Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 188

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then dodged the question, saying, "This is something that was discussed in a small meeting. Minister Qiu is being a bit too hasty."

After finishing his drink, he put the lid back on the teacup and put it down.

Perhaps because it shifted slightly when he put it down, he subtly rotated the teacup so that the handle was facing him directly.

Qiu Tu smiled as he watched this scene, then said calmly, "Minister Cai is right. This should indeed be discussed after Minister Zhang arrives."

"After all... at the high-level meeting, you and Minister Zhang were both reported to the shelter. Nobody knows whether you or he will become the minister."

“If we discuss it for a long time and Minister Zhang disagrees, then it’s all for nothing.”

Qiu Tu's words caused Cai Peiyuan to pause slightly in his actions. He then remained silent for two seconds before looking up and giving Qiu Tu a deep look.

It wasn't that he fell for this naive provocation, but rather... he knew Qiu Tu was hinting at something: he and Minister Zhang still had a core conflict—the ministerial dispute—that hadn't been resolved!

This is the second step of Qiu Tu's plan: to sow discord between Vice Ministers Tsai and Chang.

Thinking this, Cai Peiyuan couldn't help but ask with a half-smile, "Minister Qiu seems to have some opinions?"

Qiu Tu glanced at the office door, then, holding his teacup, said slowly, "Of course."

After realizing that Cai Peiyuan was starting to take his words seriously, he stopped hiding his thoughts and said directly, "After Minister Jia's incident, the Director-General hardly hesitated before appointing Minister Cai to temporarily take charge of the Political Department's operations."

"While this may not be considered a direct endorsement by the director, it is a very clear political statement."

"At the time, almost everyone in the department assumed that you would be the future Minister of the Political Department and a new senior executive of the Detective Agency."

"And even if you don't end up becoming the Minister of Political Affairs, you will definitely be a new high-ranking official parachuted into the shelter."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's analysis, Cai Peiyuan nodded with a hint of pride—because that was indeed the case.

Seeing this, Qiu Tu continued, "As it turned out, at yesterday's high-level meeting, Minister Zhang suddenly emerged as a strong contender, with three high-ranking officials supporting him to take over as Minister of the Political Department."

At this point, Qiu Tu shook his head slightly, "I have to say, this is not a good sign."

Cai Peiyuan was obviously aware of this, but his expression didn't change at all; he simply drank water to hide his feelings.

Qiu Tu glanced at him, then continued, "You probably already know the final result of the meeting. Both your name and Minister Zhang's name have been reported to the shelter."

"It will be up to the shelter to decide whether you or he will take over as minister."

At this point, Qiu Tu paused for a moment, "Although I don't know if you have any backup plans in the shelter."

"But at least on the surface, you and Minister Zhang are evenly matched now."

Cai Peiyuan was a seasoned official, so despite Qiu Tu's very insightful analysis, he didn't reveal the slightest emotion. He simply sipped his tea with a deep gaze.

However, judging from the fact that his mouth was not at a 90-degree angle to the teacup handle when he drank tea, his inner state was probably not as calm as he appeared.

Qiu Tu felt much more at ease. He finally began the third step of his plan: to emphasize his own importance.

He paused for two seconds, giving Cai Peiyuan time to rest and analyze, before slowly saying, "As the military strategist said: A general should consider defeat before victory. Therefore, he can win every battle without being defeated."

"If the shelter ultimately decides that you will take over as minister, then everything will be fine."

"But what if...the shelter ultimately chooses Minister Zhang...?"

"Hehe..." Qiu Tu chuckled twice, then said, "Minister Zhang seems to be a magnanimous person. He shouldn't care about you, the former acting minister, and his biggest competitor..."

Cai Peiyuan: ......

Qiu Tu knew it was time to launch a full-scale attack, so he spoke frankly, "However, even if Minister Zhang is magnanimous, he probably won't leave all three major tasks—operations, interrogations, and intelligence—to Minister Cai after he becomes minister, will he?"

Qiu Tu looked at Cai Peiyuan with a dark gaze and spoke softly, like a devil's whisper, "Minister Cai, guess... which business will Minister Zhang take away?"

"Is it an interrogation with some authority? Or is it a dirty and exhausting intelligence gathering operation?"

"Or... the Action Department, which has greater power, influence, and a large and well-trained force?"

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Cai Peiyuan let out a deep breath.

Seeing this, Qiu Tu lowered his head and drank his tea, then said softly, "Power that you haven't obtained is always just an illusion."

"It's better to benefit your friends than your rivals."

"This way, regardless of whether you eventually become a minister, you will have a most solid ally."

"I have been promoted several times in a short period of time, so it is impossible for me to be in competition with you."

"But Old Zhang is different..."

"Even if you get promoted, he can still pull you down and then go up himself..."

As he finished speaking, Qiu Tu's voice grew fainter and fainter—because he heard footsteps outside.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Minister Zhang strode out of the conference room.

He glanced around the office, then nodded to Cai Peiyuan first, and said coldly, "Old Cai, you're here pretty early."

"Yes."

Upon hearing Minister Zhang's greeting, Cai Peiyuan wore an incredibly "sincere" smile.

"We're both... waiting for you."

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Three chapters, each 10,000 words long! I'll continue with 10,000 words a day tomorrow! Please vote with monthly tickets!

Chapter 220 The Meeting Outcome That Shocked the Entire Department (10,000 words, please subscribe!)

Minister Zhang's real name is Zhang Jian. He is a middle-aged man in his thirties with a long face, a hooked nose, and a somewhat thin and gloomy appearance.

Perhaps due to his long-term work as a spy and counter-espionage agent, his expression always exuded a coldness, giving people a feeling of being unapproachable.

In fact, once you talk to him, you'll find that... he's really not easy to get along with.

Just now, Qiu Tuming and Cai Peiyuan were having a very "enthusiastic" conversation, but as soon as he arrived, the whole atmosphere turned cold.

After greeting Cai Peiyuan, Zhang Jian nodded to Qiu Tu and said, "Minister Qiu."

Qiu Tu is the youngest among the senior and middle-level officers of the Investigation Bureau, only in his early twenties.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to call him "Minister Qiu".

However, generally speaking, it is only appropriate to address someone as a close friend or Qiu Tu's superior in this way.

For someone of the same rank as Zhang Jian to address him like that carries a hint of disrespect.

However, Qiu Tu didn't care.

He hasn't reached the point where he can please everyone. So, he should just cling to Cai Peiyuan and wait and see.

So he smiled and nodded at Zhang Jian, then continued to drink his tea.

He had said everything he could to Cai Peiyuan, and he had done everything he could to brainwash Cai Peiyuan. The rest was up to Cai Peiyuan to see how much he had taken to heart.

However, Qiu Tu was still confident in his "brainwashing" skills: after all... what he just said was the truth, and he was genuinely analyzing things for Cai Peiyuan.

Although some of them "slightly" sought personal gain, most of it was a genuine, overt strategy.

As long as Cai Peiyuan doesn't do anything foolish for Jia Shu's sake and insist on going against me, then my plan today will most likely succeed...

......

at the same time.

Many people within the Investigation Bureau were also paying attention to this small meeting.

Yesterday, Qiu Tu made a brilliant comeback, standing out from the crowd of candidates like a dark horse!

That alone was enough to shock everyone.

But this also made the entire investigation department fully aware of the "conflict" between him and Yan Chen.

Yan Chen is the true king of the Investigation Bureau. Offending Yan Chen is equivalent to offending all the middle and senior management of the Investigation Bureau.

Therefore, many people are waiting to see Qiu Tu make a fool of himself.

I want to see what Qiu Tu can do in this situation. Will he become a vice minister in name only, completely sidelined by the other vice ministers...?

Office of the Deputy Director of Operations, 12th Floor, Investigation Department.

Lai Shun was drinking tea and signing documents over there.

Just then, there was a sudden knock on his office door.

Without looking up, Lai Shun called out, "Please come in."

Upon hearing Lai Shun's voice, his office door was opened from the outside.

Lai Shun looked up and saw that it was his secretary.

As if he already knew what his secretary was coming to report, he didn't even listen to the secretary's report before asking directly, "Old Zhang went in?"

Lai Shun's secretary walked to the desk, stood with his hands at his sides, and said respectfully, "Yes, Director. Minister Zhang just went into the small conference room."

"Minister Cai's secretary has now closed the meeting room door; the meeting should already be in session."

Upon hearing this, Lai Shun nodded, this time not as readily judging as before, but casually saying, "Okay, I understand. Keep an eye on it."

"Yes!" Lai Shun's secretary nodded in agreement, then turned and left the office.

The Deputy Director of the Exploration Department's office is on the 12th floor.

Deputy Director Yu Zhengyi was chatting with Personnel Minister Shi Youxin.

Perhaps because they both graduated from military academies and had worked as teachers, Yu Zhengyi looked somewhat scholarly.

He had a square face, wore black-rimmed glasses, and had gray hair; he looked more like a scholar than a politician.

"Old Shi... what do you think of Qiu Tu?"

Upon hearing his question, Shi Youxin chuckled and said, "Hard to say... but it seems interesting."

"But how much of it actually is depends on today's small meeting."

"However... I don't really like him. I always feel that he's a bit too slick, he talks a good game but he's hiding too much inside. Hmm... more like a conman than a politician."

"Hehe..." Yu Zhengyi chuckled, adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, and blew on the tea at the corner of his mouth. "An interesting piece has suddenly entered the stagnant situation."

"And then there's the establishment of Moonlight Lake and Dongye Prefecture. It feels... like things are getting more and more interesting."

.......

At this time, while the entire department was paying attention to this small meeting at the ministerial level, and no one was very optimistic about Qiu Tu's chances.

At this moment, in the small conference room, the entire meeting was developing in a one-sided manner.

At the start of the meeting, Cai Peiyuan exchanged a few pleasantries and then, on behalf of several ministers from the Political Department, congratulated Qiu Tu on joining the company.

Immediately afterwards, Cai Peiyuan brought up the topic of Qiu Tu's division of labor.

This topic clearly did not attract the attention of Zhang Jian, the "only villain".

After all, everyone in the Investigation Bureau knows that Qiu Tu has now both brought Jia Shu down and lost Yan Chen's favor.

Of the major tasks of the Political Department, all except for espionage and counter-espionage were handled by Cai Peiyuan.

Therefore, Zhang Jian naturally assumed that Cai Peiyuan, who was a staunch supporter of Jia Shu and Yan Chen and held various other responsibilities, would definitely suppress Qiu Tu and only assign him the task of supervision.

Therefore, in order to help Cai Peiyuan, he even took the initiative to take over the topic and suggested that Qiu Tu be assigned only the "supervision" part of the work, citing Qiu Tu's lack of experience.

As it turned out, Cai Peiyuan objected as soon as he finished speaking.

At that moment, Cai Peiyuan coughed and said, "Old Zhang... this is a bit inappropriate."

"Although Minister Qiu is young, that's precisely why he needs more training. He needs to take on more work for the ministry."

"That way, we old folks won't have to work so hard!"

Zhang Jian was stunned when Cai Peiyuan finished speaking.

He couldn't quite understand what Cai Peiyuan was thinking. But... since it wasn't his power being divided, he simply decided to wait and see.

So... with his abstention, Cai Peiyuan handed over all three tasks—surveillance, interrogation, and intelligence gathering—to Qiu Tu.

This outcome left not only Zhang Jian somewhat bewildered, but even Qiu Tu was a little confused.

However, Qiu Tu immediately guessed Cai Peiyuan's thoughts.

Cai Peiyuan's idea was simple: if he wanted to protect himself, he would protect himself to the end; if he wanted to win over Qiu Tu, he would win him over to the end!

He is indeed a bit unsure of Zhang Jian's true intentions and who will become the Minister of Political Affairs.

Therefore, to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, it was decided to entrust all the work to Qiu Tu.