Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

This is just the grain reserve data for provinces, cities, and counties. China currently has over 100 townships and one million production cooperatives. Even a small amount of grain stored by them would amount to tens of billions of jin.

"I agree. In 1959, the drought was severe, and grain production decreased by over 500 billion catties. But in reality, the grain we needed for disaster relief was less than 400 billion catties, or even only around 1300 billion catties. As for providing food for urban workers, about 1800 billion catties would be needed. So the government only needs to provide about billion catties of grain per year to overcome the disaster."

"For example, this year, although public grain and state-purchased grain were reduced or exempted in the disaster-stricken areas, there was still about 1100 billion jin of public grain and state-purchased grain. This means the shortage is only about 700 billion jin. In addition to continuing to purchase grain from non-disaster areas, this amount can be allocated from the grain reserves of various provinces."

Fu Qiutao agreed.

Fu Qiutao did not expect that the grain reserves reported by the provinces, cities and counties were so large.

With so many local grain reserves, why would we need to use the grain from the Material Reserve Bureau? The combined grain reserves of local and material reserves total nearly 2000 billion jin, which can withstand any disaster.

Chen Guodong continued, "Secretary Wei, the most important thing now is the accuracy of this data. We must also determine how to allocate this grain, safeguard the interests of the various provinces, and encourage them to actively cooperate in disaster relief efforts."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

After a moment's thought, he said, "We must prepare for the worst. Just like the great drought in North China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which began in 1941 and was at its worst in 1942 and 1943. This drought began in 1959, and none of us can predict when it will end. So we can't just think about how to get through 1960, we also have to consider 1961 and 1962. Therefore, all disaster relief plans must leave room for uncertainty, and we must always maintain a certain amount of food reserves."

"Yes."

After hearing Wei Hongjun's words, Chen Guodong and Fu Qiutao immediately calmed down.

After seeing the provincial, municipal, and county grain reserve data, they were all very excited. They felt that 1960 would pass easily. With so much grain in reserve, unless the 1960 harvest was completely wiped out, dealing with a drought on the scale of 1959 would be a piece of cake.

But Wei Hongjun gave them a warning. This is a natural disaster, and no one can guarantee its end. If this drought really does last three or four years, then it's too early to celebrate. There are still many problems to be solved.

"Zhao Han."

"Secretary Wei."

"Notify Comrade Ouyang Qin, First Secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Liao Zhigao, Third Secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Zhang Xincun, Vice Governor of Shandong Province, Comrade Guan Wenwei, Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Wang Kedong, Vice Governor of Hebei Province, Comrade Luo Weilin, Deputy Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Zhao Xinchu, Deputy Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Zhou Hui, Governor of Hunan Province, Comrade Lu Weisheng, Third Secretary of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Shao Shiping, Deputy Secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee, and Comrade Sha Xuewen, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, to come to Beijing for a meeting."

The several provinces named by Wei Hongjun are all major grain-producing provinces, and they are also the provinces with the largest grain reserves reported by provinces, cities and counties this time.

In the coming years, these provinces will need to allocate significant amounts of grain for disaster relief. However, this allocation cannot be free; the interests of these provinces must be respected. Therefore, Wei Hongjun needed to determine the accuracy of the data they reported and to discuss how to allocate the grain.

Only one person is special, and that is Ouyang Qin, the First Secretary of Heilongjiang Province, because in addition to being the First Secretary of Heilongjiang Province, he is also the Director of the Northeast Economic Cooperation Zone.

While Northeast China currently boasts a high grain output, it's not yet China's primary granary. Furthermore, the region is experiencing the fastest urbanization and boasts a large workforce, resulting in the highest demand for food. Furthermore, Northeast China was also severely affected by the recent disaster. Wei Hongjun will discuss with Ouyang Qin whether Northeast China can weather the crisis on its own. Historically, the Premier purchased a batch of grain from the Soviet Union to help Northeast China overcome the food crisis.

When Wei Hongjun was preparing to communicate with the cadres in charge of rural management and grain reserves in these places, good news came from Deng Xixian.

Khrushchev had indeed formulated a grand strategy. In Europe, the Soviet Union was confronting European and American countries, right here in Berlin.

Khrushchev wanted to force European and American countries to withdraw from Berlin. He therefore proposed to transfer many powers in the Soviet-administered East Berlin to the German Democratic Republic, and at the same time stated that West Berlin should become a "demilitarized free city."

Of course, Europe and the US refused to agree. In particular, US President Eisenhower strongly stated that the US would absolutely not accept the Soviet proposal. The US stated that it would only recognize the legitimacy of the West German regime.

The Soviet Union proposed a "Four-Power Summit" to resolve the German issue. Britain was enthusiastic and wanted to facilitate the "Four-Power Summit." However, France was perfunctory about the "Four-Power Summit" and instead held private negotiations with the Soviet Union. France wanted to pursue an independent path and did not want to be a follower of the United States. After Charles de Gaulle came to power, French diplomacy was completely different from before.

So, not only did he seek to improve relations with China and increase economic cooperation, but he also sought political and economic cooperation with the Soviet Union. In France's view, the socialist countries were relatively backward in industrial technology, so there were many opportunities for cooperation between the two sides.

France also supported some of the Soviet Union's proposals, especially Germany's decision to become a "demilitarized neutral country" after its unification.

As a result, after all the hard work, the UK still had no sign of the "Four-Nation Conference".

This led to an increasingly intense standoff between the US and the Soviet Union surrounding Berlin. Neither the US nor the Soviet Union wanted to back down, making the atmosphere in Europe increasingly tense.

Incidents in the Middle East were also frequent. With Soviet backing, Middle Eastern oil-producing countries grew increasingly emboldened, making increasing demands on European and American oil conglomerates. They demanded nationalization of oil fields, increased tax revenue, increased profit sharing, and increased stakes in oil fields.

This has left European and American oil conglomerates furious. Middle Eastern countries, in particular, have increased taxes on oil fields and increased their share of profits, which has dramatically increased production costs. European and American oil conglomerates have no choice but to raise oil prices to maintain their profits.

Although the oil price increase was modest, it still severely impacted Europe's economic development. Oil is the foundation of modern industry and essential to every aspect of life. Even the slightest fluctuation in oil prices can lead to price increases. Europe's rapid economic growth after World War II is inseparable from the low oil prices that followed.

Therefore, European countries are very angry about the actions of these Middle Eastern oil-producing countries, and the Japanese economy is also deeply affected by oil price fluctuations.

After these Middle Eastern oil-producing countries accumulated a certain amount of funds from oil, they began to purchase weapons from the Soviet Union and began to equip their own troops.

After the defeat in the First and Second Arab-Israeli Wars, Israel has completely established its foothold in the Middle East, and the threat to the surrounding Middle Eastern countries is growing.

Of course, these Middle Eastern countries did not want to surrender, so after they had money, they also started to purchase weapons and equipment.

When Khrushchev came to power, he had already planned to reduce the military industry, develop the Soviet Union's civilian industry, and improve the living standards of the Soviet people. But by now, he had long forgotten all this.

Selling weapons and equipment to Middle Eastern countries and supporting the Vietnam War of Reunification required a large amount of weapons and equipment. So how could the military industry be compressed? Instead, more and more resources began to flow into the Soviet military industry.

Europe and the Middle East were beginning to exert their influence, but Khrushchev's greatest priority was Vietnam, as it was the most suitable place for a breakthrough.

But Indochina is, after all, located south of China, so the communistization of Indochina still requires tying China to it. With China's support, the grand strategy of Indochina can succeed.

So after receiving the report that China had suffered a large-scale natural disaster, Khrushchev was even more anxious than China. He was worried that if China was severely affected, it would affect the Vietnam War of Unification.

Therefore, when Deng Xixian negotiated with the Soviet Union because of China's natural disasters, the Soviet Union showed the demeanor of a "big brother", that is, firmly supporting China in fighting natural disasters.

Khrushchev also fully supported China's request for Soviet support for transport trucks so that food could be mobilized nationwide for disaster relief.

To demonstrate the Soviet Union's sincerity, Khrushchev decided to provide China with 2 trucks at half the price of trucks previously exported to China. He also gave China 6000 second-hand Soviet trucks and 3000 second-hand tractors.

As I said, for an industrial power like the Soviet Union, these industrial products are the cheapest.

Of course, Khrushchev's generosity came with a condition: China had to support Vietnam's war of unification according to the original plan between China, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam.

Khrushchev also offered his own opinion. After the Vietnam War broke out, American aircraft would undoubtedly launch large-scale bombing raids on Vietnam, necessitating air defense. The Soviet Union demanded that China deploy air defense forces to northern Vietnam, along the Sino-Vietnamese border, to protect transportation lines and logistical supply locations between China and Vietnam. It was imperative that supplies reach the Vietnamese People's Army.

Chairman Mao personally sent a telegram to thank Khrushchev and reaffirm China's firm support for Vietnam's war of reunification. He also explicitly agreed to the Soviet Union's request for Chinese air defense forces to enter the Sino-Vietnamese border to protect the Sino-Vietnamese transportation lines.

The Chairman stated that China had appointed Cheng Jun as commander of the air defense force supporting Vietnam, with Gu Jingsheng as political commissar. The first batch of 20 anti-aircraft artillery regiments would be dispatched to protect the transportation lines and logistics bases between China and Vietnam.

If the war in Vietnam becomes intense and the bombing by US aircraft becomes too severe, China will send more anti-aircraft artillery regiments and even surface-to-air missile units.

Khrushchev was very pleased with China's statement. China had fought the Americans head-on. As long as China supported his grand strategy, then the communistization of Indochina was absolutely possible.

Therefore, Soviet materials flowed into China continuously. Historically, the Soviet Union provided large-scale aid to India at this time.

But now that China and the Soviet Union were in a honeymoon period, especially with their shared goal of communistizing Indochina, exchanges between the two countries became even more frequent. For its own strategic purposes, the Soviet Union had already invested over 130 billion rubles in less than ten months, and had also provided China with a low-interest, long-term loan of 50 billion rubles.

Such a major move naturally couldn't be concealed. Especially after the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Vietnam changed its policy, a large number of military and political cadres from the Workers' Party of Vietnam moved south into the rural areas of South Vietnam. Their purpose was to establish a base and enhance the combat effectiveness of the guerrillas in South Vietnam.

Although the US intelligence agencies were not aware of the content of the trilateral talks between China, the Soviet Union and Vietnam, they also felt that the situation in Vietnam was very bad, so they reported the situation to the US government.

To stabilize the situation in South Vietnam, the United States also began to increase its training of South Vietnamese troops. Over 6000 military advisors were sent there alone, practically teaching the South Vietnamese army how to fight. With US support, the size of the South Vietnamese army expanded rapidly.

Of course, despite the continued expansion of the South Vietnamese army, several attacks failed to complete their missions. Guerrillas in rural areas of South Vietnam were still very active, which made American military advisors very angry.

However, the United States did not want to send troops to intervene in the current situation in Vietnam. Therefore, the US idea was still to arm the South Vietnamese army and let them stabilize the South Vietnamese regime.

At this time, Wei Hongjun was discussing grain allocation issues with some leaders from major grain-producing provinces.

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"What I want is accurate data. You must have the most accurate statistics on the food reserves in your province. Only in this way can there be no problems."

"Comrade Liao Zhigao, if the disaster in 1960 is still very serious, the central government will have to transfer grain from Sichuan to Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi, and Suiyuan for disaster relief. So you can't tell any lies."

"When Sichuan's grain is transferred out of the province and problems arise in Sichuan, the central government will hold your Sichuan provincial leaders accountable."

Liao Zhigao is a Sichuan native and has been involved in the revolution in Sichuan for many years. During the Liberation War, when Chairman Mao was fighting in Shaanxi, he was the director of the political department of the detachment.

However, in this time and space, he was part of the Northwest Field Army during the Liberation War. Later, when General He marched into Sichuan, the Central Committee specifically asked Liao Zhigao to join them because he was familiar with Sichuan and had spent ten years in the Sichuan Revolution.

After entering Sichuan, he first served as the Secretary of the Xikang Provincial Party Committee, responsible for the bandit suppression and land reform work in Xikang Province. After the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the merger of Sichuan and Xikang Provinces, he served as the Third Secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee.

"Secretary Wei, the Provincial Party Committee is urgently investigating the data reported by cities and counties, as well as the grain reserves of production cooperatives. However, there is absolutely no problem with the data in our province. Comrade Liu Shude and I personally compiled the data."

"We in Sichuan also suffered severe disasters in 1959, but as long as the central government needs us, we are willing to obey the overall situation."

With Liao Zhigao's assurance, Wei Hongjun felt a little relieved.

As long as Sichuan's data is correct, Sichuan can ensure that the entire northwest will not lack food. Although Gansu, Shaanxi, and Qinghai have suffered some disasters, these provinces have small populations.

Moreover, although the northwestern provinces are also affected by the drought, as long as the central government reduces the public grain and unified purchased grain in the northwestern provinces, the northwestern provinces will not need too much food.

"Comrade Liao Zhigao, my attitude has always been consistent. Data must be accurate because it is the foundation of all government decisions. Only accurate data can guarantee the correctness of decisions."

"While ensuring that no problems arise in your province, you should respond to the central government's call and make every effort to allocate grain. But I still want to make it clear to you that Sichuan will need to allocate at least 1960 billion jin of grain in 100. You must be mentally prepared."

"We in Sichuan will definitely complete the task."

Liao Zhigao was very calm, his expression revealing nothing, but his answer was firm and resolute.

The reason Liao Zhigao dared to make such a statement is mainly because he is quite confident. Sichuan's grain production has been very high in the past decade, but the central government's public grain and state-purchased grain have not increased much, resulting in a large amount of grain remaining in Sichuan.

Provinces, cities, and counties all have substantial grain reserves, and the reported figure of 240 billion jin (approximately billion jin) is generally correct. This is why, over the past two years, Sichuan Province has been communicating with the Ministry of Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Grain, and the National Supply and Marketing Cooperative, urging the government to purchase more grain from Sichuan. This excessive grain supply has, in fact, hindered rural development in Sichuan.

In order to absorb the excess grain, Sichuan originally planned to develop the pig industry and pork products industry on a larger scale in 1959, such as canned pork and pork sausage.

However, a severe drought occurred in 1959, so the original plan was not implemented. Liao Zhigao was in charge of rural work in Sichuan and was well aware that the rural production cooperatives under him currently had large grain reserves.

The combined grain reserves of cities, counties, and rural cooperatives in Sichuan Province exceed 400 billion jin. Facing any natural disaster, Sichuan is now very calm.

The central government wants to transfer 100 billion jin of grain from Sichuan, which is not a difficult task considering Sichuan’s current grain reserves.

"Another point is that we don't know when this drought will end. You in Sichuan will need to requisition grain in 1960, but if the disaster doesn't end in 1961, then grain will have to be requisitioned from Sichuan again. It could be another 100 billion jin. In other words, if the drought continues, the central government will have to requisition 200 billion jin of grain from Sichuan over the next two years. Therefore, you must clearly understand your grain situation, make all necessary plans, and be prepared for hard times."

Wei Hongjun knew from Liao Zhigao's expression that Sichuan was very confident. He remained calm when Wei Hongjun mentioned the 100 billion jin to be transferred out.

But precisely because of this, Wei Hongjun needed to warn Liao Zhigao and also let Sichuan be mentally prepared. That is, Sichuan grain would not only be transferred in 1960, but also in 1961.

Liao Zhigao was still very calm, but he had already started to calculate the specific situation in his mind.

If 200 billion jin of grain are transferred from Sichuan in two years, then basically most of the grain reserves in Sichuan's cities and counties will have to be transferred away.

But after calculating, Liao Zhigao felt relatively confident. Sichuan Province had a high grain production. Even if 200 billion jin of grain were diverted, the province, cities, and counties would still have 40 billion jin in grain reserves, more than enough for internal allocation. Combined with the grain reserves of townships and production cooperatives, there shouldn't be a major problem.

But Liao Zhigao remained conservative and said, "Secretary Wei, as long as the disaster in Sichuan in 1960 is not too serious and the decline in grain production is limited, Sichuan will definitely do its utmost to complete the national grain allocation task."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

As long as Sichuan is stable, not to mention the northwest, Guizhou and other places will also be fine. It can be said that Sichuan can stabilize the northwest and southwest by itself.

"Comrade Liao Zhigao, the Central Committee believes in you."

Wei Hongjun will never forget these provinces that cooperated with the country in disaster relief.

When the Three-Five Plan comes out, we'll definitely allocate some resources to them. This can be considered a different kind of reward.

The conversation had just begun, and with Sichuan's assurance, Wei Hongjun felt much better.

"Comrade Shao Shiping, is there any problem with Jiangxi's data?"

Wei Hongjun then asked about the situation in Jiangxi.

"Secretary Wei, no problem."

Shao Shiping said, "Jiangxi is an old revolutionary base, so the central government has been reducing or exempting its public grain and state-purchased grain levies for years. Furthermore, Jiangxi has many state-owned farms, and they bear the lion's share of the annual public grain and state-purchased grain contributions. Therefore, starting in 1955, some production cooperatives were already 'suffering from grain shortages.'"

"They needed to sell that grain in exchange for industrial products. So the provincial, municipal, and county governments used various methods to buy up a lot of grain and stockpile it."

"Because Jiangxi has abundant grain, it has brought in many food factories from Shanghai. Jiangxi's food industry and grain processing industry have developed rapidly in recent years."