Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

However, there are challenges. Guangxi and Liuzhou both have iron ore mines, but their reserves and mining scale are small, making it difficult to support a steel plant with an annual output of more than 200 million tons.

China's suggestion was that since the steel was being used in the Vietnamese revolution, a transportation route between China and Vietnam should be established. Northern Vietnam currently has iron ore mined, but Vietnam lacks a steel plant. With war looming, construction of the steel plant should be slowed down. The Liuzhou Steel Plant, located within China, would undoubtedly be safer than a Vietnamese steel plant. The iron ore could be used by the Liuzhou Steel Plant first, and the resulting steel could then be used in Vietnam.

The Soviet Union agreed to this approach, but this required an agreement with Vietnam.

There were numerous negotiations between China and the Soviet Union. Wei Hongjun, representing the Party Central Committee, met frequently with Soviet leaders to discuss the future leadership of the Vietnam War.

When Wei Hongjun met with some Soviet leaders for negotiations, he first raised the possibility of expanding the scope of cooperation to include not only Vietnam but also Laos and Cambodia.

The leadership of the revolution in Laos and Cambodia could not be handed over to Vietnam. China and the Soviet Union were the leaders of the international communist movement, and the revolution in Indochina should be under unified leadership. Of course, Wei Hongjun would not say this directly, but simply expressed his own ideas about the communistization of Indochina. The Soviet Communist Party's suggestion was that this issue could be discussed specifically when China, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam met together.

Overall, the negotiations between the two sides progressed quickly and smoothly. Once Khrushchev made a decision, he was very capable of pushing it forward.

Just like the engineering machinery and steel he promised, they are already flowing into China from the Soviet Union.

Experts sent by the Soviet Union also flew to Guangxi, Yunnan, and other places to conduct on-site inspections on how to improve transportation. They criticized the Chinese proposal and called for adjustments.

But China didn't care. No matter how the Soviet experts adjusted the situation, the Soviet Union's first priority wasn't how to get supplies from Guangxi and Yunnan to Vietnam, but how to get supplies from other Chinese provinces to Guangxi and Yunnan. Only then would they consider how to support Vietnam.

Therefore, no matter how the adjustments are made, the transportation in the southwestern provinces will have to undergo a major upgrade.

1068 arrangements

"Comrade Li Xuezhi, please sit down."

Wei Hongjun's secretariat was very busy with daily work, and also had to prepare for the China-Soviet-Vietnam trilateral party meeting. This was not the first time that China, the Soviet Union and Vietnam sat down to discuss the Vietnam issue.

As early as the Geneva Conference, the three parties discussed the Vietnam issue. At that time, it was China and the Soviet Union, especially China, who pressured the Vietnamese Workers' Party to sign the "Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities in Vietnam."

Because for China and the Soviet Union at the time, continuing the war in Vietnam was not in the interests of both countries, and it was of no benefit to the socialist camp and the international communist movement.

Although the Vietnamese Workers' Party was dissatisfied with the Geneva Conference, their strength was limited and they could not resist China and the Soviet Union. Therefore, they could only passively accept the decision of the Geneva Conference.

Now it was time to discuss the Vietnam War of Unification. China and the Soviet Union had to divide responsibilities, determining which was responsible for which part of the material aid to Vietnam.

Similarly, a joint command model should be established during the meeting, including where the command center should be located, who should be the leader, etc.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun has been preparing for this meeting. Many of the topics still require the approval of the Politburo.

However, although Wei Hongjun was very busy, he still took the time to meet with Li Xuezhi, who had just been transferred to the Central Committee and had finished talking with the Organization Department of the Central Committee.

Wei Hongjun compiled a list of Jinhua's achievements and submitted it to the Ministry of Rural Work and the Ministry of Water Resources, and at the same time recommended Li Xuezhi, secretary of the Jinhua Prefectural Party Committee, to them.

After inspections by the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Water Resources, both departments emphasized the praise of Jinhua's achievements at the National Rural Work Conference and the Ministry of Water Resources' National Work Conference held in March this year.

This is absolutely the heartfelt opinion of the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power, because Jinhua's achievements are so outstanding.

Jinhua's rural grain production and industrial and commercial development rank among the highest in China, and its small hydropower development in its counties and townships is even the highest in the country. Originally a relatively backward region, Jinhua has developed into Zhejiang's granary through self-reliance, without relying on state investment. Products from Jinhua's rural factories are sold not only within Zhejiang but also in major cities like Shanghai and Nanjing.

This achievement truly deserves high praise. Whether it's the free market for agricultural and sideline products, the development of rural industry and commerce, or the expansion of small hydropower in counties and townships, it can serve as a model.

Therefore, Li Xuezhi also made reports on behalf of Jinhua at the National Rural Work Conference and the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power National Conference. At the same time, Li Xuezhi suddenly became a hot commodity.

Zhejiang province wanted Li Xuezhi to serve as vice governor and director of the Agricultural Commission, but the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power wanted him to be assistant minister and director of the Rural Water Resources and Hydropower Department. Even Deng Zhihui, the Minister of Rural Affairs, was interested in Li Xuezhi.

The Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power (MOWEP) was formerly the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Electric Power Industry. Due to the recent surge in large-scale hydropower station construction in China, the central government merged the two ministries, creating the new Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power. Lin Dafeng, formerly the Minister of the Ministry of Fuel Industry and the Ministry of Electric Power Industry, was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power.

The Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power is a very large department within the State Council. However, transferring a Zhejiang cadre, especially one valued by the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, is not easy.

In the end, it was the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee that coordinated and Li Xuezhi was able to be promoted to the central government.

After being promoted to the central government this time, Li Xuezhi served as deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Rural Work, and at the same time served as assistant minister of the Ministry of Water Resources and Power and director of the Rural Water Conservancy and Hydropower Bureau.

"Comrade Li Xuezhi, you've done a great job in Jinhua."

"This is all the result of the hard work of my comrades. My contribution alone is insignificant."

Li Xuezhi was a little nervous.

Although he had participated in the revolution for 35 years, Li Xuezhi was only years old and had previously served as secretary of a local prefectural committee. Facing a party leader like Wei Hongjun, it was impossible not to be nervous.

"Drink some water. Tell me how small hydropower projects in Jinhua are planned."

Wei Hongjun also noticed Li Xuezhi's nervousness, so he wanted to help him relax and asked him about some of his work ideas in Jinhua.

Sure enough, when talking about familiar areas, Li Xuezhi slowly relaxed.

He began to explain to Wei Hongjun his ideas for working in Jinhua, and also introduced to Wei Hongjun how the small hydropower industry in Jinhua was developed without funds or technology.

Jinhua now even has a small generator manufacturer capable of replicating some small generators. Furthermore, Jinhua can handle all aspects of small hydropower projects independently. In other words, small hydropower has become an industry in Jinhua. When surrounding areas start small hydropower projects, they often purchase parts from Jinhua.

Wei Hongjun occasionally interrupted to ask questions, but mostly listened quietly to Li Xuezhi.

They started by discussing the development of small hydropower, and later Wei Hongjun and Li Xuezhi discussed the development of industry and commerce in Jinhua.

This is because the industrial and commercial development in several counties under Jinhua is very good, especially in the towns and rural areas of Jinhua where the industrial and commercial sectors are very vibrant.

"Secretary Wei, we all closely follow the central government's policies. In his political report at the Ninth National Congress, the Chairman stated that the central government should be responsible for basic industries that are crucial to national economy and people's livelihood, while other less important industries should be handed over to local provinces to stimulate their enthusiasm for industrial development."

Why would local provinces be happy if some industries were decentralized to them?

This is determined by the fiscal policy of New China. The money handed over by large state-owned enterprises under central control goes to the central treasury, while the money handed over by state-owned enterprises under local control goes to the local treasury.

In China's current Chinese government finances, apart from taxes, the largest source of income is the funds submitted by these state-owned enterprises.

Therefore, the central government's decentralization of some state-owned enterprises will quickly increase the fiscal revenue of many local governments, and of course will also increase the enthusiasm of local provinces.

"We also adopt this approach in Jinhua. Among Jinhua's factories, the district is primarily responsible for basic and support industries. Factories producing daily necessities are handed over to the county. Furthermore, the county is required not to directly manage these daily necessities factories. It's best to use policies and financial support to enable the development of factories in towns and rural areas."

"So now, for the factories in rural towns and villages under Jinhua, our prefecture-level and county governments are mainly providing guidance and financial support. Therefore, the shareholding structure of most of these factories in rural towns and villages in Jinhua is quite complex. The prefecture-level, county-level, and township governments all hold shares, but they don't directly participate in management."

"In fact, the development of many factories in Jinhua has completely exceeded our expectations. Some products we had never even thought of were created in Jinhua, and they are selling very well."

Li Xuezhi felt quite touched when talking about this.

There are many products in rural towns that the prefecture and county governments have never considered, nor have they guided these enterprises to produce. Yet, these rural factories are able to come up with these products, and their products are selling so well.

Take sacks, for example. Li Xuezhi never imagined that sacks produced in Jinhua would be sold to several surrounding provinces. Nine of the 17 counties in the Jinhua Special District are directly or indirectly involved in the sack business. This gives you an idea of ​​how big the sack business in Jinhua is.

"The Chairman said that the power of the people is unlimited, and the wisdom of the people is boundless. Many factories in Jinhua's towns and villages are thriving because you, the people of Jinhua, believe in the power and wisdom of the people."

Wei Hongjun has a deeper understanding of Li Xuezhi.

When it comes to local government work, we can be flexible. When necessary, we can organize tens of thousands of people to carry out large-scale construction projects, but in normal times, we can relax the policies and the local government will not control everything.

The ability to both tighten and loosen control is the most effective way to demonstrate a cadre's management capabilities. The problem in many places right now is that once policies are tightened and power is centralized, many cadres are reluctant to release it. If power is centralized at the provincial level, they are reluctant to release it to the prefecture level. And if power is centralized at the prefecture level, they are reluctant to release it to the county level. Everyone wants to hold onto power.

Some places were willing to cede some power. However, once certain policies were relaxed, they could never be retracted. Any attempt to reclaim them met opposition, and chaos ensued. As the saying went, "People's hearts were scattered, and the team was difficult to lead."

Jinhua, however, performed exceptionally well in this regard. After liberalizing policies, it was able to retract them when needed. Wei Hongjun's research indicates that Jinhua launched major projects in 1957 and 1958, primarily in transportation and fertile farmland.

After the Jinhua Prefectural Committee formulated the plan, the subordinate counties and rural production cooperatives responded with unwavering support, preventing any delays in the construction of these major projects. The fact that these policies could be rolled back after being relaxed demonstrates the remarkable success of Jinhua cadres, led by Li Xuezhi, in managing the Party membership. The Party organization did not collapse as a result of these policy relaxations.

Among my country's grassroots cadres, there are many who are not competent enough, but there are also many who have strong learning abilities. Li Xuezhi is obviously the latter.

"I heard that in Jinhua, a large collective enterprise was swallowed up by a small collective enterprise."

"What did Secretary Wei say?"

"Jinhua Ham Factory. I heard that you in Jinhua have restructured the Jinhua Ham Factory into a new shareholding structure. It's been merged with other ham factories. The Jinhua District only holds 31% of the shares. Tell me more about the details."

Li Xuezhi became more serious when he heard Wei Hongjun talk about this.

He said, "Secretary Wei, Jinhua ham has always been the most famous in Jinhua. However, due to the impact of the war, at the time of liberation, Jinhua ham sales were only around 40,000 units a year."

Jinhua ham, a well-known trademark of Jinhua, has been famous for more than a thousand years.

Written records of Jinhua ham already exist during the Sui and Tang dynasties. Legend has it that Zong Ze, a renowned general from Jinhua during the Southern Song Dynasty, brought pickled ham from his hometown to the front lines as a reward for his soldiers. Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou of the Song Dynasty subsequently gave it the name "Jinhua Ham." While this is merely a rumor, many Jinhua hams cite Zong Ze as their ancestor. This gives you a glimpse into the history of Jinhua ham.

During the Republican era, Jinhua ham sales peaked at over 80 units per year. In 1943, a dedicated ham bank, the "Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ham Industry Bank," even emerged in the Japanese-occupied Hangzhou. This gives you an idea of ​​Jinhua ham's fame. At the time, a Jinhua ham was said to be worth ten bottles of Maotai liquor.

"After liberation, during the socialist transformation of industry and commerce, we in Jinhua merged those small ham-curing factories and established a state-owned ham factory through a public-private partnership. By 1954, production had reached 20 hams, and in 1955, it reached 27."

"But after the central government decided to develop a free market for agricultural and sideline products and later supported the development of rural industry and commerce, rural cooperatives in Jinhua all started to open ham factories. By 1956, there were over 300 ham factories run by rural cooperatives throughout Jinhua. Not only did they produce ham themselves, they also encouraged their members to make ham at home. As a result, ham production increased to 70 hams that year."

"In the following two years, many rural cooperative ham factories cooperated with each other, and their strength grew. In 1958, Jinhua ham production reached 130 million. Moreover, these rural cooperative ham factories not only had high production, but more importantly, they could sell their products to their own supply and marketing cooperatives, so they had no worries about sales. However, our state-owned ham factories had previously sold their ham to the state supply and marketing cooperatives."

"But the rural cooperative's ham factory produces and sells its own ham, without any unnecessary middlemen, so the price is very favorable. In the end, even the state supply and marketing cooperatives buy from the rural cooperative."

"So our state-owned ham factories not only easily suffer from product backlogs, but also have limited sales channels. Many rural cooperatives have united, and many cities have their own supply and marketing cooperatives. In this regard, our Jinhua state-owned ham factory is completely at a disadvantage, so I have made some reforms to the state-owned ham factories. We have introduced many ham factories affiliated with rural cooperatives, also to improve sales channels."

Who would have thought that the free market, which was originally developed just for the development of rural agricultural and sideline products, would have an increasingly greater influence.

In particular, the supply and marketing cooperatives that developed from rural cooperatives initially sold only agricultural and sideline products. But now they are increasingly becoming sales outlets. In a few decades, these supply and marketing cooperatives will be like small supermarkets.

Although they are unable to shake the position of the national supply and marketing cooperatives, they are already clearly competing with them in the daily necessities market. The national supply and marketing cooperatives are in charge of too many items, and in the competition for some specific daily necessities, they are no match for these small rural supply and marketing cooperatives.

The Jinhua State-Owned Ham Factory previously only worked with the state-owned supply and marketing cooperatives, selling their products to them without establishing any sales channels of its own. However, the rural cooperative ham factory directly produced and sold its own products, forcing even the state-owned supply and marketing cooperatives to give it a wide berth.

Even Wei Hongjun, who was the one who developed the free market for agricultural and sideline products and rural industry and commerce, did not expect that there would be such development in just a few years.

This is the case with Jinhua ham. Could this also be the case with daily necessities in other regions?

This is the market forcing some state institutions to reform. The state supply and marketing cooperatives have already withdrawn from the agricultural and sideline products market, and given current trends, they will soon be forced to withdraw from some daily necessities markets as well. However, this withdrawal is a good thing.

State-owned supply and marketing cooperatives control key products and those in short supply to stabilize the market. Some daily necessities unsuitable for state-owned supply and marketing cooperatives are handed over to supply and marketing cooperatives of other ownership structures, which is also a form of development.

Wei Hongjun remained silent, and Li Xuezhi was also nervous. After a while, Wei Hongjun asked, "Since the reform, have all the problems of the state-owned ham factory been resolved?"

"It's basically resolved. The quality of state-owned ham factories is still very good, better than most ham factories run by rural cooperatives in terms of quality and hygiene. And the brand is also recognized in some big cities. Now we can sell our ham to rural supply and marketing cooperatives, so we don't have to worry about sales anymore."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Looking at Li Xuezhi's youthful face, one can't help but marvel at his courage. This isn't a big deal, at best. After all, there aren't any private shareholders; it's a collaboration between large and small collective ownership. It could even be considered a merger of the state-owned Jinhua Ham Factory and the rural cooperative ham factory. It's just that the rural cooperative has more ham factories, so the large collective's stake has declined more.

But if we take it more broadly, it means that small collective enterprises have united to swallow up large collective enterprises. If we take it too far, it will directly destroy his political future.

So Wei Hongjun said, "When this kind of problem occurs, don't act on your own in the future. Keep good records, analyze the cause of the problem, and report it to a leader or department that can handle it. This problem might not just be happening in Jinhua; it could be a nationwide problem."

"Yes."

"After you return, write a detailed report on the problems with Jinhua Ham. Divide it into two copies. Give one to me and one to Comrade Deng Zhihui. Also, tell Comrade Deng Zhihui that it was me who reported it. This problem is likely widespread in the local area and must be taken seriously. The state supply and marketing cooperatives, including the ones in this situation, also need to make adjustments."

"Yes."

Li Xuezhi instantly understood what Wei Hongjun meant. Wei Hongjun and the Rural Work Department would endorse him on this matter, so that no one would bring it up in the future.

So Li Xuezhi is very grateful to Wei Hongjun.

"You should know what to do next?"

"Yes. Minister Lin talked to me about it."

"Right now, the entire country is undertaking large-scale water conservancy construction, and many counties, towns, and villages are implementing small hydropower projects. But your Jinhua has achieved the best results. However, before you go to the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power, I still want to give you a few instructions."

Li Xuezhi immediately sat up straight.

Li Xuezhi roughly understood why he was able to be transferred to the central government this time. Xiahou Wenhui reported Jinhua's achievements, and Wei Hongjun recommended him to the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power.