Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1198 - 57: Accusing the Guilty
The "four-party talks" have turned into "three-party talks," and Vice Director Li realized that the trouble was significant.
From the moment Chief Ding saw the cigarettes and alcohol, his heart was pounding. He couldn't believe that there could be a Salted Fish so indifferent in the world. He thought to himself, I've already apologized, and today I even personally came to make amends. Why must you make things difficult?
They say that through confrontation one gets acquainted. Wouldn't it be better to make a friend? Why must you be against us? That's too petty!
"Everyone, let's officially begin."
Han Yu didn't know what they were thinking. As soon as he returned to the meeting room and sat down, he straightforwardly said, "Director Li, Chief Ding, to be honest, even if you didn't come to see me today, I would have come to find you in a few days. To be precise, I would go to find your superiors to report the situation to Vice Mayor Chen of Guzhou City."
The smile disappeared.
The niceties were gone too.
Right from the beginning, he was questioning them!
Vice Director Li steadied himself and feigned calmness, saying, "Secretary Han, we indeed have shortcomings in our work, especially in the strict management of our team. I'll report this to our Director when I return, and I guarantee we'll strengthen the management of the maritime law enforcement team."
"Director Li, I am a cadre from the Linghai City Development Zone. I have no authority to interfere in your bureau's affairs, nor am I qualified to criticize whether there are issues with your cadre management. I just want to take this opportunity to bring some issues to your attention."
"Secretary Han..."
"Director Li, can I finish first?"
"Secretary Han, I'm sorry, please go ahead."
"Some time ago, my father's ship was unjustly fined in your jurisdiction. I admit I was very angry, but it was just anger. After all, that's not my jurisdiction, and waterway traffic law enforcement isn't under my charge. Later, Chief Ding refunded the fine and even apologized to my father."
Han Yu took a deep breath and continued, "Logically, this isn't a big deal, and past matters should be left in the past. But considering that it's not just my family's ship running the Xinghu-Shen Line, but many ships from other provinces and cities as well, I asked Director Tao, Director Shen, and Manager Jiang to help investigate a bit.
Not knowing is fine, but upon investigation, one is shocked: in the short 45 km Wujiang section of the Xinghu-Shen Line, there are 3 inspection toll stations. The two closest stations are less than 10 km apart, and one of them is unauthorized by the Provincial Transportation Department, a privately set up, illegal checkpoint!"
Vice Director Li was stunned, momentarily speechless.
Chief Ding was scared out of his wits, thinking that Han, who has multiple identities in the party, government, military, and police, might detain him today and not let him leave.
"Earlier, I was representing my father and Linghai Cargo 306 in bringing these issues to your attention. Next, Manager Jiang of the Linghai Shipping Company will represent the Linghai Shipping Company in bringing up issues to you."
"..."
"Manager Jiang, you usually can't see Director Li. Today is a great opportunity to lodge a formal complaint, so speak boldly!"
"Alright, thank you."
Manager Jiang had been waiting for this moment, pulling out a stack of materials and receipts from his briefcase, clearing his throat, and speaking rhythmically, "Respectable Director Li, I am Jiang Sifang, the manager of Linghai Shipping Company. Our shipping company is a state-owned enterprise of Linghai City, with all our crew members on board after strict training and passing the maritime department-organized examinations.
Although individually owned transport ships affiliated with our company do have violations like overloading, our company's fleet never overloads. However, since October 1997, every time our company fleet passes through your bureau's jurisdictional waterway, they are fined by local maritime law enforcement officers from your bureau.
Even more unbelievably, Wujiang's local maritime authorities have institutionalized and normalized the 'overload fines.' Shipping companies and individual transport operators have to pay the next quarter's 'overload fee' around the 25th of the last month of each quarter. Even during ship repairs or halts at Chinese New Year, they still have to pay. Otherwise, they risk having their ships and certificates detained."
Vice Director Li felt a tingling on his scalp, instinctively looking towards Chief Ding.
Chief Ding listened in fear, his head hung down, not daring to lift it.
Director Tao of Linghai Transportation Bureau hadn't expected Wujiang's counterparts to be so unscrupulously corrupt. Calmly, he asked, "Manager Jiang, you can fool with food, but not with words. Do you have evidence for the issues you're reporting to Director Li?"
"Yes, our company has a 200-ton mechanical tugboat that has been running the Xinghu-Shen Line since October 12, 1998. Up to January 4, 1999, it ran 4 voyages, with the fines at Luxu Station already paid up to the first quarter."
Manager Jiang pulled out a pile of fine receipts, placing them lightly in front of Vice Director Li, without showing any concession, saying, "Wujiang's local maritime situation is more cunning than a mouse. To cover their tracks, the fines are written for a specific voyage, but the inspection station staff recognize the fine slips on sight, allowing free passage for an entire quarter."
"Director Li, your economic construction is so well-done, and you've always been our learning model. With overloading fines being prepaid like this, it's almost like the tax bureau collecting taxes ahead of time. How are we supposed to learn from this?
"Exactly, Director Li, overloaded ships should indeed be fined, but fining ships that aren't overloaded seems a bit unjustified."
The two directors of the Transportation Bureau were in sync, and Vice Director Li wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
Manager Jiang had never felt so relieved before. He took out a large stack of "punishment orders" and a pile of certificates from his bag, holding them in his hand with a gritted expression: "These 'punishment orders' are riddled with loopholes. On March 27, 1998, eight ships of my company paid a half-year's overloading fine amounting to 19,200 yuan in one day.
This administrative punishment order records the 'violation facts' as being caught overloaded near the Wujiang Pingwang and Budu Maritime Office, but records from our company's 'ship shipping visa booklet' and port loading and unloading slips prove: on that day, three ships were unloading at East Sea Pudong, one at East Sea Songjiang, and four others loading at Hu Zhou Pier, completely not within Wujiang territory!"
Han Yu picked up the conversation, saying coldly: "Director Li, if you need, I will later ask Manager Jiang to make a copy of these materials for you to take back."
"Thank you, Secretary Han."
"Manager Jiang, is there anything you need to add?"
"Yes, the tickets were all prepared by Wujiang Maritime themselves first. Our crew said only one person needed to go to deliver money. Sometimes even the ship owner's signature on the ticket was signed by someone on behalf of Wujiang Maritime."
"Alright, Director Shen, how about your side in Changzhou?"
"Director Li, Secretary Han, I had someone do a simple count. Two years ago, at least a hundred individual ships were running on the Xinghu-Shen Line in Changzhou. Due to the severe fines from the previous Wujiang Local Port Supervision and now the Wujiang Local Maritime, only six ships are running now."
Director Shen looked at his notebook, then continued: "I asked our colleagues at Changzhou Local Maritime Office to contact ship owners, who reported a bunch of issues. They sent all the tickets they received from Wujiang in the past two years to our office, and they could fill a sack!
The problems they encountered are similar to those faced by Linghai Shipping Company. Whether overloaded or not, they had to pay overweight fines, and even had to find someone through scalpers to send gifts. Is it easy for shipmen to run ships?
They roam the seas, earning a bit of money a year, yet each ship has to pay fines over ten thousand yuan to Wujiang Local Maritime yearly. Just think about it and it breaks your heart!"
It's said not to slap someone in the face, yet this is a resounding slap!
Vice Director Li's face turned red, hesitated a bit then said: "Leaders, indeed our work has not been done well. The situation has both subjective and objective factors."
"What objective factors?" Han Yu asked in a low voice.
"Within the jurisdiction of our Wujiang Local Maritime Office, the ship flow on the Xinghu-Shen Line, Jinghang Canal, and Su-Shen Outer Port Line has exceeded one million vessels annually over the past few years, and cargo volumes are nearly two hundred million tons. In contrast, the personnel and financial resources of local maritime organizations are stretched thin."
Vice Director Li took a deep breath, looking bitterly: "The personnel establishment of our Local Maritime Office has not changed since 1987, so we can only hire a large number of auxiliary staff. Due to the lower quality of auxiliary staff, they often fully utilize fines authority in the enforcement process." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Han Yu pressed on: "Just fully utilize fines authority?"
"Mm, I will make rectifications after returning, ensuring a satisfying response to the leaders soon."
"Director Li, I think it's not just a case of fully utilizing fines authority."
Han Yu opened his notebook, maintained a stern face, and said: "I was planning to go to Guzhou to report the issue to Vice Mayor Chen, and it was not to scare you. For this, I have done some homework.
I asked Director Tao and colleagues from Linghai Local Maritime Office to conduct statistics. In just the past two years, Linghai's shipping enterprises and individual transport operators have been fined by you for more than three million yuan!
While attending the national flood relief commendation conference in the capital, I happened to meet a few commanding officers stationed in Hu Zhou, and I asked them to help investigate.
My commanding officer friend didn't know much about shipping, so he went to find Hu Zhou's city leaders in charge of transportation, who mentioned that your operations were deeply resented. They introduced him to the head of one of Hu Zhou's maritime offices.
After investigation, that maritime office collected very detailed data, indicating that your Wujiang Maritime Office and Guzhou District Maritime Office are necessary routes for ships entering the Huangpu River and Guzhou River. Looking at the situation only from the penalized transport ships in the Hu Zhou Region last year, at least two hundred million yuan was fined by you annually."
"Two hundred million!" Director Tao, a man of extensive experience, was startled by this figure.
Director Shen also found it unbelievable, staring intently at Vice Director Li, wanting to know how he would respond.
What could Vice Director Li say, he lamented secretly, regretting his decision to come.
Han Yu knew well that this was not something that could be decided by a Vice Director of the Transportation Bureau, turned to look at his senior, and continued: "Although the Xinghu-Shen Line is praised as China's mini Rhine River, in terms of the number of ships passing daily and annual cargo volume, it still can't be compared with the Yangtze River waterfront section.
My spouse once served several years as the Director of Linghai Port Supervision, now as the Chief of Safety Inspection at Binjiang Maritime Bureau, most familiar with water traffic management on the Yangtze River and the penalties for violating vessels. My spouse has been known for strict penalties over the years, even given the nickname 'Fine Master.'
But the fact is, not even my spouse, the former 'Fine Master,' can compare to you. Her two port patrol teams' yearly total fines don't even match the fraction of yours; not even the entire Binjiang Maritime Bureau can surpass yours annually.
Director Li, even though I've worked on water for ten years, I just can't understand. Could you tell me, is it that ships overloaded and violated just flocked to your area, or do they just like overloading and violating when reaching your waters?"
