Without any warning signs, the mayor of Beipu County in Lingdong City, Yu Desen, was subjected to "Shuanggui" by the city's discipline inspection commission.
Three days later, Qiao Shan, the head of the county party committee's public relations department, and Hu Xiaofan, the deputy mayor, were also escorted away by the special task force of the discipline inspection commission.
At the same time, Yu Desen's wife, younger brother-in-law, secretary, driver, and a dozen officials of the same rank were also taken away.
Among all the unfortunate people, Chen Liang, Yu Desen's secretary, should be the most unlucky.
All in all, Chen Liang served as Yu Desen's secretary for only 49 days.
In fact, Chen Liang's luck had always been good.
At the end of the eighties, Chen Liang was admitted to Nanjiang University. Four years later, upon graduation, he got aboard the last "train" of the guaranteed job assignment policy, and was assigned to work in the Water Resources Bureau of Beipu County.
One and a half years ago, 27-year-old Chen Liang, due to his commendable performance in disaster relief, combined with his exceptional writing skills, was transferred to work in the county government office.
Two months ago, when Li Xianming, the previous secretary to the mayor, was reassigned to work in the townships, Chen Liang was recommended by Liu Dengfeng, the Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Committee. Mayor Yu Desen not only appointed Chen Liang as his secretary but also logically promoted him to deputy director of the county government office.
Locked up alone in the room of the City Military District Guesthouse, the environment was nice, the food was good, yet he was not allowed to leave or be visited.
After a few days, Chen Liang gradually regained his composure and began to reflect on himself.
Of the total 49 days, excluding holidays and including Labor Day's mini-vacation, he'd only worked for 30 days in the capacity as secretary.
Wrong. During that period, Yu Desen had traveled to the provincial capital once, attended meetings in the city three times, and took personal leave once. Altogether 14 days that he didn't bring Chen Liang along.
Chen Liang had racked his brain countless times over the remaining 16 days, and had found no instances where he had done anything illegal at Yu Desen's behest. What was there to fear?
If there was any trouble stirring, it would probably be about the urban greenification project in the county.
This project was personally overseen by Yu Desen, and the discussions outside were rather controversial, mainly because the owner of the winning company happened to be Yu Desen's classmate, and the winning bid was way over the budget.
Regarding this project, Chen Liang had quite a lot of involvement and had even partaken in some meals and drinks with Yu Desen.
Two full weeks went by without anyone coming to question Chen Liang.
With the second in command taken in, this case even implicated two deputy county officials and over a dozen cadre-level officials. The impact of this case was not to be underestimated.
To stabilize the situation, the county Party Secretary, Niu Qingping, who was studying at Central Party School, hurriedly rushed back to the county.
Niu Qingping summoned the deputy secretary of the County Party Committee, Fang Guoliang. They locked themselves in a room, shared case details, and discussed follow-up actions.
Yi Desen, a local entity, had always been at odds with both of them. The two were overjoyed when he was taken in custody.
Fang Guoliang handed Niu Qingping a list with a total of 25 people, all associates of Yu Desen, and they planned to take action without hesitation.
A little over a month later, the case involving Yu Desen finally settled.
Yu Desen, along with Minister of Propaganda Qiao Shan and Deputy County Head Hu Xiaofan, were all city-administered officials and thus handled by Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission.
More than 20 cadre-level officials were county-administered officers and dealt with by the County Discipline Inspection Commission.
Violators of regulations and discipline were directly dealt with by the Disciplinary Committee, while those accused of criminal offenses were handed to the procuratorate. The aim was clear—no one was to escape.
Not a single one was spared by the special investigation team, including Chen Liang.
However, examination after examination, Chen Liang somehow managed to evade any substantial charges and only had a few instances of meals and drinks.
Both Niu Qingping and Fang Guoliang were convinced that it simply wasn't possible for Chen Liang to be completely innocent.
The two summoned Director Xiao Weizhan of the county party committee office and Director Jia Pingsan of the county government office to discuss how to deal with Chen Liang.
In Beipu County's official circles, there has always been a conflict between local and outsider factions. Yu Desen is a local, while Niu Qingping and Fang Guoliang are outsiders.
However, Niu Qingping and Fang Guoliang are not united, each having their own circles. Xiao Weizhan is Niu Qingping’s man, while Jia Pingsan only listens to Fang Guoliang.
The only time they act as one is when they join forces to deal with Yu Desen.
Now, they are united with one goal in mind, to completely eliminate Yu Desen's people, not letting any of them slip away.
If there are no issues, they simply create them.
Jia Pingsan is the most eager to deal with Chen Liang. As Chen Liang's superior, he often makes things difficult for Chen Liang.
Setting people up is something Xiao Weizhan and Jia Pingsan excel at.
Xiao Weizhan and Jia Pingsan also have their own plans. Xiao Weizhan wants to be the Minister of Propaganda, while Jia Pingsan wants to be the Deputy County Governor.
Chen Liang, who was originally trouble-free, suddenly had a lot of issues popping up, with countless accusations flying towards the special investigation team.