Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

The biggest expenses are food and childcare, so I can save quite a bit of money.

Seeing everyone agreed, the Chairman continued, "Third, drink less, toast less, and urge others to drink less. Comrade Ke Qingshi reported that drinking was commonplace in the previous office and had a very negative impact. Many people came to work drunk. How could they handle their work properly? If the people saw our staff members in this state, what would they think of us?"

There are many alcoholics in the party at present.

Years of war have made many people highly focused, so they either smoke or drink.

It's all about relieving stress.

Wei Hongjun was also a heavy smoker during the war. He could not sleep for days and nights while commanding his troops in battle, and could only smoke to stay awake.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, many people couldn't break this habit. Furthermore, after the victory of the revolution, people began to have some money, and they paid even less attention to these things. Of course, the Chairman's main concern was not the drinking of Party members and cadres, but rather that such a habit was not good.

The impact is not good either.

"I think the chairman's statement is problematic."

Dong Biwu said, "Drink less, toast less, and persuade less. Such statements are not binding at all. I think it should be stipulated that drinking is not allowed during work hours. Unless it is a special occasion, such as when receiving foreign guests. Drinking is prohibited in all other occasions. Drinking will cause trouble, especially drinking during work hours."

"What Mr. Dong said makes sense."

The chairman nodded.

Dao: "Drinking should be prohibited during work hours."

Luo Shuai, despite his illness, attended the expanded Politburo meeting. Upon hearing the topic of alcohol prohibition, he said, "It's not just local institutions; the drinking problem is also serious in the military."

"The military should especially stop drinking on the job. Soldiers need to be constantly vigilant, so how can they tolerate excessive drinking?"

The commander-in-chief criticized.

General Peng, who was in charge of the Military Commission, said, "After we return, the Military Commission will consider this issue."

The drinking problem in the military is more serious than one might imagine, and it's difficult to curb.

"Fourth, do not use people's names for places. I've heard that some roads and parks in cities are named after central government officials. This is not nonsense. If this trend spreads, it will breed many problems. If every leader wants to leave a name, then all places across the country will be named after leading cadres. This is a laughing stock and will be ridiculed by people all over the world. Aside from the names of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and a few martyrs, the names of central leaders must not be used in place names."

“This is indeed a problem.”

Comrade Xiuyang said, "Many cities have already changed their names in this way. It's indeed a bit inappropriate and should be stopped."

"This isn't just a matter of inappropriateness. It also makes officials feel aloof, detached from the masses, and fosters a cult of personality."

It's only been a few years since the country was founded.

Some people would like to carve their names on those places.

Even when many cadres returned to their hometowns, their leaders there would come up with names of places after people in order to curry favor with them.

Many people suggested naming Hunan Normal University after the Chairman, and some also wanted to name the Shaoshan area after him. But the Chairman firmly opposed this. It was a good college, a good place, why would we name it after someone?

In fact, most of the things the Chairman has raised are related to him, because they are mainly the problems he is facing now.

Since the Chairman was against it, no one had anything to say.

"Fifth, we should not put Chinese comrades on the same level as Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. This is inappropriate. They are the teachers, and we are the students. We must always maintain a humble and cautious learning style. We should not be arrogant and think that we can be on the same level as Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. Such pride is wrong.

This enlarged Politburo meeting was originally to discuss the next steps. After all, so much cooperation had been reached with the Soviet Union.

But after the meeting started, the chairman did not start talking about work, but kept talking about modesty and prudence.

This is the same.

The only person in China who dares to be compared with Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin is Chairman Mao. Which leader has the brains to claim to be on par with Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin? After Chairman Mao's conversation with Khrushchev, he decided to keep a low profile. If Chairman Mao were to be placed on par with Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin, then where would Khrushchev fit in?

The Chairman had already seen through Khrushchev's character.

Therefore, the Chairman must choose to keep a low profile, and China must also keep a low profile. It cannot compare itself with Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. Only in this way can Khrushchev avoid being misled and cooperation with the Soviet Union continue.

"Sixth, comrades within the Party should address each other as comrades, not by title. We are not like the bureaucrats of the old society. Our positions are different, but only because of the different divisions of revolutionary labor. Within the Party, we remain equal comrades." (Most of the Chairman's words above were taken from the National Finance and Economics Conference in August 1953.)

"Chairman, I agree that within the party we should call each other comrades."

Gao Gang spoke up, "But the titles of Chairman and Commander-in-Chief have evolved naturally over more than twenty years of revolutionary career. Everyone in the Party and the military has become accustomed to these titles, and even asking them to change them is a struggle. I think the titles of Chairman and Commander-in-Chief can be retained within the Party and the military, while everyone else can call each other comrades."

"Yes."

"Correct."

Everyone has been calling him Chairman and Commander-in-Chief for so many years.

Getting everyone to change their ways isn't easy. Even Wei Hongjun was like that. In the six years since he came into this world, his positions within the Qianbu have constantly changed, and so have his titles. But the titles of Chairman and Commander-in-Chief have remained the same.

It always feels a bit strange to be called comrade suddenly.

The Chairman was silent for a moment, then said, "But in formal occasions and official documents, we should still address each other as Comrade. I've noticed that many official documents issued by the Central Committee use official titles as the title, which is incorrect. Starting from now on, in any document issued by the Central Committee, I will simply address myself as Comrade Li Desheng, and not replace "Comrade" with "Chairman."

"By the way, the title 'comrade' is more intimate." The commander-in-chief also agreed with the Chairman's statement.

"These are the conclusions I have drawn after considering them for some time. I hope the Secretariat and the Discipline Committee will fully consider my opinions and see if they can be included in the Party's disciplinary provisions."

"Yes."

"it is good."

The commander-in-chief, Gao Gang, and Dong Biwu all nodded.

After the Chairman finished speaking, he continued, "Everyone knows what will be discussed at this Politburo meeting. Comrade Khrushchev promised us that the Soviet Union will provide aid to build our second automobile factory, seven fertilizer plants, and four chemical fiber plants. East Germany will also provide aid for two chemical fiber plants. In addition to these, there will be a number of supporting small and medium-sized factories, for a total of 43 factories. Adding so many factories will require a significant investment from the central government. Comrades Chen Yun, Deng Xixian, Ji Fuchun, Mao Zemin, and Bo Shuchun have calculated that building these factories will require a minimum of 27 billion yuan from our national treasury. Let's discuss this now. Where will the money come from?"

Yes, the main purpose of this meeting was to raise funds. The central government is currently in deficit.

The First Five-Year Plan was carefully planned according to fiscal budgets. Now that these projects have been added, significant expenditures are required. Calculations indicate an investment of 27 billion RMB. This is no small sum, representing nearly one-tenth of fiscal revenue. For a factory like this, the cost of importing machinery and equipment is minimal.

The largest amount of money is invested in building these factories.

Take a fertilizer plant, for example. Importing machinery and equipment only costs 10 to 20 million rubles, but building such a plant requires hundreds of millions of rubles. Converted into RMB, importing machinery and equipment only costs a few million RMB, while building the fertilizer plant requires tens of millions of RMB.

But where is the money?

“There is no extra money in the treasury.”

Bo Shuchun, the former Minister of Finance who now serves as Director of the Third Office of the State Council, spoke up. Although he is no longer the Minister of Finance.

But after all, he was familiar with the work of the Ministry of Finance. So he directly stated that the finance department really did not have the money. However, Bo Shuchun continued, "At this stage, military spending still occupies the largest share of the fiscal budget. So I think we should find a way to use military spending. If we reduce the current military spending to less than 10% of fiscal expenditure, we can get an additional to billion in funds."

"How can military spending be reduced to less than 10% under the current circumstances?"

General Peng was very dissatisfied with Bo Shuchun's words.

The Korean War is over.

But China has such a large military and so many subordinate departments, how can it reduce military spending to less than 10% all at once? This means cutting military spending by more than half.

But soon Mr. Peng discovered it.

Many people, though silent, shared the same sentiment. Military spending needed to be cut. Even the Chairman spoke up, "Old Peng, I think we should accelerate the pace of disarmament. The Navy has already established a three-year plan, but I think we can extend it to five or eight. Also, hasn't the Military Commission conducted an inventory of the assets of the various military regions? I've read that report, and the regions have quite a bit of money. The Military Commission can use that money centrally. At the same time, the various military regions should increase production activities within their own defense zones. Each company could grow some vegetables, raise pigs, and so on, to alleviate the financial burden."

The Chairman does not intend to cut military spending.

Instead, he hopes that the troops will be cost-effective.

Military spending was indeed very high in the past. At its peak, it even reached nearly 100 billion RMB, accounting for over 40% of the national budget. Although it has gradually decreased in the past two years, it still accounts for around 28%.

It's really too high.

The chairman hopes to reduce it by 10%.

Let's first take on the Soviet aid projects. If the Chairman hadn't visited southern China, he might have supported increasing unified purchase and marketing to make up for the fiscal shortfall. After all, China has a large rural population, and the combined funding is considerable. If unified purchase and marketing were used as leverage, it could raise 20 to 30 billion RMB. However, after his visit to southern China, the Chairman abandoned his plan to increase unified purchase and marketing.

The unified purchase and sale has already brought 70 billion yuan to the fiscal budget. If the scale of unified purchase and sale is further increased, all the side businesses in rural areas will die.

This is very detrimental to the development of rural areas. And Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui guaranteed.

The current direction of rural development is correct. With the increase in rural grain production and the development of government and sub-sectoral sectors, the central government will undoubtedly receive more revenue. Given a few years, even without increasing the proportion of unified purchase and marketing, rural public grain and unified purchase and marketing will see significant growth in a few years. Within a few years, it will be possible for unified purchase and marketing to generate fiscal profits exceeding 10 billion yuan.

With the guarantee from Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui, the Chairman turned his attention to the army.

Now the only one who can afford the money is the military.

"Comrade Peng Dehua, our Rural Work Department is currently engaged in agricultural reclamation, which requires 20 divisions. Meanwhile, the entire country is undergoing construction, and personnel are needed everywhere. The troops are being converted into new production units, and this alone will require several thousand divisions. If we can reduce the military by 50 men, we can save to million yuan in military expenditure."

Wei Hongjun also supports reducing military spending.

Disarmament is already a strategic plan, so there's nothing wrong with moving it forward a bit.

The central government really has no money.

But now that we have such a good opportunity, we can’t miss it.

Wei Hongjun also needed to reduce his troops. Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui had already discussed and were ready to propose that China and Britain establish a special agricultural reclamation department to lead agricultural reclamation work nationwide.

Currently, large-scale agricultural reclamation is being carried out in the Great Northern Wilderness, Xinjiang and Yunnan.

But they all need people.

Hundreds of thousands of people are needed.

At present, only the army is able to obey orders and follow commands and go to difficult places to carry out agricultural reclamation.

The central government is just short of funds now. The situation will improve significantly in a few years.

General Peng and General He could only smile wryly. With the two currently presiding over the Military Commission, it seemed like the central government's decision to reduce military competitions was a done deal. So General Peng said, "We'll convene a meeting of the Military Commission after we return and come up with a plan."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw General Peng give in.

After all, this is billions.

As long as the army is willing to make some concessions, the military expenditure saved will be enough to implement this Soviet aid project.

The Chairman nodded and said, "Old Peng, it will only take a year or two. The military is the bulwark of national defense and security, and the central government will not continue to reduce military spending."

"it is good."

"The salary system has been in place for over a year now, and it has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it's clear what you get, and there's no need for two sets of standards nationwide. But the disadvantage is that since the implementation of the salary system, salary disparity has become enormous. Clothing is divided into three colors, food is divided into five grades, chairs are graded, and desks are graded. This invisibly violates the principle of equality between officials and their guests, and equality among Party members. This is a form of detachment from the masses. The military dislikes officers, the peasants dislike our county, district, and township cadres, and the urban workers dislike us. My opinion is that the Central Committee should reconsider the current salary system. Senior officials' salaries should be reduced; the gap between them and grassroots cadres and the masses cannot be too large. My current salary plus allowances is 610 yuan, which I think is too high. In my current situation, I could easily earn the salary of a third-level administrative officer. Peng Dehua, He Long, Luo Ronghuan, and I have the same problem in the military." (From the 1958 Beidaihe Conference)

In order to be able to undertake Soviet projects.

The chairman even set his sights on the salary expenditure in the fiscal budget.

Of course, the Chairman himself believes that the current salary system has too large a disparity between different departments and that adjustments should be made. A slight adjustment in the salaries of thousands of government and military personnel could save the government hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Yes."

"We will discuss this issue after we get back."

General Peng had always believed that the work of military cadres was too high and wanted to adjust it. Now that the Chairman had said this, he immediately nodded in agreement. The Chairman turned to Wei Hongjun and said, "Comrade Hongjun, I think the Personnel Department should also discuss this matter."

"Yes."