The conspiracy of the courtyard

Chapter 195 Wrong Direction

After listening to Li Dakuan's father's story, Lu Zixuan did not doubt the authenticity of it. There was nothing abnormal in his eyes, speaking speed, expression, or body movements. If this was true, then Boss Zhang was indeed a big suspect.

No wonder when Lu Zixuan tried to talk to Zhang Laoer based on the truth he knew, the effect was completely different from what he expected. It turned out that he had preconceived ideas, found the wrong point of contradiction, and went in the wrong direction.

Since there were all these grudges in the past, the Zhang family chose to eliminate the trouble forever in order to take revenge on Li Dakuan or to keep the secret of the child, which is a more reliable reason than killing someone because of a woman.

Lu Zixuan comforted Old Man Li with a few words, and sent him home on the pretext of helping them redress their grievances as soon as possible. Then he came to Zhang's house again.

With a new discovery, Lu Zixuan asked Zhang Laoer again:

"Just now, news came from the county. According to your brother, your son and Captain Li's eldest daughter seem to have unusual backgrounds. Do you have anything to say?"

Zhang Laoer blurted out:

"Big girl? What's wrong with her? She looks just like her mother."

After saying this, he was stunned, thought about it, and laughed out loud:

"Isn't he a descendant of the Li family? No wonder Li Dakuan has been beating his wife every day since his sister died. It turns out he is a living cuckold. I thought he was avenging his sister.

Haha…this is the retribution for the Li family’s evil hearts.

You see I have a grudge against the Li family, so you suspect I beat him to death, right? I'm sorry to disappoint you. On the day he died, all of us in the village were digging mud from the ditch. It must have been done by the adulterer of the Li family's wife."

Lu Zixuan had been carefully observing Zhang Laoer's every move while he was talking, and guessed that when Li Dakuan was cuckolded, he felt surprised, excited, and had the pleasure of revenge.

Besides, when the whole village was digging pond mud together, they exhaled slowly and unconsciously, and lowered their shoulders, feeling a sense of relief, as if they had accomplished an important task.

From this, we can infer that he did not know the relationship between Boss Zhang and Li's wife, but he deliberately mentioned that he was not in the county that day because he had already planned it and was waiting for someone to ask.

Someone must have taught him that Zhang Lao Da is the more suspicious, so there is no need to waste time in the village. Two people were arranged to stay in the village temporarily to watch Zhang Lao Er, and Lu Zixuan took the others back to the county.

He first reported what Old Man Li said to Old Chen, but what surprised him was that Old Chen turned a blind eye to such a thing.

Lao Chen laughed and explained:

“You are young, so it’s normal that you don’t understand. Not only in rural areas, there are many such cases in cities as well.

It is not uncommon to choose some bizarre ways to reproduce, such as taking concubines, sharing wives, having same husbands, borrowing sperm, surrogacy, swapping wives, etc.

This is not our focus. We just need to investigate the matter thoroughly, reduce conflicts among the masses and maintain the image of the government.

This is the result of my arranging people to investigate the surrounding areas, as well as some cadres' self-reports and documents issued by the province. Try to find out the problem.

By the way, I have already called Sijiu City and the province and asked the police to leave. We are no longer in danger and there is no need to mobilize a large force. Too many people will make it difficult to act."

After taking the materials and studying them carefully, Lu Zixuan made a summary.

People living nearby said that the county government has not stopped collecting public grain in the past two years, just the amount is different. But what is certain is that the commune has absolutely no grain reserves and relies entirely on allocations from the county.

The documents issued by the province were all grain transfer notices, some of which were about allocating grain to other counties, some urging the release of grain at low prices, and some orders to hand in stored grain.

The cadres also said that there was no grain in the granaries. Although their wages had been raised a lot since the famine, they had not received any welfare grain allocated by the government. Like the rest of the people, they also bought grain at the market.

Lu Zixuan paid special attention to personnel arrangements. The person in charge of agricultural production was the county magistrate's cousin; the person in charge of grain reserves was the county magistrate's nephew; and the person in charge of financial power was the county magistrate's son-in-law.

It feels like all the criticism is directed at the county magistrate, who forcibly collected public grain, disobeyed orders from his superiors, deprived cadres of their interests, developed nepotism, and was even suspected of embezzling grain from grain depots.

But what is surprising is that no one reported the incident to higher authorities. If the vandalism had not resulted in murder, no one would have been alarmed.

However, the people from the provincial government only reported that the county magistrate was ambitious and had engaged in fraud, and removed him from his post, calling the matter a hasty one. They did not expel him from the party or his public office. This was too obvious a favoritism.

Lu Zixuan was a little confused and asked:

"Why do I feel like everyone is defending this county chief who made a serious mistake? Although no one is trying to excuse him, there is a cover-up everywhere."

Lao Chen reminded:

"Don't understand? Take a closer look at the grain prices. Aren't you the one who advocates the exchange of interests? Who has made the biggest profit? Who has suffered the biggest loss?"

Lu Zixuan carefully studied the fluctuations in grain prices and analyzed that when the county magistrate was in office, there were no flat or low prices, only high-priced grain on sale, and the price was slightly higher than before the disaster, but very small.

On the contrary, after he was dismissed, the price rose sharply, and low prices and affordable prices also appeared, but the quantity was too small. This shows that someone has changed the management model, which is equivalent to negating all the practices of the former county magistrate.

These should belong to two management methods. The former is based on fairness, while the latter is based on differences. There is no distinction between good and bad.

As for profit, it seems that it has always been the people who sell grain at high prices. There is no difference, it is just a matter of how much.

Cadres and government employees can also be considered beneficiaries. Although their salaries have been reduced, they have now gained benefits which are much better than before. The only losers are the masses, who have to spend more to buy food.

It shouldn't be considered a loss, it's just a return to normal management methods, which is the same across the country.

After hearing the summary, Lao Chen smiled and said:

"You only notice these things because you have been living in this mode and have been assimilated. Look at the death toll. When he was in office, apart from normal birth, aging, illness and death, very few people starved to death.

What about after the dismissal? It increased more than five times. Of course, compared with other counties, this is normal, but how about compared with before?

I didn't understand it at first, but after I figured it out, I realized that this person was very wise, and the province's decision not to take any action was very wise. If it hadn't been for this accident, he would have definitely been reused after the disaster.

As for the reason, only when you figure it out yourself can you truly understand it."

Lu Zixuan was feeling a little sleepy and didn't want to think about it. He told Lao Chen about Zhang Laoer's reaction and his own analysis. Lao Chen didn't comment but just handed him a stack of information.

He took it mechanically, not knowing what Lao Chen meant, and picked up Boss Zhang's resume and the cadres' materials to look at them.

Boss Zhang went to college during the warlord period and was one of the few top students in the county. After graduation, he did not stay in the local area to work, but chose to return home.

The county also made arrangements for his work, appointing him as the vice principal of the county's public school. He was later transferred to the commune as vice president, and then jumped up one level at a time to become the current deputy county magistrate.

Lu Zixuan suddenly noticed that the column for political status actually said "non-partisan". After reading further, he found out that Zhang Lao Da had never joined the party. It should be that the organization did not approve his application to join the party.

This is very important. It is difficult to be entrusted with important tasks if you are not a party member. No matter how high the official position is, it is only a nominal position with no real power.

Thinking about his act of marrying into the family, it seems that he will rise step by step with the promotion of his father-in-law, but he will never form a power. Lu Zixuan chuckled and said:

"This has completely ended his career. This father-in-law is really ruthless."

Old Chen sighed and said:

“This may be a helpless move. It is said that the county magistrate has only this one daughter, and she almost always grants his requests.

The information said that this girl went to the same school as Zhang Lao Da. She was a true gifted girl and an outstanding person in every aspect. However, she was very stubborn. She refused to marry the senior military officer chosen by her father and decided to marry Zhang Lao Da, a rural boy.

I have seen this photo of the boss. He does look good, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, a square face, and a sweet mouth.

After revealing his identity, he kept calling me Uncle Chen as soon as he saw me, but he forgot that this was a taboo. Maybe his father-in-law never taught him this. He is still being interrogated. Do you want to go over and take a look?

Don’t just listen to the theory, you need to practice it to gain a thorough understanding.”

Lu Zixuan particularly dislikes Phoenix Men and love-brained people and is reluctant to go, but Lao Chen's words that there will be unexpected gains pique his interest.