Chapter 807: The Power Struggle in Shanghai

In China, while the central government held significant power, local governments, especially the Shanghai Party Secretary, wielded considerable influence.

It even reached a point where Chen Liangyu, the Shanghai Party Secretary, would point fingers and criticize Premier Wen Jiabao, who was officially ranked third in the hierarchy.

Of course, this was only possible because Jiang Zemin condoned it, but it still highlighted the prestige of the Shanghai Party Secretary.

In my past life, after Chen Liangyu’s downfall, Xi Jinping was appointed as the Shanghai Party Secretary, a position that propelled him to the center of power.

This appointment became the catalyst for Xi Jinping, who was relatively unknown to the public, to make a name for himself throughout China. Using this momentum, he ultimately secured a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee at the Party Congress that same year.

For me, it was not a good move to let Xi Jinping, who had excellent control and a strong boss-like temperament, seize power.

“So, you’ve decided to arrest Chen Liangyu immediately?”

— First, I plan to replace the heads of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau and the Shanghai Armed Police tomorrow. After that, before Chen Liangyu can retaliate, the Central Discipline Inspection Commission will launch a full-scale audit of the Shanghai Party Secretary.

“The Armed Police are still around? I thought Chen Liangyu had completely taken control of them. This could get pretty messy.”

Although they are nominally called Armed Police, in reality, they are closer to a military force.

And the higher authority of the Armed Police was under the control of the Ministry of Public Security, not the Central Military Commission or the People’s Liberation Army.

It was a peculiar organization, a paramilitary force outside the influence of the Central Military Commission.

The number of Armed Police scattered throughout the country exceeded 1.6 million.

And they had different names in each region and were loyal to the Party Secretary of that region.

— The Vice Chairman believes that if we fail to take control of the Armed Police, a civil war could break out. Fortunately, we should be able to carry out the replacement before Chen Liangyu figures out the situation.

And the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, who was in charge of them, was not friendly to Hu Jintao.

Even Luo Gan, who had turned neutral in this general meeting, was an example.

Although not a member of the Shanghai faction, he was classified as pro-Shanghai.

“That’s good news. A civil war would be a difficult situation for Chairman Hu Jintao to accept.”

— If something like that happened, he might have sent all the People’s Army troops stationed nearby to Shanghai. Since Chairman Hu Jintao has completely taken control of the Central Military Commission, it is a practical solution.

Was that stability-oriented Hu Jintao willing to risk civil war?

Or was there something bigger he had managed to obtain?

“You have completely taken control of the Military Commission?”

— We’ve reached an agreement to have the Vice Chairman be someone recommended by Chairman Hu Jintao. And it seems we will be able to fill all other key military positions with our people.

It was a greater achievement than expected. But Jiang Zemin was not the kind of person to back down so easily.

“Did Jiang Zemin accept all of that?”

— What else could he do if he didn’t accept it? Jia Qinglin’s mouth was sealed and Huang Ju… I shut his mouth. No matter how much power Chairman Jiang wielded behind the scenes, if the people in office didn’t cooperate, he couldn’t do anything.

It seemed they had used the cards I gave them better than I thought. It was a victory that could be described as overwhelming.

“At this point, it’s almost a one-man government for Hu Jintao, wouldn’t you say?”

— Well, since the Vice Chairman shares power with him, it’s not quite that. It’s more accurate to see it as a coalition between the Communist Youth League and the Princelings.

Now that they had achieved their desired outcome, it was my turn.

“So, are the import and export restrictions on Korea now lifted? And what about relations with North Korea?”

— Ah, Jiang Zemin is not giving ground on that issue. And two of the Standing Committee members who have expressed neutrality agree with that opinion. So, it’s going to take some time.

“So, none of my requests have been addressed, and only the Chairman has benefited. Are you saying you will continue to handle things like this with the companies related to me?”

What I wanted was clear. I wanted the pressure that had been placed on me to be lifted.

And yet, they haven’t resolved a single thing, and they’ve gone on for so long about how they focused solely on strengthening Hu Jintao’s power.

— …If you give us more time, we can achieve an even better outcome than before. Please trust me and wait.

“Ha….”

Hearing my hollow laugh, Wen Jiabao cleared his throat softly.

“Prime Minister, do you not understand why I’m helping Chairman Hu Jintao and Zheng Qinghong? Even if you have to give up something else, you should have resolved that first. Isn’t that right?”

— I apologize. However, it won’t take too long. The Vice Chairman is persuading the Elders, and if Chairman Hu Jintao’s power becomes more established over time, we can offer you greater benefits.

Even if they said that greater benefits would come if I waited a little longer, it was not something I could simply accept and move on from, since I couldn’t be sure when that would be.

“When will that be possible?”

— At the latest, we will lift the sanctions by next spring. Please trust us and wait a little longer.

“So, you’re saying that it could be as late as next year.”

— Instead, we have agreed to pursue a more conciliatory policy toward North Korea. For now, we’ll withdraw the troops conducting military exercises and I will personally visit North Korea.

Amidst all the bad news, that was at least a ray of hope.

“So, Chairman Yoo Sung-jin will be released, right?”

— That will be resolved when Bo Xilai steps down as Party Secretary. Since it happened in Shanghai, it should be resolved in Shanghai. It’s not something the central government needs to get involved in.

This was also something I could just talk to Bo Xilai about.

Having to take two steps for each thing was just annoying.

“Please tell Chairman Hu Jintao that I’m quite disappointed. If things continue like this, I might have to reconsider my position.”

— Chairman Jiang has a very strong stance on Boss Kim. Chairman Hu Jintao dismissed his nonsense, but he said that there was a request to cut ties with Boss Kim. It seems he’s very upset. He is particularly unwilling to compromise on matters regarding Boss Kim.

Well, all that guy has left is his pride.

It felt a little uneasy to rely solely on them. I purposely remained silent for a long time without answering.

The one who felt uncomfortable with that silence was of course Wen Jiabao.

— Boss Kim, I promise you. If Chairman Hu Jintao backs down this time as well, I will take the lead to make sure we keep our promise. It seems the Vice Chairman feels the same way.

“Alright. Then I’ll trust you, Prime Minister. Let’s talk again next time.”

— Yes. I will contact you again with better news.

The time for the appointment had arrived, and I ended my call with Wen Jiabao.

I turned to Manager Ma, who had been listening to the call next to me.

“It’s always the same with politicians. They only look out for their own interests first. Tch.”

Clicking my tongue and shaking my head, Manager Ma said worriedly.

“Boss, are you planning to leave Jiang Zemin alone? If things continue like this, he will interfere with your business at every turn.”

I raised an eyebrow at Manager Ma’s words. I seemed to understand what he meant.

“We must never inflict physical harm on Jiang Zemin. If something like that were to happen, all of China would unite to try to kill me, even if Jiang Zemin is their political enemy.”

“…My thoughts were short-sighted. I understand what you mean.”

“Let’s wait and see. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao made some bold promises, so even if it’s a little late, it should be resolved eventually. And they said that they would restore relations with North Korea. Let’s keep an eye on things for a while. At least, we’ve put out the immediate fire.”

The unstable elements were not completely resolved.

Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin could join hands and restrain Zheng Qinghong, or Zheng Qinghong could join hands with Jiang Zemin to restrain Hu Jintao.

China was a place where you should use people, not trust them. I decided not to let my guard down.

“Let’s keep checking on the situation and see how things develop. Since we’ve appointed Bo Xilai as the Shanghai Party Secretary, let’s start with that.”

“Yes. I will prepare everything.”

I checked the watch on my wrist.

“It’s almost time for Director Yoon Hyun-joo to arrive. Tell them to prepare tea as soon as she gets here, and bring me all the related documents.”

“Understood, Boss.”

Yoon Hyun-joo arrived right on time for her appointment.

Her face had become quite haggard over the past few days.

“You look terrible. Are you not feeling well?”

“…Does it show that much? My insomnia has gotten worse again. The hospital says that I’m too stressed and should relax, but that’s easier said than done.”

I shook hands with her, who spoke listlessly, and then took my seat.

As soon as Yoon Hyun-joo sat down, a staff member brought tea.

“I’ve checked all the real estate that you handed over. They’re all better pieces of land than we expected. How did you even find them? Because it was not owned by just Chairman Jo but several people, there was a lot of real estate that even we had not been able to identify.”

“My Dad dispersed it that way. I wondered why he made it so complicated, but now I understand. My Dad didn’t trust anyone.”

Yoon Hyun-joo murmured, fiddling with her teacup. It seemed the Chairman Jo incident had been quite an education for her.

“Although we’ll need to do a proper calculation, even based on yesterday’s closing price, the value of the land surpasses the combined worth of the KS stocks and all of our other affiliates. Do you still wish to exchange them?”

“Yes. Please do so. I think it would be more advantageous in the long run to secure the shares that Boss Kim owns. I’m thinking of completely transforming into a holding company with this opportunity. So that no one can ever threaten our group again.”

An unexpected answer was given. I thought she trusted me quite a bit, but now it seemed she was drawing a line.

It seemed that she thought she could keep shaking up the KS Group using our shares.

But I liked that Yoon Hyun-joo, who was making a much wiser decision than Choi Woo-sik, was not foolish.

“Well, alright. It’s not a bad deal for us, so we’ll accept it. We’ll exchange all of the real estate for all of your KS group’s shares.”

“Thank you. But I’d like to have the contract drawn up beforehand but postpone transferring the stocks for a little while.”

“So, you want us to hold on to the stocks for you?”

Yoon Hyun-joo nodded slightly, her eyes glinting coldly.

“I hope that Choi Woo-sik doesn’t know about this yet.”

“Then, it would be better to draw up the contract with Future Investment rather than Dream High Korea. Eva, the CEO, came to Korea yesterday, would it be okay to call her now?”

“It doesn’t matter who we sign the contract with. But if CEO Eva is back in Korea, does that mean you’ve received the shares held by Sovereign?”

“Yes. Fortunately. They sold it immediately because we paid a premium. They didn’t seem to be aware that there was a management dispute. If they had known, they wouldn’t have given them up so easily.”

Yoon Hyun-joo visibly let out a sigh of relief.

The shares held by Sovereign Fund were the last obstacle for her, so her reaction was understandable.

“I will call CEO Eva first.”

I immediately picked up my phone and called Eva.

— Boss!

“Eva, I know you’re still jet-lagged, but I need you to come to Myeong-dong right away.”

— No, it’s okay. If I get ready quickly and leave, I can get there within an hour.

“Okay. Take your time.”

I put my phone down and looked at Yoon Hyun-joo.

“Then, while we wait, should I tell you about Chairman Jo?”

Yoon Hyun-joo hesitated for a moment before nodding and looking at me.

While I relayed everything that Chairman Jo had said, Yoon Hyun-joo didn’t ask a single question and just listened silently.

“…That’s how it happened. It’s a reasonable conclusion that Choi Woo-sik knew Chairman Jo’s true identity beforehand.”

Yoon Hyun-joo’s complexion, which had already been poor, turned even paler.

“So, Jo Pan-deuk betrayed me. Now, I’m afraid of Choi Woo-sik. When did he start investigating me? The divorce lawsuit must have also been pre-planned, right?”

“It’s likely. Not everyone thinks of divorce just because they have a mistress, but it’s likely that he prepared it since he started feeling something was strange as his child grew older. If not, there’s no way he would have met Chairman Jo faster than we did.”

Yoon Hyun-joo bit her lip. Her complexion was still poor, but her eyes were different.

“Have you made up your mind to get a divorce?”

“Yes. I don’t want to live with him anymore. I’m going to bring that man down to hell.”

They say that when a woman holds a grudge, frost falls even in the fifth month of the lunar calendar.

Even I was chilled by her venomous gaze and words.