Bringing the Situation Under Control

After reaching an understanding with Gryzlov, Wang Ye had cleared away the obstacles to the Third Faction's expansion.

As for what the Second Faction might think, Wang Ye could not be bothered to care.

He had never planned to recruit people from the Second Faction anyway. There were not many of them to begin with, and they did not hold that many more Duma seats than the Third Faction.

Even if someone from the Second Faction really wanted to defect to him, Wang Ye would still have to think it over.

He did not trust them!

The backbone of the Second Faction consisted mainly of politicians from Moscow Oblast banding together, led by the governor of Moscow Oblast. He was an old-school politician with deep roots and considerable influence.

For all anyone knew, he might even throw his hat into the ring for next year's election.

But that had nothing to do with Wang Ye. He had no intention of wading into that muddy water himself.

So the people Wang Ye wanted to bring in were mainly from the First Faction and those marginalized smaller factions.

He would strive to help his faction win more Duma seats in next year's election.

Of course, he needed to find someone trustworthy and reliable to handle these matters. He could not possibly have the party leader sitting in his office every day recruiting people...

His assistants were unsuitable as well. They were all young women who did not understand the tangled relationships within the Duma very well.

They were also unfamiliar with certain unspoken rules of politics, let alone able to judge whether the people defecting to them were truly worth keeping.

After giving it some thought, Wang Ye came up with a suitable candidate.

He was an ordinary Duma deputy from the