Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui were the only two people in the Rural Work Committee who could negotiate with Mao Zemin and Bo Shuchun. Deng Zhihui had just been transferred to Beijing, so Wei Hongjun still had to take action.

"Secretary Wei, I think we can also consider establishing a number of state-owned pig farms."

Zhao Dezun spoke.

He said, "Many state-owned farms in the Northeast raise pigs, and the scale of these operations is quite large. The conflicts now emerging in some rural areas between cooperatives and pig farmers are actually conflicts between the cooperative economy and the private pig farming economy. And these conflicts will persist for a long time. To alleviate this situation, we should open some state-owned pig farms to supplement the current private pig farming in rural areas. Furthermore, the existence of state-owned pig farms can serve as the most basic guarantee."

The biggest advantage of state-owned pig farms is that they can accept national allocation.

So it's a guarantee.

Wei Hongjun nodded and said, "We can try this. Comrade Luo Weilin, your Policy Research Office should go to the Northeast to investigate and see how their state-owned pig farms operate. Observe the advantages and disadvantages of state-owned pig farms, and then come up with a plan for state-owned pig farms."

"Yes."

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and asked Lai Ruoyu, "Comrade Lai Ruoyu, are there any pig-raising cooperatives in Shanxi?"

“Yes, and its scale has been expanding in the past two years.”

"Then you should also summarize the cooperative's pig farming experience. Record both the good and the bad, and get an accurate picture. Many rural cooperatives will likely raise pigs in the future, and everyone is slowly learning the ropes. So we must grasp the most realistic situation."

"Yes."

A pig-raising issue was discussed for a whole day.

Thick meeting minutes.

Wei Hongjun concluded, "Comrades, this pig issue is a wake-up call for us. We must constantly monitor the impact of all national policies in rural areas. We must observe both good and bad outcomes so that we can adjust policies at any time. Our rural areas are poor and have weak foundations. The slightest disturbance will directly affect rural development. Therefore, we must strengthen our liaisons with all departments below us and stay abreast of what's happening in the countryside."

899 Adjustment

Wei Hongjun’s meaning is very simple.

China has been an agricultural society for thousands of years, and for several thousand years it was a small-scale peasant economy. Coupled with the devastation of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the rural economy was extremely weak. Although the rural economy has recovered significantly and developed significantly since the founding of the People's Republic of China, rural accumulation is limited, and farmers have limited assets, leaving the foundations of the economy weak. Therefore, many rural areas are still vulnerable to even the slightest disturbance.

Moreover, there are many problems with the current capabilities of rural cadres.

The quality of rural cadres needs to be gradually improved.

Wei Hongjun understood that rural reform was necessary, but the pace couldn't be too rapid. If the pace were too fast, neither rural cadres nor farmers would be able to adapt. Therefore, rural reform needed to be steadily and steadily implemented. The current situation in New China was far better than it had been in the past. Therefore, some policies could be implemented more slowly to limit their impact, which was acceptable.

Wei Hongjun discussed the matter with Mao Zemin and Bo Shuchun.

Both men understood the importance of the pig issue. After discussing it with Wei Hongjun, they agreed with Wei's opinion and agreed to make some adjustments to the unified purchase and sale system and pig prices. So, after discussing it, the three of them drafted an adjustment plan and submitted it to Chen Yun. After Chen Yun signed it, it was handed over to the Chairman.

Soon the Chairman summoned Wei Hongjun, Deng Zhihui, Bo Shuchun and Mao Zemin.

"Comrade Hongjun, I have revised a few sentences in your report."

The Chairman did not directly address the issue of live pigs.

Instead, he revised the Rural Work Committee's future work report, drafted by Wei Hongjun. Wei Hongjun took it and looked at it, noting that the Chairman's revision had been to the sentence "Rely on the poor peasants, unite with the middle peasants, gradually develop mutual aid groups and cooperatives, gradually eliminate the small peasant economy, and eradicate the rural feudal exploitation system." The Chairman had changed it to "Rely on the solid alliance between the poor and middle peasants, gradually develop mutual aid and cooperation, develop the rural cooperative economy, restrict the small peasant economy, and eliminate the rural feudal exploitation system."

After Wei Hongjun finished reading it, he let others see it as well.

The Chairman said, "This time, regarding the pig issue, we will proceed according to your opinions. You are more familiar with these matters than I am, so I will not express specific opinions. However, there is a big lesson from this incident: we still have the mentality of seeking quick success and instant benefits in our work. This is a manifestation of leftism."

"Comrade Hongjun, the reason I changed a few sentences in your report is also for this reason. The phrase you put forward about eliminating the small peasant economy is inappropriate. Once the central government proposes to eliminate the small peasant economy, it is very likely that more serious things will happen locally. Our ultimate goal in developing the rural cooperative economy is indeed to eliminate the rural small peasant economy. But if we put it this way, the cadres below will think that the central government wants to eliminate the small peasant economy and may not let the farmers do their own things. We must be extremely cautious in introducing any policy, including issuing any documents. A casual remark from the central government may lead to various problems at the grassroots level.

Wei Hongjun nodded.

"Chairman, what I said was indeed inappropriate. I will change it when I return."

Wei Hongjun humbly accepted the Chairman's criticism.

Wei Hongjun's formulation is indeed flawed. With the current promotion of mutual aid groups and cooperatives, lower-level cadres are no longer able to distinguish between cooperative, collective, and private economies.

If it really says "eliminate the small peasant economy", I don't know what will happen.

"You are all central government officials. Remember, don't be too confident when you say many things. You represent the Party and the government. We must deliver on our promises. We should promise less when we can't. Many people in the CPPCC are asking our government to guarantee this and that. But there are many things we simply can't do right now. If we say we will guarantee something, and the people demand it, what will we do? We'll be seen as people who don't keep their word. So we must be honest in our work. We mean what we say, and we can't write random checks."

"Yes."

After the heavy topic was over, the Chairman asked Mao Zemin: "Can our pork exports really bring in 300 to 400 million rubles a year?"

Owed too much money to the Soviet Union.

Initially, China owed the Soviet Union tens of millions of rubles. After the Premier's visit in 1947, the debt reached hundreds of millions. By the time Chairman Mao returned from his two trips to the Soviet Union in 1948 and 1949, the debt had grown to billions. By the time the Korean War broke out, China's debt to the Soviet Union had ballooned to tens of billions. Furthermore, China still purchases large quantities of machinery, equipment, and industrial products from the Soviet Union annually.

Not only the Soviet Union, China currently also needs to import a lot of machinery, equipment and industrial products from Eastern Europe.

So the Chairman is also very concerned about foreign trade.

"can."

Mao Zemin nodded affirmatively.

"If we could export 300 million live pigs annually, our exports would easily exceed 30 million. Pork is currently in short supply not only in the Soviet Union and East Germany, but throughout Eastern Europe. According to our statistics, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe currently have a pork shortage of approximately 500 tons. Based on the weight of our current live pigs, the shortage is between 600 and 20 million head. Furthermore, as the economies of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries continue to develop, their demand for pork will continue to increase. If their per capita pork consumption reaches around 50 kilograms, the annual shortage will exceed 10 tons. However, given the current agricultural situation in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, it will be difficult for them to solve this problem on their own. If we can export more live pigs, or if we can can the pork or turn it into sausage, our annual exports could exceed billion rubles. Exporting live pigs is difficult, and transportation is cumbersome. Therefore, the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries support us in establishing canning and meat processing plants to export sausages. This processing could increase export value."

Because Mao Zemin attached great importance to foreign trade with the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, the Ministry of Foreign Trade has been carefully studying

The Soviet Union and Eastern European countries demanded it. Live pigs were also exported, but transporting them was difficult. Therefore, the best option was to export canned pork and sausages.

"One billion rubles."

The chairman was deeply moved.

I never thought pork exports could generate such a high level of revenue. This also illustrates the scale of the Chinese market. Despite being so poor domestically, China consumes tens of thousands of pigs annually.

The Chairman quickly asked, "Is the current agricultural and animal husbandry situation in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe very bad?"

"It's not bad. It's just that with the current economic models of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, there's a serious shortage of agricultural products. Eastern European countries, in particular, also modeled their economies after the Soviet Union. They were small countries to begin with, and following the Soviet model of industrial development has directly led to very slow development of their agriculture and light industry. There's a serious shortage of agricultural products and consumer goods."

Mao Zemin was in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and was therefore very familiar with the economic conditions of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. However, he was not very optimistic about the current development of Eastern European countries. Eastern European socialist countries were all small states.

But they all learned the Soviet economic model.

A large country like China can do this. Even if most of its resources are invested in heavy industry, there's still enough to slowly develop agriculture and light industry. But Eastern European countries don't have the strength and determination to do this.

The Chairman said, "You all understand economics. China is a country with a large population, and we cannot allow a serious shortage of agricultural products. That would lead to starvation."

The Chairman began to consider the problems of the Soviet economic system.

After deciding to learn from the Soviet Union, Chairman Mao had been studying the Soviet economic system. Now, after hearing Mao Zemin's words, Chairman Mao felt more deeply about the problems that had emerged in the Soviet economic system.

After obtaining the Chairman's approval, Wei Hongjun, Mao Zemin, and Bo Shuchun began to adjust the policy.

In unified purchase and marketing, the specific circumstances of the cooperatives must be taken into consideration, and a certain amount of livestock feed must be reserved for each cooperative. In some important breeding areas, the proportion of livestock feed reserved should be increased.

Bo Shuchun did the calculations.

Reserving a certain percentage for livestock feed will reduce profits by approximately 5 million yuan after the implementation of the unified grain purchase and marketing system. However, once the pig population returns to normal, farmers' income, local slaughter taxes, local commercial taxes, food company profits, and the additional profits from exports will undoubtedly increase by around 20 billion yuan. However, the unified grain purchase and marketing system provides direct revenue, which can be directly transferred to the treasury. However, much of the additional 20 billion yuan in revenue is indirect revenue and cannot be directly transferred to the Ministry of Finance.

However, in order to restore pig production and support the development of rural sideline businesses, Bo Shuchun approved the plan. The Ministry of Finance suddenly lost 5 million yuan in revenue, which put Bo Shuchun under great pressure.

Mao Zedong's side did the same thing. He began raising pork prices in some major cities, by about five to seven cents per jin. This would increase the revenue of food companies by about 150 million yuan. This would all be used to subsidize pig farmers and be reinvested in the purchase price of live pigs.

As for the issue of slaughter tax, a meeting needs to be held to reach an agreement with local governments.

Upon returning, Wei Hongjun immediately convened a rural work conference, bringing together provincial rural affairs officials. At the meeting, Wei Hongjun reiterated that cooperatives cannot be blindly promoted. First, cadres must be trained to understand what a cooperative is and how to run one. Furthermore, they must understand the difference between means of production and means of subsistence.

In order to increase pig production and adjust issues of mutual aid groups and cooperatives, Wei Hongjun frequently attended meetings.

But regarding the issue of cooperatives, Wei Hongjun found that the problems in some provinces were serious.

Henan has the most problems.

Although Henan was also considered one of the old liberated areas, the situation was even more serious than in the newly liberated areas. With the exception of Guangdong, the newly liberated areas in the south at least did not have a serious problem of cadre unity.

Because the cadre structure is relatively simple.

In provinces liberated by a field army, local cadres generally came from the liberated areas where these field armies were stationed. Cadres who went south directly took over these provinces alongside the army, so they were relatively familiar with each other.

There were some minor frictions among the cadres, but overall there were no major problems.

The only problem is the unity among cadres in Henan.

Because Pingyuan Province was abolished at the Politburo meeting and most of it was incorporated into Henan, there was a lot of friction between cadres from Pingyuan Province and those from Henan. The cadres in Pingyuan Province were mainly from Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, as well as from the Shandong branch.

The cadres in Henan Province were mainly from the 4th and 5th Divisions of the New Fourth Army.

Li Xiannian, commander of the New Fourth Army's Fifth Division, currently serves as Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee. He was not transferred to Beijing for the Eighth National Congress because he is currently overseeing the Jingjiang Flood Diversion Project. The first phase of the project has been completed, and the second phase is currently underway and nearing completion. This is currently Hubei's most important water conservancy project.

At this time, the central government did not want to touch the leadership of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee.

In order to successfully complete the "Jingjiang Flood Diversion Project," Li Xiannian continued to be in charge of Hubei. However, during the Eighth National Congress, Li Xiannian was elected as an alternate member of the Political Bureau, and his status within the party rose again.

Many cadres in Henan were from the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army.

Wu Zhipu came from the 4th Division of the New Fourth Army, but he was not a pure 4th Division cadre.

Wu Zhipu's greatest strength lies in his having been stationed in Henan since the Great Revolution, never having been transferred elsewhere. While most of the New Fourth Army's 4th Division was later incorporated into the East China Field Army, Wu Zhipu remained in Henan and joined the Central Plains Military Region organized by Li Xiannian. Thus, Wu Zhipu's roots in Henan were deep, and he commanded the support of nearly everyone.

However, Pingyuan's cadres were not without roots. For example, Pan Fusheng, elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee at the Eighth National Congress and serving as Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, was a cadre from the Shandong Branch during the Anti-Japanese War. He served as Secretary-General of the Shandong Branch and was very familiar with its cadres. He later served as a local official, first in Jiangsu, Shandong, and Henan, and later as Deputy Secretary of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Regional Party Committee and Deputy Political Commissar of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region.

Yang Yuna, who served as Deputy Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, was a member of the Qimenghui and later served in the Jinyi, Shandong, and Henan provinces. He followed the 129th Division south to Henan during the latter stages of the Anti-Japanese War. He later served as Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary of the Pingyuan Provincial Party Committee.

After the merger of Pingyuan and Henan provinces, both sides remained dissatisfied. Henan officials believed that Pingyuan should be incorporated into Henan and placed under the leadership of the Henan Provincial Party Committee. Consequently, Pan Fusheng, upon his arrival, became the Provincial Party Secretary and, in turn, suppressed Wu Zhipu, a representative cadre of Henan Province.

So they were very unhappy. After all, Hubei and Henan had always been the territory of the New Fourth Army's Fourth and Fifth Divisions.

This was true during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and it was also true during the Liberation War. Although Liu, Deng, and the 100,000-man army from Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan moved south shortly after the Liberation War began, establishing the Central Plains Military Region, the former New Fourth Army's Fifth Division and Wu Zhipu's base remained.

Especially local officials.

The main force of Liu and Deng's Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan region, along with the troops led by Chen Geng, entered the Central Plains. This was primarily a southward movement. Although many local cadres also moved south, the main force was split into two: one went south to the Southwest Bureau, while the other remained in Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan and later merged into the North China Bureau.

There are more local cadres here who developed from the former Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army.

The abolition of Pingyuan Province and the reshuffling of Henan's leadership were actually already decided. It was only at the Politburo meeting that the final decision was made. It was precisely because Wu Zhipu and other former Henan provincial leaders knew about the upcoming cadre restructuring and Pan Fusheng's appointment as provincial Party Secretary that they became somewhat anxious.

They wanted to achieve some success in Henan before the Pingyuan provincial leaders arrived. They wanted to impress the central government and give Pan Fusheng and other Pingyuan provincial officials a sense of urgency. Therefore, they pushed too hard for cooperatives in Henan, hoping to complete them quickly. Wu Zhipu and his colleagues knew that cooperatives were a product of the Chairman's support and Wei Hongjun's full commitment. If they could succeed in establishing cooperatives, they would earn the Chairman's recognition and the support of central leaders like Wei Hongjun. As a result, the proportion of cooperatives in Henan Province was comparable to that of Shanxi and even higher than that of Hebei.

This is the problem. Shanxi and Hebei are the

Wei Hongjun has been personally responsible for promoting mutual aid groups and cooperatives in major provinces for four or five years. However, Henan has only been promoting mutual aid groups and cooperatives for a little over a year, with no prior experience in this area. Yet, the proportion of cooperatives in Henan is now even higher than in Hebei. How could there not be problems?

Among all the provinces under the former Central South Bureau's administration, Henan had the most problems with cooperatives.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun wrote several letters to the Henan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, asking them to first consolidate the current achievements of the "cooperatives" and not to blindly promote them.

But the effect is average.

After Pan Fusheng arrived in Henan, the situation only became more complicated. Both of them were worried about giving others leverage, which hindered their work. Wei Hongjun knew that if the discord among Henan's leading cadres was not resolved, Henan's work would remain unresolved. However, restructuring Henan's provincial leadership was not something Wei Hongjun could currently handle.

After all, the Eighth National Congress had just ended and the leadership of Henan Province had just been adjusted.

Wei Hongjun was going to Henan to investigate the cooperative situation. Although he couldn't change the leadership of Henan Province, he couldn't bear to see Henan, the future granary, suffer problems.