Binjiang Police Affairs

Chapter 1456 - 244: Holding Back Without Releasing

The branch has made such a big mistake that it even got the Fire Department involved. Mere reflection is not enough; we must quickly take some actual actions to provide an explanation to our superiors.In order to cover the gap created by the Fire Brigade’s strict law enforcement, we have offended the "patron." The funding for the second half of the year might be out of reach, so we must quickly provide an explanation to the leadership of the Binjiang Port Group.

Minister Yang’s suggestion can be considered a win-win, as long as we can tell the "story" well, both sides can have an explanation.

Director Qi dared not delay further and immediately invited Minister Yang to get to work, while he and Political Commissar Dong hurried back to the branch to await news.

As Minister Yang mentioned earlier, during the major fire inspections and rectifications by the Changhang Bureau, several piers at Binjiang Port were investigated, which made President Liu and President Xu of the Group very angry.

President Xu went to No.3 Pier to inspect work the day before yesterday and happened to encounter Deputy Director Yan of the Binjiang Police Station and full-time fire police Old Wu, who were checking the rectification situation at No.3 Pier.

As soon as President Xu saw them, he became furious and pointed at their noses, scolding them for "biting the hand that feeds them," saying that even a dog would wag its tail at its master!

Even the cadres and workers on the pier were filled with righteous indignation, saying behind the scenes that the Group had raised a pack of thankless wretches for so many years and didn’t know how long they would continue...

In short, we must show some color to those "internal security" guys at the Changhang Bureau who take money but do nothing, otherwise, public anger cannot be appeased!

President Xu had already informed the finance department that the Group’s funds were tight, and all previously arranged funds were "frozen." In the future, any fund allocations had to be reconsidered.

Seeing Minister Yang knock and walk in, President Xu was quite surprised: "Old Yang, something on your mind?"

"President Xu, those two from the Changhang Bureau just came to see me."

"They still have the nerve to come!" President Xu snorted coldly, inviting Minister Yang to sit while curiously asking, "What did they want with you?"

Minister Yang scratched his head, slightly helpless, and said, "They might think my family’s Yang San’er is also with the Changhang Police, and I should be easier to talk to, so they wanted to get some news from me."

Back when the Binjiang Port Group was still the Binjiang Port Authority, the Authority was indeed the real superior of the then Binjiang Port Police Station, managing both personnel and funding.

Now the Port Authority has turned into the Binjiang Port Group, and the Binjiang Port Police Station has become the Changhang Bureau, so the Group can only exert control over them financially.

Controlling the finances is still beneficial.

President Xu was in a much better mood, picked up a cigarette from the table, handed one to Minister Yang, and laughed: "If they’re trying to get intel from you, then they must be scared."

"They eat from our table and drink from our glasses. If we just cut off their funding, they’ll starve. How could they not be scared?"

"Being scared is fine. If we don’t show them some colors, they’ll forget who they are! We must teach them a lesson this time, let them reflect on whose rice they’re eating and whose pot they’re carrying!"

The leadership truly was angry.

Resolving the leader’s anger makes things easier.

Minister Yang, now with a clear mind, hesitated a bit deliberately before saying, "President Xu, I feel that freezing their funds might not be suitable."

"Why wouldn’t it be suitable?" President Xu asked instinctively.

"Firstly, although we are now a municipally-owned state enterprise, in many aspects we are still under the jurisdiction of the Changhang Bureau. When the Ministry of Transport handed us over to the city, they made it very clear that as long as we are a port and shipping enterprise, we must bear the expenses of the port and shipping police.

There are documents from the superiors, and there was an agreement at the time of transfer. If we withhold their funds, they will surely get anxious. If this matter escalates to the Changhang Bureau and they involve city leaders, it will become very troublesome."

Minister Yang did not want the leadership to feel that he was biting the hand that feeds him, so he continued, "This kind of thing has happened before. When He Bin was director and did not respect Secretary Miao, Secretary Miao withheld their funds, and as a result, He Bin acted recklessly, escalating the matter to Hanwu. Ultimately, the superiors clearly confirmed their authority over port and port area water domain security and jurisdiction."

When He Bin was the director at the Binjiang Branch, the relationship with the Port Authority was indeed very tense, but that was a true power struggle!

The Security Department, supported by the Municipal Police Bureau, set up the Economic Police Team, "re-employing" retired old police officers from the Changhang Bureau to play an active role, organized the economic police to participate in crackdowns, cooperated with the Port District Bureau in solving cases and pursuing fugitives, and even took over the security of several piers and yards, leaving the Changhang Bureau with only a passenger terminal.

At that time, He Bin, the director of the Changhang Bureau, realized the seriousness of the problem. If the Economic Police Team grew too powerful, the Changhang Bureau would have no reason to continue to exist.

Since the survival of the Changhang Bureau was at stake, He Bin’s reaction was very intense at that time. He not only collaborated with Salted Fish to make a case out of solving crimes, but he also risked being perceived by the superiors as an incompetent director, escalating the matter to Hanwu, alarming the leaders of the Changhang Police Bureau and even the Changhang Bureau!

Due to their significant backing, the Port Authority’s plans fell through.

Later, when Director Qi took office, he started wrestling with the Water Police Station. After more than a year of open and covert struggles, despite not having the overall strength of the Water Police Station, they managed to, leveraging their strong background and connection, secure the supervisory and jurisdictional rights over water firefighting management for the entire Yangtze River Binjiang section!

In the first half of this year, they again secured jurisdiction over security management in the Linghai Port District.

In short, that group of "internal security" is ineffective at everything, but they are experts at vying for power and gain.

He Bin dares to take risks, and Qi is just as willing to throw caution to the wind. When pushed to the limit, he might not care if his superiors think he lacks leadership ability.

President Xu realized that Minister Yang was not exaggerating, lit a cigarette, and signaled for Minister Yang to continue.

"Secondly, Changhang Police is soon going to change its system. Even if we withhold their funding, how many months can we do that? Once they become part of the administrative system and employees like the local police, receiving government salaries, we will have even less control over them."

Afraid that the leaders might not understand, Minister Yang reminded again: "They say enemies should be reconciled rather than made. If we cut their funding now, they will definitely hold a grudge. When they no longer need us to provide funding, they will surely seek revenge."

They are more likely to mess things up rather than achieve anything. If, by any chance, they keep watch over us all the time, constantly finding faults, always looking for trouble, what can we do then?"

President Xu nodded, then shook his head as he thought: "Old Yang, what you said makes sense, but the problem is their wings aren’t strong enough yet. They are still spending our money and eating our food, yet they want to break our rice bowl! If we don’t discipline them a little, how can we manage the team, and how can we answer to the entire group’s cadre and staff!"

Minister Yang was waiting for this and promptly replied: "President Xu, we must certainly discipline them, otherwise how can we reflect the authority of the group’s Party committee? However, once the arrow is shot, it cannot be taken back. Rather than sending out the arrow of cutting their funding, holding it back might be more intimidating to them."

"What do you mean by holding it back?"

"We don’t want Qi to blow things up, and Qi doesn’t want to reach a breaking point with us either. After all, if it really reaches that point, it would mean he can’t maintain a good relationship even with the Port and Shipping Enterprises that provide them with funding, proving his incompetence as a director."

Minister Yang chuckled before continuing: "That’s probably why he came to me to inquire about the situation."

President Xu nodded: "Go on."

"Cutting the funding is effective, but it shouldn’t be used lightly. It’s entirely possible to keep it on hand, make them feel a sense of crisis, make them realize they have to give an account to our group’s Party committee!"

"Holding back, subdue the enemy without fighting, interesting idea. Old Yang, do you have a more specific plan?"

"The fines were issued by Salted Fish, and the detentions were made by Salted Fish, but Salted Fish didn’t earn much salary from us or eat much of our food. When he breaks our rice bowl, we can’t do anything about him for the time being."

Minister Yang paused, then laughed: "But we can make an example by dealing with the current Fire Brigade Captain, Li Mingsheng. He dared to be disloyal, so we can’t let him continue as captain, showing others what happens when they disrespect our group’s Party committee."

Recently, there have been fines, arrests, and orders for rectifications, all at the behest of Salted Fish, but specifically implemented by Li Mingsheng, the ingrate.

Compared to the untouchable Salted Fish, dealing with Li Mingsheng, the ingrate raised by the Port Authority for over twenty years, is just right!

The more President Xu thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. He couldn’t help but smile and ask: "How to make an example?"

"Qi came to inquire with me earlier; I seized the opportunity and released the news that the group’s Party committee is very displeased and plans to deal with them."

Minister Yang paused and continued: "He was indeed scared, quite eager to remedy. I said there’s only one way, to adjust the current Fire Brigade Captain. Our group arranges someone to be the captain, otherwise, sit back and watch!"

"What did Qi say?"

"He’s panicked, saying this is against the rules, that the personnel in the bureau is now managed by Hanwu, not like before when managed by the Port Authority."

Minister Yang lit a second cigarette, striking while the iron was hot, laughed: "I didn’t hold back, clearly told him you must obey the one who provides for you. Seeing I was serious, he compromised, tried to bargain, only agreed to adjust Li Mingsheng."

"No, just adjusting Li Mingsheng is not enough, the Fire Brigade Captain must be a cadre appointed by us!"

"I think so too. After all, firefighting is different from other work, and we must secure this crucial position of Fire Brigade Captain."

President Xu’s thoughts became clearer, drumming on the table, smiling said: "Old Yang, you can release more news, saying that the city will come to audit our group. We provide so much funding to their bureau each year, where exactly is this money spent, we should audit them equally!"

Minister Yang hadn’t expected that President Xu would extend the idea, couldn’t help but laugh: "President Xu, this is a good move, I don’t believe they’ll have no issues with their use of funding."

"To simplify a big issue, very simple. Adjust Li Mingsheng’s position, let Fang Guoya become Fire Brigade Captain."

Oh my!

He unexpectedly pointed to Fang Guoya.

But then again, it makes sense to first think of Fang Guoya since there are few dedicated firefighting cadres in the group.

Minister Yang found it amusing; President Xu, contemplating, said with undeniable certainty: "Firefighting is different from security, at least for us it’s very important. Make it clear to them, not only should Fang Guoya serve as Fire Brigade Captain, but he should also be part of the bureau’s Party committee. Otherwise, he won’t have a voice!"

Minister Yang was incredulous, exclaimed: "President Xu, entering the bureau’s Party committee is equivalent to becoming a deputy director; Qi can’t decide this."

President Xu firmly stated: "That’s their business; let them figure it out, let them do the work! If they want to simplify the big issue, they must accept our terms; we’re not negotiating with them!"