Because of a series of incidents, Zone 7 became the focus of attention in the safe zone for a short period of time.
To prevent the Crystal Coin Plan from becoming unstable, Qin Siyang had Kafu hand over the position of Zone 7 district chief to Chen Zhongming as soon as possible.
On the very day the Samsara Church at Xuanxuan Clothing City was brought under control, Kafu organized a report detailing the whole affair.
Because this matter involved the Gu family, no one in the United Government dared to delay it. It was reported up through the ranks, and in less than a day, Secretary-General Gu Weiyang issued his instructions.
[Kafu and Chen Zhongming made outstanding contributions in this matter and should be commended. They should be made examples for United Government officials.]
To personally express his gratitude to Kafu, Gu Weiyang also sent an email in his personal capacity, thanking Kafu for helping the Gu family clear out the Samsara Church, those "parasitic pests".
After receiving the email, Kafu knew that this private email was definitely not meant only for him personally. It carried a very clear message.
Well versed in the ways of officialdom, Kafu did not quietly keep it to himself. Instead, at the district United Government's regular meeting, he "showed off" the private letter in a highly conspicuous manner and read it aloud in front of everyone.
"Secretary-General Gu Weiyang mentioned in the email that he would commend Chen Zhongming and me for our contributions," Kafu sounded pleased with himself, "I express my full support for Secretary Gu's work going forward, and I am willing to contribute my strength to the Gu family."
The public directive and the private email seemed to grow wings and spread on their own.
Before many officials in other places had even heard that a Samsara Church branch had appeared in the Gu family's clothing city, they already knew that a district chief named Kafu had achieved an impressive victory and received a personal commendation from Secretary Gu.
Only after looking into it more carefully did they learn exactly what great feat Kafu had accomplished.
Gu Weiyang putting a final stamp on the matter and publicly commending Kafu and Chen Zhongming was actually a way of sending a signal to the outside world: the Samsara Church in Zone 7 had no direct connection with the Gu family.
But as for what the truth of the matter really was, everyone had their own opinion.
And so, the matter of the Samsara Church establishing a branch in Xuanxuan Clothing City came to an end.
From beginning to end, Gu Yunxuan, the nominal owner of the clothing city, never publicly appeared to explain the matter. Everything was handled by her father, Gu Weirong.
Other people thought Gu Yunxuan was keeping her distance to avoid suspicion. Only people like Zhao Sifang, who knew her well, knew that this young lady of the Gu family was extremely simple-minded. She did not understand what was going on at all, much less have the ability to properly resolve the problem.
In private, whenever Gu Yunxuan brought up the Samsara Church with Qin Siyang and the others, she would simply wave her little fists and repeat over and over, "The Samsara Church is trying to frame me and my dad!"
After receiving the private email, Kafu immediately applied to be transferred to become the governor of State 12. He also hoped to take with him, intact, the group of capable officials he had trained in his office over the years. Secretary-General Gu Weiyang approved the request without hesitation.
Although Kafu's transfer request as a model official was technically a transfer at the same level, he was moving from a core region to an ordinary state, so his status was subtly declining.
With the Richard family brought down, Kafu choosing to withdraw while he was still ahead was perfectly understandable.
By comparison, Kafu's desire to take along the officials he had personally trained was an insignificant request. The United Government naturally had to do its best to accommodate him. They could not let a model official who had made such a great contribution feel discouraged and dampen the enthusiasm of other officials.
There was only one carrot in each hole. As long as Kafu did not leave Zone 7, Chen Zhongming could not formally take over.
So Kafu did not drag things out. On Monday night, he had a farewell dinner with Qin Siyang.
Before leaving, Kafu held Qin Siyang's hand, "Mr. Qin, after tonight, I'll be heading to State 12 to take up my new position. If there's ever anything you need my help with, please be sure to let me know. I'll be more than happy to help."
"District Chief Kafu, no, Governor Kafu, I'm also very grateful for your support. Believe me, you made a wise choice."
The two chatted and laughed together, while Zhao Longfei, who was sitting nearby like a third wheel, was so angry that he was almost having a stroke.
The position of Zone 7 district chief was now vacant.
A district could not go even one day without a chief.
That very night, the appointment order promoting Chen Zhongming to Zone 7 district chief was issued.
Even though the United Government did not want to see the Zhao brothers become too dominant in Zone 7, they had no choice but to hold their noses and go along with their wishes.
This operation to purge the church in Zone 7 involved one of the highest levels of United Government management to publicly appear in the matter, Secretary-General Gu Weiyang, so it received an extremely high level of attention.
Chen Zhongming's contribution to the purge was second only to Kafu's, and he was also the deputy district chief of Zone 7.
His outstanding record, strong backing, and perfectly suited position all made him the obvious choice for Zone 7 district chief.
For a time, the United Government simply could not find an obstacle capable of stopping Chen Zhongming's advance even half a step.
Chen Zhongming taking office as district chief was the final piece the Zhao family placed on the board in Zone 7.
The struggle over Zone 7 had completely come to an end. In the United Government's contest with the Zhao family over this territory, they had ultimately suffered a regrettable defeat.
Now, there was only one voice in Zone 7.
That voice bore the surname Zhao.
At the same time, Qin Siyang's position in everyone's eyes also underwent a change.
Previously, many people thought that the Zhao family giving him the position of vice president of the Zhao Family Chamber of Commerce was purely an attempt to exchange it for his support of the Zhao family with rare materials and absorb him into the Zhao family.
But now, as the intermediary bridge connecting the Zhao family and Chen Zhongming, Qin Siyang's position looked more like that of a partner of the Zhao family rather than a subordinate.
More people consequently realized that Qin Siyang was not some junior waving flags and shouting behind Zhao Longfei.
He was a player determined to take a seat at the table.
The only thing many people still did not know was what Qin Siyang intended to put on the table as his bargaining chip.
Meanwhile, another rather unremarkable piece of news spread through the safe zone.
The Chu Legion had built a fairly large military base in Area 4444, which was roughly estimated to be capable of accommodating nearly ten thousand people.
The owner of this military base was Huo Dangkou, commander of the 37th Sequence Independent Regiment of the Chu Legion.
Anyone with discerning eyes knew that Huo Dangkou was an idiot who could not shoulder the responsibilities of a regimental commander and was merely a puppet put forward for appearances. As for who was behind the scenes, that remained open to debate.
When the military base was completed, the question in everyone's minds was answered.
Accompanied by Chu Baxing, Huo Dangkou inspected the military base.
It looked like the Sequence Independent Regiment was something Chu Xiaoang had arranged to pave the way for his son.
But this raised a new question.
If a father wanted to pave the way for his son, he could just assign him a Sequence Regiment. Why apply for an [independent organization] for the Sequence Regiment that could refuse the commander's orders?
Chu Baxing was his father's only son. In the end, everything his father had would belong to him anyway. It was just a matter of moving something from one hand to the other. Wasn't applying for an independent organization just taking off your pants to fart?
Could it be...
Chu Xiaoang secretly had an illegitimate son, and Chu Baxing found out, causing tension between father and son?
[🎉 Shoutout to Cash for joining p@treon. Consider joining to keep the stories going. Thank you very much.🤗]