Chapter 2338 - The Hearing (VI)

Given this state of affairs, Ma Jia had proposed multiple times to "do some work" privately among Senators to improve the Pol-Sec Bureau's situation, but Zhao Manxiong hadn't been enthusiastic. He insisted on "acting entirely according to regulations." For a time, Ma Jia had even thought this Director Zhao was somewhat pedantic—he hadn't realized it was all a self-protection strategy.

Zhao Manxiong explained the various rejected plans, budgets, and proposals on the slides without hurry. From beginning to end, he never said "because we had no money or very little money, we couldn't do it." He merely explained that because relevant budgets and plans had been rejected by the Senate, the Pol-Sec Bureau had "strictly followed the Senate's will, absolutely not launching or expanding relevant work."

"Comrades, I'm introducing these situations not to shirk responsibility. Our responsibility is naturally unshirkable. What specific responsibility my Bureau must bear is entirely for the Senate to decide. After all, the Senate is our highest authority. My complete answer to the inquiries is here. If anyone still has questions, please continue to ask."

People asked questions in succession again, but they were going in circles, producing nothing new. Whenever the questions touched on specific Pol-Sec work, Zhao Manxiong consistently answered with: "A certain work's proposed plan and scheme, dated such-and-such, File Number XXX, was rejected at the relevant meeting on such-and-such date. Therefore, the Pol-Sec Bureau strictly followed the Senate's resolution, not launching or expanding the relevant work."

Such answers invariably left questioners speechless. Things that hadn't even been approved in planning couldn't be blamed on the Pol-Sec Bureau for not executing. Otherwise, that would become "Contempt for Senate Authority" and "Disrespect for Senator Rights."

"If that's the case, why does the Senate even need a department like the Pol-Sec Bureau? It's completely unnecessary!" someone finally blurted out.

"Regarding whether the Pol-Sec institution has a reason to exist," Zhao Manxiong said calmly, "my personal view is that the Pol-Sec Bureau's work is entirely necessary—it is one of the foundations of our security. Our current attention to Pol-Sec work is insufficient; investment is too meager. However, whether an institution should exist depends entirely on the Senate's will. Whatever the result, I and my colleagues will unconditionally accept the Senate's decision. But our position will not change."

The inquiry had reached this point; the dagger was now fully revealed. Ma Jia was somewhat worried, but he more or less understood Zhao Manxiong's strategy. Attacks on the Pol-Sec Bureau within the Senate had grown increasingly fierce—slipperiness alone couldn't save them. If he didn't force the Senate to take sides and declare positions now, most centrist Senators would be swayed by the radical rhetoric of a few. Then the Bureau's fate would be sealed beyond question.

As expected, emotions in the venue were running high. Quite a few people looked ready to leap up and pummel Zhao Manxiong. Many curses were hurled, but not a single person could mount a coherent challenge.

"If there are no new queries, this hearing is concluded. Relevant materials will be distributed within the Senate after the meeting. A specific resolution will be made after convening the Senate General Assembly."

After the meeting dispersed, Ma Jia arranged to meet Zhao Manxiong in the Pol-Sec Bureau conference room to discuss next steps.

"...You've essentially torn off the mask completely," Ma Jia said.

"This paper was going to be punctured sooner or later. Better sooner than later." Zhao Manxiong said, "Attacks on our department have become completely systematized—there's even a trend toward making it 'Politically Correct' within the Senate. If we don't interrupt this trend now, the Senators who support us won't dare speak up anymore either."

"Still, our situation doesn't look good right now..."

"The situation is indeed unsatisfactory." Zhao Manxiong nodded. "Honestly, I didn't expect their slander and attacks on our department over these years to reach such levels, even affecting the views and attitudes of quite a few department heads. That was my miscalculation—I'd originally hoped that maintaining a low profile would help avoid such attacks."

Ma Jia found the fat man before him strangely different—he rarely heard him speak so frankly and clearly.

"What do you plan to do next? When you left just now, everyone looked ready to beat you senseless."

Zhao Manxiong laughed. "But they didn't dare, did they? Because they don't know what consequences there would be if they beat me."

"Afraid of your kompromat files."

"What kompromat files would I have?" Zhao Manxiong raised both hands, shaking his head helplessly. "After the Trouble in Lingao investigation, didn't the investigation team go through our Bureau's archives? The conclusion was that there was nothing."

"They don't believe it." Ma Jia said jokingly. "Honestly, I don't believe it either."

"Look—there lies the crux of the problem. Everyone thinks we possess some secret files. Regardless of what investigations conclude, they don't believe it."

"Fine. Tell me how to earn the Senators' trust?" Ma Jia said.

"Since they don't believe, nothing we do will make them believe. Even if I opened all our archives, it would be useless. They'd simply assume I still had a secret storage somewhere." Zhao Manxiong smiled slightly. "So since that's how it is, we might as well let them develop a different kind of fear: once the Pol-Sec Bureau is gone, these imaginary files will spill out everywhere..."

"Fine. First tell me—do you actually have these materials or not?"

"Of course not. I'm not a fool." Zhao Manxiong rested his hands on his belly. "The Senate is a freak polity—you can't simply apply the frameworks of various historical systems. Do the so-called 'secret files' that Senators fear actually mean anything? In my view, this is truly bizarre. Unless someone conspires to murder another Senator or prepares to betray the Senate to Great Ming, the Later Jin, or some foreign power—otherwise, what does sleeping with a female clerk matter? Having a relationship with a naturalized citizen's daughter and then promoting him? Getting a franchise license for a life secretary's father? What do such things amount to for rulers?" He paused. "But Senators, as long as they're not idiots, can occupy prominent positions among the Empire's highest ranks in the future—even Dugu, characterized as he was, could still be a Governor-General. Except for Senators like Ma Qianzhu who intend to dominate the highest positions, any 'secret file' is meaningless to Senators."

"You could say they 'lack ruler consciousness'—on that point I completely agree. Quite a few of our Senators suffer from persecution delusions. But I think that's actually a good thing. At least they still maintain the moral views of ordinary citizens from before, preserving the Senate's moral standards. They won't be too unscrupulous." Ma Jia said.

"Let's set that aside. Since they're so fearful, it seems we can only let them continue to fear." Zhao Manxiong said helplessly.

Ma Jia didn't ask "what do you plan to do"—he didn't want to know such things. Before leaving, he asked one more time: "Did you really not collect materials on Senators?"

"Really didn't." Zhao Manxiong said. "I swear to XXX."

After seeing Ma Jia off, Zhao Manxiong sat pondering for a long time at his office desk. Despite his easy manner when facing Ma Jia, in his heart he understood clearly: this storm was far more serious than he had estimated.

Until now, the Pol-Sec Bureau had treated criticism with an "Open" attitude, attempting to offset everyone's suspicion and hostility. But this approach had shown little effect—it had merely prevented political enemies from catching them on specifics. And opponents remained determined not to rest until the Pol-Sec Bureau was completely destroyed. Continuing like this, sooner or later they would be caught on something. Moreover, this passive response mode was having a severe impact on work and morale within the Bureau.

Among high-level leaders and administrative department heads, views on the Pol-Sec Bureau remained relatively positive. But the Senate operated on one person, one vote; support from the top alone was far from sufficient.

Through investigation, he knew that ordinary Senators actually knew very little about Pol-Sec and usually cared even less. As long as he could contain the constant incitement from several chief critics, the momentum could be suppressed.

He pondered for a moment, then dialed the internal line, summoning Reconnaissance Section Chief Zhou Botao, Technical Section Chief Wu Fo, and Action Section Chief You Guotuan to his office.

These three Section Chiefs ran the core departments inside the Pol-Sec Bureau. Crucially, like Wu Mu, they were "old comrades" who had been present at the Bureau's founding—iron-clad loyalists.

"Alright, Comrades," Zhao Manxiong said, "I think everyone is very clear about our current situation." He briefly outlined what had happened at the hearing.

"This is fucking ridiculous..." You Guotuan nearly slammed the table as he rose.

"Don't get excited, Section Chief You." Zhao Manxiong said. "We've weathered this immediate crisis using our old tricks of 'Inaction' plus 'Blame-shifting.' But a bigger crisis is probably coming. Trying to reverse certain people's hostility through low profiles and transparency now seems impossible. If we keep playing submissive? Sooner or later we'll be abolished for being 'Useless.' Although the upper levels view us positively, what's the point of keeping a department that can't function fully?"

Everyone voiced agreement.

"There have always been calls to merge police affairs with us. Director Ran has had his calculations for a long time. General Affairs Section 9 and Section 10—we all know what they are: the police department's spy agencies. Our crisis is considerable."

"Should we discuss this with Ma Qianzhu?"

"Neither Ma Qianzhu nor Wen Desi will explicitly support us." Zhao Manxiong said. "Their first priority is ensuring they themselves 'make no mistakes.' As for other high-level figures, except for Ma Jia, we can only count on their goodwill—explicit support is impossible."

"Director Zhao, just tell us—what exactly are you planning to do?"

(End of Chapter)