Chapter 2566
Just thinking of the seriousness of the consequences, Tao Hongfang took the initiative to remind: "Le Tong, have you ever thought about how to deal with this matter if a big shot is really implicated?"
Tao Hongfang deliberately did not mention Shi Diwen, but Bai Letong could not understand what he was referring to. He responded calmly: "If there is evidence, then it should be reported to the executive committee, and the executive committee will I will make a decision.”
Of course, Bai Letong also knows his weight, and he is definitely not qualified to fight against a local official like Shi Diwen. If this matter really involves Shi Diwen, then he can only report the situation to the executive committee, and the executive committee will The committee came forward to resolve the issue.
Tao Hongfang shook his head slightly and said: "But what if the Executive Committee considers the overall situation and needs the East China Sea Region to maintain stability and is unwilling to support our investigation?"
"This..." Bai Letong had never thought of such a possibility. Before that, he simply believed that as long as his actions were safeguarding the interests of the country, he would definitely be recognized and supported by the Executive Committee. But after Tao Hongfang reminded him, he suddenly realized that people like Shi Diwen couldn't just move at will.
The Donghai Region governs tens of thousands of square kilometers and has a population of one million. It is one of the most prosperous regions in the entire East Asia. It is also the future central area of the Haihan Empire. It is extremely important for Haihan to maintain stability in this region. Meaning, the first condition is naturally that the executive committee must maintain its trust and support for Shi Diwen. Even if there are some minor flaws in Shi Diwen's governance, the Executive Committee will definitely turn a blind eye and not hold Shi Diwen accountable for the sake of the overall situation.
Without full trust in Shi Diwen, the East China Sea Region would not have been able to build such advanced equipment as the Glory-class battleship, let alone replace Sanya as the future capital.
"Regardless of whether it will implicate big shots, this matter still needs to be investigated!" Bai Letong was not an ordinary person after all. He quickly regained his composure and insisted on his own point of view: "Now it is just my personal guess. Let's see first. Let’s talk if we can’t find anything!”
Without trying to investigate this matter clearly, Bai Letong will always have doubts about the imperial examination, and it will be difficult to cooperate honestly with the people in the rural examination office. He stood up, bowed to Tao Hongfang and said, "Brother Hongfang, I'd like to thank you for your troubles!"
"This is what our responsibilities should be." Tao Hongfang did not dare to neglect, and quickly responded: "Then do you have any investigation strategy?"
The two sat down again, and Bai Letong said: "If these people from the rural examination office really leak the questions to the outside world, the risks they take are extremely high, and due to confidentiality considerations, the question plan will definitely not be disseminated on a large scale. It should only be done with people Only people with extremely close relationships can get the questions in advance, so I think the investigation should start with the family situation of these people to see if they have children, nephews, or other people who want to participate in this rural examination.”
Next to him, Ning Zijing added: "There are also students they accepted before, they also need to be investigated."
Tao Hongfang nodded and said: "In that case, I will arrange this matter tomorrow."
Bai Letong said: "Do you need me to go with you?"
Tao Hongfang thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It's not necessary for now. I'll ask you to come forward when necessary."
Since Tao Hongfang did not take the initiative to explain what channels he planned to use to investigate the matter, it meant that it was not appropriate to make it public, so Bai Letong knew the truth and did not pursue the matter any further.
The next day, Tao Hongfang and his entourage Apeng took a carriage to Hangzhou City.
He had carefully read the list provided by his father Tao Donglai the night before, and decided to find a target in Hangzhou nearby to see if the other party could help him. In order to avoid exposing his whereabouts, Tao Hongfang got off the carriage before entering the city. After entering the city, he hired another car before heading to his destination.
According to the address on the list, they successfully arrived at a shop in the city. As soon as they got off the bus at the door, a clerk came over to greet them: "Two gentlemen, can you please come inside?"
Tao Hongfang nodded and motioned to the waiter to lead the way.
There is a wooden signboard hanging on the door of this shop, with the three characters "Shunfengxing" written on it. Tao Hongfang is no stranger to this, because this is an old Haihan business firm. To be precise, it is a commercial organization specializing in logistics and transportation. It has specialized carriage and shipping companies. It has branches in many coastal cities in the south. Unexpectedly, it also has branches in Hangzhou.
Shunfengxing is not a government-run organization, but Tao Hongfang is in the Ministry of Commerce and naturally knows some inside information. In fact, several of the shareholders who founded this trading company are senior officials of Haihan.
However, he did not expect that his father was actually related to this trading company. According to the internal information he had access to, he had not seen Tao Donglai's name, and he did not know why there was someone working for him here.
The master and servant Tao Hongfang entered the business. The clerk saw that he was an extraordinary person and did not dare to neglect him. He invited Tao Hongfang to a side hall and invited another steward to come out to receive them.
The steward was also quite enthusiastic. He first ordered the waiter to serve hot tea, and then asked the two of them their intentions.
The list provided by Tao Donglai only had addresses and names, and no other information, so Tao Hongfang did not know the identity of the person he was looking for here. But he had already thought of a way when he came, and immediately responded: "I have some goods that need to be transported to the south. My friend had contact with your bank before. We had already talked about it, but now I The friend had to return to the south in advance, so he entrusted the matter to me. ”
Sure enough, the steward followed his words and asked, "If that's the case, which steward of the bank has your friend discussed with?"
Tao Hongfang said: "My friend said it was a person named Xu Wenlin. I wonder if this person is an employee of your bank?"
The steward quickly responded: "It turns out to be shopkeeper Xu. Please wait a moment. I'll go and ask shopkeeper Xu to come."
Tao Hongfang didn't expect that the person he was looking for was actually the shopkeeper here, and his mentality became much calmer at the moment. Since this person has a certain social status and a stable job, he naturally also has a certain degree of reliability. Moreover, the business done by Shunfengxing requires contact with various religions and nine streams. It is expected that the various connections this person has are indispensable, which may really help the investigation work.
After a while, a middle-aged man hurriedly pushed in the door and took the initiative to identify himself to Tao Hongfang: "I am in Xiaxu Wenlin. I wonder where you come from. How should I call you?"
Tao Hongfang said in a deep voice: "My surname is Tao. I was appointed by my father to come to Hangzhou from Sanya to do some business."
(End of chapter)