Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Wei Hongjun understood that the Chairman wanted the Personnel Department to formulate a plan to reduce the salaries of cadres.

The Organization Department oversees cadres, while the Personnel Department manages salaries, archives, and personnel transfers. In fact, the Central Committee had previously planned to incorporate the Personnel Department into the Organization Department, allowing it to manage the Personnel Department. However, after the Eighth National Congress, discord arose among the secretaries of the Secretariat, prompting adjustments to the Organization Department, and this plan was delayed.

Now Wei Hongjun is also in charge of the Human Resources Department.

But it is also temporary.

The Personnel Department will eventually be merged into the Organization Department and handed over to the Party Committee for management. "Chairman, what about the salaries of democratic figures?"

The people with the highest salaries now are all democrats, including those intellectuals from the Republic of China.

The salary can be compared with that of the chairman, or even higher than that of the chairman.

"Their salaries should remain unchanged. It's mainly the salaries of our party members and cadres that need to be reduced."

The Chairman thought about it and decided not to touch their salaries. Wei Hongjun nodded.

New China treats these democrats with solidarity and, more importantly, with high salaries. It hopes they won't cause any trouble. Unfortunately, the Chairman's thinking was wrong.

When it comes to stirring up trouble and kicking someone when they're down, they're ruthless. "Comrades, the Soviet aid projects are crucial to our industrialization. If we all grit our teeth and get through this difficult time together, things will get much better in the future. I hope all central government departments will practice strict economy. Every penny saved means a little more support for industrialization."

926 Attlee visits China

After the enlarged Politburo meeting, all agencies were busy raising funds.

After the meeting, the chairman announced that he would only receive a Level 610 administrative salary from now on, with no other subsidies. This meant his monthly salary and subsidies would drop from 405 yuan to 200 yuan, a direct reduction of yuan. Since the chairman had done so, others naturally followed suit. All Level and Level cadres would only receive Level administrative salaries, as Xuan Xi had done.

Wei Hongjun's salary also changed from administrative level 405, with local subsidies, to administrative level , with a salary of yuan.

If the salaries of administrative cadres at the first and second levels are cut, what will happen to administrative cadres at the third level? The only way is to reduce the salary one level at a time.

However, considering that higher-ranking officials receive higher salaries, the Ministry of Human Resources has decided to reduce the ratio between the highest and lowest salaries. Essentially, the higher the administrative rank, the greater the salary reduction. Grassroots officials will see no or minimal salary reductions.

Don't think that this adjustment won't save you much money.

Actually a lot.

Because the country had just been founded, there were many high-ranking officials, saving over 200 million yuan in salary expenses each year.

Of course, this was implemented starting in 1954. This money was directly allocated from the fiscal expenditure in 1954 to support industrial construction.

There is also the Military Commission.

Cadre salaries have also been cut. The situation in the military is even more severe than in government departments. Military cadre salaries are already around 30 yuan higher than those of local rank-and-file officers, and military rank-and-file officers earn even more than local cadres. Furthermore, the military receives substantial military subsidies, significantly higher than local subsidies. For example, if Wei Hongjun had received military subsidies, his previous salary would have exceeded 600 yuan.

Therefore, the Military Commission also began to adjust salaries and benefits, reducing cadre salaries. After these adjustments, the military was able to save 400 million yuan in two years.

This is not enough.

军队这一次是正儿八经要裁撤50万人,总共60个师的部队。裁撤50万部队，就可以节省七八亿,甚至近十亿的军费。中央的意思是,1955年之前解放军部队的规模要压缩在400万以内。

Then there is the postponement of some naval and air force plans.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance no longer required the Central Military Commission to register the assets of the various military regions and units it had collected, but instead handed them over to the Central Military Commission for use. The Ministry of Finance also reduced its spending on that area. Meanwhile, the central government demanded that the military strengthen production and construction, requiring the military, at the company level, to handle many of its own tasks.

This will save another billion in military spending.

By piecing together this amount, we must raise 30 billion RMB.

The Central Committee must seize this good opportunity and take advantage of the good things brought by Khrushchev even if it means tightening its belt.

While the central government raised funds, the various ministries and commissions sought locations. After much discussion, the final location for the fertilizer plant was chosen to be in a provincial capital. Given China's current transportation conditions and the high costs involved, fertilizer plants must be decentralized. Centralized construction would simply not cover the transportation costs.

Therefore, people sent by ministries and local governments have been investigating sites for building fertilizer plants.

There is also the construction of a chemical fiber plant.

Zeng Shan has been staying in the local area for this matter.

Wei Hongjun, Deng Zhihui, Li Shaocheng, Lai Ruoyu, and Zhao Dezun, on behalf of the Rural Work Department, wrote a report to the Secretariat and the Political Bureau, requesting the establishment of the Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation, which would be given full authority to direct the ongoing agricultural reclamation work.

This is because with the development of agricultural reclamation, some conflicts began to arise between the local government and local garrisons.

When He Weizhong was in the Great Northern Wilderness, he saw the Shenyang Military Region and the oil corps as completely indifferent to him, constantly occupying positions wherever they could. This was evident from his rank. This time, He Weizhong was only promoted to Major General. Meanwhile, the Shenyang Military Region Commander, Jiao Guo, was a General, and the Political Commissar, Xia Houwen, was a Lieutenant General. Their deputy commanders and deputy political commissars were all Lieutenant Generals and Lieutenant Generals. Furthermore, Lei Jiabin, who was in charge of the Liaohe Oilfield development, was a Lieutenant General at the rank of Deputy Corps General.

So whenever necessary, they would organize people to develop the land around the Great Northern Wilderness.

But this is not in line with the overall development strategy of Beidahuang.

It's unacceptable that every time a conflict arises, officials of Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui have to mediate. Therefore, it's necessary to establish a Ministry of Land Reclamation and let it resolve the issue itself, along with the local government and the local military garrison.

The central government approved the report.

Finally, the Central Committee decided to change the Agricultural Reclamation Development Committee within the Ministry of Rural Affairs into the Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation, which became the Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation under the State Council. The Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation was subordinate to the Eighth Office and was under the leadership of the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Eighth Office.

Tan Zhenlin, Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and a newly appointed member of the Secretariat of the Eighth National Congress, was transferred to serve as Minister of the newly established Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation. Chen Manyuan, Second Secretary of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee; Zhao Fan, Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Deputy Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee's Rural Work Committee and Minister of the Rural Work Department; Jiang Qixian, Director of the Military Commission's Veterinary Bureau; and He Weizhong, formerly Director of the Agricultural Reclamation Development Committee of the Ministry of Rural Work, were appointed as Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation.

Boss Tan needs no introduction.

He, along with Li Xiannian, the current Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, and Luo Qirong, the current Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, are all former important leaders of local central bureaus who have yet to be promoted to the central government. Although they are still in local positions, all three served as secretaries of the Secretariat at the Eighth National Congress.

So even though he had just been promoted to the central government, his rank was still high. After being promoted to the central government, the central government appointed him as Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Committee, Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and Minister of Agricultural Reclamation.

The central government also attaches great importance to agricultural reclamation work.

Especially Wei Hongjun's report on the Great Northern Wilderness.

Wei Hongjun stated that within ten years, 4000 million mu of arable land could be reclaimed in the Great Northern Wilderness, with 3000 million mu under cultivation. A thousand years from now, billion jin of commercial grain could be delivered to the state annually.

Therefore, the central government needed a high-ranking cadre to serve as the Minister of Agricultural Reclamation. Tan Zhenlin was suitable in all aspects.

Chen Manyuan was once the commander of the Third Sub-district of the Jin-Cha-Ji region, ultimately leaving the region in anger. He was dissatisfied with Marshal Nie's decision to assign him to the Ji-Re-Liaoning Army as political commissar and then promote Huang Yong. He believed that Huang Yong, not himself, was the greatest source of instability in the Third Sub-district. However, it was precisely because he did not become the political commissar of the Ji-Re-Liaoning Army that the Central Committee had a problem with him.

Given his circumstances, a normal career path would have inevitably led to him becoming a corps-level general. However, during the Liberation War, he served as chief of staff in Xu Xiangqian's corps, later becoming deputy corps commander and accompanying the troops to Sichuan. When Luo Shishi was first promoted, he was a deputy corps-level cadre.

But he was from Guangxi and came from the Baise Uprising.

So after liberation, he went to Guangxi and currently serves as the Second Secretary of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee. This time, he was promoted to the central government and served as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation.

Zhao Fan is currently a cadre of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee.

He was a typical "33-style" cadre, only 1937 years old this year. He joined the Party in 22, but because he was an intellectual, he immediately began serving as secretary of the Special Committee of the First Sub-district of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region. For a period, he also served as confidential secretary to Yang Quanwu. In Yi County, the most important base area of ​​the First Sub-district, he served as secretary of the Working Committee, then county magistrate, and then county party secretary. Just two years later, at the age of , he became the Organization Minister of the Special Committee of the First Sub-district. He continued to work underground in Beijing during the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Revolution and the War of Liberation. Later, when the Beijing regime took over, he was a key cadre of the Beijing underground Party.

Jiang Qixian is a cadre in the medical system.

He was a doctor who graduated from Xiangya Medical College and later joined the Hunan Army as a military doctor. During the Third Anti-Encirclement and Suppression Campaign, he was captured by the Red Army and subsequently joined the Red Army. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he served as the Minister of Health of the Eighth Route Army. Later, he served as the Minister of Health of the Jin-Cha-Ji Region. During the War of Liberation, he served as the Minister of Health of the North China Military Region. After liberation, he served as the Minister of Health of the Military Commission.

He only held the position of Minister of Health of the Military Commission for a few months before volunteering to become Director of the Veterinary Bureau. Many officials at the time were puzzled by the difference in rank between the two positions. Furthermore, he was a military doctor, not a veterinarian. Yet, he was determined to become Director of the Veterinary Bureau.

He believes that the country currently has no shortage of military medical cadres.

Veterinary work, however, presented numerous challenges. Due to their low status and widespread disdain, veterinary work in my country was difficult to develop. Jiang Qixian overcame numerous difficulties and personally engaged in veterinary work. Under his leadership, the development of my country's veterinary profession rapidly expanded.

When the military rank was awarded, Jiang Qixian received the rank of lieutenant general.

He was chosen as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation because it oversees more than just agricultural development. State-owned farms of a certain size will be managed by the Ministry, encompassing agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, and fisheries. This includes the South China Reclamation Bureau, previously under the Ministry of Forestry. This is why Jiang Qixian, a former Minister of Health and Director of the Veterinary Bureau, is so crucial.

Then there is He Weizhong.

He had been in the Great Northern Wilderness for the past few years, participating in its development. He Weizhong had made significant contributions to its development over the years. It was impossible to just dismiss him after the Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation was established.

After the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation was established, it began discussions with the Military Commission about taking over the disbanded troops. The Ministry then planned to build four large-scale agricultural reclamation bases: the Beidahuang Agricultural Reclamation Base in Northeast China, the Xinjiang Agricultural Reclamation Base, the Yunnan Sugar and Coffee Base, the Jiangxinpo Agricultural Reclamation Base, and the Suiyuan Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Base.

Of course, there are some other agricultural reclamation bases, but they are not as big as these four.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation needs a lot of people.

The first step alone would require the participation of approximately 20 divisions. The Beidahuang and Jiangxinpo agricultural reclamation bases, in particular, would require over 20 troops for large-scale development. Even divisions would be far from sufficient.

It is also necessary to recruit personnel from all over the country, as well as a number of students from major universities to participate.

The CMC's military reductions must take into account a unit's history, meritorious service, and leadership. While some units with a long history and distinguished military achievements are exempt from this round of reductions, in principle, two units from the same corps will be retained in each army.

As for how to keep two, the Military Commission also respects the opinions of frontline leaders.

Some armies may have a mediocre history and achievements, but that doesn't mean the entire army is like that. Perhaps a division or regiment within that army is a unit with a distinguished history and impressive military achievements.

This situation exists.

At that time, it may be necessary to retain this type of division or regiment and incorporate it into other armies.

Of course it is not absolute.

就像是20兵团,本来下辖71军、72军、73军。可是现在的情况是，73军自前在南京军区，驻扎在安徽，是安徽军区的主力部队。1948年20兵团就皁早地分家。

Of the remaining units of the 20th Corps, the 71st Army was a meritorious unit on the Korean battlefield, and the 72nd Army, not to mention its glorious history, was the first unit stationed in Kinmen after the conquest. You can't cut any of these three armies in a short period of time.

So there are many aspects to consider.

While Wei Hongjun was busy with agricultural reclamation work, checking corn yields per mu, and promoting winter wheat seeds, former British Prime Minister and leader of the British Labour Party, Attlee, accepted the invitation of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs and led a delegation of British labor unions and British business leaders to visit China.

This is a very important diplomatic event in the history of New China.

After all, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has consistently pursued a one-sided diplomatic policy. Relations with Western countries had reached a freezing point due to the Korean War. The reception of a British delegation of this magnitude at this time drew the attention of the entire world.

We can clearly see the rise of China's status.

Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, had just visited China for about twenty days at the end of September, and only two months later, the British Labour Party delegation arrived.

1953 12 Month 28 Day.

The Chairman met with a delegation from the British Labour Party headed by Attlee and a delegation from the British business community in the Qinzheng Hall of Zhongnanhai.

The Chinese side was accompanied by Comrade Xiu Yang, the Premier, Chen Yun, Marshal Nie, Wei Hongjun, Mao Zemin, Ye Jiya, Li Jisen, Zhang Bojun, Guo Moruo, and Chen Shutong. The atmosphere at the meeting was quite good.

Of course, one reason is that Attlee is not the current British Prime Minister. In name, this visit is not an exchange between governments, but a private visit.

The Chairman said in a casual manner, "I am very pleased to meet with our British friends today. Since the beginning of World War II, the relationship between China and Britain has undergone fundamental changes. This is not to say that there are no disputes or disagreements between our two countries, nor that our systems are without differences. In the past, Japan invaded and ruled us. Later, the United States acted on behalf of Japan and helped Chiang Kai-shek bully us. However, in both stages, Britain changed its attitude towards China and towards us. This change in Britain's attitude has eliminated the fundamental contradictions between us and Britain, and the basic disputes are almost non-existent. This is the basic issue. The same is true of our relationship with France. There are no fundamental contradictions between us."

Attlee was the first high-ranking and influential Western politician to visit China after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Although the visit was made in the name of civilians.

But everyone knows that a politician of this level would not visit another major country without a reason. This is a diplomatic contact and a test between China and Britain.

Both sides are well aware of this.

The Chairman was quite frank. What he said marked the beginning of New China's genuine diplomatic voice. He attached great importance to this meeting with Attlee because he wanted to use it as an opportunity to express New China's stance to the Western world. China and the United States currently have a very poor relationship, and if they want to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough in the West, they must work with Britain and France.

Britain and France were once the world hegemons and still have considerable strength today.

So the Chairman told Attlee very clearly that there were currently no fundamental contradictions between China and Britain and France.

Some of the disagreements are not important issues of principle.

The Chairman continued, "There's an ocean between us and the United States, called the Pacific Ocean, but it's far from peaceful. Recently, the United States and Australia signed a treaty, stating that they would jointly oppose the Communist Party. What the United States meant was that we were going to invade Australia, so the United States signed a security treaty with Australia and New Zealand to jointly oppose the Communist Party and China. The anti-communist wave, led by the United States, is spreading around the world. The United States claims that the Chinese people have committed a crime against God by driving Chiang Kai-shek, a good man, to Taiwan. Although Chiang Kai-shek is considered a good man by Americans, he is considered a bad man by the Chinese people. But because Americans say Chiang Kai-shek is a good man, he becomes a good man in the world. I read an article by Mr. Bi (a member of the British Labour Party delegation, present at the event), in which he said that Americans have invented two kinds of logic: that the Chinese invaded the Chinese.

"In the eyes of Americans, Chiang Kai-shek is better than us. But the British have a different view. You have long since stopped recognizing Chiang Kai-shek's regime. So I say there are no fundamental differences or contradictions between us. This includes on the issue of Japan. So we have a foundation for friendship. This is why I, and the Chinese people, are delighted to see you in China today and warmly welcome you."