Transmigrated into a female-oriented novel, and put an end to the domineering CEOs all over the city

The small meeting room of the Provincial Party Committee.

At the very bottom of the conference table, Hong Zhan sat upright.

Logically speaking, a cadre of his rank is not qualified to sit in this conference room at all.

But today is a special case.

This special working meeting today is specifically for him.

At the head of the conference table sat Zhang Beishan, the provincial party secretary; to his left was Fang Haiming, the provincial governor; and to his right was Lu Feng, the deputy provincial party secretary and municipal party secretary.

Following them were Shi Jun, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission; Xue Hao, Director of the Provincial Public Security Department; and the Director of the General Office of the Provincial Party Committee, among others.

With this commotion, Hong Zhanguang could feel sweat pouring down his neck just sitting there.

Zhang Beishan sat in the main seat, his tone calm: "Everyone knows what happened last night."

He paused, then glanced around the room: "Let me ask you this first: how exactly is security handled in the family compound?"

"A provincial party committee staff quarters was stormed by dozens of people. In the end, it was only by police cars with sirens blaring that they were brought under control."

"If the police car had arrived five minutes late last night, what do you think the consequences would have been?"

No one responded. Hong Zhan sat upright, already drenched in sweat.

He knew in his heart that although Secretary Zhang did not mention anyone's name in his words, every word was a question directed at him.

Zhang Beishan then looked at Hong Zhan, his tone becoming serious: "Comrade Hong Zhan, this is the third time already."

"The first two times I didn't hold this meeting, I wanted to give you time to conduct self-examination, self-correction, and self-improvement."

"But this is the third time, with thirty or forty people just swaggering into the provincial party committee's residential compound. This is no longer a matter of public order; it's a political issue."

"I'm telling you clearly now, I want you to find out everything within a week: the organizational structure behind all those involved, the source of their funds, and who's directing things behind the scenes."

"If the investigation is unclear, you'll have to write your own resignation letter. If the investigation is clear, the provincial party committee will commend you."

Every word was crystal clear.

Hong Zhan's forehead quickly became covered in a layer of fine sweat.

Secretary Zhang's words, on the surface, were making demands, but in reality, they were drawing lines for him.

The timeline has been given, and so have the consequences.

If you can't find out the truth, then take off your police uniform and leave.

Moreover, that last sentence was meant for everyone present: if anything goes wrong, the person primarily responsible is you, Hong Zhan.

When the time comes, don't blame fate or others, and no one will speak up for you.

However, Zhang Beishan did not completely block the road.

The final sentence, "Once the matter is thoroughly investigated, the Provincial Party Committee will commend you," left a loophole.

If you really succeed, you'll get all the credit; this is to make you risk your life for it.

Whip with sugar, the harder you beat, the more you feed.

Hong Zhan immediately stood up straight and said, "Secretary Zhang, Governor Fang, Secretary Lu, and other leaders, the fact that the Provincial Party Committee's residential compound was attacked three times is due to my dereliction of duty. I would like to apologize to you all first."

"The first two operations were too slow and the investigation was inadequate, which was my personal fault."

"Today I pledge to the Provincial Party Committee that within a week I will personally uncover the organizational network behind the scenes, cut off the funding chain, and bring the person to the attention of all the leaders."

"If I fail to complete this task, I will voluntarily resign from my position with the Provincial Party Committee."

He admitted what he should admit, explained what he should explain, and in the end, he saved some face for himself.

Resigning voluntarily and being dismissed are two completely different things.

Fang Haiming sat there calmly, holding his teacup, gently blowing on it, and remained silent.

The governor's silence meant he was not making a statement yet; he needed to see how deep the waters ran and whether Hong Zhan had any powerful backers.

At this moment, Lu Feng spoke up, his voice calm and unhurried: "Secretary Zhang, as the Party Secretary of the Municipal Committee, I also bear responsibility for the problems exposed by this incident."

Upon hearing this, Hong Zhan's shoulders relaxed slightly.

Lu Feng took the blame first.

The phrase "I also bear responsibility" appears to be self-criticism, but it is actually helping Hung Chan relieve pressure.

This is tantamount to telling everyone that Hong Zhan is not the only one to shoulder this responsibility; the city government is also involved in the problems at Bashi.

Then, Lu Feng added a few more sentences:

"There have indeed been many major cases in Bashi recently. A number of people have been taken down in the crackdown on organized crime, but the vacuum of interests left behind after these people were taken down was quickly filled by others."

This was an even more subtle point. He wasn't saying that Hong Zhan was incompetent, but rather that the situation in Ba Shi was complex, with old and new forces taking turns to dominate. In such a situation, whoever was in that position would face the same headache.

This also means that anyone could run into problems with this kind of situation.

In this way, half of the burden on Hong Zhan's shoulders was taken away.

Hong Zhan was deeply moved as he listened.

Lu Feng continued, "Next, under the guidance of the provincial department, the city will work with Comrade Hong Zhan to conduct a comprehensive citywide security investigation and establish a normalized security mechanism."

Regarding personnel adjustments, I suggest focusing on rectification first, observing the effects as we go. If the standards still cannot be met after rectification, then we can consider organizational adjustments.

This last sentence protected Hong Zhan once again.

On the surface, they say "the focus is on rectification," but in reality, they are telling everyone not to rush to replace people, to give them a chance first, and only to take action if things don't work out.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Beishan did not respond, but simply nodded slightly to indicate that he had heard.

Then he turned to Xue Hao and asked, "Old Xue, what's the provincial department's opinion?"

Xue Hao had been waiting for these words.

He understood what Lu Feng meant. Now that this third-in-command had stepped forward to share the pressure, the pressure would be much less for him, the provincial department director, to speak up.

He cleared his throat and said cautiously, "Ba City is indeed currently experiencing a backlash after being under intense pressure. Comrade Hong Zhan, in his position at the Municipal Bureau, withstood tremendous pressure."

This statement first affirmed Hong Zhan's abilities.

But then he changed the subject: "At the same time, our provincial department has also noticed that the police force at the grassroots level in Bashi City has indeed been operating at a high capacity for a long time. This is one of the objective reasons for the incident at the family compound last night."

This time, he also took some responsibility for the provincial department.

This means that while there isn't enough police force at the lower levels, there is also responsibility at the higher levels; Hong Zhan cannot bear the entire burden alone.

Of course, he also laid out the objective fact that there were "not enough people," giving everyone present a way out.

Then, he made his final statement: "The provincial department could consider coordinating a number of police officers from surrounding municipal bureaus to support the monopolistic practices."

This means: I don't support changing players; I suggest adding more.

Zhang Beishan raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected that Lu Feng and Xue Hao would both be willing to protect Hong Zhan.

Hong Zhan usually seems quiet and unassuming, but when it matters, he's quite popular.

He turned his head without making a sound and glanced at Fang Haiming.

Old Fang smiled, picked up his teacup, took a slow sip, and didn't say a word more.

What he meant was: I'm a non-stick pan, you guys discuss yourselves, I'll listen, but in the end I won't make the final decision, so I don't need to take sides.

Zhang Beishan then looked at Shi Jun.

Shi Jun had felt awkward from the very beginning of the meeting.

He was in charge of the political and legal affairs sector. When Hong Zhan got into trouble, as the direct supervisor, he couldn't escape joint responsibility.

But if he's too obvious in protecting his own, his superiors will think he's biased.

Fortunately, Xue Hao and Lu Feng have already expressed their opinions, and with the taller figures already in the picture, it's much easier for him to strike a balance when he says something that seems like criticism.

He cleared his throat, pushed his teacup aside, and said seriously, "The family compound has been stormed three times. Each time, it's a slap in the face to our political and legal system. Comrade Hong Zhan should be aware of this."

He first criticized Hong Zhan, which was just a formality and also meant for the others present. It showed that he wasn't protecting his own, but he hadn't made any definitive statements.

Then, he paused, his tone softening slightly:

"However, I'd like to add something: during this period, Ba Shi has arrested so many people and dismantled so many gangs."

"Under this high-pressure situation, some reckless small fry, having nowhere to hide, are tempted to take risks and cause some trouble."

"We need to find out whether those people went to the residential compound to cause trouble last night, or just to show their faces and put on a show."

"If it's the latter, then the bigger the commotion they make, the faster they'll be exposed, which is actually a good thing."

He gave Hong Zhan a way out, saying it wasn't that he was incompetent, but that the other party was desperate and jumped out to their death.

Finally, Shi Jun straightened his expression and said in a serious tone, "Of course, those who should be held accountable will be held accountable, and those who need to be rectified will be rectified."

"But at this critical juncture, replacing the main person in charge of frontline case handling will have a greater chain reaction than keeping him. Please make this decision, Secretary Zhang."

The key point of the whole passage is in the last sentence.

He asked Zhang Beishan: It's easy to change people, but if things get even more chaotic after the change, who will take responsibility? He handed this risky question back to Zhang Beishan exactly as it was.

Zhang Beishan was silent for a few seconds before finally making a comprehensive decision: "Then I'll say a few points. First, the family compound must complete a comprehensive security upgrade within three days, supervised by the Provincial Party Committee Office, with the costs covered by the province."

"Second, after returning to the Municipal Bureau, Comrade Hong Zhan should come up with a special plan for the rectification of social order in Ba City within three days and submit it to the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Public Security Department for record."

"Finally," he looked at Hong Zhan, his face serious, "you are the head of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, this position is your responsibility. If a similar situation occurs again, I will not hold this meeting again, do you understand?"

Hong Zhan replied firmly, "Understood, Secretary Zhang. I swear on my Party spirit that I will never let a similar situation happen again!"

Zhang Beishan nodded slightly, picked up his teacup, and was about to announce the end of the meeting.

Just then, Hong Zhan hesitated for a moment, but decided to reveal what he had learned during the interrogation the previous night in public.

Because once it's revealed, this case will no longer be just Hong Zhan's business.

"Secretary Zhang, there's one more thing."

Zhang Beishan paused, his gaze returning to him, and nodded slightly: "Speak."

Hong Zhan took a deep breath and slowly said, "After the arrest last night, we conducted an overnight interrogation of the ringleaders."

"The preliminary interrogation results point to one direction: the mastermind is a member of a warlord force in Southeast Asia."

At this point, he subconsciously swallowed, glanced quickly at Lu Feng, and then swiftly looked away:

"Their goal is to kidnap Secretary Lu's entire family, take them across the border, and dispose of them overseas."

After he finished speaking, the conference room suddenly became eerily quiet.

Hong Zhan keenly noticed that although the old foxes present had controlled their expressions very well, their eyes widened almost simultaneously for a moment.

He stood there, his palms sweaty.

He knew what those words meant; he had just escalated a "public security incident" into a "national security incident."

This means that everyone at the conference table has been drawn into a much larger situation.