Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Deng Xixian and Li Fuchun both supported the report, and Chen Yun also stood up to support it.

Chen Yun is the Secretary of the Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, Deng Xixian is the First Vice Premier of the State Council and the First Deputy Secretary of the Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, and Li Fuchun has been in charge of China's heavy industry development for more than a decade. These three individuals hold significant influence in this area.

Wei Hongjun looked at Li Xiannian, director of the State Planning Commission, and said, "Comrade Li Xiannian, the Planning Commission is formulating the Third Five-Year Plan. What are your opinions?"

"Southwestern provinces are currently facing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for development. The Planning Commission will fully support the central government's decision. We will adjust the Third Five-Year Plan in accordance with the central government's decision."

Li Xiannian's words were very cunning.

It was support, but not direct support. Wei Hongjun then looked at the Prime Minister.

After the establishment of several central working committees, Comrade Wu Hao, Premier of the State Council, did withdraw from the specific work of these ministries and commissions.

But that doesn't mean the Prime Minister will no longer be in charge. Just like the Central Special Committee established for the atomic bomb program, the current streamlining of central government agencies also requires the Prime Minister's involvement.

The Prime Minister nodded and said, “When the opportunity comes, we must seize it.

The Ninth National Congress's Political Report included "socialist common prosperity," a commitment our Party has made to the people of China. However, achieving "common prosperity" cannot simply mean that wealthy provinces maintain their poverty. Teaching a man to fish is worse than giving him fish. Southwestern provinces need to develop their own industries.

The main central leaders in charge of the economy all agreed with Gao Gang and his colleagues' report because it was truly excellent.

A blueprint for the future development of the southwestern provinces was mapped out. Historically, the central government hastily decided on the Third Front, resulting in considerable waste in developing the southwestern provinces. Some factories were discovered unsuitable halfway through construction, forcing them to choose another location.

Now that we have such a clear development plan, I wonder how much money we can save and how many detours we can avoid.

"Since everyone agrees, this report will be formally adopted. Comrades Chen Yun, Deng Xixian, Li Fuchun, Li Xiannian, the Finance and Economics Working Committee, and Comrade Gao Gang, along with comrades from Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, will discuss this and come up with a more specific plan.

After the Politburo has reviewed and approved it, the Third Five-Year Plan will be rectified according to this plan.

Two topics have been discussed.

Wei Hongjun continued, "Now let's move on to the third topic. It's a report submitted by Comrade Tan Zhenlin on behalf of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Comrade Tan Zhenlin believes that the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection is currently understaffed and wants to increase its cadre strength."

"Comrade Tan Zhenlin, please tell us your thoughts first.

Tan Zhenlin said: "The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection currently has four deputy secretaries, but since Comrade Luo Qirong began to take charge of Indochina affairs, the work has become very busy."

"Comrade Ye Jianying, you have too many part-time jobs in the military. Especially since you became the Minister of National Defense, you have a lot of work to deal with on a daily basis."

"Comrade Qian Ying is primarily responsible for the work of the Supervision Department, dealing with officials who violate the law, with corruption and bribery being a major responsibility."

"But in addition to investigating officials who violate the law, our Supervisory Commission's main task is to monitor Party conduct and discipline. Currently, internal Party supervision is extremely demanding, and the Supervisory Commission is understaffed. Therefore, on behalf of the Supervisory Commission, I hope to add two deputy secretaries, one of whom will be a military officer."

Tan Zhenlin's request is not a big problem.

Luo Qirong was promoted to the central government after making significant contributions in Guangdong. This was not only due to Guangdong's rapid economic growth in recent years, but also due to his outstanding performance in suppressing banditry, carrying out land reform, and combating localism in Guangdong. Therefore, although Luo Qirong was only the Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, his transfer from Guangdong to the central government was as powerful as that of major officials from local central bureaus who were promoted to the central government.

His appointment as Deputy Secretary of the Central Supervisory Commission during the Ninth National Congress was merely a temporary solution. Furthermore, as Guangdong's performance improved, Luo Qirong's influence within the central government grew. With the arrival of the Tenth National Congress, it would be difficult for Luo Qirong to remain on the Supervisory Commission.

Marshal Ye was in the same situation. Previously, he served as Minister of the Armed Forces Supervision Department, and therefore as Deputy Secretary of the Supervisory Committee. However, Marshal Ye now held numerous other military positions, especially as Minister of National Defense, with numerous trivial matters to attend to, leaving him unable to attend to the work of the Central Supervisory Committee. However, with economic development, an increasing number of Party members and cadres were violating Party conduct and discipline, and even violating national laws. The Supervisory Committee's workload was becoming increasingly hectic. Therefore, Tan Zhenlin sought additional personnel to assist him in his work.

Everyone expressed their understanding of this and agreed to add a deputy secretary to the Supervisory Commission.

So Wei Hongjun said: "Comrade Tan Zhenlin, everyone agrees that the Supervisory Committee should have two more deputy secretaries.

The Fifth Session of the Ninth Central Committee is coming up soon, and two deputy secretaries of the Supervisory Commission will be elected at that meeting. When you return, please prepare a list of candidate deputy secretaries and submit it.

After the Politburo's review, the three agenda items of the enlarged Politburo meeting at the Fifth Session of the Ninth Central Committee were concluded, and the Chairman did not say much. So Wei Hongjun said, "Today's meeting is over."

1100 The Fifth Session of the Ninth Central Committee

After the Politburo meeting, everyone had their own thoughts. But many people had already understood that in the 16 years since the Seventh National Congress, the situation in the central government had become clearer.

During the Seventh National Congress, although Comrade Xiuyang was ranked fourth among the secretaries of the Secretariat, he was the one who presided over the work of the Central Committee in the Chairman's absence. He was the de facto second-in-command in the Central Committee.

However, he subsequently encountered setbacks in land reform and rural work nationwide, and later also encountered setbacks and criticism in urban work and trade union work. It can be said that Gao Gang's beating at the beginning of the liberation was a serious blow to Comrade Xiuyang's prestige.

Had it not been for Gao Gang's taunting, Comrade Xiuyang wouldn't have lost his voice in many areas of the Central Committee so quickly. This included Party affairs. During his time in charge of the Secretariat, Gao Gang blatantly excluded Comrade Xiuyang from having a say in Party affairs. No resolution passed by the Secretariat was ever passed without Comrade Xiuyang's approval.

When Wei Hongjun took over the Secretariat, the influence of Comrade Xiuyang was almost gone. It's easy to imagine how powerful Gao Gang was when he was in the Secretariat, forcing even Peng Zhen to leave the Secretariat to take charge of the NPC.

At this time, Wei Hongjun stood out. At the Seventh National Congress, Wei Hongjun was a political newcomer, a young cadre who hadn't even been selected as an alternate member of the Central Committee and had just been appointed a member of the Jin-Cha-Ji Central Bureau. Many current Politburo leaders were already important officials in local Central Bureaus at that time.

However, this political newcomer at the Seventh National Congress has been chosen by the Chairman and become his successor after 16 years.

After the Politburo meeting, the Chairman began to frequently exchange views with some central leaders, expressing his wish for Wei Hongjun to represent him in presiding over all central work at the Ninth Central Committee. The Chairman hoped that the Ninth Central Committee's Fifth Session would proceed smoothly.

After communicating with the Chairman, many central leaders were somewhat surprised by his idea, but they did not make a fuss about it, as it was within their expectations.

It was because Wei Hongjun had such a brilliant aura. Not to mention his achievements during the war years before liberation, after liberation, no matter what task he was in charge of, he was able to complete it very well.

The glorious victory in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea made all the cadres in the country, whether familiar or unfamiliar, including those who had never worked with Wei Hongjun, truly know Wei Hongjun.

Other energy industries, light industry, and rural work have all developed exceptionally well over the past decade. Even many of the times Wei Hongjun made decisions despite pressure, his decisions were proven correct years later.

The well-known rubber strategy of "Hainan first, then the mainland", the "small oil battle" on the oil front, and the different path from the Soviet Union in seed breeding have all achieved fruitful results.

As well as several judgments on international strategy, Soviet diplomacy and other aspects, China was able to calmly deal with changes in the international situation.

Of course, when internal conflicts occurred within the Central Committee several times, Wei Hongjun was able to resolve them in a timely manner without escalating the contradictions.

From the fact that in recent years the Chairman has entrusted Wei Hongjun to convene central work conferences on his behalf, many people have understood the Chairman's thoughts and seen this trend.

In other words, when Wei Hongjun's "Socialist Stage Theory" proposed at the Ninth National Congress was accepted within the party, many people already understood that this day would come.

After all, all the national policies after the Ninth National Congress were formulated around the judgment of "the primary stage of socialism".

How should we deal with the “theory of stages of socialism”?

Everyone was a little surprised by the Chairman's quick decision to have Wei Hongjun take charge of all Central Committee work. But since the Chairman had already made the decision, few objected. While it wasn't a consensus within the Party that Wei Hongjun should succeed him, it was close. Even if there were any dissatisfaction, it wasn't expressed directly.

Wei Hongjun was also busy at this time. One of his tasks was to continue coordinating disaster relief efforts for 1961. Wei Hongjun knew that as long as they survived 1961, the nationwide drought would be over.

Although there was a drought in 962, it was much better than the previous three years, and grain production was able to recover significantly. Moreover, as long as these three years passed, China would not face such a series of nationwide disasters in the future.

But the more Wei Hongjun took this matter seriously, the more he paid attention. When leading troops into battle, Wei Hongjun feared the most that he would slack off at the last moment, as this could easily lead to failure.

The same goes for disaster relief work. We absolutely cannot afford to be careless in the slightest, and avoid problems at the last minute.

Another issue was preparations for the Fifth Session of the Ninth Central Committee. Before the meeting, the Chairman exchanged views with the heads and deputy heads of the various groups that comprised the meeting. These heads and deputy heads were generally local Party and government leaders.

The Chairman could not allow these local leaders to be unprepared and suddenly announce that Wei Hongjun would take charge of the central work. Therefore, he used the time before the meeting to express his thoughts to these local party and government leaders.

On January 1961, 1, the Fifth Session of the Ninth Central Committee was formally convened.

Although this meeting lasted only 13 days, it did include a number of adjustments. Many people viewed the Fifth Session of the Ninth Central Committee as preparation for the Tenth National Congress.

Wei Hongjun was the first to take the stage, delivering a report on behalf of the Politburo, discussing the bureau's work that year. He focused on the 1960 disaster relief efforts and the 1961 disaster relief preparations.

Wei Hongjun made no secrets about the national disaster situation and provided a detailed account. In 960, national grain production was only 3900 billion jin, a decrease of over 1958 billion jin from 1200.

It can be said that the blow to rural areas across the country in 1959 and 1960 was really severe. The grain production was reduced by 1200 billion jin. According to the current central government's unified purchase price of grain,

About 120 billion RMB, or about 180 billion RMB according to market price.

This doesn't even include the severe impact on rural grain processing and animal husbandry due to reduced grain production. The light industry has also experienced fluctuations due to the shrinking rural market caused by reduced rural incomes. It can be said that the direct and indirect losses caused by the nationwide drought over the past two years have exceeded 100 billion RMB.

Wei Hongjun's next report was on the issue of streamlining the central government. He detailed the current situation of personnel expansion in central government agencies and the Politburo's decision. He also proposed a nationwide census of party and government agencies and public institutions, with the goal of streamlining both institutions and staff.

The Chairman also made a report. He used the example of the severe drought that has lasted for many years to propose a plan for China's economic development.

That is "agriculture as the foundation and industry as the leading force"

Industry needs to develop, but agriculture is the foundation, so agricultural development and rural development are major issues.

All attendees agreed with the Chairman's report. It can be said that the three-year nationwide drought made everyone realize the importance of agriculture. It also taught many impulsive cadres a lesson.

Although Wei Hongjun did his utmost to provide disaster relief, the fact was that grain production had dropped significantly nationwide, so there was definitely some shortage of food supplies in the cities.

In particular, the dramatic drop in grain production led to a decrease in agricultural and sideline products in rural areas. Many cities reinstated the meat coupon system a few years later, as the urban pork supply became scarce and could no longer be freely available. Even major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenyang reinstated the meat coupon system.

同时粮食市场价格的变化也是非常明显的。大米1958年的时候，好米一百斤是13块上下。但进入1960年一百斤价格已经在15元左右，两年之内粮食价格增长了13%以上。而且1961年大干旱的情况之下，粮食市场价格会进一步出现上涨。

Again, since this is a nationwide drought, the government, the urban working class, and rural farmers all have to bear the brunt of it.

The government increased disaster relief spending, the urban working class had to accept certain high food prices, and the rural areas had to make every effort to fight the disaster.

These changes have made everyone more aware of the importance of agriculture.

Comrade Xiuyang, the Premier, Chen Yun, Marshal Nie, and Deng Xixian all made reports within their respective work scopes.

The meeting passed the "Draft Report on the Streamlining of Party and Government Organs and Public Institutions" proposed by Wei Hongjun, which stipulates that a comprehensive census and streamlining will be carried out across the country within two years.

At the same time, the Central Organization Committee and the National Organization Committee were formally established. The Central Organization Committee oversees the organization of Party committees, the National People's Congress, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the courts, the procuratorates, the democratic parties, and people's organizations nationwide. The National Organization Committee is primarily responsible for the organization of administrative and public institutions.

The Central Organization Committee and the State Council Organization Committee are two separate entities with the same personnel, and they are under the dual leadership of the Secretariat and the State Council.

Liu Xiufeng serves as the director and party secretary of the Central Organization Committee and the State Council Organization Committee, while Zhou Rongxin, director of the Personnel Bureau, Ye Jizhuang, secretary-general of the State Council, and Pan Fusheng, secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, serve as deputy directors.

After Pan Fusheng was promoted to the central government to serve as deputy director of the Organization Committee, he appointed Pei Hongchang, the former deputy secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, as secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee.

With the reform of the State Organization Committee passed at the Fifth Session of the Ninth Central Committee, the Organization Committee once again regained its authority over the organization of all units across the country.

On the issue of streamlining party and government organs and public institutions across the country, General Peng expressed support on behalf of the Central Military Commission.

At the same time, General Peng stated that the Central Military Commission, in accordance with the central government's directive, would also conduct a census of all major military regions nationwide. Institutions unrelated to military development would either be disbanded or transferred to local governments.

In fact, General Peng was targeting the industries of many local military regions. When the troops of those major military regions liberated the country, they took over a large number of Kuomintang government and military assets.

Later, the central government took away the farms owned by local military regions and incorporated them into the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation, and also took back a large amount of military assets after counting them.

However, the military took over so much back then that local military districts still hold vast amounts of real estate and land. In some cities, entire streets are filled with confiscated military assets, still owned by the military. Local military districts are also using this real estate and land to develop side businesses, some of which are quite large.

While the military is no longer directly allowed to engage in commerce, as it was in the 1980s, many military district logistics departments have developed numerous side businesses, generating significant profits for the districts. These organizations are all military district departments, receiving state funding. However, they operate in a manner reminiscent of the military's business practices during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, with little to do with the development of the military. The profits from these units are all taken away by the military districts as internal coffers.

It can be said that these military districts' slush funds are the interests that each major military district attaches great importance to. Others may turn a blind eye to these things, but General Peng cannot accept it.

These institutions need to be cleaned up.

Alternatively, a unified department could be established to manage these industries, but it should not be part of the military system. In any case, the military should not be allowed to have too many departments that are unrelated to its main duties.

Only General Peng had such courage. The military downsizing, including the salary cuts for senior cadres and the current review of the organizations in the major military regions across the country, were both matters that infringed upon the interests of many people.

Although General Peng's work style was rather rough when he was working in the Military Commission, and he had friction with many cadres, many tasks in the early days of the People's Republic of China were highly conflicting, and only General Peng's character could push them forward.

Then came Tan Zhenlin's report on strengthening the Central Supervisory Committee, which was also approved. Local officials were not necessarily in favor of strengthening the Central Supervisory Committee's power.

But this is the general trend, and no one's opposition can stop it. The Central Committee agreed to add two deputy secretaries and two standing members to the Central Supervisory Commission.

On behalf of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Tan Zhenlin proposed a list of five candidates for deputy secretaries of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, and also proposed a list of five candidates for standing committee members.

After a secret ballot, the Central Committee elected Wang Congwu, former member of the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Fu Zhong, deputy director of the General Political Department of the Central Military Commission, as deputy secretaries of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Ma Guorui, the second secretary of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, and Wu Yunfu, secretary-general and party secretary of the China People's Relief Administration, vice president and party secretary of the Chinese Red Cross Society, and vice minister of health, were elected as members of the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Wu Yunfu became a standing member of the Supervisory Commission because in recent years, social and non-governmental organizations such as the Red Cross have also encountered obvious problems in their supervisory work.

Therefore, the central government must include them all in the scope of supervision.