Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

This cadre, Wei Hongjun, was even more familiar. He was actually a student of Wei Hongjun's, a graduate of the rural training institute he had run in Sheng County. At the time, he was only seventeen years old and a student at Sheng County Middle School.

But now he is 25 years old and has become an experienced rural cadre.

In other words, Wei Hongjun is not Chiang Kai-shek.

If Wei Hongjun had been like Chiang Kai-shek, then all graduates of the Rural Training School he ran in Sheng County would have called him "Teacher Wei Hongjun." Wei Hongjun personally trained over 300 rural cadres. The school continued to exist, training at least 4000 rural cadres throughout the War of Resistance.

Liu Hao said: "Chinese history is a cycle of this kind. When each dynasty was founded, there were few people and much arable land, so there weren't many problems.

But a few decades later, the problem of land annexation began to emerge. While some powerful people annexed land, a group of clever people also emerged in the countryside and became new landlords. Then the newly emerged landlords started a new round of land annexation. Then the landless peasants became refugees, and finally peasant uprisings broke out. The old dynasty ended and a new one began.

When Liu Hao said this, many people finally reacted.

So this is what Wei Hongjun meant.

Many of them hadn't understood Wei Hongjun's meaning before. But Liu Hao accurately expressed Wei Hongjun's thoughts. They all worked in rural areas, and their faces suddenly turned grim.

If what Liu Hao said is true, history is just a cycle.

So what is the significance of our revolution? What is the significance of land reform?

Is it just to overthrow the old landlords and create new landlords?

Or is it to overthrow the old powerful and create new powerful people?

Will the rural land situation continue to cycle like this?

This is not the purpose of our revolution.

"Secretary, the goal of our revolution is to ensure equality for all. In the countryside, that means whoever tills the land owns it. But if, as you say, landlords and poor peasants will reappear soon after land reform, then what is the point of our revolution? Let's not talk about reducing rent and interest now. Even if we have carried out land reform, if a decade or even decades later, the countryside returns to its current state, then what is the point of our land reform?"

Some cadres raised questions directly.

Wei Hongjun was very satisfied.

The CCP's success is the result of the hard work of these thousands of cadres. Chairman Mao has always emphasized the importance of empowering frontline cadres to exercise their subjective initiative. In fact, regarding land reform in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar base area, Wei Hongjun could have easily formulated various plans and policies on his own and implemented them there.

But no.

The result is that many cadres do not understand, or do not fully understand, Wei Hongjun's ideas. If they do not fully understand Wei Hongjun's ideas, problems will arise when they work.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun hopes that everyone will fully understand his ideas on land reform.

Only in this way can everyone move in unison.

That's why Wei Hongjun convened this meeting to unify everyone's thinking and make everyone understand and accept Wei Hongjun's ideas on land reform. At the same time, Wei Hongjun also wanted to hear the opinions of these frontline rural cadres.

"Secretary, if we want to stop this from happening, can we stipulate that the land distributed after land reform cannot be sold privately?"

Li Shaocheng spoke.

As soon as Li Shaocheng said this, some cadres suddenly understood and said, "That's right. Secretary, it's precisely because rural land can be bought and sold that so many problems arise. If we stipulate that rural land cannot be privately bought and sold, then this kind of thing can be avoided."

Wei Hongjun smiled.

"This is just my first question. It's a very complicated one. Comrade Liu Hao was right just now. All the peasant uprisings in Chinese history were caused by land issues. This has been a problem that has remained unresolved for thousands of years, and it's not something we can resolve with just one meeting. I hope everyone will reflect on this matter when they return. You can also discuss it in groups. We'll discuss it in detail at the next meeting. Now I'm asking my second question. After our reform, as I just said, some people became wealthy, and they did so through hard work, not through fraud. So how should we treat such families then?"

If they were already party members, they became rich peasant party members.

But our Party is a proletarian party. Are those who become wealthy through hard work qualified Party members or unqualified? How should we define them politically and how should we treat them? If they rent their farmland to others or employ others on their own property, is this exploitation? If a Party member engages in exploitative behavior, are they still members of the Communist Party?

Many people think that theory is useless and just empty talk.

Unfortunately, they've forgotten the concept of "linking theory with practice." Theory guides practice. Often, theoretical breakthroughs can better guide practice. Just like the question Wei Hongjun is raising now, it's both a theoretical and a practical question.

After the land reform, how should we treat the farmers who have become wealthy?

Their origins must be changed to rich peasants? Politically, they must be treated as rich peasants and landlords?

What if this person is a party member?

Should we continue to recognize their party membership or expel them from the party?

This may not seem like a problem, as if Wei Hongjun is deliberately looking for trouble, but it is something that must be considered.

Because this will happen soon.

Historically, there has been a huge debate in Northeast China over this issue.

A huge debate broke out between the cadres of the Northeast Bureau headed by Gao Gang and the cadres of the North China Bureau headed by Comrade Xiuyang.

The lawsuit was brought to the chairman.

There are two main issues here. One is whether the wealthy peasants are landlords, rich peasants, or the poor peasants and hired laborers they were before land reform. The other is: if a Party member's family becomes wealthy, is that still a Party member? Can Party members be allowed to become wealthy? If a Party member owns property and then hires others to work for him, does that make him part of the exploiting class?

These all involve land reform and subsequent central policy issues.

"Secretary, I can't say anything else, because I don't understand it either. But I am certain of one thing. The purpose of our joining the revolution is to enable the people to live a better life and escape the fate of poverty. Since our party is to enable the vast majority of poor people to stand up and become masters of their own destiny and to allow them to live a better life, then we should encourage everyone to work hard and get rich. If because everyone works hard to get rich, but we treat them as rich peasants and landlords and exclude them politically, then how will everyone dare to work hard in the future? Who among the people in the countryside would dare to work hard and get rich?

Although Wei Hongjun had a complete set of ideas about the land reform in Hebei, Rehe and Chahar, he was not arrogant enough to control everything.

The local cadres under his command are all very experienced.

Very familiar with rural work.

Wei Hongjun attached great importance to their opinions, so after raising questions, he also recorded their words as a basis for future policy making.

"Secretary, I also think there are some problems. If it is a problem for Party members and cadres to become rich through their hard work, doesn't that mean that Party members and cadres can only be content with poverty? We Party members and cadres should maintain a style of hard work and simplicity, but there is no reason why we cannot work hard to become rich.

Furthermore, we Party members and cadres must set an example in the countryside. If even Party members don't dare to work hard to get rich, then who among the vast majority of farmers will dare to work hard to get rich?

"Secretary, I object to this statement."

Wei Hongjun looked at Chen Tao.

Wei Hongjun admires Chen Tao, a college student and middle school teacher who has been able to stay firmly rooted in the countryside and work for so many years. Apart from anything else, Wei Hongjun admires his spirit of staying rooted in the countryside for so many years.

"Secretary," Chen Tao said, "I believe that getting rich through hard work, Party members becoming wealthy households, and Party member exploitation should be viewed separately, rather than lumped together. Our Party should advocate for hard work and encourage farmers to become wealthy through hard work, because that was the original purpose of our joining the revolution. But Party members are different. Secretary, how many saints are there in this world? Even among us Party members, how many can honestly claim to be selfless? If all our Party members could be selfless, then our revolution would have been victorious long ago. Most of our Party members also have selfish motives. If more Party members become wealthy farmers in the countryside, they will focus more on their own family affairs. How can we guarantee that they can lead the farmers to prosperity? Besides, we are a proletarian party, a party dedicated to eliminating exploitation and revolution. How can we allow our Party members to become landlords themselves? Leasing their own farmland to farmers and employing people in their own industries—isn't that exploitative? Once our grassroots Party members and cadres establish their own industries and ally with the grassroots government, our grassroots political power will completely collapse."

Wei Hongjun wrote down Chen Tao's words.

This problem also gave Wei Hongjun a headache.

Historically, a serious dispute arose between Gao Gang, secretary of the Northeast Bureau, and Comrade Xiu Yang, then the second-in-command of the Party and the state. Their conflict over work escalated into other areas, ultimately leading to the "Gao-Rao Incident."

It should be said that Wei Hongjun's arms and legs are too small to be involved in such issues.

But no way.

Wei Hongjun has reached this position. He has already begun to enter the ranks of senior Party and state leaders, and with a further step, he will be qualified to participate in the formulation of national policies. Therefore, he will inevitably encounter some sensitive policies. It is impossible for Wei Hongjun to avoid such sensitive issues.

Since we can't avoid it, we can only face it head-on.

Chairman Mao once said, "Striving with the sky brings endless joy; striving with the earth brings endless joy; striving with people brings endless joy."

Given Wei Hongjun's current position, struggle is inevitable.

Wei Hongjun appreciated Chen Tao's idea.

After land reform, as rural areas began to develop, rich peasant Party members emerged. Historically, some cadres in the Northeast Bureau believed that the emergence of rich peasant Party members could serve as an example, inspiring other farmers to follow their lead and become rich. Comrade Xiuyang also supported this view.

But Gao Gang thinks this situation is problematic.

If the emergence of rich peasant party members is not restricted, there will be many consequences.

Just like what Chen Tao said.

Everyone has selfish desires, and Party members are no exception. Once they acquire private property, their selfishness will expand. Once this happens, it directly impacts grassroots governments.

Because the number of party members is small, grassroots party members are basically cadres. It's not like later, when there were a lot of party members in the countryside. Nowadays, there are only a few party members in a village.

That's why there's a saying about Party members and cadres. In this era, Party members and cadres are basically mentioned together.

There are also reports about party members renting land to farmers, hiring people with their own private property, etc.

This blatant act of exploitation was supported by many cadres, including Comrade Xiuyang. Comrade Xiuyang believed that during the New Democratic Revolution, this economic model was a New Democratic economy and fully supportable. However, he forgot that the New Democratic economy allowed for the existence of other types of economic ownership. However, this did not involve Party members.

If even party members are involved in economies of different ownerships and participate in employing ordinary people, then how can the new democratic revolution be transformed into a socialist revolution and how can the new democratic economy be transformed into a socialist economy?

There should still be some restrictions on party members in this regard.

"Everyone can think about this question when you go back. We will discuss it one by one tomorrow. I would like to ask a third question: Is the purpose of our land reform policy to overthrow the landlords, or to overthrow the landlord class? Or should we eliminate the landlord class as well as the landlords?

Chapter 648 Wei Hongjun's Problem 2

"Secretary, is there any difference between these two?"

Lai Dahe raised the question directly.

Is there any difference between landlords and the landlord class? Not all are landlords. While the rural work teams had educated cadres like Chen Tao, they also had cadres like Lai Dahe who came from peasant backgrounds. Wei Hongjun was also familiar with Lai Dahe.

Lai Dahe is a peasant cadre developed by Wei Hongjun in Sheng County.

Lai Dahe came from a middle-class peasant family. He had some education as a child, though only two years in a private school. He was tall and strong, and even trained in martial arts. He loved to stand up for justice in his hometown, but he wasn't the kind of idle thug. He meticulously tended his own farmland and was always willing to help others when needed, earning him considerable respect among the young people in his hometown.

Later, Lai Dahe led over twenty young men from his village to join the Eighth Route Army. Two months into his service, he was promoted to platoon leader due to his prowess in combat. However, during conversations with officers and soldiers, Wei Hongjun discovered that while Lai Dahe had little education, he was highly organized and intelligent. When conflicts arose among the soldiers in the army, Lai Dahe, despite appearing rough, was adept at resolving them, demonstrating his potential as a political officer. However, due to the widespread implementation of rent and interest reductions at the time, local cadres were in short supply, so Wei Hongjun sent him to the Rural Training Institute for training.

After studying in the rural training institute for three months, Lai Dahe gradually became a rural cadre in the base area.

He did a very good job in rural work. His low level of education didn't affect his work in the countryside. But Lai Dahe's foundation was weak, and despite years of diligent study, he still struggled with some theoretical questions.

"Who can tell me the difference between the two?"

Chen Tao said, "Overthrowing the landlords means eliminating the landlords as individuals. For example, if a village is carrying out land reform, then the local landlords should be eliminated. This can be done on a physical, political, or economic level. Overthrowing the landlord class is a very broad concept, and it more likely means changing feudal land relations. In other words, changing the current land relations in rural areas.

Chen Tao is still very knowledgeable.

I immediately understood what Wei Hongjun meant.

Lai Dahe frowned and said, "Secretary, I've attended your lectures at the Rural Training Institute and have also read some books on this subject. 'Land to the tiller' has always been a beautiful idea for many farmers. Those semi-self-cultivating farmers and poor hired peasants in rural areas have longed to have their own farmland since childhood. Land reform changed the feudal relationship between landowners and enabled most farmers to own their own land. This has always been the goal of our party. But I am against physically eliminating landlords. During the Anti-Japanese War, we in Jin-Cha-Ji were united, and that's why we have the current situation. Now that the Anti-Japanese War is over, we may have to carry out land reform, and it would be wrong to physically eliminate the landlords. It's morally unacceptable."

Lai Dahe is not as educated as Chen Tao.

But he understands the simplest truth.

That is, some things can be done, but some things are wrong if done. Many of the rich peasants and landlords in Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei, especially those who stayed in the base areas during the War of Resistance Against Japan, actively supported the Eighth Route Army in its fight against Japan.

How can we physically eliminate them with just one sentence?

Lai Dahe thinks this is wrong.

Of course, Lai Dahe’s cultural level is limited, so he cannot explain anything from a theoretical perspective.

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Wei Hongjun answered this question directly: "Comrade Chen Tao's point is roughly correct. What is meant by overthrowing the landlord class and what is meant by overthrowing landlords are different concepts. Comrade Lai Dahe also has a point. Comrades, I can tell you clearly that the purpose of our land reform is to overthrow the rural exploitation system and overthrow the backward rural production relations that hinder industrialization and modernization. And this backward rural production relationship is the feudal land system. In other words, our land reform is to completely end the rural feudal land system, establish a new rural land system, and complete a new countryside where those who till the land own the land. And the enemy of our land reform is the landlord class. This does not refer to any specific landlord, but to an entire class."

Wei Hongjun then continued, "But how can we eliminate the landlord class? Does killing all the landlords mean eliminating the landlord class? That's not the case. When we say eliminating the landlord class, overthrowing the landlord class, we mean ending rural land relations and eliminating rural exploitation. When there are no feudal land relations in the countryside, and no exploitation centered around feudal land relations, then the feudal landlord class will be eliminated.