Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 457 - 322: The United People of Liangzhuang

Chapter 457: Chapter 322: The United People of Liangzhuang

Liangzhuang breeds talent, and Han Yu had learned this long ago.

But only after leaving, did he realize how united the people of Liangzhuang were.

Riding in the Santana provided by Manager Liu of Liangzhuang Construction Station in the Special Economic Zone, and following sixteen students from Gaozhou who came to work, he had just returned to the Qing’an City Shenzhen Office in Hui’an Province when Manager Liu, who had been waiting long, took him to a hotel saying that folks from the hometown in the Special Economic Zone had heard that someone from their hometown had come and wanted to give him, this pseudo-local, a welcome dinner.

Overwhelmed by the hospitality, he followed Manager Liu to the hotel’s private room and, after introductions were made, he was surprised to find quite a number of Liangzhuang people in the Special Economic Zone.

The one with the highest position was Director Xu, Vice Secretary-General of Qing’an City Government and also part of the Residence Office, but the most influential was Vice President Li from a subsidiary of Shenzhen Construction Company.

Vice President Li, like Director Xu, was a military transfer official, originally an infrastructure engineer soldier.

In September 1983, more than twenty thousand engineering soldiers collectively transferred to civilian work, forming companies by brigade, turning regiments into subsidiaries, battalions into engineering teams, and companies into sections responsible for building projects, making them the first pioneers of construction in the Special Economic Zone.

Recalling the past, President Li expressed deep emotion, "When we first arrived, this place was just a small fishing village. At the train station, stepping off the train, the square was full of potholes, sewage flowing everywhere, a barren scene, and no local young people in sight, only middle-aged people around forty or fifty years old. It was really impoverished.

At that time, we were stationed near the current City Government building where none of the ’three connections’—roads, water, electricity—had been achieved. Our first night here, there was no water, so we couldn’t cook. The nearby residents were very kind, letting us use the water from their wells, which solved our cooking dilemma.

However, when it came time to sleep, another setback occurred. We had no houses, just bamboo sheds. Our battalion’s warriors lay down only to discover snakes slipping into their bedding, which showed how desolate the Special Economic Zone was at the time."

President Li’s wife, Sister Qian, also from Liangzhuang, had joined the army early and came with President Li that year.

Thinking back on the hardships when they first arrived, she said in Mandarin with a thick Liangzhuang accent, "The area around the bamboo forest, where over nine thousand engineering soldiers set up sheds on the hillside, forty-something people crammed into each shed. It was extremely hot regularly, but whenever it rained, the mud from the hill would wash under the beds.

Even though the nearby villagers had wells, there were too many of us and the water from a few wells wasn’t sufficient. We could only collect rainwater when it rained, and at other times, we drank whatever water was available, even from the ponds!"

Now the Special Economic Zone is filled with high-rise buildings, like a vast construction site, and even more skyscrapers are under construction. Who could have imagined that ten years ago there was nothing here.

Han Yu sighed, "It was very tough."

"We were originally engineering soldiers. No matter where we went before the reorganization, it was desolate when we arrived and glorious when we left. Initially, life here was indeed harsh, but that was nothing compared to later."

"President Li, shouldn’t it have gotten better over time?"

"In theory, it should have gotten better, but we had to face a change in identity. Although it was tough before, whether it was essential goods for life or raw materials for construction, everything was supplied by our superiors, the salary wasn’t high, but it was paid on time every month, and the warriors had allowances.

After the reorganization, everything depended on ourselves. At first, there were not as many jobs as now, and just hard work was not useful. We had to enter the market, competing for projects everywhere. Former officers became managers, running around looking for jobs, from small tasks like installing electric meters, repairing toilets, any kind of dirty and tiring work, as long as it was paid."

Sister Qian added with a wry smile, "Some comrades, in order to support their families, even went to the station to work part-time pulling carts and luggage, going to the funeral home to help carry bodies!"

They used to be an engineering troop and suddenly became a construction enterprise, no longer dependent on the state’s provisions, everything was on their own, and it was quite tough.

Realizing this, Han Yu couldn’t help but feel respect.

President Li, unaware of what the young local was thinking, glanced at Manager Liu from Liangzhuang Construction Station’s Special Economic Zone division, and said reflectively, "It was tough finally completing the transition in identity and entering the market, finding work, but an even greater challenge followed.

We could handle rough work but not the finer tasks. Digging pits, laying foundations, we engineering soldiers took such labor-intensive tasks seriously and did them well, but we couldn’t do fine work like curving glass designs.

The structure of the workforce needed adjustment, and the proportion of technical talent had to increase. Company leadership traveled to universities nationwide, recruiting knowledgeable and skilled professionals. Meanwhile, they encouraged staff to attend training in electricianship, carpentry, etc.

But long-term solutions couldn’t quench immediate thirst, so I thought of the hometown construction station and immediately called Secretary Lu. Upon learning about the urgent need here for technical staff and experienced technicians, Secretary Lu immediately instructed President Wang to organize technical resources to help."

Holding up his glass, Manager Liu smiled, "I was part of the first batch to come, time flies so fast, it’s already been eleven years."

Dealing with civil constructions, Liangzhuang Construction Station was definitely more professional than the construction enterprises formed from the reorganized engineering troops.

While helping President Li, Secretary Lu also opened up the construction market in the Special Economic Zone for Liangzhuang Construction Station.

Due to qualifications and financial strength, although Liangzhuang Construction Station didn’t have any main contracting projects in the Special Economic Zone, it had over a dozen subcontracted projects.

Many construction sites, especially those of the Shenzhen Construction Company, had construction teams from Liangzhuang Construction Station.

With over eight hundred Liangzhuang people working here, and the salaries being relatively high, although construction work is tough, the yearly income would not be less than ten thousand.

This was equivalent to creating over eight hundred millionaires, benefiting over eight hundred families!

Dinghu also had a construction station, affiliated under Binjiang Seventh Construction, but had few projects outside the region. During a recent visit to Si Gang with his father-in-law, he heard from the villagers that many tile workers, carpenters, and electricians were working at Liangzhuang Construction Station.

Han Yu was inwardly reflecting on how important it is for a town to have a capable secretary, when President Li curiously asked, "Xiao Han, I heard that the county intends to merge our Liangzhuang into Dinghu. We seldom go back, but you and your father-in-law often return home, have you heard anything about this?"

"I’ve heard a bit, it seems to be the case."

"Dinghu is a mess, how can our Liangzhuang be merged into Dinghu!"

"With Secretary Lu around, it shouldn’t be merged so quickly."

Upon recalling the discussions he had heard during the Spring Festival dinner in Liangzhuang, Han Yu continued, "Liangzhuang lacks a police station. Last year, Si Gang Police Bureau planned to have Dinghu Police Station take over the household registration of Liangzhuang. Secretary Lu disagreed, and so did the old cadres and the masses in Liangzhuang, who even reported the situation to the county. Seeing strong resistance, the county let the matter drop."

Director Xu, equally concerned about his hometown, further inquired, "Who manages the household registration now?"

"The town government is in charge. In other towns, household registration books are issued by police stations and bear the official seal of the police station, but in Liangzhuang, these books are issued by the town government and bear the town government’s seal."

"And what about ID cards?"

"The ID cards need to be processed at the Si Gang Police Bureau."

"This can’t go on like this."

Manager Liu from Liangzhuang Construction Station’s special project department looked up and said, "Liangzhuang is so far from Si Gang, going to the Si Gang Police Bureau to get ID cards is too troublesome, many workers haven’t applied for them. But nowadays, without an ID card, one can’t get a temporary residence permit, I’ve had to visit the police station more than a dozen times this year."

A project manager, feeling strongly, couldn’t help saying, "Manager Liu, why not reflect this to Secretary Lu?"

"We can’t trouble Secretary Lu over this minor issue. The county wants to eliminate Liangzhuang Town. Dinghu, desperately aggressive, is eying Liangzhuang, all fended off by Secretary Lu. It’s not easy for him to manage this as a family."

President Li agreed wholeheartedly and immediately changed the subject, "Xiao Han, how are things going with your case?"

"It’s going smoothly. Initially, we thought that the fraudulent school had a collaboration with enterprises in the special zone, but when we arrived, it turned out there was no such school-enterprise cooperation. Instead, it was like human traffickers, ’selling’ just-graduated students to an agency, with all job arrangements made by the agency."

"There are many such agencies around here, and the situation is quite mixed."

"Yes, on the way back from the electronic factory, I saw a lot of agencies."

Director Xu then curiously asked, "What are your plans going forward?"

Han Yu smiled and said, "The so-called teacher who brought the students here hasn’t left, and it looks like he doesn’t plan to return to Gaozhou within the next three to five days. The agency is a business and won’t shut down and leave any time soon.

The group of students who were brought here don’t have much money. Although the ’arranged’ jobs aren’t great, they need to eat, so they have to keep working at the electronic factory for now.

So I’m not in a hurry. I will wait until the situation back home is thoroughly investigated and reinforcement arrives with the necessary summoning procedures, then take the necessary action."

Director Xu inquired further, "You said yesterday that Reporter Wang would come; when will he arrive?"

"He’s already arrived in Guangzhou. He has friends there, also media journalists, and one of them is even the head of the mass work department. They provided many letters from the public reflecting similar situations, and he’s presently interviewing several universities and major enterprises in Guangzhou with their help."

"Interviewing universities for what purpose?"

"That fraudulent school claims to collaborate with several universities, and that their vocational programs are organized in cooperation with those universities."

"Is it true?"

"On the way back, I called Reporter Wang, and he confirmed that the universities said nothing of the sort."

"And interviewing the major enterprises in Guangzhou, for what?"

"That fraudulent school also claims to have school-enterprise cooperation with dozens of major enterprises in East Guang, mainly in terms of employment and workforce usage, even claiming that part of the tuition fees are covered by those enterprises. We need to verify these situations, which is why I let Xiao Gong go to Guangzhou to meet up with Reporter Wang."

President Li asked, smiling, "As long as you can confirm this, can you take them down?"

"It’s not that easy."

Everyone present was on the same side and needed each other’s help, and there was no need for secrecy. Han Yu sighed and explained, "They scammed students from Binjiang, but there might be legal disputes concerning the applicability of the law. Even if all the facts are verified, it could still be considered just likely involvement in illegal business activities."

President Li puzzledly said, "Illegal business can still be prosecuted and sentenced."

Han Yu patiently explained, "Although illegal business can result in sentencing, it falls under economic crimes, typically investigated by the business regulation department before being handed over to the police, or directly investigated by the Procuratorate. It would be out of line for us to intervene.

Furthermore, illegal business involves the crime’s location. In this case, the main crime location isn’t within our jurisdiction, which means we don’t have the authority to handle it."

Director Xu instinctively asked, "Then what do we do?"

Han Yu smiled and said, "That’s why we need to gather enough evidence to establish that they are suspected of fraud. Fraud is a criminal case, and we can confidently initiate an investigation. If we fight, we have to hit them hard; illegal business sentences are light, the main culprit might only receive a couple of years, or even just probation.

Fraud is different. If it involves a large amount of money, covers a broad area, affects many victims, and has severe consequences, we can arrest them and prosecute them severely! This would deter them from ever scamming students from Binjiang again, making them think twice before attempting fraud."

Indeed, as someone introduced by Secretary Lu, he has determination.

As part of a military transfer cadre, President Li, who always detested evil, couldn’t help asking with a smile, "Can you establish they are suspected of fraud?"

"The leaders back home are organizing legal police to study laws and regulations, and they even plan to have the Procuratorate get involved early. As long as we collect enough evidence, establishing fraud shouldn’t be a big issue."

"Great, well done. I can’t help with other areas, but if you encounter any difficulties in the special zone, give me a call. I have been in the special zone for many years and know a few people in the police system."