Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

880 Gao Gang's wishful thinking

Ren Peiguo was the first central leader to pass away after the founding of the People's Republic of China. He died at the age of 47.

Really very young.

Take Deng Xixian, for example. After he joined the Politburo, everyone considered him one of the young, second-tier cadres in the Central Committee. But he's only 47 years old. Wei Hongjun, on the other hand, stunned many by becoming a Politburo member at just 35. Meanwhile, Ren Peiguo was a Politburo member at 23 and one of the five top secretaries of the Communist Party at 40, becoming one of the core leaders of the Central Committee.

Of the five secretaries, the Commander-in-Chief was the oldest, followed by the Chairman. The Premier and Comrade Xiuyang were only five years younger than the Chairman, making them of the same age. Only Ren Peiguo was eleven years younger than the Chairman. Unexpectedly, Ren Peiguo was the first to pass away.

Ren Peiguo had been in poor health due to the torture he suffered in prison. Everyone was prepared for his passing, as he had been unable to work for several months. But when he finally passed away, everyone was still deeply saddened.

Wei Hongjun was also in a deep sorrow. Ren Peiguo was truly a very good cadre.

Wei Hongjun hurried back to Beijing from Guangdong to attend Ren Peiguo's memorial service. Marshal Ye commented on Ren Peiguo: "He was the camel of our Party, the camel of the Chinese people, carrying a heavy burden, walking a long and arduous path, without rest, without enjoyment, and without any personal concerns. He was an outstanding communist, the best member of our Party, and our role model."

Indeed.

Despite his poor health, he refused to rest and was always working. This was especially true during the Liberation War, when there were countless things to do. Furthermore, the central government departments were not fully developed at the time, so the central leadership had a heavy workload.

But Ren Peiguo dragged his sick body to deal with so many complicated periods.

Even so, he would still take time to go to the countryside to observe the actual situation. It can be said that the two years of the Liberation War made Ren Peiguo's already poor health worse and worse.

Wei Hongjun thought about Ren Peiguo's life and thought he must have been content when he left because he had witnessed the founding of New China, saw it getting better and better, and even more so, saw the Chinese People's Volunteer Army inflict heavy losses on American imperialism.

Wei Hongjun could only tell Ren Peiguo that the future of New China would get better and better. Wei Hongjun was in a daze for several days.

It wasn't that Wei Hongjun and Ren Peiguo had such a deep bond, but Wei Hongjun simply felt something was amiss. However, those who lived had to continue the revolution. Wei Hongjun quickly began his new work. This trip south had been quite a thrill for him.

Whenever Wei Hongjun thinks of the failure of the historic rubber campaign, he can't sleep. The failure of the rubber campaign wasn't just the responsibility of frontline leaders; the central government was also responsible. It should be said that everyone, from top to bottom, had their share of responsibility.

The country spent so much money, but in the end it became a mess of unfinished project.

The question is, did the central and local governments learn a lesson from this failure? It seems they did not, as many subsequent campaigns, like the rubber campaign, were followed by other large-scale campaigns that wasted national funds.

How can we ensure that this large-scale campaign model can achieve better results, rather than the failure of the rubber campaign? In fact, even Wei Hongjun, while in Beijing, misjudged the rubber campaign. Relying solely on reports from frontline leaders is insufficient to accurately understand the actual situation.

Wei Hongjun personally visited the Leizhou Peninsula to investigate and understand the situation. He then adjusted the plan after listening to the opinions of his subordinates. If Wei Hongjun hadn't gone to the Leizhou Peninsula and instead remained in charge of remotely controlling the rubber campaign from Beijing, the rubber campaign would have failed just as well.

How can effective communication be achieved between superiors and subordinates, and how can such large-scale campaigns be conducted more scientifically? The biggest challenge isn't the rubber campaign itself; the challenge is ensuring that subsequent large-scale campaigns proceed in the right direction and leverage the advantages of concentrated forces. Concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks is one of the advantages of socialism. However, if this advantage is not properly utilized, it can lead to disastrous failures.

Wei Hongjun wrote down his thoughts on this in detail.

Wei Hongjun proposed that both the central and local governments hold a "Zhuge Liang meeting" before launching any large-scale battles. The Communist Party of China is a party that promotes "democratic centralism," so it should promote this advantage.

"Democracy first, centralization later", this kind of large-scale battle must be fully carried out through democratic research.

Only when everyone is given ample opportunity to express their opinions can decisions be made and "centralization" achieved. Only in this way can the general campaign avoid going in the wrong direction. Furthermore, during the general campaign, such "Zhuge Liang meetings" must be held constantly to adjust the direction of the campaign whenever any issues arise.

Government decision-making must clarify this procedure.

Many major campaigns these days are launched with a single order from the central government, and the lower-level cadres, completely oblivious to the actual situation, simply launch mobilization meetings and rush into action. While they are certainly motivated by the desire to build the nation, the results are often disappointing.

Therefore, many major projects require this type of discussion meeting. This is the report Wei Hongjun is preparing to submit to the Secretariat. Next is the topic of utilizing foreign capital.

Wei Hongjun suggested to the central government that they first experiment with overseas Chinese loans and investments. If this method is feasible, they could use the same model to attract foreign investment for their own use.

As long as there are sufficient interests or dividends to lure foreign investors, they will not give up cooperating with China. As long as the public ownership of the means of production is guaranteed, then the introduction of foreign investment will not undermine the socialist economy.

Of course, many of the things Wei Hongjun wrote are actually the Chairman’s policies in history.

The "New Economic Policy" proposed by Chairman Mao in 1955, 1956, and 1957 was largely based on Lenin's New Economic Policy. Chairman Mao believed that Lenin's New Economic Policy was essential in the primary stage of socialism. The development of socialism in the primary stage required a long period of New Economic Policy. Looking back at Soviet history, Chairman Mao even believed that the Soviet Union should have implemented the New Economic Policy for a longer period of time to address the problem of insufficient market supplies.

Unfortunately, during this period, Khrushchev's "Secret Report" triggered the "Polish-Hungarian Incident," which directly impacted the socialist camp. When this sentiment reached China, it first impacted some democratic figures, who believed that the socialist camp was about to fall apart and that the Communist Party would retreat. Many believed that the Polish-Hungarian Incident would undermine the CCP's ruling foundation. World opinion at the time was also highly negative towards the socialist camp.

As a result, many domestic democrats became complacent and began making outrageous demands. It was against this backdrop that the "Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom, Let a Hundred Schools of Thought Contend" policy emerged. Consequently, domestic democrats, believing the CCP had lost its composure, began to compromise. Any further attacks from these figures would inevitably lead to further concessions from the CCP. Some even chanted, "The emperor takes turns, and today's my turn!" demanding a rotation of power with the CCP. This led to the subsequent Anti-Rightist Movement.

The "New Economic Policy" advocated by the Chairman also died.

During this period, the Premier and his colleagues criticized the "adventurism" and "anti-adventurism" approach, which was seized upon by many democratic figures to attack the central government. This was followed by the Chairman's "anti-anti-adventurism," criticizing the Premier and his colleagues for dampening the enthusiasm of cadres and the people and putting the CCP in a passive position politically.

However, the "Anti-Rightist Movement" and the "Anti-Rightist Movement" combined to turn the political atmosphere into a frenzy. This led to the subsequent Great Leap Forward. These events are all related.

It can be said that Khrushchev's "secret report" was a huge shock to the entire socialist camp. It was a real rat's shit in the socialist camp. Wei Hongjun still needed to carefully plan how to avoid this incident.

Now Wei Hongjun proposed some policy ideas, which are some of the contents of the "New Economic Policy" advocated by Chairman Mao in the past. When Wei Hongjun was summarizing the experience of going south, Gao Gang came to see Wei Hongjun.

"Old Wei, I heard about the rubber war."

Gao Gang spoke to Wei Hongjun very cordially.

Wei Hongjun was quite surprised.

Because since 1947, the two people had similar views on rural issues, urban issues, financial issues, separation of party and government, the Three Antis Movement and other issues, so they had spoken together at central meetings.

But it's all work relationships.

The two people actually don't have much personal relationship.

If it weren't for Wei Hongjun's sudden rise to prominence during the Anti-Japanese War, the two would not have been at the same level of cadre. Later, one served in the Northeast Bureau, the other in the North China Bureau. After arriving at the Central Committee, Gao Gang worked in the Secretariat, while Wei Hongjun primarily worked in the State Council.

We don't have much contact except for work.

But Gao Gang spoke now as if the two were old friends.

"You did a great job, and were decisive and efficient, showing the style of our military cadres. This kind of thing should be handled by our military cadres." Wei Hongjun frowned.

Because he wasn't sure what Gao Gang wanted to do by coming to see him today.

Gao Gang claims to be a military cadre, and it is not bragging. In his early years, Gao Gang worked in the Northwest Army to carry out military work, and later he was one of the main cadres of the Shaanxi-Gansu Red Army. He served as the political commissar of the 42nd Red Division and the political commissar of the 26th Red Army. When the Shaanxi-Gansu Border Red Army Command was established, Gao Gang was the political commissar. Later, when the Front Command was established, the commander was Liu Zhidan, and the political commissar was Gao Gang.

Not to mention that before Gao Gang came to the Central Committee, he had served as the commander and political commissar of the Northeast Military Region. There was no problem in saying that he was a military cadre.

But Wei Hongjun couldn't accept this statement.

There were already significant conflicts between military and local cadres. Therefore, Wei Hongjun never advocated for a clear distinction between military and local cadres within his purview. For example, Wei Hongjun never distinguished between military and local cadres among the cadres from the Jin-Cha-Ji region.

They are all mixed together.

"When it comes to revolutionary firmness, we have to look at the cadres who come out of our army. Old Wei, don't you think so?" Wei Hongjun is not a young man either.

So he smiled and said: "Cadres who have stood the test of the revolutionary era are all good cadres of the Party."

"Old Wei, that's not the case. The victory of the revolution depends on the selfless dedication of our People's Liberation Army troops, on our military cadres, and on the cadres in the liberated areas. If we rely on cadres from the white areas, who knows how many years it will take for the revolution to succeed. The Central Committee currently needs cadres with a firm revolutionary will and firm beliefs. Cadres from the white areas like to play tricks on their work and have absolutely no firm will to move forward."

Gao Gang said it very directly.

Wei Hongjun shook his head in his heart, no wonder Gao Gang had gotten into trouble in history.

Can such words be said casually? Do Wei Hongjun and Gao Gang have such a good relationship? Not to mention the relationship between Gao Gang and Wei Hongjun, even Wei Hongjun would not say such words directly in front of the cadres of the Eighth Column whom he promoted himself. Isn't this a naked handle for others to use against him?

Are there any problems with cadres in the White Areas?

Of course there are.

Because they've been working underground for years, they're highly skilled at protecting themselves and the organization. Safety is paramount to them. When someone is apprehended, their first priority is to evacuate quickly. This is dictated by the nature of their work. This requires disguises and smooth dealings, which can make them less assertive at work. However, they're also highly skilled at interpersonal relationships, making them the type of seasoned veterans in government agencies.

This is what military cadres dislike the most.

I feel that their way of working is not like that of Communist Party cadres at all.

But military cadres certainly have flaws. This is especially true of many PLA commanders, many of whom, like Wei Hongjun, come from humble beginnings. While they rose through the ranks of illiteracy in the melting pot of the military, they nonetheless possess a solid foundation.

Treat local work as military work.

It is easy for people to be overbearing or rude. Everyone has their own problems.

Gao Gang, a cadre of this rank, now says this. What do you think the cadres from the White Area Party think? Military cadres currently hold the upper hand in the national political power. Do you military cadres intend to wipe out the White Area Party?

Given Gao Gang's status, such words should not be said in public or even in private.

Seeing that Wei Hongjun didn't respond, Gao Gang continued, "Of course, cadres from the white areas also have advantages. They're good at handling interpersonal relationships. Unlike our military cadres, we often can't handle those delicate matters. So this kind of work should be handed over to cadres from the white areas. I think Comrade Xiuyang handles this aspect of the work very well. The National People's Congress is about to be convened. If Comrade Xiuyang is in charge of the work of the National People's Congress, there will definitely be no problems."

Wei Hongjun finally figured out Gao Gang's intention. He was planning to make a plan for the Eight Majors.

The Politburo Standing Committee will undoubtedly be expanded during the Eighth National Congress, and Gao Gang will undoubtedly have a seat. After all, with the passing of Ren Peiguo, the Central Committee now has six members, and one more person will definitely be needed. Gao Gang is the General Secretary of the Central Committee and presides over the Secretariat.

Naturally, he is the first candidate.

But Gao Gang was clearly not content with being just an ordinary member of the Standing Committee; he wanted to be in charge of the Party affairs of the Central Committee. Comrade Xiuyang was currently in charge of the Party affairs of the Central Committee. If he were to take charge of the NPC, then the Party affairs would naturally fall into Gao Gang's hands.

It's just that Gao Gang isn't confident enough, so he wants to find an ally. Wei Hongjun's expression became increasingly serious.

Gao Gang saw that Wei Hongjun had taken his point, so he continued, "Comrade Wu Hao has been in charge of united front work for many years. If he were to be in charge of CPPCC work, it would truly be a match made in heaven.

Wei Hongjun knew that this was the condition thrown out by Gao Gang.

Was he planning to send the Prime Minister to the CPPCC and have him take charge of CPPCC affairs, and then hand over the State Council to Marshal Nie? However, Wei Hongjun didn't believe it.

Gao Gang didn't have much of a relationship with the cadres in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region or North China. On the other hand, Gao Gang and Chen Yun had worked together for many years. Not only in Yan'an, where they shared responsibility for the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, but also in Northeast China, the two men worked together seamlessly.

When he and Peng Zhen argued about the relationship between urban and rural areas, Chen Yun and Gao Gang united to support the rural policy. They worked together well on land reform and bandit suppression. When Gao Gang needed an ally, he would definitely turn to Chen Yun.

The same words would be used later. So what did he promise Chen Yun? Of course, only the position of Premier of the State Council. He was hoping to use this position to lure Chen Yun and the North China faction into his favor. It was a beautiful idea.

Just now Gao Gang was talking nonsense about military cadres and local cadres.

Moreover, Wei Hongjun genuinely wasn't optimistic about Gao Gang. Gao Gang possessed considerable abilities, but unfortunately, he was too immature in his approach. Our ancestors said, "If a ruler is not discreet, he will lose his ministers; if a minister is not discreet, he will lose his dignity; if a plan is not discreet, harm will result." Therefore, a gentleman is cautious and refrains from acting in a discreet manner.

It just tells everyone to be cautious when doing things.

But look at Gao Gang, he is telling everyone his thoughts in a big way.

So Wei Hongjun decisively said, "Comrade Gao Gang, the Party's personnel appointments are an important matter for the Eighth National Congress. Any issues should be discussed at the meeting. Discussing personnel issues privately is not in line with the Party's organizational principles."

Gao Gang was stunned.

He didn't expect that even though he had offered such good conditions, Wei Hongjun would give him such an official answer. Could it be that the conditions he offered were not good enough?

That's the position of Prime Minister of the State Council.

But Wei Hongjun didn't care what Gao Gang thought. He didn't want any disturbances within the Party before the Eighth National Congress. He didn't want anything to happen to Gao Gang himself, so he said in a deep voice, "Comrade Gao Gang, we are all Party members and must abide by Party discipline. If your words get out, it would be a challenge to the Party's organizational principles. Even the Chairman has to abide by them, let alone you and me. Are you trying to establish a new Central Committee?"

Wei Hongjun's tone became serious, even questioning. Gao Gang instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

Fang Quanyi, with the support of the Chairman

The current Gao Gang is not the Gao Gang of history. In history, Gao Gang took the lead in entering the central government with his outstanding industrial and agricultural data in Northeast China and his great contributions to the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.

By directly splitting half of the departments from the Executive Yuan, the Planning Commission directly confronted the Executive Yuan. Even the Executive Yuan at that time was not as powerful as the Planning Commission chaired by Gao Gang.

At that time, Gao Gang was definitely in a high position of power and awe-inspiring.

Even the Prime Minister would retreat in front of him.

It is precisely because Gao Gang has such status and strength that he is able to challenge the status of Comrade Xiuyang and the Prime Minister.

But Gao Gang currently lacks that kind of authority. Although he presides over the Secretariat, he remains under the leadership of Comrade Xiu Yang in terms of organizational procedures. Furthermore, within the current Central Committee, Chen Yun and Nie Shuai stand in his way, while Wei Hongjun and Deng Xixian are catching up behind him.