Binjiang Police Affairs

With the continuous economic development, many new things have emerged in the past two years.

For example, farmers want to escape the fate of facing the yellow earth with their backs to the sky, and unlike before, when they could only rely on going to school, joining the army, or being recruited by big enterprises, now they can buy urban household registrations with money, using money to achieve the carp leaping through the dragon gate.

Another example is that the party committee and government have merged and abolished many departments, and at the same time, some new departments have been established, with the system reform office being the most frequently mentioned new department in the news.

At first, I thought it was the sports reform office, only to later find out that it was actually in charge of system reform.

The city is reforming its system, so are the towns and enterprises, and even the villages are changing.

Han Yu doesn't know how other places are reforming, but he knows that the specific reform in Bailong Port can be summarized in one word---sell!

Bailong Port Long-distance Bus Station was handed over to Linghai Automobile Transport Company, which closed its doors just a few months after the handover. Initially, Linghai Automobile Transport Company left someone to watch the gate at Bailong Port, but now even the gatekeeper has been withdrawn, and now they want to sell the bus station.

Bailong Port Post Office merged into the Four Factory Post and Telecommunication Bureau, and the service hall is closed for good, and Linghai Post and Telecommunication Bureau also wants to sell the service hall.

The same with the Cooperative Society, commercial companies, and other units, but now there's hardly any hustle and bustle at Bailong Port, so who would buy those houses?

As for Bailong Port Village, they sold whatever they could a long time ago, the agricultural machinery warehouse where Xiao Yu's family used to live was bought from the village, and the village's fixed assets are now only left with the village office.

Bailong Port State-owned Inn has not been put up for sale yet, and even if there were intentions to sell, there would be no buyers.

Without guests at the inn, wages can't be paid. Most of the previous managers and service staff have found other jobs, leaving only an employee named Wu Dazhu to run the desolate inn, spending his days playing cards and chatting with small business owners like Wang Xiaoxue nearby.

Only occasionally cleaning the inn, and airing out bed sheets and bedding when in a good mood.

Washing is out of the question, anyway, there are hardly any guests staying, and even if a guest stays for one night it's only ten yuan, what can ten yuan do? Moreover, it's uncertain how many days this old inn can last.

However, the inn, which has been as quiet as a deserted temple for years, started bustling with unusual activity from yesterday evening.

The person in charge of Bailong Port's "most profitable" unit, Han Xiangning, booked the entire inn for a full two months yesterday evening, generously paying a thousand yuan!

As soon as the deal was settled here, the Four Factory Police Station sent over four auxiliary police, and Old Qian also helped to find a cook from the village.

At half past midnight, a dozen police officers came and brought back three people from somewhere.

Today at noon, Salted Fish brought back another nine people from somewhere, and the State-owned Travel Inn is almost becoming a "State-owned Detention Center."

Wu Dazhu realized this might be related to the crackdown. The police had turned the inn into a place for investigation.

There are all police secrets inside the inn, and the police don't need any service, so Wu Dazhu simply handed over a bunch of keys to Old Ding, the former police station chief of Four Factory, and sat down in Meng Hualei's feed and pharmaceutical store to play cards with neighbors.

"Old Wu, it's your turn to play a card."

"Oh..."

Comrade Old Wu came to his senses, threw down a pair of twos, and smiled as he looked up, "Xiao Meng, your Instructor Chen seemed to have just entered the inn."

Aunt Xu, who sells fruits and nuts, peered out and muttered, "Salted Fish is also in there."

Meng Hualei, unsurprised, said lightly, "They do their work, we play our cards."

Glasses Liu from the neighboring small store pondered and said, "Including those arrested at night, there are now over a dozen people locked up! Xiao Meng, what exactly did these people do?"

As a police officer's spouse, Meng Hualei inevitably had to keep secrets and said without hesitation, "Who knows what those people did, don't inquire about things you're not supposed to."

"That's right, it's a secret."

Old Wu chuckled and suddenly noticed Zhang Jiangkun carrying an electrician's bag to the inn.

Glasses Liu also noticed and asked curiously, "Xiao Meng, is Director Zhang really Salted Fish's brother-in-law?"

"It's true, he is Salted Fish's brother-in-law!"

"Salted Fish is with the police, his spouse is with Port Supervision, his sister is with the police, and his brother-in-law is the pier director. Salted Fish's family is really something, the whole family lives on the public dime."

"Yes, but the salary isn't that great."

When it comes to income, cadre teachers don't fare well.

Xiao Meng might be minding the store all day long with little business, but her income is definitely higher than Chen Zikun's, and much higher at that.

Old Wu was pondering that once the inn closes, maybe he should start a small business too, when Aunt Xu curiously asked, "Xiao Meng, what rank is Director Zhang? The previous directors were high-ranking, Old Yang from my family said it's equivalent to county-level."

Meng Hualei laughed, "What was in the past is the past, now is now, now and the past are incomparable."

"Why can't they be compared?"

"In the past, the Port Authority had administrative ranks, the director and secretary of the Port Authority were Full Bureau Level. Now, with the separation of government and enterprise, there are no such ranks, only Secretary Miao has an administrative rank, other leaders of the Port Authority do not."

"So is Director Zhang not a cadre?"

"It's not that he isn't considered a cadre, it's equivalent to a cadre in a factory. As economic construction is the focus now, the chiefs and deputy chiefs of Bailong Port Pier, Binjiang Passenger Terminal, and several freight terminals of Binjiang Port can't really be compared; to use his own words, he's just a shift leader."

...

While they were discussing Zhang Jiangkun, Zhang Jiangkun was busy pulling phone lines for the "Bailong Port Investigation Base."

The passenger terminal only has four staff members left, and the few phones previously installed had not been canceled, as they were unnecessary. It would be better to pull the lines over and install two phones for the investigating police officers to use.

The inn has plenty of rooms over its two floors, enough space.

Eighteen police officers from the Changhang Bureau, Water Police Station, and the Linghai Police Bureau's Criminal Investigation Fourth Squad are busy interrogating suspects in groups.

My brother-in-law just installed a telephone when Han Yu pulled out a phone book, found a number, and under the expectant gaze of Liu Guixiang, he got in touch with his old mentor from the Marine Police Bureau, Special Commissioner Xiao.

"Uncle Xiao, it's Han Yu. What, you already know!"

"You kid came to our place and took away half the team from the Changsheng, with the whole engineering department wiped out. With such a big incident, it's impossible for me not to know."

Han Yu couldn't help but recall the time he spent studying at the Passenger Ferry Police Team, and said with emotion, "They are the Chief Engineer, Chief Chief, Second Chief Engineer, sailors... especially Dai Xiangyuan, with a college degree, forty-nine this year, and twenty-five years of party membership.

With such a high salary, earning more than four thousand a month, and others earning more than a thousand, yet they couldn't resist the temptation of small gains. Once greed sets in, the ideological dike breaks. They've ruined their careers, brought shame to their families, and caused significant economic loss to the unit and even the country."

It's not easy to become a Chief Engineer.

Special Commissioner Xiao, no longer the ferry police envoy, shared the regret, sighing, "Besides personal greed and desire, the loopholes in the company's management are also one reason."

"Hopefully the Marine Bureau can learn from this and strengthen internal management."

"The bigger the ship, the harder it is to turn around. Strengthening internal management is easier said than done."

Having worked at the Marine Bureau for over four years, Han Yu was all too familiar with the situation there.

Over the years, there were more management and logistics personnel on shore than those who sailed. There were too many idlers and too few money-makers, and everything required connections even.

The bigger the enterprise, the more it needs reform!

Long-distance calls are quite expensive, Han Yu sighed inwardly and hurriedly brought up official business, "Uncle Xiao, although we've caught them red-handed, we still need to collect evidence, and we'll inevitably trouble you later."

Special Commissioner Xiao regained his composure and smiled, "When are you coming? I'll pick you up at the pier."

"I'd like to go back and see you guys, but I really can't get away."

"Almost forgot, you've been promoted, now you're the Deputy Division Commander, you must be really busy."

"The nation is cracking down on crime, everyone's busy right now."

"That's true, we've been swamped these few months as well."

Han Yu looked up at Liu Guixiang and got back to the point, "Uncle Xiao, our bureau's leadership plans to send our Criminal Investigation Team Deputy Division Commander Liu Guixiang over to your side. He hasn't been to East Sea much and isn't familiar with your team, so we can only ask for your help."

"No problem!"

"Should I give him your office phone number and pager number?"

"Give it to him, have him come over and look for me directly."

"Okay, thank you Uncle Xiao."

Han Yu exchanged a few more pleasantries, hung up the phone, and Liu Guixiang asked eagerly, "Salted Fish, what position does the person you were just talking to hold?"

Han Yu smiled and said, "He's the Deputy Director of the Marine Police Bureau's Criminal Investigation Department. He used to lead me; you can say he's my mentor. Be respectful when you see him."

With someone to rely on, Liu Guixiang finally felt relieved and grinned, "Your mentor is my mentor too, I assure you I'll handle things well."

Han Yu picked up a pen and quickly copied down the phone number and pager number, looking up to ask, "It seems I'm no longer needed here, when do you plan to depart?"

"We need you."

"What do you need me for?"

"Zhao Guofu's home is across the river; you need to arrange a boat to take Old Wang and Xiao Chen across."

"Has Zhao Guofu confessed?"

"Yeah, they need to cross the river to collect evidence, to pursue the embezzled assets."

Looking at his watch, Liu Guixiang continued, "Our Special Task Force is taking three different routes. Old Gu and I are heading to East Sea, and we'll head to the ferry soon to catch a passing car. Old Cheng and the others will stay here and keep interrogating those sailors."

"The boat is easy to arrange; just tell Old Wang and Xiao Chen to go directly to the Dunship to find Ningning and have her arrange a Supervision Boat to get them across."

As soon as Han Yu finished speaking, Old Jia's call came through the intercom.

"Received, please speak, Uncle Jia."

"Director Yu, a few boats at Yingchuan Port are on the move. Xiao Yu says one of them has sailed to the pier across and currently loading coal."

Han Yu instinctively stood up, holding the walkie-talkie and asked, "Where is Chen Xiaojuan?"

Old Jia, looking at the call log, gravely stated, "Chen Xiaojuan and her accomplices have boarded those two three-no boats, sailed half an hour ago, heading upstream against the current. Luo Wenjiang and Dong Bangjun have already followed them."

"They must have arranged a place to sell the stolen coal."

"That's what we think too."

"Where is Xiao Yu now?"

"He took a Supervision Boat from the Port Patrol Second Team to the pier across the river, hoping to catch the boat once it's fully loaded with coal and, under the cover of the Port Patrol Second Team comrades, sneak some pictures of the coal pile."

Han Yu pressed on, "Where does the coal at the pier across come from?"

Old Jia explained, "It's imported, brought in by a thirty-thousand-tonnage foreign ship, with all the paperwork in order. Ningning helped find out; this thirty-thousand-tonnage coal is to be transported to Jiangcheng."

Han Yu immediately frowned slightly, "Transporting thirty thousand tons all at once is a big hassle."

Considering how to catch the accomplices red-handed, various assumptions had been made beforehand.

Old Jia, of course, could hear the implications in Han Yu's words, anxiously saying, "Better report to the bureau's leadership quickly. We don't have much time left."