Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

While Gao Gang is ambitious and bold, he is also known for his strong sense of purpose and drive. He possesses the ability, experience, and determination needed to get things done. Having arrived at the Central Committee to lead the Secretariat, Gao Gang now has the opportunity to make significant contributions and establish his position.

So leave it to him and he can start a big movement in the countryside.

Although this kind of movement had its aftereffects, it was, as the saying goes, "overcorrection." To eliminate those feudal ideas, we need cadres like Gao Gang, a major movement, a revolution in thought.

Comrades, the problems we are experiencing now have objective reasons, but they are primarily caused by our cadres. Our cadres must fully mobilize the masses. Only when the masses are mobilized and we rely on them, will all other problems be resolved. I know that many of our cadres who went south are having difficulty adapting to the newly liberated areas, but we must overcome these difficulties and maintain close ties with the local people. As long as the masses stand with us, no objective reasons can stop us.

It is indeed not easy to work in the Southeast and South China regions.

While dialects exist across China, they are most pronounced in the south. Even two villages speak different dialects. Therefore, it's truly difficult for officials working in the south. Even many central leaders have strong accents, let alone ordinary people.

But this difficulty must be overcome.

Deng Zhihui stated: "Our Central South Bureau is ready to carry out large-scale training for our cadres to further improve their level." Other cadres also nodded.

Everyone has experience in this area. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, due to a severe shortage of cadres, the military bases trained their own cadres, with schools similar to the Military and Political Cadre School. So everyone has experience.

Wei Hongjun said, "Comrades, the smooth implementation of the Soviet aid projects has put great pressure on the central government's finances. In 1949, the fiscal deficit returned. But this is just the beginning. Our cooperation with the Soviet Union will increase, and we will have to undertake more and more Soviet aid projects. By then, the financial pressure will be even more severe. Therefore, it is extremely urgent for us to quickly control the rural areas of the country and stabilize the tax revenue in rural areas. So after returning, we must mobilize our rural cadres and quickly grasp the specific situation in the countryside."

"it is good."

"Yes."

After discussing the taxation issue, Wei Hongjun said, "Now, comrades, let's talk about the issue of agricultural reclamation."

827 Rural Work Conference 2

"Secretary Wei, the most serious problem with agricultural reclamation right now is the specific affiliation. Because the affiliations of various agricultural reclamation areas are unclear and there are numerous and chaotic management departments, many problems have arisen in both the overall planning and specific management of agricultural reclamation development."

The Secretary General of the Northeast Bureau and Minister of the Northeast Rural Work Department, Zhao Dezun, spoke up. Zhao Dezun was one of Gao Gang's Five Tiger Generals.

But historically, Zhao Dezun and Gao Gang had little connection. A native of Northeast China and a graduate of Tsinghua University, Zhao Dezun participated in the December 9th Movement and was a prominent figure in the CCP's student movement. After the July 7th Incident, he spent years engaged in revolutionary activities in western Hebei, central Shanxi, and the Taihang Mountains. It wasn't until the central government sent him to Northeast China that he began collaborating with Gao Gang.

Especially in the northern Manchuria region, Zhao Dezun was Gao Gang's right-hand man in the land reform movement.

That's why Zhao Dezun was implicated after Gao Gang got into trouble.

He said, "Speaking of Northeast China, there are currently two main models of reclamation: military reclamation and civilian reclamation. Let's talk about military reclamation first. Ever since the Chairman called on the PLA to participate in production, each unit has reclaimed its own arable land, which is considered military reclamation. However, because all units participate in military reclamation, most units have their own barracks and their own farms. In the Northeast, wherever troops are stationed, there are more or less military reclamation activities. Starting from the army level and even down to the battalion and company level, each unit has its own military reclamation, and the number and complexity are numerous. Moreover, because there is currently no clear system for military reclamation, the scope of military reclamation is not clearly defined. As a result, in some places, disputes have even arisen between military reclamation and local governments."

"However, compared to military reclamation, the problems of civilian reclamation are much more serious. In the Northeast, many state-owned farms have been established. But their ownership and unified leadership have become major problems.

In order to manage these state farms,

Local governments have their own state farm management bureaus, provincial agricultural departments have their own state farm management bureaus, and the Northeast Administrative Committee has also established a state farm management bureau. Although they are all state farm management bureaus, these departments have the most control over Qianbaoying Farm.

"Some farms are 'veteran farms' opened up by disabled veterans, or 'farms' reclaimed by demobilized soldiers. The military district considers these farms to be under its jurisdiction and should be managed by the district. However, the local government considers them to be farms under its jurisdiction. The military and local governments each have their own opinions, and neither can exercise any control over the other."

As Zhao Dezun spoke, he felt a headache coming on.

After the central government weakened the power of local central bureaus, there were advantages and disadvantages. The advantages were obvious.

Central authority has greatly increased. Previously, the CMC faced significant challenges in unifying military logistics. Local arsenals did not obey the CMC's orders, instead responding directly to the local military regions. However, as the central government weakened the power of local bureaus and major military regions, the CMC's General Logistics Department and the Second Ministry of Machine Building have largely unified the nation's weapons industry and logistics production.

The same goes for other departments.

There are also the Ministry of Light Industry.

Previously, the Ministry of Light Industry had sought to reorganize the nation's canneries for export. However, the management of these canneries was controlled by local central bureaus and regional governments, making unified management difficult. The procedures were complex, and the local central bureaus and regional governments simply ignored the Ministry of Light Industry.

But it's different now.

The power of central government ministries and commissions grew. Some large factories were now directly under the Ministry of Light Industry. Compared to the early days of liberation, the central government now handled everything much more smoothly.

These are all advantages of centralization.

But there are also many shortcomings, just like what Zhao Dezun said.

There were considerable disputes over interests between provinces, between municipalities within a province, and between the military and local governments. If Gao Gang had been in charge of the Northeast as the First Secretary of the Northeast Bureau, these problems would not have been a problem.

Gao Gang can solve all of them.

Because Gao Gang was the top leader of the party, government and military in Northeast China. But the Northeast is not like that now.

Although Lin Feng was the First Secretary of the Northeast Bureau, he lacked Gao Gang's authority and power, nor did he become the top leader of the Party, government, and military. As a result, the Party, government, and military each had their own interests and problems. "Henan, Hubei, and other places also have this problem."

Deng Zhihui nodded.

He said that the Central South Bureau also has this problem.

When various farms were first established, and military and civilian reclamation began, there were many advantages. They could quickly reclaim vast tracts of wasteland and increase grain production. However, as these activities increased, the number of state-owned farms nationwide grew significantly. At this point, these military and civilian reclamation efforts became increasingly important.

The issue of ownership needs to be resolved.

But it's a big cake.

Both sides wanted to take a bite. The military and political departments refused to give in to each other.

"Excluding military farms and farms developed by disabled soldiers and veterans, we must first unify the management of the remaining civilian farms. Since we have established state-owned farms, we must establish rules for these state-owned farms. How should state-owned farms pay public grain? How should state-owned farms' profits be handled? Should farm staff be workers or farmers? How should their treatment be determined? These all require clear regulations and a clear leadership structure."

Military reclamation and state-owned farms must be regulated.

We can't be as fragmented and fragmented as before, each working independently. This is especially true for state-owned farms. The treatment of staff is a problem, as is the identification of state-owned farms. Are state-owned farms currently rural cooperatives, or are they industrial cooperatives? How their public grain and profits are allocated needs to be clarified.

"Secretary Wei, since all privately-owned farms are farms, they should be managed by local agricultural departments. I suggest that the Ministry of Agriculture establish a State Farm Management Bureau, and that the management departments of local state farms be merged into the State Farm Management Bureau of the local agricultural department. From now on, all state farms nationwide will be managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and local agricultural departments."

Minister of Agriculture Li Shaocheng spoke.

In fact, Li Shaocheng had long wanted to put these state-owned farms under the management of the agricultural department.

However, many of these farms were established during the war. Each had its own forces behind them, and no one was willing to give up their hard work easily. That's why Li Shaocheng didn't succeed. But now is a good time.

The Rural Work Committee was powerful, and now they were discussing the ownership of these farmlands. Li Shaocheng certainly wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.

Many of the cadres below nodded in support. This was a national rural conference, and most of the attendees were local rural affairs officials. Transferring the management of the private reclamation projects to the agricultural department was naturally welcomed.

Wei Hongjun looked at Deng Xixian, Xi Zhongxun, and the others. He saw that Deng Xixian and Xi Zhongxun also nodded in support of the idea. So, Wei Hongjun made the final decision: "That's it. After the approval of the Central Committee and the State Council, the Ministry of Agriculture will establish a State Farm Administration. All local state farm management departments will be incorporated into the State Farm Administration and will be under the unified leadership of the State Farm Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture. Now, what about the farms opened by disabled and veteran soldiers? Will they be under the State Farm Administration or handed over to military district leaders?"

“I think it should be local management.”

Deng Zhihui spoke.

Although the issue involved the military, Deng Zhihui didn't feel awkward at all. He stated directly, "Whether they're disabled soldiers or veterans, they've already left the military. Therefore, the farms they've developed shouldn't be managed by the military. This is especially true for farms developed by veterans. Since they've retired, they're no longer military personnel and are essentially no different from civilian farms. They can simply be classified as such. However, the veterans' farms developed by disabled soldiers are somewhat special; they represent preferential treatment from the government and the military for disabled veterans. Therefore, veterans' farms shouldn't be treated the same as other civilian farms. There needs to be some distinction in terms of grain contributions and profit distribution."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Deng Zhihui has been in charge of rural affairs at the local level for many years, so he is very familiar with rural affairs. Furthermore, Deng Zhihui has a long history and high rank within the Party, so he dares to speak his mind directly. "I support Comrade Deng Zhihui's statement."

Deng Xixian supports it.

Currently, there are numerous "veteran farms and farms established by veterans" across the country. Local governments and military commands are engaged in a hostile struggle for control of these farms. A decision on who will control these farms must be made as soon as possible. Although Deng Xixian and Deng Zhihui both hold military backgrounds, the military is the military and local governments are the local governments, and a distinction must be made. During wartime, the military not only fought but also established bases and intervened in local affairs. However, after the founding of the People's Republic of China and the beginning of a peaceful and prosperous era, there are many matters that the military should no longer be involved in.

It must be handed over to local governments.

Most of those attending the meeting today were local officials. They naturally supported this idea. The local military command holds considerable power and wants to meddle in everything, something the local officials naturally don't want. Therefore, they all support Deng Zhihui.

Wei Hongjun did not object either.

"As for military reclamation, we still need to discuss it with the Military Commission." Military reclamation is different after all.

Whether it is controlled by the military or needs to be discussed with the Central Military Commission.

Wei Hongjun nodded and said, "I will submit a report to the Central Committee on the issue of military reclamation after the meeting. Comrade Deng Xixian, Comrade Deng Zhihui, and Comrade Li Shaocheng, the three of you will take the lead in formulating various clauses regarding state-owned farms before the meeting concludes."

"it is good."

"Yes."

Wei Hongjun continued: "Next, let's discuss the issue of agricultural cooperatives."

828 Rural Work Conference 3

"This issue was first raised by the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee. We would like to ask Comrade Lai Ruoyu to briefly explain it." Before the Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee, the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee submitted a proposal to the Central Committee.

That was the report on "Taking Mutual Aid Groups in Old Districts to a Higher Level." Because the Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee was a Party meeting, primarily to discuss Party policies rather than government affairs, it did not discuss this issue.

Instead, the issue was handed over to the newly established Rural Work Committee.

Lai Ruoyu stood up and said, "The mutual aid organizations in the old areas of Shanxi are large, have a long history, and a strong foundation. However, with the end of the war, the rural economy has recovered and developed to a certain extent, and farmers' lives have gradually improved. Many farmers who joined the mutual aid groups are living similarly to the well-off middle peasants they once were. But precisely because everyone's lives have improved, the mutual aid groups, which have less binding force, have begun to disintegrate. Instead of developing towards the modernization and collectivization we need, the mutual aid groups are slowly disintegrating. This is not a good trend."

"Compared to the cooperatives we previously piloted in certain counties, we've not only avoided these issues, but have become increasingly stable. The Shanxi Provincial Party Committee has conducted in-depth research on the agricultural production cooperatives currently being piloted in Shanxi and believes they represent the future direction for mutual aid groups and, by extension, the future development of rural my country."

Lai Ruoyu then gave a detailed introduction to the current situation of Shanxi Agricultural Production Cooperatives.

It has been three years since Wei Hongjun started experimenting with agricultural production cooperatives in the Ji-Re-Cha Military Region. When Lai Ruoyu was still the director of the Jinnan Administrative Office, he was in Jinnan.

-Some counties and townships are trying to set up agricultural production cooperatives.

After he became the Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee, he paid more attention to agricultural production cooperatives.

Tao Lujia spends two to three months every year researching cooperatives across Shanxi. The Shanxi Provincial Party Committee has extensive and valuable experience with agricultural production cooperatives, which is why this proposal was made.

After Lai Ruoyu introduced the situation of the Shanxi Agricultural Production Cooperatives, Wei Hongjun said, "Comrade Lai Ruoyu, I have a few questions for the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee regarding agricultural production cooperatives. First, agricultural production cooperatives are a further development of mutual aid groups. What is the model of these cooperatives? Do they completely eliminate private ownership and move everything to a collective asset model, or do they retain private ownership?"

"Second point: Does the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee mean that all current mutual aid groups should be converted into cooperatives? Or should the proportion of cooperatives be gradually increased?"

"The second point is the cooperative's distribution method. Previously, mutual aid groups primarily distributed land, invested capital, farm tools, and labor. If cooperatives were to adopt this model, what would be the distribution model? How could we ensure the survival of the vast majority of farmers while also stimulating their enthusiasm for production?"

"The fourth point: For many farmers, they want to produce more spontaneously. How do cooperatives solve such negative factors?" The question raised by Wei Hongjun is actually the question raised by Comrade Xiuyang and Comrade Bo Shuchun in history.

Historically, the Shanxi Provincial Committee proposed developing mutual aid groups into cooperatives, a move severely criticized by Comrades Xiu Yang, Bo Shuchun, and Liu Huafu. The North China Bureau held meetings and repeatedly criticized the Shanxi Provincial Committee's proposal as utopian and unrealistic, demanding a review. However, the Shanxi Provincial Committee not only refused to back down, but instead held several meetings to assert its correctness. This matter ultimately reached the Central Committee and the Chairman. It was the Chairman's support for the Shanxi Provincial Committee's proposal that led to the development of agricultural production cooperatives in the early years of the People's Republic of China.

Since the 1980s, there has been a negative view of the development of cooperatives in the early years of the People's Republic of China. It was believed that these early cooperatives hampered the development of agriculture in New China. It wasn't until the turn of the millennium that many began to re-examine this period of history, and a positive view of the development of cooperatives in the early years of New China began to emerge.

Wei Hongjun has spent more than ten years in this time and space, and his understanding of rural China has become increasingly deeper.

I have my own views on the early cooperatives in New China.

Cooperatives suffered significant setbacks during the Great Leap Forward and were widely criticized. However, this is not inconsistent with the success of cooperative development in the early years of the People's Republic of China. The development of cooperatives in the early years of the People's Republic of China contributed to the development of rural China.

Upon hearing Wei Hongjun's question, Lai Ruoyu replied, "Secretary Wei, it's impossible and unrealistic to completely eliminate the private sector in a short period of time. Secretary Wei has written articles before, repeatedly emphasizing the issue of ownership. The issue of ownership, in turn, involves the issue of the private sector. We develop agricultural production cooperatives to pool rural land, livestock, and farming tools for shared use and to improve production efficiency, not to eliminate farmers' private property. What our cooperatives need to do is gradually shake, weaken, and ultimately eliminate the private sector. But that's something that's going to happen a long time in the future, not something we need to accomplish right now."

Wei Hongjun admires several cadres of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee very much.

Because many of them are very young, but each one is very educated, and many of them are cadres who joined the revolution early and personally participated in the development and consolidation of the base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. These cadres are truly educated, educated, and practical.

Just like Lai Ruoyu in front of him.

He has profound attainments both in theory and on specific issues.

Tan Zhenlin asked: "Comrade Lai Ruoyu means that the cooperatives that Shanxi wants to develop are only joint production units and will not shake the property of the farmers themselves." Tan Zhenlin had to ask this.

Because the East China region that Tan Zhenlin is in charge of is the richest place in China.

Not only are the cities prosperous, but there are also many wealthy farmers in rural areas. If cooperatives were to include personal property, there might be unrest in rural East China. Currently, within the Party, especially among grassroots cadres, there is a strong tendency toward "communist tendencies." They want to quickly eliminate private property.

If you are not sure about the issues of the cooperative, it is easy to go astray when you get there.

"Yes. A cooperative is a production unit with division of labor and cooperative production, not a utopian communist unit." Lai Ruoyu nodded.