The Longgang County Government Guesthouse was expanded and renovated to become the Longgang Hotel. Its Friendship Hotel was added with an additional floor and renamed the VIP Building, which also serves as the dining and entertainment venue of the Longgang Hotel.
There are only three people in a private room on the third floor of the VIP building: Lu Ming, the county's deputy governor Gao Shaoting, and the county court's chief judge Pei Yuankun.
Pei Yuankun is over sixty years old, with a gray beard and wearing a green robe. However, his triangular eyes occasionally roll up and his look becomes a little fierce, and it seems that the old man was not a good person when he was young.
Pei Yuankun was invited by Gao Shaoting. When he heard Gao Shaoting introduce Lu Ming as "Boss Lu", he smiled slightly. From his expression, it was obvious that he had heard something about the upcoming fight in the county.
"Old Pei, you may not know that, in fact, half of the land in our county now belongs to Boss Lu!" Gao Shaoting smiled slightly.
Gao Shaoting is in charge of civil affairs and is the final person in charge of land changes in this county.
In fact, all of Zhujiang Industrial’s real estate transactions were handled personally by Gao Shaoting and his cronies.
Gao Shaoting now attributes all the land purchased by Zhujiang Industrial to Lu Ming. In reality, he was just bragging on behalf of Boss Lu. However, he didn't expect that his big talk was not much different from the truth.
However, although Gao Shaoting believed that Zhujiang Industrial was a company jointly funded by many shareholders of Donghai Capital, even if Boss Lu was just an economic figure who was in charge of running the business, nowadays, he also represented the common interests of those big capitals.
Old Gong let him handle the real estate purchase as a means to win him over.
Gao Shaoting had a long career in Longgang, but he was never the one to be the county magistrate. From a certain perspective, he was just a high-ranking official in the county. Without someone above him, it was impossible for him to become the head of a county.
Although all the successive county magistrates could not do without him after he came here, they were just tools and just gave him some benefits.
Old Gong was the first person to hint that he would be the spokesperson for the county lord who would help him advance his career.
Lu Ming could feel that although Gao Shaoting seemed to be still doing what he was supposed to do and assisting the acting governor impartially in doing the work he was told to do, his heart had already been warmed.
Today, taking the initiative to invite Pei Yuankun to meet with me is a signal.
Pei Yuankun is also a local veteran, and he and Gao Shaoting are brothers in distress. The two families have a good relationship and are said to be somewhat related.
Although the problems faced by Pei Yuankun and Gao Shaoting were different, they were similar.
In Montenegro, county chiefs are locals, although according to federal law, judges are appointed for life.
Ordinary cases are fine, but as long as it involves the relatives of county officials or sensitive cases, the court is basically the mouthpiece of the county office and can only judge the case according to the voice of the county office. There is no judicial independence at all.
Gao Shaoting and Pei Yuankun have been in their positions for more than 20 years and have become numb to the money they make, so naturally they will have higher aspirations.
Old Gong is very accurate in this point.
Lu Ming was thinking about these things, and after listening to Gao Shaoting's introduction that half of the county's land had become his, he smiled slightly.
There is no doubt that Gao Shaoting sent a very clear signal, and he was also very confident that Pei Yuankun would also join Pan Xianzun's new interest group, so he told him directly about such secret matters.
Pei Yuankun's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he smiled and said, "Boss Lu is not only a famous landlord in Donghai, but also the largest landlord in Longgang! We are in the legal field, so we must serve you well. More and more elites from Donghai are coming to Longgang, which is a blessing for us Longgang people."
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Pei Guan, I am also from Longgang now, right?"
"Haha, yes, we should clarify what Boss Lu said!" Pei Yuankun laughed, and said, "Boss Lu is a young talent. Calling you boss smells too much of money. Master Lu, come, I'll toast you a glass!" As he spoke, he picked up the wine glass.
Lu Ming smiled and clinked his glass with his. He had caused quite a stir here, especially with the lawsuit in Montenegro, so even if Lao Pei was just a decoration as a lawyer, he would have channels to find out about him.
Seeing Pei Yuankun's attitude, Gao Shaoting smiled even more happily and raised his glass, "Master Lu, I'll toast you a glass as well." He smiled again and said, "Old Pei, when we retire, with Master Lu as the matchmaker, we can go to the East China Sea to retire, wouldn't that be great?"
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Then you two have to wait a long time. At least you have to stay in Longgang and Heishan for a few more decades to make contributions and shine, so as to be worthy of our fellow Longgang people, right?"
Old Gong had also hinted to Gao Shaoting that they should go to Donghai. Even if you fail in the fight in the end, you can always use Donghai as a retreat. It's a glamorous world there, and under Boss Lu's care, you will be able to live comfortably with your savings.
Gao Shaoting laughed even louder after hearing what Lu Ming said: "I hope so!"
"Master Lu, I heard that your bookstore was raided by Zeng Xiangchen's people?" Pei Yuankun took the initiative to bring up this topic.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Yes, I copied it yesterday. When my people went to sign, the books I seized in the police station warehouse were all privately printed books and pornographic books. They are legal in Donghai, but they cannot be sold to minors. Locally, they are strictly prohibited and are called pornographic books, right?"
"Oh..." Pei Yuankun began to ponder.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Don't worry, Pei Guan. We took photos of the books that were confiscated. It's clear what books were taken. I think there was a mistake with the books in the warehouse. My people didn't sign. The police station should correct the mistake and it won't be as troublesome as a lawsuit."
Pei Yuankun was startled and said with a smile: "So it's not Master Lu's book."
I was originally thinking about how to deal with this matter, but I didn't expect that it was Zeng Xiangchen who was behind it.
It makes sense. Such a talented man from the East China Sea came to this remote place just to sell pornographic books and earn a few cents? It's a bit funny.
Lu Ming laughed again and said, "What's interesting is that more than a dozen thieves came into my bookstore last night. They were all caught by my security guards. Some confessed that they came to steal cameras, films, photos, etc. Several of them were carrying box guns. The security in Longgang is too poor. The thieves all have guns. Is the police station underfunded?"
Gao Shaoting and Pei Yuankun looked at each other, unable to speak.
Lu Ming shook his head: "Pei Guan, I will send him to the court this afternoon. Please assign a judge to hear this case then."
The counties under the Black Mountain were originally the prototypes of the procuratorial system. In many cases, criminal cases also required private prosecution. It was similar to the feudal era in the past. When thieves and robbers were caught, they were taken to the county government office to ask the county magistrate to try the case and punish them. However, nowadays, they are taken to the court and sentenced by the judge.
Pei Yuankun hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Master Lu, don't worry, I understand."
Gao Shaoting smiled bitterly in his heart, it seemed that Er Zeng was in big trouble.
Originally, Agent Gong mentioned today that he had recently received a lot of materials reporting on Zeng Xiangfan, and was planning to hold a meeting in the afternoon to discuss them.
Who would have thought that the police station where Xiang Chen was once the chief would have such a thing happen again.
It sounds like Zeng Xiangchen had closed down the bookstore to disgust Young Master Lu, and the books were swapped in the warehouse and turned into pornographic ones.
Unexpectedly, Master Lu’s bookstore was clearly visible and photos were taken when it was sealed off.
If you have money, you can do whatever you want. I guess every book has a photo
After the police learned about this, they tried to steal cameras and photos from the Chen faction last night. They thought that if they alerted people, it would turn into a robbery, so many people brought guns.
Who knew that they were all caught by Young Master Lu's bodyguards.
Young Master Lu didn't say it explicitly, but I think his confession revealed everything.
These two Zengs are so used to bullying others in Longgang that they have no idea how big the world outside is.
It is obvious that the negotiations with the Hu family have broken down, but he still insists on staying and competing with the Hu family.
How capable are you in dealing with such a political capital group? You are so eager to get involved and leave no way out.
Or maybe I've been eating too many free meals over the years and have lost my sense of the immensity of the world.
But then again, a dozen armed police officers went to rob a bookstore and were captured in one fell swoop.
Moreover, there was no noise at all about what happened at night, not even a single gunshot was heard.
Boss Lu's bookstore is truly a place of hidden talents.
Thinking about it, Gao Shaoting's face was a little heavy, and he sighed, "Yes, ever since the bandit problem in the Black Mountain in the county was gradually quelled, Hei Laoliu was incorporated, Lao Chai was wiped out, and the Whirlwind Horse disappeared, I thought the world was peaceful, but the county has become more and more chaotic. Therefore, Gong Dai County Lord is going to implement an emergency state of suppressing rebellion in the whole county from 3 o'clock this afternoon. It means to take drastic measures. The county's police company will go to the streets for duty, and the county's militia organizations will also be mobilized to wait for orders."
This is confidential. The only people who know the news now are a few of Agent Gong’s close confidants.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the officials of the county office held a meeting. At the same time, the entire county entered a state of emergency and implemented the management regulations during the period of suppressing the rebellion.
Gao Shaoting told this to Pei Yuankun, to prevent him from having any other ideas after hearing that he was going to compete with Er Zeng.
Moreover, Gao Shaoting even suspected that after three o'clock in the afternoon, Agent Gong might directly arrest the two Zengs, but he was not sure.
The one who was most afraid of knowing the real action plan was the security company chief Lin Huli.
Because it is adjacent to the Heishan Mountains, there are often bandit problems, and the coal mining area is very chaotic, Longgang County has always had an independent security company, also called a security battalion.
Looking at Lu Ming, Gao Shaoting smiled and said, "I heard that Captain Lin Huli has a bad temper, but at the critical moment, he still understands the greater good."
Until now, Gao Shaoting still couldn't figure out when Agent Gong recruited that loser Lin Huli under his command.
He was a well-known loser, but he inherited a large fortune and had a dream of becoming a general, so he spent a huge amount of money to buy such a job.
However, military discipline was lax under his rule. He launched several large-scale anti-bandit campaigns, but was defeated whenever he encountered Hei Laoliu or Lao Chai.
This coward has a strong personality and often takes out his family wealth to distribute to his "brothers". From this point of view, he is unanimously supported by his subordinates.
But Lin Huli was a very stubborn man. He followed the ancients and thought that since he was a famous general, he should be kind to his subordinates and have the courage to fight against his superiors.
Therefore, no matter whether it was official documents from the Longgang County Office or the Black Mountain Guard Regiment, he often disobeyed orders and made various phone calls back with sufficient reasons, but most of the time, they were all perverse reasons.
If it weren't for the fact that the Longgang Guard Company was really unprofitable and dangerous, and he had spent a lot of money to buy this position, he would have been dismissed long ago.
I don’t know how Agent Gong managed to subdue such a freak. Otherwise, the people of Donghai must have a way.
Gao Shaoting was thinking about all sorts of things and wanted to get some inside information from Boss Lu, so he mentioned Lin Huli.
Lu Ming smiled. Old Gong was indeed amazing in this respect. He only realized it now. From the first day Old Gong came to Longgang, he had been keeping an eye on the security company and had been studying Lin Huli.
He prescribed the right medicine according to Lin Huli's personality, often told him stories of famous generals, bought him books on the latest military equipment from the East China Sea, and equipped all his personal guards with assault rifles.
What's even more terrible is to tell him how the top leaders of the five provinces in the south of the Yangtze River are incompetent and dark, and that they should be overthrown.
A man should have great ambitions, regard the suffering of the people as his own suffering, comfort the people and punish the criminals, and accomplish great things.
Lin Huli now regards Lao Gong as his life mentor and thinks he is a member of the anti-imperialist organization, but it is a tacit understanding.
Old Gong originally looked down upon Lin Huli, thinking that he had great ambitions but little talent, and was just fooling him like a fool.
But gradually, Old Gong said that he quite likes this child now. Although he is too naive and ignorant, his childlike heart is sometimes embarrassing.
Although I have never met Lin Huli, he sounds like a very interesting person.
Hearing Gao Shaoting talking about Lin Huli, Lu Ming smiled and said, "Mr. Lin is quite unique." He raised his glass and said, "Come, let's drink. You two are free to come and go freely during the period of suppressing the rebellion. I'm afraid I will be locked up in the bookstore. I need to prepare some food in advance."