Upon hearing Secretary Qi's words, Director Xia immediately understood what was going on. It turned out that this Xu Guoqing had such powerful backing that he had directly reported the matter to the boss.
The boss's last words also explained the solution. The implication of those words was that things are not like they were 60 years ago, and the Japanese devils should not be allowed to run rampant in China.
"Go ahead, by the way, there's a young man named Zhuang Rui there, he seems quite polite..."
Secretary Qi waved his hand, dismissing Director Xia.
As the head of a province, Qi Zhengguo had to consider all aspects of the issues. He had to give face to Ouyang Zhenwu, but he couldn't disrupt the general trend of economic development.
Therefore, Secretary Qi only talked about environmental issues. Even if companies that harm the environment invest a lot, our province will not welcome them. With the saying "Don't let future generations criticize you," Secretary Qi has already firmly established his position and is not afraid of some people using economic development as an excuse.
Of course, while over 100 million US dollars is a large sum of money in Mayor Cen's eyes and a political achievement to be proud of, it is not enough to catch Secretary Qi's eye. Losing this investment of over 100 million US dollars but maintaining good relations with the Ouyang family is certainly worthwhile.
"Zhuang Rui, young man? Who is that?"
As Director Xia walked out of his office, that name was stuck in his head. However, he didn't dare delay, so he immediately called the mayor of Shijiazhuang and hurriedly left the provincial party committee with his secretary. ...
“Director Wu, I… I haven’t started construction or business for the past few years, so you can’t say I’ve violated any regulations…”
Xu Guoqing was stunned when he heard what Director Wu said. His factory had been shut down since 2000, so why did he still have to pay for the annual inspection and even be fined?
"Xu Guoqing, your business license has expired. If you don't continue operating, it needs to be cancelled. However, your factory sign is still hanging there, which means that the factory is still in operation. A fine of 20,000 yuan is too lenient..."
Compared to those leaders who hold positions without performing their duties, Director Wu of the Industry and Commerce Bureau is quite proficient in his job.
Chapter 795 The Situation (Part 2)
"Hanging up a sign counts as operating a business? I haven't made a single sale, so how can this be considered?"
Xu Guoqing hadn't expected this explanation. He never bothered with the factory's affairs, let alone the factory sign at the gate. That thing had been hanging there for 20 years, and no one had ever said anything about it.
"This isn't something you can decide, Xu Guoqing. Today is a joint enforcement operation. We're not only here to address the issue of your expired business license, but Director Zhang also suspects you of tax evasion..."
Through this conversation, Director Wu realized that this Xu Guoqing was a bit naive and out of touch with reality. If it weren't for the many leaders waiting for the results at the factory gate, Director Wu wouldn't have bothered arguing with Xu Guoqing. He would have preferred to play a couple of rounds of mahjong instead.
"You're framing me! I've stopped doing business, so why would I be paying taxes?"
Xu Guoqing shouted loudly. He had just called his wife and learned that the factory had not had any income since 2000, so how could it still have to pay taxes?
"I know, I know you were sent by Mayor Cen. Let me tell you, don't think that just because you're officials you're not afraid of me. Mayor Cen is a traitor..."
Xu Guoqing suddenly realized that all of this was just an excuse to force him to go to Japan and make porcelain for the Japanese. Xu Guoqing was a man of principle, and he immediately started cursing.
"What...what are you saying? This is utterly absurd..."
Upon hearing Xu Guoqing's insults towards Mayor Cen, Director Wu's face turned deathly pale. He turned around and shouted at Chief Zhao, "Old Zhao, take him back, take him back to your station, and lock him up properly... no, let him realize his mistake..."
Director Wu originally wanted to detain Xu Guoqing for a few days, but then he remembered that the leaders outside were waiting for the formula, and this couldn't be delayed.
"Huh? What happened? What happened?"
Director Zhao was chatting and smoking with Boss Yu outside the door when he suddenly heard a commotion inside and rushed into the room.
Director Wu pointed at Xu Guoqing and said, "Old Zhao, arrest...arrest him..."
Xu Guoqing's voice was so loud that it could have been heard outside the gate. If the leaders had heard it, he would definitely have been given the impression of being incompetent.
"What right do you have to arrest people?"
"What right do you have to arrest me?"
Two voices rang out at the same time; Zhuang Rui had just finished making a call when this happened.
"What are you doing? Don't interfere with our official duties, Chief Zhao, throw this person out..."
Director Wu was surprised by this unexpected turn of events and glared at Zhuang Rui. He still needed the formula from Xu Guoqing and didn't dare to press him too hard. He only mentioned arresting people to scare Xu Guoqing before bringing up the formula again.
But Director Wu had no reservations about Zhuang Rui, this young man who had suddenly appeared.
"Brother, this...this is not something you can get involved in. You should leave first..."
Director Zhao looked at Zhuang Rui. He knew that this young man was brought by Li Dali, so he did not speak ill of him.
"Director Zhao, Mr. Zhuang is my friend. I also want to ask, what right do you have to arrest him..."
If Li Dali doesn't support Zhuang Rui now, when will he?
"This...this, Lao Yu, don't put me in a difficult position," Director Zhao said, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Chief Zhao, you're a decent person. Don't get involved in this. Besides, this is a private factory. You can all leave now. If you want to arrest someone, bring an arrest warrant. If you want a fine, issue a summons. Alright, all of you, get out..."
Zhuang Rui suddenly stood up and delivered a speech that overshadowed the others, leaving the dozen or so people in the room dumbfounded. This guy was fierce; he actually dared to kick these law enforcement officers out.
"Old Zhao, you seem like a decent guy, but you shouldn't get involved in this. If you insist on sticking your neck out, you might even lose your police uniform. That guy... he's someone from Beijing..."
Just as Chief Zhao was about to order his officers to arrest Zhuang Rui after being angered by his words, Li Dali pulled him back and whispered something in his ear, which immediately calmed Chief Zhao down. It turned out that he had misjudged the young man; he was no ordinary person.
Shijiazhuang is not far from Beijing, only a two or three-hour drive away. Director Zhao had heard a lot about the exploits of the sons of officials in Beijing. After hearing what General Manager Li said, he immediately shrank back. He did not believe that Mayor Cen could fight against the sons of officials from Beijing.
"Director Zhao, get this irrelevant person out of here right now!" Director Wu was almost driven mad by Zhuang Rui. He originally wanted to scare Xu Guoqing first, and then naturally bring up the matter of the ancient porcelain formula, but Zhuang Rui had ruined everything.
Director Zhao was no longer willing to get involved in this matter, so he put on a troubled expression and said, "Director Wu, this... without an arrest warrant, we really can't arrest anyone..."
"What?"
Director Wu was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, almost doubting that he had misheard. How many times have the police arrested people with arrest warrants? They always issue them after the arrest is complete. Is Old Zhao trying to shirk responsibility?
"You... Old Zhao, you, Little Li, you guys, push this man out..."
Unable to get Director Zhao to do anything, Director Wu simply had his men take matters into their own hands. This matter was personally instructed by County Magistrate Kong, and Mayor Cen from the city was also involved. In Director Wu's eyes, they were his allies.
"Ouch!" "Ouch, that hurts so much..."
"Don't move, Chief Zhao, I'm acting in self-defense..."
Just as the staff from the Industry and Commerce Bureau were about to pull Zhuang Rui away, Peng Fei objected. In no time, several people fell to the ground. After taking them down, Peng Fei smiled and explained to Director Zhao, looking completely unconcerned.
“You are utterly lawless! Director Zhao, if you don’t take action, I will report this directly to County Chief Kong…”
Director Wu has been in politics for over twenty years, and this is the first time he has seen such a situation; it is almost upending his worldview.
"Director Wu, let's report to our superiors first. These people aren't nobody incompetent..."
Director Zhao leaned close to Director Wu and whispered something in his ear.
"You think you're right to hit someone? Fine, if you don't care, I'll go talk to County Magistrate Kong..."
Director Wu was so angry that he couldn't hear a word of reason. Since Chief Zhao refused to use police force, he was helpless. After the people who had fallen to the ground got up, he stormed out of the factory.
"Hey Lao Yu, we're old friends, don't get me into trouble!"
Seeing that Director Wu had gone to file a false complaint, Director Zhao was also very uneasy. He hurriedly followed him out, but before leaving, he still asked Yu Zhengjun a question.
"What are you afraid of, Lao Zhao? If you don't wear this uniform from now on, I, Shijiazhuang, will work for you and I guarantee you won't be treated badly..."
Before Yu Zhengjun could speak, Li Dali started patting his chest from behind.
To be honest, after hearing Li Dali's words, Chief Zhao felt much calmer. He knew who Li Dali was—a big boss with assets exceeding 100 million yuan. If he really wasn't going to stay as a policeman, following him wouldn't be a bad idea. ...
"What? Assaulting public officials? What are our police doing? Why don't they arrest them?"
Director Wu's words immediately enraged County Chief Kong. His carefully arranged team had proven to be utterly ineffective, with a dozen or so people being driven out by just two or three individuals. He had lost face in front of the city leaders.
"County Magistrate Kong...they said it was self-defense..."
Director Zhao couldn't avoid it any longer. He stammered, "Don't be fooled by how brave he is inside; he's still intimidated by this local official."
"Good-for-nothing, how come the police force has someone like you?"
County Chief Kong was furious. He couldn't lash out at Director Zhao in front of Mayor Cen, so he pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and shouted, "Wang Guotao, you have 10 minutes to bring the riot police to the XXX factory right now..."
After hearing the county magistrate's phone call, Director Zhao shrank back even further. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he slipped out of the crowd to call Director Wang. If he didn't inform Director Wang about this, he would definitely be in trouble later.
"What did you say?"
Director Wang, who had already assembled his team, was immediately in a panic when he received a call from Director Zhao. It turned out that the person the county magistrate wanted to arrest was very likely a son of a high-ranking official from the capital. Wasn't this putting himself in a very difficult position?
"It seems the county magistrate is unaware of this? No, we must inform County Magistrate Kong..."
Director Wang quickly turned the phone back to County Head Kong. This is called reporting according to rank; you can't overstep your bounds. Only when the director reports to the bureau chief does the bureau chief have the right to communicate with the county head.
"What?"
Upon hearing Director Wang's words, County Chief Kong's mouth dropped open in astonishment. When he glanced at Mayor Cen in the car, he was instantly enraged. "Damn it, so you think you can't afford to mess with someone and you're making me stand up for you?"
"Okay, Director Wang, just have the riot police come over. You don't need to come. That's fine..."
Although County Magistrate Kong's official rank wasn't high, he was someone with some connections. After hanging up with Director Wang, he immediately made a phone call, trying to distance himself from the situation.
"Mayor Cen, I'm so sorry, but there's an urgent matter in the county that requires my immediate attention. This is Captain Xiao from the riot police brigade; you can give him any orders directly..."
After County Chief Kong finished his call, the riot police arrived. His words were actually instructed to be spoken by the person on the phone.
"What...what's going on?"
Mayor Cen was somewhat dumbfounded when he saw the joint law enforcement team all leave in a flash, leaving him with more than twenty fully armed police officers.
Chapter 796 The Situation (Part 2)
Mayor Cen was truly bewildered. In his original intention, the matter should have been handled by the county officials, but unexpectedly, after going around in circles, things had returned to the starting point, and he still had to face it himself.
"Mayor Cen, the riot police are on standby here. Please give instructions..."
Captain Xiao stood at attention, shouting for instructions from his superiors, but in his mind he was thinking about what the director had said. When he came, the director had told him that he was just going through the motions. What exactly did that mean?
Captain Xiao was Director Wang's confidant. Although the mayor was much higher in rank than a county bureau chief, Captain Xiao would still carry out the bureau chief's instructions without question.
"Don't go in, wait here..."
Mayor Cen had a vague feeling that something was wrong. Just now, he had inexplicably received a call from the mayor, asking where he was. Mayor Cen didn't think much of it and said that he was leading Japanese guests on an inspection tour. Could it be that someone was setting a trap for him?
Recalling how hastily County Chief Kong had left earlier, Mayor Cen felt even more uneasy. Looking at the riot police captain, he said, "Captain Xiao, we don't need you here anymore. Withdraw your men..."
"yes."
Captain Xiao, who didn't want to get involved in this mess, quickly agreed.
However, before these fully armed police officers could get into their vehicles, sirens sounded in the distance. Two police cars led the way, and a car with a provincial government license plate stopped at the entrance of the ceramics factory.
"Mayor Xue...?"