Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

He immediately got to the point: "Judging from Comrade Khrushchev's attitude, he's determined to do something big. To achieve his goals, he won't be too stingy with funds and supplies. Furthermore, Soviet fiscal revenue has increased rapidly in recent years. In 1958, it exceeded 7200 billion rubles, or over 1200 billion RMB in RMB. Industrial strength is also growing rapidly, and its power is growing stronger. Therefore, supporting our transportation construction should be relatively easy."

The Soviet Union's fiscal revenue was 1200 billion RMB, only 400 billion RMB more than China's. But don't think that this means China and the Soviet Union are equally powerful.

The current economic situations of China and the Soviet Union are different. China is currently in a period of rapid accumulation, and nearly all social funds are being channeled into the fiscal system. Large state-owned enterprises, in particular, are unable to retain much in their factories; all proceeds must be turned over to the fiscal system.

After all, China is an agricultural country with a population of 600 million. The gap in food consumption between the two countries is as much as 10 to 20 billion RMB per year.

But in the current situation of the Soviet Union, each member state, each factory, and even the collective farms under it have great power and can leave a large amount of funds. In other words, there is far more capital in Soviet society than in China.

If the Soviet Union had incorporated all social funds into its fiscal revenue like China, its fiscal revenue could easily have exceeded 2000 billion yuan.

Therefore, when the Soviet Union supported its younger brothers, sometimes the Soviet government did not need to step in, but the Soviet factories directly provided support, because many Soviet factories were already very powerful.

"So, as long as the Soviet Union supports it, there will be no problem in building a railway line that runs through the north and south. The Baotou-Lanzhou Railway and the Lanzhou-Qinghai Railway are already in the final stages of construction, and we can transfer personnel from these two railways to start laying the railway line that runs through the north and south."

Although the Premier did not directly manage the Ministry of Railways, he memorized much of the information he had read. He was even aware that the Baotou-Lanzhou and Lanzhou-Qinghai railways were about to be completed.

So when talking about the North-South Railway Line, the Prime Minister can immediately think of who to mobilize.

"It is best for this railway line to avoid some major cities and serve as a hidden line for north-south transportation in our country."

The chairman looked at the map and spoke.

The Chairman was more concerned with the political and military aspects of a north-south railway line. Especially when problems arose on the Beijing-Guangzhou and Beijing-Shanghai lines, a north-south railway line was necessary to ensure the flow of goods.

I didn't have this plan before, but now that I have the opportunity, I will give it more consideration.

"After the meeting, we will go to the Ministry of Railways and ask them to quickly develop a plan for a north-south railway line. As long as the Soviet Union agrees to provide us with a certain amount of funds and steel rails, we will immediately start construction."

"it is good."

The Prime Minister nodded.

He continued, "As for transportation planning and industrial investment in the southwestern provinces, we need a cadre familiar with the local conditions to negotiate with the Soviet Union. This is a great opportunity for the southwestern provinces, especially Guangxi. Therefore, we must attach great importance to negotiations with the Soviet Union."

The already serious atmosphere of the meeting fell into silence again after the Prime Minister's words.

Because many people immediately thought of one thing. Speaking of being familiar with the southwestern provinces, apart from the cadres in the southwestern provinces, there is a person that everyone is more taboo about.

That was Gao Gang, the director of the "Central and Western China Construction Preparatory Committee." After Gao Gang left the central government, he established the "Central and Western China Construction Preparatory Committee" office in Chengdu. In recent years, he has been intentionally or unintentionally ignored.

Including during the just-concluded Third Session of the Ninth Central Committee, everyone avoided meeting Gao Gang alone.

But every year Gao Gang submits a draft construction plan for the central and western provinces to the central government, which includes suggestions for transportation and industrial development in the central and western provinces.

Some of these contents were quietly incorporated into the plans of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Heavy Industry, the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry, and the Ministry of Machinery Industry.

It's clear that despite leaving the central government, Gao Gang still accomplished a great deal. While the Second Five-Year Plan included some investment in central and western provinces, the amount was relatively small. Real large-scale construction would have to wait until the Third Five-Year Plan, or perhaps the Fourth Five-Year Plan. By the time of the Third Five-Year Plan, Gao Gang was nearly sixty years old. His chances of returning to the central government were essentially lost.

But who could have imagined such a sudden change? China's southwestern provinces suddenly became important in Vietnam's strategy. Major construction was about to begin in the southwestern provinces.

At the current stage, who is more familiar with the situation in the southwestern provinces than the "Central and Western Construction Preparatory Committee" which has been surveying the southwestern region for several years?

The Chairman had clearly considered this. After some thought, he said, "Once the Vietnam War of Reunification begins, our southwestern provinces will become the largest and most secure logistics base. Therefore, we must prioritize transportation and industrial development in the southwestern provinces. I suggest that Comrade Deng Xixian be in overall charge of the negotiations with the Soviet Union, with Comrades Li Fuchun, Zhou Bin, Teng Daiyuan, and Wang Shoudao, along with Comrade Gao Gang and representatives from the southwestern provinces."

This negotiation really cannot bypass Gao Gang. If Gao Gang is bypassed, then what is the purpose of establishing the "Central and Western Construction Preparatory Committee"?

Besides, Gao Gang's problem has already been dealt with. Now is the time when he is needed to perform, so it would be unreasonable to abandon him.

But the chairman was worried that if Gao Gang was directly released, there would be opposition within the party, so he casually added Gao Gang to the list of people.

Finally, after discussion, the Politburo decided that Comrade Deng Xixian, as the First Deputy Premier of the State Council, would be responsible for discussing specific issues of cooperation in the transportation industry with the Soviet Union.

Wei Hongjun was responsible for intra-party cooperation with the CPSU and the Vietnamese Communist Party on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.

The next day, Chairman Mao expressed the CPC Central Committee's intention to support Vietnam's war for unification. However, Chairman Mao believed that South Vietnam should be dealt a lightning strike after thorough preparation, without giving them any chance to react. It would be best to resolve the Vietnam issue without giving US imperialism a chance to react.

Khrushchev agreed with the Chairman's suggestion. Therefore, Khrushchev proposed that the military and political cadres of the Soviet Union, China, and Vietnam sit down to discuss how to support Vietnam.

1067 Negotiation

After Chairman Mao and Khrushchev reached a preliminary consensus on the Vietnam War of Unification, the subsequent problems could be solved one by one.

Chairman Mao and Khrushchev decided to hold a high-level meeting of the Soviet, Chinese and Vietnamese parties in Beijing on June 1959, 6, one and a half months later.

The Soviet Union will send a delegation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union headed by Suslov and Brezhnev, while China will have Wei Hongjun and General Chen represent the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The Vietnamese Workers' Party will have Ho Chi Minh, Chairman of the Workers' Party of Vietnam, and Le Duan, Acting Secretary.

The Vietnamese Workers' Party was thrilled after receiving the Soviet Union's hint. Many members of the Workers' Party, particularly those from South Vietnam, were deeply dissatisfied with the Geneva Conference resolution. According to the Geneva Conference, Vietnam would have been divided in two, and South Vietnam would have been impossible to liberate. As South Vietnamese, how could they be satisfied if their own homeland could not be liberated?

Therefore, members of the Workers' Party of Vietnam who came from South Vietnam had always been at odds with Ho Chi Minh and his party in the Central Committee. Truong Chinh lost his position as General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Vietnam, and Le Duan became Acting General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Vietnam, indicating that the forces supporting the liberation of South Vietnam had gained the upper hand within the Vietnamese Party.

Even the actual work within the Workers' Party of Vietnam was handled by Le Duan. Ho Chi Minh was more of a symbolic leader within the Workers' Party of Vietnam, primarily responsible for diplomatic affairs. Because of his high prestige, Ho Chi Minh had personal relationships with many leaders in China and the Soviet Union.

The Vietnamese Workers' Party, already restless, now received a hint from the Soviet Union and therefore attached great importance to this opportunity to change Vietnam's history. Both Ho Chi Minh and Le Duan were to come in person.

The purpose of the meeting, attended by senior party leaders from the three parties, was to first achieve cooperation among the three parties and then establish a coordination mechanism. The communistization of Indochina would require close cooperation among China, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam; it would be difficult for a single country to accomplish this.

The top leaders of the three parties will then determine the next steps in their cooperation. This will include establishing a trilateral military-political cooperation body to manage supplies, command troops, and share intelligence. Once this body, or leadership body, is established, a trilateral military-political cooperation meeting will be held.

Let's discuss how to support Vietnam. First, we need to determine the current situation in South Vietnam, including how many troops South Vietnam has, how many US troops are currently in South Vietnam, etc. If we want to quickly conquer South Vietnam and complete the Vietnam War of Unification, then how many troops should the Vietcong equip and how many troops should be deployed to participate in the war?

After reaching this consensus, China and the Soviet Union officially began discussions on upgrading China's transportation network. China explicitly told the Soviet Union that it was desperately short of steel, with the market experiencing a severe supply shortage for two consecutive years. Therefore, it simply couldn't spare enough steel for railway construction, and therefore needed Soviet support for railway construction.

China's rapid transportation construction requires a large amount of construction machinery. Furthermore, once roads are built, a large number of trucks will be needed to transport supplies. China's current truck fleet is simply not enough to support Vietnam. All of these areas require financial assistance from the big brother.

Since Khrushchev was determined to achieve something big, he had already prepared for this. He believed that as long as he could expel US imperialist influence from Southeast Asia and communistize the region, spending 1000 billion or 170 billion rubles, or even 100 trillion rubles, would be worthwhile and acceptable. (100 billion rubles is approximately billion RMB, with an official exchange rate of $ billion. However, the black market exchange rate is less than $ billion.)

However, the Soviet Union's money didn't just fall from the sky, so it couldn't be wasted. Therefore, Khrushchev once again demanded that China, along with the Soviet Union, fully support the Vietnam War, especially in terms of food, clothing, and ammunition. Most of these needed to be raised by China, and produced locally in China, and then used to support Vietnam.

Khrushchev made it clear that the socialist camp and the international communist movement were no longer solely the Soviet Union's concern. China was also a significant force in the socialist camp and the international communist movement, and one of its leaders. Therefore, while the Soviet Union could lead the grand strategy of communistizing Indochina and controlling Southeast Asia, China also had to contribute.

Therefore, the Soviet Union demanded that China not delay the construction of railways and highways. The construction of railways and highways must be completed before a large-scale war breaks out. Important matters cannot be delayed.

Khrushchev was worried that China would take a lot of rubles from the Soviet Union in the name of supporting Vietnam, but would use the money to do other things.

Chairman Mao clearly responded to Khrushchev: supporting world revolution is the responsibility of the Communist Party of China, and supporting the revolution of Vietnamese comrades is closely related to China's security. Therefore, China will never shirk its responsibility. China will not use the name of revolution to deceive people.

Therefore, no matter how many difficulties there are, China will strive to complete the necessary railway and highway construction and will not delay Vietnam's revolution. Including in supporting Vietnam, China will definitely do its utmost.

China is still very credible in this regard. Or perhaps it can be said that after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has handled foreign relations with the principle that "no matter how small, diplomacy is", so its external reputation has remained good to this day.

Consider the history of China: after the founding of the People's Republic of China, all domestically-owned businesses underwent socialist transformation. However, the Chinese government left foreign capitalists' companies untouched, leading some to operate until the 1970s. Had they persisted a few more years, they might have caught up with the reform and opening-up era.

There was also a historical incident in which a contract for a shipment of 3000 million yuan worth of supplies from Wuhan Port to the UK was not fulfilled. This incident was brought to the attention of the central government, alerting the President and the Premier. Both the President and the Premier instructed that the cause be investigated and that communication with the British merchants be conducted as soon as possible. The contract must not be canceled without reason.

This shows how cautious New China is in dealing with foreign affairs, including its dealings with countries in the socialist camp, and China strictly abides by the contracts.

Since the founding of New China, there has never been any case of financial arrears from the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, whether it is loans or purchases of technology and machinery and equipment.

So this is also a kind of national credibility.

Besides, the Chairman is currently a well-known figure in the international communist movement and the socialist camp. The Chairman's personal promise is a golden sign.

After receiving the Chairman's assurances, Khrushchev decided to trust China's commitment. Therefore, he expressed his sincerity and supported China's construction of a north-south railway line. However, Khrushchev demanded that China complete the line by 1961 and prioritize the transportation of supplies needed for the Vietnam War.

Deng Xixian assured the Soviet Union that the railway was built to support the Vietnamese revolution, so its primary mission from the moment it was built was to transport supplies for the Vietnamese revolution. It would only be used for other purposes when it was unused.

China introduced the general direction of this new railway to the Soviet Union.

If Soviet supplies were to go south, there were two routes available. One route was via the Trans-Siberian Railway to Harbin, then via the Beijing-Harbin Railway and the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway. The supplies would first enter Guangdong and finally Guangxi.

Alternatively, Soviet supplies could have been transported from the Trans-Siberian Railway via the Mongolian-Soviet Railway, then the Sino-Mongolian Railway to Jining, then on to the Beijing-Suining Railway to Beijing, and finally on the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway. This route would have shortened the journey by over 1000 kilometers compared to traveling to Northeast China. The Sino-Mongolian-Soviet Railway was fully operational as early as 1956, and much of the Sino-Soviet supply flowed into China via this railway.

The new railways China is currently constructing will utilize the Sino-Mongolian-Soviet Railway. Instead of traveling to Beijing and commuting to the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, supplies arriving in Jining will flow southward through Shanxi and Henan. They will use the Beijing-Suifenhe and Tongpu Railways to reach Taiyuan, and then, along with the currently under-construction Taiyuan-Jiaozuo Railway, reach Jiaozuo, Henan. The newly opened railway will run directly from Jiaozuo, Henan, to Guangxi, eliminating the need for supplies to use the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway.

Khrushchev was quite satisfied with the north-south transportation line proposed by China. Having a railway line specifically serving the Vietnam War of Unification was better than having all supplies go through the already strained Beijing-Guangzhou line.

So, after discussions with other Soviet leaders, Khrushchev agreed to provide China with 5 million rubles of construction machinery and trucks, all the steel needed for the railway, a 12 billion ruble subsidy, and a 35 billion ruble 20-year low-interest loan. This totaled approximately 60 billion rubles, or about 10 billion RMB.

Because this railway served as a transportation link between China and the Soviet Union to support the Vietnam War, the Soviet Union provided China with free construction machinery, trucks, and steel needed for the railway, along with a 12 billion ruble subsidy, all of which China did not have to repay. As for the 35 billion ruble loan, China was required to repay it later.

But this already made the central government very satisfied. 35 billion rubles is a lot, but for a country like China, this kind of low-interest, long-term loan is practically free. China's annual fiscal revenue increases exceed 35 billion rubles.

A 20-year low-interest loan would not put any pressure on China's finances. With the money from the Soviet Union and the steel that China was currently in great need of, construction of the railway could begin.

Many projects in China are currently stuck because of a lack of funding and raw materials like steel. Instead, what China lacks the most is manpower.

Luo Weilin, Deputy Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, conducted statistics in Henan Province. Currently, farmers in rural cooperatives generally spend no more than 80 days a year on agriculture alone. In some highly efficient rural cooperatives, each farmer spends only around 60 days a year on agriculture.

In some rural areas that have agricultural machinery and power plants, on average young and strong laborers only spend about 40 days a year on agriculture.

That is to say, most farmers in rural production cooperatives have about 300 days of "idle" time a year.

So what do we do with all this free time? Of course, we participate in construction, including water conservancy and transportation projects, including small hydropower projects, and primarily develop rural sideline businesses.

So what China is least afraid of right now is launching some major projects. As long as there is funding, local governments can easily organize tens or even hundreds of thousands of people.

Furthermore, there are virtually no unprofitable railway lines in China. Even the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway is currently profitable.

The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway has long been overloaded. Everyone would like it if a new railway could reduce the burden on it.

The two sides quickly reached an agreement. The Soviet Union, or rather Khrushchev, was anxious. One reason was that they worried that the railway's failure to be built would lead to problems with the transportation of supplies. Another reason was that they worried that if the Soviet Union didn't promptly fulfill the contract, China would not do its best. Therefore, after the cooperation agreement was reached, the Soviet Union quickly began to implement the contract.

The Soviet Union was pleased, and so was China. The central government had instructed the Ministry of Railways to concentrate its technical staff to survey the railway and design it as it went along, with very limited time given.

At the same time, the central government held a meeting with Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Guangxi provinces. China wanted to start construction on several sections of the railway simultaneously, and required these provinces to organize manpower to participate.

In addition to these four provinces, the central government also dispatched construction teams from other provinces and engineering corps from various military regions to participate in the construction of this railway.

As for the situation in the southwestern provinces, the Sino-Soviet negotiations were not so easy. Although China provided very detailed data, it was not originally intended for the Soviet Union. It was for China's own future investment in the southwestern provinces. It just happened to be used against the Soviet Union.

Railways, highways, waterways, and all necessary factories. China's intention was to integrate Sichuan, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou into one, forming the general rear base for the entire Vietnam War.

However, the Soviet Union didn't fully trust these figures and needed to send its own experts to investigate. Otherwise, if China's figures were followed, the Soviet Union wouldn't even have spent 1000 billion rubles a year on construction. However, there was one project the Soviet Union did directly support: the Liuzhou Steel Plant currently under construction in Guangxi.

With the support of Guangdong, the construction of Liuzhou Steel Plant entered a rapid development stage. More importantly, the people of Guangxi had high hopes for this steel plant.

Su Zhenhua, despite facing widespread criticism, persuaded officials from all levels of Guangxi to "donate" to cover the shortfall for the steel plant. Gu Mu, who was in charge of Guangxi's industrial development, even personally spent two months in Liuzhou.

With the support of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, Liuzhou Iron and Steel Plant erected its first 1959-cubic-meter blast furnace in less than seven months on May 5, 9. Construction of the second blast furnace has already begun.

After listening to China's report on the situation in the southwestern provinces, the Soviet Union immediately grasped the biggest problem of the southwestern provinces: the steel production in the southwestern provinces was all in Sichuan, and Sichuan's steel production was also average.

They had no doubts about this. Many Soviet experts had direct experience in China's First and Second Five-Year Plans. They knew that China's major steel mills were located in Northeast and North China, as well as the Wuhan area. Steel production in the southwestern provinces was already low. But this was truly bad news.

Guangxi borders Vietnam directly, making it a crucial base for future support. During wartime, steel is widely used. However, Guangxi cannot even produce steel itself, requiring it to be shipped from other regions. This is unacceptable.

So the Soviet representative immediately pointed to the Liuzhou Iron and Steel Plant. After learning about the situation of the Liuzhou Iron and Steel Plant, the Soviet Union came up with a plan.

The Soviet Union donated two complete sets of 1000-cubic-meter blast furnaces, including open-hearth furnaces and metallurgical equipment, to the Liuzhou Iron and Steel Plant. This equipment was originally used to support the construction of large steel mills such as Anshan Iron and Steel, Baotou Iron and Steel, and Wuhan Iron and Steel. The Soviet Union decided to support the development of Liuzhou Iron and Steel Plant and transform it into a medium-sized steel complex.

The Soviet Union wanted the Liuzhou Iron and Steel Plant to produce over 200 million tons of steel within a short period of time, with the requirement that the steel produced by the Liuzhou Iron and Steel Plant must be used first to support the Vietnam War.

Su Zhenhua was thrilled upon receiving the news. A steel plant with an annual output of over 200 million tons was considered a medium-sized plant in the Soviet Union, but in China it was a truly large steel plant.

This kind of steel plant, together with a series of supporting factories, including power plants and coal mines, can easily employ over 100,000 workers.

The emergence of such a steel conglomerate would directly drive the rise of a city, which was a godsend for Guangxi, which had a very weak industrial base.