At 10 a.m., Minister Liu arrived at the district governnt.
Song Guanchao and a few others had already arrived in advance. As Minister Liu walked into the office, they imdiately stood up.
No matter what, Minister Liu was a mber of the standing committee of Jiangzhou City. Although he was not ranked highly, a standing committee mber was still a standing committee mber; the higher the rank, the heavier the authority. In formal settings, they had to maintain enough respect.
Even when Song Guanchao was facing Zhang Yan, in formal occasions, he would still politely address her as Mayor Zhang.
"Minister Liu, have a seat."
Zhong Baofeng personally poured a cup of tea.
Minister Liu took the tea and skipped the aningless formalities, directly asking, "District Chief Song, I heard from Mr. Zhong that you have a way to resolve this issue?"
"Yes."
"What thod?"
"Is Minister Liu not busy right now?"
Song Guanchao said, "If not, let's go to the City Committee. This matter cannot be decided by Mr. Zhong, and I need to report to Secretary Zhou."
Minister Liu was a bit impatient. He had co to hear Song Guanchao's high opinion, only to find out they still needed to go to the City Committee.
Suppressing his impatience, he stood up and said, "Alright, let's go."
Thus, the group went downstairs and headed to the City Committee.
On the way, Chen Yirou asked, "Old Song, what exactly is your plan?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
Song Guanchao took out his phone, "I'm going to make a call. Please remain silent for now."
He dialed Wu Qiangwei's number.
"Mayor Wu, do you have ti now?"
"Speak."
"I'm heading to the City Committee to et Secretary Zhou. If you're not busy, please co along. This issue requires cooperation from the City Governnt."
"Now?"
"Yes, we're already on the way, and Minister Liu from the Publicity Departnt is also here."
"Alright, I'll head over now."
Half an hour later, the group arrived at the City Committee.
Just as they arrived, a vehicle with the license plate 0002 also drove into the parking lot.
Minister Liu recognized it at once; it was Wu Qiangwei's official car.
He glanced at Song Guanchao, puzzled.
Was it a coincidence?
Or was Wu Qiangwei called over by Song Guanchao on purpose?
The car stopped, and Wu Qiangwei got out, walking toward them.
"Mayor Wu." Song Guanchao turned his back to the others, giving Wu Qiangwei a wink.
Wu Qiangwei resisted the urge to roll her eyes and muttered, "Let's go up."
Minister Liu thought to himself, he indeed called her over.
At the sa ti, he wondered what exactly Song Guanchao intended to do, to say it all in front of both the Mayor and the Secretary.
Soon, they arrived outside the City Secretary's office.
The secretary, seeing two mbers of the standing committee arriving, hurriedly went inside to notify.
"Mayor Wu, Minister Liu, please co in."
The secretary opened the door, and Wu Qiangwei and Minister Liu walked in first, followed closely by Song Guanchao and the others.
Chen Yirou and the other two were sowhat nervous.
In terms of rank, whether it was Wu Qiangwei, Minister Liu, or even Zhou Zheng, the City Secretary, their ranks were only one or two levels higher.
On the surface, the gap wasn't huge.
But those within the bureaucracy would understand that sotis, that gap of one or two levels was an insurmountable chasm.
Moreover, as those in charge, the extent of their authority and the resources they could command were far beyond what these departnt-level cadres could match.
They sat slightly rigidly to the side, their posture completely straight.
In contrast, Song Guanchao appeared natural and relaxed, not showing any discomfort even when facing the top leader of the Provincial City.
They couldn't judge whether Song Guanchao was simply broad-minded or just naturally confident.
But to Chen Yirou, it was precisely this mindset of Song Guanchao, different from most, that attracted her the most.
"District Chief Song, go ahead and tell us, how do you plan to resolve this issue?" Secretary Zhou asked.
This ti, Song Guanchao did not keep them in suspense and directly stated, "The current point of conflict is money."
"Initially, according to Mr. Cao's idea, the driver would take full responsibility, and the insurance company would compensate the deceased's family."
"Here, I won't judge whether Mr. Cao's actions were right or wrong, as the fact it's been exposed indicates his approach didn't work."
"The driver's issue is easy to solve. The main problem is the compensation for the deceased's family."
"My suggestion is that the compensation for the deceased's family should be covered by the Nanhu District Governnt."
Minister Liu frowned. The district governnt paying the money—that's his plan?
He thought Song Guanchao would have so brilliant strategy.
In the end, it still ca down to the governnt paying compensation.
If it were that easy to pay, did they need him to offer a solution?
Zhou Zheng's expression remained unchanged, only asking in return, "Under what pretense would the district governnt pay? If it's simply humanitarian compensation, each person would only receive tens of thousands of yuan at most."
"But if it's just that amount, I'm sure the deceased's family won't accept it."
"District Chief Song, it's not that the district governnt doesn't want to pay, but the paynt must be justified. You understand what I an, right?"
"I understand." Song Guanchao smiled and said, "If a pretense for compensation is necessary, there are actually quite a few."
"For instance, why did the crematorium agree to let the deceased's family retrieve the ashes at four in the morning? Didn't the crematorium consider that, under such heavy rain, accidents might occur?"
"To my knowledge, the deceased's family has contacted lawyers, intending to file a lawsuit from this angle."
"Seven people dead, six severely injured, and more than ten with minor injuries. If the deceased's family indeed hires lawyers to sue, the situation could easily escalate."
"Under the pressure of public opinion, the chance of the district governnt losing the lawsuit is high."
These words caused Zhou Zheng's face to gradually darken.
Wu Qiangwei also frowned, looking at him.
She couldn't understand why Song Guanchao would say such things.
While appearing to be a calm analysis, it actually contained an elent of threat.
Threatening them that if no compensation was provided, the family would sue.
The governnt doesn't accept any form of threat, no matter how subtle.
This would be seen by those in power as a challenge to their authority.
Wu Qiangwei sighed internally, thinking that Song Guanchao was ultimately too idealistic.
"Sue? Haha, let them sue if they want. Even if the lawsuit costs tens or hundreds of thousands, it doesn't matter, this precedent cannot be set."
"If it's set, will the governnt have to compensate every ti such an accident occurs in the future?"
Zhou Zheng coldly stated these words.
Song Guanchao nodded and said, "Secretary Zhou is right; this precedent indeed must not be set."
Zhou Zheng's eyes were slightly puzzled.
What did this kid an?
Pressuring him with a lawsuit on one hand, yet agreeing with him on the other.
He was a bit confused.
"To be honest, if Mr. Cao hadn't ssed around at the beginning and followed proper procedures, the district wouldn't have to pay a cent. No matter how much they protested, it wouldn't help."
"But Mr. Cao started by creating a wrongful case, unlawfully intervening, and made a ss known to everyone. Now the internet is saying that those deceased's family mbers have connections with so governnt official, which led to the driver being found fully responsible."
"We are now cleaning up Mr. Cao's ss, helping him wrap up the end."
Song Guanchao sighed and continued, "Secretary Zhou, in my opinion, the district governnt still has to pay this money."
"However, of course, if the deceased's family wants to take the money, they must sign an agreent not to disclose this matter."
Zhou Zheng was not as repulsed as before.
Song Guanchao was right; the whole situation was a result of Cao Quan's mishandling.
If he hadn't acted recklessly, it wouldn't have escalated to what it was now.
However, directly having the district governnt pay, even with a signed agreent, still made him uncomfortable.
This money should not co from the governnt.
Song Guanchao had been observing his expression and could guess his thoughts.
It was ti to unveil his trump card.
"Secretary Zhou, you don't need to worry about similar incidents happening again in the future, leading to the governnt continuing to pay."
"I can assure you that there will be absolutely no similar accidents happening within Jiangzhou City in the future."
"So, you could completely view this compensation paynt as a one-ti solution to fundantally resolving similar incidents."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zheng, Wu Qiangwei, and Minister Liu all looked at him with a confused gaze.
Zhou Zheng asked, "Can you solve it at the root?"
"Yes!"
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