Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

That's why, during a southern inspection tour, Chairman Mao saw a familiar official and said, "So you're here." Actually, this official was already the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and the Governor. But Chairman Mao didn't even know he was the Governor.

Regarding the Henan Province incident, the Chairman had some impression of it because the Politburo had just reorganized its cadres.

"How can he do his job? How can the provincial government be allowed to implement such radical policies?"

After the Chairman said this, Wei Hongjun, Yang Shangkun and Du Liqing remained silent.

How do you say this?

To put it bluntly, after the merger of Henan Province and Pingyuan Province, they fell into a dispute over factions.

Wu Zhipu clearly intended to suppress Pan Fusheng first, thereby gaining an advantage within the province. While Pan Fusheng was a top official, he was an outsider within the province and clearly at a disadvantage. As Party Secretary, he couldn't even control the Party's own newspaper. Wu Zhipu used Henan's leading media outlet, the Henan Daily, to manipulate public opinion. His criticism of the Anyang Prefecture, Puyang Prefecture, and Xinxiang City for "rightist leanings" was effectively a reflection of Pan Fusheng's "rightist leanings."

As long as the label of "rightist" that Wu Zhipu put on Pan Fusheng is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in Henan Province, it will be difficult for Pan Fusheng to do any work in the future because he has a political "stain."

And it's a ticking time bomb.

Wu Zhipu can take out this bomb at any time and make Pan Fusheng "irretrievable".

But it’s not easy to say this directly.

Although the Chairman was furious, it didn't affect his thinking at all. The situation in Anyang seemed relatively good to him. After all, the cooperative reform had only begun in March, and it had only been three months. That wasn't a long time, so even if there were any negative effects, they would be limited. But across the river, in the rural areas of what was once Henan Province, there were so many advanced cooperatives. The Chairman could easily imagine the situation.

The chairman was even a little scared.

A primary cooperative in Anyang has caused so many problems. What's the situation with so many advanced cooperatives? The primary cooperatives are seriously short of cadres, so where will the cadres for the advanced cooperatives come from?

The Chairman just conducted research in Handan.

Handan was a former Eighth Route Army base and a key area in the southern Hebei base area. It was also liberated early, land reform began early, and the establishment of mutual aid groups and cooperatives was early. Even so, they were hesitant to join advanced cooperatives so quickly, while advanced cooperatives were already everywhere on the other side of the river.

How could this not make the Chairman worried?

"Comrade Hongjun, how do you think we should adjust the current situation in Henan?"

Wei Hongjun is a national cadre in charge of rural work.

So the Chairman directly asked Wei Hongjun for his opinion. Wei Hongjun said, "Chairman, since Henan has already implemented cooperative reform, going back is not the best solution. If we do, it will only cause confusion among cadres and the people. Therefore, I think the Shuangyang Cooperative's approach is worth learning from. We can restore the mutual aid group model within the cooperative. In this way, the cooperative will have mutual aid groups under it, making them the basic units of production cooperation and independent economic accounting units. Once we have trained enough cooperative cadres and the rural areas are fully prepared, we can then promote cooperative reform."

"Yes, we need to adjust and consolidate."

"In fact, I received a report on cooperatives from the Henan Provincial Government at the end of April. I wrote a letter to the Henan Provincial Government at that time, asking them not to rush into cooperative reforms and to consolidate the results first. But the Henan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government seemed not to listen."

What Wei Hongjun didn't know was that the situation in Henan wasn't caused by Wu Zhipu's unwillingness to stop. Wu Zhipu had also been working in the base area for many years and was quite familiar with rural work. Anyang was indeed doing better.

Across the river, many rural areas in Henan Province have also seen a large number of people withdrawing from the collective.

Wu Pu also understood that he had been a bit hasty in this cooperative reform. But the situation now wasn't that he didn't want to stop, but that he couldn't, or couldn't, stop and had to keep going.

Because he relied on the achievements of the cooperative to criticize Pan Fusheng for being "rightist".

How does he brake now?

If he backed down now, he would be handing Pan Fusheng the keys to his position, admitting he'd made mistakes in the cooperative reforms. Pan Fusheng was the Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, the undisputed leader of Henan. If he gave him the keys, how could he continue to work in Henan?

So he knew clearly that there were some problems with the cooperative reform.

But he still insisted.

After dealing with Pan Fusheng, it is entirely possible to consolidate the achievements of the cooperative. Wu Zhipu is still very confident in this regard, believing that as long as the situation in Henan is under control, the subsequent issues can be resolved.

"So, let Comrade Deng Zhihui come to Henan to take charge and resolve the current issues."

Originally, this work could be handed over to Wei Hongjun.

But Chairman Mao wanted to take Wei Hongjun south with him, specifically to observe the situation in Guangdong. Many things currently happening in Guangdong were not anticipated at the Seventh Congress. These changes were inseparable from Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin.

Wei Hongjun was determined to go to Guangdong, so the Chairman thought of Deng Zhihui, who was originally the First Secretary of the Central South Bureau and was now the First Deputy Secretary of the Rural Work Committee.

It's best that he comes and handles this issue.

"I immediately sent a telegram to the Secretariat and Comrade Deng Zhihui."

"it is good."

The Chairman was really angry.

When the cadres from Anyang District heard that the Chairman had arrived, they all came to the Chairman's lounge. However, the Chairman did not meet them and only asked Wei Hongjun and Yang Shangkun to speak to them on his behalf.

Wei Hongjun discussed today's events in detail with the cadres of the Anyang Prefectural Committee and the Anyang Special District Administration.

Tell them that from now on, they should not force the development of cooperatives in Anyang's rural areas. Anyang needs to change its rural work policy and recognize the cooperatives that have already been established, but also acknowledge that Anyang has not yet reached the stage of full cooperative development. Therefore, mutual aid groups should be restored within the cooperatives, with mutual aid groups as the basic production units.

At the same time, the issue of daily necessities confiscated during the cooperative reform should be dealt with as quickly as possible. Return them to their respective owners immediately. This also includes means of production. Record the amount in the accounts at the correct price.

The current mission of the Anyang Special District is to maintain stability, to maintain order in the countryside, to stabilize the farmers' emotions, and to ensure that the summer and autumn harvests are not affected. We will wait for Comrade Deng Zhihui to arrive and unify the leadership of Henan's rural reform.

The Chairman didn't even eat dinner and started thinking about the problem.

The Chairman has already begun considering adjustments to the leadership of the Henan Provincial Government. Just because Wei Hongjun and the others haven't mentioned it doesn't mean the Chairman hasn't considered it. Anyang was once part of Pingyuan Province, and now the Henan Provincial Government has been attacking the work there as "rightist." This is a clear accusation that Pan Fusheng is "rightist." And Pan Fusheng's voice isn't reaching Anyang, which is already obvious.

The top leader of a provincial party committee was actually criticized by the provincial government.

This is the battle for the hilltop.

And this wasn't just a simple feud between factions; it was localism at work. This kind of localism, which excludes outside cadres, was what the Chairman hated most.

After liberation, the central government dealt with countless localist cadres. Were their mistakes really that serious?

Nor is it.

Those who became representatives of localism all made significant contributions during the revolutionary era, becoming the banner of the revolution in their respective regions. Take Li Yu, for example. He was a leading figure who single-handedly established the Shandong Column and developed the Shandong base area. So much so that Shandong cadres even hung two paintings in their meetings: one of Chairman Mao, the other of Li Yu. They even shouted slogans like, "Long live Chairman Li!"

Shandong cadres were already rife with anti-foreign sentiment. When the 115th Division entered Shandong, significant friction ensued. Later, the New Fourth Army retreated into Shandong and faced a shortage of supplies. It was only through the leadership of General Luo, General Chen, and Rao Shushi that Shandong was able to gradually overcome its provincialism.

There are also people like Fang Fang and Feng Baiju from Hainan.

They all made great achievements.

However, no matter how great your achievements are, if you engage in excessive localism, making it impossible for outside cadres to work and for the central government's policies to be implemented, then this localism must be eliminated.

Wu Zhipu is making the same mistake now.

Wu Zhipu is a native of Henan Province. He grew up and studied in Henan Province and joined the Communist Party of China in 1925. He then began to work in Henan Province and has been involved in the revolution in Henan for nearly years. He is currently the first deputy secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee and the governor of Henan Province.

Moreover, he had just partnered with Pan Fusheng, but he was already so xenophobic.

This kind of thing cannot be allowed to continue.

In fact, the Chairman had a very good impression of Wu Zhipu. This was because Wu Zhipu's work in Henan after liberation was very effective. This was particularly true in the management of the Yellow River flood area. As Director of the Yellow River Flood Area Reconstruction Bureau, Wu Zhipu led the people of Henan in transforming the area, reclaiming one million mu of arable land in just a few years. He also rebuilt homes for the victims of the Yellow River flood area and allocated land to them, with over 100,000 mu of land being developed into state-owned farms. Precisely because of his effective work, the Central Committee has always highly praised Wu Zhipu, considering him a capable and courageous cadre.

However, this incident allowed the Chairman to see another side of Wu Zhipu besides his strong working ability.

The Chairman still met with the leaders of Anyang the next day.

The discussion on the cooperatives was not continued, as Wei Hongjun had already discussed this with them. Instead, the Chairman focused on how to utilize the Yellow River water to create fertile farmland.

Build canals, bring in water from the Yellow River, increase the irrigation area, and transform farmland, while also preventing the Yellow River from flooding.

Seeing the Chairman talking about work, the cadres in Anyang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, after a day of reflection, the Chairman was quite optimistic about the Anyang cadres. They had a strong industrial development record and a well-planned and well-planned approach to agricultural development. That's why his attitude was so positive.

In particular, the young Yang Gui left a deep impression on the Chairman.

So when he talked with cadres from the Anyang Prefectural Committee and the Anyang Special District, he specifically asked about Yang Gui.

After breakfast, the Chairman continued south. When he arrived in Xinxiang, officials from the Henan Provincial Party Committee were waiting for him. Leaders like Pan Fusheng and Wu Zhipu were also present. Although angry, the Chairman met with the Henan officials. However, he did not discuss the cooperative issue; instead, he discussed the Yellow River management with Pan Fusheng and the others. The Chairman reminded Pan Fusheng that if the Yellow River was properly managed, Henan would have tens of millions of acres of fertile farmland. If it wasn't properly managed, Henan's agriculture would not develop. He urged Pan Fusheng to ensure the success of the Yellow River management project.

The chairman's attitude was so obvious that all the leaders present could see it. Although the chairman did not discuss the cooperative issue, it made Wu Zhipu feel uneasy.

Because the Secretariat and the Rural Work Committee had officially issued documents to the Henan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, respectively, demanding that Henan halt its current rural cooperative reforms, Comrade Deng Zhihui would come to Henan and take full responsibility for handling Henan's cooperative issues.

The Chairman was angry, so he did not stay in Henan.

Instead, the special train went directly through Henan and arrived in Wuhan.

908 Heading South to Guangzhou

The chairman walked and stopped.

Entered Hubei.

Overall, although Henan’s rural work is a mess, other aspects are still remarkable.

To repeat, basically all the cadres who can reach Wu Zhipu's position are very capable.

Those who were able to establish, build, and develop base areas during the war were first-rate officials in local work. Those who rose through the ranks during the war, regardless of their personal and political integrity, were undoubtedly exceptional in their abilities.

Wu Zhipu is no exception.

Wu Zhipu is actually very good at organization, propaganda, and even economics.

Just look at the recovery of Henan's industry.

In recent years, Henan's industry has not only recovered rapidly, but has also developed very well.

Wu Zhipu performed exceptionally well, including in the management of the Yellow River floodplain. He even personally visited the area and led the development of a floodplain management plan. His plan was highly praised by the Premier.

But he also made huge mistakes, one was factionalism and localism, the other was bureaucracy.

Historically, Wu Zhipu was successful.

Pan Fusheng was severely oppressed. In Henan Province's history, although Pan Fusheng was the first party secretary, Wu Zhipu was still the most powerful person in Henan. In 58, he took advantage of the Great Leap Forward and expelled Pan Fusheng on the charge of "rightist deviation."

The Chairman also criticized Pan Fusheng at that time.

Deng Xixian presided over the Secretariat and directly decided to remove Pan Fusheng from his position as First Secretary.

But this time, Wu Zhipu touched upon the mistake that the Chairman hated most politically. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chairman always emphasized "Party unity" in every meeting and criticized "separatism" and "localism."

If Wu Zhipu had not been a native Henan cadre, the Chairman would have considered criticizing him and demoting him. But he had been in Henan for too long and was no longer suitable to stay there.

If he were in Henan, no matter who came later, work would be impossible. However, the chairman alone couldn't decide on the appointment of officials at the level of provincial governor. The Party has its own organizational discipline, and the government has its own organizational procedures. This matter would require the chairman to return to Beijing and make a decision at a Politburo meeting.

Compared with when he was in Henan, the Chairman's mood was obviously better after arriving in Wuhan.

So much so that after seeing Wang Qiuyun, the Chairman asked how many children Wang Qiuyun had. After hearing that she only had two children, the Chairman jokingly said, "Comrade Wang Qiuyun, you were a great general on the battlefield, destroying so many enemies. You are a little slow in the matter of selecting a successor to the revolution."

The Chairman had a very good impression of Wang Qiuyun. It should be said that the Chairman had a good impression of several generals from the Jin-Cha-Ji Army. This was primarily because during the most difficult period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, when the struggle between the two central leadership lines was at its most intense, the Jin-Cha-Ji Army provided the Chairman with the strongest support. Victory after victory proved the correctness of the Chairman's insistence on independent mountain guerrilla warfare. Some wavered at the time, not just because of Wang Ming's return. Many also wavered because they lacked confidence in winning the War of Resistance Against Japan. In their view, the Eighth Route Army was still too weak. For China to truly achieve victory, it still depended on the millions of troops of the Kuomintang. However, the Jin-Cha-Ji Army used its victories to convince the leaders within the Party that the Eighth Route Army could achieve victory even if it fought independently.

Of course, the Chairman is the supreme leader, and he would not express such appreciation casually.

After teasing Wang Qiuyun, the Chairman met with cadres from the Wuhan Military Region.

They discussed the Wuhan Military Region's previous work on reorganizing rebel troops, suppressing bandits, and the current public security situation. They also addressed the inventory of military assets approved by the Central Military Commission. Luo Renfa, as the Political Commissar of the Wuhan Military Region, assured the Chairman that the region would conduct an accurate and swift inventory of its assets and report it to the Central Military Commission.

Luo Renfa participated in the Yan'an Rectification Movement and learned a real lesson.