Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Seeing this, Zhang Wentian knew that this matter was useless. But what he wanted to talk about was not just the work style. So he changed the subject and said: "Prime Minister, there is another question. Are we too extravagant in receiving foreign guests? I believe that the core of diplomatic work does not lie in the reception work, not in the pomp, not in the quality of the food, but mainly in the policy. If the policy is right, then even if the reception is simpler, the issues that can be negotiated can naturally be negotiated. But if the policy is wrong, then no matter how good the food is, those who want to oppose you will still oppose you, and those who cannot be negotiated will still not be negotiated. When we engage in diplomacy, we should use our foreign policy to make friends, not rely on eating and drinking to make friends."

Zhang Wentian's words once again plunged the meeting into an awkward situation, as the Prime Minister attached great importance to diplomatic etiquette.

The Premier personally arranges everything from transportation to accommodation, food, and drinks for foreign guests. But now Zhang Wentian directly criticized this. The Premier was somewhat annoyed, but he managed to contain his temper, saying, "Comrade Zhang Wentian, we are a great country. We must demonstrate our warm hospitality to our foreign friends and at the same time, showcase the new spirit of New China. Diplomatic etiquette is a matter of respect."

"Even if diplomatic etiquette is important, there's no need for such extravagance. You don't have to drink Moutai at a banquet! Moutai is so expensive. And you think it's noble to have so many dishes and eat seafood, but people are afraid of puffer fish. Foreigners are afraid of things like bear paws."

Zhang Wentian did not find the Prime Minister's explanation plausible and instead directly criticized it.

He even said, "A bottle of Moutai costs three yuan on the market, but the Moutai used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is even more expensive. A single banquet for foreign guests uses hundreds of bottles of Moutai, and many go unused, resulting in a significant amount of waste. I suggest that our reception etiquette should be reformed, replacing the extravagant style with a simpler one. When British Prime Minister Eden entertained us in Geneva, the dishes were simple, but that didn't prevent our two countries from reaching a series of cooperation agreements."

The Prime Minister, who had always suppressed his temper, was really furious this time. He said, "If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs runs out of money for the dinner, use my salary to cover it." The Prime Minister usually didn't get angry very often.

But his anger calmed many cadres down.

"Comrade Zhang Wentian, this kind of thinking is very dangerous. New China has just been established, and we must make a good impression on foreigners. Especially since modern times, foreigners have many prejudices and misunderstandings about China. If we disregard diplomatic etiquette, then in the eyes of foreigners, we will still be that ignorant, backward, closed-minded, vulgar country that does not understand etiquette. New China needs to present a very good image to foreigners and build up the self-confidence of the Chinese people."

Zhang Wentian was also shocked when the Prime Minister got angry.

It had been a long time since he'd seen the Prime Minister get angry. But Zhang Wentian retained his scholarly spirit, and when the Prime Minister criticized him, he actually got excited. He said, "The last time a Burmese delegation visited China, the relevant departments, in accordance with the regulations set by the Prime Minister, gave each person a fur coat before leaving. For us Chinese, fur coats are very valuable and precious, but for the Burmese, they are unnecessary. Myanmar is located in the tropics, with relatively high temperatures year-round, and there's no time to wear fur coats. This is typical formalism, diplomatic etiquette for the sake of diplomatic etiquette. It seems that we abide by diplomatic etiquette and give gifts to each foreign guest, but in reality? Who knows how they will laugh at us when they return home."

"Furthermore, with the opening up of my country's diplomatic landscape in recent years, hundreds, even thousands, of foreign delegations visit China every year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides such high-level receptions each time, and the annual reception costs are substantial. Furthermore, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs sets a bad example, and governments at all levels are following suit. The number of foreign experts and businesspeople visiting China has skyrocketed in recent years, reaching dozens or even hundreds of times the number at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Because our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is so ostentatious about upholding diplomatic etiquette, governments at all levels are now extremely cautious when receiving foreigners, fearing that neglecting them might cause diplomatic problems. Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' annual reception costs, combined with the funds spent by governments at all levels on hosting foreign experts and businesspeople, are astronomical."

"Now that New China has been established, we should be upright and make friends through our foreign policy, rather than being as timid as Chiang Kai-shek's government was, treating foreigners with trepidation. If we don't know how to treat people as equals in the diplomatic field, then what's the difference between New China's diplomacy and that of the old China?"

Many people stared at Zhang Wentian blankly.

This person is truly outspoken. First, he criticized the Prime Minister's work style, and now he's criticizing the diplomatic protocol personally formulated by the Prime Minister.

Zhang Wentian is just that tough.

Not to mention the period before the Anti-Japanese War, after the war, he first clashed with Peng Zhen over strategic issues in Northeast China. Later, he clashed with Comrade Xiu Yang over the issue of rich peasant Party membership. Later, after being transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he criticized the Premier's work style and diplomatic etiquette. Therefore, after the Lushan Conference, Zhang Wentian was accused of being "opposing the Premier."

This is where the accusation comes from.

Qiao Guanhua reacted quickly and said, "Comrade Zhang Wentian, you're going too far. We want to showcase the new face of New China, to let foreigners know that China is now a progressive and civilized country. This is a diplomatic etiquette, not the capitulationist diplomacy of Chiang Kai-shek's traitorous government that sells out national sovereignty and fawns over foreign powers. You're seriously misleading by equating New China's diplomacy with Chiang Kai-shek's traitorous government."

"Correct."

Marshal Chen immediately criticized, "Comrade Zhang Wentian, your understanding is too one-sided. Our New China's diplomacy is a diplomacy of peace and equality. Regardless of the size or strength of a country, we treat it equally. Our diplomatic etiquette treats all countries equally, not just the great powers. How can this be confused with the capitulation diplomacy of Chiang Kai-shek's traitorous government, which sold out sovereignty to the great powers? Comrade Zhang Wentian, why don't you quickly review your mistakes?"

Chen Shuai also agreed with most of what Zhang Wentian said, including the Prime Minister's work style.

Chen Shuai also thought there was a problem.

But Chen Shuai felt that Zhang Wentian's outspokenness and accusations at a public meeting were inappropriate. The Premier not only directly oversees the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but is also the Premier of the State Council, a member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee, and a national leader.

The Prime Minister’s prestige must be maintained in public.

Chen Shuai and Zhang Wentian worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had a good relationship. So he quickly tried to smooth things over. However, Zhang Wentian was stubborn and, while he recognized his tone, he was unwilling to admit his mistake.

As a result, the conference, which was originally intended to receive the French delegation and discuss the establishment of diplomatic relations with Britain and France, ended in a bad mood.

"what's wrong with you?"

After the meeting, Liu Ying followed Zhang Wentian to his office and started complaining about him the moment she entered.

Zhang Wentian stopped and said, "What's wrong with me? This is Comrade Wu Hao's fault. Tell me, how could a Premier of the State Council even decide the dishes for entertaining foreign guests at a Ministry of Foreign Affairs meeting? Is this what a Premier of the State Council should do? I think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Protocol Department is almost becoming Comrade Wu Hao's secretariat."

"But you shouldn't have spoken so directly about Comrade Wu Hao at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs meeting."

"A gentleman is open and honest. We are all Communists, and we are what we are. The Chairman's 'Oppose Liberalism' includes a line: 'Don't speak to someone's face, but talk behind their back; don't speak in meetings, but talk afterward.' This is a characteristic of liberalism. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' working conferences are meant to allow everyone to speak freely, to criticize and self-criticize. Look at the current state of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So many people are playing dirty, blaming Comrade Wu Hao instead of handling issues, and making work very inefficient. But the source of all these problems is Comrade Wu Hao."

Liu Ying sighed.

Even if Zhang Wentian wasn't completely despised by everyone in the Central Committee, he was definitely ostracized. Several key Central Committee leaders, including the Chairman, Comrade Wu Hao, and even the Commander-in-Chief, disliked Zhang Wentian.

But Zhang Wentian has no self-awareness at all.

Liu Ying lowered her voice and asked, "Did Comrade Gao Gang ask you to say that?" "What does it have to do with Comrade Gao Gang?"

Zhang Wentian was stunned and asked Liu Ying in confusion.

Liu Ying looked at Zhang Wentian's expression and didn't seem to be lying. But Liu Ying couldn't help but say, "You and Comrade Gao Gang should keep some distance."

"We have some personal connections, but that's normal comrades-in-law. It's just the two of us, nothing else."

Zhang Wentian shook his head.

Although Zhang Wentian was very bookish, he also understood what Liu Ying meant.

Looking at the stubborn Zhang Wentian, Liu Ying could only sigh. Zhang Wentian's attack today would trigger many people's suspicions about the relationship between Gao Gang and Zhang Wentian. It would also create tension between the Prime Minister and Zhang Wentian, who had always had a good relationship.

Chapter 962 Secretariat Meeting

There are no secrets in public meetings at the central government. Shortly after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' work conference ended, the events that took place there quickly spread throughout the various ministries and commissions, and all central government officials were informed.

There were actually some people who agreed with Zhang Wentian's opinion, especially the cadres who lined up every time.

Because Comrade Wu Hao was the Premier of the State Council, many important documents from the various ministries and commissions of the State Council ultimately required the Premier's approval. Even if the Premier simply drew a line to indicate "approval," his signature was still required because of procedural procedures. While these matters should be simple, the result was that when the leaders of the various ministries and commissions went to the Premier for approval, they often had to wait a long time.

Because the Prime Minister is too busy.

Many leaders have long considered asking the Premier to change this working style. However, the Premier does not directly oversee the various State Council ministries, so there is limited overlap in their work. Unlike the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is directly managed by the Premier, the officials within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs feel these issues most deeply.

Some cadres think that what Zhang Wentian did was wrong.

If you have any questions, you can discuss them privately with the Premier. After all, the Premier is the head of the State Council, the highest administrative leader. It is inappropriate to publicly criticize the Premier's working methods and the diplomatic protocol he personally established.

Of course, many people also suspected that Zhang Wentian was charging into battle for Gao Gang.

Doubt their relationship.

After all, Gao Gang had just targeted the State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and something like this had happened. One had to wonder if there was some connection between them.

Even Wei Hongjun, after hearing about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs meeting, began to doubt the relationship between Gao Gang and Zhang Wentian. Wei Hongjun and Zhang Wentian had little interaction, had never actually worked together, and were not familiar with Zhang Wentian himself. It was unclear whether this was just Zhang Wentian's idea or if he was cooperating with Gao Gang.

Wei Hongjun understood one thing in his heart.

Regardless of whether Gao Gang’s idea succeeds this time, Zhang Wentian will be criticized in the end.

There is a reason why leaders prefer to use acquaintances, because they are familiar.

Just like now, Wei Hongjun was not familiar with Zhang Wentian. Therefore, he could not judge the specific cause of the incident at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' meeting. Was Zhang Wentian just discussing the matter at hand, or was it related to Gao Gang's current situation?

It’s really fucking MM.

Wei Hongjun couldn't help but swear.

However, Wei Hongjun quickly put this matter behind him.

Because Wei Hongjun had more important things to do. The summer harvest situation had been reported. Wei Hongjun looked at the summer harvest grain output and said, "How is the spot check going?"

After Wei Hongjun took charge of rural affairs, he would conduct random checks on grain production in various places after each grain production report was submitted. He would check two or three counties in each province and then send people to investigate whether the reported data was true.

Sometimes the number of counties sampled is large, sometimes it's small. It's just random sampling.

Only by being casual can local governments be defenseless.

Wei Hongjun didn't expect this random check to ensure the data reported by local governments was fully prepared. As long as the reported grain production data was generally free of major problems, Wei Hongjun would be satisfied. Zhao Dezun was in charge of this matter, so he reported: "The random checks haven't been fully completed yet. However, based on the situation in the towns and villages that have completed the random checks so far, the reported data is roughly the same as the actual output in about 76%. 5% reported data that was no more than 13% higher than the actual output, 5% reported data that was 4% higher than the actual output, 5% reported data that was less than 5% of the actual output, and 5% reported data that was more than 2% lower than the actual output."

Wei Hongjun looked at the data and said, "Two situations here must be dealt with seriously. One is that the reported data is more than 5% higher than the actual output. Such a large discrepancy between the reported data and the actual output indicates either that the local cadres are not competent enough or lack the ability, or that they are falsely reporting the data and fabricating their achievements. Either of these two is a serious dereliction of duty by the local cadres. The other is that the reported data is more than 5% lower than the actual output. If this is not a problem of ability, then it means that they are deliberately concealing the output and evading their obligations to the state for public grain production, which is even more serious."

The Ministry of Rural Affairs chose the figure of 5% because it is difficult to confuse.

Currently, even the smallest rural cooperatives typically produce tens of thousands of kilograms of grain annually. A 5% error would mean at least thousands of kilograms. No matter how many problems a rural production cooperative encounters, it's unlikely to have a grain yield error of even a few thousand kilograms.

If a rural cooperative has an error of thousands or tens of thousands of kilograms, and a county has at least one or two hundred production cooperatives, how much data will be affected by the error? It will be an error of hundreds of thousands or millions of kilograms of grain.

Of course, this does not mean that the 5% division is absolutely scientific.

It's just that the Rural Work Department made the division based on past work. "Yes."

Deng Zhihui said, "The discrepancy between the reported data and actual production in two counties isn't a big deal. The real concern is that the data reported by most counties is flawed. my country currently has around 2000 counties. If the data from each county has significant errors, then the total error in grain production would be astronomical. If this were to happen, the data provided to the central government would be distorted, directly impacting the policies it intends to implement."

"However, any human-generated statistics are bound to have some errors. This is related to the level and ability of the cadres. Therefore, we must do our best to ensure that the reported data roughly matches the actual production. Any discrepancies between reported data and actual production due to incompetence require training. However, if the reported data is arbitrarily altered for personal gain, resulting in discrepancies with actual production, such cadres will not simply be disciplined but will be subject to organizational action. This is a serious act of concealment and a manifestation of bureaucracy and localism."

Deng Zhihui supported Wei Hongjun's idea.

Whether the reported figures are higher or lower than the actual production, they must be thoroughly investigated.

Because they are not good phenomena.

One is bureaucracy, driven by the desire to show off one's political achievements. The other is localism, driven by the desire to reduce grain taxes and the unified purchase and sale of grain. The officials involved must be dealt with accordingly.

"Also, judging from the summer grain output, I always feel that Henan's development is a bit slow."

Wei Hongjun looked at the data and finally clicked on Henan.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Henan's grain production is low, but rather that it's far from the granary Wei Hongjun envisioned. Li Shaocheng replied, "Henan's grain production is growing rapidly. When the People's Republic of China was founded, Henan's grain production was only a little over 100 billion jin. By 1954, Henan's grain production had reached 250 billion jin, completing the First Five-Year Plan two years ahead of schedule. Judging from this year's summer harvest, Henan's grain production will definitely increase. Even if it's less than 300 billion jin, it should be around 270 or 280 billion jin."

"Not enough." Wei Hongjun shook his head.

He said, "Look at Hebei. Henan has more arable land, better soil conditions, and more abundant water resources than Hebei. However, Hebei's annual grain output is over 200 billion catties, while Henan's is only around 250 billion catties. Its potential is completely untapped."

"The Red Army comrades are right in their consideration."

Deng Zhihui said, "When I was in the Central South Bureau, I considered the situation in Henan. However, Henan's situation is very different. Henan has been designated by the central government as a province with a focus on industrial development. A lot of central and local investment has been used in the industrial sector. I have observed the flow of cadres in Henan. In order to develop industry, Henan has transferred a large number of cadres to the industrial sector. Although Henan's agriculture has also developed rapidly in recent years, it lags far behind Henan's industrial development."

Although Henan is known as a granary in history, it is a major agricultural province.

However, in the early days of the People's Republic of China, the central government positioned Henan as an important industrial province.

Because Henan has many advantages.

A key advantage is Henan's location in the Central Plains, a strategic transportation hub. Furthermore, Henan is an inland province. Given China's current inability to guarantee coastal security, it's inevitable that some key industries will be located in inland provinces.

Therefore, 10 Soviet aid projects were located in Henan, as were 15 key state-funded industrial projects. At the time of liberation, several important cities in Henan were severely underpopulated.

However, precisely because the central government placed some important industries in Henan, the urban population in Henan expanded rapidly. For example, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Pingdingshan, Sanmenxia, ​​and Jiaozuo all became nationally renowned industrial cities.

To develop Henan's industry, Henan mobilized a large number of cadres to participate in industrial construction. Significant funds were also invested in the industry. Furthermore, to connect Henan's industry with the rest of the country, the central government vigorously developed transportation infrastructure in Henan.

Naturally, there are not enough cadres and funds flowing into agriculture.

Historically, Henan refused to accept USTC as its new home because its population was growing too rapidly, while grain production was not keeping pace. Henan was facing severe food shortages, struggling to even sustain itself. Naturally, they didn't welcome so many people coming to take food from them.

"Henan has another problem. The distribution of water resources is extremely uneven. Some areas have no water shortages, while others face severe shortages. Floods and droughts are also common. So Henan may seem to have a lot of arable land, but the yield per mu is very low. Henan harvests twice, and the average yield per mu combined is less than 200 kilograms. Even Shanxi, which only grows a single crop and produces less than the best arable land, can't match that."

Li Shaocheng added something.

Li Shaocheng has been in charge of agricultural production across the country, so he is familiar with the situation in each province.

"That's the problem."

Wei Hongjun said seriously, "Henan's water resources aren't abundant, but they're not insignificant either. Based on Henan's arable land situation, Henan's current grain output shouldn't be less than 500 billion jin. Henan currently has a lot of arable land and the soil isn't bad, but the yield per mu is low. The main reasons are uneven water resources and the lack of proper development of much of the arable land. Given Henan's situation, if fertile farmland were properly developed, the area planted with crops could easily exceed 1.5 million mu. Even if cotton and oilseed crops take up some arable land, the area planted with grain should still be around million mu. With so much arable land, even a slight increase in yield per mu would lead to a significant increase in grain production. Combined with water conservancy projects and effective utilization of water resources, Henan could become a major producer of grain, cotton, and oilseeds in my country. What Henan lacks now is a comprehensive agricultural development plan. The Henan Provincial Party Committee and the Henan Provincial Government are focusing on industrial development."

Industry makes money.