The gossip that has been circulated for many years has finally become a reality: On July 13, Gansu Lianzheng.com released news that Huo Ronggui, deputy director of the Agricultural and Rural Work Committee of the Gansu Provincial Political Consultative Conference, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is currently undergoing disciplinary review by the Gansu Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.and surveillance investigations.

Before taking up his current position, Huo Ronggui served as secretary of the Wuwei Municipal Party Committee for several years.In January 2016, a sensational arrest of journalists took place in Wuwei.In April 2017, Huo Ronggui, who was not yet 55 years old at the time, was suddenly dismissed from his post, and rumors that he was taken away by relevant departments for investigation immediately spread.

At that time, the Wuwei Municipal Party Committee's Publicity Office once came forward to respond to the media.After disappearing for three months, Huo Ronggui was appointed deputy director of the Agricultural and Rural Work Committee of the Political Consultative Conference of Gansu Province.But in the eyes of local observers, Huo Ronggui's political life has come to an end since the day he was dismissed, and it is only a matter of time before he is deposed.

The Caixin reporter learned that the investigation of Huo Ronggui by relevant departments has continued for years.Huo Ronggui's main problem lies in his tenure as secretary of the Wuwei Municipal Party Committee. He has frequent contacts with the bosses of some local private enterprises. He is suspected of benefit transfer or accepting tens of millions of huge bribes.

Huo Ronggui's investigation this time is believed to be related to the ongoing campaign to purify Wang Sanyun leftovers in Gansu province.Since 2016, a massive anti-corruption storm has swept the political arena in Gansu.Wang Sanyun, the former secretary of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee, and Yu Haiyan, the former executive vice governor, were successively sacked. Huo Ronggui was just one of many officials at the bureau level who were arrested.

Worthy of the name Fire Secretary

Huo Ronggui, 56, is from Jingtai, Gansu.In August 1981, Huo Ronggui graduated from Zhangye Normal College and was assigned to the Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Corporation, a subsidiary of the Gansu Provincial Agricultural Committee.In July 1991, Huo Ronggui was transferred to the Gansu Provincial Agricultural Committee Office, and successively worked in the Agriculture and Forestry Division of the General Office of Gansu Provincial Government, the Shanghai Office, and the General Office of the Provincial Government.

In January 2010, Huo Ronggui, then deputy secretary-general of the Gansu provincial government and director of the general office, was transferred to the secretary of the Wuwei Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.In July 2017, Huo Ronggui left Wuwei to serve as the deputy director of the Gansu Provincial CPPCC Agriculture and Rural Work Committee.

Huo Ronggui is very strong, and he is unstoppable in his actions.A Wuwei media person said that he interfered in everything and had the final say on everything.Powerful, domineering.

A business person familiar with Gansu official circles said that Huo Ronggui is indeed strong, but also very capable.In recent years, Wuwei's urban construction has been very good, which has a lot to do with Huo Ronggui.

Huo Ronggui's temper was hotter than his last name.Several interviewees confirmed that when Huo Ronggui was the deputy secretary-general of the Gansu provincial government, he beat his subordinates because of his work.When Huo Ronggui became the leader in Wuwei, his temper became more and more irritable, and he beat and kicked his subordinates frequently.One year, Huo Ronggui attended the commencement ceremony of a project in Liangzhou District, Wuwei City. While Huo Ronggui was shoveling the soil and laying the foundation, the shovel suddenly fell off the handle.

Once, Huo Ronggui and several subordinates took the elevator. After the elevator door opened, a secretary-general of the Wuwei Municipal Party Committee wanted to go out and block the elevator door with his hands.The secretary-general kicked to the ground, his mouth was bloody, and his two front teeth were knocked out.

Huo Ronggui beat him not only his subordinates, but also his colleagues.Once he suspected that a certain deputy mayor had not done a good job, so he punched him.

The above-mentioned business people said that not only is Huo Ronggui, but it is common for leaders in Gansu to beat and scold subordinates in recent years.

An observer said that Huo Ronggui is very bandit, beating and scolding cadres is commonplace, but he seems to be willing to do things.Huo Ronggui is a cadre single-handedly promoted by Wang Sanyun. If Wang Sanyun wants to do something and appreciates Huo Ronggui, it is understandable, but Wang Sanyun is obviously a cadre who does not do anything in Gansu, so he reuses Huo Ronggui (the reason) can only be profit.

A former Gansu native media person had a working relationship with Huo Ronggui many years ago.He said that Huo Ronggui is proud of his subordinates and fawns over his superiors, which is a typical Li Lianying character.

The arrest of journalists in Wuwei

Among the bureau-level cadres in Gansu, Huo Ronggui is the most well-known. Because of his position as the secretary of the municipal party committee, there was a sensational arrest of journalists in Wuwei.

On January 7 and 8, 2016, three reporters from the reporter stations of three urban newspapers in Gansu, including Lanzhou Morning News, Lanzhou Evening News, and Western Business Daily, lost contact with each other in Wuwei City.Once the news spread, the whole country was shocked.

Under pressure, relevant authorities in Wuwei first announced that Lanzhou Morning News reporter Zhang Yongsheng was arrested for soliciting prostitutes, and then arrested Zhang Yongsheng for extortion, and the other two reporters were released on bail pending trial.

Under the continuous attention and questioning of the national media, on January 31, 2016, the Gansu Provincial Procuratorate sent a working group to Wuwei to investigate.On February 6, the working group announced to the outside world: Since March 2009, Zhang Yongsheng has used his status as a reporter for the Lanzhou Morning News to report negative news and blackmail many units and individuals, including extorting RMB 5,000.

The Gansu prosecutors also determined that at about 16:00 on January 7, Zhang Yongsheng entered the Xijin Bathing Plaza alone and received services from the opposite sex in private room 307.The prosecutor also said that the Wuwei police determined that Zhang Yongsheng was a prostitute, but the facts were not clear and the evidence was insufficient.

Since then, Zhang Yongsheng pleaded guilty in exchange for the local prosecutor not to prosecute.After his release, Zhang Yongsheng insisted that he neither went to prostitution nor extorted.Relevant evidence shows that at about 15:40 on January 7, a fire occurred near the Zhejiang Building in Wuwei City due to improper handling of fire drills.At 16:00, Zhang Yongsheng went to the scene of the incident for an interview. While passing through Wuwei West Street, he was arrested by several Liangzhou District policemen in plain clothes.

In broad daylight, prostitution on the street caused a public outcry.

44-year-old Zhang Yongsheng has been engaged in journalism for more than 20 years. He has been stationed in Wuwei and other places for a long time, and has done many supervisory reports on Wuwei.Zhang Yongsheng once told a Caixin reporter that he was arrested because of reports.At that time, an insider said that because of the surveillance report, the main leaders of Wuwei City were very annoyed with Zhang Yongsheng and put pressure on the local propaganda department.People in the propaganda department have repeatedly warned Zhang Yongsheng not to write any more negative reports about Wuwei.The main leader of Wuwei City refers to Huo Ronggui, then Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee.

As early as the end of 2014, two leaders of the Lanzhou Morning News went to Wuwei for a business trip.A leader of the Propaganda Department of the Wuwei Municipal Party Committee was in the office and directly expressed his dissatisfaction with some of Zhang Yongsheng's reports.That night, at the dinner table, the minister said to them again: "Transfer your Zhang Yongsheng away."

At that time, the former State Press and Publication Administration issued a document specifying that local media in each province would no longer set up press stations.Huo Ronggui felt that the opportunity was rare, and ordered the relevant departments to investigate and deal with the Lanzhou Morning Post Wuwei reporter station where Zhang Yongsheng worked.In January 2015, the Wuwei Press and Publishing Bureau threatened to close down the reporter station on the grounds that it was an illegal institution.The aforementioned insider recalled that Zhang Yongsheng took out relevant documents from the Lanzhou Morning News to argue with them, saying that the relevant departments are starting to rectify this.

A year later, the Lanzhou Morning News Wuwei reporter station was merged into the Gansu Daily Wuwei reporter station, and Huo Ronggui failed.

The Wuwei City Propaganda Department stated that on January 4, 2016, the Wuwei City Public Security Bureau received a report letter about Zhang Yongsheng's alleged extortion.But according to insiders, Zhang Yongsheng learned on January 1 that the Wuwei authorities were about to arrest him, and he even knew about the charges the authorities had made.Zhang Yongsheng was also afraid, but he thought it was just a threat, so he didn't pay much attention.

The Caixin reporter learned that the report letter against Zhang Yongsheng and the subsequent arrests were completely written, directed and performed by the Wuwei Propaganda Department and the police.This so-called report letter was written by someone from the Propaganda Department of Liangzhou District, Wuwei City, and then handed over to the Liangzhou Branch of Wuwei City Public Security Bureau.

The main leaders of the Liangzhou BranchRewrite the report letter, and ask the subordinates to go to the Wuwei City East Street Post Office and mail it to the Wuwei City Public Security Bureau.The Wuwei City Public Security Bureau forwarded it to the Liangzhou Branch, and then returned the report letter to the Liangzhou Branch.

Next, the Liangzhou police arrested Zhang Yongsheng on the street in broad daylight, first claiming that he was involved in whoring, and then arresting him on the grounds of suspected extortion.

According to insiders, when Zhang Yongsheng was in the Liangzhou District Detention Center and Detention Center for more than a month, the Liangzhou police never asked him about the so-called prostitution, and directly asked him to confess the extortion.In order to force him to submit, the police made Zhang Yongsheng sit on a tiger stool, deprived him of sleep, interrogated him 40 to 50 times with one question, and threatened Zhang Yongsheng to replace the Lanzhou lawyer hired by his family.

Insiders also said that Zhang Yongsheng was forced to admit that he had accepted a total of 5,000 yuan in bribes in exchange for the Liangzhou District Procuratorate's decision not to prosecute.

According to the materials obtained by the reporter, Zhang Yongsheng was forced to admit to accepting bribes in four counts:

In 2009, a teacher molested a child in Minqin County, 1,000 yuan; in 2011, a cadre hanged himself in Wunan Town, Wuwei City, 2,000 yuan; in August 2014, more than 10 minors in Wunan Town, Wuwei City were coerced into selling bloodEvent, 1,000 yuan.In January 2015, due to the methadone incident, 1,000 yuan.

However, according to insiders, Zhang Yongsheng admitted that he only accepted 2,000 yuan in cash, a pack of Hei Lanzhou cigarettes and a case of red wine.Among them, 2,000 yuan was given by the Propaganda Department of the Liangzhou District Party Committee after Zhang Yongsheng reported in 2011 that two farmers were poisoned and three were injured in Wujiajing Township, Liangzhou District, and asked him to stop reporting.

As for Heilanzhou cigarettes, it was the cadres who committed suicide in Wunan Township. Zhang Yongsheng was asked by the Propaganda Department of Liangzhou District to go to the local area for interviews. Later, because a certain leader didn’t like it, the report was suspended. The mayor of the town gave each reporter a Heilanzhou cigarette..

The box of red wine was Zhang Yongsheng's report on a local policeman's illegal handling of household registration. Downstairs of Zhang Yongsheng's house, the police gave him a box of red wine.

According to the aforementioned insider, the day before Zhang Yongsheng admitted to accepting 5,000 yuan, relevant people told Zhang Yongsheng: If you admit it, the investigation of the Provincial Procuratorate will be brought to an end.That night, Zhang Yongsheng cried all night, and the next day, Zhang Yongsheng confessed.

Since his release in February 2016, Zhang Yongsheng, who was once full of journalism ideals, has lived in seclusion and kept silent about what happened to him.Caixin reporter learned that up to now, Zhang Yongsheng is still working at Lanzhou Morning Post, but he is completely separated from the front line of news, and is engaged in work that has nothing to do with reporters in a certain unit of the newspaper.

Secretary Huo and the richest reporter Ma Shunlong

Huo Ronggui's daring to arrest the reporter is also related to Ma Shunlong, the world-famous richest reporter.

At the end of April 2017, Ma Shunlong, head of the Gansu Daily Wuwei reporter station, was taken away by relevant authorities.In Wuwei, Ma Shunlong was known by the locals as the boss of the secretary, the mayor's second son, and his third son's Ma Sanye.

Several sources said that Ma Shunlong's assets were found to be nearly 100 million yuan, including more than 18 million yuan in cash found in his home. He can be called one of the richest journalists in history.Among the details of the Ma Shunlong case confirmed by the relevant departments, there are three things involved: meddling in Wuwei's personnel arrangements; long-term illegal establishment of personal entity companies, whose economic activities have been condoned by the main leaders of Wuwei, and the reward is to manipulate public opinion; engaged in paid news.

The main leaders of Wuwei mentioned in the above case details include Huo Ronggui.Ma Shunlong has been stationed in Wuwei for more than 30 years, and has been in close contact with many leaders of Wuwei's municipal party committee and government.It is reported that when Huo Ronggui first arrived in Wuwei, one day, he saw Ma Shunlong's car not parked according to the regulations, so he picked up a brick and threw it at it.After the car was smashed, Ma Shunlong had a big fight with Secretary Huo.But after a period of time, people were surprised to find that Ma Shunlong and Secretary Huo actually got on fire, and Secretary Huo took him with him everywhere.

On April 17, 2017, Huo Ronggui was announced to be dismissed; at the end of the month, Ma Shunlong was arrested.In August 2017, during an interview by a Caixin reporter in Lanzhou, an old reporter from Gansu Daily analyzed that Ma Shunlong was the first to set fire to Ronggui.Some inside the Gansu Daily speculated that Ma Shunlong played a role in the arrest of reporters in Wuwei in 2016.In fact, some Wuwei media people said that after Zhang Yongsheng's accident, Ma Shunlong posted widely on his circle of friends, praising Wuwei officials for daring to show their swords.■