Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

We require lower-level cadres to have a clear and proficient grasp of the affairs within their own areas. Before implementing any policy, we must conduct investigations and research, and only after we have sufficient evidence can we implement the policy.

Whenever a policy problem arose, investigation and research were conducted to determine where the problem lay. To emphasize this work, Wei Hongjun produced some of Chairman Mao's articles and documents from the Yan'an Rectification Movement and required Party committees at all levels to organize Party members to study them.

Study theory and unify thoughts.

The second is about the formation of local governments.

The current state of local Party organizations, or Party committees, is in fact imperfect. This applies not only to local governments but also to Party committees within the military. Following the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party collaborated, initially abolishing the political commissar system. Later, after its restoration, the military established a military-political committee to replace the Party committee. However, this committee is not a Party committee.

Later, due to the particularity of fighting behind enemy lines, the various troops gradually implemented unified leadership.

That is, the system of one person in charge of the party, government and military.

Therefore, within each base area, the power of the top military and political leaders is immense. Many matters can be implemented if the military and political leaders agree. Even many personnel adjustments within the base area can be made once the military and political leaders reach a decision. The current military and political committees in the military units have relatively little control over the top military and political leaders.

The familiar division of labor system among leaders under the collective leadership of the Party Committee was not formally established until the Liberation War. Besides his qualifications, there was another defining characteristic of Tan Zheng as a general.

That was the "Report on Problems Concerning the Political Work of the Army" he put forward in 1944, which is also known in history as the famous "Tan Zheng Report."

This report holds a very high position in the history of our army.

In this report, Tan Zheng proposed to "restore the party representative conference system of the Gutian Resolution." This meant re-establishing the previous party committee and implementing collective leadership of the party committee.

This was true for the army and the local authorities at this time.

There is no very complete collective leadership system of the Party Committee.

After the Weitai Township incident, Wei Hongjun decided to implement a system of collective Party committee leadership in the local government of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Border Region. The primary reason for the Weitai Township incident was the failure of collective Party committee leadership. Wei Hongjun was prepared to more actively explore methods of collective Party committee leadership at the local level.

Third, establish mobile offices in local institutions at all levels.

Local staff members should take turns to work in mobile offices. Mobile offices should actively go to the countryside to explain the new policies of the base area to farmers and handle some of the local people's affairs.

Gradually, the people will get used to going to the government for help instead of handling things themselves in the countryside. Power in the countryside cannot be handed over to local gentry and clans, but must be in the hands of the government.

Of course, it is also to overcome the bureaucracy that breeds in government departments.

Let them not become detached from the masses and always maintain contact with them.

In addition to determining these three things, Wei Hongjun also used the rent and interest reduction work as a breakthrough point to carry out a small-scale rectification in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Border Region.

Of course, the intensity is not as strong as that in Yan'an.

The main reason was that Wei Hongjun didn't believe he had Yan'an and the central government's control. He worried that if a large-scale rectification movement began, he would easily go too far without any experience. He was particularly worried about a repeat of the previous anti-counterrevolutionary campaigns in the Soviet areas.

Of course, this is not only Wei Hongjun's concern, but also the central government's concern.

That’s why the Chairman said “don’t kill anyone”.

Wei Hongjun has a similar attitude. He has his own set of ideas regarding Party members and cadres who have made mistakes. Those whose mistakes are minor should actively review their errors. Those who have made more serious mistakes should not only review their mistakes and receive criticism, but also deeply reflect on their problems. Only those who have made serious mistakes should temporarily suspend their work and attend cadre training schools for a period of time.

As for Party members and cadres who made mistakes, if they only had ideological errors or work errors, they would at most be subject to organizational punishment. Those who violated the laws of the border region would be subject to organizational measures and would be handed over to the border region court for trial.

No Party committee organization at any level below will be allowed to arbitrarily impose the death penalty on Party members and cadres who have made mistakes.

Wei Hongjun's main focus was rectifying the "bureaucracy" of Party members and cadres in the base areas and their work style. He once again emphasized the importance of "linking theory with practice" and that the Party and government should follow the "mass line."

The Chairman’s early book “Oppose Book Worship” has once again become as important as the current rectification materials.

In fact, a key purpose of the Yan'an Rectification Movement was to break free from Soviet control over the CCP. Whether it was Chairman Mao's early campaign against "book worship" or the Sinicization of Marxism proposed during the Rectification Movement, both were aimed at breaking free from the influence of the Communist International.

Wei Hongjun asked party members and cadres at all levels to strengthen investigation and research and to unswervingly follow the "mass line."

While carrying out criticism and self-criticism, we also implemented the work of reducing rent and interest.

We are asking everyone to truly "link theory with practice" and apply the policy flexibly. We will conduct a more detailed investigation and research on the situation in Rehe's rural areas, and then formulate a rent and interest reduction plan that is suitable for Rehe's rural areas.

In addition to rectifying the work and study styles of party members and cadres, there is also the rectification of the educated youth who have come to join them.

Many of them have a strong petty-bourgeois style.

Criticism and correction are necessary.

After Wei Hongjun personally took charge of the rent and interest reduction work, the work progressed rapidly in northern Rehe, especially in the rural areas around Chifeng, where the progress was the slowest.

In addition to the fact that the Japanese and puppet troops in Chifeng were very powerful, it was mainly because the rural landlords around Chifeng were very shrewd. They had already seen too many forces in Rehe.

In the past, Rehe was truly rife with bandits. The Fengtian Army itself was reorganized from bandit forces, and after Tang Yulin became the governor of Rehe Province, he recruited a large number of Rehe bandits. Consequently, the large landowners in Rehe were closely connected to the local bandits.

After the Rehe War, the Japanese and puppet troops occupied Rehe. These Rehe landlords once again began to collude with the Japanese and puppet troops. Some openly became traitors, while others coyly cooperated with the Japanese and puppet troops.

However, those who managed to survive until now, even surviving the Eighth Route Army's complete liquidation, were all incredibly shrewd. They hadn't become full-fledged landlords, so they weren't targeted by the Eighth Route Army as traitors. Similarly, without becoming traitors, they had managed to preserve their family businesses under the Japanese's watchful eyes. These individuals were incredibly capable.

Many of the members of the work teams sent by the Eighth Route Army had extensive experience in rural work. However, when they engaged these landlords, they were no match. They had plenty of tactics and truly understood how to overcome hardness with softness, and they knew how to deal with the Eighth Route Army work teams.

After Wei Hongjun arrived, he was not as easy to talk to as the working group.

Wei Hongjun was not as polite as the work group toward the landlords who had colluded with the Japanese and puppet troops. The work group's guidelines were indeed flawed. Once again, ideological differences within the central government were seriously impacting the work of the Eighth Route Army. The view that "everything should be subordinated to the united front" was not a minority opinion within the central government, nor was it supported solely by Soviet-educated leaders. Many central leaders and lower-level military district leaders also supported this view.

They worried that if they became too awkward with the Kuomintang, it would affect the anti-Japanese war. These leaders believed that anti-Japanese resistance was paramount, and they were willing to compromise on many fronts to achieve this. This viewpoint had the greatest impact on the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army: it made them hesitant to expand their forces.

Although the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee criticized Wang Ming's rightist capitulationism and supported Chairman Mao's independent anti-Japanese resistance behind enemy lines, this kind of thinking could not be resolved in a single meeting.

The current rent and interest reduction in Rehe is also facing this problem.

During its time in Chahar, especially in the area south of Zhangjiakou, the Eighth Column collaborated with local respected and enlightened gentry to reduce rent and interest rates. The results were quite positive.

But when he arrived in Rehe, he still maintained this way of working, which was a typical example of not understanding the principle of "analyzing specific issues specifically".

There are no enlightened gentlemen in Rehe.

Back when Tang Yulin was governor of Rehe Province, the region was ruled by the locals. Any truly conscientious landlords were expelled and annexed by the gentry. After Tang Yulin fled, Rehe became Japanese territory. After more than a decade of rule by the Japanese and puppet troops, there were no enlightened gentlemen left.

Some landlords were not treated as traitors by the Eighth Route Army because they did not actually become traitors. But seriously, how many of those large landlords had no ties to the Japanese and puppet troops? Even if they did not serve in the puppet regime, they all collaborated with the Japanese and puppet troops.

But the working group actually hoped these people would support the Eighth Route Army's rent and interest reduction efforts. This was no joke. Especially now that the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese puppet troops were engaged in a seesaw battle in Rehe, it was unclear who would win. How could these smart landlords completely defect to the Eighth Route Army at this time?

When Wei Hongjun arrived at the rural Zundian, the first thing he did was to promote it.

Gather all the farmers in the countryside and tell them in simple terms that they can understand that the Eighth Route Army is going to reduce rent and interest. The main force in implementing rent and interest reduction in rural areas should be the local farmers.

As for those rural landlords, they just need to accept it.

Because the rent and interest reductions promoted by the Eighth Route Army were policies jointly formulated by Chongqing and Yan'an, there was no need to consult with rural landlords. The reason for cooperating with the enlightened gentry was to reduce resistance to rent and interest reductions.

The struggle in Rehe was so severe, with fighting going on every day, that Wei Hongjun had no time to slowly but surely spar with the landlords. So, Wei Hongjun cut the Gordian knot and had the work team publicize the situation. He let all the peasants in Rehe know that the Eighth Route Army was promoting rent and interest reductions in Rehe.

After a series of reorganizations, those troupes that sought to pursue "professional" and "refined" art were all dispatched to perform in rural areas. Wei Hongjun offered them no special treatment simply because they were intellectuals who had defected to the revolution or romantic artists. Once they had joined the army and its troupes and drama clubs, they were soldiers. The first thing they had to learn was to obey orders and follow directions.

Their job is simple.

Wei Hongjun doesn't need what they call "art".

All they had to do was to honestly perform the stories that Wei Hongjun had prepared for the people. Those stories were adapted by the drama club staff based on the stories of soldiers who participated in the army's "grievance movement."

It’s just like the sensation caused by “White Haired Girl” back then.

There are countless tragic stories happening in rural areas in this era.

Even some ordinary people are accustomed to this kind of life. To many farmers, they believe they were born this way; this is their fate. After all, this has been their life for generations. Fate cannot be changed, hence the saying "accept your fate." But Wei Hongjun uses these drama troupes to teach the people that this kind of life is not normal. So-called fate can be broken. The rent and interest reductions currently being promoted by the Eighth Route Army are aimed at preventing such tragedies from happening again, and at gradually changing the fate of the vast majority of farmers.

The effect is very good.

Entertainment life in this era is very lacking.

The rural people were so happy when a drama troupe came to perform in the countryside.

After watching the performance, they felt a deep empathy, as what they were performing was a true reflection of rural life today. Many farmers began to wonder: could they truly experience the same light of day as the troupe's story?

Regardless of whether there will be light at the end of the tunnel, farmers' enthusiasm for rent and interest reduction has been completely ignited.

News spread quickly. Many farmers in northern Rehe were already aware of the news. Simply telling them about rent and interest reductions wouldn't necessarily have made sense to them. Policy documents, including those, are filled with technical jargon.

But Wei Hongjun and his work group, including the staff of the drama club, used plain language so that the farmers could understand. As a result, the farmers in the northern part of Rehe were eagerly waiting for the arrival of the Eighth Route Army.

Not only the semi-self-cultivating farmers and poor hired peasants were looking forward to the Eighth Route Army's rent and interest reduction work, but even the middle peasants and self-cultivating farmers were looking forward to it.

Because they are all victims of high land rents and usury in rural areas.

Soon, the work of reducing rent and interest rates in the northern part of Rehe developed rapidly.

Rehe landlords object?

If you dare to object, those farmers can beat you to death to stop you from objecting.

This is the peasant movement.

And this was just the rent and interest reduction work. Wei Hongjun could imagine why land reform had been so enthusiastically supported in history. It was because the lives of farmers in that era were so hard.

Wei Hongjun was very satisfied with the current situation. As long as the rent and interest reduction work was promoted in Rehe, even if the troops were defeated by the Japanese and puppet troops and temporarily evacuated here, they would still have left seeds here.

It would no longer be possible for the Japanese and puppet troops to restore the previous puppet regime system here.

Chapter 520 Yan’an’s attention

Wei Hongjun compiled his rectification work in the Yirecha Military Region into a report and submitted it to the military region and Yan'an.

In his report, Wei Hongjun paid particular attention to the "mass line" issue of party members and cadres, as well as the establishment of local party organizations.

Wei Hongjun said a lot about the "mass line".

But no matter how much Wei Hongjun said about this theory, it was not as profound as the articles on the "mass line" during the Yan'an Rectification Movement. So Wei Hongjun took a different approach and gave long examples.

It also wrote about various problems that occurred in the base area due to being out of touch with the masses.

Wei Hongjun, however, wrote extensively on the development of local Party organizations. He proposed that in areas within our Party-controlled bases where the "three-three system" was unsuitable, a cadre division system under the collective leadership of the Party committee should be implemented. The Eighth Route Army's current government agencies employed a three-three system, stipulating that one-third of the staffing of government organs be comprised of the Communist Party, one-third non-Party left-wing progressives, and one-third neutral elements. This was intended to promote the Eighth Route Army's "united front" policy. However, this model was not suitable for all regions.

Places like Yan'an were very suitable because they were a large rear area. However, in many of the bases behind enemy lines established by the Eighth Route Army, this "three-three system" was only good for appearances, but its effectiveness was far inferior to that of Yan'an and other rear areas.

Just like the Rehe area.

What is this "three-three system" you're doing? Are you trying to bring all those local tyrants and evil gentry in Rehe into government agencies?

Such places should be directly managed by cadres dispatched by the party organization.

This management model has led to a number of other problems, including a lack of Party organization management and problems with intra-Party democracy.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun proposed that some local governments should implement a cadre division of labor system under the collective leadership of the Party Committee.

Wei Hongjun was now the deputy political commissar of a second-level military region and the party secretary of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Border Region. Therefore, many of his reports were eligible to be sent to Yan'an for the central leadership to review.

A thick report was sent to Yan'an.

"well."

Ren Peiguo nodded repeatedly as he looked at Wei Hongjun's report.

He said: "If our front-line commanders and leaders can all integrate theory with practice and generalize theory from practice, then our revolutionary work will be invincible. Comrade Wei Hongjun discovered the poor democratic style of the local Party committee and the weakening of its supervisory role through the problems that arose in the rent and interest reduction work. He also saw the emergence of bureaucratic style among Party members and cadres who were divorced from reality and the masses. Therefore, based on this breakthrough, a small-scale rectification movement was carried out in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region. It was truly excellent. The rectification movement report of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region was very clear and comprehensive, starting with rent and interest reduction, and focusing on allowing Party members and cadres to learn 'theory and practice', 'no right to speak without investigation', and 'the mass line'. The results were also very good. It neither undermined the work enthusiasm of Party members and cadres by excessive left-wing means, nor did it make general remarks and pass them lightly."