Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Historically, to address the problems arising from the unified purchase and marketing system and the planned economy, the free market, spearheaded by Comrade Chen Yun and supported by Comrade Xiu Yang, flourished in towns and villages. Initially, it seemed like a good idea.

As a result, a lot of serious problems arose later.

As Wei Hongjun said, one possibility is the emergence of new capitalists. This is irrelevant. The only people most familiar with this kind of free market are the original capitalists, landlords, and rich peasants. Honest migrant workers, who understand this?

Farmers, at most, would go to the market and sell their produce, earning a few cents. Meanwhile, capitalists and wealthy landlords engaged in speculative trading. Because China is currently a country with limited resources, this phenomenon is particularly prevalent. These people made a fortune through speculative trading.

But the money they make can easily give the working class and peasant class the impression that "I, Hu Hansan, am back again."

It's like some people later asked why those who got rich in the 1980s were all descendants of landlords. It's obvious it was genetics. That's all nonsense. It's because workers, farmers, and their descendants had never learned these things, had never practiced these things, and simply didn't understand them.

When opportunities arise, they fail to seize them.

In contrast, the descendants of capitalists and landlords, with their family traditions, learned this very thing. The situation in the 1980s was no different from today's: both were severely short of supplies. They understood better than anyone how to exploit such a market environment to make money.

So, within a year of the free market opening, social resentment surged. Workers and farmers emerged in droves, eager to learn how to earn money, and a large number of them withdrew from the cooperatives. Rural cooperatives began to collapse. At the same time, to retain members, they began underreporting production figures. Even county, district, and township officials agreed, and they even united to oppose the state's unified purchase and marketing policy.

This is true not only in rural areas but also in urban workers.

Morale suffered a major blow.

Many workers used to be very proud, because the working class was the master of the country. "I mine coal for the country. I make steel for the country." But after the free market was liberalized, they discovered that many capitalists and scoundrels were making fortunes through speculation. How could these workers accept this?

As a result, the "Polish-Hungarian Incident" occurred again.

Many democrats clamored for further liberalization of the free market, criticizing the country's planned economy and industrialization. As these contradictions accumulated, policies naturally shifted to the left, leaving no room for negotiation.

Stricter than previous policies.

Needless to say, the rural economy was once again severely hit.

Less than two years of free market reform had nearly destroyed rural cooperatives and dealt a severe blow to the morale of urban workers. Coupled with the change in the political climate, the once thriving national economy suffered a major blow.

Even Chen Yun later admitted: "I have always advocated for an open free market, but I don't think a free market is necessarily good. It's not necessarily so. Opening a free market during a time of material uncertainty and market instability can lead to many problems."

So Wei Hongjun must speak.

If the free market is truly opened up arbitrarily this time, as it has historically been, then as contradictions accumulate, the entire national policy will shift to the left, something even the Chairman cannot prevent. This is because these are accumulated contradictions across society, and many cadres at all levels are demanding change.

Overkill.

This is inevitable.

The greater the support for the free market before, the greater the antipathy towards it after the "left shift," and the more aggressive the crackdown on it. Furthermore, many officials united to oppose the state's unified purchase and marketing during the period of the free market.

It is a mistake.

What to do when mistakes are made? Of course, we must make amends. The way to make amends is to hide the truth and reduce the amount of public grain and commercial grain provided to the state in order to make money in the free market. Then we start to think about how to increase the amount of public grain and commercial grain.

The state wanted 10,000 jin of public grain and commercial grain, but to atone for his mistake and show his enthusiasm, he insisted on giving the state 200 jin of public grain and 200 jin of commercial grain. The state collects and purchases public grain and commercial grain in proportion. It's impossible for your grain production to not increase, yet you're increasing public grain and commercial grain.

Then it will blow.

Tell the central government that our grain production has doubled this year.

As long as one person starts to brag, others will dare to shout about a two-fold, five-fold, or even a thousand-fold increase, and even boast about an output of 100,000 mu per mu.

The occurrence of any major social event does not happen suddenly.

"I agree with Comrade Wei Hongjun's opinion. We cannot blindly open up the free market. The rural economy is fragile, and the development of mutual aid groups and cooperatives across the country is currently on the right track. If we open up the free market at this time, it will easily undermine the existing development of mutual aid groups and cooperatives. The country's industrialization currently requires the rural cooperative economy, but the free market will inevitably disintegrate the rural cooperative economy. When these two contradictions cannot be reconciled, they will directly undermine the rural economy."

Deng Zhihui spoke.

Deng Zhihui has always believed that the government should not be too strict with rural areas and should give them some space to develop on their own. He supports the idea of ​​self-employment. The previous lack of activity in rural agricultural and sideline product markets is closely related to the government's overly strict control of rural areas.

It is right to give rural areas some space to activate the agricultural and sideline product market. But he understands the current situation in rural areas better.

Can't stand the trouble.

This is why he previously opposed the rapid development of cooperatives. It's also why he now opposes the blind opening of the free market. Now, a model of mutual aid groups, primary cooperatives, and advanced cooperatives has taken shape in rural areas across China.

If you mess around now, you will mess up the mutual aid groups and cooperatives.

Then problems will inevitably arise in rural areas next.

Deng Zhihui and Wei Hongjun had discussed how to boost rural agricultural and sideline product markets. That's why Deng Zhihui supported Wei Hongjun. This was despite the proposal coming from two Politburo Standing Committee members: Comrade Xiuyang, who oversees Party and NPC affairs, and Comrade Xu, who oversees the day-to-day work of the State Council.

Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui, one is a member of the Politburo and the other is an alternate member of the Politburo.

But that doesn't mean Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui don't hold significant weight. Both are vice premiers of the State Council and officials responsible for rural affairs nationwide. Therefore, they have ample say on rural issues.

The Chairman then asked, "Comrade Wei Hongjun, if we don't blindly open up the free market, how do you think we can solve the current problem?"

939 Free Market under State Leadership 2

The Chairman was quite interested in Wei Hongjun's words.

This was mainly because Wei Hongjun's message was simple: to uphold a free economy within a socialist economy, rather than blindly and arbitrarily liberalizing it without a plan. Wei Hongjun's views on socialism and capitalism were particularly inspiring to the Chairman.

Planned economies and free markets have always been contradictory. Or perhaps this was the view and approach adopted by the People's Republic of China when it studied Soviet economic development. Marx and Engels predicted that socialist revolution would occur in developed capitalist countries, but who could have imagined it would happen in Russia? Later, Lenin and Stalin further developed the theories of Marx and Engels, with Stalin even building a powerful industrial nation within the Soviet Union.

Comrade Stalin developed the Soviet Union's industrialization through a planned economy.

China learns from the Soviet Union in all aspects.

As a result, many Party members and cadres believe that a planned economy is socialism and a free market is capitalism. Socialism should not have a free market, and if there is a free market, it is not socialism.

Of course, the free market must have certain capitalist characteristics, especially the private free market.

But how can we integrate the free market into the socialist economy without undermining the socialist economic system, especially the industrialization of New China? In this regard, Wei Hongjun expressed his views that the Chairman was quite impressed by.

The planned economy must take the absolute initiative, and the means of production must be publicly owned. This is the most obvious characteristic of socialism.

If the means of production are privately owned, then even if a planned economy takes the lead, it's not socialism. For example, South Korea's early development followed a planned economy, but their planned economy involved privatizing the means of production. Therefore, it's capitalism, not socialism.

In fact, the Chairman has already realized that under the current circumstances, opening up the free market at the grassroots level is necessary because the planned economy, unified purchase and marketing, and socialist transformation of industry and commerce have sapped the vitality of the rural and township economies.

If the rural economy lacks vitality, it will directly impact its development. Chairman Mao personally established and governed rural bases, so he is well aware of these issues. However, to revitalize the rural economy, greater power must be given to lower levels, meaning the free market must be liberalized.

But how to open up the free market? This is what the Chairman has been thinking about.

Comrade Xiuyang and Comrade Chen Yun have always said that it is a free market under the leadership of the state. But what they really mean is to restore the private free market and withdraw the government from these areas. This is something the Chairman does not support. Because the Chairman knows that once the private free market is opened up, not only will there be polarization, but also the emergence of new capitalists. More importantly, once this free market develops, it will spread from towns and villages to cities, becoming the same as the current

The existence of planned economy and state market competing for market share.

Once this happens, it will disrupt the country's grand strategy of concentrating funds on industrial development.

It will interrupt the country's industrialization process and the consequences will be serious.

Therefore, the Chairman was very interested in knowing what Wei Hongjun thought. Wei Hongjun said that socialism can also have a free market, but he also opposed the free market plan proposed by Comrade Xiu Yang and Comrade Chen Yun.

So what should Wei Hongjun do?

Wei Hongjun said: "How does the free market under the socialist economy

What is it like? We have no experience. But I think since it is a free market under a socialist economy, it should be a component of the socialist economy.

"The part should have socialist economic characteristics. It cannot conflict with the socialist economy, but should supplement the socialist economy and the national economy, making the socialist economy more complete."

"First, we need to define the scope of unified purchase and marketing. Supply and marketing cooperatives and state-owned commercial companies should focus on daily necessities, primarily grain, live pigs, and oilseeds. State unified purchase and marketing should only cover daily necessities; other agricultural and sideline products should not be included. Furthermore, the state must clearly regulate the prices of these daily necessities. State supply and marketing cooperatives and state-owned commercial companies must not be allowed to arbitrarily lower the prices of these agricultural products. Beyond these agricultural products subject to state unified purchase and marketing, state supply and marketing cooperatives and state-owned commercial companies have no authority to compulsorily purchase other agricultural and sideline products from rural areas. Rural agricultural and sideline products are numerous, and beyond daily necessities, the authority to handle these other products should be delegated to rural cooperatives. After fulfilling the state-mandated quotas for public grain and commercial grain, rural cooperatives can independently manage the remaining agricultural and sideline products. This allows rural cooperatives to exercise greater initiative."

"Then there's the free market. As rural cooperatives produce more agricultural and sideline products, how can we bring these products to market, and how can we bring the agricultural and sideline product market under state management? We must understand that my country is a socialist economy, so of course we must find solutions within that. Why does the free market necessarily refer to the free market of private capital? Why can't it also refer to the free market between state-owned and collective economies?"

"I think many people have a misunderstanding in this regard. They think that whenever they talk about a free market, they only mean a capitalist free market, a free market of private capital. In fact, the biggest characteristic of a free market is competition. Since it is competition, it can be capitalist or socialist."

"Previously, unified purchase and marketing was too rigid. Moving forward, the National Supply and Marketing Cooperatives can delegate the market for agricultural and sideline products, aside from daily necessities, to local areas. my country's current transportation situation makes long-distance transportation of agricultural and sideline products difficult. Most agricultural and sideline product markets are located in towns close to rural areas, making them highly localized. Counties and townships can designate a street as an agricultural and sideline product market."

"We can allow county and township governments to run their own supply and marketing cooperatives, and we can also allow rural cooperatives to establish their own marketing cooperatives. We can even allow several rural cooperatives to unite to form a supply and marketing cooperative. To invigorate the free market, we must introduce competition. We cannot allow state-owned supply and marketing cooperatives and state-owned commercial companies to monopolize the township and rural markets, rendering them lifeless. To introduce competition, we can completely introduce collective supply and marketing cooperatives under county and township governments, as well as supply and marketing cooperatives run by rural cooperatives. Everyone can compete under the management of the state market."

"Apart from the prices of daily necessities, the prices of other agricultural and sideline products can be determined by the free market. Prices can fluctuate based on changes in market supply and demand. Furthermore, because we separate the daily necessities market of the supply and marketing cooperatives from these agricultural and sideline product markets, fluctuations in agricultural and sideline product prices will not affect the prices of daily necessities, thus ensuring price stability. With competition, agricultural and sideline product prices will not be driven down, which will increase the enthusiasm of rural cooperatives for production and the income of rural cooperatives and their members. Increased income for rural cooperatives and their members will increase their purchasing power. They can then purchase more of the products they need from the state-owned supply and marketing cooperatives, boosting profits for our industry and providing more funds for national industrialization."

The current free market must not become a privatized free market. This is proven by history.

Once the privatized free market is liberalized, it won't take more than a year for widespread speculation to emerge, ultimately severely undermining the development of rural cooperatives. This will then spread to urban workers. The first step is to attack the unified purchase and marketing policy, and the second is to attack the state market. A large amount of funds that should have been used for national industrialization will flow into these free markets through various channels.

The only option left was to take another path. That is, the state-owned supply and marketing cooperatives would control daily necessities and certain major products. As for the wide variety of other products, especially agricultural and sideline products, local supply and marketing cooperatives, or even rural cooperatives, could be allowed to unite and establish their own supply and marketing cooperatives to handle sales.

Several rural cooperatives can fully cooperate with each other and produce and sell their own products.

Several rural agricultural and sideline products, whether grown by cooperatives or

The eggs grown by individuals, collected from the mountains, or stored at home can all be sold. Even rural craftsmen can make eggs in their spare time.

These products can be sold through their own supply and marketing cooperatives. This is a very good way to boost the rural economy.

This is the free market that introduces competition and develops a socialist economy.

Currently, rural towns and villages are overly regulated, lacking competition. To revitalize rural economies, we shouldn't simply abandon them and allow everyone to develop their own private free markets. Instead, we should develop free markets in a planned way.

And introduce local supply and marketing cooperatives and rural supply and marketing cooperatives

The scattered rural economies of towns and villages can be brought under state management. If the state completely ignores the agricultural and sideline products market, it will not be able to judge the size of the market. Only by bringing it under management can we know the

Understanding the market situation of agricultural and sideline products in China and centralized management can generate a large amount of tax revenue for the country.

After Wei Hongjun finished speaking, many people were digesting it. The Chairman did not speak for the first time. "This is a good idea."

Gao Gang immediately agreed.

He said, "The free market needs to be managed. If nothing is done, apart from capitalists and landlords and rich peasants, it will be grassroots Party members and cadres who will get rich. This will undermine the trust of the people in our Party. The people are still struggling to make ends meet, while our grassroots Party members and cadres are getting rich. How will the people view us?"

Wei Hongjun couldn't help but glance at Gao Gang.

Gao Gang is a bit impatient, but his vision and ability are impeccable.

His judgment was absolutely correct.

Historically, the free market was opened but closed within two years. A review of the free market at that time revealed that, apart from capitalists, landlords, and rich peasants, the rest were grassroots Party members and cadres.

The capitalists, landlords and rich peasants have capital and experience, while the grassroots Party members and cadres have power and connections.

The impact is very bad.

Why is it said that after the free market was established in history,

The rural cooperatives were almost collapsed because these grassroots brothers were unable to hold on under the temptation of interests, and used their power and connections to make a fortune, thus losing the trust of the people.

This has brought shame upon the entire Party among the grassroots people, further straining the relationship between the people and grassroots cadres.

So the free market needs to be regulated.

The laissez-faire private agricultural and sideline product free market is too chaotic to be managed. It must be organized before it can be managed.

After Gao Gang finished speaking, Deng Zhihui said: "Comrade Wei Hongjun's words are consistent with

The current situation of rural towns and villages. Many rural areas in my country have a large population and a small amount of land. Except for the busy farming season and water conservancy construction and road construction, there is usually very little land.

Many rural areas have a surplus population. These rural cooperatives have the foundation to establish rural supply and marketing cooperatives. With their personnel, they can purchase agricultural and sideline products from various rural areas and sell them in urban areas, meeting the needs of urban residents. Alternatively, several cooperatives can join together to form such a supply and marketing cooperative. The more cooperation among these rural cooperatives, the better the development of the rural cooperative economy.