Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Wei Hongjun has always been very calm and composed in his handling of matters. Even during the Anti-Japanese War, Wei Hongjun was only in his twenties, but he always handled matters with great experience. It was rare to see him act so impulsively.

However, Nie Shuai was a little worried about this impulse, but he also appreciated it.

A party member should maintain this impulse when facing certain problems.

However, Marshal Nie still said, "After you return, you can discuss this matter with me privately. During the meeting, I should propose how to deal with Comrade Yang Qiqing. This will make many cadres think that you lack a sense of the overall situation and that you have problems uniting with your comrades."

"Commander, I understand your difficulties. It would be more appropriate for me to speak out than for you to suggest it."

Wei Hongjun is not a fool.

The North China Bureau had just been established, and many things were very sensitive.

The establishment of the North China Bureau put considerable pressure on the Jin-Cha-Ji region. Liu Huafu, Deputy Secretary of the Jin-Cha-Ji Central Bureau, barely escaped membership. Furthermore, while a member, he held no other official positions besides research director. He had practically withdrawn from the core political arena of North China.

In addition, the North China Bureau was established, which was mainly composed of cadres from Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei.

Marshal Nie couldn't afford to allow anyone to accuse him of excluding dissidents and engaging in factionalism within the North China Bureau. This was the most crucial moment in Marshal Nie's political career, a single step away from truly becoming a national leader. With this step, Marshal Nie's political future would be bright, allowing him to fully utilize his talents. Marshal Nie absolutely couldn't afford to let anything go wrong at this time.

So Wei Hongjun certainly couldn't go to Nie Shuai about this matter and ask him to intervene. Nie Shuai couldn't take matters into his own hands in his current position, as this would easily lead to internal strife. This would be disadvantageous to no one.

Wei Hongjun continued, "Commander, I'm not someone who only cares about the interests of my own faction. I originally respected Comrade Yang Qiqing because I've heard of his legendary stories. I'm very happy that we have such an outstanding cadre like him in our Public Security Administration. Especially when we capture big cities like Peking and Tianjin in the future, we will need such outstanding cadres on the defense front. But what he did this time was really too extraordinary. I'm not targeting the cadres in Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan. For example, Comrade Lai Ruoyu, Director of the Jinnan Administrative Office, and Comrade Tao Lujia, their Organization Department Minister, are both excellent cadres. I'm very willing to cooperate with them. But I can't let myself be worried about this and that and watch Comrade Yang Qiqing and his men act so recklessly.

"Red Army, I know what you are thinking and I understand how you feel.

But that doesn't mean others will understand you. This is a critical moment for you. You must raise the banner of the North China Bureau. You can't let people think that you are suppressing cadres from other places and favoring cadres from your own faction. This will be disadvantageous to you in the future. Do you understand?

Marshal Nie really admired Wei Hongjun and even regarded Wei Hongjun as his successor.

Marshal Nie wanted to hand over the burden of the North China Bureau to Wei Hongjun. Therefore, Marshal Nie did not want Wei Hongjun to have problems with unity and make people sick.

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Thanks to Coach Nie for the advice.

While some conflicts can be avoided, there are some issues Wei Hongjun cannot avoid, let alone back down from. Just like this time, Wei Hongjun initially just wanted to cut the Gordian knot and resolve Gao Shuxun's issue.

To ensure the current battle in Jinzhong and the current Wu Shimin uprising.

He had never thought of having any conflicts with Yang Qiqing and the others, and had even considered compromising. But what Yang Qiqing did, or what his subordinates did, had already exceeded Wei Hongjun's bottom line. Although Wei Hongjun did not consider himself a saint, as a party member, he still had his own bottom line. As a party member, there are some principles that cannot be compromised or traded. If you choose to make concessions on issues of principle, then what other issues can't be compromised? As long as you start to make concessions on issues of principle, there will be a second time, and then countless times. Step by step, in the end, there will be no principles. So Wei Hongjun knew that this would affect unity, but he still chose to make trouble.

Shuai is just a brief reminder.

Although Wei Hongjun was an old subordinate of Marshal Nie and the two had a special relationship, Wei Hongjun was no longer the small cadre he once was. He was the first deputy secretary of the North China Bureau and had his own political views and ideas.

So Commander Nie stopped there.

Marshal Nie then asked, "What do you think about Comrade Wang Dingnan's matter?"

"I'm not familiar with Comrade Wang Dingnan and haven't thought about it before."

Wei Hongjun really didn't think about Wang Dingnan.

Wei Hongjun was genuinely unfamiliar with Wang Dingnan. Wang Dingnan had previously worked in Peking for a long time, serving as a member of the Peking Municipal Party Committee. He had also worked in military mobilization, and later moved south to Henan, where he served as the Party Secretary.

They did a very good job in underground work.

In particular, he is very good at uniting people.

But this was only the Wang Dingnan in the file. If it weren't for this incident, it would have taken years for Wei Hongjun and Wang Dingnan to meet. Marshal Nie thought for a moment and said, "Let Comrade Wang Dingnan recuperate for a while and heal his injuries first. Also, don't have too much contact with Comrade Wang Dingnan, or at least avoid any contact with him for the foreseeable future. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

Wei Hongjun understood that Marshal Nie was doing this for his own good.

This time, he was Wang Dingnan's savior. Not just physically, but politically. Wei Hongjun's report on the investigation had led the North China Bureau to a conclusion. This had cleared Wang Dingnan of his grievances, and his political life had been revived.

But because of this, Wei Hongjun cannot have much contact with Wang Dingnan at this time.

It's easy to get caught.

Seeing that Wei Hongjun understood what he meant, Marshal Nie continued, "Let's put that aside for now and discuss the issue of the Public Security Column. I agree with your idea of ​​Comrade Du Liqing serving as the political commissar of the Public Security Column and the director of the local Public Security Administration Office serving as the political commissar of the Public Security Brigade. This is a good thing for coordination. However, this type of political commissar is only a figurehead; the actual management of the troops still requires the responsibility of dedicated political cadres. What are your thoughts on the commander and deputy political commissar of the Public Security Column?"

"Commander, I originally considered Comrade Lei Jiabin or Comrade Yu Ping to be the commander of the Public Security Column. However, I was worried that some people would accuse me of nepotism, so I haven't made up my mind yet.

Wei Hongjun had just begun to take charge of the work of the North China Military Region and the North China Field Army.

I am not familiar with the cadres in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan.

Therefore, the commander of the Public Security Column could only be chosen from among the former cadres of the Jin-Cha-Ji region. Furthermore, among the former Jin-Cha-Ji region, Wei Hongjun could choose either from the Ji-Re-Cha Military Region or from Yang Quanwu's Ji-Central Military Region, as these two regions had the most abundant cadre reserves.

Among officers of similar experience, those in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region and the Hebei-Central Military Region achieved remarkable success during the War of Resistance, leading to their rapid promotions. This gap between them became apparent. While the Public Security Column wasn't a field column, it nonetheless comprised 20,000 men. Column commanders were required to possess a certain rank, experience, and accomplishments.

Marshal Nie understood Wei Hongjun's concerns.

So he said, "I think we should appoint Comrade Yu Ping. Comrade Lei Jiabin has done a good job in the Pingbei Military Sub-district, so we shouldn't adjust his assignment at this stage. Although the Public Security Column was established to supplement the Public Security Administration's lack of manpower, it is still a military unit after all. When the military region and field army need it, it will even have to participate in combat. Therefore, I suggest that the Public Security Column should still be under the command of the military region and field army headquarters."

Coach Nie was very satisfied with Lei Jiabin's work.

During the most dangerous period before Rehe, Lei Jiabin relied on a group of local troops in Rehe to deal with the Kuomintang troops and completed his work very well. In addition, the Pingbei Military Sub-district was doing an excellent job in all aspects.

When the Fifth Corps marched south to fight, the Pingbei Military Sub-district mobilized a large number of civilian workers to support it.

Very well organized too.

Marshal Nie was very pleased with Lei Jiabin and did not want him to go to the Public Security Column. Furthermore, Marshal Nie did not want the Public Security Column to be completely separated from the military system. Therefore, he wanted the Public Security Column to continue to be under the leadership of the military region and field army commanders. It can be said that this was a dual leadership.

Wei Hongjun certainly agreed.

Not to mention that we are still in wartime, even in peacetime the armed police force is under dual leadership. It is impossible to easily delegate the leadership of a force to the local government.

Marshal Nie continued, "Are there any candidates for deputy political commissar?"

"What do you think of Comrade Fu Zhao?"

Marshal Nie thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay." Kuang Fuzhao was a veteran of the Red Army and had joined the revolution early. He had initially joined the Red Army in the Third Army Corps, and later joined the Sixth and Second Army Corps, becoming a cadre of the Second Front Army.

When the 120th Division came to Hebei Province for development, he followed them to the region. Later, he participated in the transformation of the Hebei Province troops and served as the political commissar of the First Guard Brigade of the Hebei Province Military Region's Mobile Forces. He is now an important cadre under Yang Quanwu.

A political cadre with outstanding abilities.

Wei Hongjun had been in charge of the daily work of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region and the Jin-Cha-Yi Field Army for the previous year, so he was quite familiar with the military cadres of the Jin-Cha-Yi Field Army.

Marshal Nie also had an impression of him.

"In two days we will hold a joint meeting between the military region and the Ministry of Social Affairs to finalize this matter.

"Yes."

After discussing the Public Security Column, Marshal Nie turned to other matters. In fact, Marshal Nie only had some ideas about some of these matters, so he shared them with Wei Hongjun and the two of them discussed them.

This time too.

Marshal Nie said: "I have been thinking about the Gao Shuxun incident this time, as well as the Weichang County incident in your Jirecha Military Region. I remember that you wrote me a report at the time, saying that our public security forces cannot distinguish between internal contradictions among the people and contradictions between us and the enemy. Especially in some old base areas, internal contradictions among the people are beginning to outweigh contradictions between us and the enemy. I thought about it carefully, and combined with the process of formulating the "Drug Control Law" this time, I have an idea, please give it to me for reference. The handling of contradictions among the people requires methods for handling contradictions among the people. The handling of contradictions between us and the enemy requires methods for handling contradictions between us and the enemy.

How are different approaches reflected? Not only in the police officers' attitudes when handling issues, but also in the final outcomes. Only different outcomes can reflect different contradictions. But what constitutes a different approach? I'm considering whether there can be clear legal provisions, like the recent "drug control law." Only by clarifying what kinds of situations warrant different outcomes can officials at the grassroots level understand what constitutes a contradiction among the people and what constitutes a contradiction between the enemy and us.

"Commander, do you mean that the North China Bureau is discussing the formulation of laws in this regard?"

"Ah."

Marshal Nie nodded.

He said: "Many of our cadres currently have a low level of education, so they are rather rough in their work style. If you don't have a clear regulation, they will not be able to correctly understand the policy and will waver between left and right. Many "counter-revolutionary cases" that should not have occurred in our liberated areas have occurred because our cadres cannot grasp the right measure. Since our grassroots cadres cannot grasp the right measure, then we will formulate a very clear regulation. That is, what kind of crime depends on the situation, and what kind of crime depends on the punishment. Grassroots cadres should not be given too much discretionary power, so that many things can be avoided.

Wei Hongjun nodded repeatedly, feeling very happy.

After Marshal Nie began to withdraw from military command, he had more and more things to consider, and the issues he considered were no longer specific matters, but issues related to high-rise buildings.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said, "Commander, if you ask me, we should formulate laws in three areas.

"Talk about it."

"After I took charge of the Public Security Administration, I also reviewed a lot of files. I found that the cases in the liberated areas were mainly divided into three types. One was trivial matters, such as breaking someone's property, fighting, and minor injuries. Another was serious fighting, theft, robbery, and other cases. The third was cases involving enemy spies. The corresponding laws should be different.

Marshal Nie wrote down what Wei Hongjun said.

Then he asked Wei Hongjun, "Anything else?"

"Change customs and habits. Commander, our country now has many backward ideas and customs. If we want to solve these problems, it is useless to rely solely on policy propaganda. We still need to formulate some laws to change customs and habits. Things like child abuse, elder abuse, wife beating, and rural marriage swapping are very common in rural areas. They don't think there is anything wrong with it. So I think we should first formulate some laws to change customs and habits, and then publicize them, let everyone know that there are such laws, and slowly let them accept them. If we don't have any laws to support us, how can we publicize and manage such family matters? One of the most common things in rural areas is eating up the whole family. In the eyes of rural clans, this is a very normal thing, and it is a very reasonable thing. But we can't just watch this happen.

Then we must make a law to prevent this from happening."

Marshal Nie wrote them all down.

Then he said, "Changing customs and habits, and the minor conflicts in life, no matter how morally reprehensible they may be, are all internal conflicts among the people. This means that internal conflicts among the people should not be completely unpunished. Without punishment, there will be no intimidation, and the law will lack majesty. However, this cannot be achieved solely through intimidation; it also requires publicity and enlightenment.

"Yes."

Marshal Nie closed his notebook.

After talking with Wei Hongjun today, Marshal Nie had a more complete idea. However, this wasn't something that could be done overnight. So Marshal Nie said, "Hongjun, let me tell you something. You are in charge of the Education Department, the Agriculture Department, and the Public Security Administration Office. You should report to Mr. Dong more often. Talk to him about your work philosophy. You should understand the divisions between the work of the North China Bureau, the work of the North China Joint Administrative Committee, and the work of the military regions and field armies. Don't just report everything to me."

"Yes."

"Regarding legal issues, you can also consult Mr. Dong. He studied law in Japan and was the president of the Supreme Court during his time in the Soviet area. He has extensive experience in this area.

"Yes."

"Go ahead."

Chapter 704: Liaoshen Campaign and Pingjin Campaign

Gao Shuxun’s incident was a big deal.

It wasn't as if the North China Bureau could just handle the matter directly once it had made a decision. Because Gao Shuxun's case had such a huge impact both inside and outside the Party, the Central Committee had been keeping an eye on it. Therefore, after the enlarged meeting of the North China Bureau's Standing Committee, Marshal Nie immediately reported the North China Bureau's decision to the Central Committee.

The resolution of the North China Bureau will only take effect after approval by the Central Committee.

Of course, under normal circumstances, unless the North China Bureau's handling of the matter was fundamentally wrong, the Central Committee would not casually reject the North China Bureau's decision, because the Central Committee also had to respect these local bureaus.

The Chairman was quite angry when he saw the investigative report written by Wei Hongjun and Du Liqing to the North China Bureau. To put it bluntly, the Central Committee had no regard for Gao Shuxun's troops. Although Gao Shuxun's troops numbered approximately 10,000 men, they lacked combat effectiveness. Furthermore, Gao Shuxun's troops had not participated in any of the PLA's battles since the uprising.

The Shaanxi 38th Army and the New 11th Brigade were quickly reorganized after the uprising and became fully integrated into the People's Liberation Army, participating in every major battle. The 38th Brigade followed Chen Geng south to participate in the Western Henan Campaign, successively annihilating several brigades of Hu Zongnan. The New 11th Brigade was also a top-tier main force in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region.

Everyone knows that the 28th Brigade of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Army was very good at fighting defensive battles.

The central government was willing to support Gao Shuxun's troops as long as they did not cause any problems. Because Gao Shuxun was the first to revolt, his influence was relatively large and he served as a model. However, such a thing happened to such a unit that the central government did not pay much attention to. As a result, it directly affected the original combat plan of the North China Field Army, and the Jinzhong Campaign was delayed for more than 20 days.

There are also some cadres from Shanxi, Yi, Shandong and Henan.

First, they reported Gao Shuxun's rebellion without any evidence, then they tortured him into admitting his participation in the rebellion, and even wrote false materials and fabricated battles that did not exist.

What kind of hatred and grudge has it gotten to this point?

Furthermore, from their style, Chairman Mao sensed the shadow of the anti-counterrevolutionary movement in the Soviet areas. The anti-counterrevolutionary movement was extremely horrific, with even batches of cadres being executed.

The Chairman is very opposed to such things.