After his younger brother was transferred away, Sun Zhengguo has completely given up. He doesn't even go to the workshop or laboratory anymore. Now, Cheng Wanli and Wu Zhen are basically managing the affairs of the institute.
Therefore, the two old guys were constantly tormenting the cadres and then the workers, making the entire research institute a mess, and everyone dared not speak out against them.
Even some of the Standing Committee members who initially supported them are now somewhat regretful, realizing that if things continue like this, they will all be doomed sooner or later.
This situation persisted for half a month without any improvement.
Standing Committee member Li Shengli couldn't hold back any longer, so he called Minister Li and told him about the institute's current predicament.
Minister Li hung up the phone, pondered for a long time, and then called Sun Zhengguo.
"Zhengguo, Committee Member Li just called and said there's a rift between the leaders and staff in your institute. What exactly is going on?"
“Minister Li, I didn’t want things to turn out this way either. Now I have absolutely no say. It’s not that I didn’t voice my opinion back then, but what did you say?”
"You said it's normal to have dissenting voices, and that I should restrain myself and not always try to dominate the discourse. Fine! Now I'm tired. Let them do whatever they want. Isn't that enough restraint?"
Sun Zhengguo's words, though seemingly ordinary, contained a great deal of information.
This made Minister Li realize that the problem might be even more serious than Li Shengli had said.
Sun Zhengguo did raise this issue before, but Minister Li couldn't do anything about it.
It's perfectly normal for there to be differing opinions within the Standing Committee.
You can't just dismiss people from your ministry because they oppose you!
Wouldn't that be dictatorship?
Furthermore, the standing committee members of the research institute were selected through a process of negotiation and power struggle within the ministry and relevant departments.
Even though Minister Li is a minister, he cannot simply order someone to do something, because he doesn't have that power.
Minister Li felt a headache coming on when he thought about all this. Sun Zhengguo was his man, and he couldn't just sit idly by.
"Jung-guk, what's the current situation at the research institute?"
"Minister Li, the research institute is now basically managed by Deputy Secretary Cheng and Deputy Director Wu."
"And what about you?" Minister Li's voice rose a few decibels on the other end of the phone.
“Me…? Heh!” Sun Zhengguo said with a wry smile, “I’m just a mascot now. All I have to do is sit there and watch. They can do whatever they want.”
"What about the research?"
Minister Li raised the key issue again, which is of utmost importance.
If this goes wrong again, I'm afraid... even he himself doesn't dare to think about it.
“Temporarily halt,” Sun Zhengguo replied calmly.
These four simple words struck Minister Li like a thunderbolt; he could no longer imagine how serious the problem had become.
If the higher authorities investigate and hold someone accountable, the entire ministry will likely be shaken up.
"Comrade Zhengguo, don't panic. You must keep things calm. Since a problem has arisen, the organization can't just ignore it. Here's what we'll do: I'll call a meeting first, and I'll definitely give you an answer before dark tomorrow."
"..."
"..."
After the two hung up the phone, Minister Li hurriedly summoned Secretary Wang and arranged an emergency Standing Committee meeting.
After hanging up the phone, Sun Zhengguo couldn't help but smile.
"Go ahead and make a scene! The bigger the better. Let me see just how capable you old-timers really are!"
...
In the conference room of the Ministry of Machinery, all the Standing Committee members had arrived.
Minister Li, who arrived last, glanced at everyone and then spoke in a very serious tone.
"Comrades, I just received news that our Mechanical Research Institute has stopped research and development. What do you all think we should do now?"
"What?"
The Standing Committee members sitting below were all quite shocked by this news.
"Minister Li, why is that?" Vice Minister Liu asked, puzzled.
"I remember when the research institute was still a makeshift operation, it was all very efficient and energetic. Now that we've invested so much manpower, resources, and money, why have we stopped research and development?"
“Yes, Minister Li, if the higher authorities investigate this matter, we'll be in a difficult position to explain ourselves,” said Minister Hong of the Organization Department, his face also showing concern.
"Minister Li, is there something fishy going on here? You don't need to keep us in suspense, just tell us already!"
"..."
Seeing that everyone was quite anxious, Minister Li calmed himself down.
Since you know it's urgent, it means there's still hope.
"It seems everyone wants to know, so I'll tell you about the current situation, and you can judge for yourselves where the problem lies."
Minister Li then gave a brief overview of the current situation at the research institute.
He also emphasized that the research institute is currently plagued by instability and is not engaged in scientific research, but rather in political struggle.
The other members of the Standing Committee immediately became unhappy upon hearing this.
Although the main conflict in this matter was Cheng Wanli's power struggle, theoretically speaking, they were also accomplices.
Because apart from Cheng Wanli, the other members of the institute's standing committee were all appointed by the ministry.
And those Standing Committee members were backed by several bigwigs present at the scene.
Among them, Vice Minister Liu was the most anxious, because Wu Zhen was one of his men.
In order to avoid being put in a passive position, he had no choice but to go all out and try to shift the blame elsewhere.
"Minister Li, I think the main problem is Cheng Wanli, but we can't touch him. You know, he represents the General Office."
But it would have been better if he hadn't said anything; his words caused Minister Li to let out a cold snort.
"Hmph! Is it all Cheng Wanli's fault? It takes two to tango, surely everyone understands that?"
Minister Li glanced around and saw that the others remained silent, but he was still angry, so he continued.
“Some of our comrades, after achieving results, start to get a little complacent, and then they start vying for power and profit.”
"But don't you think about it? This research institute is a place for scientific research. It can do without any of the cadres, but it cannot do without the researchers."
"What did these people say when they were appointed to the Standing Committee? They said they would support Sun Zhengguo, but is that really how they supported him?"
"If Sun Zhengguo doesn't get support and is constantly restricted, do you think he can still do scientific research properly?"
"If they can't do scientific research, what's the point of having this research institute? Are all these people pigs? Don't they know what's important?"
After venting his frustrations, Minister Li's mood calmed down a bit.
After all, getting angry won't help; the main thing now is to solve the problem.
"Vice Minister Liu, could you please tell us how to solve this problem?"
Seeing that no one spoke, Minister Li began to call out names.
When Vice Minister Liu heard that he had been mentioned, he knew that Wu Zhen was most likely doomed.
However, since Wu Zhen couldn't be saved, the others shouldn't expect to have an easy time either, especially the culprit Cheng Wanli.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com