Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

The next day, in Conference Room No. 1 of the Provincial Party Committee compound in Handong.

The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee is currently holding a meeting.

Around the long conference table, the most powerful people in Handong Province were all seated. The atmosphere was quiet, but an unusual tension permeated the air.

Everyone's gaze, intentionally or unintentionally, was drawn in one direction.

A young man was sitting there.

He wore a crisp military uniform, the stars on his epaulets gleaming under the lights. He sat upright, his face calm, as if the probing, scrutinizing, and curious gazes around him were irrelevant to him.

He is Shen Zhong.

This was the first time he had appeared on the highest power stage in Handong as a member of the Standing Committee in military uniform.

Zhao Lichun, the provincial party secretary, who was sitting in the main seat, picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and cleared his throat.

His expression was the same as usual, revealing little emotion, but everyone in the conference room, being astute, noticed the difference in his tone when he spoke today.

"Comrades, today we have a new comrade joining our Standing Committee."

Zhao Lichun turned his gaze to Shen Zhong, his voice more solemn than usual.

"As appointed by the Central Military Commission, Comrade Shen Zhong has been appointed as a member and standing committee member of the Provincial Party Committee and deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Provincial Military Region. Let us welcome him."

A sparse round of applause broke out.

Almost none of you slept well last night.

Who would dare to underestimate a ruthless man who, before even reporting for duty, dared to mobilize troops and directly emptied the pockets of Liu Xinjian, chairman of Handong Oil and Gas?

Zhao Lichun put down his teacup and continued, taking the initiative to ask, "Comrade Shen Zhong has just arrived in Handong. Is he settling in well? Is there anything the Provincial Party Committee needs to coordinate regarding the military region's recent work?"

Everyone perked up their ears.

Shen Zhong leaned forward slightly and picked up the microphone in front of him.

"Reporting to Secretary Zhao, thank you for the organization's concern."

His voice, clear and steady, resonated throughout the conference room via the microphone.

"All work of the provincial military command is proceeding in an orderly manner under the guidance of regulations and rules. The main task at present is to focus on strengthening the combat readiness training of the troops and improving their emergency response capabilities."

Watertight.

He only talked about military building and combat readiness, without mentioning a word about local affairs.

What's even more astonishing is that he didn't mention a single word about the "Clean Stream Action" that caused such a stir a few days ago.

It was as if that incident had never happened at all.

Or rather, in his eyes, it wasn't even a big deal.

This extreme calm, ironically, made the group of seasoned veterans in the conference room even more uneasy.

A man who dared to flip the table was now sitting quietly at the card table, abiding by all the rules.

This in itself is a silent deterrent.

Zhao Lichun's eyelids twitched. He gave Shen Zhong a deep look, then said nothing more and moved on to the next item on the agenda.

The meeting proceeded at a leisurely pace, with each item being raised, discussed, and then voted on.

Shen Zhong didn't say another word throughout the entire process, but just listened quietly, occasionally flipping through the documents in front of him.

This continued until the meeting reached the work report session for Jingzhou City.

Li Dakang, Secretary of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee, began his speech.

Li Dakang has a loud voice, and his speaking style, like himself, is crisp, concise, and full of passion.

He first reported on Jingzhou's economic data for the previous quarter, and then shifted the focus to the key tasks to come.

"Distinguished leaders, in order to further promote the urban development of Jingzhou and enhance its urban image, our municipal party committee and government, after repeated deliberations, plan to launch the 'Guangming Peak Ecological Transformation Project'!"

He stood up, pointed to the planning map on the projection screen behind him, and enthusiastically introduced this grand blueprint.

"We will bring in top domestic tourism development companies and invest heavily to make Guangming Peak a landmark for ecotourism in Handong Province and even the whole country! Once this project is successful, it will not only create tens of thousands of jobs, but also bring billions of yuan in fiscal revenue to Jingzhou every year!"

The people in the meeting room were all nodding in agreement. Developing the economy and generating GDP were achievements that everyone was happy to see.

Li Dakang continued speaking, but after painting a rosy picture of the future, his tone shifted, and he appeared somewhat troubled.

"However, we also encountered a small problem during the project's progress."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the conference room before finally settling precisely on Shen Zhong.

"The core area planning of the project involves the relocation of a military family compound located halfway up Guangming Peak. This compound is quite old, and the living conditions are rather poor. Our city's initial idea is to relocate the families to another location, providing them with new houses that are better and larger. Of course, the specific plan still needs to be discussed in detail with the military region."

Li Dakang's words were polite and reasonable.

But everyone in the conference room knew that this was a carefully designed test by Li Dakang.

He wanted to see how this newly appointed military member of the Standing Committee would react when local economic development conflicted with the military's vital interests.

Will they make concessions for the sake of the bigger picture? Or will they refuse to budge an inch and remain steadfast in their stance?

In an instant, all eyes in the conference room were once again focused on Shen Zhong.

Even Zhao Lichun, who had been resting with his eyes closed, and Gao Yuliang, who had been sitting calmly, opened their eyes and showed interest on their faces.

This is a grand spectacle.

Li Dakang represents the local "GDP faction".

The word "shenzhong" represents the military's power.

The first clash between two powerful figures.

Shen Zhong remained unresponsive to everyone's gaze.

He didn't look at Li Dakang or anyone else, but picked up the report on the Guangming Peak project on the table and slowly flipped through it, page by page.

Time passed, second by second.

Li Dakang stood there, his expression somewhat embarrassed.

The atmosphere in the meeting room grew increasingly subtle as the heavy silence deepened.

Finally, as Li Dakang's speech was about to end, Shen Zhong put down the documents in his hand.

He pressed the microphone switch.

"I admire Secretary Li Dakang's boldness in developing the local economy."

His first words were an affirmation of the other person.

Li Dakang's expression softened a bit; he thought the other party was about to say something conciliatory.

"Jingzhou needs development, and Handong also needs development. I completely agree with that."

Shen Zhong paused, and everyone in the conference room held their breath, waiting for his next sentence.

"but."

The moment those two words were uttered, the atmosphere changed.

"Developing the economy is a good thing, but everything must be done under a major premise."

The deep voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear.

"The overarching premise is the fundamental national policy of 'supporting the military and giving preferential treatment to families of servicemen.' Any project that might affect the normal lives of families of meritorious servicemen, no matter how large the investment or how promising the prospects, must be handled with utmost caution in terms of procedures."