Dreaming back to 1949, the great powers were there to deceive us

Hu Zhenhua stared at Jiang Zhen seriously and grinned.

"We're just discussing objective issues. You often say that the socialist system is superior. Why did capitalism peacefully evolve us? Couldn't we evolve them? Now you're afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind. Where is the superiority of socialism?"

Jiang Zhen: ￥%...

"Zhenhua, you're just being argumentative! We have institutional advantages, but after all, we started late and our productivity is still very backward. If another twenty years pass, will I be afraid of imperialism?"

Hu Zhenhua gave a thumbs up and said with a smile,

"You're awesome, aren't you?"

Hu Zhenhua calmed down and said,

"You staunch proletarian revolutionaries actually have cognitive limitations and have no idea where the lifeblood of socialism lies. Today, I will teach you a lesson to prevent you from stumbling."

Jiang Zhen sat up straight, cooperated like a primary school student, and said with a smile,

"Teacher, please speak!"

Hu Zhenhua was very helpful and sorted out his thoughts and said,

"For any regime, there are two things it can never get around: capital and power! As long as these two can be balanced among the people, society will be fine.

If you look at the end of dynasties throughout history, you will find that the collapse of each dynasty in China's 5000 years was all due to crises caused by the concentration of power and capital in the hands of a few people.

Land represented capital in ancient times, so the end of a dynasty was characterized by the consolidation of land in the hands of a very small number of people, and corrupt officials having the power of life and death over the people.

After unprecedented productivity development, feudalism was replaced by capitalism. People gained greater freedom, and private capital flourished. However, in pursuit of profit, capitalists resorted to all means, with the big fish preying on the small. Thus, monopoly capital was formed. Once capital grew in strength, it began to manipulate power.

Capitalist countries have also realized the danger of monopoly capital and have cracked down on monopolies in order to ease class contradictions.

"Marx saw through the drawbacks of capitalism, so he proposed socialism! But socialism also has a problem: the government has too much power!"

Hu Zhenhua saw Jiang Zhen frowning and shouted,

"Listen to what I have to say before you question me!"

Jiang Zhen had no choice but to give up thinking and listen carefully.

"First, let's understand the definition of socialism. I'll explain it from an economic perspective. Socialism is characterized by public ownership, with the means of production belonging to all citizens. However, it's impossible for all citizens to carry out specific production activities together. For example, a village's land only requires a small number of farmers.

According to the definition of socialism, the land in this village belongs to all citizens, with hundreds of millions of people holding ownership rights. The profits from the land also belong to all citizens. If they were distributed equally, no one would get even a grain of rice. What should we do?

"The Russians adopted collective farms, with officials appointed by the state to manage the farms. Apart from the rations allocated to the farmers, all other rations were handed over to the state for redistribution.

This is what I mean by excessive power! In fact, it's not just agriculture; the Russians have adopted the collective farm model in all sectors. All means of production and products belong to the state, and the state appoints cadres to manage them. "Old Jiang, do you understand this?"

Jiang Zhen nodded slightly.

"Yes, that's right!"

Hu Zhenhua smiled and said,

"This has given rise to two classes in the country: cadres and ordinary citizens! Old Jiang, how do you think their relationship is any different from that between capitalists and workers?"

Jiang Zhen retorted,

"Of course it's different. Cadres are only in charge and don't own the means of production!"

Hu Zhenhua shook his head.

"Legally speaking, cadres are not the owners of the means of production, but in reality, they are not! For example, when a superior comes to inspect, the farm director casually says: Xiao Zhang, go catch two chickens and kill a pig. We have to entertain the leader well!

"Old Jiang, do you think Xiao Zhang can or dares to oppose this? Do the farmers on the farms have or dares to oppose this?"

"The farm had a good harvest of watermelons. The director said our watermelons were excellent and must be tasted by our superiors and other units. So, most of the watermelons were given away. Meanwhile, melons and pineapples grown by other farms were also sent to the director as a gift!"

Hu Zhenhua stared at Jiang Zhen and asked,

"My dear Secretary, can ordinary people afford to eat these watermelons, melons, and pineapples?"

Jiang Zhen already understood what Lao Hu meant, but he still retorted,

"What you're talking about is corruption! It's going to be severely punished!"

Hu Zhenhua laughed and asked,

"Old Jiang, please give the director a charge!"

“Corruption!”

"Childish! Didn't Chongming County donate a large amount of supplies to the founding ceremony a while ago? How could I accuse you of corruption? Also, when Brunei visited, didn't you host a banquet? How could I accuse you of corruption?"

Jiang Zhen: ￥%...

Hu Zhenhua patted his shoulder and said seriously,

"If the government uses administrative power to manage all means of production, capital and power will become one, which will inevitably breed corruption! Even if an official is not greedy or possessive, he will still gain huge benefits invisibly!"

Jiang Zhen fell into deep thought, and after a long while he muttered to himself,

"The downside of capitalism is that capital can get out of control, while the downside of socialism is that power can get out of control. This statement is quite interesting!"

my country's agricultural contract production responsibility system is a decentralization of power.

The socialist market economy is also a decentralization of power!

It is precisely because of this decentralization of power that the enthusiasm of the people has been mobilized and the country's economy and appearance have undergone earth-shaking changes.

Hu Zhenhua leaned on the sofa and smiled.

"I suggest sending an investigation team to see the real conditions of the grassroots people in the Russian bear. Aren't we exchanging timber in Siberia? It's very convenient for you to conduct research! In fact, you only need to make a comparison: look at the complexion of the cadres and then look at the complexion of the grassroots people."

Jiang Zhen nodded slightly.

"You're right. The government can't be both the referee and the athlete. So, is public ownership the primary form of ownership, with multiple ownership systems coexisting, the solution?"

"That's right! We must not follow the same path as the Russian bear! That's a dead end. Just because he's not having problems now doesn't mean there won't be problems in the future! If the higher-ups don't believe us, we can experiment for a few years first!"

Jiang Zhen nodded slightly, expressing his agreement. Once a country's major policies are determined, they often have great inertia and are very difficult to change.

“Back to the original question: How can we prevent the peaceful evolution of imperialism?”

Hu Zhenhua was happy and said with a smile,

"We are a people's democratic dictatorship. Isn't it our duty to occupy the high ground of propaganda? We should intensify our propaganda efforts and create more artistic works that the people will enjoy, such as films, songs, plays, cartoons, etc. We should spread the superiority of the socialist system through their daily lives and unite the people around the Party."

Historically, the collapse of the Mao Bear was due to the loss of its propaganda positions, the confusion in the thinking of party members, cadres and the general public, and the inability to form an effective force to resist the invasion of external ideology and capital.

Jiang Zhen curled his lips and smiled.

"Didn't you just say you wanted to limit government power?"

Hu Zhenhua immediately retorted,

"How refreshing! Some powers need to be restricted, but propaganda must never be! Ordinary people are like children, a blank slate. If you don't promote it, do you want to let imperialism paint on it with abandon?"

"Hahahahaha!"

Hu Zhenhua continued,

"There's a place called Wenpianyuan, right?"

Jiang Zhen nodded and said,

"I know. Isn't that where you write movie scripts and novels?"

"What do you know?! That's where we export our values. Take the Xianxia novels, for example. I've incorporated a lot of cultural elements, like dishes, Chinese medicine, traditional clothing, Confucian classics, and so on. Once these novels become bestsellers, they'll attract Westerners to learn about my country! Forget it, I can't explain it to you. Just take some time and go read it yourself!"

Jiang Zhen: ￥%...

"Zhenhua, we need to improve communication. You haven't told me many of your moves!"

"Only when even you don't know can we keep it absolutely confidential!"

Hu Zhenhua stared at the map again, pointed at the historical location of the Daqin Railway and asked,

"This major energy artery must be put on the agenda as soon as possible. If we fall out with the United States next year, we will no longer be able to obtain technology and funds from the West in the next 5-10 years! If the country has no money, I will repair it. After recovering the cost, I will donate 70% of its shares to the country."

Jiang Zhen looked at Lao Hu's sincere eyes and couldn't bear to refuse. He looked at the map again. The railway line was so dazzling.

"Zhenhua, if this railway is built, how much coal can be transported each year?"

"Over 100 million tons!"

"How many?"

"At least 100 million tons. By then, coastal cities will be able to build a large number of thermal power plants, and the country's industrial development will advance by leaps and bounds!"

The corners of Jiang Zhen's mouth twitched several times. He wanted to speak, but didn't know what to say.

Hu Zhenhua held his hand, looked at him earnestly, and said,

"I won't give up until I give it a try!"

Jiang Zhen sighed.

“The company may not be able to afford it!”

"I want to give it a try!"

Jiang Zhen was finally persuaded and said with a wry smile,

"Cost is one thing, but there are also political factors... Never mind, I won't say any more. I'll report this to the higher-ups first!"

……