Binjiang Police Affairs

3 PM, Linghai Police Bureau.

Political Commissioner Sun saw the director returning from an inspection of the grassroots stations and teams and picked up a notice received in the morning, getting up from his office.

"Director Zhou, the commendation for the major cases we cracked down on last year in the waterborne operation has finally come to a closure. The City Bureau wants you to personally lead the team tomorrow morning to attend the commendation meeting, here is the list of individuals to be commended."

"The cases cracked last year are only getting recognized after half a year, what great efficiency."

Political Commissioner Sun laughed: "This isn't the City Bureau's own evaluation of merit, it requires reports at all levels."

Zhou Huixin took the notice to look and laughed: "It turns out that the commendation is jointly by the Ministry of Transport Police and our Provincial Department. The leaders of the Ministry of Transport Police have time but our provincial leaders might not, and when our provincial leaders have time, the others might not. Just finding the right time is tough."

"Exactly, they say good things come to those who wait."

"Did you notify the personnel who should attend tomorrow's commendation meeting?"

"I asked the office to notify everyone. Salted Fish can't make it, he said he's too busy to take care of it."

"What is he busy with?"

"He is busy working with the Port Supervision to deal with those crazily illegally dredging sand in the river. It is said that the disorderly dredging of these sand boats affects navigation safety and could even cause the river embankment to collapse! The city is taking it very seriously. They sent several engineers from the Water Resources Bureau to investigate the situation on the riverbank. They even bypassed us and directly allocated 50,000 yuan in funds to Salted Fish."

Without asking, it was known that these 50,000 yuan were obtained by Salted Fish with the help of Deputy Mayor Shen from the city.

Zhou Huixin put down the notice, spoke gravely: "Every year there are flood controls and floods, from 1990 to last year, there were floods every year except last year. It's very normal for the city to attach great importance to flood prevention."

As a native of Linghai, Political Commissioner Sun felt deeply moved and could not help but sigh: "It's a little better these past two years, the losses were great due to typhoons and floods in the previous years. How does that saying go? I remember now, 'Jiangnan loses a money house, Jiangbei floods a granary!'"

"If the riverbank collapses, if there is a breach, our Linghai is estimated to lose a money house too."

Zhou Huixin sighed, and then asked, "If Salted Fish has no time, did you ask if Xiang Ning is available? He's always busy with this or that, never has time to attend the commendation meeting, it's almost a tradition for Xiang Ning to attend on his behalf."

"I've asked, and Xiang Ning can't make it either."

"Why doesn't Xiang Ning have time?"

"Xiang Ning is even busier than Salted Fish. She is now the head of the Linghai Port Supervision Office of Binjiang Port Supervision Bureau, the appointment was announced yesterday morning. Not only does she have to do her own job well, but she also has to help Salted Fish clean up those who indiscriminately mine sand."

Xu Mingyuan and Fang Zhiqiang will also be attending the commendation meeting tomorrow...

Zhou Huixin fell silent for a moment, then said, "Since both of them are too busy, let his eldest senior brother and second senior brother help him to receive the award certificate and medal on stage."

Political Commissioner Sun laughed: "That's the only way."

"Right, did you ask him if he needs the bureau's help to strike at those sand-mining operations?"

"I asked, but he said he does not need it for now, he didn't even call for reinforcements from the Development Zone Branch."

"Is it enough to rely on just the three officers from the Water Police's Fifth Company?"

"It's not just the Water Police's Fifth Company involved in the operation; the Bailong Port Police Station is also involved."

"Bailong Port Police Station has joined in too!"

"Those sand-mining boats are operating in the river, affecting water traffic safety. The Bailong Port Police Station has to ensure the navigation safety of high-speed passenger ferries on Bai Shen, Bai Liu, and Bai Wu Lines; it's the same reasoning as when they jointly cracked down on illegal eel fry fishing."

When the Yanjiang Police Station first began to crack down on illegal eel fry fishing, Zhou Huixin was the deputy division commander at the City Bureau's Internal Security.

At that time, they did not even know what happened in the river, but after being transferred to work in Linghai and through research, not only understood how big a stir Xu Sanye made back then, but also helped the police acquire several hundred thousand in funds by assisting the Fishery Administration, Industrial and Commercial, and Customs in the crackdown.

For any first crackdown, regardless of what it is, there's always something to gain!

It was the case with cracking down on illegal eel fry fishing, it was the same with cracking down on ship crews' embezzlement on the river last year, and even the crackdown on fake value-added tax invoices by the Si Gang Police Station was the same.

Thinking about Salted Fish presently engaging with those sand-dredging operations, Zhou Huixin smiled and asked: "Old Sun, did you ask Salted Fish if cracking down on those indiscriminate sand mining operations could generate legal income, whether there have been any confiscations or fines?"

"I asked that too, it's purely a loss-making business."

"Loss-making business?"

"Without the support of corresponding laws and regulations, he could only rely on Xiang Ning to check whether the sand dredging boats and the workers on those boats violate regulations. Frankly speaking, it's using the power of the Port Supervision to find faults with the sand mining bosses."

"Operating this way, it's hard to solve the problem once and for all."

"He said he is thinking of a solution."

Political Commissioner Sun turned his head to look back, adding with a smile, "He knows that his role as the division chief is somewhat out of the ordinary, he worries about the people below talking behind his back, he also worries it will make things difficult for us, he promised within two years to help the bureau secure a law enforcement patrol boat."

Zhou Huixin was taken aback and then laughed heartily: "That's the right way to do it! When he worked at the Yanjiang Police Station, he dealt with boat repairs and building; when stationed at the Water Police Station, he figured out how to fund boat repairs, and then he continued to find ways to secure funds for new vessels at the Changhang Bureau. Now that he is back, of course he will build boats; if Salted Fish doesn't repair or build boats, is he still Salted Fish?"

Political Commissioner Sun was amused: "Thinking about it, it's true."

Even if he can't secure the funds, managing to get a boat would do.

The more Zhou Huixin thought about it, the happier he got, and he asked with interest, "Did he say what kind of law enforcement patrol boat he plans to build?"

Political Commissioner Sun quickly replied, "Yes, he wants to build a patrol boat like those constructed by the Changhang Bureau and Water Police Station at the Changwu Shipyard."

"That's going to cost five or six hundred thousand!"

"He said he could get it."

"Where is the money coming from?"

"Han Xiangning hands out fines on the river every day, tens of thousands at a time. He got Old Jiang to bring along several members of the Cooperative Defense Team to assist in law enforcement: gathering five or six hundred thousand is just a matter of a month or two."

"I know Xiangning is very professional at fining, but that's the Port Supervision Bureau's money. Don't think the Port Supervision Bureau isn't wealthy, but they are also very stingy. They haggle over every little bit when buying ships from us and do the same when selling to the city. If the patrol boat is built, and the property rights remain with the Port Supervision Bureau, it would be pointless."

"Director Zhou, rest assured on this point. Salted Fish said that once the patrol boat is built, the property rights will definitely be ours."

"Did he get Director Tang's approval? Did Director Tang agree?" Zhou Huixin was doubtful.

Political Commissioner Sun confirmed with a smile: "It's settled, Director Tang agreed. I heard it was even discussed at the Party committee meeting and passed with a vote."

Zhou Huixin couldn't believe that was true, and pressed on: "How come the Port Supervision Bureau is so easygoing this time?"

Political Commissioner Sun took out a cigarette and laughed: "The city gave them a piece of land, and they just set up a Linghai Port Supervision Office in the development zone. Next, they plan to build an office building on that land. Where would they get the money for an office building, if not from fines?"

"Without our assistance, they would have a hard time collecting fines, and naturally, they wouldn't be able to build the office building."

"Quite so."

"What a loss!"

"Director Zhou, how is it a loss?"

Zhou Huixin slapped his thigh hard, sighing: "After all, it's still the fault of the city authorities. They never considered making Salted Fish the branch chief in the full sense of the word, so Salted Fish never really got into the role. If he took on the role, he would have shown initiative."

"What initiative?" Political Commissioner Sun was confused.

"The initiative a bureau chief should have. As the Development Zone Branch chief, he can't just stand by and watch his branch lack a decent office and case handling facility. If he saw himself as the branch chief, he would definitely pull in more sponsorship from the Port Supervision Bureau. The Development Zone Branch wouldn't need to build a big building, just a three-story building would be enough—even building it by the river would be no issue!"

"…"

"Don't look at me like that; you have no idea how rich the Port Supervision Bureau is."

Political Commissioner Sun was completely convinced and couldn't help but laugh: "Director Zhou, if Salted Fish lacks initiative on this issue, Shi Shengyong doesn't."

Zhou Huixin asked subconsciously: "What do you mean?"

"He came to the bureau for a meeting yesterday and wanted to report to you afterward, but you were busy, so he sat in my office for a while. He said that the environment for the branch's office and case handling is unacceptable, and he wants to get a piece of land from the Management Committee. Once the finance bureau gets some funds, they'll try to get some construction funds. Whatever is lacking, they will figure it out themselves, striving to get the office building up within three years."

"Hahaha, one building ships, the other building buildings, they are quite the pair."

"So, the construction of the Development Zone Branch doesn't need our attention."

...

Meanwhile, Han Yu was on the river, accompanying several engineers from the Water Resources Bureau to investigate the potential impact of sand mining on the river embankments.

The sand is taken from the riverbed, but the water is so turbid that it's impossible to see with the naked eye, and it's very difficult to get a clear understanding of the river bed's topography by probing with a bamboo pole.

Without understanding the situation, it's difficult to make a judgment.

However, Han Yu has 001, and 001 is equipped with a water depth detection system that is still very advanced to this day! With the computer monitor of the water depth detector, one could clearly see the condition of the river bottom.

"They've been pumping for how long, and they've made so many big pits!"

"Two days and nights."

"Two days and nights turned the riverbed into this?"

"The type of sand mining ship they use is a suction cutter ship. It grinds and sucks at the same time, separating out fine sand and mud in the process and then directly pumping the usable river sand into the barge docked next to the sand mining ship. Once a ship is filled, a second follows, in a constant operation, quite efficient."

There used to be very few ships coming to mine sand in the Linghai Waters. The old engineer had never encountered such a situation; staring at the originally flat but now pockmarked riverbed on the monitor, he frowned and asked: "How many tons can they pump in a day and night?"

Han Yu turned to look at the sand mining ship that had just been temporarily seized and docked in the shallow area that morning, and smiled bitterly: "According to a sand mining worker we caught, they mined more than six thousand tons of sand over the past two days and nights."

The young deputy chief engineer looked at the sand mining vessel seized that morning and then at the nearby river embankment, speaking with concern: "There is more mud than sand here; if they managed to get more than six thousand tons of usable river sand, how much mud and fine sand would have been separated and taken away by the river during the sand mining process?"

The old engineer straightened his glasses and stood upright, murmuring: "Two days and nights' amount of soil erosion could conservatively exceed twenty thousand tons. If they keep on doing this, it's no wonder if river and harbor embankments collapse!"

The police and the Port Supervision alone can't solve the problem.

I'm accompanying you on the river survey to draw attention from the water authorities first.

Han Yu signaled Captain Fan to return, squeezing out of the cramped cockpit with several water engineers and descending the ladder back to the first deck. Pointing at the recently passed ferry, he said: "Master Chen, Master Liu, it's precisely because I understand the dangers of indiscriminate sand mining that I have joined forces with the Port Supervision, Water Police Station, and Changhang Bureau in a stern crackdown.

To fight it more effectively, I've even mobilized over a dozen ferries on the Ling Niu Line and passenger ships like Jiang Shen and Jiang Liu to help watch out for any sand mining in our Linghai Waters. As soon as they spot it, they'd report it on high frequency, and we'd arrive at the sand mining site immediately to handle the case.

However, ferries and passenger ships mainly operate during the daytime and only travel eastward as far as Niu Peng Port. Further east, there's no ferry or passenger ship service. Our Linghai shoreline is so long, and we only have these few people; we can handle the east but not the west, especially at night."

The old engineer asked softly: "Then what can we do?"

Han Yu turned and looked toward the river embankment: "If the Water Resources Bureau could mobilize the towns along the river to arrange for people to watch day and night along the river embankments, just like during flood prevention. As soon as they spot any sand mining ships on the river, they could immediately report to us, and we could target our enforcement instead of wasting precious fuel patrolling."