Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

However, many things cannot be done as one pleases; he must also consider the opinions of others. If Xu Teli does not inform others and submits his retirement report without any prior consultation, it will offend many people.

So Xu Teli and the Five Elders of Yan'an all agreed.

Because everyone was quite old. Lin Boqu was 64, Xie Juezai was 65, and Dong Biwu was 64. However, except for Xie Juezai, who had reached retirement age, neither Lin Boqu nor Dong Biwu had reached retirement age. Because both were members of the Politburo, Lin Boqu submitted his retirement application anyway.

Seeing them submit their retirement reports, some were delighted, while others frowned. The happy cadres, needless to say, were also very happy, especially those currently in their forties and older. Positions at the top are limited, and only when someone leaves can someone else take them.

Just like the Beiyang government, if Yuan Shikai was removed, the next generation would have the opportunity to become president. Yuan Shikai's declaration of emperorship directly blocked the path for others to become president. Who among the powerful Beiyang warlords would support Yuan Shikai becoming emperor?

This is human nature.

However, some cadres are dissatisfied.

They're all quite old, around sixty. They'll be reaching retirement age in the next few years. Many don't want to retire, believing they can still make more contributions to the revolution. "What do you think, comrades?"

This is the first time that the retirement report has been discussed within the party.

Although the Third Session of the Seventh Central Committee had established regulations, it was still a groundbreaking event for everyone. Therefore, the Chairman did not directly say anything, but instead wanted to listen to the opinions of the delegates. However, it was obvious.

Most representatives, including some members of the Politburo, were reluctant to express their opinions on this issue.

Xu Teli then said, "We didn't join the revolution for promotion or wealth. If we really wanted promotion or wealth, we wouldn't have joined the revolution. We are very satisfied to be able to live to see the victory of the revolution and the founding of New China. Besides, we are party members, and abiding by party discipline is our top priority. The Third Session of the Seventh Central Committee has set regulations, and we must abide by them."

Xu Teli is qualified to say such things.

He was a renowned figure in Hunan's academic and political circles. However, he joined the Communist Party during the most dangerous period of the KMT-CCP ​​split and participated in the Nanchang Uprising. Given his status in Hunan's academic and political circles, he would have held a high position and lucrative salary within the KMT. Even after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was a target of the new government's efforts.

The Prime Minister said, "If we consider age, Comrade Lin Boqu is not yet of retirement age, and Comrade Xie Juezai can continue for another year. Only Elder Xu and Elder Wu have reached retirement age. However, if we suddenly approve their retirement now, the handover of their work will be a hassle."

Since the founding of New China, cadre changes have been too frequent.

Affects stability.

The Prime Minister doesn't want changes to happen too quickly; he wants adjustments to be made gradually and gradually. The same is true for retirement.

It is never appropriate to suddenly submit a retirement report.

The Chairman remained silent, looking at Comrade Xiu Yang. Comrade Xiu Yang said, "Comrade Wu Hao has some truth to his words. Besides, our Party has never dealt with the issue of cadre retirement. Therefore, we still need to consider how to arrange for cadres after retirement, whether they can continue to exert their abilities, and how to arrange their retirement benefits. These are all issues. Directly approving retirement before these issues are fully resolved will still cause some problems."

Comrade Xiuyang has considered everything very comprehensively.

Although the Third Session of the Seventh Central Committee approved the retirement system, the supporting system was not finalized.

Now that people are really starting to retire, we need supporting policies to ensure that retired cadres have adequate protection. If there is no protection after retirement, who would be willing to retire? Similarly, since it is retirement, will there still be power after retirement?

In particular, there are currently no clear regulations on whether one can still "interfere" with the original department.

After looking around, the Chairman called on someone and said, "Comrade Hongjun, you were the first to propose the retirement system for Party members and cadres. Please tell us about it."

"I basically agree with Comrade Xiuyang's views. When it comes to retirement, we can't just say people leave their jobs when they reach a certain age. We still need to make full preparations for how work will be handed over, how retired cadres will be arranged, what benefits they will receive, whether they can still participate in Party activities, and whether they can still do things within their capabilities. We should have specific regulations. At the same time, I believe retirement shouldn't be as hastily implemented as it is now."

"Our party has decided to hold a National Party Congress every five years. I believe cadre adjustments should also follow this schedule. If someone reaches retirement age during the five-year period, they should not retire immediately. Instead, they should choose to retire five years later. For example, although Mr. Xu and Mr. Wu have reached retirement age now, they should not retire immediately. Instead, their retirement should be approved at the Eighth National Congress. This way, there will be ample time for handover and a sufficient rest system."

As long as the retirement system is established, everything else will be easy.

The submission of Xu Teli and his colleagues' retirement applications has truly begun the process of implementing a retirement system for Party members and cadres. Once initiated, it's unstoppable. After all, so many political leaders have chosen to retire before you. If you don't want to retire, no one else will. So, whether it's approved by the Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee or the Eighth National Congress, it's only a matter of time. The retirement of Party members and cadres is unstoppable.

Wei Hongjun's statement should have been approved by the Eighth National Congress.

This is to further improve the regularization of cadre adjustments. The five-year Party Congress cycle, followed by the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) meeting cycle, will further promote the regularization of the system. These regularizations are intended to minimize the destructive effects of political struggle.

The chairman nodded.

I agree with Wei Hongjun's suggestion.

If these cadres are suddenly forced to retire without any preparation in all aspects, there will always be some hidden dangers.

"What do other comrades think?"

"I agree. The Eighth National Congress approved the retirement of cadres who have reached retirement age. This does not violate the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee, and it also provides sufficient time to further improve the retirement system."

Nie Shuai supports.

Xie Juezai is the Minister of the Interior.

If Xie Juezai resigned, then Nie Shuai would have to find a suitable cadre to take over. Nie Shuai was worried that he would become the target of public criticism, so he was very cautious in doing things in the Political and Legal Committee.

I don't want to have a conflict with an experienced comrade like Xie Jue Zai, so I give Xie Jue Zai enough respect and power.

However, once Xie Juezai retires, it will be impossible for Marshal Nie to give the next person the same power as Xie Juezai.

So Coach Nie needs to make some arrangements in advance.

"I agree too."

Deng Xixian, who had just entered the Politburo together with Wei Hongjun, also expressed his support.

With several Politburo members expressing their opinions, the matter was essentially settled. With the exception of Lin Boqu, the Central Committee approved the retirement applications of the other three individuals. However, actual approval would have to take place at the Eighth National Congress.

By then it won’t just be a retirement report for the three of them.

Instead, the central government wanted to allow all cadres who reached retirement age to retire together. However, these retired cadres must have adequate protection. Therefore, it was decided that five individuals would be responsible for developing regulations for retired cadres: Premier Wu Hao, Vice Chairman Nie Shuai of the Central Committee, General Secretary Gao Gang of the Central Committee, Vice Premier Wei Hongjun of the State Council and Director of the National Compilation Committee, and Secretary Peng Zhen of the Secretariat.

Of course, don’t underestimate the leadership of these five people.

In fact, the department mainly responsible is the compilation committee.

The Compilation Committee will formulate benefits for retired cadres, which include both political and economic benefits. Political benefits refer to the political activities these retired cadres can participate in after retirement. Economic benefits include salary, medical benefits, and so on.

All must be carefully specified.

We must not allow retired cadres to suffer losses, and at the same time, we must prevent retired cadres from "retiring but not resting." With the retirement issue resolved, the Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee officially concluded.

826 Rural Work Conference

"Recently, there have been reports that our staff, especially rural tax collectors, have a rough work style." After the Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee, Wei Hongjun immediately convened a rural work meeting.

Because now is the best opportunity.

Normally, convening a national rural work conference is not easy. After all, although the central government has weakened the power of local central bureaus and regional governments, they still have considerable power at the local level. Many central policies still rely on them for implementation.

Therefore, every time the central government holds an important meeting, local officials have to come to Beijing, which is very troublesome given the current traffic conditions. Furthermore, it is already March.

All localities have to prepare for spring plowing and there is no time to hold a national rural work conference.

The situation was ideal. The Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee had just concluded, and many local officials were present and had not left Beijing. This Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee was held at one of the most stable times in the history of the Communist Party of China. Therefore, preparations were sufficient.

As a result, this conference became the one with the largest number of representatives in the history of the Communist Party of China.

There were over 1000 party representatives from across the country, many of whom were high-ranking officials from across the country.

Wei Hongjun convened a national rural work conference to discuss three main topics: the current taxation issue in rural areas, the issue of scattered agricultural reclamation, and the issue of cooperatives.

This is not a topic that Wei Hongjun came up with on the spur of the moment.

Rather, it is a summary of the three most important rural issues currently under the central government's attention, combined with reports from various regions on rural development. The delegates attending the meeting had already received the content of the meeting beforehand.

The Chairman opposes suddenly discussing a specific topic during a meeting, leaving delegates unprepared and feeling lost. He has always insisted that leaders who convene meetings must not leave attendees unprepared. Unless there are emergencies, the topic should be communicated before the meeting.

Allow all delegates time to consider.

In this way, representatives will be well prepared and able to put forward their own opinions at the meeting, the meeting will be of high quality and problems will be solved.

After discussing with the Standing Committee of the Rural Work Committee, Wei Hongjun distributed the three agenda items for the meeting. After the meeting, Wei Hongjun didn't exchange pleasantries. Having been responsible for land reform nationwide, he was familiar with the cadres responsible for rural agriculture. Furthermore, the Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee had just concluded, during which Wei Hongjun had met with these representatives to exchange views. So, there was no need to waste time; the meeting went straight to the point.

At the temporary CPPCC meeting held before the Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee, many CPPCC members raised concerns about the work style of our cadres. They said that our cadres have a bad style of coercion and commandism in their work. In particular, tax collection cadres are particularly rough when they go to the countryside to collect public grain. There have even been incidents of conflicts between grain collection cadres and villagers. Many CPPCC members demanded that the central government come up with practical measures to change our cadres' work style. According to our CPPCC members' research, the problem is most serious in South China and Southeast China.

Wei Hongjun looked at Deng Zhihui, the first secretary of the Central South Bureau, and the cadres in South China and Southeast China.

Deng Zhihui was the first secretary of the Central South Bureau and a member of the Standing Committee of the newly established Rural Work Committee. He had been in charge of land reform in the Central South Bureau and was very familiar with rural work.

Chen Tao, a member of the Standing Committee of the South China Branch, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, and responsible for rural affairs in Guangdong, said, "Secretary Wei, our cadres' work style is indeed rough, but grassroots work is far more difficult than we imagined. Although the main reforms in rural South China have been completed, and the feudal landlord class has been overthrown politically and economically, the clan system in the countryside is still very serious. Not only is it collecting public grain, but even when we want to calculate rural grain production, many villages are procrastinating and resisting our work. Our cadres in these villages find it extremely difficult to carry out their work, and can only rely on the elders of the clans. Therefore, if we don't work in a tough manner in some villages, we will not be able to complete our work at all."

Chen Tao was able to become a representative of the Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee because of his outstanding contributions to the land reform in South China. He even performed amazingly in criticizing the idea of ​​"peaceful land distribution".

After the founding of New China, Chairman Mao said

The three most important tasks of the government at that time were land reform, bandit suppression, and price stabilization. This shows the importance of land reform in the government's work before and after liberation.

Chen Tao established his position within the Party thanks to his outstanding achievements in land reform. Despite his limited experience, he steadily rose through the ranks, becoming a prominent cadre in the South China Bureau. Furthermore, Chen Tao was familiar with Wei Hongjun, having served under him for many years. Therefore, he defended the South China cadres.

He said that while there were problems with the cadres of the South China Branch, there were also objective reasons. "Comrade Chen Tao is telling the truth."

Tao Zhu nodded.

Aside from First Secretary Luo Qirong, Tao Zhu held the highest position in the South China Branch. Luo Qirong was the Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, while Tao Zhu was the Governor of Guangdong. Since Chen Tao had spoken first, Tao Zhu naturally had to agree.

Regardless of where everyone worked before, they were all now cadres of the South China Branch. They had to defend the South China Branch, so they said, "Our mass base in South China isn't as strong as in the old liberated areas. The power of clans in South China is so strong that it's incomprehensible to the old liberated areas. Many of our cadres face significant constraints in their work in the countryside. This isn't wartime, and if we act a little too forcefully, rumors will spread. Of course, our cadres' work isn't as meticulous."

"Comrade Deng Xixian, what do you think?" Wei Hongjun asked Deng Xixian next to him.

Wei Hongjun actually disliked the way his subordinates shirked responsibility and blamed everything on the external environment. However, although he was somewhat angry, Wei Hongjun did not intend to hold the cadres of the Central South Bureau, the South China Branch, or the Southeast Branch accountable.

After all, it was only less than two years since liberation.

The quality of cadres varies greatly, and it is certain that the mass base in the newly liberated areas cannot compare to that in the old liberated areas. It is normal for problems to arise.

What Wei Hongjun wants is how to solve these problems.

Deng Xixian said: "The reason for this problem is that our mass work was flawed. During the land reform, we needed to disrupt rural order more violently. The feudal landlord class and clan power should have been swept into the dustbin of history. However, during the land reform, public opinion in favor of peaceful land reform was too strong. Although some changes were made later, they were still affected by this. In addition, clan power is strong in some areas of the south, and the land reform was not able to solve it all at once, which led to so many sequelae. Next, we need to consider how to mobilize the masses more widely and crack down on clan power.

Deng Xixian has been a political cadre for many years.

He established a base in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, later managed the Central Plains, and finally went to the southwest. He was personally responsible for land reform. Therefore, Deng Xixian was very accurate in his foresight of many problems. "Hmm."

Wei Hongjun agreed with Deng Xixian's judgment.

At present, tax collection in rural areas of the newly liberated areas is difficult and there are obstacles when collecting public grain.

Or it is because the new liberated areas do not have as good a mass base as the old liberated areas.

Wei Hongjun echoed this, saying, "Comrade Deng Xixian is quite sensible. Many of the current rural problems stem from the fact that, despite changes in the feudal land ownership system, the deeply ingrained feudal ideology has not been truly eradicated. Our cadres must work even harder to eradicate feudal ideas in the countryside. This is a completely different approach from the central government's current push to change social customs."

"We can jointly advance this aspect."

Xi Zhongxun spoke.

Gao Gang is currently carrying out the rectification of the propaganda department, and Xi Zhongxun is also an important force.

The purpose of rectifying the propaganda department is to "change customs and habits," which is actually to eliminate China's feudal ideology and spread new ideas. The clan problem in rural areas is the most serious remnant of feudal ideology in rural areas.

So Wei Hongjun said, "Comrade Xi Zhongxun can discuss this issue with Comrade Gao Gang to see how to quickly combat feudal ideology in rural areas and truly transform rural customs. Let me share my opinion: under feudal ideology in rural areas, women are the most severely oppressed, and many tragic things have happened. We can seize a few typical incidents and learn to expand them into larger ones, so as to launch a vigorous anti-feudal and anti-clan movement in the countryside."

"it is good."

Xi Zhongxun nodded.

Wei Hongjun was also relieved about this matter.