Chapter 966: Determination (please vote for this huge chapter)
Chapter 967 Determination (please vote for this huge chapter)
low-rise block
The boy faced the rising sun and ran wildly on the low-lying and uneven road. Then with a 'bang' sound, his foot caught a stone and fell to the ground.
"Be careful, Jerlin."
A chuckle came from above.
The boy raised his head and looked forward. A young man with short hair and simple clothes and dark skin was standing aside and stretched out his hand to him.
"Thank you," the boy raised his hand, took the young man's outstretched hand, staggered up, and giggled twice, "I ran too fast."
"Something good?"
The young man looked at the smile on his face and asked with a smile.
"Well, Mr. Lin En helped me contact a doctor, and that doctor was willing to perform surgery on my mother for a very low price,"
The boy said quickly with a slightly excited tone, "I'm going to take my mother to Saint Yilan now."
"Do you need help?"
The young man smiled and said, "I happen to have a car."
"No, no, I won't delay Brother Wells from doing your business,"
The boy quickly waved his hand and glanced at the various old electrical appliances and repair equipment in the shop behind the young man, as well as the TV playing the news, and continued, "There are brothers and sisters in the convoy of supplies for the free clinic over there who are willing to give us a ride.
.”
"Okay, then I wish you all the best,"
The young man named Wells smiled and clapped his hands. Then he suddenly realized something and asked slowly, "Is the Mr. Linn you are talking about the mayor, Mr. Linn?"
"Yes!"
The boy nodded quickly, "That's Mr. Linn!"
"Is he reliable?"
Wells frowned subconsciously, then he looked at the TV behind him and said slowly, "The men he recruited seem to be all criminal and corrupt officials. Will these politicians trick you?"
"Mr. Lynn is a great man!"
The boy's face turned red and he immediately retorted, "The free clinic over there today was all arranged by him."
Then he seemed to realize that his tone was a bit hasty, took a breath, slowed down and explained,
"What is said in the news may be a lie. Even if it is not a lie, the kind of people those subordinates are cannot represent the kind of person Mr. Lin En is. I have met Mr. Lin En, and he is really a very good person.
A good man. If his men really committed a crime, Mr. Lynn will definitely bring them all to justice!"
"I know you trust this Mr. Lynn very much,"
Wells sighed, "But you'd better be careful. Although we poor guys have nothing to take advantage of, you don't know what these dirty politicians are thinking."
He sighed and continued, "And if what is said in the news is true, since the greed of those cabinet officials has reached the point where the news on the roadside already knows it, as the mayor, Lynn, doesn't he know?
If he knew, why didn't he deal with it..."
Before he finished speaking, the sound of the TV in the shop behind him paused, and the female host sitting on the studio paused and said quickly,
"Interrupting the latest news, the White House has just announced that the city police have just arrested a group of 17 former cabinet members, including the former Minister of Interior, the former Minister of Justice, and the former Minister of Commerce and Enterprise. They were arrested
He was charged with abuse of power, illegal bribery, insider trading and other crimes.
"It is worth noting that these cabinet members were fired by the city government yesterday morning, along with a total of 19 cabinet officials including the Minister of Education. Mayor Lynn almost dismissed the entire original cabinet.
"The White House will hold a live press conference at noon today to respond to the public's questions on this matter."
Immediately afterwards, the host hesitated for a moment and began to broadcast the original news again.
At this time, Jie Lin, who was standing outside, glanced at the TV inside, raised his head, and smiled at Wells in front of him, "Brother Wells, I'm just telling you, you have to believe Mr. Linn!"
"Okay, okay, maybe he is really different from the previous mayor,"
Wells waved his hand and said, "If you need help, come to me."
"Okay, thank you, Brother Wells!"
The boy dusted himself off and continued running along the bumpy road.
The young man standing in front of the store raised his head and looked at the huge advertising screen not far away.
At this moment, the advertising screen has changed directly from an advertisement to a live broadcast background with the white jasmine emblem printed on it.
——
saint ylan district
"Liz, I know where I might be needed."
Yi Ni, who was standing by the street, took her eyes away from the TV above her head, turned her head and looked at the roughly billboard with the white jasmine emblem that had been built beside her.
At this moment, the screen of the billboard, which has not been completely repaired, has already lit up the background of the live broadcast room.
"Um?"
Liz on the other end of the phone was slightly stunned.
Yi Ni took a deep breath and turned to look into the depths of the overlapping steel forest, "Let's go to White Jasmine Palace."
——
White Jasmine Palace
"nervous?"
Standing in the backstage control room, looking at the reporters who had begun to take their seats in the surveillance room, He Ao smiled and looked at Tucker aside.
“Kind of,”
Tucker smiled awkwardly, "I have faced either vicious gangsters or wanderers in the wilderness before. This is the first time I sit under the spotlight and face these long guns and cannons."
"It's okay, don't worry,"
He Ao said slowly, "You only need to answer the questions in the case. The others are me. Since you have entered the political system, you must learn to deal with the public, but one step will not make you fat, so take your time."
"yes!"
Tucker took a breath and nodded heavily.
"alright,"
He Ao glanced at the reporters who were almost seated in the surveillance room, nodded to Tucker and the blond chief of staff beside him, "Let's get started."
The two nodded slightly to He Ao and walked out of the control room.
He Ao raised his hand and glanced at the bracelet, looking through some information sent by the Nancheng City Defense Force and collected from some Prisoner Gang strongholds. He waited for Tucker who was under surveillance to explain the contents of the case, and then he stopped.
He stood up slowly and left the control room.
Then he walked along the corridor to the back door of the press conference room and walked in from the back.
At this moment, the entire press room was basically full of people. Some members of the mayor's guard who were standing behind to maintain order saw He Ao coming in. When they wanted to speak, He Ao made a silencing gesture to stop them.
Then He Ao squeezed through the back of the crowd, stood behind everyone, and looked up at the main podium in front of him.
This press conference is mainly divided into two stages.
The first stage is ‘release’, which means the speaker, Tucker, discloses and explains the content of the case, which cabinet officials are involved, what crimes these officials are involved in, and whether the city police department has conclusive evidence.
At this time, Tucker's release of the main content of the case has come to an end. This stage is almost over. Next is the second stage, the 'free questioning' stage.
"...This is the general content of this case. At present, all seventeen former cabinet officials have been brought to justice. We will never tolerate any corruption that betrays the municipal government and Yilan City,"
At this moment, Tucker was sitting in the center of the main podium, sitting upright and facing the microphone. As the case was introduced, he seemed to gradually enter the state. He raised his head and looked at the reporter below,
"Let's move on to the question and answer session. Today's press conference mainly discusses the criminal issues of former cabinet officials. Please don't take your questions away from the case itself."
Seven or eight reporters in the audience immediately raised their hands, and Tucker randomly selected a small media reporter.
"Director Tucker, how long will those cabinet ministers face in prison?"
The reporter raised the microphone and asked quickly.
"Determination and sentencing are matters for the court,"
Tucker glanced at the information in his hand and quickly replied, "But judging from the crimes we have so far, these cabinet officials may face 10-15 years in prison for the most minor crimes. Considering the number of crimes committed,
In the case of concurrent punishment, the maximum prison term may be as long as 40-60 years."
Everyone in the audience gasped slightly.
The federal sentencing for corruption is actually not that severe. The fact that they can accumulate so many years of prison terms proves that these people have indeed gone too far.
"Director Tucker, what are the main criminal behaviors of these cabinet officials?"
Another reporter who was called on asked.
"Almost all the cabinet officials involved in the case went to the road of no return because they accepted additional 'bribes' from the consortium,"
Tucker slowly replied, "These bribes may be a green light for the education of children and grandchildren, or they may be special medical insurance, or they may be certain 'stocks' that are bound to rise. There are many forms of bribes, but the results
They are all the same, requiring these cabinet officials to provide 'more relaxed supervision or preferential treatment' in certain aspects to the bribery consortium."
After answering, Tucker waved his hand to signal the next reporter to ask questions.
"Director Tucker, I don't know if you have watched the news this morning. There are currently many news programs exposing black materials about the 'City Cabinet'. Are these black materials true? Is the city government afraid that after these black materials are exposed?
Is it because of the impact on support ratings that these cabinet officials were dealt with urgently?"
A reporter with an 'Ilan Star News' work badge stood up and asked quickly.
This question was obviously a bit harsh. Tucker took a small breath and said slowly,
"I have also read the news. I can only say that some of the rumors in it are related to the truth. But I can also tell you with certainty that handling cases, collecting evidence, and making arrests all take time.
Yes, it’s impossible to say that we have arrested all the people just because some black material came out this morning,”
He calmed down his tone slightly and continued, "All investigations and handling of cases have started before this,"
Then he smiled and said,
"And as the White House announcement said, these cabinet officials were fired by the city government as early as yesterday. Today's so-called black material, the people they accuse are actually no longer members of the current cabinet.
"Mr. Linn will never protect any criminal, please rest assured."
Then he waved his hand and said, "Okay, next one."
The reporters’ questions continued one after another.
He Ao raised his head and looked at Tucker's answer.
At this time, a young policeman was squeezing in from the back door. He stood at the back and glanced at Tucker at the door. He was about to walk over, and then out of the corner of his eye, he saw the same man standing at the back of the crowd, holding a
Old man with brass cane.
He paused slightly, looked carefully, hesitated for a moment, quickly squeezed to the old man's side from behind, and said in a low voice,
"Mr. Lin En, there are two reporters outside who want to come in, but their media units are not among the invited media. One of the reporters claims to be the author of the article about your assassination that went viral on the Internet, and the other
She is the girl who stood up to expose the conspiracy of the consortium during the attack on Bai Moli Palace yesterday morning."
He Ao glanced at the young man next to him, it was Senna, and he asked slowly, "What are their names?"
"One is called Liz, and the other seems to be..."
Senna thought for a moment, "Yini?"
He Ao looked up at the main podium in front of him and said slowly, "Let them come in,"
Then he paused for a moment, as if he remembered something, and looked at Senna, "Go to my office and take out the bag from the second drawer on the left side of the desk."
"yes."
Senna nodded, squeezed out of the crowd, left the small door, and picked up the walkie-talkie on his chest.
Tucker on the stage is still answering questions.
Although the questions from the reporter below have become more and more acute, he can handle these problems relatively well most of the time.
Judging from the time, the question and answer session is almost over.
This time, a reporter who had been raising his hand and wearing a Yilan Morning News work badge stood up, looked at Tucker, and asked quickly,
"Director Tucker, I would like to ask, there are a total of twenty-one ministers in the city cabinet. Nineteen of them have been fired this time. The seventeen who were arrested for crimes account for the vast majority of the cabinet. The city cabinet is almost completely
Been penetrated and deteriorated,”
Her voice rose slightly, "Does this mean that Mr. Lin En knows people poorly, or that Mr. Lin En himself has been corrupted?"
This reporter was not selected, but stood up on her own. She spoke very fast, and asked all the questions quickly before Tucker interrupted her.
The words originally interrupted by Tucker were stuck in his throat and could not be spoken.
If you don’t answer this question, you feel guilty. The options in the question may seem like two choices, but they are all negative options. They are deliberately inducing the respondent to enter the preset answer.
Once the answer is wrong, it will seriously affect the image of the municipal government.
The entire press room suddenly fell into a brief silence, and everyone's eyes were focused on the speaker's podium, quietly waiting for the speaker's answer.
A thin stream of sweat oozed from Tucker's forehead.
At this moment, gentle footsteps sounded from behind the crowd, breaking the silent silence.
A reporter followed the footsteps and looked at the figure behind him, then was slightly startled.
Then one person after another turned around, looking at the figure slowly walking out from behind, and focused all their eyes on that figure.
The old man with gray hair in a gray suit slowly walked out of the crowd. Under everyone's attention, he walked step by step to the main podium. Then he stood beside Tucker, looked at the reporter who asked the question, and said with a smile,
"This is a good question, but it exceeds the content of this case. It is not within the scope of Director Tucker's responsibility, nor is it within the scope of this press conference. Let me answer this question, which is just right.
, this press conference will end with this question."
At this moment, Tucker, as if he had been granted amnesty, quickly stood up and stood beside He Ao. The blond chief of staff on the side also stood up and stood behind He Ao.
There was a slight surge in the crowd at the back. A woman in red with a camera and a woman with short hair squeezed out from the back of the crowd, and Senna in police uniform followed behind them.
The crowd became quiet again after a brief commotion, and everyone's eyes once again unconsciously fell on He Ao on the main podium.
He Ao did not look at the two women who had just come in. His eyes still fell on the reporter of Yilan Morning News in front of him, and asked with a smile, "I remember that the weekly salary of Yilan Morning News reporters is between 200 and 1,000. Generally,
The senior reporter responsible for the White Moli Palace incident has a weekly salary of about 900. How much can he save in a month with such a weekly salary?"
Hearing He Ao's question, the reporter was slightly startled. She didn't know why He Ao asked this question, and she subconsciously replied slowly, "I can't save much. I have to pay off my student loan and housing loan every week, and deduct the daily expenses.
The maximum balance I can have is about 100 federal dollars. Sometimes I can’t save a penny, and I even overdraw my credit card. It’s pretty good to have a balance of two to three hundred federal dollars a month.”
While the reporter was talking, Senna had already taken a small black leather bag and handed it to He Ao.
He Ao opened the small bag and took out one hundred federal coins one by one until there was a thick pile. Then he looked up at the reporter in front of him and said, "There are almost a little more than one hundred thousand federal coins here."
Coin, will you be tempted?"
The reporter looked at the thick pile of cash and opened her mouth slightly. She did not answer immediately, but swallowed carefully.
"In recent decades, cabinet officials who have been accused of taking bribes can be found in almost every city government. Does this mean that the quality of people in our city of Yilan is even worse?"
He Ao put his hand on the pile of money and glanced at everyone calmly.
"In fact, this situation is not only in Yilan City, but also in Irons, Dawn City, Wetland, and every city in the Federation.
"Greed is human nature, and everyone wants to pursue a better life. Everyone here does, so do I, and so do the city cabinet officials.
"But we will also restrain our nature, because of responsibility, because of ideals, and because of fear of the law.
"However, we cannot test human nature. Most of the time, human nature cannot stand the test.
"When a large amount of resources and wealth are concentrated in the hands of a small number of financial groups, they can unscrupulously spend amounts that ordinary people cannot afford to bribe and 'donate money' to break the integrity of holy people and make them become
A lackey who gave up everything.
“As a result, both the city council and the city cabinet have easily become puppets of the consortium, constantly passing bills and decrees that are beneficial to the consortium.
"And our current plan cannot impose any restrictions on these large consortiums. Instead, they will be easily controlled by the consortia. This is the root of all problems,"
He looked down, scanning the cheeks of everyone listening below, and also scanning every camera.
"This is why I have to take action against the consortium.
"Of course, this does not mean that these cabinet members are right. They have shouldered the trust of the people of Yilan and me in them, but they have used this trust to seek personal gain. They have not only desecrated their positions, but also brought shame to the entire city of Yilan.
shame.
"But fortunately, we still have people in the cabinet who are not afraid of temptation and stick to their principles.
"Removal of these dozen rotten cabinet bureaucrats is not the end, it is just the beginning.
“The city government is already drafting new anti-corruption laws, new laws to punish bribers, and a large number of laws restricting consortia that we promised before are also being implemented.
"The city police department has also joined forces with the FBI to investigate all bribery consortiums.
"Even if the city's stubborn diseases have penetrated deep into the bone marrow, and even if removing these stubborn diseases will lead to assassinations and attacks again and again, we must cut them off one by one."
He Ao raised his head and looked at the live camera facing the main podium.
"As long as I live, as long as I sit in this position for a day, as long as the belief in changing this city is still passed down, this waving blade will never stop. This is our determination!
"The crisis has begun, but the unity of the people of Iran and their belief in change will never be defeated."
The entire press room fell into a dark silence at this moment. Everyone was silent, seeming to be shocked and afraid. Only the old man's old and powerful voice echoed in the silence.
He Ao took back his hand and said calmly, "That's it for today's press conference. Let's break up."
——
low-rise block
The young man standing in front of the store looked at the live broadcast that ended on the huge advertising screen, lowered his head slightly, and was thoughtful.
