Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

After Stalin's death, many issues remained, presenting challenges that were difficult to resolve. Khrushchev clearly lacked the delicate skills to handle these matters. As conflicts continued to accumulate and defy resolution, he resorted to "secret reports."

By pushing all problems onto Comrade Stalin, they gave domestic contradictions an outlet. This way, these domestic contradictions would not be directed directly at the Central Committee of the CPSU. It was better to let Comrade Stalin bear the brunt of these problems than to let the Central Committee of the CPSU face these contradictions.

Khrushchev's "secret report" wasn't necessarily what he had originally intended. He chose this extreme measure simply because he was unable to deal with the numerous serious conflicts at home.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun wrote in this report: "It is recommended that the Central Committee follow the Soviet Union in downplaying the role of Comrade Stalin in its propaganda, gradually phasing out Comrade Stalin in domestic propaganda." The report reveals that the Soviet Union has accumulated numerous contradictions, and these contradictions have continued to accumulate. If the CPSU Central Committee is unable to resolve these contradictions, the CPSU will need an outlet for these accumulated contradictions for the sake of domestic stability. It is very likely that the CPSU Central Committee will then direct the contradictions towards the deceased Comrade Stalin, forcing him to bear the brunt of these contradictions. If our propaganda does not downplay the role of our opponent, Comrade Stalin, and the Soviet Union actually turns the outlet towards Comrade Stalin, it will easily harm our propaganda and cause confusion in our ideological sphere. Please ask Yang Shangkun to forward this to Comrade Li Desheng."

After finishing the report, Wei Hongjun looked up and asked, "Have you read the report?" "I had already read it before coming to you."

Mao Zemin nodded.

Then he said, "When Comrade Stalin was in power, the cult of personality was indeed somewhat abnormal. The CPSU Central Committee's current emphasis on the power of the masses and the collective is correct. Their attitude towards history and the technological development of Western countries is particularly encouraging. I heard that you have achieved great success in jade breeding, which was once criticized by Soviet experts."

“The yield per mu has tripled.”

After large-scale corn planting last year, the yield per mu reached nearly 400 kilograms, which made the Ministry of Agriculture very excited.

The rapid increase in corn yield per mu is a huge leap for my country's grain production. Currently, China's corn planting area is about 300 million mu. Once corn yield per mu increases, China's corn planting area could grow to about 500 million mu.

Because corn is not picky about the soil.

Corn can be grown on many mountainous areas.

"That's right. Soviet experts used to be extremely resistant to Western technology. If it weren't for your insistence, we wouldn't have achieved our current production. Now that the Soviet Union has changed in this regard, it's a good thing for the socialist camp. Don't impose political charges on scientific matters."

Wei Hongjun shook his head.

Seriously, he said, "What I'm worried about is that the CPSU Central Committee, while strengthening its collective power and downplaying Comrade Stalin, might even deny Comrade Stalin. They might blame Comrade Stalin for all the root causes of the current problems in the Soviet Union."

"How is that possible? Comrade Stalin led the Central Committee of the CPSU for nearly thirty years. The history of Comrade Stalin and the history of the CPSU overlap. To deny Comrade Stalin is to deny the CPSU's three-plus decades of history."

Mao Zemin shook his head.

I think this is a fairy tale.

What does it mean to deny Comrade Stalin? That's nearly thirty years of Soviet history. If you deny Comrade Stalin, then what about the nearly three thousand years of Soviet history? Wei Hongjun said, "You've seen Comrade Khrushchev's character before. There were so many people in that meeting, and he was so excited that he slammed the table and sang at the same time. His character is truly unpredictable."

Mao Zemin smiled when talking about this.

Even someone as careless about rules as the Chairman would not do such a thing. But Khrushchev was different.

During the negotiations, Khrushchev and Chairman Mao were so excited that they slammed the table and sang in the presence of high-ranking officials from both China and the Soviet Union, leaving thousands of Chinese officials stunned.

Wei Hongjun quickly shook his head.

I couldn't stop this myself. I could only simply remind the Central Committee to tone down the propaganda of my opponent, Comrade Stalin. Furthermore, Wei Hongjun had previously detailed the differences between China and Eastern Europe in his report to the Central Committee. Eastern Europe's chaos had nothing to do with China. China is developing so well now; as long as it remains stable, it won't be afraid of any storm.

"By the way, what's up?" Everyone is busy lately.

Mao Zemin is now in charge of more departments and has a busier work schedule.

Normal matters can be discussed over the phone; there's no need to come in person. Mao Zemin said, "Guangdong Province has written a report to the Ministry of Foreign Trade. They want to follow the model of the Harbin Trade Fair and hold the Canton Fair in Guangzhou."

"This is a good thing."

Wei Hongjun had previously supported the Canton Fair.

The Canton Fair's significance in China's foreign trade history cannot be overstated. Since its inception, the Canton Fair has consistently held a significant role in China's foreign trade. Therefore, even during the height of the turmoil in 1966 and 1967, the central government did not stop holding the Canton Fair.

Mao Zemin said: "I also know it is a good thing. However, the Canton Fair is different from the Harbin Fair. For the Harbin Fair, we sent invitations to the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, and their foreign trade departments all sent people to participate. But the Canton Fair faces more countries and businessmen, and there may be some businessmen from countries where our country has not established diplomatic relations. We don’t know what they need. Similarly, they have no understanding of our country and don’t know what business they can do with us. If we suddenly hold the Canton Fair, these businessmen will have some concerns and dare not come to participate. Or they didn’t get the news, so they couldn’t come. I am worried that hastily holding a Canton Fair will cause problems. If the first Canton Fair is not successful, it will dampen the enthusiasm of the thousands of departments below."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think about Guangzhou holding a small-scale, long-term exhibition first?" "A small-scale, long-term exhibition."

"Yes. We can start in March or April and run it until around October. This way, many people will know there's an exhibition in Guangzhou and see what kind of products our country has. Once we've established some cooperation with these merchants and they've learned about our products, we can hold a large-scale trade fair like the Harbin Trade Fair."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Mao Zemin's approach is relatively safe.

So he said, "You can decide this. Why did you come to me?"

"Of course I'll look for you. Besides agricultural and sideline products, the products we can exhibit now are light industrial products. Guangdong is quite anxious and wants to start in March of this year. Without your cooperation, how can we proceed?"

"Ah."

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said, "How about this? I ask Comrade Song Shaowen from the Fifth Office and Comrade Sha Qianli, the Minister of Local Industry, to work with you?"

Wei Hongjun has high hopes for the Canton Fair.

If the Canton Fair is well organized, it will be a great support for promoting China's imports and exports.

"That's what I've been waiting for."

"Then let's not waste time. I have a meeting with the Forestry Department this afternoon. So at 7 o'clock this evening, the two of us will convene a joint meeting of the Fifth and Sixth Offices to finalize this matter as soon as possible."

"it is good."

928 Rural Medical Development

1954 was the seventh year since the founding of New China.

Wei Hongjun convened a national rural work conference at the beginning of the year. Deputy provincial governors in charge of rural work were present, and in some provinces the governors themselves attended the conference. At this conference, Deng Zhihui delivered a report on rural work in 1953.

Starting from the development of rural mutual aid groups and cooperatives, to the situation of cultivated land and grain production across the country, as well as the achievements of the North China Seed Research Institute and the planting situation in North China, etc.

Overall, rural work across the country developed very well in 1953. Grain production also increased.

Of course there are some shortcomings.

Deng Zhihui specifically criticized two currents of thought. One was Henan, where the push for cooperatives, driven by political ambition, led to many farmers withdrawing from them. The other was a laissez-faire approach in rural areas, with no guidance given to the development of mutual aid groups. The result was that the stronger rural mutual aid groups became stronger, with wealthy families and young adults banding together to form them, excluding the elderly, the weak, women, and children. This violated the original purpose of establishing mutual aid groups and cooperatives.

Both are undesirable tendencies.

After Deng Zhihui finished his rural work report, Wei Hongjun once again criticized these two dangerous tendencies.

Wei Hongjun criticized these two tendencies, saying they stem from cadres' unwillingness to seek truth from facts and their unwillingness to make bold efforts to develop rural areas. Our cadres, when working in rural areas, must understand how to guide rural development, not dictate it.

After summarizing the rural work in 1953, Wei Hongjun began to deploy the rural work in 1954.

In particular, the focus was on the development of cooperatives.

At this meeting, the Ministry of Rural Affairs required all provinces to organize large-scale training courses for 1954 cooperative leaders in . The number of leaders required to be trained varied according to the circumstances of each province.

Provinces with relatively well-developed mutual aid groups began transitioning to primary cooperatives in 1954, so training was a particularly important task. Of course, only some villages, not all, were to join primary cooperatives. For example, in Hubei and Hunan, this year's goal is to train 8000 to 10000 cooperative leaders in each province. By 1954, approximately 3000 to 5000 primary cooperatives should be developed, representing one-tenth to one-twentieth of the province's future primary cooperatives. A small number should be developed first, and the situation will be monitored to lay the foundation for the province-wide expansion of primary cooperatives. Hubei and Hunan have a strong foundation, so if the first stage of primary cooperative development is a complete success, the second stage will be much easier.

In order to support Hubei and Hunan, a group of teachers from cooperative cadre training schools were transferred from Shanxi and Hebei to the south to help train cadres in Hubei and Hunan.

至于互助组发展不是很充分的地区，今年的任务除了培养合作社千部，还要培养互助组千部。衣村工作部1954年的任务就是,全国各省进入互助组的人员要超过农村全体农民的95%。一些互助组发展比较好的省份,1954年进入初级合作社的比例在5%到10%之间。互助组发展比较差的省份，1954年进入初级合作社的比例应该在1%到3%之间。

Some cooperatives, with relatively good development, can gradually move from primary to advanced cooperatives. Shanxi is the region with the best cooperative development, with over 4 primary and advanced cooperatives in the province. According to the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, the proportion of advanced cooperatives in Shanxi will reach 1954% by 87.

This task is not very difficult.

If the rural situation didn't allow it, Deng Zhihui would be the first to speak out in opposition. He wasn't even willing to give the Chairman face. Eight days earlier, he had clashed with the Chairman over the issue of rural cooperatives, receiving repeated criticism from the Chairman. As a result, he lost the Politburo election eight days later. Even so, Deng Zhihui refused to admit his wrongdoing. The Chairman even lamented, helplessly, that Deng Zhihui had criticized him for over two hours.

The reason why Deng Zhihui did not raise any objections was that the goals proposed by Wei Hongjun were achievable.

If even this goal cannot be achieved, then the problem lies with local cadres. For many years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, rural areas have consistently developed mutual aid groups. In most provinces, mutual aid groups have developed well and are ready to move on to cooperative development. The slow development in some areas is due to historical and cadre issues.

At the same time, during the meeting, Wei Hongjun emphasized the role of mathematics.

From the outset, a primary cooperative is no longer simply a mutual aid group of a few households. Instead, it becomes a basic rural production unit encompassing dozens or even thousands of households, with independent financial accounting. The importance of accounting in such a production unit cannot be overstated. Therefore, it is crucial not to blindly enter a primary cooperative without first developing sufficient accounting skills.

Therefore, in the training of cooperative cadres, we must focus on training a group of cadres with mathematical knowledge.

The Rural Affairs Department's final evaluation of each region's work will consider not only the number of cooperatives but also their quality, with each accounting for half of the weight. Simply meeting the required number without satisfying the quality will result in a failure. However, simply achieving quality while lagging far behind in number will also result in a failure.

The Rural Work Department would periodically send personnel to spot-check the development of cooperatives. Wei Hongjun assigned the 1954 cooperative issue to Deng Zhihui and Lai Ruoyu. Deng Zhihui was steady, while Lai Ruoyu was experienced, and they were able to balance the development of cooperatives nationwide in 1954.

Wei Hongjun's idea was to have 1954 qualified primary and advanced cooperatives nationwide by 30. With this foundation in place, the number could be doubled by 1955, reaching around 60 qualified primary and advanced cooperatives.

After deploying the rural work in 1954, Wei Hongjun went south to Shijiazhuang to inspect the North China Pharmaceutical Factory.

The first batch of penicillin produced by the North China Pharmaceutical Factory had officially rolled off the production line. This was a major event, drawing intense attention from the entire central government. The reason was that penicillin was currently too expensive, making it unaffordable not only for rural farmers but also for ordinary grassroots cadres and the working class.

However, penicillin is currently the most commonly used and best-used drug for various diseases.

Therefore, everyone in New China is looking forward to domestically producing penicillin. Now North China Pharmaceutical has launched a new line of penicillin, which can be produced on a large scale.

"Comrade Zhang Liang, how much penicillin can you produce?"

Wei Hongjun watched the production line running and asked Zhang Liang, the director of the North China Pharmaceutical Factory.

Zhang Liang is forty years old this year.

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he served in the Hebei-Central Military Region and for a long time served as Commissioner of the Seventh Special Administrative Region of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region. Later, when the original Hebei-Central Military Region was abolished and the new Hebei-Central Military Region of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region was established, he became Secretary-General of the Hebei-Central Prefectural Committee. He remained in the committee until the end of the Battle of Peiping-Tianjin.

In 1948, the Fifth Field Army moved south, and Zhang Liang served as a member of the cadre group of the North China Bureau moving south.

After the Fifth Field Army liberated southern Anhui, Zhang Liang remained with the 73rd Army and served as secretary of the Wuhu Prefectural Party Committee. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Liang was promoted to the central government, serving as deputy director of the Pharmaceutical Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Light Industry. During the construction of the North China Pharmaceutical Factory, Wei Hongjun recommended Zhang Liang for directorship.

Because there were many problems when the North China Pharmaceutical Factory was built.

Construction was slow compared to other factories, so Zhang Liang was dispatched to lead the effort, and the results were impressive. Construction of the North China Pharmaceutical Factory was completed over a year ahead of schedule, much to the amazement of Soviet experts.

Zhang Liang has made great contributions to the North China Pharmaceutical Factory. Once the North China Pharmaceutical Factory is on the right track, he will definitely return to the central government departments.

"According to our estimates, the annual production of penicillin this year can reach 100 tons."

"Can it really reach 100 tons?"

"Absolutely true. And this is only this year's output. As we master penicillin production technology, annual output will double in the future. According to the designed output of the North China Pharmaceutical Factory, the output should reach around 1960 tons around 1500."

Zhang Liang gave Wei Hongjun a very affirmative answer and also gave a forecast of future production.

Compared to later generations, when production often reached tens of thousands of tons, 100 tons wasn't much. But for China at that time, it was a remarkable breakthrough. Currently, the price of a 0.12-gram vial of penicillin imported into China was equivalent to 0.9 grams of gold.

You can imagine how expensive penicillin was in that era.

How much foreign exchange can be saved by producing it ourselves now?

"Comrade Zhang Weishen, I heard that a young comrade in your team played an important role in cultivating our own new penicillin strain."

Wei Hongjun had read the report from the North China Pharmaceutical Factory.

Previously, China relied entirely on imported strains for penicillin production. A single 1-unit strain cost $3 from the United States. Penicillin strains imported from the Soviet Union were less effective. However, Zhang Weijia, in charge of the Antibiotics Research Institute, resolved many of these issues.

Starting from raw materials, we have made breakthroughs in the independent cultivation of penicillin strains.

North China Pharmaceutical Factory no longer needs to import antibiotic strains; it can cultivate them entirely in-house. Zhang Weishen specifically mentioned the name of a very young technician in his report, and Wei Hongjun even remembered her name. Zhang Weishen had such a high opinion of her.

Zhang Weishen immediately pulled out a young woman in her twenties from the back and said to Wei Hongjun, "This is Comrade Tao Jingzhi. She's only 23 years old this year and graduated from the Department of Biology at Fudan University with a degree in Microbiology. She was the one who insisted on breeding her own strains, which Soviet experts at the time considered unreliable. But she managed to succeed, and her strains are even better than the ones we imported from the Soviet Union."

Wei Hongjun looked at the uneasy, very young Tao Jingzhi and said, "Comrade Tao Jingzhi, the scientific and technological personnel of our new China must have this spirit of a newborn calf fearless of a tiger. This move has saved the country an untold amount of foreign exchange and laid a solid foundation for the large-scale production of penicillin and even antibiotics. Your achievements and name will be recorded in the history of the future Republic."

Wei Hongjun was very happy.