Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Chen Yun and his colleagues calculated that the government needed to control nearly 1951 billion catties of grain in 800. In other words, the government had to inject 800 billion catties of grain into the market to stabilize the market.

However, national grain production is only 3200 billion jin (approximately 14 million kg), and requisitioning a quarter of this grain from rural areas is no easy task. Currently, the highest public grain revenue is only around 10% in some areas, while the lowest is less than 300%. Therefore, national public grain revenue currently stands at only around 500 billion jin (approximately million kg). The remaining billion jin (approximately million kg) must be purchased from rural areas as commercial grain.

It is not easy to collect so much grain.

We can only assign tasks to each province based on its population and grain production.

The Handan area is very obvious.

This is an old liberated area, where the Party and the masses have a very close relationship and a strong mass base. Furthermore, mutual aid groups and cooperatives have developed well, and production has increased significantly. Therefore, the task is quite heavy. For example, the Jinglian Cooperative, as Zhang Qiuping mentioned, has to hand in almost half of its grain. Although commercial grain is purchased by the state, the price is relatively low.

Fortunately, Wei Hongjun proposed at the Second Session of the Seventh Central Committee that the central government clarify the nature of land. Rural land was collectively owned, while urban land was state-owned. With this foundation, Wei Hongjun had a legal basis for promoting mutual aid groups and cooperatives.

One of the foundations for unified purchase and marketing, which allowed Wei Hongjun to continuously promote mutual aid groups and cooperatives, was the establishment of a considerable scale of rural cooperative economy. This allowed unified purchase and marketing to proceed smoothly.

But the chairman did not expect that the scale of unified purchase would be so large.

Half of the grain had been harvested. So the Chairman asked, "Such a large proportion of public grain and commercial grain will impact rural secondary industries."

"Yes.

Zhang Qiuping said, "Basically, rural grain-based side businesses have been forced to shut down due to a lack of food. This includes rural animal husbandry, which is basically unable to continue. Some pig farmers continue to raise pigs, but they only rely on grass and don't grow meat at all. A pig that grows to 70 or 80 kilograms is considered good."

The chairman's face turned serious.

Now the chairman feels that this contradiction is very tricky.

The Soviet-aided industries were certainly to be taken over. However, such large-scale industrial development resulted in an inability to coordinate food security. As more and more factories were built, more and more workers were required to eat commercial grain.

Then food conflicts will continue to intensify.

This was a fundamentally unsolvable problem. How to revitalize the rural economy and how to increase grain production were both urgent issues that needed to be addressed. The chairman took this matter to heart. Then he said, "So what problems do cooperatives have?"

This time Zhang Qiuping didn't say anything.

Instead, he gave it to Wang Fawu. Wang Fawu said, "Back when Comrade Chen Tao was in office, we experimented with cooperatives in every prefecture. However, after he started, he was transferred to Guangdong before he could see any concrete results. So, the subsequent work was done by us in collaboration with the Policy Research Office of the Rural Work Committee. Comrade Luo Weilin also frequently visited us for research."

"Comrade Luo Weilin, your work style is excellent."

The Chairman praised Luo Weilin.

The Chairman most liked cadres like Luo Weilin, who could frequently conduct field research. He then asked Wang Fawu, "What specific experiments have you conducted?"

"There are mainly three types. The first is a completely collectivized model. Eating and working together, with a communal dining hall, is common to all. One purpose of this is that eating together can reduce the use of firewood and food consumption. Furthermore, production and construction are also modeled after the militarized model, with the belief that this might improve production efficiency."

“Eat together and work together.”

The chairman was obviously interested after hearing this.

So he asked, "What are the test results?"

"The situation is very bad."

Wang Fawu said, "After the public canteens were established, everyone really started eating. But our country's current economic foundation doesn't allow for this. The grain consumed by the entire village in a year was gone in just six months after the public canteens were established. Although some adjustments have been made since then, this problem has remained unsolved. Some people also thought that centralized cooking in the public canteens would reduce firewood consumption. But this isn't the case. For many families, firewood isn't just for cooking; it's also for keeping their homes warm. So, after final calculations, we found that firewood consumption has not decreased, but has actually increased significantly."

The chairman's face turned serious.

Luo Weilin, standing nearby, said, "We've experimented with seven communal dining halls in Hebei, where people eat and work together. Without exception, they've all failed. Not only have they failed to improve productivity, but they've completely depleted the cooperative's assets. The final conclusion is that, given current productivity conditions, communal dining halls are a failed experiment. They can only be considered a beautiful experiment in utopian socialism."

The chairman nodded slightly.

But no judgment was made on this matter.

And then he continued, "What about the other two modes?"

"They all use the large cooperative model. We combine several cooperatives to form a large cooperative. Each has at least 300 households, and some can reach 500. The number of employees is also around 2000 to 4000. One type is directly managed by the large cooperative, with unified accounting and distribution for the entire cooperative. The other type is that the large cooperative is only responsible for formulating overall strategies, while still using the cooperatives below as the accounting units."

"How's it going?"

The Chairman was very interested in this exploration of socialist rural cooperatives.

Wang Fawu said, "Direct management by the large commune, with unified accounting and distribution for the entire commune, has led to three very serious problems. First, once the large commune has unified accounting and distribution, the accounting unit becomes the large commune. Since it has become the unified accounting unit of the large commune, the products produced by all the cooperatives below must be included in the large commune's statistics. This then leads to disputes over unified distribution."

"Due to varying natural conditions, the economic situations of each cooperative varied. However, after the large cooperative unified the distribution, they all opted for equal distribution. This created conflicts among the various cooperatives. Some of the wealthier cooperatives felt that the large cooperative's distribution was unfair, while some of the poorer cooperatives supported this approach. As this unified distribution continued, the grain production of the cooperatives that had previously had relatively high yields continued to decline. Meanwhile, the grain production of the cooperatives with low grain production not only did not increase, but actually decreased. An investigation revealed that the previously wealthier cooperatives felt that this distribution was meaningless, severely dampening their enthusiasm for production, leading to a decline in production efficiency. Since the low-yielding cooperatives were able to receive more grain from the large cooperative than they produced, they adopted a wait-and-see attitude. As a result, grain production in the lower-yielding cooperatives also declined."

The chairman listened to Wang Fawu's introduction with increasing seriousness. Seeing that the chairman didn't interrupt, Wang Fawu continued, "This is a problem of distribution. Besides distribution, the large commune model also presents a number of problems in work arrangements. Because these large commune units encompass a large number of cooperatives, they must take into account the work arrangements of all of them. However, some cooperatives may appear to be only a few dozen miles apart. However, rural roads are difficult to navigate these days, and sometimes it takes a whole day to walk between two cooperatives even if they're just a few dozen miles apart. Under these circumstances, the large commune is responsible for unified production labor, leading to chaos in arrangements and management. This is especially true during the busy farming season, when each cooperative has its own farmland to tend to. If the large commune intervenes, the division of labor and cooperation becomes a tug-of-war."

The chairman didn't say anything, but he understood the meaning.

The Chairman leads troops to fight.

He understood the situation better than anyone else. So the Chairman did not interrupt Wang Fawu.

"Furthermore, after the large communes implemented unified accounting, the original village affairs disclosure system became a mere decoration."

"Why is it just for decoration?"

"Chairman, in the past, village affairs disclosure was only done within the cooperatives. Small cooperatives only had about 20 households.

One or two hundred people. Slightly larger cooperatives have around forty or fifty households and three or four hundred people. Precisely because of the small population, village affairs aren't as complex, and economic accounting is simpler. Our farmers are currently in the process of becoming literate, and they can't understand overly complex economic accounting or public disclosure of village affairs. Farmers can understand the public disclosure of village affairs and economic accounting in small cooperatives, identify problems, and effectively oversee the cooperative's economic issues. However, in large cooperatives, with many people and many things to do, the complexity of the issues is immense. Therefore, economic accounting is far more complex than in ordinary cooperatives. It's simply not something that semi-literate or newly illiterate members can comprehend. Even if someone explains it to them in detail, most people still don't understand. Another point is that, except for market time, farmers rarely leave the village. Even with the public disclosure of village affairs in large cooperatives, farmers don't have the time or energy to follow them. Therefore, in large cooperatives, the existence of a public disclosure system is practically equivalent to not having one at all.

The chairman strongly supports the openness of village affairs.

Because in the Chairman's mind, this is a "small democracy" in which the people are the masters of their own affairs and supervise government affairs and cadres. If the village affairs disclosure system becomes a formality and fails to play its role, how can rural "small democracy" be realized?

Therefore, the Chairman attaches particular importance to this point.

"So this kind of large communes don't have any advantages at all?"

"There are advantages. Truly improving the arable land situation in a county or township requires the construction of comprehensive water conservancy facilities. Just as one household or one person cannot truly improve rural water conservancy facilities, a cooperative of dozens of households cannot build large-scale water conservancy facilities. This is when the advantages of large cooperatives emerge. Road construction also requires the organization of such large cooperatives.

"Then let's talk about the third model."

"The third approach is to establish large communes, but these use cooperatives as the most basic economic accounting units. When a county or township needs water conservancy facilities or road construction, the large communes coordinate and organize the various cooperatives to participate in these projects. Daily production labor is primarily carried out by the lower-level cooperatives. In addition to organizing and coordinating major projects, the large communes are also responsible for literacy, education, health, and militia."

The Chairman has been thinking.

After a while, he said, "But some natural villages in rural areas are already very large. We can't divide them into several cooperatives."

"For natural villages like these, we're adopting a system where each village has only one cooperative. The cooperative is divided into several production groups, each of which is a small cooperative consisting of dozens of households. We've been exploring the large-scale cooperative model because administrative villages have many natural villages under them. In that case, the administrative village will be the large-scale cooperative, and the natural villages under it will be cooperatives."

The Chairman received too much information and there were still many questions he couldn't figure out at the moment.

Therefore, he said, "Write a report later, including all the specific data. Then submit it to the General Office. Comrade Shangkun, don't forget to give me the report when the time comes."

"Yes, Chairman."

"Let's have a meal together."

The conversation lasted for several hours and it was already a little past dinner time.

So everyone quickly sat down to eat. After they finished eating, Wang Fawu and Zhang Qiuping left, and the Chairman said to Wei Hongjun, "Were these experiments your idea?"

"Yes."

Since Wei Hongjun wants to develop a cooperative, of course he has to try all models.

Whether it is right or wrong, you must try.

The right ones should be promoted and the wrong ones should be rejected. Initially, Chen Tao was asked to conduct experiments in Hebei. After he was transferred to Guangdong, Luo Weilin was put in charge. So Wei Hongjun said: "Our cooperative is to be developed without any experience. So I gathered the ideas of various collective cooperatives of local cadres and tried them all out in some rural areas. And we did not stop when there was failure, but made adjustments based on the reasons for the failure, and then continued to observe the results. Problems encountered during the experiment are not terrible, because it is only a small-scale experiment and problems can be solved in time. However, once problems arise when promoting cooperatives nationwide, it is not an ordinary loss. It may be completely unbearable."

"The promotion cooperatives are firm in their beliefs and cautious in their work. This is a very good attitude."

The chairman nodded.

I'm satisfied with Wei Hongjun's work attitude. Regarding the cooperative, he's moving forward with determination. But he's not blindly pushing forward. Instead, he's conducting numerous experiments and gradually improving the cooperative.

"I heard that you were originally going to Henan to investigate the situation of rural cooperatives."

"Yes."

Wei Hongjun hesitated for a moment, then said, "Because the problems with Henan's report are too serious."

"What exactly is the problem?"

"Henan's report on cooperatives states that 57% of farmers participate in advanced cooperatives, with the remainder participating in primary cooperatives. They claim that all farmers in Henan province participate in cooperatives, and that Henan has achieved complete success in rural cooperative development. However, this data is clearly inaccurate. Although the Rural Work Committee made the decision to develop mutual aid groups and cooperatives, it has only been two years since this decision was issued to provinces and cities. Our requirement is to develop mutual aid groups first. Once a certain proportion and foundation are established, we can then develop primary cooperatives on this basis, and finally transition to advanced cooperatives. It's only been two years, while many other provinces are only just now fully implementing mutual aid groups province-wide, and the number of primary cooperatives is still small. Yet, Henan claims that all farmers participate in cooperatives. Furthermore, the proportion of advanced cooperatives is comparable to that of Shanxi. This is a serious problem."

Wei Hongjun knew there was something wrong with some of the data at first glance.

Wei Hongjun is no rookie.

Since the establishment of the base area during the Anti-Japanese War, I have been responsible for rural work for 15 years. This outrageous data is either bragging or completely violates the laws of development and forcefully promotes advanced cooperatives.

Shanxi is developing mutual aid groups and cooperatives step by step.

To combat the severe drought in North China from 1941 to 1943, the Eighth Route Army's former base areas had already begun developing mutual aid groups. By 1946, after the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Luo Weilin had begun developing cooperatives in Huailai. From that point on, cooperative development in Shanxi had been underway for seven years. By then, only half of the cooperatives were advanced, with the remaining half consisting of elementary cooperatives.

Henan has only been developing for a few years.

How can there be so many advanced cooperatives?

The Chairman also understood Wei Hongjun's point. Zhang Qiuping had just mentioned in her report that transitioning from a primary cooperative to an advanced cooperative takes at least two to three years, and many take even longer. But where were all those advanced cooperatives in Henan?

This is fraud.

The chairman's face darkened and he said, "Then let's go and take a look together."

906 Anyang Research

After departing from Handan and entering Anyang, the Chairman planned to visit the countryside and get off at a small station in Anyang.

"Chairman, this won't work."

Upon hearing the Chairman's plan, Du Liqing immediately objected. She then said firmly, "Chairman, our route cannot be changed so arbitrarily. If we deviate from the original route, our security arrangements will be disrupted, and unknown dangers will arise. I am responsible for the Chairman's safety along the way, and I cannot take this risk."

Du Liqing was shocked.

As Minister of Public Security, he accompanied the President on his southern journey, primarily responsible for his safety. He also accompanied the President on inspections of public security facilities in various regions. The Ministry of Public Security provided adequate protection along the designated route. However, if problems arose, who would be held responsible if they deviated from the planned route?

Du Liqing can't be held responsible anyway.

"New China has been established for more than four years, and we have wiped out all the bandits and spies. What danger could there be on our own land, among our own people?"

The chairman waved his hand.

don't care.

Du Liqing was really anxious, so she said, "Chairman, if anything happens to you, I won't be able to explain to the Party and the people. Just in case, why don't we contact the local garrison or the local public security forces?"

"Let's go see the real countryside. There will be crowds of people following us, just like the county magistrate going out. How can we integrate with the people?"

The chairman shook his head.

Du Liqing had no choice but to look at Wei Hongjun. Wei Hongjun stepped forward and said, "Chairman, we definitely need to contact the local authorities. Besides, we're not familiar with this area, so even if we go to the countryside for research, we'll definitely need a guide. I think what Comrade Du Liqing said makes sense. We can contact the local garrison or public security forces. As long as we maintain confidentiality, it won't affect the research."

"Yes, Chairman. We should contact the garrison or the public security forces."

Yang Shangkun also went up to persuade the Chairman.