Right path to power

Xie Guangyan arrived at the hospital first and waited downstairs for about ten minutes before meeting Lin Xiao, who rushed over. The two then went to the emergency department together.

Xu Wenbo suffered a fracture in his left hand, which has already been bandaged.

His hair was disheveled, his forehead was bandaged, his cheeks were bruised and injured, and his right arm had large abrasions. He looked very disheveled.

Two police officers stood to the side, one asking questions and the other taking a statement.

Two young environmental protection bureau staff members, a man and a woman, were standing nearby; they were eyewitnesses to the scene.

As soon as I arrived at the ward door, I heard the police officer in charge of questioning me say in a sarcastic tone, "Could it be that you had a verbal conflict that led to this physical contact?"

Xu Wenbo's face flushed red, and he was about to argue.

Lin Xiao walked in and said coldly, "You call these injuries 'physical contact'? Then use your professional knowledge to explain to me what kind of physical contact could cause these injuries?"

The burly policeman glanced up and, though he didn't recognize Lin Xiao, he instinctively felt a powerful sense of oppression.

However, his displeasure still made him blurt out, "Police investigations have their own procedures; unrelated personnel should not interfere."

"Secretary Lin, what brings you here?"

Upon seeing Lin Xiao, Xu Wenbo hurriedly struggled to get up.

"Just sit down." Lin Xiao raised her hand to stop her.

Upon hearing the words "Secretary Lin," the policeman's expression changed slightly, but he still didn't realize that the person standing in front of him was the top leader of the district committee, so he was still harboring resentment.

Lin Xiao fixed her gaze on him, her tone icy: "Such a vicious assault case, and you call it just physical contact? Instead of investigating the perpetrator, you're looking for problems in the victim?"

The police officer muttered under his breath, "Police investigations are based on evidence, not just on hearsay."

Lin Xiao sneered. Witnessing this scene only strengthened his resolve to reform the police force.

He turned to Xie Guangyan and said, "Call Qu Ningbo and tell him to thoroughly investigate the handling of tonight's incident. Anyone who failed in their duties should be held accountable. Once the new leadership of the branch office is in place, this matter should be used as a typical example and circulated throughout the entire bureau."

"Okay, Secretary."

Xie Guangyan gave the two policemen a cold look, then walked aside to make a phone call.

At this time, Qu Ningbo already knew the news, and just finished a phone call with Xiang Jinhuai, the political commissar who was temporarily in charge of the branch office.

Upon seeing that it was Xie Guangyan calling, he immediately answered, "Director Xie, is this an instruction from Secretary Lin?"

"Yes, Secretary Qu..."

Xie Guangyan relayed Lin Xiao's requests one by one.

After hanging up the phone, Qu Ning thought for a while and then called his secretary, asking him to notify the relevant personnel of the Public Security Bureau that he needed to go to the hospital for an on-site handling meeting.

His mind was working very fast.

Lin Xiao was determined to seize control of the Public Security Bureau, and he also had the support of Su Anji, the Secretary of the Municipal Political and Legal Committee. Rather than being passively squeezed out, it was better to take the initiative and move closer to them.

By taking the initiative to cooperate in this matter, at least some say can be retained within the public security system.

If we continue to keep our distance from Lin Xiao, we may have no place in the political and legal system of the entire prefecture in the future.

The incident of Xu Wenbo being beaten is a good opportunity to teach those who need to be taught a lesson and to establish authority.

"You... are the leader..."

The burly policeman recognized Xie Guangyan, the district committee office director, as the one who had been giving him the cold look and making a phone call. He immediately panicked.

"This is Secretary Lin of our Zhenxing District Committee," Xu Wenbo said in a deep voice.

The policeman trembled slightly and quickly said with a forced smile, "Secretary Lin, we are from Pingbu Police Station. When we arrived at the scene after receiving the report, the perpetrator had already fled..."

He had certainly heard of the new secretary's name, but he had never met him in person. Besides, Lin Xiao had only been in Zhenxing District for a short time, so it was normal that the name and face didn't match.

The key point is that he was certain that the top leader of the district committee wouldn't really bother with a lowly police officer like him.

A young female staff member standing nearby couldn't help but angrily say, "The person escaped because you were so slow to arrive. We even told you the assailant's features right away, but instead of rushing to arrest him, you went to the hospital and kept questioning Captain Xu. You..."

The girl was so angry that her neck turned red.

The two police officers were left speechless and extremely embarrassed by her retort.

Lin Xiao said coldly, "Are you done taking the statement? If you are, don't disturb the patient's rest. The most urgent thing is to arrest them."

"Yes, yes, Secretary Lin, we'll go back and report to the institute right away."

The next second, the two policemen slunk away.

Their analysis was correct. As the district party secretary, Lin Xiao naturally wouldn't hold a grudge against the grassroots police officers.

A short while later, the hospital director arrived in civilian clothes.

Lin Xiao gave him some instructions and told Xu Wenbo to take good care of his injuries before leaving.

On the way back, Lin Xiao pondered: the same problem kept appearing in the police force, it seemed there was something fishy going on behind the slow response times.

Since that's the case, we must investigate this thoroughly.

Of course, if Qu Ningbo were clever enough, he should have handled this matter more well. Although it didn't quite qualify as a "pledge of allegiance," it was enough to show his stance.

Therefore, Lin Xiao is also waiting to see.

Five days later, after review by the Municipal Public Security Bureau Party Committee and approval by the Municipal Party Committee, the appointment and removal documents for the Zhenxing Public Security Bureau leadership team were officially issued.

On that day, Su Anji, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee, Secretary of the Municipal Political and Legal Committee, and Director of the Public Security Bureau, personally led a team to the Zhenxing Branch Bureau to announce the appointment and removal decisions.

District leaders, including Lin Xiao, Yang Songfeng, and Qu Ningbo, attended the branch bureau's cadre meeting.

At the meeting, Fan Mingbo, Deputy Political Commissar of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, read out the appointment and removal notices: Zhong Haibo was appointed as Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Zhenxing District Branch; Guan Dawei was appointed as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director; Jiao Dayong was appointed as a member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director; and Ni Kesheng, Deputy Director of the Supervision Office of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, was appointed as a member of the Party Committee and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission.

Subsequently, Lin Xiao delivered a speech, welcoming the new leadership team on behalf of the district committee, and emphasizing the need to strengthen the team's work style and enhance its combat effectiveness to truly ensure the safety of the area.

Following this, Su Anji delivered a speech, demanding that the entire bureau strengthen its cohesion, combat effectiveness, and execution capabilities, implement all the municipal bureau's plans, fully cooperate with the district party committee and government's work arrangements, and ensure that orders are obeyed without question.

Yang Songfeng sat on the platform, his face calm, but his heart was heavy.

His attendance was due to the hospitality protocol of the municipal party committee leaders.

But in this new team, Lin Xiao's influence can be seen in almost every aspect.

In other words, with the support of Su Anji, the secretary of the municipal political and legal affairs committee, Lin Xiao has firmly grasped the key power of the public security system.

Going forward, the district government's work will likely face increasing constraints.

But he couldn't reveal anything in front of the municipal leaders.

In fact, the public security system is under dual management, but it is primarily led by the higher-level public security authorities. Key personnel, finances, and operations are all coordinated by the municipal bureau, so the actual influence of the local government is limited.

However, with Su Anji's support, Lin Xiao was able to completely control the situation.

Yang Songfeng originally hoped that Xiang Jinhuai, the political commissar of the branch bureau who was on good terms with him, would take over as bureau chief, but after several days of lobbying, Xiang Jinhuai ultimately failed.

After the meeting, Su Anji and his group left.

Lin Xiao, Yang Songfeng, and Qu Ningbo then attended the branch's Party Committee meeting.

At the meeting, Zhong Haibo, Guan Dawei, and Jiao Dayong all expressed their determination to resolutely implement the requirements of the district party committee and government, intensify the crackdown, and safeguard the development of the district.

Finally, Lin Xiao delivered a speech:

"The new team has been established, and I hope everyone can quickly get into work mode. Right now, you all face both a backlog of cases and issues of work style that urgently need to be rectified."

I've experienced this firsthand these past two days. The district committee's inspection team was surrounded while conducting normal law enforcement in the industrial park, and the police response was slow; Xu Wenbo, who was temporarily in charge of the daily work of the Environmental Protection Bureau, had his arm broken, and the response after receiving the report was similarly sluggish.

I would like to ask everyone here: to describe serious injury as physical contact, to ignore the clues and instead to bombard the victim with questions, is this really fighting crime or protecting crime?

In the case of Xu Wenbo's assault, the branch bureau's Party Committee will oversee the case, and the bureau's Discipline Inspection Commission will intervene simultaneously. The investigation must not only focus on solving the case and apprehending the perpetrator, but also review the entire handling process to investigate whether there was any suppression of leads or collusion. Regardless of who is involved, they will be dealt with strictly according to the law.

The process of addressing pollution in the industrial park will inevitably infringe upon the vested interests of certain individuals, and there is a possibility of obstruction of inspections and threats against public officials. I hope that the public security department will ensure impartiality in its enforcement, protecting the interests of ordinary citizens while providing special protection to officials who face retaliation. Enforcement standards should not be relaxed simply because of certain individuals involved.

From now on, any police report involving retaliation against public officials will be classified as a high-priority case and handled to the fullest extent of the law. We hope the branch will solidify this policy.

After Lin Xiao finished speaking, he coldly surveyed the entire room.

The newly appointed branch director, Zhong Haibo, looked solemn and immediately stated: He would do his utmost to investigate the case and thoroughly rectify the work style.