Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Zhang Wentian's criticism was so direct that Comrade Xiuyang was left in a state of humiliation. Furthermore, not only the cadres in the Northeast Bureau, but also those in the North China Bureau were also stirring. The Chairman seemed to recall the events of the National Rural Economic Conference held over half a year ago.

This meeting is more important than the previous one, and more important cadres are attending.

If, as at the previous meeting, Comrade Xiuyang is embarrassed, the consequences will be extremely negative. Comrade Xiuyang will now be responsible for major Central Committee work. The Chairman must not allow Comrade Xiuyang to lose face and prestige in front of so many senior Party leaders. If this happens, how will Comrade Xiuyang handle Central Committee affairs in the future?

Gao Gang is also a cadre that the Chairman highly respects and values.

Gao Gang's advantage is his youth, at only forty-three. He has also worked in various Party, government, and military positions, with remarkable success. Whether he was previously in charge of the Northwest Bureau or currently overseeing the Northeast Bureau, he has handled both with ease.

Such outstanding cadres are rare in the party.

Therefore, the Chairman did not want a direct conflict between Comrade Xiu Yang and Comrade Gao Gang during this unity meeting. If the conflict between the two of them escalated to the point where it could not be reconciled, and the Central Committee was forced to choose only one of them, it would cause a split within the Party.

Because both of them are very important and are powerful.

If any party is abandoned by the party, it will affect a large number of people.

This wasn't what the Chairman wanted to see. As soon as the Chairman spoke, everyone felt relieved. The revolution was about to triumph, and no one wanted to see a major political upheaval within the Party. No one was afraid of disagreements over work.

What I am afraid of is that some people will escalate their differences at work into issues of faction or direction.

The storm will be too big by then.

Gao Gang also understood what the Chairman meant, so he did not continue to pursue the matter.

However, there were two more major disputes afterwards.

The first is to discuss the issue of concentration of power.

The Central Committee and the local Central Bureaus discussed the issue of centralization. Due to historical reasons, the local Central Bureaus were responsible for local Party, government, and military affairs, and each one of them became a local lord, wielding astonishing power in the local area. Now, the central government wants to centralize power, meaning it wants to take power away from the local Central Bureaus. In principle, the cadres of the local Central Bureaus all support centralization. After all, they have all experienced warlordism and oppose excessive local power.

But it is easy to say nice things, but when it comes to real issues of interests, it is not that simple.

The debate between the local central bureaus and the central government over economic planning, fiscal authority, and personnel arrangements has intensified. Neither local central bureau is willing to cede these powers. On specific issues, neither side is willing to yield.

To what extent.

Comrade Wu Hao, who had proposed unifying military logistics and personnel management, and placing central responsibility for economic and financial affairs, was forced to self-criticize at the meeting. He admitted that he had been "too eager to achieve results" in specific tasks and that his original plan was unrealistic. After Wu Hao's forced apology, the central government had no choice but to back down.

One can only imagine the immense power and influence of local lords in this era. Even the third-ranking official in the Party had to speak out. Ultimately, most financial and personnel power still resided in the hands of the local central bureau.

The second is Wang Ming’s report.

Wang Ming spoke at the last moment of the meeting.

Wang Ming was a skilled speaker, his eloquence stretching back all the way to the present day. However, the cadres below were uninterested in his speech, accusing him of wasting everyone's time and criticizing him for avoiding his own mistakes.

Wang Ming is not an ordinary person.

After being criticized, he immediately started to defend himself.

The mouth is like a river.

Wang Ming also stated that the mistakes made during the Central Soviet Area period were primarily the fault of the Provisional Central Committee headed by Qin Bangxian. He was far away in Moscow and lacked understanding of many issues within the Central Soviet Area. It was Qin Bangxian and his colleagues who went against his own opinions that led to the loss of the Central Soviet Area. As for the problems during the early stages of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he explained that he was merely following orders from the Communist International.

The result once again aroused public anger.

So much so that everyone demanded a vote to remove Wang Ming's membership of the Central Committee.

Wang Ming's report was criticized, and the meeting was delayed for four days. Finally, it was the chairman's report, "The Party Committee's Work Plan," that finally ended the criticism of Wang Ming.

While not as renowned as the more well-known "Three Old Essays" and "Three New Essays," this report is undoubtedly a crucial piece of writing within Chairman Mao's thought. For Party cadres in particular, this is essential learning.

Finally, there are changes in the members and alternate members of the Central Committee.

There have been changes in the rankings of party leaders.

Originally, the five secretaries were Chairman, Commander-in-Chief, Wu Hao, Xiu Yang, and Ren Peiguo. However, after the Second Session of the Seventh Central Committee, the focus of the Party's work shifted, so the ranking of the five secretaries within the Party changed to Chairman, Commander-in-Chief, Xiu Yang, Wu Hao, and Ren Peiguo.

Historically, Comrade Xiuyang's ranking within the Party had risen from fourth to second. However, at this meeting, many of his policies were resisted by local Central Bureaus, especially the Northeast and North China Bureaus.

In the end, the commander-in-chief, whose ranking within the party should have been declining, still maintained his second place. Comrade Xiuyang stepped forward, and Comrade Wu Hao went from third to fourth in the party.

At the same time, Marshal Nie became the alternate secretary of the Secretariat, ranking seventh in the party.

Originally, Chen Yun and Peng Zhen, two alternate secretaries of the Secretariat, were ranked behind the five secretaries. However, with Nie Shuai also becoming an alternate secretary of the Secretariat, the party rankings were Chen Yun sixth, Nie Shuai seventh, and Peng Zhen eighth.

After becoming the alternate secretary of the Secretariat, Marshal Nie completely left North China and no longer served as secretary of the North China Bureau, commander of the North China Military Region, or political commissar.

Including Dong Biwu no longer serves as the chairman of the North China People's Government.

The Central Committee decided that Wei Hongjun would officially become the Secretary of the North China Bureau, Commander and Political Commissar of the North China Military Region, and Chairman of the North China People's Government. Wei Hongjun officially became the top leader of the Party, government, and military in the North China Liberated Area.

Because of Guan Xiangying's death, the plane crash involving Wang Ruofei and Qin Bangxian, and the public outcry, everyone voted to cancel Wang Ming's membership of the Central Committee, so there were four more names on the list of Central Committee members.

Alternate members of the Central Committee are appointed as replacements.

Originally, this replacement was based on ranking. However, wartime was full of twists and turns, and the ranking of the original Central Committee alternate members wasn't entirely based on that. As a result, Liao Chengzhi, Yang Quanwu, Wang Jiaxiang, and Zhao Zhensheng were appointed as replacement members of the Central Committee. Finally, the Central Committee added one more member: Wei Hongjun.

Of the five new members of the Central Committee, only Wei Hongjun was promoted exceptionally. He did not have to go through the process of being an alternate member of the Central Committee but was directly promoted to a member.

Wei Hongjun's extraordinary promotion is based on his achievements and current status.

Wei Hongjun made contributions in all three areas: the Party, government, and military. After the Seventh National Congress, Wei Hongjun first made contributions in the development of the Northeast Base Area, then annihilated the Fu Zuoyi Group, and then led and commanded the Peiping-Tianjin Campaign as the Secretary of the General Front Committee of the Peiping-Tianjin Campaign.

In terms of party and government, especially on the issue of land reform, Wei Hongjun directly influenced the central government's land reform. Moreover, as secretary of the North China Bureau, Wei Hongjun was fully qualified to be a member of the Central Committee.

That's why Wei Hongjun was promoted to member of the Central Committee this time.

The meeting then elected four alternate members of the Central Committee to fill the vacancies of Liao Chengzhi, Yang Quanwu, Wang Jiaxiang, and Zhao Zhensheng. These included Wang Zhi, Second Secretary of the Southeast Branch of the Central China Bureau; Wang Qiuyun, a member of the Central China Bureau and Commander of the Hunan Military Region; Huang Jing, Minister of the Enterprise Department of the North China People's Government and Secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee; and Li Kenong, Chairman of the Central Intelligence Commission of the Communist Party of China and Minister of the Military Commission's Intelligence Department.

Chapter 755: The Status of Trade Unions

"Secretary Zhihui."

"Comrade of the Red Army."

At the end of the Second Session of the Seventh Central Committee, Wei Hongjun also met with some local Central Committee leaders. Having been engaged in local revolution for years, they rarely had the opportunity to meet and chat. Now was a good opportunity.

We are all front-line leaders.

They had many common topics at work. Deng Zhihui and Wei Hongjun also had a close relationship. The foundation of the western Fujian base was laid by leaders like Tan Zhenlin and Deng Zhihui. It was precisely because of their foundation in western Fujian that the Chairman Mao and the Commander-in-Chief, when they led the Red Fourth Army into western Fujian, completely ignited the flames of the revolution. Western Fujian quickly became a key Red Army base.

Of course, there were many leaders in western Fujian at that time.

The biggest connection between Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui was when the local Red Guards in western Fujian jointly established the Red 12th Army, and Deng Zhihui served as the political commissar of the 12th Army. However, the difference in rank between the two is not much now.

Wei Hongjun was the first secretary of the North China Bureau, and Deng Zhihui was the third secretary of the Central China Bureau. Both were members of the Central Committee. Marshals Lin Biao and Luo Yonghao focused more on the military, so Deng Zhihui, the third secretary of the Central China Bureau, handled the bureau's daily affairs.

The reason why Deng Zhihui went to Wei Hongjun was that he wanted to learn from the North China Bureau.

After all, North China is an old liberated area.

Deng Zhihui and Wei Hongjun mainly discussed issues concerning land reform.

"Comrades of the Red Army, what is the biggest problem with rural cooperatives and collectivization in Shanxi and Chahar?

Deng Zhihui is an outstanding rural cadre.

Whether it was the land reform work in the Central Soviet Area or the land reform in Central China, he did a very good job. The land reform plan he proposed in Central China, "keeping the center unchanged and the two ends equal," had a lot in common with the land reform strategy proposed by Wei Hongjun.

It was during the war years that the middle peasants were united, and the targets of land reform were the landlords.

Therefore, Deng Zhihui was also very interested in Wei Hongjun. Among the current central cadres, there were many who came from the same humble background as Wei Hongjun. However, most of them became generals on the battlefield.

On the contrary, Wei Hongjun's development direction is completely different.

It began to develop in the direction of party and government.

Deng Zhihui's current priority is cooperatives and collectivization within the North China Bureau, as the Central China Bureau also has this tendency.

Of course, this kind of cooperative was nothing new in the Central Soviet Area.

But after all, there are many differences between now and the time of the Central Soviet Area.

He wanted to learn more about the cooperatives and collectivization at the North China Bureau. Deng Zhihui couldn't fully grasp the situation simply by looking at the information provided by the North China Bureau. So he wanted to discuss this with Wei Hongjun in person.

He was not polite either.

I asked Wei Hongjun questions about this directly.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said, "There are currently two major problems with cooperatives and collectivization in some rural areas of North China. One is the capacity of grassroots cadres. Our grassroots cadres have varying degrees of competence, and giving them full responsibility for collectivization reform will present significant difficulties. Many of them lack a grasp of policy and have a superficial understanding of its principles. Consequently, they can only vacillate between left and right, hindering the development of cooperatives and collectivization.

Deng Zhihui nodded.

Like the Chairman, Deng Zhihui is very fond of investigation and research, so he is very clear about the situation at the grassroots level.

Therefore, "It is not an appropriate approach to ask grassroots cadres to handle matters beyond their capabilities when their level is not up to par. Cooperatives and collectivization in North China should fully consider the situation at the grassroots level."

"Secretary Zhihui, rural areas in North China are different from those in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Compared to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, rural areas in North China are far poorer, with severe shortages of means of production. Furthermore, North China was plagued by years of war, leaving many rural families short of able-bodied labor. The emergence of rural cooperatives and collectivization wasn't forced on us; it was a spontaneous development initiative in many rural areas. Our focus is to analyze the problems that arose with cooperatives and collectivization and identify more suitable solutions.

"This problem also exists in the Central China Bureau."

Deng Zhihui did not refute Wei Hongjun's words.

Because this is the reality of rural life in this era. Just like in history, when people fled south to escape war, they banded together based on a single surname, clan, or even a few diligent families or even a village. If they didn't stick together, they wouldn't be able to survive in the south. The locals wouldn't allow outsiders to come and rob them of their resources.

They band together for survival.

The emergence of cooperatives and collectivization in rural areas was also driven by survival. Because practical conditions necessitated their unification, numerous cooperatives emerged. Collectivization, on the basis of cooperatives, also emerged.

"The second problem is that there is a strong tendency towards absolute equality."

Speaking of this, Wei Hongjun also frowned.

"What's worrying is not the lack of wealth, but the inequality. This tendency is not only present in rural areas, but also in many factories. This problem will become even more serious once collectivization is expanded. Originally, cooperatives and collectivization in Shanxi were primarily based on natural villages. However, when collectivization was expanded to administrative villages, and several natural villages were incorporated into collectivization, the internal situation became extremely complicated. Villages differed in their levels of wealth, and the poorer villages hoped that collectivization would allow them to share their wealth with the richer villages. But the richer villages, of course, were unwilling to do so. This resulted in serious divisions within the collectivization system.

“Where are the grassroots cadres?”

"Many of our grassroots cadres are most prone to extremes. Their tendency towards extreme egalitarianism is even more serious than that of the villagers. Perhaps this is what they perceive as the most revolutionary. Our North China Bureau is planning to provide rotating short-term training for our grassroots cadres to correct this error."

When I reached Wei Hongjun's position, I increasingly understood the importance of cadres.

Therefore, there is increasing emphasis on training Party members and cadres. Wei Hongjun believes this includes training for village leaders in rural areas. The quality of grassroots cadres determines the correct implementation of policies.

"That does not work."

Deng Zhihui said: "Absolute equalization and the previous absolute democratization of the military are both undesirable. Chairman Mao criticized this kind of absolute equalization back then. Once absolute equalization is implemented, it will dampen enthusiasm for production."

Deng Zhihui wrote down Wei Hongjun's words in the notebook.

He came this time to see the achievements of the cooperatives and collectivization of the North China Bureau, as well as the problems that had arisen, so that he could lead the Central China Bureau in completing the land reform work after returning to the Central China Bureau.

"Yes. Therefore, our current cooperatives and collectivization have not been very effective in administrative villages formed from several natural villages. Comrades Lai Ruoyu and Tao Lujia from Shanxi have proposed a new idea. Based on the current transportation and communication conditions in various rural areas, the smallest collective labor unit should still be based on a natural village. The scale of collectivization should not be artificially expanded. Even if collectivization is expanded, the basic labor unit should still be based on a natural village. However, these are currently just experiments in various places. My suggestion is to first observe the specific situation and then determine how to use it.

Deng Zhihui nodded.