Chapter 162: Persuading Secretary Gong Hongyang

"Yes, so you need to mentally prepare yourself for this."

Yang Dong looked at Gong Hongyang with a very serious expression.

If it weren't for the fact that Gong Hongyang had done a commendable job as the Party Secretary of the town in his past life, Yang Dong wouldn't have bothered to say so much to him.

In his previous life, Gong Hongyang had also been investigated by the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, but in the end, nothing major was found. Accepting some cigarettes and alcohol was considered normal, but he had never taken bribes, and overall, he was quite clean.

Perhaps he had a somewhat worldly and informal demeanor, being someone who had worked his way up from the grassroots level. As a result, he appeared hesitant when dealing with cadres, valued personal relationships too much, and was reluctant to drop the hammer heavily.

This weakness had led to severe corruption problems in Xiashuishui Town, and because of this indecisiveness, Gong Hongyang was never able to advance further to become a deputy county-level cadre.

Even when he retired, he did so only at the regular section level.

If Yang Dong wanted to thoroughly clean up Xiashuishui Town, he could not bypass Gong Hongyang, the top leader and town Party Secretary, under any circumstances.

In a system where the top leader commands everything, Gong Hongyang was, after all, the township Party Secretary; his support and cooperation were absolutely necessary for the work to proceed.

Moreover, Yang Dong did not want to leave an impression of being overbearing or tyrannical among the leaders at various levels, nor did he want to project an aggressive attitude of pushing people into a corner.

If he did that, he might ruin his standing among the superiors and get labeled as a thorn in their side.

"Brother Yang, isn't that going a bit too far?"

Gong Hongyang looked at Yang Dong with a face full of hesitation, hoping to persuade Yang Dong to change his stance.

If the town mayor, Jin Hemin, truly had issues, he would be willing to cooperate with the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission's task force to investigate Jin Hemin.

However, for Yang Dong to say that they were going to perform major surgery on Xiashuishui Town and target a full third of the town cadres—that simply went far beyond what he could accept.

"Brother, you are the town Party Secretary. You can make your own decision on how to cooperate with the municipal discipline inspection work."

"However, the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission is dead serious this time. If you cooperate, it will be a win-win for all of us."

"If you don't cooperate, the outcome might not be very pleasant in the end."

"Brother, I am sincerely asking you to stand with me and thoroughly clean up Xiashuishui Town."

"Both of us are locals from Xiashuishui Town. No one doesn't want their hometown to prosper. Our parents and brothers are all here, and their daily lives are inseparable from this small town."

"Take what happened to my mother selling fish in the town today, for instance. With this kind of commercial and administrative law enforcement environment in Xiashuishui Town, how do you expect other small peddlers to make a living?"

"When handling matters at the grassroots level, we must never apply a one-size-fits-all approach. While it saves trouble, the consequences are severe."

"The mindset of the privileged who ask 'why don't they eat meat' must never be allowed to exist in our socialist country!"

"We cannot afford to be aloof, we cannot afford to make decisions based on sudden whims, and we certainly cannot afford to bully people by abusing power!"

"Brother, do you still think there are no problems in Xiashuishui Town?"

Yang Dong had already been extremely fair, exceedingly fair, and very polite to Gong Hongyang.

If he had gone to investigate cadre issues in any other town, he wouldn't have bothered saying so much to its leaders.

If you cooperate, fine; if you don't cooperate, we'll investigate you right along with them to see if you have any skeletons in your closet.

Gong Hongyang fell silent. Although he still walked with his hands clasped behind his back, trailing Yang Dong through the village, his expression was deeply conflicted.

In truth, his mind was racing with various considerations. He was already in his fifties—how many years did he have left in the official system?

Basically, the position of Party Secretary for Xiashuishui Town would be the final stop of his career. Therefore, during his remaining years in office, he didn't want any major scandals to erupt in the town.

As long as everyone got along harmoniously and no major catastrophes occurred, that would be enough.

Yet, after listening to Yang Dong just now, Gong Hongyang felt that his mindset was flawed. As a Party cadre, refusing to shoulder responsibilities and lacking the courage to bear them was simply unacceptable.

Even though he was over fifty, governing a region and bringing benefit to the local people during his tenure was still essential.

Above all, the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission was determined to see this through.

As a regular section-level township chief, he simply could not stop them.

If he continued to obstruct them, his own fate would turn out rather grim.

"Brother Yang, what exactly is wrong with Jin Hemin?"

"I asked him just this morning, and he claimed he had no financial ties whatsoever with Zhao Pengcheng, the former deputy head of the municipal organization department. At most, he just sent some holiday gifts during festivals. That's not illegal, is it?"

Gong Hongyang had already made his decision in his heart, but he still intended to ask one more question, if only to steel his own resolve.

Seeing Gong Hongyang ask this, Yang Dong pretty much understood where Gong Hongyang stood.

Normally, some matters were not suitable to be shared with Gong Hongyang, or even with anyone around him, because everything he knew stemmed from the memories of his past life.

However, revealing a certain amount of information to Gong Hongyang would also firmly anchor him on his side.

If a town Party Secretary remained hesitant and indecisive, it would only introduce uncertainty into his work.

"Based on what I personally understand, our dear Mayor Jin Hemin has embezzled at least this much!"

Yang Dong held up his hand in front of Gong Hongyang and flashed the number two with his fingers.

"That's impossible! Isn't that sheer nonsense?" Seeing the number two Yang Dong held up, Gong Hongyang immediately shook his head in refutation. "I am the town Party Secretary. Big and small affairs in the town cannot possibly be hidden from me. If he had embezzled two hundred thousand, I would have petitioned the higher-level discipline inspection commission to investigate him long ago."

Gong Hongyang believed that Yang Dong was deliberately splashing dirty water on Jin Hemin just to push his work forward.

Fabricating charges like this was by no means a good phenomenon; it smacked of extracting confessions through torture.

"No, not two hundred thousand. Two million!"

Yang Dong stared at Gong Hongyang with an unyielding expression. He stopped walking, stood before a dilapidated house, and uttered the figure of two million with utmost seriousness and gravity.

"What? Tw—two million?"

Gong Hongyang's complexion drained instantly, and he felt cold sweat break out all over his body.

Although the weather was growing warmer, it wasn't hot enough to induce that kind of sweating.

He was simply terrified out of his wits.

Wasn't the amount of embezzlement Yang Dong mentioned utterly absurd?

One had to remember that the total financial revenue of Xiashuishui Town last year was barely over three million.

Town Mayor Jin Hemin had actually embezzled two million?

What kind of concept was that? It was nothing short of terrifying and heinous.

If this were true, it would easily make him the most severely corrupt cadre in the history of the town.

"If you don't believe me, then please witness this together with me, Secretary Gong, and let's investigate the truth!"

Yang Dong didn't want to explain too much more to Gong Hongyang, because certain details were better left unsaid.

He extended his hand directly toward Gong Hongyang, awaiting his ultimate verdict.

The difficult problem lay squarely before Gong Hongyang.

How to handle it was a question Gong Hongyang had to figure out clearly.

With a complicated expression, Gong Hongyang bit his lower lip repeatedly, deep in thought.

At last, he let out a long sigh, gazed up at the azure sky, and reached out to shake Yang Dong's hand.

"Director Yang, I will cooperate to the fullest!"