Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Can you say they are wrong?

also can not.

Because compared to blazing a new trail on your own, it's always easier and simpler to follow a path others have taken. However, whether it's the path taken by the Soviet Union or the path taken by Europe and the United States, it's not easy for China to directly copy it.

After all, each situation is different.

Should we follow the path of the Soviet Union? How was the Soviet Union established? During the October Revolution, they conquered the major cities, leaving the countryside largely unused. But China, on the other hand, is surrounding the cities with the countryside. China's agricultural population is so large, and it's a backward agricultural country. The foundations of development are completely different from those of the Soviet Union itself.

After the founding of the Communist Party of China, the revolution always tried to copy the Soviet Union, but ended up with a bloody failure. Now it is comprehensively learning from the Soviet Union's economic construction, but it is impossible to completely copy the Soviet path.

Follow the path taken by Europe and the United States?

It's not impossible. But China currently lacks the necessary infrastructure. China is currently isolated from the world market. While the US has removed significant imports from its embargo, it hasn't completely lifted it. Furthermore, this is no longer the era of Britain's First Industrial Revolution. If you want to develop light industry today, without a solid foundation in heavy industry, how can you do so?

More importantly, the world is still unsafe at this stage.

The newly born Chinese regime had just fought a war in Korea. While it was fortunate to have purchased large quantities of weapons and equipment from the Soviet Union, it also incurred a significant debt. Therefore, the new China still needed national defense to protect it. Whether it was for an actual war or simply to frighten the enemy into fear, China needed to complete its defense industrialization.

Therefore, heavy industry and defense industry must be developed.

How can China be allowed to slowly develop light industry first, and then develop heavy industry after the demand for heavy industry is met?

Therefore, China must forge its own path to socialist development. However, because no one has ever walked this path before, many aspects are currently in a state of chaos.

Now that the Chairman suddenly heard the term "common prosperity", he certainly thought about it carefully.

And the Chairman agreed with what Chen Tao said.

China is not a small country with a population of only a few million, but a large country with a population of 600 million. There are inherent differences between each province, each city, and each rural area.

This innate characteristic directly affects the rich and poor situation.

This is not something that can be changed in a short period of time.

"But how do we achieve common prosperity? Some of our cadres have a tendency to lump wealthy areas and economically backward areas together, pooling their income and distributing it equally. That way, everyone will be equal."

"Absolute egalitarianism is unacceptable."

The chairman began to comment.

Where does this idea originate? It doesn't actually come from Marxism. Is it more likely the "Great Harmony" philosophy of our Chinese ancestors, or perhaps a shared commonality among all human beings?

Isn’t the most famous saying of our ancestors “It is not the lack of wealth that is worrying, but the inequality of distribution”?

This kind of "absolute egalitarianism" has persisted since the founding of our Party's base areas, severely hampering the development of the revolution. Therefore, Chairman Mao consistently opposed "absolute egalitarianism" in the Jinggangshan base area and later in the Central Soviet Area, striving to prevent its occurrence. However, despite Chairman Mao's efforts over two decades, this kind of absolute egalitarianism still persists widely within the Party.

In fact, the Chairman is very much in favor of egalitarianism.

He worked toward this throughout his life. But the egalitarianism the Chairman pursued was more about equality and fairness, rather than the extreme economic "absolute egalitarianism." These are two completely different concepts. The egalitarianism the Chairman desired was equality among people, political and economic equality, or perhaps, equal opportunity for everyone.

"Yes, we cannot pursue absolute egalitarianism. If we pursue absolute egalitarianism, firstly, it will dampen the people's enthusiasm for production, and secondly, it will encourage many people to think that they can get something for nothing."

Tao Zhu also interrupted.

Tao Zhu also stayed in Guangdong this time and served as the First Deputy Secretary of Guangdong and Governor of Guangdong Province. At the Eighth National Congress, Tao Zhu also became a member of the Central Committee, and his rank within the party was significantly raised.

This is because the central government attaches importance to Guangdong’s work.

Chen Tao continued, "So how can we ensure that those who are well-off can help those who are not, and achieve shared prosperity? I believe there are three methods at this stage. One is macroeconomic regulation of industrial layout by the state. Major projects should be strategically distributed across cities nationwide, ensuring they are both scientifically sound and economically viable. On this basis, we can consider providing assistance to economically underdeveloped regions. We can't simply focus all of these projects on economically strong provinces."

"Some major projects can significantly boost regional development, especially in economically underdeveloped provinces. For example, cities like Baotou and Zhengzhou originally had small populations and poor economies. But with state investment in these factories, their economies will rapidly change. Baotou will become a major industrial city in northwest China, and Zhengzhou a key industrial center in Henan. In economically underdeveloped provinces, suitable industries will be established. Industrially strong provinces will then dispatch cadres and technicians to provide support. This is a form of shared prosperity achieved through the state's macroeconomic regulation of industry. Industrially strong provinces provide manpower and machinery to support underdeveloped provinces. This is the 'rich first driving the poor'."

"In addition to the national industrial layout, this approach can also be applied within a province. Instead of concentrating all industrial resources in the provincial capital, consider supporting other cities. Allowing other cities to develop industry together will achieve common development and prosperity for all cities."

Chen Tao rose to prominence through his work in the countryside.

But during his three years in Guangzhou, besides land reform and rural work, he also encountered many other things. Guangdong is a wealthy province after all, and he was exposed to a lot of knowledge.

He has been reading whenever he has time in recent years.

He not only read a lot of Marxist-Leninist books, but also read Soviet books on economic development, as well as European and American economic books. In addition, he was a senior cadre in Guangdong and was directly involved in Guangdong's economic development.

Therefore, he's more pragmatic than those so-called economists. He can integrate what he's learned with his research on Guangdong's economic development. Chen Tao is naturally a thoughtful cadre. His theoretical learning, combined with practical work, has given him many of his own ideas. The last time Wei Hongjun came to coordinate the rubber production campaign, he discussed "common prosperity" with Chen Tao and briefly shared some of his thoughts.

Chen Tao added to Wei Hongjun's ideas.

The chairman nodded.

I agree with Chen Tao's opinion. The country's industrial layout cannot be completely concentrated in one place. At this stage, due to limited national finances and the need to quickly undertake Soviet aid projects, we can only choose places with better infrastructure.

But this is the development of rotten legs.

When the situation is no longer urgent, we should consider planning industrial development across the country.

The Chairman's impression of Chen Tao changed immediately. This cadre was not only accomplished in rural work, but also had a deep understanding of other aspects.

"Second, fiscal transfer payments. The state collects taxes from various provinces. Richer provinces naturally pay more, while poorer provinces pay less. At this point, the national fiscal system should collect more taxes from richer provinces and transfer them to poorer ones. These transfer payments should support industrial, agricultural, and educational development in poorer provinces. However, these transfer payments must be limited. They shouldn't undermine the productive efforts of richer provinces, nor should they encourage laziness in poorer provinces. If the income of the most developed province in our country is 10, and the income of the poorest province is 1, then these transfer payments should be between 2 and 3, and definitely not 4 or 5."

The chairman hasn't thought it through yet.

Because fiscal transfer payments are currently more of a European and American economic term, China's current financial situation is extremely poor, so how can it have the ability to make transfer payments?

The Chairman also remembered this. Chen Tao continued, "But these are all passive measures, relying on central government regulation. To truly enable the wealthy to drive the poor, in addition to national regulation, it's crucial to establish industrial links between the rich and the poor. This allows the rich and the poor to profit together."

"If the income of a wealthy region is 10 and it has industrial ties with a less-rich region, then a compensation of 2 is given to the less-rich region, leaving the first-rich region with 8. Adding this to the less-rich region's original income of 1, the latter region now has an income of 3. At this point, the country's macroeconomic regulation can collect 2 in taxes from the first-rich region and transfer 1 or 2 to the less-rich region, bringing the latter region's income to 4 or 5. This will narrow the gap between the first-rich and the less-rich regions. Furthermore, these industrial ties will enable the two regions to develop sustainably and jointly. Only this kind of sustained, shared development can effectively enable the first-rich to drive the less-rich."

"It's like the rural areas of Bao'an County. Like most rural areas in China, these areas are populated by people and have limited land. There's not a lot of farm work to do, and one-third of the able-bodied laborers can do it. So, overall, there's a surplus of able-bodied laborers in Bao'an County. After the cooperative was established, a lot of farm work was completed in a short time. After that, so many able-bodied laborers were laid off."

"But the situation is completely different after some cooperatives partner with small Hong Kong merchants. Although those cooperatives don't receive many orders, they can still earn a few thousand yuan a year. Each household can earn 100 to 200 yuan, or even more. However, they are too busy to manage both summer harvest and summer planting during the busy farming season. At this time, they join forces with other cooperatives, handing over their own farm work to other cooperatives, and receiving compensation based on a proportion of their income. This is actually a form of division of labor and industrial cooperation."

"We even plan that once Bao'an County receives more orders, some cooperatives will specialize in transportation. This way, the rural areas here can achieve complete division of labor and collaboration. Some cooperatives specialize in transportation, some specialize in these orders, and some specialize in farming. With this division of labor, everyone will have work to do and can all earn a living from this industry, leading to shared prosperity."

"Once the cooperative becomes wealthy and has accumulated some money, it can buy tractors for farming, cars for transportation, and machinery and equipment to develop larger factories. The extra staff can then start other cooperative businesses, thus boosting the cooperative economy in the countryside."

"After several years of development, these cooperatives have accumulated experience. If they need to build new houses, some of them can open brick and tile factories. While cities have specialized construction companies, rural cooperatives can also pool their masons and train their young workers to become rural cooperative construction companies. This allows for greater industrial collaboration between cooperatives."

"Once the cooperative has accumulated wealth, we can develop cooperative education and medical care, and further improve the lives of the people."

Chen Tao is outlining a beautiful rural cooperative economy.

The chairman was silent.

The rural cooperative economy that Chen Tao described to the Chairman surpassed his previous considerations. While the prospects were certainly promising, the road ahead was tortuous. It was impossible to achieve prosperity for everyone so easily.

But it's a very good idea.

In fact, what Chen Tao said throughout the speech can be summed up in the simplest terms of our ancestors: "It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish." To develop, one must have the ability to generate income on their own; relying solely on the charity of others will never lead to development.

If you want to have the ability to generate your own income, you must have an industry.

Seeing the chairman remained silent, Wei Hongjun spoke up, "If the rural cooperative economy thrives, it will provide significant financial support. These are small businesses, and they receive certain tax incentives. Even with these incentives, it will still significantly supplement the fiscal budget. Furthermore, once Bao'an County's rural areas develop, it will influence cooperatives in other counties like a wave, bringing them into the division of labor and cooperation."

Wei Hongjun spoke, and the Chairman came out of his thoughts.

He muttered to himself, "With industrial division of labor and cooperation, everyone can share the profits and achieve common prosperity. The prosperity of the cooperative will stimulate the rural consumer market and provide more sales channels for industrial products."

The Chairman felt that he had grasped some ideas.

But he couldn't articulate what it was. But the Chairman knew the direction he had always supported for rural cooperatives was correct. Only by working together and developing a cooperative economy could rural areas gain greater voice.

If only individual businesses develop, capitalists and landlords will soon reappear, some will start taking concubines, and the socialist economic system will begin to be challenged. Moreover, the development of individual businesses cannot take over China's industrial products.

Only when the cooperatives develop and have money can they absorb those large industrial products.

When cooperative members have money, they can consume those consumer industrial products.

"Chairman, there is one more thing."

"what?"

"Some cooperatives are looking to collaborate. A few days ago, while I was conducting research in Bao'an County, two cooperative officials approached me. Both of them currently have some orders, and they're thinking of joining forces to build a larger factory to take on more orders. Their idea is to determine the shares held by each based on the number of sewing machines they contribute, and then share the profits based on the proportion of shares. However, I'm not sure about this kind of collaboration between cooperatives, especially in the form of shares."

911 Cooperative Cooperation

Cooperation between cooperatives.

True improvements in production efficiency primarily come from division of labor and cooperation. The better the division of labor and cooperation, the higher the production efficiency. Human history is a history of continuous division of labor and cooperation. How to accurately promote division of labor and cooperation is a crucial issue that must be addressed during industrialization. This kind of division of labor and cooperation naturally emerges with the development of industry.

However, in China's case, it was impossible to wait for the industry to develop slowly on its own. Therefore, the choice was for the state to directly invest in the development of industry, and the division of labor and cooperation was to learn while building.

This is where the role of many Soviet experts lies.

They told the Chinese industrial cadres and workers, who had no experience at all, how division of labor and cooperation were carried out in factories.

The same applies to mutual aid groups and cooperatives. Division of labor and cooperation isn't exclusive to industry; agriculture can also practice it. The purpose of mutual aid groups and cooperatives, in addition to improving the efficiency of the use of means of production, is to enhance production efficiency through division of labor and cooperation, just as in industry.

But these are all government-driven.

But look at what independent development looks like.

The cooperatives in Bao'an County are a good example. With orders and the ability to generate revenue, the two cooperatives began to explore opportunities for collaboration without government guidance. However, the chairman didn't directly answer Chen Tao's question. Instead, he inquired, "How are the cooperatives in Bao'an County developing?"

After coming down from Henan, the Chairman discovered that the development of cooperatives in the newly liberated areas was relatively slow.

Deng Zhihui is a steady cadre.

Mutual aid groups in Hubei and Hunan are developing very well, and are only now slowly entering the primary cooperative stage. However, according to Chen Tao's introduction, the cooperatives in Bao'an County should be developing very well.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many cooperatives that can do OEM.

But Guangdong was also a newly liberated area, liberated even later than Henan, Hubei, and Hunan. How could the cooperatives here have developed this way? The Chairman certainly didn't want the cooperatives here to be like Henan.

“Overall, the development is going smoothly.”

"How did you solve the cadre problem? Many cooperatives in Henan have serious problems. In particular, there are not enough cadres to manage the accounts, so the accounts are in a mess. How did you solve this problem?"

The development of cooperatives ultimately comes down to a cadre issue.

It is also a problem of farmers' education.

Luo Qirong spoke on behalf of Chen Tao, saying, "After Comrade Chen Tao arrived in Guangdong, he simultaneously carried out land reform and developed mutual aid groups. Although Guangdong was liberated later than some other provinces, we developed mutual aid groups more than a year or nearly two years earlier than other newly liberated areas. Furthermore, to improve the situation in Guangdong's rural areas, starting in early 1950, Guangdong Province implemented a downsizing policy at all levels of government, starting with provincial departments. They decided to reduce staff in government offices and increase frontline workers. They also deployed a large number of cadres to villages to participate in a three-year rural literacy campaign. Many young overseas Chinese who had returned to participate in construction also participated in Guangdong Province's vigorous literacy campaign. After more than two years of this campaign, over seven million people in rural Guangdong Province were freed from illiteracy. These people now know the basic 700 Chinese characters and roughly the 500 commonly used words. They can write simple letters and understand newspaper articles. Our goal, through this three-year intensive literacy campaign, is to completely eradicate illiteracy in all rural residents aged 1000 to 12, enabling them to read newspapers and understand policy documents."

"They are not only responsible for Chinese literacy, but also for teaching them some basic math. Those with outstanding mathematical skills receive intensive training, learning how to keep simple accounts. These individuals are assigned to mutual aid groups to keep accounts and gain more work experience. After more than two years of training, we have cultivated a large number of mutual aid group cadres in rural areas who have mastered mathematical calculations and know how to manage simple accounts."

Luo Qirong is still very proud when talking about this.

After several rounds of crackdowns in rural Guangdong, local cadres were greatly affected.

But work was not delayed at all.

Chen Tao arrived in Guangdong in 1948 and simultaneously promoted mutual aid groups while carrying out land reform. His extensive experience in Chahar, Shanxi, and Hebei made him adept at promoting mutual aid groups. Other newly liberated areas only began developing mutual aid groups after the Fourth Session of the Seventh Central Committee in 1950, when Wei Hongjun, in charge of the Rural Work Committee, formulated a plan for developing mutual aid groups and rural cooperatives and issued it to local governments. In contrast, Chen Tao's simultaneous development of mutual aid groups during land reform preempted the other liberated areas by over a year.

Luo Qirong strongly supported Chen Tao and chose to carry out a large-scale downsizing of the military and political organs. The extra cadres went to the countryside to cooperate with the land reform at that time, to eliminate feudal landlords and feudal clans, and to carry out literacy work.

Sometimes these campaign-style offensives were quite effective. Land reform, literacy campaigns, and crackdowns on feudal landlords and the clan system—although there were some instances of excess and exaggeration—were generally quite effective.

After two years of intensive work, the literacy campaign has achieved remarkable results.