800

Everything is going according to our plan.

Hu Jintao went to Jiang Zemin's room to wait in line to attend the plenary session.

Jiang Zemin was meeting with Shanghai officials to discuss countermeasures.

Jiang Zemin frowned at Hu Jintao's sudden visit.

"What is President Hu Jintao doing here? Has he come here to laugh as a victor?"

Hu Jintao smiled even more broadly at the word winner.

"I would like to have a conversation alone with Chairman Zhang."

Then Jiang Zemin frowned even more, because Hu Jintao's tone of speech had changed from before.

He had never spoken to me like that before.

"President Hu Jintao. How dare you come here to laugh at me?"

"If it's okay to talk in front of everyone, I'd be happy to do so. But for Chairman Zhang's sake, I'd recommend that we talk alone."

"······Everyone get out."

Jiang Zemin, who had been glaring at Hu Jintao for a while, issued an order to expel guests.

"Your Majesty, I think this is something we all need to hear together. We will be there too."

But Zhao Qinglin glared at Hu Jintao and did not get up from his seat.

"Chairman of the CPPCC. Are you ignoring me?"

"······Ignore it? How can that be? I have never once opposed the Chairman's opinion. But isn't the situation different now? President Hu Jintao wants to kill us all. If the Chairman compromises with President Hu Jintao, shouldn't we know about it?"

"Self-proclaimed Lin!"

As the others who had been observing nodded one by one to Ja-Cheong-Lin's words, Jiang Zemin slammed the table hard.

"I won't make much of a fuss. Go out."

"Your Majesty······."

"Even if you go out, I'll tell everyone what we talked about later."

Ja-Cheong-Rin sighed deeply and got up from his seat.

When he got up, everyone else got up as well.

"Then I will go to the conference room first."

Jiang Zemin nodded silently, and everyone started to leave.

They didn't forget to glare at Hu Jintao as they left.

Even though President Hu Jintao is at the pinnacle of power in China, no one seems to respect him.

'You fucking bastards! I'll make you regret it.'

Hu Jintao kept a smile on his face, but gritted his teeth on the inside.

Everyone left, and only then did Jiang Zemin tell Hu Jintao to sit down.

"Okay. What do you want to say?"

As soon as Hu Jintao sat down, Jiang Zemin asked:

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Hu Jintao also got to the point without much fanfare.

"Why on earth did you do that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend not to know. There is no evidence, but the circumstantial evidence is sufficient. No one thinks that they moved recklessly without Chairman Jang's approval."

Jiang Zemin smirked and raised the corners of his mouth.

"Isn't a suspicion just a suspicion? If so, does that make it true if I suspect you of having staged a play?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Stop trying to cloud the issue."

"So that's why you came here to question me? How can someone who is worth a lot of comments be so light-headed?"

Jiang Zemin was not at all discouraged by Hu Jintao's pressure.

Rather, Hu Jintao ground his teeth at the sarcastic attitude.

"If you want to kick me out, bring me some evidence. Otherwise, it's just a false claim. I support a thorough investigation into your attempted assassination. I'll speak up at the general meeting today."

It was like openly saying that you were going to cut off the tail.

Hu Jintao laughed and responded fiercely.

"I don't need Chairman Jang's help. I can handle this on my own."

"Then why did you come here? You didn't come here to vent your emotions, did you······."

Jiang Zemin skillfully probed Hu Jintao's inner self to gauge his reaction.

"Just know this. Things won't go your way today. If you're a little greedy, we'll agree because we've had our own problems, but Shanghai is absolutely not going to happen."

Jiang Zemin was the first to bring up the issue. He didn't stop there, but instead tried to negotiate.

"Be satisfied with Beijing. And. You can appoint the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission to whomever you want. Isn't that the most important thing?"

Jiang Zemin raised the corners of his mouth as he spoke in an arrogant tone, as if he was being kind to others.

"But, let go of the hand you're holding with Kim Mu-hyeok."

In exchange for that concession, he also made the absurd demand to let go of his hand held with Kim Moo-hyuk.

Hu Jintao, who had been staring into Jiang Zemin's eyes for a long time, opened his mouth.

"I think Chairman Zhang is mistaken. I came to see Chairman Zhang today not to hear such a request."

"Then why did you come here?"

"I must bring both Beijing and Shanghai. In addition, I must fill the positions of Vice Chairman of the Military Commission with the people I want."

"You're too greedy. I told you that if you're that greedy, you might end up with nothing. You still don't know anything about politics."

Although the tone was similar to that of a child being coaxed, Hu Jintao was not moved and instead snorted.

"You told me to let go of the hand you were holding with President Kim Moo-hyeok? I don't understand why Chairman Jang hates that man so much. Where in China is there a businessman who has as many good feelings for him as you do for him, and why do you reject him like that?"

"You are a shameless Korean businessman who is trying to control the Chinese economy and shake it up. You should know your place."

Hu Jintao slowly rubbed his chin as Jiang Zemin spoke, his voice dripping with anger.

"Even though a friend who doesn't even know the subject gave me a nice gift?"

"A gift?"

"I have received a great gift that is more than enough to make Cheonryangwi fall from his horse."

"What? Who are you talking about? I believe you are not talking about the Shanghai secretary."

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Hu Jintao laughed out loud at Jiang Zemin's bewildered reaction.

"Yes, that's right, Secretary Cheon. Even Chairman Jang can't protect him. He has crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed."

"You crossed the line?"

"Cheon Ryang-wi touched the social security fund. What kind of fund is that? It's money that exists for our people. But he's using it for personal gain!"

Jiang Zemin, who had been choosing his words for a long time, asked in a hoarse voice.

"······Is there any evidence?"

"You said evidence? There is no evidence yet, but I gave a loan from the Social Security Fund to the company where Secretary Cheon's son worked. Of course, if it were a good company, it would be understandable. But in return, his son, who was an ordinary employee, was given the position of Vice President."

His son, who had asked Cheon Liang-wi directly for support in return for providing him with a bad loan, was promoted to vice president.

The annual salary was a whopping 400,000 yuan.

"Do you know what the company did with the money it borrowed? It acquired shares in the Shin Hwang-po Group, which is run by Chairman Wu Ming-li, a close associate of Secretary Cheon. Do you think this is a coincidence?"

Wumingli has had a close relationship with Cheonryangwi for a long time.

Starting with his relationship with Cheon Seo-gi's father by gifting him a luxurious house, he took on all kinds of support.

He paid all of the credit card bills used by the Cheon Liangwei family so that they could live comfortably abroad, and in return, he made this illegal loan possible.

"That company is just passing the money through, but it is directly putting the group in the hands of my son. Do you understand, Chairman Jang?"

Jiang Zemin said nothing and just bit his lips.

The circumstances surrounding the receipt of a bribe? It could have been covered up sufficiently.

Privacy? It was an unwritten rule to never touch that.

But Social Security funds were a different matter altogether.

"What are you going to do? Are you going to protect him?"

When Jiang Zemin was unable to answer, Hu Jintao immediately continued.

"Do you think this is the end? The man who laughed at me earlier, Ja-chung-lin, received gold bars and various bribes from Lai Chang-xing."

"Raichangxing? Is this all Kim Muhyuk's trick? Are you saying you're going to confront me just because of a businessman?"

"Chairman Zhang, please make a good judgment of the situation. I came to see you in person to give you a chance. It would not be a good precedent to bring down the so-called Zhao Lin. Wouldn't it be right to ensure that the Standing Committee member completes his term safely, no matter what happens?"

Jiang Zemin ground his teeth at Hu Jintao's pretense of being a lenient politician.

"······What do you want?"

"Now you're making sense. What I want is······."

Hu Jintao began to state his demands with a triumphant smile.

* * *

I was drunk and fell asleep, but I woke up to the sound of my cell phone ringing in the morning.

The cell phone on the table was ringing loudly.

I got out of bed, forcing myself to open my still eyes.

I reached out and checked the number on the screen, and it was a call from China.

"······This is Kim Mu-hyeok."

I barely managed to move and took out a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

- This is Won Ji-bao. President Kim Moo-hyeok.

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"Ah······. You were the Prime Minister."

- Did you sleep?

"Haha. Yeah. I fell asleep a little late last night, so I'm still a bit hazy."

- Oh, okay. Can I talk to you?

I answered after downing the cold water in one gulp.

"Of course. I welcome your call at any time. Just a moment."

As I left the suite, Director Ma and his bodyguards, who had been waiting outside, approached me.

I pressed the mute button and said to Director Ma.

"Sir, please order some coffee and toast from room service. Is there an anti-bumping device installed in your room?"

"Yes, boss. I'm ready."

I went into the room where Director Ma and his bodyguards were staying.

The bodyguards who had been resting inside suddenly jumped up from their seats.

When Chief Ma signaled them to leave immediately with his hand, they quickly packed their bags and left.

"Please open the curtains."

When Director Ma opened the curtains, sunlight came in.

I unmuted myself and soaked up the dazzling sunlight.

"Mr. Prime Minister, you can talk now."

― The full meeting is not over yet. I am contacting you to inform you of the interim results.

The entire meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China does not end in one day. It usually lasts for three to four days.

Although it was an unusually hasty general meeting, the dates seemed similar.

"I see. How's the atmosphere?"

- It's flowing similarly to what the president said.

Wen Jiabao explained in detail what happened yesterday.

As expected, it seems to be going as expected. I curled the corners of my mouth in satisfaction.

"President Hu Jintao accepted the Prime Minister's proposal."

I deliberately asked Hu Jintao to go see Jiang Zemin and seek political compromise.

If it were possible to completely sever Jiang Zemin's airway, it would have been cut off without mercy, but no trace could be found of a direct connection between Lai Changxing and him.

Nowhere in Lai Changxing's testimony or in the evidence obtained from Lai Changxing.

In that case, rather than suffocating him, he should have been made to step down.

- Because the president told me to do so. President Hu Jintao also readily accepted.

"I guess there was a prior agreement before the general meeting. How far did you decide to fly it?"

All the standing committee members were divided into Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin factions. So, unless they reached an agreement, it could not be concluded.

― We and the princelings agreed to share the party secretaries and mayors of Shanghai and Beijing.

Beijing, the capital of China, and Shanghai, which drives the Chinese economy, were the most politically important places.

If both of those places were taken over, Jiang Zemin's room for maneuver would inevitably be limited.

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― Chairman Jiang Zemin also had no choice. The evidence given by the chairman was too great. After this general meeting, the Central Discipline Inspection Commission will investigate Tian Liangwei. And Jia Qinglin will conduct an investigation after his term ends.

As long as there are no interruptions, everything goes as I want it to. I smiled slightly and asked the rest of my questions.

"Everything is going according to our plan. Thank you for your hard work. By the way, who have you decided to appoint as the next Shanghai Party Secretary?"

― As the president said, I deliberately exposed Xi Jinping's weakness. Originally, Vice President Zeng Qinghong had promised to take Shanghai, and President Hu Jintao had promised to take Beijing.

I never intended to see Xi Jinping take power in China like I did in my previous life.

So I decided to reduce Xi Jinping's influence. Fortunately, it seems to have worked.

"Are you pushing Xi Jinping as I said?"

- Yes. But how did you know that the Vice Chairman was ignoring him?

Xi Jinping has yet to rise to prominence in Chinese central politics.

It might seem strange to me, knowing him like that.

"This is the result of compiling various information. If it's Zeng Qinghong, he will support Xi Jinping."

- That's amazing. Mr. Kim's information power is truly amazing.

Wen Jiabao exclaimed in genuine surprise.

As a regressor who knows the future, I have decided to humbly accept this level of praise.

"So, did Xi Jinping fall from his horse?"

- Yes. It won't be investigated, but it won't enter central politics either.

"You're not going to investigate?"

― Since the vice chairman seems to have some deep connections with Xi Jinping, we decided not to stir up trouble. Instead, we have decided to appoint Bo Xilai, whom we recommended, as the next Shanghai Party Secretary.

This was also my opinion. I secretly asked Wen Jiabao to support Bo Xilai.

"I bet Boshilai would be happy to hear that."

I was not happy that Xi Jinping was not being investigated, but I was satisfied with the news that Bo Xilai, whom I like, had been nominated as the next party secretary.

He seemed to have been recommended without a hitch, as neither Jiang Zemin, Zeng Qinghong, nor Hu Jintao had any reason to oppose him.

"Thank you for your hard work."

― I will contact you again once everything is decided. Nothing has been decided yet.

"Let's do that. I'll contact Boshirai."

- Yes, please do. But please tell him that he must never show it.

"You don't have to worry about that. I'm not stupid enough to spoil something that's already been cooked."

Boshirai was a man of many weaknesses. Enough for me to shake him.

The call with Wen Jiabao has ended.

I looked down at downtown Seoul with a satisfied face. The downtown Seoul beneath the large windows looked particularly lively today.

< Everything is going according to our plan > End

< Well, I guess I have no choice but to believe it >