Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Marshal Nie nodded.

Many problems appear to be isolated issues.

But Marshal Nie, with so many years of experience in the base area, understood that many things are not isolated.

"Commander, there's a pressing issue that must be addressed as soon as possible. It's the capacity of our public security officers. Many of our public security officers, especially those assigned to the lower counties, are directly assigned to military posts. They're heroes on the battlefield and in counter-espionage, but they have absolutely no idea how to function as public security officers. Some have received basic training and understand a little about public security work, but their training primarily focuses on counter-espionage work, not full-fledged public security expertise. They tend to mistake internal conflicts among the people for conflicts between us and the enemy, escalating them into issues involving enemy spies. They handle these issues in the same way they handle conflicts between us and the enemy. Simple issues that could be resolved through simple adjustments can, in turn, intensify them. Therefore, we need public security officers who understand how to handle internal conflicts among the people."

"But now the enemy spies are very active, and one of the most important tasks of our public security department is to deal with them.

Marshal Nie shook his head.

The reason why the public security organs attach so much importance to the problem of enemy spies is that the problem of enemy spies is indeed a very important task in the current base areas. Not only in the current war years, but also after the founding of New China, the problem of enemy spies has been a top priority for a long time.

Because there are indeed a lot of spies.

Wei Hongjun said, "Commander, the problem of enemy spies does require attention. We can certainly set up an agency within the public security department specifically to target them, but the public security cadres who handle daily affairs and primarily deal with conflicts among the people are completely different. Many conflicts between ordinary people cannot be resolved using the same methods as those dealing with enemy spies. Our public security cadres are seriously lacking in experience in this regard. Because of this incident, I recently reviewed many cases in our base area. I found that some of them were not very complicated, but they were forcibly elevated to enemy spy activities. This is because our public security cadres are still handling the base area's problems the same way they handle enemy spies. We, the cadres, have been catching enemy spies for a long time, and our spirits are extremely tense. If we discover any problem, we will mistake it for an enemy spy incident. But this is not conducive to stabilizing the base area. We should separate the public security cadres who handle enemy spy issues from those who handle the daily problems of the base area."

Marshal Nie did not speak immediately.

Instead, think about what Wei Hongjun meant.

After thinking for a while, he said, "What do you mean? You have to know that there are indeed few qualified public security cadres now. That's why we have drawn cadres from the army to be responsible for establishing public security departments in various counties."

"Commander, we should start promoting the formalization of public security now."

“Regularize, regularize.”

The Eighth Route Army emerged from the countryside.

Whatever method is appropriate should be used. Furthermore, the war of resistance was fought behind enemy lines, with many units fighting and developing independently. Therefore, there was no question of formalization. The Eighth Route Army had never reached that stage.

But it is indeed different now.

Jin-Cha-Ji currently has such a large territory that it controls more than 200 counties.

Many areas in the rear haven't seen fighting for a long time. Chahar, in particular, has remained relatively stable for several years. For these areas, the current priority is to build bases and support frontline troops. Therefore, many departments are beginning to undergo formalization.

Seeing that Marshal Nie hadn't expressed his opinion, Wei Hongjun continued, "Commander, we are only in the Jin-Cha-Ji region, but we can already see that the public security department is short of qualified personnel. If our revolution is victorious in the future, the entire country will need a large number of public security personnel. What should we do then?"

Should we massively recruit specialized military cadres to public security work, or should we retain a significant number of former police officers? Either option will pose significant challenges to the development of public security in the new China after the victory of our revolution. Since many areas in our base areas are now so stable, I believe we should begin preparations now. We should prepare for the development of public security after the victory of the revolution.

"Tell me your method."

It has been many years since Marshal Nie and Wei Hongjun really started to know each other.

Wei Hongjun is a very cautious political cadre.

Under normal circumstances, one wouldn't just babble. Especially in front of a leader, if one didn't have their own thoughts, one wouldn't broach the subject. Wei Hongjun was a cadre whose actions preceded his words.

If I have any ideas, I will do them first, or I will speak them out only after I have made a plan.

"Commander, I think we in Jin-Cha-Ji should establish our own Public Security University to train our own public security cadres. In the past, when we were fighting behind enemy lines, many things were difficult to do because the Japanese and puppet troops frequently raided us. But now it's different. We in Jin-Cha-Ji have complete control over Chahar. Many things we couldn't do before, we can now boldly do. Just like some universities, in the past we could only run some urgently needed military and political cadre schools, urgently needed normal schools, and so on. But now we should consider what will happen after the victory of the revolution. Train more cadres for the future New China.

"Office Safety University?"

"Yes. We now have the conditions to establish a Public Security University. On the basis of the Public Security University, we can add some short-term public security cadre training courses. We can train a large number of qualified public security cadres as quickly as possible. The number of public security cadres our country will need in the future cannot be met by one or two public security universities. But if we start the Public Security University now, we can train thousands or even tens of thousands of cadres who have received formal public security education before the victory of the revolution. Although the number is still not good, at least we have started to have a foundation."

Marshal Nie did not answer immediately.

Because this is not a trivial matter. Since the Red Army period, the Central Committee has always attached great importance to education.

But it mainly focuses on training military and local cadres.

There were other schools, but not many. If Jin-Cha-Ji opened its own Public Security University, and it was as formal as Wei Hongjun described, it would be the Eighth Route Army's first formal, specialized Public Security University.

Running a university is not an easy task.

University teachers and university textbooks are both major issues, but what Wei Hongjun said makes sense. As the Eighth Route Army grew in strength and its base expanded, more and more public security personnel were needed. This was especially true in cities like Zhangjiakou, where the army previously served directly as public security, responsible for maintaining public order within the city.

But this thing is only temporary.

Ultimately, a formal public security department is still needed. Although Jinchayi currently has a dedicated public security department, many of them are understaffed. The more important issue, as Wei Hongjun mentioned, is a severe shortage of public security personnel, so they can only be recruited from various sources.

But they don't understand professional public security issues.

It can only be temporary.

"Commander, in addition to the Public Security University, I think we should merge the schools previously established by the various military sub-districts. Zhangjiakou is relatively stable now, and we have the conditions to develop education, especially university education. We should establish the universities we will need in the future. Based on the schools in the various military factories in the military region, we can establish a university that studies military industry. Based on the various medical schools and training courses in the military region, we can establish a true medical university. We can also draw talents from the entire military region to establish a specialized industrial university.

Chapter 596 The Significance of Running a University

"You mean, we in Jinchayi want to formally and large-scale develop university education?"

Marshal Nie already understood what Wei Hongjun meant.

Wei Hongjun wanted to formalize the public security system and train more qualified police officers. The best way to do this was to establish a school. So he proposed opening a public security university. Wei Hongjun's ambitions were even greater: he wanted to open more universities, or more formal ones.

There are many schools of various types in Jin-Cha-Ji.

The Eighth Route Army attaches great importance to education.

For example, within the Jin-Cha-Ji region, there was the Second Branch of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military and Political Cadre School, and the Jin-Cha-Ji Infantry School. All of these schools trained military and political cadres for the War of Resistance Against Japan. In addition to the military region, each of the subordinate military sub-districts had its own schools. This was because the training and training of cadres within the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region alone could not meet the needs of all the troops.

Therefore, from the early District 1, District 2, District 3, and District 4, each had its own school.

Just like the Chanan Cadre School, Chanan Normal School, Chanan Industrial School, etc. founded by Wei Hongjun in the Eighth Column.

In addition to these formal schools, there are also many temporary schools.

For example, there are training schools at the military factories, and short-term training courses at the hospitals. Now Wei Hongjun means that Jin-Cha-Ji should merge all these schools and open a real university.

"Yes."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

"Commander, whether we're fighting the Japanese and puppet troops or the Kuomintang, the battle for talent is paramount. When the revolution triumphs and we build a new China, talent will be even more crucial. Although we're at war now, Chahar is currently quite stable, giving us time and space to develop. We should use this opportunity to fully cultivate our own cadres and talent. Developing university education is a path we must take."

The Eighth Route Army did not have the conditions before.

Because we're fighting all day long.

Only in Yan'an, the rear area, could some universities be established.

Schools established in other base areas behind enemy lines were small, often operated as emergency measures. Their small size allowed them to be quickly relocated in the face of a Japanese raid. Larger schools, with thousands of students, would have been extremely difficult to relocate in the face of a Japanese raid. However, the Eighth Route Army, or the Jin-Cha-Yi region, already had the conditions to develop university education.

“And now we are running a university not just to cultivate talents.”

Seeing Marshal Nie still pondering, Wei Hongjun continued, "Commander, think about it. When the revolution triumphs, we won't just take over cities and factories, but also a large number of universities. Although I'm a rough, unsophisticated man, I've come into contact with many educated people, including university professors and students. Aside from those educated people who truly support our revolution, most of them don't have a very positive view of us, the Eighth Route Army. In their eyes, we're all just unsophisticated Eighth Route Army soldiers, rough-hewn peasants, just dirt-legged people. If we were managing ordinary departments, these people wouldn't say anything. But when it comes to things like education, they consider themselves the experts. They certainly look down on us, the cadres who come from the dirt. They don't believe our dirt-legged cadres can do a good job in education. This is especially true of universities. Among the many cadres in our Party, how many are actually university graduates?"

The Eighth Route Army is seriously short of cadres.

There was a particular shortage of educated cadres, especially those from educated backgrounds. The Eighth Route Army needed not only military cadres but also a large number of local cadres. If you were uneducated or illiterate, how could you possibly handle local work? You couldn't even read the documents sent down from above, didn't understand their meaning. And if you were blind to the documents reported to you from below, how could you possibly know what was happening down there?

So in the Eighth Route Army, even if you only graduated from elementary school, you were considered an educated cadre.

Those who graduated from universities were all great scholars in the Eighth Route Army.

"Taking over a university is different from taking over other departments and institutions. After we take over a university, we still have to manage and develop it. However, the cadres we send to take over the university cannot all be highly educated. If our cadres are not familiar with universities, they will definitely be looked down upon and rejected by university teachers and students. Similarly, if our cadres are strong, they will think that our party is suppressing them. If our cadres are timid, they will look down on our cadres, our party, and even reject our management of the university. Interacting with these scholars, taking over a university, and managing a university are all very knowledgeable.

"You're describing university as a den of dragons and tigers."

Marshal Nie smiled.

But he knew in his heart that what Wei Hongjun said was right.

Scholars are proud.

They claim to speak for the common people. But when asked to truly experience their lives, to truly befriend them, they resent it. This is because they are scholars, and since ancient times, scholars have been considered superior to others. Scholars can speak for the common people, but they can never be ordinary people.

Although there were many educated people in the Eighth Route Army, most of them were peasants in general.

Because of their background, the educated people looked down on the peasants.

How could the high-ranking scholars be happy when peasants took over and managed universities? They appeared to be aloof, but they dared not truly offend the forces with guns. Unable to resist directly, they would resort to covert disruption, thus affecting the future educational plans of New China.

"Commander, my idea is that we should run our own universities. In this process, our cadres will learn what a university is and how to run one. When we run a university, we will not only train students, but also train a large number of university cadres. With this experience, our cadres will not be in a rush when we take over and manage the university in the future. We will not be looked down upon by those university teachers and students. Moreover, after the victory of the revolution, we will not only take over the universities across the country, but we will also certainly establish more universities. If any problems arise in running our universities now, we can make timely changes and summarize our experience.

If problems arise after the victory of the revolution and the large-scale construction of universities is carried out, it will be a major national problem.

"Ok.

Marshal Nie smiled.

Every time Wei Hongjun offered suggestions to Marshal Nie, he'd done his homework. In fact, both the central government and Marshal Nie were considering the development of university education. It was just that it was only at the deliberation stage.

Because the war is still going on.

Therefore, university education is not the most important thing at the moment.

Historically, the central government began to establish universities on a large scale after the end of the Anti-Japanese War.

Nie Shuai thought for a while and said, "How many universities do you think we should open?"

"Three to five universities. A military and political cadre university must be established, because we still need a large number of military and political cadres. In addition to the military and political cadre school, I think a public security university, a normal university, and an industrial university must also be established."

"So many? If we really open three to five universities, then the total number of teachers and students would be at least three to four thousand. As the enrollment scale increases, it will easily exceed ten thousand."

“Commander, the university we are going to open is not starting from scratch.

The idea is to merge the schools of the former military regions and several sub-districts and centralize them. This will streamline the number of school officials and teachers, resulting in a more streamlined workforce and streamlined administration. It will also allow for centralized logistics. This will not only not increase the burden, but will actually reduce it. As for the many former school officials and teachers, they can be fully employed in other areas. Furthermore, while the university we run is nominally a university, it is still different from a true university. With our current capabilities, we cannot yet run a large-scale university like those formal universities in places like Peking and Shanghai. However, once we get started, we can gradually expand."

"Let me think about it."

A university cannot be established just by saying so.

This is a big deal.

Marshal Nie was unable to make a decision immediately. Besides, even Marshal Nie couldn't make a decision on such a big matter alone. This required a meeting of the Jinchayi Central Bureau to discuss and ultimately report to the Central Committee.

Wei Hongjun continued to suggest, "Commander, after we establish a university, we can select students with clean backgrounds, revolutionary convictions, and good academic performance to study in the Soviet Union. We'll primarily send industrial cadres and technical personnel to the Soviet Union. We can propose this to the Central Committee and have it coordinate with the Soviet Union. If the Soviet Union agrees, we can certainly send a large number of students to the Soviet Union. In a few years, we'll have a large number of capable cadres and technical personnel."

The training of industrial cadres and technicians is something Wei Hongjun has always been thinking about.

Including the identification of Japanese prisoners of war, all was based on this point.

But this is not enough.

We still need to cultivate talent on a larger scale. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the leaders of China's cutting-edge industries were mostly overseas students, either those who had studied in the United States or the Soviet Union.

At this stage, the CCP does not have the ability to send students to the United States.

But there are great opportunities to study in the Soviet Union.

After all, the CCP and the Soviet Union were fraternal parties. With the Eighth Route Army now so powerful, the Soviet Union couldn't afford to look down on the CCP's armed forces as it had historically. Historically, the Soviet Union had never believed that the CCP could seize power, so they consulted with the Nationalist government on all matters.

But it's different now.

The Eighth Route Army has demonstrated strong combat effectiveness.