Chapter 1567 Implicated
Xu Zhengye arrived in Sanya in the second year of Chongzhen's reign. He has stayed here for almost seven years. He has long followed the local customs, cut his hair and changed his clothes. He has changed his daily conversation and living habits. He no longer retains many traces of Ming Dynasty, and even has many traces. New immigrants would mistake him for a noble chief. Because of his media career, he has a deeper and clearer understanding of the situation in Haihan than most citizens. Of course he had some idea of what kind of yamen this security department was. In the Ming Dynasty, it was like the existence of Dongchang and Jinyiwei. Civilians like him simply cannot afford to offend such a privileged agency. Obedience and cooperation are Xu Zhengye's only options.
"Sir, our newspaper has always abided by laws and regulations and is loyal to the executive committee. I'm afraid there may be some misunderstanding..." Xu Zhengye explained to Xu Shiqi with a low eyebrow, but he had a bad feeling in his heart. This has always been the case. It was Shenlong's headless security department that actually came to visit. I'm afraid it was related to the content published in today's issue of the newspaper.
As expected, Xu Shiqi immediately talked about the issue he wanted to investigate: "Who wrote the article about the Matalan Kingdom on the front page of the Express published today?"
Xu Zhengye's heart skipped a beat and he quickly responded: "This article was edited by our reporter Xun Pengcheng... Sir, is there anything wrong with it?"
Xu Shiqi did not comment and continued to ask: "Where is this Xun Pengcheng?"
"He came home from get off work..." Xu Zhengye felt more and more seriously that the matter was serious, and this article might have offended some big shots.
"His home address?" Xu Shiqi didn't leave the other party any time to figure it out. His boss was still waiting for him to finish checking the report. Every minute and second was very important to him.
Xu Zhengye didn't dare to hide anything, so he quickly informed Xun Pengcheng's residence. Xu Shiqi made a gesture, and the two people standing behind him immediately turned and left to find Xun Pengcheng who was writing the article. Xu Shiqi himself stayed because the author of the article was not the only participant in what he wanted to investigate. The editor-in-chief in front of him was also one of the insiders. Xu Zhengye naturally wanted to dig out all the information about him first. .
The order Xu Shiqi received was to investigate whether there was any hidden secret behind this report. What happened in the morning was printed and distributed on the front page in the afternoon. This was obviously not the case for a reporter who wrote the article. things that can be decided. In Xu Shiqi's view, Xu Zhengye's intelligence value was much greater than that of the reporter, and he had to be interrogated carefully.
Xun Pengcheng, who had no idea what was going on, was drinking alone at home. He currently lives in the first batch of dormitories built by the Ministry of Construction for naturalized residents in the early years. Each household has a single room. Although the space is small, it is After all, it’s a nest.
Ordinary people like Xun Pengcheng, who does not have a public position, do not have welfare housing allocated by the government, so they can only rent or buy. However, with his wealth, he cannot afford a house with better conditions. Two months ago, he spent all his savings after coming to Haihan to buy this dormitory. Although the house is smaller, the location is pretty good. It is also very close to Victory Square in the city center. He will upgrade to a bigger house in the future. You will definitely not lose money if you sell it.
Of course, it is not easy to change to a bigger house. Sanya is becoming more prosperous year by year, and housing prices are also rising. They are no longer what they were in previous years. There are too many people like Xun Pengcheng who want to move to a bigger house, but there are very few people with the real financial strength. Xun Pengcheng has calculated that according to his current income level, he will have to save for several years without eating or drinking. However, He cannot predict how high local housing prices will rise in a few years.
Xun Pengcheng knew that life was difficult, so he simply did not think about such far-off things. Anyway, now I am single and living in Sanya. One person has enough to eat and the whole family is not hungry, which can be regarded as a carefree life. After making money, it is better to find ways to improve the quality of life and make yourself happier. For example, after get off work today, Xun Pengcheng went to buy two bottles of Sanya special brew, cut a few braised vegetables, and returned to his den to celebrate that he had made the front page again today.
However, Xun Pengcheng himself was too drunk. He didn't even finish the first bottle of wine before he fell on the bed and fell asleep. When he woke up, it was because he heard a knock on the door from outside the house.
Xun Pengcheng had no doubt that he was there. Most of the apartment buildings converted from collective dormitories were inhabited by singles like him. At night, when he was bored, it was common to visit someone to drink and chat with him, so he got up and fumbled with a match to light the oil lamp and went to open the door.
Unexpectedly, after opening the door, there were two unfamiliar faces standing outside. Xun Pengcheng was stunned for a moment and said, "Brother, did you knock on the wrong door?"
One of the people on the other side asked: "Are you Xun Pengcheng from Express?"
"Yes, that's me. Who is your Excellency?" Xun Pengcheng suddenly felt a little panicked. The other party reported his unit first and then his name. Obviously, the purpose of his visit was related to his work.
The two people outside the door showed him their work ID cards in unison: "Security Department, please cooperate with our work."
After saying that, the two of them took a step forward and blocked the door tightly. Xun Pengcheng felt guilty and took two more steps back. The two people outside the door immediately stepped into the room and closed the door with their backhands.
One of them took out the "Sanya Express" that was just released this afternoon from behind, pointed to the front page article above and said: "Did you write this article?"
Xun Pengcheng opened his mouth wide, not knowing whether to admit it or not at this time. Of course he has heard of the name of the Ministry of Security, and knows that it is a special department that is superior to violent agencies such as the military and police. It is said that its function is to deal with foreign spies. The other party was targeting him because he wrote this article today. Xun Pengcheng quickly recalled what he had written in his mind to see if there was anything prohibited. But he had just woken up from drinking, and then he was frightened. For a moment, he couldn't remember the specific content of the article he wrote today.
"I'm asking you a question!" Seeing Xun Pengcheng's dull expression and not answering him, the man asked again. Xun Pengcheng came back to his senses and knew that since these two people had come to the door, they had probably already gone to the newspaper office. If he didn't admit it, he would not be able to pass this test. On the contrary, he might misunderstand him, so he could only bite the bullet at the moment. Responded: "It's exactly what I wrote..."
"Then tell me what's going on with this article."
Xun Pengcheng saw that the two men did not seem to have any intention of taking him away, so he quickly told how he was assigned by the editor to cover the news while he was dozing off in the morning, what he saw and heard outside the Victory Fort, and what happened afterwards. Return to the process of writing and publishing articles in a newspaper office. Of course, as for why this article appeared on the front page, Xun Pengcheng naturally passed the blame completely. He can no longer think about the situation of editor-in-chief Xu Zhengye. The top priority is to get himself out of this trouble first.
The two people who were sent to investigate Xun Pengcheng were not rookies. One of them sat down and was responsible for taking notes, while the other began to interrogate some details. They must confirm whether there was anyone behind Xun Pengcheng's writing of this news, especially opinions from outside the newspaper.
"When Xu Zhengye handed over the task to you, did he explicitly or implicitly indicate in which direction you should report this matter?"
"When Xu Zhengye reviewed the manuscript, did he make any changes to your manuscript? Or did he give you instructions to make changes to some of its contents?"
"What is Xu Zhengye's social relationship like? Have you ever heard of him having contacts with foreigners?"
The more Xun Pengcheng listened, the more panicked he became. Although the focus of the other party's questions was obviously on Xu Zhengye, the more detailed the questions, the more serious the matter became. In the end, he even asked about Xu Zhengye's social relationships. Xun Pengcheng was not stupid. After hearing these questions, he already understood what the Ministry of Security was suspecting. Obviously, the press release I wrote today offended some big shots. Some people suspected that the Express was being instigated to speak for a certain country, so they sent the Ministry of Security to investigate.
When Xun Pengcheng wrote this article, he did not consider whether his position should be in favor of the Matalan Kingdom, but the final effect was such that after reading it, most readers will feel that Haihan should indeed consider passing the Matalan sells weapons to obtain huge profits and further woos this seemingly wealthy South China Sea country. But whether this argument was consistent with the thoughts of Haihan executives, Xun Pengcheng never considered it when he wrote the article, because his original intention was just to write a press release worth discussing to drive newspaper sales, and he never thought about it at all. My article would be noticed by big shots, and I never thought that I would get into trouble because of it.
Conscience of heaven and earth, Xun Pengcheng swore that he had only seen live Ma Dalan people for the first time this morning, how could he be under their orders. But if it was Xu Zhengye, the editor-in-chief, Xun Pengcheng did not dare to vouch for it. He knew that Xu Zhengye had a wide range of contacts in the society, and had contacts with people from all walks of life to the government. It would not be a big deal if he had really dealt with people from Ma Dalan. Strange. He witnessed the nouveau riche deeds of the Madalan people outside the Victory Fort today. If these people bribed Xu Zhengye with two gold bricks and asked the Express to speak out and build momentum for them, it seemed to make perfect sense.
But Xun Pengcheng didn't have any evidence at hand, and he didn't dare to attack Xu Zhengye randomly. He could only make an honest explanation based on what he knew about the situation, hoping that the Ministry of Security would not include him in the list of "suspects" .
While the Ministry of Security was investigating this, Su Keyi and Luo Hong had also seen this topical newspaper. However, the two parties, who were originally diametrically opposed, had the same views on this matter. Both Su Keyi and Luo Hong believed that after the news was published in the newspaper, it would play a certain role in promoting Haihan's relaxation of arms sales restrictions. Of course, whoever can seize the initiative during this period and be the first to order the desired equipment from the Haihan people can only rely on their own abilities.
The investigation surrounding "Sanya Express" did not take too long, because there was nothing hidden in the matter itself, and the Madalan people did not have any form of contact with the newspaper or the editor-in-chief. Even Luo Hong It was only after reading the newspaper that he realized that among the people watching at the scene today were reporters specializing in news reporting - this was a very novel profession for him.
After Xu Zhengye was carefully interrogated, Xu Shiqi basically confirmed that there was indeed no foreign force involved in this matter, and it was just a newspaper operation that went too far. Of course, whether the big shots above would forgive the Express for causing such a minor disaster was something that Xu Qiqi could not influence. All he can do is to feed back the investigation results to his boss He Xi as soon as possible, who will then make a report to the executive committee.
That night, the results of the investigation were fed back to Victory Fort through the Ministry of Security. This made Yan Chujie, who originally held conspiracy theories about the matter, dumbfounded: "I think this newspaper should be rectified! National affairs, such gossip. Should newspapers be talking about it? I think public opinion guidance needs to be strengthened immediately, especially the interpretation of national policies. We should not leave too much room for private media to let these media people know what they can say and what they cannot say!”
Ning Qi was a little disapproving: "This newspaper reports social events, and it doesn't break the law. At most, the pace is a bit radical. This needs to be dealt with. In the future, won't private newspapers have to be in trouble? This article is actually not bad, but it is not Just understand the true intention of the executive committee.”
Schneider also agreed with Ning Qi's point of view: "In fact, we originally planned to try to slowly relax some of the banned items. If this report can be used well, it can also create an opportunity for our plan. In response to public opinion, Isn’t it good to gradually open up foreign military sales so that the attitude change will not appear too rigid? ”
“But this newspaper has gone astray!” Yan Chujie complained: “This report actually said that we did not agree to sell arms to Matalan because there was a problem with the coordination between various departments. This is simply slandering the government! ”
"Lao Yan, don't be so excited!" Tao Donglai advised: "The initiative in which direction this matter will develop next is still in our hands. The rhythm of this express report can be brought back again! You also said just now that we need to strengthen public opinion guidance. Who will guide public opinion? We also have propaganda agencies and official media! If we don’t want the tabloids to set the pace, then we should do it ourselves.”
When it comes to the operational capabilities of propaganda agencies, if Haihan considers himself second, then there will probably be no first in the world. The staffing scale of the Haihan Propaganda Department is much larger than that of a privileged agency like the Ministry of Security. Even in overseas controlled areas thousands of miles away from Sanya, there will always be propagandists on the front lines of confrontation with the enemy's armed forces. Constantly performing duties. As long as such a powerful propaganda organization is activated, how can it take the influence of a private newspaper into its eyes.
(End of chapter)