Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

While discussing loans, they also discussed trade issues. After Sino-Soviet relations rapidly advanced, the socialist countries of Eastern Europe also quickly began negotiations with China. Countries like Poland and the Czech Republic were all eager to sign trade agreements with China.

Even Yugoslavia, whose relations with the Soviet Union were almost broken, was negotiating with China.

Although China is a backward agricultural country, it is also a vast country with abundant resources. They are very much looking forward to doing business with China. The President is very supportive of foreign trade.

The Chairman gave instructions on foreign trade.

That is, foreign trade must be planned in a coordinated manner. Within this coordinated arrangement, the Soviet Union must be prioritized, and all other priorities must be centered around it. On this basis, we must expand trade with Eastern European socialist countries such as Czechoslovakia and Poland.

We also need to compile statistics on current trade with countries like the UK, the US, France, and Japan, and be prepared to continue or expand trade with these countries simultaneously.

The Chairman's idea is simple.

The socialist bloc, led by the Soviet Union, would be an important target for China's foreign trade for some time to come, but China would not abandon trade with Western countries, led by Britain and the United States. The Ministry of Foreign Trade directly controlled trading companies in Hong Kong, Macau, and even parts of Southeast Asia.

Currently, business with Britain and the United States is proceeding normally.

The Chairman did not want to lose these businesses just because China chose the Soviet Union politically.

In addition to foreign trade, Li Fuchun and Zhou Bin also negotiated industrial support with Eastern European socialist countries. Negotiations with Czechoslovakia were particularly progressing. Czechoslovakia possessed considerable industrial strength. Li Fuchun and Zhou Bin primarily discussed establishing agricultural machinery and machine tool factories.

So the delegation visiting the Soviet Union was very busy. But everyone was cheerful because things were going very smoothly. However, the smoother the work in the Soviet Union went, the more the central government demanded domestic stability.

The land reform work must be completed as soon as possible.

Wei Hongjun, in Beijing, had already received several telegrams from the Chairman in Moscow, all of which were addressed directly to him, urging him to oversee and complete the land reform work throughout the country as quickly as possible.

Therefore, on July 1948, 7, Wei Hongjun convened a national land reform conference in Beijing.

The land reform work delegation on the Central South Bureau was led by Deng Zhihui, on the Northwest Bureau it was led by Comrade Xi Zhongxun, on the Southwest Bureau it was led by Comrade Zhang Jichun, and on the East China Bureau it was led by Comrade Liu Ruilong.

As for the Northeast Bureau, it does not need to attend this meeting.

However, the Northeast Bureau still sent cadres from the Rural Work Committee to attend the meeting. There were about 80 cadres attending the meeting, representing the current land reform cadres across the country.

Deng Zhihui again made self-criticisms at the meeting. Wei Hongjun held Deng Zhihui in high regard. This wasn't just because he was Wei Hongjun's longtime leader, but also because of his attitude. While Deng Zhihui and Wei Hongjun did have some differences in political philosophy, this didn't affect Wei Hongjun's respect for Deng Zhihui's courage and commitment to owning up to his mistakes.

In fact, if it were another situation, Wei Hongjun didn’t think he had the courage to admit his mistake like this.

Deng Zhihui is currently a very powerful cadre within the party.

potential.

Deng Zhihui had previously performed exceptionally well in land reform in East and Central China, including organizing and supporting logistics during the war, and had made remarkable contributions. He was currently a cadre on the rise in his political career. However, this incident, and his public admission of error, would directly impact his upward trajectory. Deng Zhihui actually had many options for handling this situation.

He could once again target "localism," blaming the current ideological problems surrounding "peaceful land distribution" on the "local protectionism" of local officials. This would allow Deng Zhihui to crack down even more fiercely on local officials within the Central-South Bureau, establishing his own authority and that of the officials who had moved south, thereby increasing his power within the bureau. This method would completely exonerate him. If that didn't work, he could criticize a cadre of comparable status, and the whole thing would be over.

But Deng Zhihui did not choose to do so. Instead, he frankly admitted his mistake.

He not only admitted his mistakes at the Central Plains Bureau's Land Reform Conference, but also again at the National Land Reform Conference. Wei Hongjun deeply respected this cadre. Even if they clashed over political issues in the future, it would not change Wei Hongjun's respect for Deng Zhihui's Party spirit and character.

After reviewing his mistakes in the Central-South Bureau, Deng Zhihui concluded that the idea of ​​"peaceful land distribution" was prevalent in the newly liberated areas and that this must be taken seriously. After receiving reports from Chen Tao and the Central-South Bureau, Wei Hongjun also gave this issue much thought.

Wei Hongjun felt very relieved.

Chen Tao's visit to Guangdong certainly lived up to expectations. It could be said that Chen Tao's performance was even more remarkable than Wei Hongjun had imagined. Wei Hongjun, back in Beijing, had also believed that the biggest problem with the Central South Bureau and the South China Branch was "localism." He believed that if localism could be resolved, the subsequent land reform would proceed smoothly.

But within less than two months, Chen Tao had grasped the core issue.

Furthermore, the problem Chen Tao raised was not limited to the Central-South Bureau. It existed throughout the newly liberated areas. Currently, the idea of ​​"peaceful land distribution" was embedded in the land reform work in most of the newly liberated areas.

They all hope that land reform can be completed peacefully and stably.

Furthermore, the root of this problem lies not with the lower-level land reform cadres, but with senior Party and government officials. It stems from the leaders of the local central bureaus and regional governments. They want to complete land reform peacefully and don't want any extreme actions to occur in their own areas.

The idea is very good.

They felt that since the People's Republic of China had already been established and the revolution had succeeded, there was no need for the drastic rural land reform of the past. As long as the land was distributed according to the land reform policy, the task assigned by the central government would be completed.

But Wei Hongjun saw a serious problem. If the newly liberated areas were to follow this same approach to land reform, the old order in the countryside would remain unchanged. Simply distributing land would not change the situation in the countryside. Power in the countryside would still be held by local gentry and clans.

Therefore, during the meeting, Wei Hongjun highly praised the land reform conference of the Central South Bureau.

I believe that the Central South Bureau’s analysis of land reform is very correct.

The biggest problem with land reform in the newly liberated areas now lies in the guiding principles of land reform. Wei Hongjun once again criticized the erroneous idea of ​​"peaceful land distribution" in the newly liberated areas and demanded that cadres in the newly liberated areas must recognize that land reform is a fundamental issue.

Regarding the idea of ​​"peaceful land distribution" in the newly liberated areas, Wei Hongjun focused his criticism on the land reform work of the East China Bureau. He believed that the East China Bureau's land reform work had serious problems in this regard and was too indulgent towards the rural landlord class.

Although the East China Bureau's report described many landlords as more like the bourgeoisie, and even classified them as the national bourgeoisie, they were considered the objects of unity.

But Wei Hongjun criticized such an idea.

Regardless of whether they are now the national bourgeoisie or some other class, in the countryside they are the landlord class, the rural feudal landlord class that is to be overthrown during land reform.

Just because they own factories in the cities, they define themselves as members of the national bourgeoisie, and therefore are targets of solidarity, doesn't mean they should also be targets of solidarity during land reform. Don't constantly dream of compromising with them to achieve a seemingly smooth land reform. Such land reform may appear peaceful and less turbulent, but it will lead to endless troubles.

Liu Ruilong, director of the Land Reform Committee of the East China Bureau, made a self-criticism at the meeting.

It was believed that after the victory of the revolution, a trend of compromise had emerged, affecting land reform work. The East China Bureau would definitely correct this problem.

Xi Zhongxun, who was in charge of the land reform work of the Northwest Bureau, also made a report.

The biggest problem in the Northwest region is the ethnic issue.

Therefore, the Northwest Bureau was also very cautious about the issue of land reform. Wei Hongjun and Xi Zhongxun emphasized that land reform must rely on the broad masses of the people. This includes in ethnic minority areas. They should not compromise with the upper class aristocrats and landlords of these ethnic minorities for the sake of temporary peace. Only by widely mobilizing the broad masses of the oppressed ethnic minorities can they truly gain their support. As long as they gain the support of the broad masses of ethnic minority people, even if there is some temporary unrest in ethnic minority areas, this is the fundamental solution for long-term stability.

The more we try to rely on the upper-class nobles and landlords of ethnic minorities, the more difficult it will be to resolve ethnic conflicts and the more unstable the ethnic areas will be.

During the meeting, Wei Hongjun also wrote an article in the People's Daily.

Starting with the "peaceful distribution of land" mentality that exists in the newly liberated areas, the Party criticizes some comrades within the Party for abandoning the spirit of struggle and for simply seeking to smooth things over in many areas. It argues that this is due to some leading Party comrades unwilling to continue the revolution and seeking to take shortcuts, a work style that is absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, the Party calls on the broad masses of Party members and the public to effectively mobilize, educate, and organize the masses.

This national land reform conference lasted for a full seven days.

Wei Hongjun then petitioned the Central Committee again to transfer land reform cadres from the old liberated areas of Northeast China, North China, Shaanxi, and Shandong to the newly liberated areas. The Central Committee was pressing for action, but land reform was a very meticulous undertaking.

There must be enough cadres.

Because the Prime Minister has gone to the Soviet Union, the daily work of the State Council is currently presided over by Marshal Nie.

Wei Hongjun's report was submitted, and after being approved by Marshal Nie, it was handed over to Comrade Xiu Yang, Acting Chairman of the Central People's Government, and Ren Peiguo, who was in charge of the Secretariat. Both of them approved Wei Hongjun's report.

The final decision was to transfer 2000 land reform cadres from Northeast China, North China, Shaanxi, and Shandong.

Among them, Shaanxi cadres went to Gansu and Qinghai to participate in land reform, Shandong cadres went south to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and Northeast and North China cadres went south to the Central South Bureau and Southwest Bureau. While Wei Hongjun was busy with land reform work nationwide, the Chairman and the Premier completed their negotiations in the Soviet Union.

On July 1948, 7, China and the Soviet Union signed the "Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance."

Soon the Chairman and the Prime Minister returned to Beijing by train.

It is already August.

At this time, good things come one after another.

The Hainan Campaign, led by Deng Guo, finally concluded. Taking advantage of his vast fleet of motorboats, Deng Guo continuously deployed troops to Hainan Island. Within a month, he secretly sent seven regiments, nearly 20,000 troops, to Hainan Island.

Then, on July 7, the first large-scale landing took place. One division, two reinforced regiments, and 27 troops broke through the Nationalist defenses. On July 7, the second large-scale landing took place. This time, Deng mobilized over 28 ships and landed three divisions of troops.

The Nationalist army had actually begun to collapse during the first large-scale landing. The next day, more than 40,000 troops landed, cooperating with the Qiongya Column and the troops that had landed earlier, and quickly liberated Hainan.

When the news came, everyone was excited.

The Chairman convened an enlarged meeting of the Politburo the day after he returned to Beijing.

At the meeting, the Premier reported on the results of the negotiations. This report alone took nearly two hours. He was incredibly detailed, covering nearly every detail of what had happened in the Soviet Union.

This time, the Soviet Union agreed to 69 industrial projects.

A large part of it is about mining.

Aside from the largest number of coal projects, tungsten mining was the most common of the remaining mining projects. The Soviet Union assisted in the construction of three tungsten mining bases in Jiangxi. This was not a request from China, but a Soviet initiative.

Because the Soviet Union required China to use tungsten ore to repay the loan.

It wasn't just tungsten ore; copper, aluminum, tin, lithium, beryllium, and borax were all key minerals that China needed to repay its debts. The Soviet Union needed these minerals. To ensure China had sufficient minerals to repay its debts, the Soviet Union was very generous and proactive in these areas.

The Soviet Union bargained for many of the industrial projects requested by China.

But in terms of supporting mining, the Soviet Union was very proactive.

Then there are the power plants.

This was a project that the Soviet Union strongly supported, and one that China needed. Of course, national defense independence was also a key project in this cooperation.

In addition to these cooperation projects, China and the Soviet Union reached many cooperation agreements in the air force, navy, and army. The Soviet Union was very sincere in this negotiation and even offered to sell some of its best weapons to China.

Zhou Bin negotiated with the Soviet Union and obtained a one-time loan of 15 billion rubles.

The loan interest rate is very low.

The interest rate was only 1%, which was negligible compared to the current international loan interest rates. Moreover, the Soviet loan was not issued this year and had to be repaid starting next year.

Repayments began five years later, starting in 1949. That means repayments only began in 1954, and the loan was for years. In all respects, the terms of this Soviet loan were exceptionally favorable.

These rubles were used to purchase machinery, equipment, weapons and equipment from the Soviet Union, as well as large quantities of trucks, gasoline and aviation fuel.

This cooperation is a good thing.

But it also posed a significant challenge to New China. With such large-scale support and the establishment of so many new factories, how many workers would be needed? This required a nationwide effort, and the entire country had to move in unison.

But at this stage, there is still a lot of work to be done in various regions.

The central government needs to weaken the power of local central bureaus and local regions, but it cannot leave local regions without power to carry out their work.

Therefore, this Politburo meeting decided to make some adjustments to the military before reducing the power of local central bureaus and local regions, including adjustments to the current six first-level military regions.

In fact, it is the beginning of splitting up the major military regions.

First, the Shandong Military Region was separated from the East China Military Region, becoming a separate military region, still a second-level military region. The Shandong Provincial Party Committee was also separated from the East China Bureau. From this point on, the Shandong Military Region came under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission, and the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and Government also came under the direct leadership of the Central People's Government.

Then there is the Central-South Military Region.

The Central Military Commission established the South China Military Region and the Southeast Military Region. While nominally still subordinate to the Central South Military Region, they directly report to the Central Military Commission. The South China and Southeast Military Regions are not second-tier military regions, but they are not first-tier either. They are somewhere between first-tier and second-tier military regions. In effect, they have already split off the Central South Military Region.

The Northwest Military Region separated the Xinjiang Military Region, the North China Military Region separated the Inner Mongolia Military Region, and the Southwest Military Region separated the Yunnan Military Region.

The situation of the Xinjiang Military Region, Inner Mongolia Military Region, and Yunnan Military Region is similar to that of the Shandong Military Region. They have not been upgraded to first-level military regions and remain second-level military regions. However, they have been separated from the original first-level military regions and are directly under the command of the Central Military Commission.

The intention of this military district reform is very clear.

The central government must begin addressing the problem of overpowering local governments. These large military regions, working in conjunction with the local central bureaus and administrative regions, have become overpowered. Currently, the central government is not in a position to abolish these bureaus, so the only solution is to first break up the military regions.

Chapter 781 Intensive Adjustments

The outcome of the Sino-Soviet negotiations had a profound impact on China, influencing all aspects of its politics and economy. While the Sino-Soviet negotiations brought China immense wealth, it was not easy for China to achieve this with its current strength. After all, China's industrial, economic, and educational foundations were too weak. It was far from easy to successfully take on so much Soviet-backed industrial development all at once.

For example, in 1955, Chairman Mao and Deng Zhihui clashed over the issue of rural cooperatives. Chairman Mao wanted to accelerate the scale of rural cooperatives, but Deng Zhihui believed that a more gradual approach was needed. Deng Zhihui, a cadre with a very stubborn temper, disagreed with Chairman Mao's desire to expedite the development of cooperatives.