Reborn as a Noble’s Son
Chapter 1242 - Chapter 1242 Chapter 1197 Investigate Investigate Thoroughly

Chapter 1242: Chapter 1197: Investigate! Investigate Thoroughly! Chapter 1242: Chapter 1197: Investigate! Investigate Thoroughly! “Secretary, Secretary Jianguo has arrived,” Xia Gang entered the room, pushing open the office door and reported in a low voice.

The unexpected discovery from last night’s undercover visit had shocked Nie Zhenbang while also arousing some annoyance. The indiscriminate killing of wildlife was an important cause of environmental damage. Longxi Province was already in such a state with the Yellow River’s water filthy and laden with large quantities of silt. Across Longxi, areas riddled with gullies faced drought all year round; in such places, even the prospect of rain was daunting. With severe vegetation destruction and loose soil, even a moderate rain could trigger landslides and mudflows, let alone heavy downpours.

Despite these circumstances, there were still individuals who disregarded reality for profit, consuming what they should consume, slaughtering what they should slaughter. Nie Zhenbang always had a clear attitude towards such matters.

With Guan Jianguo’s arrival undoubtedly related to the recent whistleblower report, Nie Zhenbang immediately stood up and said to Xia Gang, “Xiaoxia, please invite Secretary Guan in.”

In this respect, Nie Zhenbang had always been extremely meticulous–a reflection of his cultivation and management.

Like now, from Nie Zhenbang’s perspective, from his position, it was expected due to his status. However, he always paid careful attention. Whenever key leaders of the standing committee came to visit, Nie Zhenbang would always personally stand up to greet them.

This approach conveyed respect. Of course, no one would say anything if he didn’t stand, but whether they held any opinions internally was another matter.

Once Guan Jianguo entered the office and settled in the reception area, he spoke with a serious expression, “Secretary, I have more or less figured out the outline of the issue related to yesterday’s Weibo report.”

Nie Zhenbang went to the water dispenser, poured a cup of hot tea for Guan Jianguo himself, handed it over, and sat down, smiling, “Old Guan, you’re quite efficient. It’s been only one night, and you’ve already got to the bottom of it. No wonder everyone in the province says they would rather meet anyone but ‘Guan the Grim’.”

Guan Jianguo’s face twitched slightly, but he nodded seriously, “Secretary, I believe this is an affirmation of my work in discipline inspection from my comrades. However, in my opinion, it’s still far from enough. Take this report, for instance. Using Weibo opened my eyes. I think in our discipline inspection work, we need to strengthen the development of channels and increase support for anti-corruption efforts online so that the public can have more ways to report issues.”

After a discussion about discipline inspection channel development, Guan Jianguo returned to the topic at hand, solemnly stating, “Secretary, last night, after I went back, I immediately contacted the Provincial Public Security Department and, through their network surveillance division, quickly got in touch with the whistleblower. I met with this comrade overnight. According to his report, the one attending the banquet was the Executive Deputy Minister of the Provincial Department of Transportation, ChenWei, and the one hosting him was the Chairman of the Longxi Chengren Construction Group.”

According to the whistleblower, there was a close relationship between Chengren Construction Group and ChenWei with years of cooperation. They were closely connected in the construction of numerous highways and other infrastructure projects in the province. There were some unusual dealings between the two parties.

Old Guan, it seems that an accidental move has dug up so many issues, quite unexpected,” Nie Zhenbang remarked with a sense of wonder. Since taking office in Longxi, there had been one problem after another, which was causing Nie Zhenbang some irritation.

After pondering for a moment, looking at Guan Jianguo, Nie Zhenbang asked, “Old Guan, what do you think about this case?”

Guan Jianguo’s expression grew serious. After thinking it over, he said, “Secretary, I believe there’s no smoke without fire, and rumors don’t arise without reason. Flies don’t target seamless eggs. Since the whistleblower dared to do such a thing, using this approach to attract our attention, he must be an informant. Currently, after communicating with him, we have secretly protected this person. Our investigation into Chengren Group has also unearthed several issues.”

“Oh? What do you mean?” Nie Zhenbang’s interest was piqued; if Guan Jianguo said there were problems, they were undoubtedly significant.

Guan Jianguo did not hold back and continued bluntly, “Our investigation shows that the Chairman and legal representative of Chengren Group is a man named Hong Tiancheng. However, from what we’ve learned and inquired about, Chengren Group appears not to be so straightforward. It is said that the Chief Financial Officer of Chengren Group, Wen Fangmei, is the aunt of Comrade Chen Zhewen from the Provincial Committee.”

Guan Jianguo spoke these words with some hesitation; this time, Chen Zhewen was one of those accompanying Nie Zhenbang on an overseas visit. In the standing committee, he was the only one who had gone. Guan Jianguo wasn’t certain about the relationship between Chen Zhewen and Secretary Nie.

Yet, after some consideration, Guan Jianguo still spoke out, trusting Nie Zhenbang. Since Nie Zhenbang took office in Longxi, his stance on such matters had always been clear: severe punishment, thorough investigation, no clemency or sheltering of corruption.

Hearing this piece of information, Nie Zhenbang was also shaken. The situation seemed to be getting more serious. Even Chen Zhewen was implicated.

After a moment of silence, he looked up at Guan Jianguo and said, “Old Guan, do you think it’s possible that Wen Fangmei is Wen Fangmei, and Chen Zhewen is Chen Zhewen? That this matter is just a coincidence.”

Guan Jianguo replied with a wry smile, “I’ve actually considered that possibility. But there are rumors that Wen Fangmei holds thirty percent of the shares in Chengren Group. That’s probably not an unfounded rumor. Moreover, looking at the history of Chengren Group’s rise, its predecessor was Weiyue City’s Third Construction Engineering Company. During the reform of state-owned enterprises, Hong Tiancheng led a buyout to acquire the entire Chengren Group. Back then, the matter caused quite a stir in Weiyue City, with strong public outcry about the embezzlement of state-owned assets. And at that time, the Secretary of the Weiyue City Party Committee was Comrade Zhewen.”

Having said this, further doubt seemed pointless. In Guan Jianguo’s view, to do so would be a clear act of favoritism towards Chen Zhewen.

After pondering for a moment, Nie Zhenbang made a decision, “Old Guan, since the case has become more complicated, let’s start investigating from this Chen Wei and delve deeper step by step. My stance is to investigate thoroughly!”

After seeing off Guan Jianguo, Nie Zhenbang couldn’t help but fall into contemplation. Problem after problem was surfacing in Longxi Province – to investigate or not to investigate. This was a tough decision. If the issue reached higher levels, would it give them a bad impression?

“You, Nie Zhenbang, are the top official in Longxi Province, yet under your leadership, there are continuous issues. What does this indicate? Are you incompetent as a leader?”

This concern was not without reason; that’s why, when local leaders encountered problems, their first thought wasn’t to handle it but to cover it up. Sometimes, if the issue was significant and subordinates messed up, the leaders had to take responsibility.

No sooner had this thought arisen than Nie Zhenbang forcefully suppressed it. In his political career, there had been no such thing as covering up in Nie Zhenbang’s dictionary. If a problem arose, there was only one way to deal with it – investigate. There was no alternative.

Standing up, Nie Zhenbang walked over to his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed Liu Yueguang’s number. As soon as the call connected, he said, “Secretary Yue Guang, this is Nie Zhenbang. Are you free now? If so, please come over to my office.”

After hanging up the phone, Liu Yueguang fell into deep thought. Nie Zhenbang had suddenly called him over – what could it be about? This made Liu Yueguang ponder.

…

In the office of the Provincial Party Committee, in the reception area, watching Liu Yueguang sitting upright, Nie Zhenbang hesitated for a moment before taking out some materials and data and handing them to Liu Yueguang, “Comrade Yue Guang, please take a look. These are some findings from various channels I’ve gathered and organized myself.”

Liu Yueguang was somewhat puzzled. He took the materials handed over by Nie Zhenbang and started to read them carefully.

On the paper, there were some items written in fountain pen. Preliminary statistics and estimates on the hunting of wild animals by a certain restaurant. They provided dishes made from various wild animal ingredients, such as bear paws, monkey brains, deer blood, deer meat, pangolins, otters, antelopes, swans, red-crowned cranes, pufferfish, and the like. Preliminary estimates suggested that the restaurant consumed about two bear paws every day.

Following this, the rest of the sheet was blank, but on this blank space was drawn a large question mark, next to which was written, “How large is the industry chain? How extensive is the illegal poaching network?”

At this moment, Liu Yueguang also started to ponder, what exactly was Secretary Nie’s attitude? Was he prepared to investigate or not? This was something that needed to be considered. If he said to investigate and Secretary Nie wasn’t willing, wouldn’t that put Secretary Nie in an awkward position? If he said he didn’t want to investigate, but Secretary Nie wanted to, that would be even worse for him.

This made Liu Yueguang consider his response very carefully. After a pause, he spoke slowly, “It’s truly shocking, Secretary. If this information is true, I must say, this is definitely the biggest wildlife trafficking and hunting organization in our province.”

Watching Liu Yueguang’s reaction, Nie Zhenbang smiled inwardly. He could sense Liu Yueguang’s inner calculations. After another moment of thought, he said, “Secretary Yue Guang, I asked you here this time to hand this matter over to the public security department. We must seriously deal with and severely punish those involved in the morally despicable and inhumane act of wantonly trading and hunting wild animals.”

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at NovelFire.net. Your support is my greatest motivation.)