Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

As a result, there were meetings from morning to night.

Wei Hongjun was already incredibly busy, constantly on the go. But because he was the fourth-in-command of the North China Bureau and its first deputy secretary, he couldn't miss these meetings. However, with more meetings, work progressed quickly. As the North China Bureau's work progressed, its various organizations became increasingly well-established. Cadre placements within each organization also accelerated.

Zhao Zhensheng, deputy secretary of the North China Bureau, serves as the head of the Organization Department of the North China Bureau and the president of the North China Bureau Party School, and no longer serves as secretary of the Zhangjiakou Municipal Party Committee.

It can be said that after the establishment of the North China Bureau, Zhao Zhensheng began to take full responsibility for the party affairs of the North China Bureau.

Du Liqing, a member of the North China Bureau, served as Minister of the Social Affairs Department, while Liu Ren, also a member of the North China Bureau, served as Minister of the Urban Work Department. Du Liqing's responsibilities were generally public security, but the Social Affairs Department primarily focused on counter-espionage and security. Liu Ren, on the other hand, oversaw the Urban Work Department, responsible for urban underground Party work. In addition to the Urban Work Department, Liu Ren also oversaw the Enemy Work Department. Therefore, Liu Ren was responsible for any work carried out within the Nationalist army, including the persuasion of Nationalist generals to defect.

Zhou Yang served as the head of the Propaganda Department of the North China Bureau and the president of the North China People's Daily. Zhou Yang graduated from Shanghai Daxia University (East China Normal University) and then studied in Japan. After returning to China, he joined the party and joined the left-wing literary camp. He had a great influence in the field of left-wing literature and was a well-known writer. After the July 7 Incident, he came to Yan'an and was highly valued by the central government. He first served as the director of the Education Department of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and later began to work in education, serving as the president of the Lu Xun Academy of Arts and Literature and the president of Yan'an University. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, he brought Yan'an University to Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei and served as the vice president of the North China United University. This time, he served as the head of the Propaganda Department, which was determined by the central government. Because there was really no such famous writer in the current North China Bureau who was also a party member.

Zhang Youyu served as the secretary-general of the North China Bureau, Marshal Nie's wife Zhang Ruihua served as the secretary of the Women's Committee of the North China Bureau, and Xu Shiping served as the secretary of the Youth Committee of the North China Bureau.

Liu Huafu, a member of the North China Bureau, was appointed director of the research office, with Liao Guangao serving as deputy director. After the establishment of the North China Bureau, Liu Huafu continued to be marginalized, even more so than before. This time, Liu Huafu held only the position of director of the research office. Liao Guangao was also affected; he had previously been director of the Central Policy Research Office, but was now deputy director of the North China Bureau's research office.

With the appointment of these cadres, the North China Bureau truly began to operate.

Then came the North China Joint Administrative Committee.

Dong Biwu served as chairman of the North China Joint Administrative Committee, and Wei Hongjun, Zhou Bin, Yang Xiufeng and Huang Jing served as deputy secretaries.

Dong Biwu was in charge of the overall work of the North China Joint Administrative Committee, Yang Xiufeng was in charge of the Civil Affairs Department and the Transportation Department, Zhou Bin was in charge of the Finance Department, the Industry and Commerce Department, the People's Bank of North China, and the North China Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and Huang Jing was in charge of the secretariat and concurrently served as the director of the Enterprise Department.

Wei Hongjun is in charge of the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture and the Public Security Administration.

It was natural for Wei Hongjun to be in charge of the Department of Agriculture. After all, Wei Hongjun's taxi reforms were recognized by the central government and promoted nationwide. As for the Department of Education and the Public Security Administration Office, it was the central government and the North China Bureau that recognized Wei Hongjun's outstanding achievements in promoting education at North China University and his understanding of the judiciary. Wei Hongjun's establishment of the North China Public Security University and, later, the North China University of Political Science and Law were particularly successful.

Then there is the administrative office under the North China Bureau.

This time, the North China Bureau established four provinces, six administrative regions, and two municipalities directly under the central government. The four provinces were the People's Governments of Suiyuan Province, Chahar Province, Rehe Province, and Inner Mongolia Province; the Jinnan Administrative Office, the Jinzhong Administrative Office, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Administrative Office, the Hebei-South Administrative Office, the Hebei-East Administrative Office, and the Hebei-Central Administrative Office; plus the two municipalities directly under the North China Bureau, the People's Governments of Zhangjiakou and Shijiazhuang.

The northern Shanxi region, including Datong, was incorporated into the Chahar Provincial People's Government.

After the establishment of the North China Bureau, the ownership of Jidong was finally decided.

The Ji-Re-Liao Military Region was incorporated into the Northeast Military Region. The Jidong forces, specifically the 13th and 14th columns, came under the command of Deng Guo, commander of the Ji-Re-Liao Military Region, supporting operations in the Northeast. However, the Eastern Field Army and the Jidong Party and government remained under the leadership of the North China Bureau. Consequently, the Jidong Administrative Office was established, while Baoshen and the 13th and 14th columns were again subordinate to the North China Bureau.

Very complicated division.

There was actually quite a bit of ambiguity here. The North China Bureau was unwilling to give up Jidong, and even more so the 13th and 14th columns. The North China Bureau's position was clear: Jidong should be handed over to its leadership. However, the Northeast Bureau argued that Deng Guo, commander of the Jireliao Military Region and a Northeast Bureau cadre, was already fighting in South Manchuria. Jidong, as part of the Jireliao Military Region, should be under the Northeast Bureau's leadership.

The North China Bureau and the Northeast Bureau were the two largest liberated areas. Both cases were brought to the central government. The final outcome of the battle between the two sides was a jarring one. Currently, the Yidong troops continued to cooperate with the Northeast operations under Deng Guo's leadership. However, Jidong, in terms of affiliation, was under the leadership of the North China Bureau. In other words, Jidong was subordinate to the North China Bureau. However, due to the current war situation, Jidong troops were temporarily loaned to the Northeast.

With the establishment of the North China Bureau, many institutions and universities in Yan'an moved to Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.

Including many cadres.

Duan Chengwei, who had been transferred from the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Border Region to the Central Organization Department three years earlier, also returned to the North China Bureau, this time as Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department. Duan Chengwei had originally intended to move to the Organization Department as Deputy Director, but Wei Hongjun strongly supported his move to the Propaganda Department and his appointment as Deputy Director.

Because the main cadres of the Propaganda Department of the North China Bureau are all educated people.

These were all former leftist intellectuals who, after joining the revolution, were recognized by the central government and began to be responsible for CCP propaganda. There was no other way around it. Among the local Communists and the Eighth Route Army, intellectuals were rare, and intellectuals were precious. In other fields, even peasants could still learn.

Including the political cadres of the army, many of them were selected from grassroots cadres who fought bravely in battle, like Wei Hongjun.

But it doesn’t work in the field of propaganda.

You need to be educated to be able to engage in literary warfare. Those left-wing intellectuals all came from literary backgrounds, and because they were educated, they had solid theoretical knowledge. Therefore, the current Party cadres on the propaganda front all came from literary backgrounds.

They were well-read and their writings were sharp, but Wei Hongjun had some concerns about them, mainly because they had close ties with Chinese literati.

It has been said since ancient times that scholars look down on each other, but at the same time, scholars also flatter each other.

Many of the masters of the Republic of China were self-entertaining, boasting within their own circles. You flatter me, I flatter you, and then you become masters of your field. And China is an agricultural country after all, so the truly top-notch scholars in the literary world, who boasted about their achievements, were basically relatives and friends.

Just like many people later dug up certain people’s family background online.

We are all relatives no matter where we go.

That's what literati are like.

Relationships between teachers, classmates, fellow townspeople, and relatives are often quite deep. For example, Cai Yuanpei at Peking University was known for his inclusiveness. Yet, Cai Yuanpei actively suppressed the Tongcheng School of thought and promoted students of his friend Zhang Taiyan. The reason for this was the same: social connections.

This problem exists in the CCP’s propaganda field.

They were all revolutionaries who enthusiastically participated in the revolution. During the revolution, they truly risked their lives. The Party Central Committee valued them because of their significant role. Their willingness to betray their class and actively participate in the revolution was a truly valuable quality.

But what happens after the revolution is victorious?

They were no longer facing enemies on the battlefield; what they had to do was to transform the thinking of the old scholars, to transform the old scholars' traditional sense of privilege, the idea that scholars were superior and lofty.

This work is crucial because these old intellectuals have immense influence, and their every move can shape public opinion. If properly reformed, they will be key figures in the construction of a new China. If not, they will negatively impact the revolutionary cause.

But they couldn't do it.

Because they were all friends and relatives, their personal relationships were incredibly close. Consequently, the CCP's intellectuals in the propaganda field not only failed to transform the old intellectuals, but were instead drawn back into the hands of these old intellectuals. Or perhaps, these intellectuals, in their youth, were filled with passion and willing to fight for the revolution.

However, the old intellectual privileged mentality in their subconscious was not completely reformed. So when they faced those old intellectuals, it only stimulated the privileged mentality hidden in their hearts.

As the saying goes, "When you are young, you betray your family for the revolution; when you are old, you betray the revolution for your family."

Therefore, every time the new China attempted a revolution in the ideological realm, it was unsuccessful. This was because most people in the CCP's propaganda field faced this problem. Therefore, Wei Hongjun strongly supported cadres with revolutionary backgrounds like Duan Chengwei.

He may not be as knowledgeable as those literati, and his theoretical level may not be as high as theirs.

However, cadres with a background like Duan Chengwei could hold those with a literary background in check in the propaganda field. Wei Hongjun also greatly admired Duan Chengwei. Duan Chengwei was a Party member during the Agrarian Revolution and rose through the ranks as a local cadre. He had extensive experience in Party affairs and propaganda at the grassroots level. Later, he was transferred to the Central Organization Department while studying at the Party School and working alongside Ren Peiguo, significantly improving his theoretical knowledge.

Duan Chengwei, when he was deputy secretary of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Border Region and in charge of party affairs, was able to analyze the causes of many small things. He was a cadre that Wei Hongjun relied on very much in his party building work in Hebei-Rehe-Chahar.

Wei Hongjun is now the fourth in command of the North China Bureau, and with the support of Marshal Nie, he still has a lot of say.

In addition to Duan Chengwei, Li Shaocheng was appointed Director of the Agricultural Department of the North China Joint Administrative Committee. This didn't require Wei Hongjun to speak up, as Li Shaocheng had previously been Deputy Director of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Land Reform Commission.

When Wei Hongjun was away, he was fully responsible for the land reform work in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.

Wei Hongjun has experience in Sheng County, and Li Shaocheng is Wei Hongjun's deputy.

His political achievements are very outstanding.

Therefore, Li Shaocheng had almost no rivals for the position of Director of the Agriculture Department of the North China Joint Administrative Committee.

After the establishment of the North China Joint Administrative Committee, Wei Hongjun was tasked with overseeing military affairs while also participating in government work. He began to understand why the saying "the CCP will have more members" was true. From the time preparations for the establishment of the North China Bureau began, Wei Hongjun was constantly in meetings.

It's almost one meeting after another.

My head is too big.

It's no easier than fighting on the battlefield.

Just when Wei Hongjun was busy, Li Shaocheng, Lai Ruoyu, director of the Yinan Administrative Office, and another cadre came to Wei Hongjun.

Chapter 693: Cadres from Southern Shanxi

"Hello, Deputy Secretary Wei."

"Comrade Lai Ruoyu, hello."

Wei Hongjun had never met Lai Ruoyu before. A member of the Central Red Army, he served as a military cadre. After the July 7 Incident, he continued to fight in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar region, and only in the past two years has he begun to take on day-to-day duties within the military region. Lai Ruoyu, on the other hand, had long been involved in underground work. A graduate of Peking University's School of Engineering, he was exposed to Marxism there and joined the Communist Party. He subsequently participated in underground Party activities in Peking, Shanxi, and other places.

After the July 7 Incident broke out, he went to the Central Party School to study.

He was then sent to Jincheng to serve as the county party secretary.

I have been doing local work in southeastern Shanxi.

After the outbreak of the Liberation War, Lai Ruoyu served as the Party Secretary of the Taihang District of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan region. This time, the North China Bureau was established, and the Jinnan Administrative Office was established, with Lai Ruoyu as its director. Jinnan, in a narrow sense, refers to southwestern Shanxi, encompassing areas like Linfen, Yuncheng, and Lüliang in Shanxi Province. However, the Jinnan Administrative Office established this time refers to southern Shanxi in a broader sense, encompassing southern Shanxi. In addition to southwestern Shanxi, it also encompasses areas in southeastern Shanxi, such as Changzhi and Jincheng. This means the newly established Jinnan Administrative Office governs a vast area, encompassing nearly half of Shanxi.

Such an administrative office is almost a provincial-level unit.

It was also at this North China Bureau meeting that Wei Hongjun met Lai Ruoyu for the first time. The two had met and exchanged greetings at the meeting, but had never communicated privately.

"Deputy Secretary Wei, this is Comrade Tao Lujia, who is currently serving as the Deputy Secretary and Head of the Organization Department of our Jinnan Administrative Office.

"Deputy Secretary Wei."

"Hello, Comrade Taolujia."

Neither of them is very old.

Lai Ruoyu was thirty-seven years old, and Tao Lujia was only thirty. Overall, they were considered young cadres, and were highly valued core cadres within the North China Bureau. Tao Lujia was even two years younger than Wei Hongjun. Yet, both were experienced and senior local officials.

Wei Hongjun was a Jin-Cha-Ji cadre, but now that he had been appointed First Deputy Secretary of the North China Bureau, he also wanted to interact more with the cadres from Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu. After all, in the North China Bureau, he would need to work with the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu cadres, as they were all from North China. Although factionalism was difficult to eliminate in reality, after all, it wasn't formed overnight, but over many years of revolution. But Wei Hongjun still hoped that the North China Bureau would blur the lines between factions. However, Wei Hongjun's main work at this stage was military, and he had little to do with the leaders of the administrative offices below, and there was no historical connection between them.

Therefore, after the North China Bureau meeting, Wei Hongjun devoted most of his work to the army.

I didn't expect that Lai Ruoyu and Tao Lujia would find me first.

"sit."

Although he didn't understand why they came to see him, Wei Hongjun was still very happy. After all, the two of them were important figures in the Shanxi local party committee. After liberation, if the two of them did not go to Beijing and were not transferred from Shanxi, they would definitely be important cadres of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee. Wei Hongjun is now mainly responsible for military work, but given the current situation in North China, the importance of military work will be greatly reduced within a year. At that time, Wei Hongjun's work focus will inevitably shift to local affairs. In that case, Wei Hongjun and local cadres such as Lai Ruoyu and Tao Lujia will have more work intersections. Knowing them in advance and understanding their work style will be beneficial for Wei Hongjun to cooperate with them in the future.

So Wei Hongjun received them very warmly.

"Deputy Secretary Wei, the two of us have taken some time to discuss the issue of the scholar reform with Comrade Li Shaocheng.

Lai Ruoyu spoke.

When Wei Hongjun heard they were talking about land reform, he immediately became serious, because land reform was the rural policy that ran throughout the entire Liberation War and for the next few decades after liberation.

Land reform isn't simply about dividing up the land. It's about adjusting rural production relations to better adapt them to the development of productive forces. This includes not only current rural land policies, but also the advanced cooperatives established after liberation, the people's communes, and the contract responsibility system introduced after the reform and opening up. As an agricultural country with a large population, China cannot afford to let anything go wrong in its rural areas or in its agriculture.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun attached great importance to land reform in his work.

"Comrade Tao Lujia and I strongly agree with Deputy Secretary Wei's phased approach to land reform. This time, I discussed with Comrade Li Shaocheng and gained more insights into the work of land reform. Especially now that not only are the bases in Chahar and northern Shanxi stable, but Hu Zongnan's troops have withdrawn from southern Shanxi, and Wu Shimin's troops are not actively attacking, so southern Shanxi is also relatively stable. We came here this time to discuss with Deputy Secretary Wei whether this year's land reform can enter the second phase.

Lai Ruoyu is a great intellectual.

After all, they were graduates of Peking University. Even the neighboring Tao Lujia had audited Nanjing Central University. They had done quite well in underground work over the years. But they were impressed by Wei Hongjun, a "peasant."

Because during the land reform, Wei Hongjun had the clearest ideas.

Lai Ruoyu was also in charge of land reform in southeastern Shanxi at the time. However, aside from the central government's directives, they needed to independently develop and explore specific land reform plans. However, as they had just begun to consider and implement them in southern Shanxi, a number of problems quickly arose.

This made Lai Ruoyu, who was highly educated and had worked in rural areas for many years, realize that land reform was not a simple matter.

At this time, Wei Hongjun emerged.

The land reform plan was clear and concise. It not only proposed three phases of land reform from a grand strategic perspective, but also provided detailed implementation plans for each phase. Perhaps to later generations, this plan seemed unremarkable.

But for the land reform cadres in the exploratory phase, such a clear plan was a treasure. Just like Chairman Mao's ideas of "surrounding the cities with the countryside" and "On Protracted War," which may seem unremarkable to later generations, they were, at the time, a guiding light.

So Lai Ruoyu admires Wei Hongjun very much.

Lai Ruoyu and Tao Lujia had taken time out of their schedule to attend the meeting, waiting to talk to Wei Hongjun. They both wanted to get to know Wei Hongjun.

“We can start preparing for the second phase of land reform, but we cannot fully enter the second phase.

Wei Hongjun spoke.