Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

The working class no longer needs unions to confront the executive branch.

What the working class needs is a trade union that can help them deal with some of their daily problems, including helping to resolve some conflicts among the people.

After writing down all these ideas and talking with Lin Yu, Wei Hongjun understood that the different status of the working class itself would directly affect the functions of the trade union. Therefore, how to define the status of the working class would directly affect the status and functions of the trade union.

But this is just the beginning.

Wei Hongjun still has many factories to investigate, and he also wants to listen to the ideas of the workers.

Chapter 757 The Heavy Burden of History

Wei Hongjun first spent some time at the Datong Coal Mine, talking with everyone involved. He also visited the mines to observe the mining conditions and the workers' working environment. Although things had improved significantly, life in the mines remained extremely poor.

The mines remain dangerous.

This is the situation after improvement.

Wei Hongjun couldn't help but recall the situation after the coal mines were captured during the Anti-Japanese War.

The conditions in the coal mines at that time were really bad.

Death is commonplace.

There was no coal mine in old China that did not have a large number of corpses.

After leaving Datong Coal Mine, Wei Hongjun went to Zhangjiakou and Xuanhua. Because there were many state-owned enterprises in these areas, Wei Hongjun had a general idea of ​​the situation after talking with them.

Theoretically, Comrade Deng Zhihui's opinion is relatively correct.

After all, workers need an organization to protect their interests. These opinions are based on years of experience in the workers' movement. Comrade Gao Gang's opinions, however, are not without merit. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that at this stage, between the present and the early years of the People's Republic of China, Comrade Gao Gang's opinions are more in line with reality. Compared to old China, state-owned enterprises today have a completely different perspective on workers.

This different positioning directly impacts the functions of trade unions.

The current situation is truly a turning point and a great liberation for the working class.

From being looked down upon at the bottom of society, with even their lives in danger, workers suddenly became respected, recognized by the Party and the state, and part of the glorious working class. This earth-shaking change unleashed an unimaginable surge of enthusiasm and strength among the workers. Many of them, like the peasants after the land reform, were eager to protect the fruits of their victory.

The way the peasants defended the fruits of victory was to join the army and overthrow Chiang Kai-shek's clique. The way these workers defended the fruits of victory was to work hard to produce more industrial products for the country and support national construction.

In other words, the current contradictions in state-owned enterprises are no longer the previous contradictions between factory owners and the working class.

At this time, they do not need the union to conflict with the company's administration.

All they think about is production.

Of course, this also coincides with the government's thinking. The government hopes that factory administration and unions will work together to improve production, rather than for the administration and unions to quarrel and cause conflicts that affect factory production.

Regarding this issue, Deng Fa, who was in charge of trade union work during the Anti-Japanese War, had explained it.

However, this situation cannot last forever. As the Chinese economy develops and living standards improve, many contradictions that were previously buried in the enthusiasm will surface. This is what the Chairman calls the contradiction of "balancing public and private interests," which requires considering both factory production and workers' interests. However, by then, the unions, having lost power, will no longer be able to resolve these issues.

Of course, at this stage, emphasizing the uniqueness of unions and their worker-centered nature will indeed artificially create discord between administration and unions, hindering production. This is especially true since the majority of current union cadres are former labor movement cadres.

They are familiar with the workers' movement.

Once the central government emphasizes the special nature of trade unions, it will be easy for these union cadres who are familiar with the workers' movement to use their "experience" in state-owned enterprises. Once this happens, serious "syndicalism" will emerge.

This is really a contradiction between too much and too little.

It is not possible for a trade union to be without power, but emphasizing the uniqueness of the trade union can easily cause conflicts within the factory and affect factory production.

"Secretary Wei, workers' issues should be considered from the perspective of management and supervisory rights, allowing workers to truly be the masters of their own affairs. This shouldn't require the union to represent workers and compete for power with factory administration. We should integrate workers and factories, not separate them. Constantly emphasizing the role of the union and the conflicts between public and private interests in factories will only artificially exacerbate the contradictions between production and life, and between factories and workers." This is just a small-scale discussion.

Wei Hongjun never thought of expanding it.

Lai Ruoyu accompanied Wei Hongjun to visit many factories and finally expressed his views to Wei Hongjun.

Wei Hongjun did not express his opinion.

But I took note of Lai Ruoyu's opinion.

Wei Hongjun sorted through these inspection reports, selecting those related to union issues. He planned to reflect on this content further and exchange ideas with other local central bureau leaders when he had time. He primarily wrote a report on the current state of industrial development in North China. He also contacted the propaganda department to promote exemplary workers within their industries.

The history written by scholars in the past was all about emperors and generals.

But now that New China had been established, the next step was to publicize the heroes who emerged from the ordinary labor front. While Wei Hongjun was dealing with this matter, Han Wei, the newly appointed deputy commander of the North China Military Region and director of the Beijing Military Control Commission, came up to him.

"Secretary Wei, I need your help with something."

"Director Han, what's the matter?"

Wei Hongjun was very surprised.

Han Wei was a party member during the Great Revolution and a senior cadre who participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising.

Wei Hongjun and Han Wei had known each other for quite some time, and Han Wei had never put on airs with Wei Hongjun simply because of his seniority. However, while he may not be arrogant, Han Wei had never been so humble.

Han Wei immediately handed a report to Wei Hongjun.

Wei Hongjun took a look.

His expression gradually became serious.

Because this is Han Wei's report applying for the title of martyr for the more than 34 officers and soldiers of the Red 6000th Division, the "Death Guard Division". Although the Red 34th Division was under the command of the Red th Army Corps, the origin of this unit has nothing to do with the Red th Army Corps.

The majority of the officers and soldiers of the Red 34th Division were from western Fujian.

There were some cadres from the Red Fourth Army mixed in. For example, the commander of the 34th Division, Chen Shuxiang, the political commissar, Cheng Cuilin, and Han Wei in front of him, were all cadres who participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising.

As the rear guard of the entire army, the main force was almost annihilated in the Battle of Xiangjiang River to ensure victory.

Wei Hongjun said, "Director Han, this report shouldn't be given to me. It's not within my job scope. Besides, the time has not come yet for the formal large-scale assessment of martyrs."

Since Marshal Nie went to the Central Committee to be responsible for the establishment of the Political and Legal Committee, Wei Hongjun has also strongly supported the work of the old leader in the North China Bureau.

The Internal Affairs Department of the Political and Legal Committee was primarily responsible for matters concerning military families, including the assessment of martyrs. Because North China had been liberated for a long time, it had taken the lead in beginning to compile statistics on military families there.

This work is very tedious.

After all, there have been too many troops in North China in history.

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression alone, North China had the Eighth Route Army, the Nationalist Army, and various local armed forces. Among these local armed forces, some were anti-Japanese, some were half-anti-Japanese and half-CCP, and some were exclusively CCP. Even nominally local anti-Japanese armed forces, many of them flirted with the Japanese on a daily basis.

And there are also puppet troops.

There were dozens of puppet troops with various designations. If you add up the local security forces, there would probably be hundreds of them.

So, in North China, almost every household had a member serving in the military. The Eighth Route Army certainly had the largest number of soldiers, holding an absolute advantage. But there were also a significant number of soldiers serving in various other units.

All these must be clarified.

Were you a revolutionary soldier of our Party, or a member of the Kuomintang? Within the Kuomintang, some supported cooperation in the anti-Japanese war, while others actively participated. The CCP defined those who were reactionary, and their treatment varied. The same was true for the local armed forces and puppet troops; some later joined the Eighth Route Army and the People's Liberation Army.

Everything needs to be made clear.

Only North China has been at peace for a long time, so statistics in this regard can be made.

But it is only in North China.

No matter how far away the area was, Wei Hongjun couldn't handle it. This work would need to be centrally managed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China. The issues surrounding the 34th Red Army Division were beyond the purview of the North China Bureau.

After all, most of the Red 34th Division were from western Fujian, and their sacrifices were on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River. Statistics are needed from the Southeast Branch of the Central China Bureau.

"Secretary Wei, I don't want you to be in charge of this matter. I just want you to say something at the Central Committee.

"Director Han, go ahead."

"I asked the officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They said that according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the recognition of martyrs in the future requires the certification of two cadres at the regimental level or above. Without the certification of two cadres at the regimental level or above, they will not recognize it. But you also know that we are the Red Army. Where did the 34th Division get two regimental-level cadres?"

As he spoke, Han Wei's eyes turned red.

Wei Hongjun also felt uncomfortable.

Because Wei Hongjun knew that the only surviving regimental-level thousand-man unit of the Red 34th Division was Han Wei in front of him.

Han Wei is not a person who makes trouble for no reason.

I understand that the Ministry of Internal Affairs' regulations aren't arbitrary. Designating a martyr isn't a simple matter. Simply declaring someone a martyr doesn't automatically mean they're a martyr. After all, once someone is designated a martyr, their family becomes a family of martyrs. The national government has many policies in place to provide support.

After the underground party in North China experienced the "heard-of" incident of temporarily recruiting people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs dared not relax the conditions.

That's why Han Wei found Wei Hongjun.

Han Wei could have gone to the Chairman. The Central Committee appointed Han Wei as Director of the Peking Military Control Commission to prepare for the future establishment of the Peking Weicheng District. This demonstrates the Central Committee's and the Chairman's deep trust in Han Wei; otherwise, they wouldn't have entrusted such an important city as Peking to Han Wei. Currently, few Party cadres survived the Autumn Harvest Uprising.

They have a certain status in the Chairman's heart and have deep feelings for him.

For example, when Huang Yong was imprisoned in his later years, he felt the food there was too bad. He wrote directly to the Chairman, expressing his disapproval of the prison food. However, the Chairman, taking his historical contributions into consideration, issued an order to improve his food.

To the extent that Huang Yong gained weight in prison.

But Han Wei did not go to the chairman for such a thing.

He still knows the rules.

Wei Hongjun nodded and said, "Director Han, don't worry. I will report this matter to the Central Committee. The 34th Division is not an ordinary case. We all know its history. Special cases should be handled specially. We should not stick to the rules. If necessary, I will send a telegram to the Southeast Branch of the Central China Bureau and ask for their support. The 34th Division is a heroic unit, and we cannot let our heroes suffer injustice."

The Ministry of Internal Affairs sets the standards for recognizing martyrs because it is worried that some people will confuse the public.

But the Red 34th Division is a unit that the central government cares about.

"thanks, thanks."

Wei Hongjun looked at Han Wei with tears in his eyes, and couldn't help but think of his old comrades.

Ten years had passed since he arrived in this time and space in 1937. During that time, countless old comrades had died on the battlefield. Thinking of them, Wei Hongjun felt a pang of grief.

After seeing Han Wei off, Wei Hongjun was in a low mood for a long time. However, Wei Hongjun didn't have time to be sad. Wei Hongjun invited the Minister of Civil Affairs, Lan Gongwu, and Vice Ministers Lei Renmin and Liang Dayong.

Ask about the current statistics of military dependents.

Minister of Civil Affairs Lan Gongwu graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University in Japan, studied in Germany, and participated in the Restoration Society. He worked for a long time in newspapers, served as a member of the National Assembly during the Beiyang government, and later taught at Peking University and other universities.

Lan Gongwu was not a Party member, but he had actively engaged with the CCP since the September 18th Incident, even supporting the underground Party's clandestine work for a time. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he was arrested by the Japanese military police for promoting anti-Japanese war propaganda. After being released from prison, he traveled to the Eighth Route Army base in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region.

Because of his qualifications, he was highly regarded by the Jin-Cha-Ji government after joining the Eighth Route Army. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the North China People's Government and Minister of Civil Affairs.

Lei Renmin was a member of the Shanxi New Army. After the Eighth Route Army fell out with Yan Xishan, his troops were assigned to the Jinsui Military Region. He remained there until the end of the Anti-Japanese War, when he participated in the Peking Military Mediation. He then remained in the Jin-Cha-Ji region and currently serves as Vice Minister of Civil Affairs of the North China People's Government.

Liang Dayong is a cadre from the 8th Column.

After Wei Hongjun and his men opened up the Shengxian Anti-Japanese Base, Yang Quanwu sent a group of cadres trained by the Pingxi Prefectural Committee at that time to the Independent Detachment, the predecessor of the Eighth Column, in order to support the Shengxian Anti-Japanese Base.

Liang Dayong came to Sheng County at that time.

He served as the head of the Organization Department of Sheng County.

Later, he followed the rise of the Eighth Column and gradually reached his current position. He is currently the Vice Minister of Civil Affairs of the North China People's Government. Many of the cadres supported by the Pingxi Prefectural Committee at that time are now in high positions.