Chapter 538 - The End of the Dugu Incident

"Dugu Qiuhun's loyalty to the transmigrated collective is reliable. Punishing him like this will dishearten people."

"If we don't punish him like this, the masses will be disheartened," Ma Qianzhu sighed. "Do you think I wish for this? But the cry of the masses acts as a mandate; we must give an account."

Ma Jia thought: It looks like the Director wants to play the role of Zhuge Liang executing Ma Su with tears in his eyes.

At that moment, Wen Desi spoke up, his voice measured. "Director, I don't believe we should make Dugu Qiuhun an example to be utterly disgraced. He is young, after all! Young people are impressionable; making small mistakes is inevitable. I propose we limit his punishment to one month of confinement. Once released, we can assign him a position in another department to redeem himself through service."

Xiao Zishan thought this punishment was too light—it lacked sincerity fundamentally. Wu De, the newly appointed President of the Planning Commission, voiced this concern. "CEO Wen, your handling suggestion is too lenient—the masses likely won't accept it."

"The masses definitely won't accept it. Protecting Dugu Qiuhun will result in the entire collective losing cohesion."

Ma Qianzhu insisted on severe punishment for Dugu Qiuhun. Everyone offered their own remonstrations until Wen Desi coughed to clear the room.

"Did Dugu Qiuhun commit an organizational error or a line error? I believe it was primarily an organizational error." The Executive Committee members realized proper CEO Wen was making a keynote speech.

"The nature of his problem is strictly serious, so the Director's demand for the severest punishment is correct," Wen Desi continued. "Of course, his committing such a grave error wasn't accidental; it was the formation of erroneous concepts under a long-term lack of correct guidance—specifically, the personality cult. I believe this point should be clarified in the punishment document."

The air in the conference room suddenly stagnated. Everyone waited for what Wen Desi would say next, calculating what stance they should take when he said it.

"Comrades, regarding personality cults—it's fine to let the indigenous people worship us, preferably treating us as gods, or at least archangels representing god on earth—of course, I know many comrades disagree. But within our collective, blind worship of any individual is extremely harmful. You've all seen the consequences. Dugu Qiuhun is a victim of this erroneous concept," Wen Desi spoke with assurance.

"But we must also recognize that Dugu Qiuhun's loyalty to the transmigrated collective is primary. In the spirit of 'curing the sickness to save the patient,' we should give him a way out."

The Committee members thought: "loyalty to the transmigrated collective" would be more accurately described as "loyalty to the Executive Committee."

Wen Desi's tone made it clear he wanted to leave Dugu a path, which greatly surprised most Committee members. Only Ma Jia understood—Dugu Qiuhun was ultimately just a chess piece. Now that he had become a discarded piece, "killing" him would have no effect on the game's outcome.

Ma Qianzhu still held significant influence; cadres in most departments trusted him deeply. The fact that no second person stepped up to contest his run for Secretary of State spoke volumes.

Seeing the timing was right, Ma Jia proposed a new punishment plan.

Dismiss Dugu Qiuhun from all posts. Order him to write a profound self-criticism. Assign him to Ye Yuming's "Tiandihui" as an agricultural technician to reflect while working. Reconsider assigning him other duties after one year, based on his reform. Simultaneously, ban him from holding military or police positions in the future.

"There should be a special communiqué regarding the outcome of this matter," Wen Desi said. "Include the points I just mentioned. Does anyone object?"

No objections were raised. Thus, the plan for handling Dugu Qiuhun was decided.

The Executive Committee's decision: Dismiss Dugu Qiuhun from his post as East Gate Market Precinct Chief and transfer him out of Police Headquarters; revoke his concurrent post as Bairen Fortress Outer-Perimeter Security Commander; revoke all other administrative posts and titles he held. Hand him over to Wu Nanhai for one month of "residential surveillance," then turn him over to Ye Yuming to be assigned work in the Tiandihui for "probation," subject to his attitude of reflection.

The probation period was set for one year. During this time, the Political Security Bureau would assign personnel to secretly monitor him. If he passed probation, he would be reassigned, though he could no longer serve in violent organs like the police or military.

The decision would be communicated to all transmigrators. To prevent the document from falling into indigenous hands, this decision would only be published on the internal intranet BBS.

Seeing the matter resolved relatively harmoniously, everyone was satisfied—except Dugu Qiuhun. Even Dugu Qiuhun, the biggest victim of the incident, was left a lifeline; though the punishment was severe, his political future was not annihilated. After the probation period, he could re-emerge to dedicate his loyalty to the Executive Committee once more.

Xiao Zishan proposed moving to the next agenda item, but Ma Qianzhu indicated he had more to say.

"Comrades, although this incident exposed deficiencies in our work, there were also shining moments. For instance, that indigenous police sergeant Zheng Ergen, who stood on principle and refused to open the armory—he was excellent! Without his insistence, the matter might have blown up even bigger. We must commend such a model—"

Wen Desi snorted. "Director, you really can find a silver lining in any disaster. Your dialectics are too powerful."

"Shouldn't adherence to principle be commended?" Ma Qianzhu asked.

"Adhering to principle is naturally a good thing," Wen Desi admitted. "But this is dirty laundry. Commending him is tantamount to announcing that Dugu Qiuhun did something wrong. We cannot tarnish our own image in front of the indigenous people."

Ma Qianzhu retorted, "CEO Wen, are you playing the 'Great, Glorious, and Correct' card too?"

"Of course," Wen Desi said indifferently. "If we admit that we too make mistakes, wouldn't that seriously shake the indigenous people's confidence in us? Logically, that group of indigenous police should all be secretly executed..."

Everyone looked incredulous; some eyes even showed fear. Wen Desi brought the conversation back from the ledge. "Of course, we are civilized people; we can't do such things. But open commendation won't do. Give them some benefits secretly; as long as they understand in their hearts, it's fine."

"After we occupy Sanya, we'll need to set up security organs there. Why not promote him to deputy precinct chief there?" Wu De suggested. "Sending him far away solves it."

Some of the other indigenous police from the precinct would follow Zheng Ergen to Sanya; others would be drawn to form Lingao's third precinct—Bopu Precinct. This left very few men in the original East Gate Market police force; vacancies would be filled by newly graduated cadets.

Who would fill the vacancy of East Gate Market Precinct Chief was a delicate matter. Dugu Qiuhun's past role was unique: as precinct chief, he was under Ran Yao's leadership, but Ran Yao only had operational guidance authority. His real power lay as Outer-Perimeter Security Commander, directly responsible for guarding Bairen Fortress and controlling the Police Reserve Company. Functionally, this was the position of a "confidant minister"; in this respect, his status was no lower than that of the Special Reconnaissance Detachment Commander, whom the Executive Committee regarded as the "Praetorian Guard."

Now that he was finally purged, the next person to hold this post would inevitably become the focus of the Executive Committee gentlemen. Wu De suggested letting Mu Min take the post concurrently; she was already the East Gate Market Precinct political instructor and had a genuine police background. Keeping her on Li affairs was a waste of talent.

Most importantly, Mu Min was a true outsider with no background ties to anyone. Everyone felt reassured having her in charge of Bairen Fortress's perimeter security.

As for Reserve Company Commander Li Yayang, to honor his firm stance, he was awarded the transmigrated collective's highest honor, the "Senate Commendation," circulated to the entire army. The Executive Committee intended to establish Li Yayang as a model of "obeying commands in all actions." At the same time, the Committee instructed Xiao Zishan to list Li Yayang for "priority promotion."

"Officer promotions aren't decided by me, are they?" Xiao Zishan said. "Doesn't that fall under the Military Affairs Ministry?"

"That brings us to the first issue we need to discuss: the cadre system," Ma Qianzhu said.

"People have complaints about cadre appointments," Wu De said. "Everyone feels the current appointments are opaque. That is a fact."

"The fact is that people have complaints about cadre benefits, not who is a cadre," Wen Desi countered. "But to fully demonstrate respect for public opinion, we still need to create a very transparent system."

According to the Common Program stipulated at the Second General Assembly, all cadres below the Executive Committee were appointed and removed by the Executive Committee. Personnel changes for principal leaders of People's Commissions and Ministries required Senate approval. Appointments and removals of cadres below Minister/Commissar level did not require Senate approval.

This clarified the cadre appointment system. The Executive Committee decided to first establish a cadre management agency. To ensure the transmigrators' realm never changed color, the cadre management agency would adopt a dual-track system. Personnel management for transmigrator cadres would be handled by the Organization Department of the Executive Committee General Office; appointment management for indigenous cadres would be handled by the Cadre Department of the Civil Affairs People's Commission.

In the other timeline, the Organization Department was a key department. Everyone had misgivings about who should control it. Finally, it was decided to place it under the General Office. Although the Director of the General Office was a Committee member, he had no vote and the least influence within the Committee, making it unlikely to cause a power imbalance.

All Senators—provided they had not been stripped of political rights—were eligible for administrative posts at all levels. For ease of management, Ma Qianzhu's proposal for establishing grades, ranks, and salaries was finally passed—without definitive grades and military ranks, daily operations were inconvenient, especially in the military. Indigenous personnel had ranks, yet transmigrators did not.

To avoid internal conflict caused by rank disparity, the Executive Committee decided to continue the past philosophy in the new system—minimal material difference between grades, adhering to the principle that the salary gap between the highest and lowest levels should not exceed a factor of two.