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

Chapter 174 A Dialectical Perspective

Governor Liu asked:

"So... the current direction of the investigation, and the results the higher-ups want, can only be as reported by Yi Xuexi?"

Tian Guofu nodded heavily and said:

"Yes. We... can only try to exonerate ourselves by following the line that Secretary Sha was vigorously promoting the resort project behind the scenes."

Governor Liu silently sat back down in his chair.

This is already the worst possible outcome.

Before the investigation team was formed and sent to Luzhou City, the top officials of Handong had already communicated with each other.

What can be checked, and what cannot?

The work that Sha Ruijin did behind the scenes of the resort project is something that cannot be investigated or mentioned.

Now, Yi Xuexi is doing this without asking for permission or discussing it with anyone.

He took it upon himself to thoroughly investigate the work Sha Ruijin had done behind the scenes of the resort project, and then directly reported it to Ding Wei, the deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, bypassing the investigation team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

This move put Handong and even the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's investigation team in an extremely passive position.

It's no longer possible to handle the situation gently like this.

The subsequent investigation must be conducted under the premise that "Sha Ruijin did indeed do behind-the-scenes work to promote the project."

In other words, Sha Ruijin is already implicated.

It's simply a matter of the severity of the outcome.

But from the perspective of Handong.

As long as the higher authorities truly deal with Sha Ruijin because of the resort project, regardless of whether it's a minor or major offense.

What this will bring to Handong will be a devastating blow.

Distrust at the central level, ridicule from outside public opinion, and the Ni family's subsequent retaliation...

Any one of these is something that the leadership of Handong, including Governor Liu, is extremely unwilling to face.

It can be said that Yi Xuexi's blunder caused upheaval and darkness in Handong.

The most urgent task is to find a way to break this deadlock.

It is necessary to acknowledge Sha Ruijin's "special" efforts behind the resort project, ensure that Sha Ruijin is not punished and can return to his post smoothly, and also give the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection investigation team and the higher-ups a satisfactory explanation.

It's as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Looking at Governor Liu, Tian Guofu also felt a pang of pity and advised:

"Governor, why get involved in this mess? Why not..."

"What's worse? Should we apply to retire a few months earlier?" Governor Liu shook his head firmly.

"If the provincial party secretary is suspended and I, the deputy secretary, also desert my post, Handong will truly be leaderless. No matter what, even if I can't be of much help, I must remain in this position. As long as I'm here, the overall situation in Handong won't fall into chaos."

Tian Guofu hesitated for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

Governor Liu crossed his arms and said:

"You go back first, I need to think about it."

"Hey, Governor, please take care of yourself," Tian Guofu said with concern before leaving the office.

Governor Liu looked at the closed door, thought for a while, and then dialed Xia Qing's private phone number.

Twenty minutes later, Xia Qing arrived at Governor Liu's office.

After Governor Liu informed Xia Qing about Yi Xuexi's behavior and the problems currently facing the investigation team in Lüzhou City.

Even the usually composed Xia Qing fell into a long silence at this moment.

On the one hand, he had to suppress his anger towards Yi Xuexi, that idiot.

On the other hand, he needs to come up with a solution that satisfies both sides.

After a long silence, Xia Qing spoke:

"Governor, let's sort out the contradictions first. Secretary Sha was suspended from his post because he pushed back the resort project. But we need to look at this matter dialectically: the resort project itself is not problematic. The problem lies in the exclusive franchise rights attached to the demolished food court in the Crescent Lake area."

Xia Qing paused for a moment, then continued her analysis:

"If we look at these two things separately, we can investigate them according to the requirements from above. We admit that Secretary Sha did do a lot of work behind the scenes for the resort project, but he was promoting the resort project, and his original intention was definitely good. The problem lies with the exclusive franchise rights of the food court."

Governor Liu picked up the conversation and said:

"Your thoughts are the same as mine. I also mentioned to Comrade Ruijin before that if we can start with the exclusive franchise rights and prove that there were problems with the signing of this right back then, we can deny the existence of this privilege from a legal perspective. In this way, the privilege that did not exist in the first place cannot be pledged, and the debt tied to the Crescent Lake area will also disappear."

Xia Qing nodded and said:

"But the investigation team still followed Secretary Tian's line of thought, unfortunately Yi Xuexi didn't follow the rules. If it weren't for this incident, the resort project could have been resolved quickly."

Governor Liu sighed and said:

"After all... Yi Xuexi had already investigated the food court under the guise of environmental inspections, and found nothing, didn't he?"

Xia Qing understood what Governor Liu meant.

Previously, Yi Xuexi checked out the food court largely because of Gao Yuliang.

The results are clear: Gao Yuliang's approval of the food court project was without any problems. Even if there were environmental impacts, it was a decision made to promote the development of the economy and the tertiary industry. Furthermore, no illegal dealings between Gao Yuliang and Zhao Ruilong were found, and all decisions were made by collective vote.

Now, the investigation into the food court and its original approval process regarding the exclusive franchise rights appears to be another attack on Gao Yuliang.

However, Yi Xuexi (易学习) couldn't find any problems with the food court after checking it, and now they're checking for the food court's exclusive franchise rights, which will most likely be fruitless again.

This is also the main reason why Governor Liu did not actually carry out the proposed idea after it was put forward, but instead tacitly agreed to conduct the investigation according to Tian Guofu's idea.

Unless absolutely necessary, Governor Liu did not want to provoke Gao Yuliang. After all, he had seen Gao Yuliang’s impressive performance at the democratic life meeting, and he was also about to retire this year, so there was no need for him to rush to the forefront.

However, the current situation leaves them with no choice.

We must investigate whether the signing of the exclusive franchise agreement was legal and compliant, whether it underwent multiple rounds of review and evaluation, whether it was truly necessary to grant this privilege, and how much positive benefit the food city has actually provided to Luzhou City.

This is equivalent to a direct confrontation with Gao Yuliang.

Governor Liu knew there was no way to avoid it.

From the moment Gao Yuliang personally planted the third time bomb—Yi Xuexi—a battle between the Han Dong faction and the Han Da faction represented by Gao Yuliang was inevitable.

He looked at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing nodded.

Governor Liu pondered for a long time before making his decision:

"Okay, let's do it that way then. I'll arrange the relevant investigation details with Zhichao."

After a moment's thought, Xia Qing also said:

"No problem, please let me know if you need anything."

Governor Liu then asked:

"Easy to learn...how to handle this?"

Xia Qing's eyes turned cold.

If what Yi Xuexi did before was merely seeking fame and fortune.

This time, they were truly unacceptable to Handong.

He slowly began to speak:

"We'll deal with this later after we've resolved the immediate issues. But one thing is certain: he... will no longer be able to remain in an important position."

(There will be a third update at midnight!)