Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"My idea is to set goals for several phases after conducting research on the cities. Although I don't have a complete city survey report, taking Zhangjiakou, Datong, and Shijiazhuang as examples, I believe the first step should be to stop and recuperate. Many merchants have been exploited and oppressed by the Japanese and the Kuomintang, and their current situation is very bad. Many merchants are facing the risk of bankruptcy. If these industrial and commercial merchants go bankrupt, it will directly suppress the city's economy. Therefore, at this time, the priority is to stabilize and restore the city's economy. I think this stage can be called the recovery stage.

Wei Hongjun immediately wrote down Zhou Bin's words.

Zhou Bin was currently considering urban policy after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Currently, the Northeast and North China Bureaus controlled the most cities, and each had its own urban policies. Urban policies also required multiple trials to determine which would be most suitable for implementation in the new China.

Zhou Bin continued, "The second stage is the cooperation stage. We negotiate with merchants and ask them to give up some of their profits. In the past, all the profits of a factory were taken by the capitalists alone. My second stage is that the factory's profits should give a portion to the factory workers.

“A commercial version of rent and interest reduction?”

Wei Hongjun nodded immediately, understanding what Zhou Bin meant.

Just like the rent and interest reductions implemented by the Eighth Route Army base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, rural rent and interest reductions, to put it bluntly, simply took money out of the landlords' pockets, dividing the pie between the anti-Japanese government and the peasants. Zhou Bin's idea was to negotiate with the capitalists to divide the company's profits, preventing them from monopolizing the profits.

"Yes, it's the commercial version of rent and interest reduction. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, rent and interest reductions were a huge success, not only encouraging the vast majority of self-cultivating farmers, semi-self-cultivating farmers, and poor hired peasants to participate in the war, but also those enlightened rich peasants and landlords. So, can we implement the same policy on the capitalist side? In addition to taxes, from a factory's profits, let the capitalists share a certain amount of profits with the workers. This will stimulate the workers' enthusiasm and allow the capitalists to participate in the great construction of New China.

"No matter how things change, they still remain essentially the same. Whether it's agriculture or commerce, there are many common aspects.

The two people have a very good understanding.

Within a short time, they exchanged their opinions. Zhou Bin was very satisfied. This time, coming to Wei Hongjun was indeed the right decision. He didn't need to explain his ideas in detail; Wei Hongjun could understand them.

Therefore, he continued, "In the third stage, the situation in which capitalists own the means of production must be completely changed. These capitalists can be transformed into the working class. Many of them have rich management experience. They can be transformed into factory managers. They will no longer be capitalists who own the means of production, but will earn wages for managing the factory. What do you think of my idea?"

Zhou Bin put forward his trilogy on business policy.

Wei Hongjun nodded slightly.

In fact, this is the policy during the transition period from the New Democratic Revolution to the Socialist Revolution.

"Overall, I think the idea is correct. The three-stage division is also very reasonable, I think. However, more clarification is needed on specific issues. Different industries have different situations. Large companies and factories, small companies and factories, and even those handicraft merchants all have different situations, and they must be carefully considered. As the saying goes, blocking someone's financial path is like killing their parents. Getting these capitalists to give up their profits is not an easy task."

"Correct."

Zhou Bin nodded.

If you don't infringe on other people's interests, everyone will be happy. But once you infringe on other people's interests, the situation will be completely different. However, Zhou Bin said: "This is the general trend, and we must accept it."

Wei Hongjun smiled.

Indeed, that was the case. When the revolution triumphed, the People's Liberation Army swept across the country. The CCP's dominance was inevitable, and no one could stop it. Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said, "The big factories are fine. But what about the artisans? For example, there are those who cut hair, shine shoes, and run small-scale restaurants. How do we define them? How do we arrange for them?

Zhou Bin said, "At this stage, we can't take care of these small handicraftsmen. First, we don't have enough cadres to consider these groups, nor do we have enough cadres to manage them. So my idea is to ignore these small handicraftsmen. As long as they don't break the law, they can continue to do their business. After we solve the problems of large industries and factories, we can consider them and see what kind of policies should be formulated for these small handicraftsmen."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

The CCP is currently facing a severe cadre shortage. Despite various attempts, the shortage remains severe. At this time, in terms of policy and management, the only option is to focus on the large and let go of the small.

Wei Hongjun had been considering many economic issues after the Liberation. It was just that he'd been so busy lately that he hadn't had time to address this one. Zhou Bin's visit today gave Wei Hongjun a chance, so he said, "I think there are a lot of conceptual issues that need to be addressed before formulating business policies."

"Conceptual problem?"

Zhou Bin frowned.

I didn't understand what Wei Hongjun meant. Wei Hongjun said, "What I mean is that we should clarify many business concepts. Only when some business concepts are clear can we formulate more accurate business policies."

Chapter 710 Ownership Issues

"Many matters must be clearly defined to avoid confusion. In business, I believe ownership is paramount. When we were fighting, everything was subordinated to the overall situation, and many issues were not open to bargaining. If ownership were too clear-cut, it would easily breed local protectionism and factionalism, which wasn't appropriate at the time. So, while I considered it, I didn't bring it up. But the situation is different now. Our revolution has seen the dawn of victory, and we can begin to consider the construction of a new China. Building a new China is different from the war, and many issues require reconsideration and policy reformulation. Regarding ownership, I believe there are two crucial issues that must be reached consensus on, and the central government must issue clear legal documents. One is rural land, and the other is urban land. The ownership of these two types of land must be considered."

Wei Hongjun said: "Regarding rural land, when I proposed the three-stage land reform, I had an overall idea and also put forward opinions on this to the central government. That is, rural land generally belongs to the state, and rural land is state land. To be more specific, it should belong to the collective, that is, the rural collective. Only in this way can we formulate different land policies according to different situations. Because only when it is clear that rural land belongs to the collective and the state can we formulate land policies on this basis. With this foundation, we can distribute land equally to farmers according to the situation and population.

It is also possible to concentrate land and implement a collective system as needed.

The premise of any policy is that rural land must be controlled by the state. Without this premise, any national land policy is groundless. This is the situation with rural land; the situation with urban land is even more complex.

Wei Hongjun, Marshal Nie, and many cadres of the Land Reform Working Committee exchanged views on land policy.

Everyone has reached a certain consensus on this issue.

In fact, as early as the land reform, some cadres had already proposed this idea. That is, rural land ownership should be directly subordinated to the state. Only in this way could land reform be carried out legitimately. However, the situation was not suitable at the time, so Wei Hongjun did not adopt it. However, after the founding of New China, this issue had to be discussed and a conclusion had to be reached.

Now, as the North China Liberated Area has become increasingly stable, some areas in the area, especially some rural areas in Chahar, Suiyuan, and northern Shanxi, have begun the second phase of land reform. This time, all residents will participate in the land reform.

Middle peasants also participated in land reform.

Thousand what?

Land was distributed equally according to population.

Wei Hongjun did not forcefully stop some areas from spontaneously carrying out the second phase of land reform. Instead, he dispatched staff to observe the land reform in these areas. As long as there was no chaos or extreme situations, Wei Hongjun would not interfere. Wei Hongjun's requirement was simple: the second phase of land reform must not be carried out during the busy farming season. This was an iron rule.

After the Battle of Pingjin and the Battle of Taiyuan were concluded, the Land Reform Working Committee of the North China Bureau would certainly advance the second phase of land reform. These rural areas that first undertook the second phase of land reform would bring many new experiences to the land reform work.

Southern Shanxi and Huailai have been promoting the small collective model, which can be considered an alternative attempt at land reform.

With Marshal Nie's support and the success of land reform, Wei Hongjun was not too worried about the rural land ownership issue. As long as the People's Republic of China was established, the rural land ownership issue would be completely resolved.

Rural land belongs to the collective.

But what about urban land?

The issue is complex.

Urban land included land controlled by the Nationalist government, land controlled by bureaucratic capital, land controlled by national capital, and land controlled by the general public. In addition to the land within the city, there was also a lot of privately built houses and land around the city.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, you can't say that all those privately built houses are illegal. After all, these are poor people who can't build houses in the city and can only live in houses outside. Can you still tell them to get out?

They still need to be properly accommodated.

It can be said that the land problem in cities is more serious than that in rural areas.

But this must be resolved. If the issue of urban land ownership is not resolved, there will be endless wrangling in the future. Historically, the nationalization of urban land in New China took a long time. The nationalization process was advanced by confiscating land from the Nationalist government, confiscating land owned by bureaucratic capitalists, and carrying out socialist transformation of national capital.

It wasn't until 1982, after the start of reform and opening up, that urban land ownership was officially confirmed as state-owned. This was because land conflicts were extremely severe at the time. Not only were conflicts over urban land serious, but conflicts over rural land were also becoming increasingly severe. Consequently, the 1982 Constitution clearly defined the ownership of both rural and urban land.

But at this time many contradictions have become very acute.

Therefore, there were many compromises during implementation. In fact, the current situation is more favorable. After all, we are in wartime, making many policies easier to implement. Furthermore, the current vested interests are the targets of the new China. While there will be significant resistance to these policies, it can be overcome.

Thirty years from now, the new interest groups will be the bigwigs within the Party, the ruling clique within the Party, and the resistance will be far greater than it is now.

“City land?”

Zhou Bin didn't speak immediately.

He was thinking about it. Zhou Bin hadn't considered the issue of urban land ownership. He had been thinking about how, in addition to the financial problems of New China, to stabilize the capitalists while gradually resolving their means of production.

How to distinguish the bourgeoisie from the proletariat?

The main distinction is whether or not one owns the means of production.

Zhou Bin's plan was to gradually get the capitalists to give up their means of production and become part of the proletariat. As long as the capitalists lost their means of production, even if they were wealthier than the proletariat, they would still be part of the proletariat. They would just be wealthy proletarians.

After entering the new century, a new term emerged, called the middle class.

In fact, this is a term of compromise.

The so-called middle class is nothing more than the wealthy proletariat.

The "proletarian" in the proletariat does not refer to a class without money, but a class without means of production. In other words, the middle class is only an economic class, not a political class.

This job alone gave Zhou Bin a headache.

But now Wei Hongjun raised another question. Seeing Zhou Bin thinking, Wei Hongjun continued, "After the founding of New China, industrial development was a must. But as long as industry is developed, the urban population will increase. The increased population will need to build houses, which will require urban land.

For factories to develop, they inevitably need to occupy urban land. Without clear ownership of urban land, development will be plagued by numerous problems. Only by clarifying the ownership of urban land can we reduce unnecessary complications during industrialization. The best approach is to fully establish that urban land is state-owned.

Zhou Bin listened carefully to Wei Hongjun's words. Then he said, "Hongjun, have you ever considered that many people in cities currently own their own houses, and therefore their own land. If we were to make all urban land state-owned, what would happen to these people? Would their land suddenly cease to belong to them? What would happen if a major unrest broke out? This is no small matter."

“We can separate ownership and usage rights.”

“Separate ownership and usage rights?”

Zhou Bin has been thinking.

Zhou Bin had never really considered separating ownership and usage rights. However, Wei Hongjun's proposal was quite feasible. However, this matter involved too much, and it was a major issue. Zhou Bin needed to go back and think about it carefully. So, he said, "Hongjun, to be honest, I haven't considered this aspect. I'll write down what you said and I'll go back and think about it carefully."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Zhou Bin is the Deputy Secretary of the North China Bureau and is currently in charge of economic affairs for the North China Joint Political Affairs Committee. By the time the People's Republic of China is established, he will at least be a minister in the State Council. If his problems aren't too serious, he could easily become a vice-premier-level official in charge of economics and finance.

So these are the issues he should consider.

Wei Hongjun continued, "The ownership of rural and urban land is a major issue. Beyond that, there are many smaller ownership issues. Let me give you an example, like in Huailai County. Suppose the district government and a village jointly established an oil press. The district government provided funding, and the village also contributed. After the oil press was established, I would like to ask about the ownership of the oil press. Does the oil press belong to the district government or the village? If the oil press makes a profit, does the profit belong to the district government or the village?"

Zhou Bin quickly said, "It depends on the nature."

Zhou Bin is an expert on economic issues.

So he immediately said, "If the district and the village jointly invested in the construction of the oil press, then the oil press will have shares from both the district and the village. If the district only supports the construction of the village, then this has nothing to do with the district and should belong to the village factory.

The shareholding system is not a new product that appeared in China after the reform and opening up.

Not to mention the merchants of the Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republican era, even the Chinese Communist Party has long been involved in joint-stock companies. During the Soviet era, there were many joint-stock companies. Even during the socialist transformations of history, these companies weren't simply converted to state-owned enterprises or swallowed up. Instead, the original capitalists were given shares and annual dividends.

So the shareholding system is nothing new.

When Zhou Bin was in the Soviet area, he was very familiar with joint-stock enterprises.

So I said it without thinking.

Wei Hongjun said, "That's right. Before we finalize business policies, shouldn't we make a policy judgment on these issues? For example, should we clarify what the shareholding system is? How do shareholding companies operate? How should their profits be handled? How should they be supervised through policy? Besides the shareholding system between government agencies I mentioned, there are also public-private joint-venture shareholding systems and private shareholding systems, each with its own differences. I think many people, including our own Party members and cadres, don't understand these. Besides shareholding companies, we also have companies in various situations. Shouldn't we have a clear definition for each of them? Different companies have different management models, so shouldn't we manage them differently?"

Zhou Bin wrote down all of Wei Hongjun's words in a notebook.

Later in New China, there were actually a large number of similar joint-stock enterprises.

There were joint ventures between the county and the villages, and also between villages. However, because there were no policies or regulations regarding this at the time, people didn't realize these were joint-stock companies. Furthermore, because there were no regulations, ownership was unclear, leading to numerous disputes.

Higher authorities consider it a collective enterprise, meaning it's a district enterprise. Village officials argue that we contributed money, so why should we declare it a district enterprise? This is the confusion caused by unclear ownership.

This ambiguity in ownership will ultimately hurt the enthusiasm of grassroots cadres.

They had finally achieved some results, but the above sentence took away all the good things.

Wei Hongjun continued, "In fact, clarifying ownership is mainly about distinguishing between different collective enterprises. If there is no clear ownership, then collective enterprises will be affected. If it is a county collective enterprise, it is a county collective enterprise. A village collective enterprise is a village collective enterprise. With clear ownership, departments at all levels cannot change ownership at will. Even if they want to change ownership, they should provide certain compensation according to the different ownership rights. For example, if the village oil press is completed and the county wants to take it away, then the county must give the village sufficient compensation because the ownership of the oil press belongs to the village, not the county."

Mobilize the subjective initiative of grassroots cadres.

We must give them enough stage and benefits, and of course, sufficient supervision.

Clarifying the ownership of these collective enterprises is a good approach. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, various collectively owned enterprises have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. If their ownership is not clarified, the interests of these collectively owned enterprises will be seriously damaged.

"Ah."

Zhou Bin was very happy to be able to come and talk to Wei Hongjun this time.

While issuing a commercial policy isn't that difficult, it involves a lot of issues. The questions raised by Wei Hongjun were all very important to Zhou Bin.