Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

But equality is not that easy.

The Chairman concluded by writing: "Rural cooperatives have always had a 'village affairs disclosure' policy. This is a good policy and a very necessary step in exploring the democratization of rural areas in my country. However, due to various reasons, there are currently many problems in its implementation. I believe that it is difficult to curb the current trend simply by adjusting and consolidating the policy. Comrade Hongjun, you are an advocate and implementer of the 'village affairs disclosure' policy and must have a deeper understanding of it. I believe that rural cooperatives should continue to strengthen the 'village affairs disclosure' policy, strengthen rural democracy, and strengthen the development of cooperative cadres."

"I suggest that rural cooperatives, including grassroots governments, should strengthen democratic development. We need to encourage the masses to actively participate in democratic development, to dare to express their own opinions, and to dare to criticize the mistakes of our cadres, so that our cadres can correct their mistakes and truly realize that they should serve the people. These are my humble opinions, and I hope that your Rural Work Department will consider them."

"Also, I've recently been reading Comrade Stalin's book, 'Problems of Soviet Socialist Economy.' I think there are many aspects of this book that are worth studying and learning from. In particular, Comrade Stalin offers very unique insights into socialist commodity production and the law of value, which represent a significant breakthrough in socialist economic theory. I suggest that Comrade Hongjun should also read it."

Wei Hongjun read the letter several times.

I understand what the Chairman means.

The Chairman believes that policy adjustments and consolidation alone are insufficient to curb the emergence of "communist style" and "exaggeration style".

Chairman Mao believed that building democracy in rural areas was the key to resolving fundamental problems. Perhaps it was what he most desired throughout his life. So, when he returned to Jinggangshan in the 1960s, he recounted the struggle there. He believed that the most valuable asset of the Jinggangshan struggle was the soldiers' committees.

In fact, Wei Hongjun has also been considering the issue of building democracy in rural areas, but this is really not easy.

The relationships between villagers in rural areas are extremely complex. Due to transportation issues, many farmers in rural China never leave their county, and many have never even visited the county seat. Their lives are narrow, confined to a few dozen miles around their village.

Basically, marriages take place between several villages.

This creates a very closed social circle. A closed social circle means there are many different relationships. Cousins, in-laws, relatives, these relationships are densely packed. In rural areas, it is difficult to avoid so many relationships.

If they were outsiders, they would be confused and easily rejected by local farmers because of the complex network of relationships. But if they were local cadres, they would definitely be divided into close and distant relatives in their work because of the complex network of relationships.

These personal relationships cannot be resolved by simply carrying out land reform or destroying clans.

The development of rural democracy can easily lead to a situation where a few large families control rural power. This problem is already difficult to solve in many rural areas in the 21st century, with the frequent population mobility. It is even more difficult to solve in the current situation.

Meanwhile, while rural farmers continue to fight against illiteracy, they have a solid foundation. Furthermore, the ideas they've been exposed to since childhood require more than simple education to help them understand democracy, fulfill their oversight responsibilities, and fight for their own interests. These challenges are truly challenging for them. However, this is a long-term endeavor, and we must persevere.

Only when the concept is deeply rooted in people's hearts can we truly complete the construction of rural democracy. But we cannot just sit back and do nothing.

Rural democracy cannot be perfected at this stage. Therefore, the only solution is to continue strengthening the "village affairs disclosure" system within rural cooperatives. Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui began discussing how to further institutionalize the "village affairs disclosure" system.

In reality, rural democracy is somewhat at odds with current needs and policies. To oversee and develop rural democracy, farmers must be allowed to pursue their own interests and understand their own interests. However, the current development of rural cooperatives emphasizes the cooperative economy. Striving for individual interests while simultaneously developing the cooperative economy can confuse even some officials, let alone those semi-literate farmers who have just emerged from illiteracy.

How to perfectly combine individual interests and cooperative economy is a big project.

Then there is the book "Problems of Soviet Socialist Economy" written by Comrade Stalin, which the Chairman mentioned.

This is a book highly recommended by the Chairman.

Wei Hongjun hadn't actually read this book. It was published by Comrade Stalin in 1952 and translated into Chinese in 1953. Since the Chairman recommended it to Wei Hongjun, he immediately sent someone to find it and read it carefully.

This is a book on socialist political economy written by Comrade Stalin based on his summary of the Soviet Union's 30 years of experience in socialist construction.

Comrade Stalin talked a lot about it in it.

The opening section emphasizes the importance of political economy in socialist economics. Comrade Stalin believed that socialist economics also has its own economic laws. Socialist political economy studies the laws of socialist economics.

Some cadres substitute production organization for political economics, which will bury the discipline of political economics. Production organization is production organization, and political economics, the study of economic laws, is a discipline; they are completely different things.

It then made it clear that the laws of economic development within the socialist economy are objective and not subject to human will. All people need to do is discover these laws, understand them, study them, consider them in their actions, and rely on and utilize them for the benefit of society. Economic laws cannot be artificially "created," "eliminated," or "transformed." Denying the objectivity of economic laws under socialism, believing that the Soviet regime is "omnipotent" and can ignore these laws, will lead to a state of contingency and chaos, making it impossible to foresee the course of events in economic life and, therefore, making it impossible to effectively carry out economic work.

Comrade Stalin reached a very high level in the study of political economy and the laws of socialist economics. In this respect, subsequent figures like Khrushchev and Brezhnev were far inferior to Comrade Stalin in their research on socialist economics. Their theoretical research was vastly inferior to that of Comrade Stalin.

Later, Comrade Stalin further analyzed commodity production and the law of value, explicitly stating that commodity production would continue to be necessary even after socialist transformation was complete. This directly demonstrated that commodity production and the law of value existed not only in capitalism but also in socialism. Under a system where capitalists exploit wage workers—that is, under capitalism—commodity production would lead to capitalism. However, under a system where socialist transformation was complete, commodity production would lead to a socialist economy. Furthermore, he stated that as long as commodity production existed, the law of value would exist and take effect.

Including discussions on issues of socialist production relations and productivity.

He criticized the view held by some Soviet cadres that, after the establishment of the socialist system, production relations and productive forces were "perfectly compatible" and free of contradiction. He argued that contradictions between production relations and productive forces existed, existed now, and would continue to exist in the future. Production relations must be constantly adjusted to accommodate new productive forces.

There are also issues related to the contradictions between cities and rural areas, between mental labor and physical labor, how to eliminate the differences between them, and so on.

Wei Hongjun was very surprised.

I had never expected that Comrade Stalin had such profound research on socialist economic issues. If I hadn't read this book, Wei Hongjun would have thought that Comrade Stalin was a socialist leader who was determined to implement a strict planned economy.

Indeed, many of the early socialist leaders were philosophers, deeply engaged in philosophical research.

It's like the problem between production relations and productive forces. Just as movement is absolute and stillness is relative, the contradiction is constantly changing. Production relations and productive forces cannot be "perfectly compatible." To adapt to the development of productive forces, production relations need to constantly adjust.

Although Wei Hongjun disagrees with some of the book's points, overall it is an important theoretical work on the development of socialism. Comrade Stalin's research reports on socialist economic issues are particularly valuable.

Wei Hongjun also took some reading notes.

Wei Hongjun strongly agreed with Stalin's view that socialist economic laws are objective and not man-made. He also strongly supported the view that socialism also has commodity production and follows the law of value.

However, Comrade Stalin did not delve deeper into these issues. He remained conservative regarding socialist commodity production.

Of course, Wei Hongjun gained a lot from reading this book. While Wei Hongjun was handling his work and studying the book "Problems of Soviet Socialist Economy", Chairman Mao completed his inspection and returned to Beijing.

Two days after returning to Beijing, the Chairman met with Wei Hongjun alone.

"Comrade Hongjun, when I returned, I met with some cadres from the Henan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government in Zhengzhou. Comrade Shi Xiangsheng asked me a question. Socialist society has communist elements, so how will the large and small collectives, large and small public ownership, commodity exchange, currency, and so on change?"

Chapter 968 On "Communism"

Shi Xiangsheng, currently Vice Governor and Director of the Henan Agricultural Commission, is a cadre responsible for agricultural work in Henan. Shi Xiangsheng joined the Communist Party relatively recently, joining it after the July 1937 Incident of 1941 and later participating in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. He spent his early years in the Taiyue and Taihang regions, and in 1942 and 129, he began establishing a base in northern Henan. After the Battle of Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi, he followed the th Division's southward detachment into western Henan, where he subsequently joined the Central Plains Military Region.

The central government chose Shi Xiangsheng to go to Henan because he was a native of Henan. He basically went to school in Henan until the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War and was also one of the student leaders in Henan.

After the Eighth National Congress, Shi Xiangsheng served as Deputy Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Secretariat, Vice Governor, and Director of the Agricultural Commission. He was a prominent official in Henan and a key figure in Wu Zhipu's career. However, due to errors in the development of Henan's rural cooperatives, he was severely criticized by the Chairman. The Politburo ultimately decided to transfer Wu Zhipu, the provincial Party Secretary, and Shi Xiangsheng was also disciplined.

He was dismissed from his posts as deputy secretary of the provincial party committee, secretary of the provincial party committee secretariat, and director of the agricultural committee. However, the chairman has always been against single-mindedly punishing officials, so Shi Xiangsheng retained his post as vice governor.

When Deng Zhihui came to Henan to handle follow-up issues, he offered Shi Xiangsheng an opportunity. He appointed him acting director of the Agricultural Commission to assist Deng Zhihui in handling follow-up matters. Shi Xiangsheng proved capable, so he was later reinstated as director of the Agricultural Commission.

Later in the development of rural areas in Henan, we became much more cautious, but we were overly cautious.

Because Shi Xiangsheng was a "criminal" and Wu Zhipu had been transferred, no major changes were made to Henan's agricultural work. Therefore, although Henan's grain production continued to increase, Wei Hongjun was dissatisfied. To improve Henan's agricultural situation, Wei Hongjun recommended Luo Weilin to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, with overall responsibility for rural affairs.

Shi Xiangsheng came from a family of scholars.

Despite being criticized and receiving organizational sanctions, he maintained a low profile and remained cautious in his rural work. He nevertheless continued to ponder theoretical issues concerning socialist construction. The Chairman chatted with some cadres in Zhengzhou.

Because this time the Chairman mainly wanted to see the rural work in various places.

So, in Zhengzhou, he also met with Luo Weilin and Shi Xiangsheng, who were in charge of rural work in Henan. Luo Weilin reported on the Henan Development Outline currently being drafted. The Chairman had previously seen this outline at the Central Committee, and after Luo Weilin visited Henan and conducted field research in rural areas, he revised some of it. After listening to Luo Weilin's report, the Chairman encouraged him to have a fighting spirit that would transform the face of Henan's rural areas.

When it was Shi Xiangsheng's turn, the Chairman told him to "put aside your burdens and work hard." He said he didn't mind making mistakes; as long as he could correct them, he was a good cadre. Encouraged by the Chairman's words, Shi Xiangsheng raised this issue with him.

Because this is the idea of ​​some grassroots cadres and rural cadres in Henan.

The Chairman did not answer Shi Xiangsheng's questions about large and small collectives, large and small public ownership, commodity exchange, currency, etc. He thought a lot on the way back.

After returning to Beijing, the Chairman also wanted to hear the opinions of these central cadres.

Although Wei Hongjun came from a humble background, he had always studied and had a solid theoretical foundation. So the Chairman wanted to hear Wei Hongjun's thoughts. Wei Hongjun said directly, "Chairman, I think some of our cadres are overthinking."

"Overthinking?"

The Chairman thought about what Wei Hongjun would say.

But unexpectedly, Wei Hongjun said that some cadres "thought too much."

Wei Hongjun said, "Chairman, I believe many of our cadres have made some errors in their judgment of China today, and their judgment of communism is even more biased. In particular, many cadres have serious deviations in their judgment of how to enter communism."

"Tell me more specifically."

Communism is a goal pursued by Marxist-Leninist parties.

But what exactly a communist society would be like, despite Marx's brief description, remains a fantasy for many. Many Party cadres hope to see the dawn of communism as soon as possible. Chairman Mao, of course, is also full of hope for communism.

However, how to enter communism is a problem that Communist parties in various countries are trying to solve, but they do not yet know how to solve it.

"According to Marx's description of communism, it is a stage of unprecedented development of productivity. Chairman, let me give you a direct example. Before the Great Depression of the 500s, annual car sales in the United States exceeded 200 million, with over cars per people. This means that decades ago, one in five Americans owned a car. If my country is to enter communism in the future, we can't be inferior to the United States of decades ago. At the very least, in a communist society, every family in my country must have a car. Only then can we claim that my country is qualified to enter communism. And this is merely qualification, not entry into communism."

"Given my country's current population size and growth rate, we could have a population of 700 million or 800 million in 20 years. If we extend this to 40 years, the population could very well reach 1 billion. If every family had a car, then there would be at least 100 million cars. And 100 million cars alone would require over 100 million tons of steel and tens of millions of tons of rubber. These cars would consume tens of millions of tons of gasoline annually."

"Chairman, this is just the automobile, a means of personal transportation. Beyond the cars owned by private families, our country is vast, and future economic development will require a large number of trucks as transportation. At the same time, many people who don't own cars will still need to take public transportation. Add to that the construction machinery and other equipment needed for industrial development. The amount of steel needed to meet these needs alone is astronomical."

"With cars, we need to develop roads. In areas with poor natural conditions, we need to dig tunnels and build bridges. The cement and steel consumed in this process, if calculated, is in the billions."

"Let's talk about housing. Since we're entering a communist society, our people can't all live in mud houses, nor can four or five people live in tiny houses of 20 or 30 square meters. The average living space per person should be at least 20 square meters. A family of four should have a house of 70 or 80 square meters, and even if it's smaller, it should be 60 square meters. Just to meet the housing needs of such a large population, if concrete structures are used, then a seven- or eight-story building would require tens to hundreds of tons of steel. The total steel required to meet all this demand wouldn't be 100 or 200 million tons, but tens or even hundreds of billions of tons. Of course, if people across the country were to live in these buildings, tens or even hundreds of billions of tons of cement would be needed."

"These are the most basic things needed to enter a communist society. Many families abroad are now installing telephones. If my country wants to enter communism, does it need to install telephones in every household? Should every household have electricity? Should every household have running water? If you calculate these things, the amount of steel and copper required will be substantial."

"Chairman, I can do a simple calculation based on this. If our country wants to enter a communist society, then unless we produce 10 billion tons of steel, 50 billion tons of coal, 50 billion tons of cement, and around 5 billion tons of oil, there's no basis for that."

When Wei Hongjun said this, the Chairman was stunned.

The idea of ​​every household having electricity, running water, a telephone, a car, and a good house really appealed to the Chairman, because if the Chinese people could all have such living conditions, then perhaps communism would truly be achieved.

But then the chairman's face turned serious.

He was shocked by the figures Wei Hongjun had given him. Wei Hongjun's figures often reached tens of millions of tons, hundreds of millions of tons, and later even billions of tons, tens of billions of tons, and even hundreds of billions of tons. Finally, most figures were over 10 billion tons. For China today, this was simply unthinkable.

What is the current national steel production?

In 1954, China's steel production was only 768 million tons, a far cry from the million tons. Even if it achieved million tons, it would still take another years to reach the billion tons Wei Hongjun envisioned.

The Chairman was calculating the data Wei Hongjun said in his mind.

Is 1953 million cars a lot? It's certainly a lot. But as Wei Hongjun said, China is a country with a large population. In , the first census of the People's Republic of China was conducted, and the result was million people.

China's population is still growing.

If the current population growth rate continues, a population size of 700 million, 800 million, or even 1 billion is possible.

While 100 million cars may seem like a lot, that's only one car for every ten people. This is still a long way from a communist society where people are allocated according to need. Even if we don't count children and the elderly, there are still hundreds of millions of people. 100 million cars isn't a lot given China's population.

-100 million vehicles, the steel required is indeed more than 100 million tons.

Like Wei Hongjun said, it's just a car.

And the house.

As Wei Hongjun said, we can't all still live in mud houses. Living in mud houses doesn't count as entering communism. That would be a joke to imperialism. If China were to enter communism, we would definitely want to live in good houses.

But it is not easy to build a good house.

If, as Wei Hongjun suggested, we use concrete structures for buildings, the amount of steel and cement required would be no less than 100 million or 200 million tons. Thinking about this, the Chairman realized that a communist society was indeed quite far away from us.

Such a large amount of steel production cannot be achieved in ten or eight years, or even ten or twenty years.

Seeing that the Chairman was thinking, Wei Hongjun did not continue.

After a while, the Chairman came back to his senses and said with a smile: "Hongjun, the future you described makes me excited. If every household could have electricity, running water, telephones, and cars, that would be such a wonderful thing. But those statistics you mentioned make me lose my spirit. You, you."

"Chairman, since the founding of our Party, we have spent 27 years building New China. It's only been seven years since the founding of New China, but our country's steel production has grown from a mere 20 tons to over 800 million tons this year. As long as we take one step at a time, we can achieve annual steel production of not only or million tons, but even or million tons in the future. However, this cannot be accomplished in three to five years; it will require at least years of hard work."

"The road is difficult, but the future is bright." "Yes."

The Chairman couldn't help but smile again.

The Chairman admired Wei Hongjun's revolutionary optimism.