LRAB Page 97
Page 97
Upon hearing this news, Secretary Gong smiled.
"Their personal arrival in Lincheng is good news for the coal miners and their families. My title as the provincial party secretary has also played a role."
"Tongwei, arrange a car immediately. We'll set off for Lincheng tonight. We can talk about everything in the car."
Qi Tongwei placed his hands in front of his abdomen and said to Secretary Gong.
"Boss, I've arranged the car, we can leave anytime."
Secretary Gong gave Qi Tongwei a deep look, then nodded.
Gong Kaichen had his own car for his research trips, and the driver stayed at the Party School guesthouse. Qi Tongwei naturally wouldn't overlook such a small matter.
It's July now, and the weather is still quite hot. If it were winter, it would be much more challenging.
After Secretary Gong finished tidying up, he immediately left the guesthouse, followed closely by Qi Tongwei, who carried the luggage into the car.
Besides Secretary Gong and Qi Tongwei, there were several provincial party committee cadres and the chief steward of the Handong Provincial Party Committee in the car.
Wen Qihang, member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee.
When Secretary-General Wen saw Qi Tongwei, a smile appeared on his face. However, Qi Tongwei felt that the smile of this chief steward of the provincial party committee was somewhat meaningful, but he was not sure if it was just his imagination.
Qi Tongwei sat down next to Secretary Gong and Secretary-General Wen. At this moment, Secretary Gong recounted the contents of his earlier conversation with Qiao Ning, the Party Secretary of Lincheng City.
"The coal mine collapse at Xujia Kiln was very serious. At the time of the accident, there were still 93 workers working underground."
Everyone in the car couldn't help but gasp.
Oh no, this is a huge mess.
Secretary Gong's expression was also not good at this moment. After all, such a major work safety accident was not good news for him, the newly appointed provincial party secretary.
The authorities need to see how Gong Kaichen handled the situation, ensuring it doesn't negatively impact the economy while also maintaining public morale. This is a tremendous challenge.
Handling this matter well may not necessarily earn you points, but handling it poorly will definitely deduct points.
Gong Kaichen aspires to reach even greater heights, and naturally, he doesn't want to stumble on this path.
"Secretary, please speak."
"Once we get to Lincheng, I'll need you to do some things for me."
"I am ready to follow the Secretary's instructions at any time."
"Let's talk about it then!"
Secretary Gong did not specify what it was about, but Qi Tongwei guessed that it must be something significant, but some things were better left unsaid in the car.
Gong Kaichen opened the car window and looked at the night view outside.
I already have some ideas in mind.
This accident is probably not simple!
Chapter 151 Secondary Collapse
In fact, Secretary Gong Kaichen was well aware of certain things.
Why were there still so many workers in the mine after midnight? Just based on this alone, Gong Kaichen would never believe it wasn't a man-made disaster.
Some things may fool others, but they cannot fool this provincial party secretary.
Who is Secretary Gong? He served as the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission in Handong for three years, and as the Governor of Bianxi Province for four years. He has extremely rich political experience and political ability.
Some things aren't that we don't speak out, but for the sake of development, we can only choose to turn a blind eye. However, this doesn't mean we can do whatever we want.
That's why Secretary Gong appointed Qi Tongwei as his general; things that he couldn't easily investigate, this top secretary of Handong could.
Don't think that he was used as a pawn by Secretary Gong. Being able to become a pawn is already the greatest value that Qi Tongwei has demonstrated at this stage.
First you become a piece, then you become the one who moves the pieces.
Luzhou and Lincheng are about 400 kilometers apart, one located in the south of Handong and the other in the northwest of Handong.
The journey of over 400 kilometers took three hours. When they arrived at the Lincheng South toll station, several police cars were parked next to the toll station. Qi Tongwei asked them what was going on.
"Boss, what should I do?"
Secretary Gong opened his eyes, glanced through the car window, and then gave instructions to Qi Tongwei.
"It must be people from Lincheng. Go down and tell them to go directly to Xujia Kiln Coal Mine."
Qi Tongwei nodded, then got out of the car and went to the row of cars.
In this convoy, besides five police cars, there was also a black sedan with the license plate number Han D00001.
Qi Tongwei understood immediately upon seeing the license plate number.
The owner of this license plate number is none other than Qiao Ning, the Party Secretary of Lincheng City.
Qi Tongwei's photo had already reached Qiao Ning. Upon seeing Qi Tongwei, Qiao Ning immediately ran over, his forehead even covered in a fine sheen of sweat.
Qiao Ning was very humble in front of Qi Tongwei, the top secretary of Handong, showing no trace of the authority that a municipal party secretary should have.
He quickly smiled and said.
"Secretary Qi is indeed young and promising. Is Secretary Gong in the car?"
"Yes, the secretary is in the car."
"Does the secretary have any instructions?"
Qi Tongwei gave Qiao Ning a deep look, and then said.
"Secretary Gong said to go directly to the site of the Xujiayao coal mine collapse."
"Yes, yes, I understand. Thank you for informing me, Secretary Qi."
As Qi Tongwei turned to walk towards the minibus, he could clearly hear Qiao Ning urging everyone to hurry up and leave.
At this moment, Qi Tongwei was thinking that perhaps Qiao Ning was waiting here for a reason that was not so simple.
That's why Secretary Gong saw it at a glance, which is why he let himself get out of the car and told Qiao Ning to go directly to the collapse site.
The purpose was to avoid getting too entangled with Qiao Ning.
After getting into the car, Secretary Gong asked slowly.
"Is that Qiao Ning?"
"Yes, Secretary."
Secretary Gong nodded and then fell silent.
Qiao Ning and the Lincheng City Public Security Bureau's car served as Secretary Gong's map.
Led by them, the minibus drove all the way to Xujiayao Coal Mine.
Secretary Gong got off the minibus, and at that moment, the entire Xujia Kiln Coal Mine was in chaos.
There were police officers maintaining order, firefighters from the Lincheng Fire Brigade rescuing people, and family members of the buried workers crying out in despair.
This scene greatly shocked Qi Tongwei. Life is fragile. How can human life be stopped in the face of such a huge disaster?
Secretary Gong went to the accident site without hesitation. The people needed him at this time, and he would never back down.
As they walked, Secretary Gong asked Qiao Ning questions.
"Have the hospital staff arrived yet?"
"A group of wounded soldiers have already been evacuated."
Secretary Gong nodded, but still gave some instructions.
"We need to add more staff! Let the medical staff from the hospitals in Lincheng work hard."
"Then we immediately arranged for the traffic police to open a green channel for the hospital's ambulances, to ensure that the workers could receive effective treatment as soon as they were rescued."
Qiao Ning quickly said.
"Yes, Secretary."
As he spoke, he turned and said a few words to a man in a police uniform, who was none other than Hong Wei, the director of the Lincheng City Public Security Bureau.
Hong Wei immediately went to make arrangements and coordinate.
Just as Secretary Gong arrived at the accident and collapse site, an emergency suddenly occurred.
The ground where everyone was standing shook, and the coal mine experienced a second collapse.
This collapse poses no less of a threat than the first one, and may even be more dangerous.
Those buried in the mine shaft at this moment are not only workers, but also firefighters who are conducting rescue operations.
Secretary Gong's expression turned grim, and he immediately spoke to Qiao Ning.
"Immediately dispatch comrades from the Lincheng Armed Police Detachment."
After giving instructions to Qiao Ning, Secretary Gong then spoke to Qi Tongwei.
"Call the Provincial Armed Police Fire Brigade immediately and tell them to send their elite troops to Lincheng to carry out rescue operations."
"In addition, we need to coordinate with the Provincial Public Security Department and the Transportation Department to ensure that the firefighters can get to Lincheng as quickly as possible."
Qi Tongwei nodded, went to the side, took out his mobile phone, and dialed the number of the Provincial Armed Police Fire Brigade.
After giving the instructions, Qi Tongwei made a phone call to Cao Jiadong, the director of the Provincial Public Security Department, and Zhuo Wenquan, the director of the Provincial Transportation Department.
During the phone call, he relayed Secretary Gong's instructions in their entirety.
Cao Jiadong said this over the phone.
"Secretary Qi, please tell Secretary Gong that we are on our way to Lincheng."
After finishing his call, Qi Tongwei immediately went to Secretary Gong's side and said cautiously.
"Secretary Gong, instructions have been given. In addition, Director Cao of the Public Security Bureau and his team are on their way."
Secretary Gong nodded and prepared to walk forward when suddenly a huge commotion broke out from the side of the buried miners' families.
"Let's go take a look."
Gong Kaichen walked directly towards the miners' families. Seeing that the families were somewhat agitated, Secretary Gong took a microphone and addressed everyone.
"Please be quiet. I am Gong Kaichen, Secretary of the Handong Provincial Party Committee. Please rest assured that the Party and the government will not give up. We will do our best to rescue every buried miner."
"Please give the government some time, and please give me, Gong Kaichen, some time as well. I can assure you that as long as there is one miner buried underground, I, Gong Kaichen, will not leave Xujia Kiln."
Secretary Gong's speech served to reassure the public and was also the greatest comfort to the miners' families at present.
Just as he had promised, Gong Kaichen never left the Xujia Kiln Coal Mine.
Forty minutes later, when it was five o'clock and the sun had already risen, the soldiers of the Lincheng City Armed Police Detachment arrived at Xujia Kiln.
Upon arriving at Xujia Kiln, the armed police officers did not rest for a moment and immediately joined the remaining firefighters to carry out rescue work.
At this moment, Secretary Gong also spoke to Qi Tongwei.
"Tongwei, you're not of much use staying here. Do me a favor."
"Secretary, please speak!"
"Go and visit the surrounding area to learn about the Xujia Kiln Coal Mine. Remember, you must keep a low profile."
"Yes, Secretary."
Qi Tongwei felt a chill run down his spine; he seemed to understand what Secretary Gong meant.
Chapter 152 Overt and Covert Visits
Xujia Kiln is actually a town, under the jurisdiction of Ankang County, Lincheng City.
As for Xujiayao Coal Mine, it is a large coal mine with coal reserves of 1.4 million tons and an annual output of 150 million tons of raw coal mined underground.
As the saying goes, "Those who live near mountains live off the mountains, and those who live near water live off the water." With such a large coal mine, the people of Xujiayao are different from those in some poor areas.
This coal mine originally belonged to the Lincheng Mining Bureau, and many of the people in Xujiayao were workers at this coal mine, which could be considered state-owned enterprise workers.
However, all of this changed after the 90s.
The coal mine was experiencing operational problems and was losing money year after year. In order to alleviate this burden, the Lincheng Municipal Party Committee, the Lincheng Municipal Government, and the Lincheng Mining Bureau decided to contract out the coal mine.
Ultimately, the company that obtained the operating rights to the coal mine was a company called Tianhua Coal Mine in Lincheng.