Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Unless all of the Soviet Union's resources were allocated to this area, increasing meat production by 60-80% in a single year would be far from easy. Especially since the Soviet Union wasn't starting from scratch, but rather had a certain foundation. Increasing meat production wasn't that simple.

Wei Hongjun said, "The more unrealistic and impossible goals they set, the more they will damage their livestock industry. With such a rush for quick success, let alone a 60-80% increase, it's very likely that the Soviet livestock industry will suffer a significant blow in the next two to three years. Many of the data will be false, and the actual meat supply in the market will undoubtedly be severely insufficient."

"Ah."

Deng Zhihui nodded and suddenly looked up at Wei Hongjun.

Wei Hongjun smiled.

The two had worked together for so many years, and their understanding was unparalleled. Wei Hongjun didn't say anything, but Deng Zhihui understood what he meant. So, he asked, "What do you think? If the Soviet market runs out of meat, will Khrushchev increase meat imports just to save face?"

"What do you think? Comrade Khrushchev is still very concerned about his reputation."

Deng Zhihui immediately began to think.

Not to mention the Soviet Union, the entire socialist camp is currently short of meat.

Eastern Europe imports a lot of pork from China every year. If the Soviet market runs out of meat, or if Khrushchev's boasts fail to materialize, the Soviet Union will have no choice but to import meat from China on a large scale.

China's animal husbandry has developed well in recent years.

Historically, between 1963 and 1965, many Chinese cities gradually abolished the "meat coupons," which lasted until around 1978. In 1978, the domestic pork supply suddenly ran low, so some cities reinstated the "meat coupons" for a year or two.

In 1965, there was even a nationwide demand for everyone to eat "patriotic meat" because the pig production in 1965 was too high and there was an oversupply in the pork market.

China's pork production has been increasing steadily in recent years.

So exports are also very good.

If the Soviet Union ran out of meat next year, it would undoubtedly increase its meat imports from China. Therefore, Deng Zhihui was considering whether further support for pig production was needed in 1958.

“How are the pigs this year?”

"If you knew, you would be shocked."

"what happened?"

"Do you know how many pigs were slaughtered as of October this year? 10 million. Based on past experience, even more will be slaughtered in the next two months. According to the Ministry of Rural Affairs' forecast, this year's pig output is likely to exceed 7400 million. This would be the highest number of pigs slaughtered in a single year in history."

Wei Hongjun immediately smiled.

One hundred million heads.

This is just the number of live pigs sold, that is, 1956 million live pigs sold to the market. The rate of live pig sales has been increasing in recent years. In 7000, it exceeded 1957 million. Unexpectedly, it reached million in .

"The data is fine."

"Of course there's no problem. The supply and marketing cooperative will spend as much money as the pigs purchased. We have data on transportation and slaughterhouses. We won't miss any data in our statistics, so there won't be any mistakes."

"What about the stock?"

After selling a large number of pigs, some places will keep some pigs to continue raising and sell them every month next year.

Deng Zhihui said: "The number of pigs on hand by the end of the year will be around 1.57 million."

"There are so many."

"Ah."

Deng Zhihui nodded.

Then he introduced: "Since we increased the purchase price of live pigs and pig manure, and implemented other incentives, pig farming has grown rapidly, whether it's the military, farms, cooperatives, or individual farmers."

"But don't underestimate the 100 million pigs on the market; one-third are actually exported. So, judging by the current domestic situation, the pork market is still in short supply. Another issue is regional imbalance: some areas are experiencing an oversupply of pork, while others are facing a severe shortage. This is compounded by transportation issues and our inadequate refrigeration. Most pork needs to be produced locally, making long-distance transportation impossible."

"Is there another reason? Provinces are reluctant to transport live pigs long distances?"

"There is a reason for this."

Deng Zhihui nodded.

Wei Hongjun had been in charge of rural affairs for many years, so he immediately pointed out the problem. Deng Zhihui didn't hide it. "Think about it. Given current transportation and transport conditions, how much would it cost to ship pigs across provinces? Besides, transporting pigs is already difficult. Furthermore, if they're shipped across provinces, the pigs will have to be slaughtered in other provinces. Slaughter taxes are a very important local tax. If they're shipped across provinces, that revenue will be lost."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Each province has its own interests. The central government must recognize these interests in order to do its work. If you don't recognize the interests of the provinces, they will become dissatisfied with the central government, which will dampen their enthusiasm. Of course, while recognizing local interests, we must also ensure that these interests are subordinate to the overall interests of the whole.

"We still need to find a solution to this problem. If that doesn't work, we can expand the cannery. We can introduce some advanced equipment to increase production, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and lower the price of canned food. Then, we can let the vast counties and towns also have a taste of canned food."

"Okay. I'll discuss with other comrades how to solve the problem of unbalanced pork production."

Regional imbalance is reflected in many aspects.

Just like pork.

In some areas, pork is already plentiful, to the point of oversupply. This is most evident in Northeast China, as well as Jiangsu and other regions. Pork production currently exceeds market demand, leaving the pork supply virtually unchecked. So much so that some cities in Northeast China, Jiangsu, and even Shanghai are calling for the elimination of "meat coupons."

The pork supply in the market is already more than enough for local consumption. Before everyone's income increases, the pork supply is sufficient.

But in some places, pork supply is seriously insufficient.

What to do if supply is insufficient.

Given current traffic and transportation conditions, it's very difficult to transport pork from one place to another. When the weather is hot, pork spoils quickly.

This is difficult to improve in a short period of time.

However difficult it is to improve the situation, some action must be taken. Otherwise, in a few years, pork will be abundant in many places, while pork will still be in serious shortage in some places.

Deng Zhihui asked, "If there were an additional 1958 million pigs in 3000, do you think the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe could handle it?"

"it should be OK."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Khrushchev's boasts were exaggerated. When the Soviet market runs out of meat, purchasing pork from China shouldn't be a problem. Wei Hongjun advised Deng Zhihui, "Don't just consider the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; consider North Korea and Vietnam, too. The combined population of North Korea and Vietnam is over 4000 million, making this a significant market. The Ministry of Heavy Industry recently held talks with North Korea regarding the use of the Musan Iron Ore in North Korea, hoping to use it at the Fushun Steel Plant. We're importing North Korean iron ore. I heard it's purchased with rubles, but we don't have that many. So, we'll use pork. The North Korean market is currently in dire need of it. Pig production in Northeast China is increasing, so we can trade pork for iron ore."

"It's the same in Vietnam. They just ended the war, their economy is struggling, and there's a severe meat shortage in the market. We could ask the Ministry of Foreign Trade to investigate and see how we can increase economic cooperation with Vietnam. The development of bilateral trade would not only help Vietnam's economic recovery, but also help us import some of the things we need."

Deng Zhihui nodded.

"Yes. I was a little worried before. If pig production continues to increase next year, and there are another 30 to 40 million pigs, what will we do then? But now that you've said that, I feel more confident. We should seize this good opportunity. This time, our country has reached several cooperation agreements with the Soviet Union, and we must increase exports to ease economic pressure."

"We must make judgments and prepare in advance in order to win the battle."

Wei Hongjun said, "After the turmoil of the 20th Congress of the CPSU and the 'Secret Report,' Comrade Khrushchev needed to improve the living standards of the people at home in order to restore his prestige. Eastern European countries, in particular, needed to develop their economies and improve people's living standards to withstand the previous impact. However, they had previously focused on large-scale heavy industry, and it would be difficult to develop light industry and agriculture in a short period of time. But they are now eager to change the current situation. So this is our opportunity. We must prepare our light industry and agricultural and sideline products for large-scale export to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to accumulate more funds for the country. my country is still in a state of high accumulation, and if we want to reduce the burden on rural areas, we need light industry and agricultural and sideline products to play a leading role."

"This state of high accumulation is expected to continue until the Third Five-Year Plan."

Deng Zhihui sighed.

Everyone knows that quickly improving people's livelihood will gain great prestige and support.

But why doesn’t the central government do this?

Because China is currently in a state of high accumulation, it needs to raise funds to invest in heavy industry. Deng Zhihui, who also participated in the Second Five-Year Plan, understands that China's heavy industry investment will not stop after the Second Five-Year Plan. At the very least, it will take the Third Five-Year Plan before China's heavy industry investment can be gradually reduced.

Therefore, until that time, there was still a "scissors gap" in rural areas.

Wei Hongjun encouraged him, "Don't worry. The national economy is developing, and the central government's finances are getting better and better. The rural economy is also getting better day by day, and the future will be even better."

"Ah."

After Deng Zhihui and Wei Hongjun communicated, they immediately began to make plans.

Export of agricultural and sideline products.

Pork is our flagship product, so next year's main focus will be on pig production. Then there's canned fruits and vegetables, which are also best-sellers in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. We'll also increase exports of natural rubber and coffee next year.

Deng Zhihui, of course, began to consider the issues with North Korea and Vietnam. He needed to discuss them with Zhou Bin and report them to Chen Yun and Deng Xixian. Seeing Deng Zhihui begin work, Wei Hongjun didn't interrupt him. He also began to think about the things he would need to deal with after returning home.

1029 Anti-revisionism

After returning to China, the Chinese delegation convened an enlarged Politburo meeting as per custom. At this meeting, the Chinese delegation reported on their visit to the Soviet Union to the Politburo members, alternate members, and other central cadres.

Although the delegation was led by the Chairman.

But the work still needs to be reported because that is the work procedure.

Overall, this trip to the Soviet Union was very fruitful.

First, we achieved the goal of maintaining the Soviet Union's position and stabilizing the socialist camp, which was prone to disintegration. This was the most important task of our trip to the Soviet Union, and China accomplished this task very successfully.

Then Sino-Soviet cooperation was further strengthened.

Sino-Soviet cooperation, from economic to defense, deepened across various sectors. The Soviet Union was willing to share industrial and defense technology with China, including increasingly sensitive defense technology. Even when accepting Chinese students, the Soviet Union was willing to allow them to access sensitive technology. From 1947 until the present, the number of Chinese students sent to the Soviet Union has reached nearly .

In addition to students, there are also many technicians.

They went directly to Soviet factories to learn from Soviet technicians, who numbered over 7000.

China also sent a large number of workers to Soviet factories to learn technology. They served as trainees, earning minimal wages and having to perform heavy labor. Yet, Chinese factories were eager to send workers to the Soviet Union.

Although the wages they received in the Soviet Union were trainee wages, they were still several times higher than those in China. More importantly, they could learn in Soviet factories. Learning in these large Soviet factories allowed them to quickly gain experience, allowing them to become skilled workers upon their return to China. Some talented individuals even learned about industrial operations and became workshop supervisors upon their return. In recent years, over 16000 workers have gone to the Soviet Union as trainees.

Of course, there were many other channels for studying in the Soviet Union.

All added up, it’s a lot.

This cooperation between China and the Soviet Union also reached a number of cooperation agreements on the issue of international students.

Moreover, because China played such a significant role this time, its influence in Eastern Europe continued to grow. China became the lubricant between the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, gluing the socialist camp together and preventing it from truly breaking apart.

Therefore, many cooperation agreements have been signed between China and Eastern European countries.

Eastern European countries were willing to transfer some heavy industry to China, or to provide China with a batch of machinery and equipment in exchange for China's support in light industrial products and agricultural and sideline products. Although Eastern European countries were not as powerful as the Soviet Union, they each had their own unique industrial advantages.

This report mainly discusses these issues.

However, after reporting on the work, the Chairman still had deep concerns in his heart, that was Khrushchev's wage reform.

Going too far.

There is not a single vestige of socialist wage reform.

Even more worrying for the Chairman was the emergence of a privileged class within the Soviet Party. While not directly appropriating the Soviet means of production, they seized them under various pretexts. While not capitalists themselves, they had become the new type of capitalists within the Party. These new capitalists differed from traditional capitalists, and so many people ignored them and dismissed them as capitalists.

But the Chairman truly felt that these were indeed capitalists. They were just in a different form, more insidious and more dangerous. And the more serious problem was that the Soviet working class had not recognized the danger of this problem.

This is what worries the Chairman the most.

In socialist countries, the means of production are no longer owned by individual capitalists. However, the government agencies that control the means of production are represented by individual cadres. Even if these individuals become new capitalists, they still cannot escape the essence of exploiting the masses.

This is different from the state controlling the means of production and carrying out high accumulation.

The state controlled the means of production and then carried out a high level of accumulation, which greatly affected the improvement of the living standards of workers and farmers. However, this purpose was not for the personal enjoyment of party cadres, but for the construction of national heavy industry.

Only when heavy industry has a foundation can other light industries and agriculture benefit and develop. The ultimate goal is to enhance national strength and improve the people's living standards. The accumulated wealth will ultimately benefit the people of the country.