of criticism and self-criticism, the most important thing is to speak freely! Speak without reservation and without holding back!"

Gao Yuliang smiled and replied:

"Are the next two lines about 'the speaker being innocent, but the listener taking heed'?"

Sha Ruijin pointed ahead and said:

"As expected of a distinguished professor, his knowledge is truly profound! Well then, before the meeting officially begins, I'd like to inform you all: the gentleman sitting over there is Secretary-General Qian of the CPPCC. He said he's about to retire and would very much like to hold a democratic life meeting with us to share his experiences and observations over the years, which have been quite moving! Therefore, I've expanded this meeting to include him alone. Is that alright?"

Governor Liu stated:

"As a veteran in Handong, Lao Qian's experience is definitely invaluable to us, especially to the younger comrades! For example, Comrade Xia Qing, you are almost twenty years younger than us! You must listen to him more!"

Xia Qing said modestly:

"Everyone's experience is a valuable asset to me, and I will definitely listen carefully."

After some warm-up, Sha Ruijin announced the start of the meeting.

First, Li Dakang delivered a speech representing self-criticism.

Li Dakang readily spoke, offering a profound self-analysis and self-criticism regarding the Ouyang Qing matter, and making a guarantee.

After finishing speaking, Sha Ruijin immediately summarized:

"Comrade Dakang's speech was excellent! Here, I would also like to take this opportunity to criticize Comrade Dakang a bit. Although Hou Liangping's behavior was reckless and irregular, he also indirectly saved a member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, a high-ranking cadre! It is not easy to cultivate a high-ranking cadre like Comrade Dakang. If you have problems, it will be a loss for the entire Handong. In the future, we must take this as a warning."

Li Dakang clasped his hands together and said sincerely:

"Yes, I will definitely keep Secretary Sha's teachings in mind and will never make a similar mistake again."

Tian Guofu then took over the conversation, saying:

"From the perspective of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Comrade Dakang was a cadre whom the organization trusted and felt at ease with because he truly did not seek any personal gain. However, from the perspective of Comrade Dakang's relatives and friends, he was a cadre who was so principled that he was almost inhuman. Perhaps, being too protective of his political image was itself a mistake."

"I have a different opinion on Secretary Guo Fu's views." At this moment, Secretary-General Qian, sitting at the very end, spoke up with a unique smile, saying:

"For cadres, personal connections breed corruption. You see, the exchanges of favors between cadres are exchanges of benefits, that is, the so-called use of political resources, right? The favors between cadres and leaders are relationships of lobbying, giving gifts, and being promoted. As for the favors between cadres and the masses? That becomes the abuse of power for personal gain."

Secretary-General Qian's humorous words made Sha Ruijin chuckle, and everyone else laughed along with him.

Only Gao Yuliang and Xia Qing remained unmoved, quietly waiting for Secretary-General Qian to continue.

Sure enough, once Secretary-General Qian saw that the first set of arguments had gained traction, he got to the point:

"I heard that in the past few years, a provincial department in Handong has inexplicably had a lot of employees with dubious backgrounds and illegitimate employment. Upon inquiring, it turns out that the department head brought in all sorts of relatives, even his dog from his hometown, and gave them official positions! Tell me, isn't that outrageous?!"

Secretary-General Qian made these remarks.

Everyone then realized that something was wrong.

Although from the moment they saw Secretary-General Qian sitting in the conference room, the Standing Committee members guessed that he was a henchman hired by Sha Ruijin.

But everyone understood when Secretary-General Qian actually launched the offensive.

Today's democratic life meeting is unlikely to end easily.

After Secretary-General Qian finished speaking, he specifically looked at Sha Ruijin.

After receiving a slight nod from the other party, Secretary-General Qian became even more smug and continued:

"To be honest, even if you bring all your distant relatives to your workplace, at least you've got connections and they're getting government jobs. But bringing in the village dog as a police dog, that's just going too far! Don't you think so... Oh, sorry, sorry, I just said 'police dog' offhand, I didn't mean anything by it! Hahaha!"

The Standing Committee members have fallen silent.

Actually, when Secretary-General Qian said it for the first time, everyone had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on.

Now, Secretary-General Qian is directly using the term "police dog" in his speech, as if he's afraid people won't know he's referring to the Provincial Public Security Bureau? Is this some kind of yin-yang Qi Tongwei?

It seems that today's democratic life meeting is another attack on Qi Tongwei!

At the same time, the military region leader showed a rare expression of displeasure.

He knew very well that Sha Ruijin was a provincial party secretary who loved to fight, and he was doing everything he could to suppress Qi Tongwei.

However, if you want to suppress someone, you should use appropriate methods and stop there.

You have to understand that the military and police are one family, both tough guys who have braved dangers and hardships, so they naturally understand and respect each other.

Moreover, Qi Tongwei was a narcotics officer who had been shot three times. This made the military region leaders even more respectful of this Director of Public Security.

What time is it now?

Qi Tongwei, along with the Public Security Bureau, had just dismantled an illegal company that colluded with foreign organizations, uncovering a large amount of evidence pointing directly to the foreign organizations and international criminals behind it.

The Ministry of Public Security is preparing to issue a commendation document for this achievement.

As the Secretary-General of the CPPCC, how could you make a joke about police dogs at a meeting of this level?

It's simply not presentable.

Even so, the military region leaders knew that it was not worth getting involved in local power struggles.

He simply snorted coldly and didn't utter a word.

Governor Liu, who was seated in the second seat, also frowned at Secretary-General Qian's speech.

But since he was nearing retirement, he figured it was better to avoid trouble and kept quiet.

But Xia Qing keenly captured this fleeting emotion.

He immediately realized a possibility.

If we perform well in today's meeting...

It's very likely that we'll have two more helpers.

If all goes well, this meeting, which was meant to be an attack on Qi Tongwei, could even be turned into a meeting that would make Qi Tongwei's promotion to vice-provincial level a certainty!

Thinking about this...

Xia Qing spoke.

He looked at Secretary-General Qian, his face serious, and tapped his finger on the table, saying:

"Secretary-General Qian, I can't ignore what you just said. You said that even distant relatives and dogs have been given positions? This is a major personnel issue and a serious provocation against our organizational work! Please provide me with solid evidence, and I will arrange for verification immediately. Once discovered, there will be zero tolerance!"