Official Career Storm
Chapter 409

Chapter 409: Chapter 409

County Magistrate Hou was just about to rest when he received the phone call.

After listening to Director Yao’s report, any trace of sleepiness instantly vanished.

"Make sure the person is settled. I’ll be right over."

He didn’t curse out loud, it was pointless.

What mattered most now was solving the problem.

Venting emotions was of no help in addressing the issue.

County Magistrate Hou got dressed, didn’t contact his driver, and drove himself to the Police Department.

He was now the top leader in Dujiang County. When trouble arose, he had no one to turn to but himself.

On the way, County Magistrate Hou’s face was grim.

He had been in the role of acting County Party Secretary for less than two days when this incident happened.

If Director Yao hadn’t been groomed by him, he would have had him removed tonight!

Every day was without serious incident until suddenly, something major would be thrust upon him.

The police had arrested military personnel.

If word got out, the Dujiang County Police would be a laughingstock.

When he arrived at the Police Department and saw a full row of military vehicles in the parking lot, his lips twitched in anger.

What kind of mess had Yao Jinsheng dragged me into this time?

His face darkened as he walked over. As he came around the convoy, his already dark countenance grew even more somber.

In front of the Police Department, a group of dozens of soldiers were lined up, guns in hand, pointing at the main entrance.

Despite County Magistrate Hou’s composure, he couldn’t help but want to curse.

He was no young man and had seen countless major events, but this scenario was new to him.

As soon as he appeared, the signal soldier saw him but didn’t acknowledge him.

Being so blatantly ignored didn’t anger County Magistrate Hou.

He knew the military were a stubborn bunch that didn’t hold local leaders in high regard.

To them, only their superiors mattered.

In fact, when comparing military officers with local officials, the differences were substantial.

Because a military officer’s authority was limited to the enclosed system of the barracks.

Once they stepped out of the military framework, their power shrank immensely.

The nature of authority is to cascade down; your authority is only as strong as the number of people willing to carry out your commands, therefore, almost all military officers’ influence remained within their own barracks’ confines.

To put it bluntly, a regimental political commissar wanting to get his child into a better school might not even make it past the principal’s office door.

But that doesn’t mean the military didn’t possess any clout outside their realm. You simply couldn’t afford to provoke them.

Like now, for instance...

Your Police Department goes and arrests their commissar and squad leader, committing a serious violation.

County Magistrate Hou stepped forward with a smile on his face, "Hello, comrade. I’m the County Party Secretary of Dujiang County, Hou Wen. May I ask how I should address you?"

"Xiao Yun!"

"Comrade Xiao Yun, may I enter?"

Xiao Yun didn’t speak, stepping aside to make way.

County Magistrate Hou walked into the station, and Director Yao immediately came up to him, "County Magistrate Hou..."

"Look at the mess you’ve caused!"

"Yes, yes," Director Yao sincerely admitted his mistake, "County Magistrate Hou, what should we do now?"

"Take me to the interrogation room."

Standing at the door of the interrogation room, seeing a room full of soldiers, County Magistrate Hou’s blood pressure shot up.

He stepped back, gently closed the door, and pointing at Director Yao, asked, "How many people did you damn arrest?"

"Te...ten."

"Why didn’t you clarify on the phone?"

"I..."

County Magistrate Hou walked down the hallway, "Explain the situation to me in detail, and don’t you dare omit anything!"

"Yes, I’ll tell you everything."

He explained the situation thoroughly.

When County Magistrate Hou learned that the soldiers had been captured one by one, his blood pressure, which had just subsided, flared up again.

"Are you a fucking idiot?"

County Magistrate Hou knew cursing wouldn’t help, but he simply couldn’t restrain himself.

"Arresting one or two might be excusable, but to bring in eight soldiers... even a pig would know there’s an issue! Can’t you see that?"

Director Yao felt wronged too.

They were arrested by Officer Zhang; it really had nothing to do with him.

But trying to shift the blame now would only make County Magistrate Hou even angrier, so he silently took it.

After County Magistrate Hou had finished his tirade, Director Yao asked, "County Magistrate Hou, what should we do now?"

"What to do, what to do, you’re the Director, and you’re asking me what to do?"

Complaining is one thing, but the issue still had to be resolved.

If things blew up, he’d be the one most affected.

After pondering for a few seconds, County Magistrate Hou asked, "Why did they come to the police station?"

Director Yao looked towards Officer Zhang, who nervously replied, "They were looking for Director Yao, then they said they wanted to file a report."

"File a report? What report?"

"That woman inside, she has a factory, she says there are criminal forces threatening her... Oh, right, she also wrote down the details of the report."

County Magistrate Hou waved his hand, a rough understanding would do.

Right now, the most important thing was to get these people out of here.

He was just about to head to the interrogation room when a panicked police officer came running: "County Magistrate, we have trouble."

Now, hearing those three words gave him a headache.

"What happened?"

"Minister Qi from the Military District has come over."

County Magistrate Hou’s heart sank.

The Military District represents active military units, and this Minister Qi is the top leader of the Military District and also a member of the Dujiang County Standing Committee.

While they are both members of the county’s standing committee, Minister Qi is from the Military District. The soldiers outside, they are his own people.

County Magistrate Hou, without time to go to the interrogation room, rushed outside and saw Minister Qi speaking with the signal soldier, Xiao Yun.

Xiao Yun was much more polite to Minister Qi, as they were in the same system.

Once Minister Qi understood the how and why of the situation, his expression darkened.

His brother troops came to carry out legitimate duties and were arrested by the local department.

If this wasn’t handled well, the Nanjiang Military District would lose face.

So, when he saw County Magistrate Hou approaching, he gave no friendly expressions.

"Minister Qi..."

"County Magistrate Hou, I demand an explanation!"

"From what I understand, the whole incident was a misunderstanding."

County Magistrate Hou carefully explained, mainly trying to pass it off as a misunderstanding.

After he finished, County Magistrate Hou sighed, "The frontline police officers are also struggling, they’re on night shift, and suddenly someone with a gun comes in. Can you blame them for being on edge?"

Minister Qi scoffed, "County Magistrate Hou, this was not a misunderstanding, and you better not use that excuse to absolve them."

"The military is not unreasonable; whoever is responsible for this situation should be dealt with seriously, and the army will not dwell on it unnecessarily."

"But if you try to smooth things over with political games, don’t blame me for not warning you, you may not be able to shoulder the responsibility for this."

County Magistrate Hou’s heart stirred, "Minister Qi, you misunderstand, I’m not making excuses for them, it’s just..."

Minister Qi waved his hand to interrupt, not wanting to hear his nonsense.

"County Magistrate Hou, we’ve known each other for many years, so let me make this very clear to you."

"The soldiers you arrested today are not just any regular troops."

"This is a new unit that the Military District has high hopes for, planning to build it into Nanjiang Military District’s second special forces team!"

"And you’ve gone and arrested the entire leadership team of this new unit, both the captain and the political comissar!"

"If the higher-ups get wind of this, tonight, everyone here, each and every one, will be rounded up by the military, subjected to military discipline first and trial later, slapped with the charge of obstructing military operations, and you might never see the light of day again."

"Do you think the provincial leaders will go to the Military District to ask for your release?"

This tirade left County Magistrate Hou drenched in cold sweat.

He hadn’t anticipated that those in the interrogation room had such significant connections.

Minister Qi patted his shoulder and spoke with gravity, "You should know, Comrade Xiao Yun was initially in contact with the Lingjiang City Military District. I came here after getting a call from them."

"The commander of the Military District was cursing up a storm on the phone, and they’re on their way here now."

"One hour."

"In at most one hour, they will arrive here."

"If you cannot resolve this within the hour, you won’t need to handle the aftermath, as the Military District will take full control here, turning this place into a temporary war zone until the matter is completely settled."

"County Magistrate Hou, don’t say I didn’t warn you, I’ve told you what needs to be said, even what shouldn’t have been said. How to solve it, whether you can solve it, that’s your problem; I can’t help you."

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