Chapter 129: Guan Mushan's Decision!

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Inside the office of Guan Mushan, Secretary of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission.

Guan Mushan sat in his chair, smoking, his face grave and silent.

Wei Chonghu, Su Tongzhou, and Liu Shan were also holding cigarettes, keeping their leader company.

The standard for a deputy-department-level office was no more than twenty-four square meters.

Guan Mushan’s office was exactly the standard twenty-four square meters—nothing excessive.

It was a cramped room, and before long it was filled with smoke. Fortunately, the windows were open, and the smoke soon drifted outside.

“What do you think?”

Guan Mushan stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, raised his head, and asked the three men.

As Secretary of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission, he too needed to uphold a democratic style, fully listening to the opinions and suggestions of his subordinates. As for how much of them he would adopt, that was entirely up to him.

“Secretary, my personal recommendation is that we minimize the impact as much as possible. After all, this involves thirty-nine officials from municipal departments and more than eighty officials from four counties. We have to proceed with caution.”

Liu Shan was the first to speak.

The leader of the First Special Investigation Team, Lü Yanqing, was his man—and also the child of his former superior. For the sake of protecting her, therefore, he had to minimize the impact of the matter and avoid implicating Lü Yanqing as much as possible.

There were certainly bigger fish behind Zhao Pengcheng’s case. The trouble was that until those fish showed themselves, no one knew who they were.

With the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission acting alone, there was no way to dig any deeper.

So the best course was to keep the investigation within a certain range. That would allow them to give an account of themselves while using the corrupt officials they had uncovered to warn the cadres throughout Lingyun City. The purpose for which the municipal investigation team had been established would thereby be fulfilled.

From the very beginning, the municipal investigation team had not been created primarily to investigate. Its main purpose had been deterrence.

By investigating one group of people and warning another, they could cleanse the official culture of Lingyun City and make certain cadres think twice about whether they should engage in corruption—and whether they dared to.

In reality, achieving this much already meant that Guan Mushan, the newly appointed secretary of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission, had done everything to the utmost.

He would then be able to give the provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission a satisfactory explanation. After more than a month in office, he would also be able to establish himself completely within Lingyun City’s political arena.

With the successive lists of corrupt officials and the punishment meted out to them, Guan Mushan’s reputation in the city would soar. From then on, merely mentioning the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission secretary would be enough to make people’s faces change.

Unlike his predecessor, Lu Zheng, who had always sought to keep everyone happy, Guan Mushan was not content with maintaining peace on the surface. Lu Zheng’s accommodating approach was precisely why so many longstanding corruption cases had accumulated among the city’s officials.

“I agree with Comrade Liu Shan’s recommendation. Our city has already publicized the cases of Tian Guanghan and Gu Santong, and now there is the Zhao Pengcheng case. These three major cases are shocking enough to have created an effective supervisory and deterrent impact.”

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“Secretary, we still have to take the municipal Party Committee and the municipal government into consideration.”

“The municipal Party Committee needs stability, while the municipal government needs investment. If we deal with corruption too severely and too harshly, we may frighten away investors, which would be detrimental to the overall development of Lingyun City’s economy.”

Su Tongzhou echoed Liu Shan’s remarks and raised the issue of the city’s broader economic development.

When corruption in a place became too severe, the more aggressively corruption was investigated, the greater the impact on the economy.

What businessman had never cultivated ties with officials? Who had never engaged in transactions involving power and money?

After all, if a businessman wanted to invest and get things done, spending money on public relations was indispensable.

Once corruption was investigated, the trail would eventually lead to the businessmen as well. That could affect the operation and development of their companies, slowing the pace of economic growth across the city.

Wei Chonghu listened to the recommendations of the two deputy leaders of the investigation team. After thinking for a moment, he addressed Guan Mushan.

“Secretary, these problematic officials can be divided into different levels. We can determine which ones should receive administrative warnings, which should be subjected to Party disciplinary action, and which should be dealt with severely.”

“By establishing different levels of punishment, we can also minimize the impact.”

“For example, although all these officials paid money to secure promotions, a considerable number of them had already been selected for promotion by the Organization Department of the municipal Party Committee. Unaware of the truth, they were deceived by Zhao Pengcheng and Lin Liangming and had no choice but to hand over the money. I think these officials can be given warnings, with the understanding that there will be no second chance.”

“As for those who actively offered money and other valuables in exchange for Zhao Pengcheng and Lin Liangming’s recommendations for promotion, thereby securing their advancement, we must deal with them seriously. They should receive a major demerit; in more serious cases, they should be suspended.”

“For the exceptionally egregious individuals, we can consider the ‘double dismissal’: expulsion from the Party and removal from public office.”

“The municipal commission can recommend that the county Party committees and county discipline inspection commissions criticize the officials involved in their respective jurisdictions, either internally or publicly.”

After combining the suggestions of Su Tongzhou and Liu Shan, Wei Chonghu offered a more detailed approach to handling the matter.

Moreover, this was how discipline inspection commissions in many regions dealt with officials.

It was impossible to punish everyone severely and impose the harshest penalties across the board. That would not benefit regional development or stability.

Simply wielding the knife was not the original purpose of the discipline inspection authorities.

The work of the discipline inspection authorities was meant to emphasize supervision more than harsh investigation. The most important thing was to ensure that supervision was thorough and left no blind spots, allowing a clean and upright official culture to prevail.

If they merely wielded the knife and dealt harshly with everyone, that would instead represent a dereliction of duty—or even a failure—on the part of the discipline inspection authorities.

Without flies, no one would reach for a flyswatter.

It was only when there were flies that people thought of using one.

And if there were too many flies, it meant the house was dirty and poorly maintained.

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“I understand all of your recommendations.”

After Wei Chonghu finished speaking, Guan Mushan slowly nodded.

But he did not immediately give his opinion.

What he was considering was actually the same thing Yang Dong had been thinking about. The municipal investigation team had been established a month and a half earlier, and its deadline was only half a month away.

How to give the provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission a better explanation, how to submit a flawless report—those were the questions he, as Secretary of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission, needed to consider.

If it could be called childish when Yang Dong considered such matters, then for Guan Mushan, considering the same questions was not childish at all. It was a matter of perspective.

In the end, the difference in their positions was simply too great.

If Yang Dong had been the secretary of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission and wanted to uphold justice and pursue the matter rigorously, there would have been nothing wrong with that.

The problem was that Yang Dong’s rank was too low, yet his ambitions soared to the heavens. He was always trying to make a major breakthrough. That was where he went wrong.

But Guan Mushan, as Secretary of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission, had far more to consider.

Wei Chonghu, Su Tongzhou, and Liu Shan were all confined to the perspective of the city, locked within the city’s level of affairs.

But as secretary of the municipal commission, Guan Mushan had to answer to the leaders of the provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission. He could not consider only the circumstances within the city.

The Tian Guanghan case had involved provincial leaders. Since the matter lay beyond the jurisdiction of the municipal commission, the daughter of his former superior, Su Muyun, had taken the recording device back with her. How that former superior dealt with the case behind Tian Guanghan was his affair.

The Gu Santong corruption case had involved an astonishing sum of money, yet had failed to uncover many major figures behind it. That was plainly abnormal.

Therefore, if Zhao Pengcheng, deputy head of the Organization Department of the municipal Party Committee, was implicated, and the case still could not be expanded—if it was not investigated and pursued rigorously—then there would be no way to answer to the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission.

Put bluntly, after preparing an entire table of dishes, they could not serve nothing but ordinary home cooking. They had to put a substantial centerpiece on the table. Otherwise, the host would lose face, and the guests would leave disappointed.

After turning the matter over in his mind again and again, Guan Mushan still felt that Zhao Pengcheng’s case was suitable as that centerpiece.

“Comrade Chonghu, you will take personal charge.”

“Su Tongzhou and Liu Shan, the two of you will personally conduct the interrogations. Reorganize and review Zhao Pengcheng’s case for me.”

“This case must be made solid.”