PCJ – Chapter 708 Protection

“Comrade Jiaohua, my Mayor Zhang, you absolutely mustn’t speak such disheartened words. I know you feel wronged, but that can’t be allowed to affect our work enthusiasm, right? Everything you have done, the people of Bijiang City have seen with their own eyes. All levels of government officials in Bijiang have seen it too. No one can deny what you’ve contributed to this city. The provincial leadership will also see it clearly. Let me be blunt: if anyone dares to destroy the excellent momentum we now have in Bijiang, to ruin its future, I, Wang Zongxian, will be the first to refuse! Comrade Jiaohua, we cannot act on impulse. For Bijiang to have achieved today’s development, your efforts have been the greatest. Rest assured, I will immediately report our current situation to the provincial leaders and request that your official appointment be finalized as soon as possible.” Wang Zongxian was truly anxious.

“Secretary Wang, I really am not acting on impulse. But you know very well—academic work and politics are fundamentally different. Doing research is much purer, and I have my own ideas there. Politics, however, is far too complicated. I’ve been in Bijiang for quite some time already, and the city has nearly reached the goals I envisioned. In other words, what I wanted to do, I’ve already accomplished. Staying on further doesn’t seem to have much meaning. This is as far as I can go.” Zhang Jiaohua spoke very frankly.

Wang Zongxian hurriedly replied: “I know you are noble and selfless, but don’t assume everyone else is like you. Let me tell you—if you step down at this time, I can guarantee that within three years at most, Bijiang’s current progress will collapse and even become worse than before. The greed of some people is beyond your imagination. If they were truly noble, they wouldn’t be scrambling here just to snatch the fruits of your labor, would they? And although I still hold this position for now, my ability to shield you is limited. If I block certain people’s interests, I may not be able to stay in Bijiang for much longer myself.”

He laid out everything he knew to Zhang Jiaohua: “That’s the situation. But it’s not without hope. Tomorrow, I intend to go to the provincial capital to report Bijiang’s circumstances directly to Secretary Su.”

Zhang Jiaohua hadn’t thought so far ahead, but after hearing this, he realized the problem really was troublesome. Having spent a few years in the political arena, he understood its rules well enough. If he truly resigned, and someone more opportunistic replaced him, that person might devote themselves to erasing all traces of his work in Bijiang. A total regression of the city wasn’t impossible.

Moreover, the industrial park would surely become the first target of attack. After all, it was precisely because of these projects that he was under pressure to step down. This would indirectly confirm outsiders’ malicious speculation that the projects were suspicious.

Although Zhang Jiaohua had ways to ensure the projects continued, leaving in such a defeated manner was never his style.

Wang Zongxian clearly read his thoughts: “Comrade Jiaohua, I think you’d better consider this carefully before deciding. This afternoon, I’ll head to the provincial capital and brief the leadership thoroughly about Bijiang’s situation.”

He called Su Xinpeng in advance, saying he would report in person that evening at his home. To Wang’s relief, Su welcomed the idea and said he very much wanted to hear about Bijiang, giving Wang greater confidence in this trip.

Su Xinpeng had only been provincial Party Secretary for less than half a year. As an “air-dropped” appointment, he was still familiarizing himself with the province. But in those six months, he had already heard of Bijiang many times.

Before, his understanding was that Bijiang was only poor. It had the highest number of state-designated poverty counties in the province. Almost every year, it relied on massive poverty-alleviation funds, which in the end merely became subsistence money for its people.

Yet after assuming office, he was astonished to find that this poor region had already shed its dependence on aid.

Lately, he’d heard even more about Bijiang—this time, regarding its acting mayor. The provincial Discipline Inspection Commission had recently received a slew of anonymous letters accusing Acting Mayor Zhang Jiaohua of corruption, abuse of power, and self-serving misconduct.

Since they were anonymous, and involved a prefecture-level mayor, the Commission dared not act without higher instruction. If the accusations had been signed, Su might have immediately convened a Standing Committee meeting to vote on whether to investigate. But given the anonymity, if they turned out to be slander, the damage to a good comrade’s reputation would be immense.

Su Xinpeng didn’t know enough about Bijiang to decide based on rumors. Wang Zongxian’s visit was timely—he wanted to ask him directly.

“How quickly news travels!” Su exclaimed. He had only just been informed by the Commission and hadn’t even had time to respond, yet already, word had reached others below. The realization chilled him.

To avoid drawing attention, Wang Zongxian went straight to the provincial compound.

Su greeted him warmly: “Zongxian, you’ve come at the perfect time. I happen to have questions about Bijiang I need you to clarify.”

Wang got straight to the point: “Secretary Su, my visit is precisely to report our situation. Recently, I’ve heard troubling rumors—that our city mayor has engaged in misconduct. Such irresponsible gossip is severely undermining the morale of good comrades. Comrade Zhang Jiaohua has served as Bijiang’s deputy mayor for two years, overseeing investment promotion and industrial development. His work has been outstanding, fundamentally transforming the city’s poverty and backwardness. Two years ago, what was Bijiang like? Many people could barely eat. In just over a year, we solved the city’s basic food problem…”

As he spoke, Su Xinpeng’s brow furrowed. He paced the room, his face giving away nothing of his true thoughts.

When Wang finished, he stood silently aside.

“Comrade Zongxian, you’ve done well. A comrade like that must be protected. Some people can’t stand the capable and instead try to drag them down. Soon, I will make a trip to Bijiang to inspect the situation myself—and to meet Comrade Zhang Jiaohua in person,” Su Xinpeng said.