Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"Soviet clothing is both in short supply and not in short supply. The Soviet chemical fiber industry cannot be said to be very developed, but it has no problem meeting the Soviet Union's own needs. However, Soviet clothing styles are single, and each piece of clothing looks basically the same except for the size. But now that Soviet workers have started to have money, they are very dissatisfied with these clothes. Those clothes imported from Europe and the United States are in great demand in the Soviet Union. As long as they appear in the mall, they are immediately sold out. Many people are willing to pay extra to buy them. Do you know how high the prices of some commodities are? Even ordinary aprons worn by students, which are very simple in style, are expensive in the Soviet Union. "It can sell for 8 rubles. A slightly better piece of clothing can easily fetch a few hundred rubles. Sneakers and leather shoes, for example, range from 200 to 4 rubles. The most expensive items are mink hats and clothing. Mink hats cost at least 2000 rubles, and mink coats double that to 400 rubles. There are also rabbit fur hats, which cost around 120 to 150 rubles. Fashionable clothing, hats, and shoes are very expensive. Of course, the most common Soviet items—homemade clothing, hats, and shoes—are very affordable. You can usually buy a set of clothes and pants for just a few dozen rubles."

Wei Hongjun finally understood how bad the Soviet Union's light industry was. He even doubted whether the Soviet Union had a light industry.

In fact, the Soviet Union had a solid foundation for developing light industry.

After all, the Soviet Union had a strong foundation in heavy industry. Furthermore, in terms of culture, the Soviet Union was among the best in the world. Not to mention the scientific talent in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, even in the arts, the Soviet Union was far superior to many other countries.

If art is developed, then design must also be very developed.

With a textile foundation and outstanding artistic talent, developing a clothing industry shouldn't be easy. Even blindly developing a clothing industry wouldn't be so poor. If the Soviet Union had simply mandated a nationwide rule requiring certain colors and styles of clothing, there wouldn't be a problem. However, the Soviet Union's own clothing industry was so poor, yet it didn't prohibit the import of foreign clothing. The contrast is stark. Soviet clothing was cheap, while imported clothing was expensive, with the price gap several times higher.

This is really something that is difficult to understand.

"Among the necessities of life, clothing comes first. The Soviet Union was a large country with a population of nearly 200 million, so the clothing market must have been enormous."

"Correct."

Mao Zemin said: "If we can really do clothing business with the Soviet Union, then the clothing import and export business alone may exceed 100 million rubles a year, or even hundreds of millions of rubles."

The more Mao Zemin learned about the Soviet Union, the more he felt that the Soviet market was truly vast and promising. The typical Soviet worker had money but no place to spend it.

“But that’s not the case in our country.”

Wei Hongjun shook his head and said, "Our country's textile industry currently has a poor foundation. We haven't even solved the problem of clothing for our people. We can't possibly have the spare capacity to export clothing to the Soviet Union. Besides, our clothing industry lags far behind the Soviet Union in every aspect."

The clothing industry is a big industry.

It would be a pity to give up.

Wei Hongjun thought carefully and said, "It's unlikely that our country will develop its own clothing industry and export to the Soviet Union in the short term. But that doesn't mean there's no way. I've heard that Hong Kong's textile and clothing industries are developing rapidly. Our foreign trade company could act as an intermediary. On the one hand, it could promote relations with Hong Kong businessmen, and on the other hand, it could make some money in the process."

When everyone discusses Hong Kong, they all say that Hong Kong is based on real estate and later became a financial center.

But not.

The rise of the four Asian Tigers, including Singapore, was driven by the growth of manufacturing, which in turn drove the development of other industries. The 1950s and 1960s saw a period of rapid growth in Hong Kong's manufacturing sector, with the textile and clothing industries experiencing the most rapid development. For a time, Hong Kong became the center of Asia's clothing industry.

"Yeah." Mao Zemin nodded.

I sighed in my heart.

Although China saw the Soviet Union's huge market, it could only envy it because of its own poor industrial base. Currently, China still faces many problems in developing light industry based on its domestic industrial base.

Seeing Mao Zemin frown, Wei Hongjun smiled and said, "I have an idea for you. See if we can cooperate with the Soviet Union. We can import Soviet fabrics, make them into the clothes they want, and then sell them to them. We won't make much, just processing fees. But in the process, we can gradually develop our textile and fuel industries, and also drive other industries such as buttons and zippers. Of course, this is just a suggestion. You can discuss whether it works. It would be best if we could get Soviet financial support."

"Making clothes for the Soviet Union using Soviet fabrics?"

"Correct."

Processing of supplied materials.

Who says socialist countries cannot process materials between each other?

The Soviet Union's own clothing industry was so rubbish that giving this piece of cake to China was not a good thing. The Soviet Union even directly cut the clothing department. What was the point of producing so much garbage? The Soviet people themselves didn't like to wear it.

"I will discuss this when I get back and then contact the Soviet side to discuss it." Mao Zemin wrote down Wei Hongjun's suggestion.

"Old Zhou, don't worry. With the Soviet-style economy, their material shortages will definitely not end anytime soon. If they don't change their economic development model, their light industry won't see much growth in the next ten, twenty, or even thirty years. We have plenty of opportunities."

"Old Wei, you mentioned this, I also want to talk to you."

Mao Zemin became very serious.

He said, "The Soviet model of industrial development has advantages, but also problems. The advantages are obvious: it allows for the concentration of resources, including capital and personnel, to develop the money-eating heavy industry. If they don't concentrate their efforts on developing heavy industry, but instead let it develop naturally, it would be impossible without decades or even hundreds of years. However, this type of development also has many problems, the biggest of which is the imbalance between heavy and light industry. After all, the people are just ordinary people. They can tolerate a lack of improvement in their living standards for one or two years, or even five or six years, but what about ten or twenty years? If living standards continue to stagnate, there will be complaints. This is the current situation in the Soviet Union."

Mao Zemin suddenly lowered his voice and whispered, "Think about it. The daily necessities provided by the Soviet Union are getting worse and worse, while the products imported from abroad are getting better and better. As a result, imported European and American goods are becoming increasingly popular in the Soviet market, and even the Soviet Union itself despises its own products. Now everyone only praises their products, but over time, they will shift from praising their products to praising their systems and ideas. This is a very dangerous situation. We are learning from the Soviet Union, but we must take these things into consideration."

Wei Hongjun also immediately became serious.

Mao Zemin's concerns were also Wei Hongjun's concerns.

The people's living standards must improve, and they must be able to feel that their living standards are truly improving. Only in this way can the advantages of the socialist system be demonstrated. However, if the people fail to feel the improvement in their living standards, their enthusiasm will gradually wane. Once revolutionary enthusiasm fades, what remains is doubt about the correctness of socialism.

But now, the time has come to focus everything on developing heavy industry. The central government is eager to gather all the funds in the country and invest them in heavy industry. Without this investment, how can light industry and agriculture develop along with heavy industry?

"Old Wei, next year will be the Eighth National Congress, the first meeting of the National People's Congress. Starting next year, the central government will formulate our country's first five-year plan. Heavy industry, light industry, and agriculture must develop in a coordinated manner."

The Chairman is very strict in observing organizational discipline.

Although Mao Zemin was his younger brother, he often went over the heads of the government to discuss issues with the Chairman, but the Chairman did not support him. "Have you discussed this with Comrade Chen Yun, Comrade Deng Xixian, and Comrade Li Fuchun?"

Chen Yun was the director of the Planning Commission, while Wei Hongjun, Deng Xixian, and Li Fuchun were vice-chairmen. The formulation of the first five-year plan was the Planning Commission's responsibility. Mao Zemin nodded.

He said, "The rest wasn't explained so clearly, but we did discuss the over-proportion of heavy industry in the current economy. Comrade Li Fuchun's point was that the current high investment in heavy industry in my country is mainly due to the large number of Soviet aid projects. Everyone knows that this has some economic problems, but we can't miss such a good opportunity. This is also a rather contradictory point."

"I understand." Wei Hongjun nodded.

Li Fuchun is absolutely right.

Soviet aid was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. China had to accept it, even if it meant gritting its teeth. However, if it undertook such a project, the country's funds would have to be invested in heavy industry. The country's current grand strategy could not be changed.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said, "It seems we still need to find other channels to obtain funds for developing light industry. If we wait for central government financial support, we don't know when the light industry will be developed."

"Correct."

"We have few options for raising funds now. We can borrow from banks, issue government bonds, or use foreign capital."

Wei Hongjun analyzed them one by one.

Finally, he said, "It seems that during the First Five-Year Plan, we will still need to consider foreign capital for investment in light industry. However, we still need to discuss the specifics with Comrade Chen Yun, Comrade Deng Xixian, Comrade Li Fuchun, and others. Regarding the Soviet market, the Ministry of Foreign Trade must prepare a very detailed report. For example, it should include the current prices of products in the Soviet market, the market prospects, and the projected export volume. Once we have a detailed report, we can discuss it with Comrade Chen Yun and others to gain some support during the First Five-Year Plan."

"Okay, leave this to me."

There's nothing shameful about making money. Our Ministry of Foreign Trade must devise every possible way to earn money from the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries to repay our loans. We must teach our cadres that talking about money isn't vulgar; every penny we earn for the country makes it easier for us to repay the debt later, reducing the burden on the people and the country.

"Don't worry. Our officials in the Ministry of Foreign Trade are all good officials who have been tested for many years."

869 Split the National Compilation Committee

After Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin finished their conversation, they both immediately got to work, as they were both in a hurry.

This time, China owed the Soviet Union a substantial sum for the Korean War, with the debt for arms alone exceeding 20 billion rubles. Furthermore, as long as the Korean War persisted, Soviet arms would continue to flow into China. Even many heavy artillery pieces, barely mass-produced by the Soviet army themselves, were being deployed en masse by the Chinese military. Therefore, given the current situation, by the time the Korean War ended, the debt owed for these weapons alone could exceed 30 billion rubles.

This is a staggering number.

Add to that the vast amount of machinery and equipment China has imported from the Soviet Union over the years, and China's total loans from the Soviet Union currently stand at around 50 billion rubles. Such a large debt, when repayments begin, will be a tremendous burden.

How could the two of them rest when they thought of these debts?

Therefore, making money quickly and repaying the debt quickly are what Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin are most concerned about now.

Wei Hongjun immediately notified the Ministry of Light Industry and had them liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Trade. It would be difficult to secure large-scale central government funding for the development of China's light industry in a short period of time. Therefore, they had to find their own path and their own funding. They had to make money, desperately. There was nothing shameful about making money, and now, earning any money they could from the Soviet Union was the greatest contribution they could make to the new China.

And Eastern European countries.

Although they were also affected by World War II, the combined population of Eastern European countries was still quite large. As long as they wanted something, we could produce it for them. China had a huge advantage over the Soviet Union.

That is the large population.

To develop labor-intensive industries, China currently has no shortage of people. Furthermore, having built a new China from poverty, its farmers are known for their hard work and perseverance. Provided they have enough to eat and are respected, they will willingly work for you. While this sounds easy, it also presents significant challenges. After all, many Chinese farmers are illiterate and speak a variety of dialects, making it difficult for them to work together.

However, Wei Hongjun is not responsible for this work.

Whether it was setting Mandarin standards, promoting Mandarin, or combating illiteracy, each department was responsible for its own tasks. After these tasks were dealt with, Wei Hongjun convened a meeting of the National Compilation Committee.

In fact, Wei Hongjun attaches more importance to the rural work conference.

However, the National Organization Committee had too many issues, so this matter had to be addressed first. Wei Hongjun first convened a small meeting to understand the specifics of what had happened and the opinions of other cadres. In addition to Wei Hongjun, the meeting was attended by Deputy Directors Zhang Dingcheng, An Ziwen, and Yang Xiufeng, as well as Secretary-General and Director of the General Office Zhao Han.

Zhao Han is only 1937 years old this year. He joined the Dingxian guerrillas in 1938 and joined the party in . He is a standard "-type" cadre.

When he participated in the Anti-Japanese War in Ding County, he quickly began to work in the local government because of his education. He started as the secretary of the Ding County District Committee, then the propaganda minister, organization minister, county magistrate, county party secretary, and finally served as a member of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Third District Committee.

The third special zone at that time referred to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Third District.

After Zhao Han joined the revolution, he was involved in the revolution in the third district for the first few years.

During the Yan'an Rectification Movement, he went to Yan'an as a representative of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region, studied at the Party School, and participated in the Seventh National Congress. He then worked under Comrade Ren Peiguo in the Organization Department of the Central Committee, later becoming its confidential secretary. In 1945, he returned to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region and arrived in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region, under the leadership of Wei Hongjun. He initially served as the Organization Minister of the former Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Prefectural Committee. Later, when the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region merged the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region with the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region to form the new Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region, he became a member of the new Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Prefectural Committee and its Organization Minister.

After the establishment of the North China Bureau, he began to serve as deputy secretary of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Prefectural Committee.

After the National Compilation Committee was established, he was transferred to serve as Director of the General Office. After Wei Hongjun went to North Korea, Zhang Dingcheng served as Acting Director of the National Compilation Committee, Secretary-General Yang Xiufeng served as Deputy Director of the National Compilation Committee, and Zhao Han served as Secretary-General and Director of the General Office.

Among the current central government officials, Zhao Han was also considered very young, yet high-ranking. Since they were all familiar cadres, Wei Hongjun didn't hesitate to ask directly, "What exactly is going on? Some of what I heard wasn't pleasant at all."

The first to be dissatisfied with the compilation committee are local departments.

Many local departments were also very dissatisfied with the compilation committee and made harsh comments. Of course, no one dared to say such harsh words in front of Wei Hongjun. But Wei Hongjun had worked his way up from the grassroots level, and some cadres told him what was happening below.

However, Wei Hongjun did not completely believe what others said.

Even if that person was an old subordinate, facing the Eighth National Congress, not only were the central leaders nervous, but many local officials were also nervous. This was because the convening of such a meeting was also accompanied by a major reshuffle of cadres. Many people wanted to use this opportunity to move up a level.

"It's mainly because of the opinions of the local organization department."

"Organization Department?"

"Yes."

Zhang Dingcheng nodded.

I explained to Wei Hongjun: "Currently, the Organization Committee has too much control, and there's no clear boundary. Although the cadre grading process has been completed and the departmental staffing has been finalized, the Organization Committee still controls the departmental staffing, the property registration of Party members and cadres, the file management of all staff, and even the current work arrangements for college students. This has caused some problems. The Organization Department believes that many of the people currently managed by the Organization Committee are cadres, including college students, and their arrangements should be under the management of the Organization Department. Therefore, local Organization Departments believe that the scope of management of the Organization Committee is unclear and that many of its tasks overlap with those of the Organization Department."

Wei Hongjun considered Zhang Dingcheng's words carefully.

An Ziwen added: "Many military factories and state-owned enterprises also reacted strongly. This is because the Organization Committee manages their staffing, the allocation of college students, and even the placement of retired military cadres requires the approval of the Organization Committee. This makes many factories think that we are too involved. They even think that our Organization Committee is the Empress Dowager Cixi."

By this time, Wei Hongjun basically understood.

To put it bluntly, everyone feels the Organization Committee has too much power. Its reach is so wide that even the Organization Department has to defer to the Organization Committee. After all, the Organization Committee controls the staffing of various departments, effectively controlling the lifeblood of many departments.

Just the compilation itself is a headache.

However, the Organization Committee also merged the Personnel Bureaus of the various departments of the Central People's Government and the State Council into the Organization Committee. What does the Personnel Bureau do? It manages the staff.

The Organization Department is responsible for personnel work within the Party, which, in simple terms, encompasses cadre management, cadre appointments, and cadre education—everything related to cadres. The Personnel Bureau, on the other hand, is responsible for personnel work within administrative agencies, including the recruitment of staff members, salary management, and personnel file management. This is how the general staff of government departments is managed.

Originally, there wouldn't be much conflict between the Organization Department and the Personnel Bureau, as they each had different responsibilities. However, with the establishment committee acting above the Personnel Bureau, the power of the Personnel Bureau immediately increased significantly.

This even allowed the Personnel Bureau to compete with the Organization Department for power.

It seems that the compilation committee is involved too much and has become the target of public criticism.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and asked, "So what are everyone's opinions? Should we abolish the establishment committee or split it up?"

"Splitting the Establishment Committee. In particular, the Personnel Bureau under the Establishment Committee has been spun off. Many departments have expressed the view that it should be separated from the Establishment Committee. The Secretariat has the same view. They believe that the State Council should establish a Personnel Bureau directly under it."

An Ziwen spoke.