Chapter 3 Section 3

For Tang Chaoyang, secretary of the Changshan Municipal Party Committee, August 13, 2001 was an extremely unlucky day.It was unique in his more than 20 years of political career that two fatal events came together on the same day.During the daytime, there was a sudden rail lying incident. More than a thousand bankrupt and unemployed workers from Changshan Mining Group poured onto the Beijing-Shanghai line, almost blocking the busiest railway artery in China.After a busy day, he couldn't even catch his breath. In the evening, another fire broke out in the Big Regal Entertainment City, burning more than 150 people to death for unknown reasons. Tang Zhaoyang really wanted to cry but had no tears.

When the Big Regal Entertainment City caught fire, Tang Zhaoyang was doing research with colleagues from the Xijiao Hotel and Mining Group.Thirty thousand workers lost their jobs, and the pressure on Changshan is very heavy. The rail-sleeping incident has already happened. If you take it lightly, you don’t know what will happen next.As the secretary of the municipal party committee, Tang Zhaoyang couldn't be careless, and he didn't dare to be careless. After dinner, he asked the secretary to notify the head of the mining group to come and talk.Secretary Cheng of the group's party committee knew that it was not a good thing, so he went to the provincial capital overnight under the pretext of reporting to the provincial party committee. He only sent Huang Guoxiu, the deputy secretary of the party committee of the mining group and the leader of the bankruptcy leading group, and a few of his subordinates.Although Tang Chaoyang said he was angry, he was not easy to get angry: Mining Group is a large provincial state-owned enterprise, the power to appoint and remove cadres lies with the provincial party committee, and they report to the provincial party committee, what do you do with him?The current situation is like this, as long as you don't hold his black hat, he doesn't take you seriously.

So, when Tang Zhaoyang met Huang Guoxiu that night, Tang Zhaoyang didn't have a good face, drooped his eyelids, and criticized: "Comrade Guoxiu, we all have to take some responsibility, we can't break it up, let alone disregard social stability! You Looking at today, if the Public Security Bureau has not taken decisive measures and organized a large number of police forces, the Beijing-Shanghai line will be interrupted!" Huang Guoxiu knew everything, and said with a lost smile: "Yes, yes, Secretary Tang, our group was also very surprised by this sudden incident. I received a call from the Public Security Bureau this morning, and I immediately took people to the lying track I went to the scene, and all the work that should be done was done, and the comrades of the workers still listened to the greetings, and nothing major happened."

Tang Zhaoyang looked at Huang Guoxiu, and his tone became severe: "No big deal happened? The movement is still small? The public security police went up to nearly 2,000 people, even the city's traffic police, and arrested eight of them on the spot! Comrade Guoxiu, Don't forget: your wife Ye Zijing is our Chief Prosecutor, if you relax on this side, there will be a few more public prosecutions on her side!" Huang Guoxiu was not timid. Facing Tang Zhaoyang's stern gaze, she smiled wryly and said, "Secretary Tang, this... I was about to talk about this: Are the eight people detained for a few days and then released? And the consequences! Besides, now... we really can't intensify the conflict anymore, it's hard for everyone, especially those unemployed workers!"

Tang Zhaoyang didn't answer the topic, leaned back on the sofa, endured his anger and started to work: "Comrade Guoxiu, it's hard for unemployed workers, but isn't it hard for the city? To tell you the truth, I saw the bankruptcy plan in the province , My heart ached! So many unemployed workers are not placed elsewhere, but in our Changshan City. If they are not handled properly, social security will deteriorate sharply. The sign will appear today! Of course, for the province We also have to understand the bankruptcy decision in Li, the depletion of coalfield resources in the south is a fact, and there is no way to delay it. We all know the pain, and this knife still has to be used!"

Huang Guoxiu smiled self-deprecatingly: "Yes, yes, Secretary Tang, then understand Long live! I hope these 30,000 unemployed workers can also fully understand us, and they will all happily go home from unemployment to share their worries for the country!" As soon as he finished speaking, the smile on his face froze, and his complaints burst out, "Secretary Tang, there are no unemployed workers present today, and it's in front of your municipal party committee leader. I have to tell the truth: I'm really working against my conscience now. Ah! Are the resources of the southern coalfields depleted today? Why didn’t we make arrangements to switch production earlier? The German Ruhr Industrial Zone was arranging production switch 20 years before the resources were exhausted! Are we leaders responsible for the workers? Are you ashamed in your heart?!"

Tang Zhaoyang's heart was agitated, but his face was as calm as possible, even indifferent: "You are right. We should have made arrangements for changing production 20 years ago, but what was the situation in our country 20 years ago? Where? Now, the responsibility of history falls on us, what should we do? We can only do our best to solve it!" Huang Guoxiu spread his hands: "But is this reasonable? Where did the workers accumulate their labor in the past? Can they ignore the workers' lives like this? As the former secretary of the party committee of the No. Can’t answer the questioning of comrade workers!” Then he raised the issue of release again, “So, Secretary Tang, I still hope that you and the Municipal Party Committee can come forward to say hello to the Municipal Public Security Bureau, and to the eight detained comrades workers. Handle it as lightly as possible within the scope of the law, it is best to let it go, after all, it is a momentary act of impulse!"

Tang Zhaoyang couldn't avoid it anymore, waved his hand, and replied: "Impulse is not an excuse. The workers' emotions are understandable, but violations must be investigated. This kind of impulsiveness is not allowed in any legal country! Don't talk about this again. The secretary of our municipal party committee cannot substitute power for the law, and you, the leader of the bankruptcy leadership team, cannot be a worker leader either!" Huang Guoxiu was startled, shook his head, and complained helplessly: "Secretary Tang, I really didn't expect that you would regard me as a worker leader, but the bankrupt and unemployed workers called us scabs, and they would all be smashed!" Secretary Cheng's car is gone!"

Tang Zhaoyang said: "So, your Secretary Cheng is not only hiding from the workers, but also from me and the municipal party committee. Look, you can't invite him today! However, this slicker has good eyesight and pushed you to the first place. Bankruptcy and liquidation work. He told me: You comrade has a mass base, and the workers will definitely not embarrass you too much!" Huang Guoxiu said gloomily: "Then your municipal party secretary regards me as a worker leader, and I... I also recognize it!" Tang Zhaoyang patted Huang Guoxiu on the shoulder: "The worker leader is a joke, don't take it seriously, but it is a principle to act according to the law. Especially under the current situation, the rule of law must be emphasized! Of course, I also said at the afternoon meeting Now, the focus of the handling is the organizers, not the workers who have violent words and deeds! If you can’t figure it out, you can go home and talk to Comrade Zijing, I believe she will give you a legal explanation.” Afraid that Huang Guoxiu would continue to complain, He persuaded again, "Comrade Guoxiu, the province always took out 600 million yuan this time. I heard that two infrastructure projects were also compressed. Let's share some worries for the province! The responsibility of the city is mine. I won’t push it; as for your group, you should also manage the things that should be managed. For example: can you mobilize party members and cadres to organize unemployed workers and go to the city to engage in tertiary industries?”

Huang Guoxiu's face became brighter: "Secretary Tang, I have to report this to you and the municipal party committee: self-help for unemployment is already underway. The South Second Mine tried to go bankrupt last year, and there was a Party branch secretary named Li Dachuan. Organized the more than 300 workers under him, pooled their seniority money together, pooled together 2 million yuan, and set up a general company for ark decoration. Now the business is doing very well, even the rich man entertainment city Decorated by Ark Company." Tang Zhaoyang was happy: "Okay, okay, we must promote the experience of Li Dachuan and Ark Decoration Company, and strengthen publicity in newspapers and media! In this special difficult period, party members and cadres must play a role. Good party members like Li Dachuan Let the tree be a model! I will also go to see the rich and rich entertainment city when I have time, and I will help you yell a few times..."

This was the first time Tang Zhaoyang heard about the Rich Man Casino, and Huang Guoxiu said it as a model project for unemployed workers to save themselves.Tang Zhaoyang did not expect that within ten minutes after Huang Guoxiu said this, the sad news that the rich entertainment city was on fire would spread, and he did not expect that the rich entertainment city would bring him and Changshan City. Such a violent political earthquake, so that he, the secretary of the municipal party committee, and so many cadres were shot down in the political earthquake! The Big Regal Entertainment City was on fire, and it was the secretary who hurried in to report.Tang Zhaoyang didn't expect that the casualties would be so large and the situation would be so serious. At first, he didn't even expect to rush to the scene of the fire immediately, and continued to talk to Huang Guoxiu.When the secretary mentioned the rich man again when he answered the phone, he suddenly came to his senses and asked the secretary: "Xiao Liu, you... what are you talking about? The rich man entertainment city is on fire? The rich man? The situation is still serious?" The secretary clutched his cell phone and said, "Yes, Secretary Tang, the situation is quite serious. The fire truck couldn't get in, and more than 400 people were trapped in the fire. In addition, the Big Regal Entertainment City was recently renovated, and poisonous gas was everywhere. I'm afraid... " Tang Zhaoyang broke out in a cold sweat, didn't bother to say goodbye to Huang Guoxiu, got up and left: "Go to the scene!" Sitting in the special car with flashing police lights, and rushing all the way to the scene of the fire, Tang Chaoyang, secretary of the Changshan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, a firm believer in materialism and dialectics, became superstitious for the first time in his life, and kept praying in his heart: God bless, thousands of people If a few people die, we can't add to the chaos!It's better to have a heavy rain now, the bigger the better!However, turning his gaze out of the car window, what Tang Zhaoyang saw was a clear night sky. What disappointed Tang Zhaoyang was that the radio happened to be broadcasting the weather forecast, and a female announcer was using her familiar accent to describe the weather conditions: "From the night of August 13th to the daytime of August 14th, Changshan District The weather is fine, the westerly wind is at level 2 to 3, the minimum temperature is 25 degrees Celsius, the maximum temperature is 35 degrees Celsius, and the probability of precipitation is zero..." What's more terrible is that the mayor Lin Yongqiang is not in Changshan at this time.On the evening of August 12th, Lin Yongqiang led an investment group to the United States. He had just arrived in San Francisco. In the morning, he had a phone conversation with Lin Yongqiang about the rail-sleeping incident.