Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"Then tell me what we should do.

Chapter 542 Industrialization Issues

The first generation of the Party’s leaders had a commitment to industry that was unmatched by anyone else.

Because they deeply felt the power of industry.

If it weren't for China's weak industrial strength, Japan would not have been able to run rampant in China for so many years.

But how to develop industry was actually unknown to everyone. The Chinese had no experience in industrial development. Building a few factories wasn't industry. Industry isn't just about a few factories; it involves the coordinated development of thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of factories. So it wasn't just the locals who hadn't studied abroad who didn't understand industry as a whole. Even those cadres who had studied abroad didn't understand industry. And it wasn't just those cadres; even those who studied industrial technology abroad had only a superficial understanding of industry. At best, they knew only the industrial knowledge within their specific field. This was because China had no experience in developing industry as a whole. Yet, what the new China needed was precisely a plan for comprehensive industrial development.

Historically, China's industrial development was guided by the Soviet Union.

What was meant by "hands-on instruction" in industrial development? The Soviet Union taught China step-by-step how to develop industry, where to set up factories, determine industrial plans, and even build factories. To achieve this, the Soviet Union sent a large number of industrial cadres to help formulate industrial plans, as well as a large number of factory technicians to help China build factories.

Don't underestimate this.

While China paid a heavy price during this process, it also enabled Chinese officials to quickly learn what industry is and how to build it. Lower-level officials also learned how to set up factories. These skills may seem like nothing to everyone decades later. But for the newly established New China, which had no industrial experience, these skills were priceless. If we had slowly explored these areas on our own, it would have taken countless years to acquire the experience. Perhaps twenty to thirty years would have been enough just to learn these things.

But with the support of the Soviet Union, New China greatly shortened the time in this regard.

Of course, due to changes in Sino-Soviet relations, the two sides fell out halfway through the Soviet Union's teaching.

Many of the problems that arose after China's industrialization were inseparable from this. Simply put, no one understood how to build industry, and the Soviet Union, after only halfway through teaching, abandoned its efforts. Many factories were built without scientific decision-making, often on a whim.

It was a waste of money and manpower, and in the end the job was not done well.

I took a lot of detours.

But the greater problem with China's industrialization lies in the cadres responsible for industry at the grassroots level, who understand even less about industry. Yet, they have a wealth of experience, are veteran cadres and Party members, and have fought for the country. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, you can't just let them all go.

This is totally impossible to operate.

If you don't make good arrangements for the heroes who conquered the country, who knows what will happen. However, these heroes who founded New China were really lacking in ability in industrialization.

This creates a huge contradiction.

New China was bound to develop industry, but few of the leaders in the industrial sector truly understood what industrialization was.

Frontline leaders don’t even understand the issues of industrialization.

The central government formulated plans to develop certain industries, but the leaders responsible for the specific operations were unfamiliar with industry. In their quest to fulfill the central government's orders, they made random decisions, ultimately leading to failure.

Under such circumstances, how could China's industrialization avoid taking detours?

"Comrades, I believe there is only one way, and that is to learn. We must ensure that our cadres, whether they are military or local cadres, actively learn what industry is and the history of industrial development in various countries around the world. Even if our cadres cannot become technical cadres, they must at least understand what industry is and understand it from a broad perspective and from a higher level. We cannot wait until the revolution is victorious before our cadres learn what industry is. If we do so, there will simply not be enough time, because after the revolution is victorious, we will have to invest in industrial construction. Therefore, we must start now and let our cadres learn industrial knowledge. Only by learning now can we avoid major deviations when our revolution is victorious and they are responsible for industrial development."

"Learn, learn. That's a good saying. It's a lifelong learning process. Our cadres need to keep learning to keep up."

The chairman nodded repeatedly.

Chairman Mao originally wanted to meet Wei Hongjun today just to see this rising star. After all, the 8th Column created the legend of the Eighth Route Army, and many of the policies implemented by Wei Hongjun in the 8th Column were even promoted throughout the entire Eighth Route Army system.

And the effect is very good.

The Chairman likes capable political cadres like Wei Hongjun.

But when I saw it today, I liked it even more.

Because Wei Hongjun's thinking is no longer limited to the military. He has begun to consider higher-level issues.

"Chairman, the Eighth Column already implemented this at the Chanan Cadre School. Every cadre who came to study at the Chanan Cadre School had to take an industry course. I attended the class myself, and it mainly explained what industry is and the history of industrial development around the world. The lectures were truly excellent, and most importantly, easy to understand. They even explained the various levels of industry. As long as you listen carefully, you will basically be able to understand the history of industrial development around the world and have a general understanding of what industry is.

Although they don’t cover any industrial technology, after taking these classes you won’t become an industry layman.”

Marshal Nie immediately reported to the Chairman.

The chairman was shocked.

Wei Hongjun had given the Chairman many surprises today. Of course, the Chairman was delighted. After all, the emergence of such a studious and strategically minded cadre in the Eighth Route Army was a positive development.

The Chairman looked up and asked Wei Hongjun, "Are there many students?"

"At the beginning, it was mandatory, and many cadres complained. They thought that now was a time of war, and fighting was the most important thing. Moreover, the base area was mainly engaged in rural industry, so studying industry was a bit out of place. However, I believed that even if we were to work in rural areas in the future, we must understand industry, because future agricultural development would definitely depend on the support of industry. So after discussing with the Chanan Cadre School, we stipulated that if students failed the industrial course, they would not be given a diploma. So although they complained, they still attended the class honestly. However, after listening to the class, many cadres began to like this course. Because for the first time, many cadres learned about the problems of industry and understood its importance.

I also understand that industry and agriculture are meant to complement each other.

"Comrade Wei Hongjun, did you go to listen too?"

"Yes."

"Then tell us about your experience."

"If I had to say my biggest lesson, it's that China must develop industry. I used to have only a vague idea, knowing that with industry we'd have cannons and airplanes, and that fighting wars wouldn't be such a struggle. I also heard that fertilizers would increase our agricultural yields. As for the rest, I wasn't very clear. But after attending the class, I'm now even more certain: industrialization affects every aspect of life. If our country is to become stronger and our people's lives are to improve, we must develop industry."

"Keep talking."

The chairman was very interested.

Industrial issues are something that the central leadership has always been concerned about.

But still the same sentence.

China's industrial foundation is too weak, and there are too few skilled industrial professionals. Central leadership also has a very one-sided understanding of industry. Even many cadres think of industry as simply building factories.

They do not have a comprehensive understanding of industrialization.

Wei Hongjun continued, "But I always feel that some of our cadres are used to careful calculations and lack the ambition to industrialize."

"Haha. Look at this little doll."

The chairman and the others all burst into laughter.

The Chairman said, "Tell me why we lack the ambition to industrialize."

After listening to Comrade Sui Shier's lectures, we would discuss industrial issues. One time, we discussed the steel industry. One of our cadres, a former worker, proposed a method. He explained that many places used to make steel using traditional methods, simply erecting a blast furnace and producing steel—not as difficult as one might imagine. I listened carefully and thought this was a good way to make steel, so I wrote it down in a notebook. Later, I discussed this with several technicians who had returned from abroad. Their explanations helped me understand that there are many different types of steel. The steel needed by modern industry has its own standards. However, steel made using traditional methods was of very poor quality and was only mediocre as a farm tool. The development of the modern steel industry is now very different from the traditional methods of steelmaking. Traditional methods simply cannot produce the steel needed by modern industry.

The steel produced by the traditional method was of poor quality and could not be used in many areas, but many of our cadres at the time strongly supported this method.

They believed that indigenous steelmaking could mobilize more people and rapidly increase my country's steel production. I used to agree with their thinking, believing it was a way to rapidly increase my country's steel production. However, I now believe that our cadres need to learn more, change their mindset, and view issues from the perspective of modern industry. If their mindset doesn't change, and they remain stuck in the traditional methods of indigenous steelmaking, then when the People's Republic of China is established and the steel industry develops, they will undoubtedly engage in large-scale indigenous steelmaking. They will see this as a contribution to the national steel industry, as it will significantly improve my country's steel production figures. However, if the resulting steel is of poor quality, it will be unusable not only for our military industry but also for railways, machinery, and bridges, where steel is needed. Such indigenous steelmaking, aside from making our numbers look good, is of no use to the development of my country's steel industry. Not only will it not benefit the development of my country's steel industry, but it will also waste national funds. It wastes manpower and resources, producing a pile of useless materials, which will severely damage my country's steel industry and even the entire industry. But can we blame our cadres? They have good intentions. Therefore, we must equip our cadres with modern industrial thinking, let them understand modern technology, and understand that industry has standards."

Wu Hao couldn't help but say, "Look, Comrade Wei Hongjun isn't just a military political cadre. He's gradually becoming an industrial cadre. But what he said does make sense. The folk method of making steel was something done in the past when there was no technology. It could only be used to make farm tools. It probably wouldn't be used in other areas. Our cadres really should understand industrial development based on modern technology."

Everyone knows about the traditional steelmaking method that Wei Hongjun mentioned.

If Wei Hongjun hadn't said that, several central leaders actually didn't think there was anything wrong with traditional steelmaking. After all, traditional steelmaking had always been done using traditional methods, and even the Yanchang Oilfield in Yan'an used traditional methods.

But after Wei Hongjun said this, everyone was shocked.

The crude steelmaking method that produces scrap steel and poor-quality steel is truly destructive to China's steel industry. To prevent this from happening, we must educate our cadres.

"Modern industrial thinking? That's an interesting concept."

What the Chairman values ​​is what Wei Hongjun calls industrial thinking.

He said: "Since the development of hot weapons, our combat thinking must be transformed from cold weapons to hot weapons. If this thinking cannot be transformed, then we will be eliminated by modern warfare. Industrial thinking, if we want to develop industry in the future, our cadres must have modern industrial thinking. If we always stay in the thinking of small peasant economy, it is impossible to develop industry. Just like Comrade Wei Hongjun said, if we want to develop the steel industry, we must use modern technology to develop the steel industry. Instead of staying at the level of the steel industry when the old method of steelmaking was used.

At this point, the Chairman suddenly said, "I think the Eighth Column's previous approach makes a lot of sense. We are all country bumpkins, so how could we really understand what industry is? I think we should have such courses in Yan'an. Not only should our cadres take them, but we should also attend. Learn more about the history of world industrial development and industrialization, and let us think about industry."

Chapter 543 Legal Issues

"Go on. Did you find any other problems?"

The chairman discussed industrial issues with several leaders.

Wei Hongjun's remarks on industry gave the Chairman a lot of pause. The central leadership had long since determined that China's only path to development was industrialization. While they had their own ideas about how to develop industry, they were immature. After all, the central leadership didn't come from an industrial background, and even if they did, simple industrial knowledge would be vastly different from the industrialization of a major country.

Wei Hongjun now discussed industrial issues from a different perspective. Specifically, he proposed an industrial mindset, urging officials to consider issues with an industrial mindset. To do so, officials must have a certain understanding of industry. After exchanging views with several leaders, the Chairman looked at Wei Hongjun again. "Chairman," Wei Hongjun continued, "there's another issue, which I believe is quite serious."

"Talk about it."

The Chairman became more and more impressed with Wei Hongjun.

This is mainly because the issues Wei Hongjun raised are also common in other military regions and other bases. It should be said that many of what Wei Hongjun mentioned are very common and common in reality, and many cadres are not surprised by them.

But Wei Hongjun was able to discern problems in these incidents and analyze them theoretically. Just as he began by analyzing the stories of ordinary soldiers and developed the "grievance campaign," a new approach to military reorganization, he was able to identify and resolve problems.

This is the Chairman's favorite.

Chairman Mao placed the utmost importance on investigation and research. This was true from his student days, before he even entered society. This emphasis was even stronger after he joined the revolution. For example, during the famous Anyuan coal miners' strike, Chairman Mao personally went to dig coal, befriended the miners, and understood their circumstances. It was precisely because of this solid foundation of work that the Anyuan coal miners' strike, which later shocked the nation, was successful.

During the Great Revolution, he did not stay in a big city like Shanghai, but returned to Hunan. After visiting the rural areas of Hunan, he wrote the famous "Investigation Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan".

After the Soviet-educated group arrived in the Soviet areas, Chairman Mao wrote the famous "Oppose Book Worship" to oppose their ideas. The famous saying "No investigation, no right to speak" can be said to have laid the foundation for the Party's work style.

But that doesn't mean all the investigation chairmen are satisfied.

Because some people's investigations are just formalities. They may see a problem but fail to identify it. Or they may discover a problem but don't understand its root cause, making it impossible to analyze and solve it from a theoretical perspective.

However, Wei Hongjun has the vision to discover and summarize problems.

This is the Chairman's favorite.

Don't be afraid of problems. The "On Contradiction" clearly states this. The world is full of contradictions, and human society is a process of resolving one contradiction after another.

Being able to discover and resolve contradictions is a good thing.

Wei Hongjun said: "Some time ago, an incident happened in our base. The Political Department received a counter-revolutionary case. Comrade Han Weiguo thought that some parts of this case were unclear and the sentence was too heavy. So he found me. After I went to investigate, I found that this issue was not counter-revolutionary at all. Our army has its own chicken farm. One day, a few chickens ran away. Later, a villager saw it and took it home to eat. Then he was discovered by the local militia and arrested. The local government reported this case as a counter-revolutionary case, believing that the villager was sabotaging the revolution. The case was reported up one level at a time, and no one dared to make a decision, but everyone felt that there was a problem, so it finally came to Comrade Han Weiguo of the Political Department.

"and after?"

The chairman's face looked serious.

Because such cases had happened before in the Soviet area.

Wei Hongjun said, "Comrade Han Weiguo and I went down to investigate. This villager has many children and is relatively poor, so he had some ulterior motives. He saw a chicken outside and quietly caught it.

This case, no matter how you look at it, is at most related to theft, but the local government has ruled it a counter-revolutionary case. No one at any higher level of government dares to deny that it's not a counter-revolutionary case.

"Hmm. So what are your thoughts?"

"Chairman, after this case, I carefully reviewed local cases over the past two years. I discovered quite a few counter-revolutionary convictions, but in my opinion, many didn't qualify as such. Therefore, I carefully studied the Regulations of the Chinese Soviet Republic on Punishing Counter-Revolutionaries, implemented in the Soviet areas at the time." I still felt these cases were problematic. Later, I did some research on the military district courts and discovered that many of our court officials are military or local officials who have transitioned to judicial positions. Many of them are unfamiliar with many current judicial regulations.

"Have you read the recently drafted regulations for the organization of county judicial departments and the regulations for the organization of sub-courts of the High Court in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region?"

The Chairman asked Wei Hongjun.

Wei Hongjun nodded.

He said, "After arriving in Yan'an, I read these two drafts."

This draft law, drafted just in March 1943, stipulated that judicial power would be exercised exclusively by judicial organs, and that arrests could only be carried out by public security and judicial organs in accordance with the law. This marked the true beginning of the development of judicial institutions.

And a two-level final review system is implemented.

In order to avoid the widespread anti-counterrevolutionary campaigns seen in the Soviet areas, evidence was prioritized over confessions, corporal punishment was abolished, and forced confessions were strictly prohibited. Furthermore, a people's jury system was implemented, along with a public trial and defense system.

An appeals system is implemented and death sentences require review.