The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 333 Li Baokun, caught in a dilemma

Although Song Changfeng had long since retired from the criminal world and completely cleaned up his act, he actually still controlled the underworld in Xing'an City.

Over the years, Song Changfeng has lived in seclusion behind the scenes, but in reality, he has supported Li Baokun to become his spokesperson. All the underworld forces in Xing'an City are controlled by Li Baokun's subordinates.

Under normal circumstances, Song Changfeng rarely meets with Li Baokun.

But this time was different. His conversation with the mayor today made Song Changfeng feel threatened.

According to the news from there, Song Chaofeng already knew that the province was going to pilot a special campaign to crack down on organized crime in six prefecture-level cities across the province.

In other words, higher authorities need to identify one or more breakthroughs from these six cities to drive the province-wide campaign against organized crime and gang-related activities to a deeper level.

Song Changfeng didn't want to become the weak point, so he summoned Li Baokun and instructed him to strictly control his men. He stressed that they absolutely mustn't cause any trouble in the coming days.

In addition, Song Changfeng also instructed Li Baokun to properly hand over some of the lower-ranking members.

Since the higher authorities have designated Xing'an City as a pilot area for the crackdown on organized crime, any lack of success in this effort would certainly raise suspicions.

Therefore, Song Changfeng made the decision to sacrifice a pawn to save the chariot.

Over the years, for Song Changfeng, how to develop and expand his own power has become less important.

At Song Changfeng's point, what he wanted was to land smoothly, to maintain the current gains, and to ensure the long-term prosperity of Xing'an.

Therefore, over the years, Song Changfeng has become more cautious and prudent, and is no longer as arrogant and domineering as he was in the past.

But in reality, this was just a facade Song Changfeng presented to outsiders; the Song Changfeng in the interior was cruel and tyrannical.

Song Changfeng has a habit of eating hot pot on the top floor of the Fengfan Group headquarters building.

However, Song Changfeng only ate three slices of meat each time.

But it takes more than thirty people a whole day to prepare this hot pot for him.

If you're even slightly dissatisfied, you'll get a beating or a scolding—that's the least of your worries.

Because of this hotpot meal, three of Song Changfeng's secretaries have been sent to work in a coal mine in a black kiln, and they haven't been seen since.

After leaving Song Changfeng's residence, Li Baokun immediately returned to his Nightshade Bar.

Night Bar is a place that everyone in Xing'an City knows about.

It can be said that this is the palace of Xing'an City's underground world, and sitting in this palace is Li Baokun, Xing'an's only underground emperor.

At this moment, Li Baokun was arranging and deploying the tasks assigned by Song Changfeng.

"All underground casinos have been shut down recently."

Should we stop everything?

Li Baokun's men thought they had misheard.

"Brother Kun, all of our dozen or so underground casinos have shut down. They were making tens of millions every day. If they had to work every single day, the losses would be enormous..."

"Shut up!"

Li Baokun could not possibly be unaware of the magnitude of the losses here.

These casinos are all open, bringing him tens of millions in revenue every day, but if they were to close, he would face losing several million every day.

After all, when the casino is open, others are making money and receiving salaries. You can't say that just because the casino is closed for its own reasons, you shouldn't let them know that you still need to support your underlings.

More importantly, Li Baokun didn't know how long this situation would continue, so he had no idea how much money he would ultimately lose.

But this time, Song Chaofeng demanded that he not only shut down the casino, but also stop all the loan sharking, money laundering, prostitution, drug trafficking, and other things related to organized crime in bars and nightclubs.

"Things are getting tense lately. The higher-ups are going to target Xing'an City. You all better watch out and don't give anything away. Keep a low profile for now."

Very few people knew about the relationship between Li Baokun and Song Changfeng, so he did not reveal the source of the information. Li Baokun had long held considerable power, so his subordinates naturally did not ask.

“Brother Kun, we will definitely listen to you, but the brothers down there need to eat. We have hundreds or even thousands of brothers at various stalls. If we stop all of these things, they will have nothing to do and they might cause trouble.”

Zheng Xiaochun, the leader of Li Baokun's Eight Great Generals, was not the most skilled fighter, but he was Li Baokun's most capable strategist.

Li Baokun was certainly not stupid. He knew that if all work was stopped, there would be no need for the higher-ups to investigate; the first to be in trouble would be his own gang.

Of course, Li Baokun has maintained a very strong control over his gang over the years. Although he has hundreds or even thousands of followers, as long as he gives them money, it won't be a big problem if he doesn't let them rise in power in a short period of time.

Li Baokun is the one who makes an example of someone to warn others; he's done this many times over the years, so no one dares to disobey his orders.

But these people are secondary; the important thing is that some of the businesses they control simply cannot be stopped.