In name only, I, Gao Yuliang, will sink Handong at worst.

In the afternoon, Gao Yuliang returned to his office, finally able to rest for a bit, but he would soon have to get back to work.

Gao Yuliang's secretary, Chen Yujin, came to Gao Yuliang's office to report on his work.

"Boss, Secretary Sha has taken Tian Guofu down to the lower levels for an inspection."

Gao Yuliang frowned, looked at his secretary, and said, "You mean, Sha Ruijin came here without presiding over the provincial party committee's work, and without waiting for an appointment to report to him, and directly chose to go to the grassroots level to inspect the work?"

"Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Tian Guofu also went along."

"Alright, I understand. You can go now!"

After Chen Yu left from outside and closed the door, Gao Yuliang couldn't help but laugh. He thought Sha Ruijin was outrageous, but he didn't expect him to be this outrageous.

On the first day in office, what was the most important thing to do? Waiting for your subordinates to come and report on their work. Now that I think about it, many department heads who wanted to go and report must have been dumbfounded!

Especially the Organization Department, the Publicity Department, and the Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee—three of them! The newly appointed leaders ran away immediately, is that acceptable?

Why don't you go and visit the old leaders? If Sha Ruijin goes to pay respects to Chen Yanshi, who hasn't even reached the vice-ministerial level, and even asks Chen Yanshi to give a speech on stage, where will those old leaders put their faces?

Who goes to inspect the area on their first day in office?

A phone call came in; it was from a red extension line, and Gao Yuliang answered it immediately.

"Secretary Yuliang, it's me, Liu Changsheng. Have you heard? Our newly appointed Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee Secretary couldn't wait to go and inspect the area on his very first day," Liu Changsheng said with a smile.

"He made a foolish move; he's here to settle scores with those who were involved with Secretary Zhao. And he's got a gossipmonger with him—who knows what he might do?"

"You mean Tian Guofu."

"That's right. Before he came, did we have any 'Handong Gang' or 'Secretary Gang' in our Handong area? Now we do, and who knows what they'll say about me behind my back?"

"What is he trying to do!"

"What else could they be doing! They're eyeing my position in the Political and Legal Affairs Commission! What else could they be doing!" Gao Yuliang was still quite good to Liu Changsheng, and didn't do anything just because the other party was about to retire! He also didn't neglect the provincial government just because Zhao Lichun was so powerful.

Liu Changsheng was also a kind and honest person.

"Aren't you going to make a move?"

Liu Changsheng knew Gao Yuliang's capabilities, so his ability to tolerate even this was beyond his expectations.

"As the saying goes, a wicked person's cunning is no match for a fool's quick thinking. I have a feeling he might pull a series of blunders, so let's wait and see. The sun is strong in the north, and it's also strong in the south. I've heard he's a man of his word in Zhongjiang Province, so let's wait and see!"

"You're right."

Liu Changsheng now understood Gao Yuliang's intentions. Why would you target Sha Ruijin for no reason? Is it because you're dissatisfied with your superiors? But if Sha Ruijin himself made a foolish mistake, then no one else could do anything about it.

And based on what the other party did today, it is very likely that this will happen.

Liu Changsheng not only wouldn't stop Gao Yuliang, but he was actually happy to see this happen. He was only a year away from retirement, and if Sha Ruijin fell, he might have a chance to advance further. Liu Changsheng was actually happy to see the two of them fight.

He didn't need to do anything; he just needed to observe quietly and step in when the time was right.

Jingzhou.

A Toyota Coaster was slowly driving through Jingzhou.

Sha Ruijin knew exactly what his purpose was in coming here: to completely eliminate Zhao Lichun's faction and its pernicious influence in Handong.

"Comrade Guofu, you arrived in Handong more than half a year before me. How familiar are you with Handong?" Sha Ruijin looked at the tall buildings of Jingzhou outside the car window. The economy here is developing much faster than that of Zhongjiang.

If he can complete his full term here, he's very confident he can compete for a higher position!

"Our Handong is mainly divided into two factions: the Handong University faction and the Secretary faction."

"How can this be allowed? How can we allow gangs to exist?" Sha Ruijin said seriously.

Tian Guofu naturally knew that Sha Ruijin was now indulging in official jargon, and it was a good time to flatter him.

"Secretary Sha is right, we should unite around the Provincial Party Secretary!"

How could those in power possibly allow a united group to exist? There needs to be balance and checks and balances.

Sha Ruijin completely failed to see this point.

"Tell me in detail about this Han University clique and the Secretary clique."

"The leader of the Hanzhong University clique is Gao Yuliang. He has promoted many students from Hanzhong University, firmly controlling the entire political and legal system in Handong. And what else?"

"And what?" Sha Ruijin was very dissatisfied with Tian Guofu's attitude.

"It's said that these members of the Handa Gang are all incredibly wealthy. Gao Yuliang alone declared assets exceeding 10 billion yuan to the Discipline Inspection Commission. I've heard that many members of the Handa Gang have assets exceeding 100 million yuan each."

"Over 10 billion!" Sha Ruijin couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. He hadn't expected that Gao Yuliang, a scholar, would have assets exceeding 10 billion. This seemingly quiet and scholarly Gao Yuliang actually had so much wealth.

"Where did this money come from? Was it legitimate?"

"This professor is no ordinary person. He made a lot of money with just two books, selling tens of millions of them. Then he invested that money in stocks, buying Moutai. You know how popular Moutai is right now. Gao Yuliang bought it back in the 1990s."

"Those students followed his example, and later in 07 they started shorting US real estate. He and his students' wealth increased more than tenfold. This professor really has the skills, and everything he did was legal and compliant."

Although Tian Guofu introduced Gao Yuliang's rise to wealth, he implied that Gao Yuliang's rise to wealth was shady and unclean, hoping that Sha Ruijin would come to know this person.

"Which secretaries are we talking about? Surely everyone in the secretaries' group is worth hundreds of millions!"

"No, that's not true. The Secretary Gang is a group of secretaries led by Li Dakang. This Li Dakang is particularly domineering, a master at dealing with economic matters, and he has even said that anything not prohibited by law is permissible."

Li Dakang: I actually have a gang, I actually have a group of people.

You have to understand that Li Dakang's men are all afraid that he might pin a blame on them at any time. Even his men can't unite. If we unite with Li Dakang, are we risking our lives or our futures?