Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"Yes. Although the Chinese technicians have learned a lot of skills, they all learned them in the factory, and many of them are not as good as the Japanese technicians. At best, they can resume production, and they can't even guarantee the output.

Wei Hongjun did not answer immediately.

Instead, he thought about it.

He turned around and asked Sui Twelve, "How are the other factories doing?"

"The steel mills all have this problem. Most of the factories are controlled by Japanese, and their core technical personnel are all Japanese. For example, in the machining plants, smelters, and explosives plants, the core technical personnel are basically all Japanese. Many Chinese technicians, though they are called technicians, are actually no more than factory apprentices. Many of them learn things from the Japanese technicians, and simple tasks are handed over to them. In this process, some of the smart ones have greatly improved their skills, but their level is still far behind that of the Japanese technicians."

Sui Twelve spoke.

Wei Hongjun sighed.

Taking over factories in Xuanhua is much more difficult now than it was after the Liberation War. Back then, whether the factory technicians liked the PLA or not, they were at least Chinese technicians.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, except for some who left China, anyone who stayed could become a technician in the new factory. After all, they were all Chinese, so it was a lot easier to use them.

But it’s different in Xuanhua.

A large number of technical personnel, or core technical personnel, are Japanese.

Wei Hongjun thought of Chanan Industrial School, so he asked, "Director Sui, our Chanan Industrial School should have trained quite a few students in the past few years.

"Within three years, the first cohort of students graduated, totaling 114 people. Furthermore, during these three years, the school offered five short-term training courses, graduating 677 students. However, students in the short-term training courses primarily learned basic mechanical knowledge, including operating machinery and performing simple repairs. The goal was to train skilled workers with certain skills."

Students in the third year learn more comprehensive knowledge, but if they want to become qualified technicians, they still need some time to practice.”

Although the Eighth Column opened the Chanan Industrial School, the school was still very small.

The main reason is that there are few teachers.

So even though it has been open for three years, there are only 114 students who have completed the formal three-year course, excluding students in the short-term training courses.

But Wei Hongjun was still quite satisfied.

After all, this is just a school established by the 8th Column, a military sub-district.

I am very satisfied to have so many students graduate. From now on, it will take another seven or eight years, or even five or six years, for the national liberation to be victorious.

After the first batch of students graduated, the school had gained experience. This made it much easier to train subsequent students. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the school could train thousands of students. If you include those in short-term training, the number would be around 3,000.

That's a lot.

Alternatively, once Chahar is stabilized, enrollment could be expanded. Even the Chanan Industrial School could be expanded into Chahar Industrial University, or even North China University of Technology, to accommodate even more students. Perhaps one of the major industrial universities in the future New China will include the Chanan Industrial School. If that were the case, it would have been possible to train five or six thousand students before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

But that’s all for the future.

After hearing Sui Shier's answer, Wei Hongjun knew that the current problem could not be solved by the students of Chanan Industrial School.

"What do you think about retaining Japanese technicians?"

"Political Commissar, our own technical staff are currently insufficient. If we hastily have them take over the factory's technology, problems are likely to arise. This will not only be detrimental to the factory's production, but also to the growth of these technicians. The best approach right now is to retain those Japanese technicians and let our own technicians learn from them."

Lin Dafeng immediately expressed his support.

After Lin Dafeng took over the steel plant, he was actually very nervous.

He was more familiar with the arsenal. He had worked as a gun tester at the Taiyuan Arsenal for many years. Furthermore, the construction of the arsenal was a step-by-step process, allowing for learning as one progressed. However, he was unfamiliar with the steel mill, and the fact that Xuanhua already had a mature steel mill put him under even greater pressure. He knew that steel was the lifeblood of industry, and even more so for the Eighth Route Army. Therefore, he dared not be careless in the slightest. Upon arriving at the steel mill, the first thing he did was to gather the original steel mill technicians and personnel and inquire about the situation.

It was only after communicating with them that Lin Dafeng came up with this idea.

In the short term, the factory still needs those Japanese technicians.

"It would be a good thing for the factory if these Japanese technicians could really stay. Although I hate to admit it, we really don't have the talent to replace these Japanese technicians at the moment."

Sui Twelve's face looked unhappy.

He himself is a scholar who studied industry.

It is always painful to admit that you are not as skilled as others nowadays.

Li Shiping said with some concern: "Political Commissar, after all, they are Japanese technicians. Can we trust them? If they sabotage us, it will not be a simple matter."

"This is something we should consider. But these Japanese technicians have been in China for years, and their families should be around. If that's the case, it would be much easier. These people can't be completely fanatical militarists."

As long as they aren't fanatical militarists, we can use them. Besides, they're all prisoners of war. Working as factory technicians, they're plundering China's resources and aiding the Japanese army in the war. They're prisoners of war. We won't mistreat them, but they need to understand their status. Give them a chance to cleanse their sins; they should be grateful.

Wei Hongjun finally made the decision: "Use them, use them boldly. But we must also be on guard against them and not let them disrupt our production. Also, arrange a few apprentices for each of them, consisting of factory technicians and graduates of Chanan Industrial School, to learn technology from them. Tell those Japanese technicians to recognize their current identities. Since we are using them, we will not treat them poorly. As long as they continue to work as technicians in the factory, they will be paid according to the technician standards. At the same time, if they train those apprentices to become qualified technicians, we will give them a bonus for training technicians. We have few factories now, but we will definitely develop industry on a large scale in the future. By then, the technicians needed will not be dozens or hundreds of thousands, but tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. If we train enough technicians now, we will have more confidence when the country develops industry in the future. The future development of our country's industry will be much smoother.

"Yes."

“Apart from the technicians, are there any other issues with factory reception?

Chapter 409 Industrial Cadres

“There are some problems.”

"Talk about it."

Technicians are a problem.

But that’s not the whole problem.

Taking over a factory isn't something that can be resolved simply by a single word from above. Many things are like this; there are many twists and turns involved, and it can't be accomplished with a single order. Many things require thorough and meticulous work. The cadres assigned to these factories encountered numerous difficulties.

After all, this was the first time the Eighth Column had taken over so many factories. Many of the cadres assigned to the factories were also doing this kind of factory taking over work for the first time.

This is also a big test for them.

But if they succeed in taking over the factory, they will have experience and lay the foundation for taking over more factories in the future.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun was willing to solve each problem one by one. In this process, Wei Hongjun could also gain experience. With Wei Hongjun's level, he might need to take over many large cities and factories in the future.

Only by accumulating enough experience can you avoid panic in the future.

Sui Twelve said, "The first problem is the security officers we sent to the factory. These security officers were good at security in the army and base areas before, but factory security is a new problem. Factory security is to protect the safety of factory machinery and equipment and to ensure the smooth operation of factory production. However, they generally do not understand factory production, the condition of factory equipment, and even have no idea about industry. When they go to the factory to do security work, they can't grasp the key points of the work for a while. Recently, there have been many mistakes. One reason is that they don't understand the factory rules very well, and the other is that they can provide external security, but because they are not familiar with the factory, they are a little hesitant about internal security.

Most of the people on the Eighth Column are country bumpkins.

There is no need to avoid this because it is an objective fact.

Although the Eighth Column also recruited a large number of students, overall, there were many illiterate people in the column. Although the column had been promoting literacy work, the army had officers and soldiers learn to read and write whenever they had time. But even if they escaped the ranks of illiteracy, their horizons were narrow.

Because in that era, they had fewer opportunities to get news from the outside world. Unlike decades later, many people could learn about what was happening outside through the Internet and television even if they didn't go out.

They had been fighting in the mountains and building bases in the countryside. They were familiar with the countryside, but they were truly unfamiliar with the factory. This included the security officers of the columns, who had always served in the army and the bases. Now, as factory security officers, they were experiencing many difficulties. They didn't quite understand what constituted protecting factory equipment. Furthermore, they didn't understand that factories had their own rules, and some of their previous practices were no longer applicable.

But they are security cadres and are affiliated with the Political Department.

Sui Twelve and his men had no power to tell them what to do, so the question came to Wei Hongjun. Wei Hongjun thought for a while and said, "There is no way, the reality is this. They have never seen such a large factory in Xuanhua, so they are definitely in a mess for a while, and the column cannot solve this problem. Because most of the security cadres in the column are cadres of peasant origin. To completely solve this problem, it still depends on the efforts of our cadres themselves. And this requires running-in, two-way running-in. One is that the security cadres we send over must be familiar with the factory, understand the factory, and slowly integrate into the factory. The other is that we select some workers from the factory to join the security department and let them learn security work. Our security cadres must integrate with the workers who participate in the security work and learn from each other.

Security officers will learn about factory operations from the workers and adjust their work methods. However, before this, you should organize these security officers to study in the evenings. This will primarily focus on understanding factory operations and factory rules and regulations, giving them a basic understanding of industry and the factory. I will discuss this with the Political Department. If, while learning and integrating into the factory, they still encounter problems and feel unsuited to their roles, they are no longer qualified security officers, and the Political Department will adjust their work.

As the revolutionary situation changes, many people's work will have to change. It is impossible to continue doing the work you are familiar with.

Many military political cadres like Wei Hongjun were unlikely to remain in the army after liberation. Later, a large number of military cadres transferred to local government positions. Whether they could adapt to their jobs depended on their own efforts.

The same is true for these security cadres.

Changing to a new working environment. Whether or not they can make a difference in their new job position depends more on the efforts of these cadres themselves.

"anything else?"

“It’s about the factory managers after we take over these factories.

Technicians are crucial in these factories because they handle all the technical aspects of the factory. But a factory manager is also crucial. Many factories in Shanghai and Tianjin are staffed by technicians themselves. For example, Mr. Fan Xudong of Yongli Company is a chemistry graduate.

“The factory director is indeed important.”

Wei Hongjun nodded.

The factory manager is directly responsible for production and is of course very important in a factory.

Sui Shier looked at Wei Hongjun and smiled bitterly, "But now we have a problem when we take over the factories. Although we have some factories in the base area, they are very small and cannot be compared with those in Xuanhua. Few of the cadres we have transferred now are qualified to be the factory directors of these factories. We don't have a reserve of cadres in this area. But now these factories we have taken over are all under Japanese control.

The majority of the factory's management is Japanese. We can't continue to have these Japanese as factory managers. Japanese technicians are fine, but having a Japanese as a factory manager is unacceptable not only to us but also to the factory's workers. These factory managers must be Chinese. However, with our current cadre pool, I'm concerned that our officers will struggle to adapt to the role of factory manager. Forcing them into this role could easily impact production.

Wei Hongjun scratched his head.

I didn’t expect the receiving city to have so many problems, and now the receiving factory also has so many problems to solve.

But Sui Twelve was right.

Since they were taking over the factory, it would become the property of the Column, the Eighth Route Army. The Column would definitely appoint the factory director, not allow the Japanese to continue to be the director. If the Japanese continued to be the director, what would have happened?

But still the same sentence.

no one.

Although the Column had trained some industrial cadres, this was far from enough. With so many factories in Xuanhua, how could the Column have enough cadres? If cadres who had no knowledge of production were forced to become factory directors, what would happen to the factory's production?

Wei Hongjun recalled.

When the People's Republic of China was founded, how were those factories taken over?

Before socialist transformation, private factories, not to mention nationalized ones, would not easily change management. As long as they were not counter-revolutionary, the original management in charge of production would be retained.

The cadres sent by the state are not there to oversee production.

Instead, they serve as party committee secretary or union chairman.

Because the government knew it was short of industrial cadres and there was a shortage of cadres to serve as factory directors, it would not easily adjust the management level at the beginning.

Even after the socialist transformation, this model was used to transform private enterprises.

Many people went from being factory owners to becoming directors of new factories. Socialist transformation preserved their shares, and they could receive dividends and bonuses every year.

So Wei Hongjun said, "Let's start by looking in the factories themselves. Although these factories are managed by Japanese, it's impossible for them to be responsible for everything. The people who actually do the work are definitely mostly Chinese managers."

“But they all work for the Japanese.

Twelve frowned.

Anyone who can manage a factory is a petty traitor, if not a major one. How can we allow them to continue to bully the workers?

Wei Hongjun said helplessly, "If we want the factory to resume production as soon as possible, this is the only way. Go to the factory and investigate. As long as they are not the kind of people who followed the Japanese to atrocities against ordinary people and have a bad reputation among the workers, then we can use them and let them be responsible for the factory's production first. Of course, the Political Department will investigate their situation."

What Wei Hongjun wants is for the factory in Xuanhua to be operational.

But there are not enough industrial cadres.

So we can only select some from among the original factory cadres first.

"The cadres we sent there were primarily tasked with establishing Party organizations in the factories and serving as Party secretaries. They then helped workers establish trade unions, mobilized them, and trained worker cadres. We couldn't allow the previous situation of oppressing workers to occur again. As for production, our cadres still needed to learn from those people first."

"Ok."

Sui Twelve nodded.